Saying Goodbye to my girls!!

My end of the school year was a hard one.  I had so many mixed emotions about this school year ending.  I love teaching, and I love third grade.  I had really contemplated, talked about, and thought about switching grades this year.  I even told my administration that I would be open to moving, but I am in third grade again next year.  It’s not that I don’t want to be there, but I am ready to work with someone, and be able to collaborate, and bounce ideas off of someone.  I love the TPT, IG and blogging world for just this, but it’s so nice to be able to plan with someone!

I started teaching third grade at my current school in 2008.  My school goes from preschool through eighth grade. This also meant that this year’s graduating class was my first class.  I know that we aren’t supposed to have favorites, but this first class was AMAZING!!  The girls in this class have been more than just past students.  I have not only taught these girls, I coached them through two school seasons, one preseason, and two YMCA seasons of volleyball.  Please keep in mind that I have never played volleyball in my life!!  These girls made coaching fun though and kept me on my toes.

I have gone through A LOT with these girls. When they were going into fifth grade one of the girls was in a very tragic plane accident.  It was the year I was supposed to have her little brother, and the accident took both her brother, and her mom.  I visited this student while she was in the hospital, when doctors told us that she would never be able to walk, or talk again.  I am proud to say that she is a MIRACLE!! She was back in school before Christmas of that year, and graduated with the Light of Christ award!  She is not only an inspiration, but one of the nicest people I know!

I have had many dinners with the families of these girls.  One family had me over for dinner every week until my son was born in 2011!  Not only did I get to eat some amazing food at these dinners, but I also got to spend quality time outside of school with this girl, her older sister, and her parents. I know they support me, and would back me.

We have also gone through some of our friends moving away, and even moving to different states!  It is amazing the bond that these girls not only have with each other, but also with me.  We have kept in contact all the way from Pennsylvania, and we make plans every time she comes back!

Every year our school has an auction, and as teachers we donate something to be auctioned.  The teacher items typically go for a lot, as kids enjoy spending time with us.  For the past six years I’ve been able to hang out with these same group of girls, as they have always won my day! The girl who won my day this year is the girl who moved away to Pennsylvania too!  It was so amazing, and we were so lucky that she was able to come back for the last month of school to graduate with her class. 

Graduation and the last day of school were super hard.  The dad of one of the girls made the end of the year video, and it was amazing to see pictures he was able to find from the past six years of the girls and I to put in the video.  One of the girls gave the graduation speech this year, and she left me teary-eyed as well!  Then when we had to walk out, and give all of the graduates hugs or handshakes I just kept on crying!!  I love this class! 

These girls have been my morning hugs, mid midmorning laughs, lunch time hellos, and afternoon pick me ups.  When I return to school in August I won’t see them carrying books down the hall to class any more, or hear their laughter from another classroom.  I won’t have my morning hugs, or the friendly smiles.  I am going to miss these girls more than they know, and can’t imagine going back to work without them.

My class this year was AMAZING!!  I was able to spend a lot of time at lunch with the kids in this class, and am hopeful that as my first class is leaving, I will be reminded of the amazing relationship I’ve built with other kids over the past six years as well.

End of February already!?!

I can't believe how quickly this calendar year is going already!!  It is the middle of February, one week left, already!?!  Where did this month go!?!

There has been so much going on since the holidays.

In January Brandon decided to get sick, really sick!  He was home for about a week with an ear infection.  My mom took him home with her, and he got better.  Then when she came back a week later, he got sick again!!  This time just with a runny nose, coughing, the fun stuff.  He got better again, and THEN two weeks ago he got really sick AGAIN!!  He came home from school on Tuesday and had some stuff coming out of his eyes.  When he got up Wednesday morning his eyes were swollen, and there was tons of gunk coming out of his eyes!

Bubba loves his puzzles!!

Nat of course wasn't doing too hot either, so I called the doctor.  I took both kids in that afternoon and sure enough, EAR INFECTIONS!!  Brandon had two, and Natalie had one.  We started Brandon on antibiotics right away, and it is amazing how quickly the medicine helps that kid!!  Nat is too little to take medicine, so none for her.

Hanging out at the doctor's office, wouldn't even know she was sick!

Both kids still have this lingering cough though, but they are getting better.

This past week I had to go in and have a little operation completed.  It has now been about ten days, and I can say that I am finally feeling better.  Let me tell you, my mom was so excited to have both kids home sick from school, and then me after this operation.  I am glad that it is over with though, and I am praying that it will NOT come back.  Deka said she tried her best, but the tube was so long she wasn't able to get it all out.

Tyler and I were able to sneak away for Valentine's Day and that was a treat!  It was so nice to be able to sleep, and just sit and do nothing all day.  Plus, being the weekend following my operation, it was nice to be able to recover without having to worry about taking care of the babies too!!

This past week was Teacher Appreciation week for me at school.  The parents always do an amazing job!!  They served us amazing lunches all week.  We got hand made cards, tons of candy, a plant and our doors were decorated.  It was an amazing week!  Plus, we were able to eat with our staff!  I love this week, and I always feel so blessed to teach at SOTD during this week!

Natalie left today to head up to my parent's house, so it is going to be a hard two weeks without her at home.  I miss her already, and hope that she is sleeping well for my parents so far!!

Hanging out at church with grandma and mommy

Tuesday afternoon at school, driving his car

February 1 . . . already!?!

Where has this month gone!?!  Oh my goodness!  I can't believe that the last post I wrote was about when I took Brandon to see Frozen, and that was our last day of Christmas break!  I can't believe it's already February, and that January just flew by!

Brandon got sick, A LOT, during the month of January.  The week before Martin Luther King Jr weekend Brandon came home sick from school.  They called me before my school day was over, and I went to pick him up.  He had a fever of 102!!  I took him to the doctor that afternoon and we found out he had an ear infection!!!  AHHH!!  My poor baby!!

My mom took both kids home with her on Wednesday so that way my dad could help her with the kids.  As soon as my mom left with the kids I got sick!!  I woke up Friday morning not feeling well at all!!  Saturday morning when I woke up for us to go up to my parent's house I couldn't talk.  I didn't have a voice all weekend, and all long weekend at that!!  My voice finally came back Monday afternoon!  It was so hard to talk with Brandon that weekend, but he took it in strides!

Brandon was able to go back to school all week the next week, and I was feeling better too.  It was so nice to finally feeling good, and having him feeling well.  It was too bad that it didn't last too long though!  This past week Brandon came from school on Tuesday and he wasn't feeling well again!!  He wanted to stay in my lap all night Tuesday night.  He sat on my lap to eat what little dinner he did, and then right after shower time he was back in my lap to watch toons.

My mom was here this past week so she kept him home for the rest of the week.  He started to feel better near the end of the week, but he still has his awful cough!  I'm hoping it goes away soon becuase it keeps him up at night.  He tosses and turns at night and wakes up a sweaty mess too.  I feel so bad for him, and hope that he starts to feel 100% again real soon!

This weekend we have been blessed to spend some special time with Tyler's sister Megan, and her family.  They flew in Thursday night, and were able to come over to the house and see the kids and Tyler.  I was out at a play seeing a student preform in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!!  It was such a cute play, and I was excited to be there to support her!

Yesterday afternoon and today we were able to go over to Tyler's parents house to hang out with family all day.  We had a great day watching the girls play together, or side by side I should say!  Brandon had a great day being able to run around outside and play with Papa too!

We are excited to go back and spend tomorrow morning with Tyler's family again and hopefully get some great family pictures!

Catching Up

Sorry everyone, I know it's been a while since the last time I posted!  Things have been so busy around here for us!

On October 1 Brandon started going to school four days a week!  He LOVES it, and loves his teacher!  It does make for many long nights though, as he is pretty tired by the time he gets home at the end of the day.  I also started volleyball season October 1, so that has been hard trying to juggle him and the volleyball season.

Hanging out in Mrs. Chapman's room while mommy is talking

Moving away from the table when he was done with lunch, October 29

He loves looking for "yellow bus" on the drive to school

For Fall Break Natalie and I went on a little trip to Northern California!  We were able to go up with my mom to visit!  We were able to see many people we love!  We spent time with Bree, my grandma, great grandma, aunts, cousins, and my second grade teacher!!  I love those women, and I know each one of them helped play a very special role in who I am today!!

We love Aunt Bree (and our nephew!!)

Four Generations 

Brooke was so excited to hold Nat

Sleepy baby on the flight home!

While I was in California with Natalie, Brandon was able to have a sleep over at Grandma and Papas, and then have some special bonding time with daddy!!

CHEESE!!

This kid LOVES to eat apples!

Natalie has been growing like crazy!!  We went in for her six month appointment on Halloween, and she is now in the 98th percentile for her height!!  She is only in the 14th percent for her weight, but the doctor isn't too worried about it.  While we were there for Natalie's appointment we did confirm that Brandon might be allergic to peanuts!!  EEK!!  My next step is to get him in to an allergist so we can have him tested for that.

Boo for Trunk or Treat 

Mommy and Batman for trunk or treat

Big boy loves showering in mommy and daddy's room!

Tyler has been working hard on his grad school stuff.  He has finished his student teaching, so now he is just finishing up classes!  He is very excited to have that part behind him, and can't wait to be done with classes either.

I am sure that there is so much more to fill you in on, but that is all I have time for right now!  I am getting ready to head to Vegas for a conference, and I was at work until 9:30 last night trying to get everything ready for my sub on Monday and Tuesday!!  Our grading period ended yesterday, so I have to work on report cards while we are gone too.  I'm excited about the trip though, spending time with friends, and seeing CHELSEA!!!

Newborn, 6 months - man how time flies!!

B's funny Christmas shirt

Baby Boy

Where has my baby boy gone!?!

Family of four . . . 18 weeks!

Sorry for being so far behind!!!  :(

New things about Natalie:  Natalie has decided that since we are back to work now, she wants to get up any where from 2 - 3 times a night.  She also enjoys waking up at 5 am, and being up for the day.  This past week she even did two 3:30 am I'm up for the day mornings.  Luckily for Tyler, he got up with her Saturday morning when she did this, so at least he had a relaxing day after.  Not so lucky for me, I got up with her when she did this on Thursday morning.  It made for a long morning.  Natalie has finally decided that she likes a pacifier sometimes now too.  She has been rolling like crazy, and is constantly rolling from her back to her tummy.  She can't figure out how to get back over though, so after a few minutes, she is crying, and asking for help to get back onto her back.  She is still sleeping swaddled (shhh, don't tell our doctor, Nicole don't let Jon read that!!)  It's the only way she'll sleep.  Right now, I have put a blanket over her swaddle.  I don't know if she has been too cold, and that is why she was waking up more, but since I started adding the extra blanket we have been back to waking up between 2 and 3 again, instead of this 11:30 non sense.  She is eating any where from 3 - 6 ounces at a time now too!!  I can't wait to see how big she is when we go to the doctor tomorrow!!

In our PJs to celebrate Aunt Chelsea (they have a dragon on them!!)

New things about Brandon:  I can't believe that my little boy is 2!!  Where has the time gone!?!  Brandon has started school in the last few weeks.  He has now had school for four days!!  The first day was a blast.  My dad was able to come pick me up from work, so that way we could drop Brandon off together for his first day of school.  Brandon went right into his room, sat down and started playing.  He did cry when my dad picked him up, but just because he was so confused, and didn't know what was going on.  

Brandon's first day of preschool, August 15

The second day I dropped him off wasn't too bad.

Even got to see daddy in the morning!

Last Thursday now, that was awful!!  :(  When Brandon got up in the morning he wouldn't even go to Wanda when she came over.  He didn't want anything to do with her.  He just wanted mommy to hold him.  Now keep in mind I was also trying to pack his lunch, make his breakfast, and get all of our things together, to try to be out the door by 6:45!!  My poor guy started crying the minute I walked out the door!  It was sooo HARD!!  Luckily one of the teachers in after care is a friend of mine, and she sent me pictures all day that day reassuring me what a great day he was having!!  

So thankful to Mandy that she sent me this picture, that I edited in Instagram on my birthday!

This morning when I went in to drop Brandon off, he didn't want anything to do with it as soon as we got close to the door of the school.  I was able to get him in the room, told him to go play with his dinosaurs, and then he started crying again.  :(  Luckily the same teacher was there, and sent me pictures again today!!  I seriously don't know what I would do without her!  She is amazing!!  Brandon is loving school though, and you can tell that he is learning a lot!!  Almost every day he has come home with a new word, which is amazing!  When we went in for his two year appointment Brandon's doctor told us that we should put him in speech.  I am hoping that he will quickly start to pick it up the more that he is around kids who are talking.  

Anyone see the trend in the pictures yet?!

New things about Tyler:  Tyler started school the same day as Brandon!!  Tyler is very thankful to have another teaching partner this year, but isn't so happy that he is student teaching finally.  This just means extra work for him this fall. Hopefully by Christmas though he will be all done with everything.  That will mean next year he'll have his credential, he'll be a called worker, and he'll get a raise!!  AMEN!!!

New things about Cassandra:  I too have started school, and I have never felt so behind!!  I don't know where the time goes every day.  I am being way too adventurous this year, and I am tackling all new ways to teach almost everything.  I have realized that the only three subjects I am teaching the same as I have in the past are religion, science and social studies.  Even though I say I am teaching science and social studies the same, I still am changing things, as I always go in a different order, and try to find new ideas on Pinterest or TPT to help update what I do! I have a great class though, 26 kids, and I have two awesome aides who are with me every morning.  I have been able to recruit them to do a lot of things that I have always wanted to do, but have never had enough time to do!  I am very blessed to have them, and can't wait to see what my classroom looks like by the end of the year.  Looking at next year's class, hopefully they'll get a few more and we can split the class, or I'll have an aide again next year, which isn't always a bad thing.

My amazing birthday presents!

I have fallen off the bandwagon of working out though.  As soon as school started it got harder to work out in the morning, and be ready to leave by 6.  I have to be ready to leave by 6, because as soon as Tyler leaves, I have to be ready in case one of the kids get up.  If I get the kids up before I am ready to leave, then I know I will never make it in time.  Most days I don't leave for work until 6:50ish, thanks to my awesome ride Ellen, but it makes it harder to justify getting up earlier than 5, when I know I won't be leaving until around 7.  If only I could go to work smelly, then I would totally have enough time in the morning.  Hopefully as it starts to get nicer I'll be able to work out in the afternoons, and then I'll just push Brandon in his stroller, or Natalie.  I know that this is just an excuse for now, but it is one that I have to live with for now.  I did hold on strong, and I made it to the 15th, I just haven't done so well since then.  I haven't been back on the scale since I lost 3 pounds in the firs week either.  I don't want to know how much I've put back on already.  I have stayed away from the soda, but I have had the coffee, and smoothies to make up for it.  I have had a lot of carbs this past week too.  :(

I found this on Pinterest or Instagram, I don't remember which one right now

September will bring new changes again, and I look forward to eating healthy, and staying fit!!  I am going to try and find a system to make sure that I am updating the blog frequently too!  I may not get all four posts in every week, so I will try and come up with new catchy names so you know when I'm going to post!!

Friday Five

1.  I can't believe we have a 2 year old!!!

2.  My aunt is in town for the next week to help us celebrate Brandon's birthday!  My grandma also comes into town today to help us celebrate for the weekend!

3.  Today was my last day getting ready for my new class on Monday!!  I can't believe I will have a class of 26 students starting Monday.  Where did the summer go!?

4.  I started a new book, Gone Girl, since we are going to be doing it for our Messy House Book Club.  I haven't really gotten into it yet, I have been on a dry spell since I finished all of those Karen Kingsbury novels.  I heard it was great though, so I really need to find time to read.

5.  I am super excited for Brandon's party tomorrow!  Stay tuned for pictures!!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

Today was my second day back to work.  At this point I think that I have been way too busy to realize how much I miss the kids.  I know once school starts, on Monday, that I will be missing them more and more.  Right now I am in such a frantic mode to try and get everything done by Thursday morning that it hasn't really set in yet.  I wish that I knew a magic way that I could stay home with my kids, but it really isn't possible for us.  I know people say all the time that we should be able to do it, but with our expenses, we really can't.  Besides if someone was going to stay home, at this point in the game it wouldn't make sense for me to stay home, since I make more than Tyler. Who knows what could happen next year, lets see how things go this year, but I would love to be able to be the one to raise my kids, instead of having my parents and in-laws do it.  I am very thankful that it is them, and that B and Natalie don't have to go to a day care facility, but I would love to be home with them.

Family of four . . . 14 weeks

New things about Brandon:  Brandon was able to go play at the splash pad again this week with our buddy Hans!  It is such a blast.  This week was much warmer than last week though, so we were only able to stay for a week.  Brandon learned a new animal sound this week thanks to our friend Susan too!  Now he can "baaa" like a sheep!  We have started to get things ready for Brandon's first day of school too.  We already received our first emails from his teacher, and we can't wait to meet her next week!

Drinking from the cup like a big boy at Matt's Big Breakfast

New things about Natalie:  Natalie is growing my leaps and bounds.  She is now consistently eating between 3 - 5 ounces at a time!  Where has my little girl gone!?!  She is starting to sit in the bumbo too!  At first she didn't really like it, but yesterday Brandon was running in circles with Derrik and Natalie was just smiling and watching them.  She also fell asleep on her play mat yesterday while Tyler, Brandon and I were having a dance party!  That is the first time she has fallen asleep on her back, without being swaddled!  We were pretty impressed!

Hanging out in the bumbo

New things about Tyler:  Yesterday was officially Tyler's last day of summer.  He reports back to work this morning, and now it is time for him to start getting into the groove of his school year.  He is excited about the upcoming year, and has a new teaching partner that he gets to start working with.

Dance party

New things about Cassandra:  I am excited to not officially start back to work until Monday.  I am headed into work today and tomorrow to get going though, as my room needs to be totally ready to go by next Thursday!  I have also launched a new teacher blog, which I am super excited about!  I disconnected it from my personal blog, in case it does take off, I don't want them linked.  That way this blog stays more personal, and I know only a few of you read it.  :)

mrs3rdgrade07.blogspot.com

I know I have kept saying I was going to work out, I was going to work out.  Well, today begins that journey.  I am ready to go!  I did my first workout this morning.  Natalie decided that 4:15 would be a great time to get up this morning, even though Tyler's alarm wasn't going off until 4:45.  So I finished feeding her, and then decided I had to get up and go out, or I would keep putting it off!  So I did!!

Current weight:  141 pounds

My workouts courtesy of Pinterest

Family of four . . . 13 weeks

New things about Brandon:  This week Brandon had his toys moved downstairs.  We bought a new entertainment center, so we moved around the toys downstairs.  Now Brandon has his own area that is just full of his toys.  He was able to spend a lot of time in the pool this past week.  Our friends came over for dinner Saturday night, so he loved being able to play in the pool with Abby and Derek, and then running around the house with them.  On Tuesday I went with Brandon and met Sarah at a splash pad down in Tempe and Brandon had a blast!!  My phone was acting funny though, so I don't have any pictures from our afternoon there!!  Then today the kids were able to go spend time at grandma and grandpa's house, and Brandon was able to go swimming with papa.

Brandon loves his sissy

He likes to try to pick her up too!

New things about Natalie:  Natalie is 3 months old today!!  It is crazy to think that it has already been three months!!  Really though, where has the time gone!  This week Natalie started to spend a lot more time on her play mat, and she is turning herself all around the mat.  She is almost able to roll over now too, but can't quite get all of the way over.  She hasn't slept through the night again yet, but last night she did sleep until 4:45 this morning, which we will consider sleeping through the night.  We just wish we could figure out why she sleeps that late on some nights, and not on all of them!

From our 3 month photo shoot today!

New things about Tyler:  He has been able to work in his room a few times this past week, and it is slowly getting there.  He has also been tutoring, but I believe that this was his last week tutoring.  He is ready to get back to work, and is ready to start having a more normal schedule again.

New things about Cassandra:  I have been able to get into work a few times this week as well.  It is nice to be able to start setting up my room, even though I still can't 100% because there was a leak in my room on Monday.  Now they have to go back in to clean the carpets again since the leak left a huge stain!  This has given me time to switch out some bulletin boards though, and clean up my closet.  My next task to tackle will be my filing cabinets.  I am hoping that we will have our schedules after tomorrow, but if I don't get it until the fifth, I do have plenty to do still.  We have also been eating a ton of fruit and vegetables!  I love it, and can't wait to start August 1 with an exercise and healthy eating plan!!  I know I said I was going to start sooner, and for the month of July I have been really good about not drinking soda.  We really only had some when we went to the movies in the beginning of the month, and then again when we were drinking.  Other than that I have been sticking to mainly water, some juice and now gatorade.  The other exciting thing is that I am finally working on my teacher blog again!  I am so excited to start this, and I hope that I will be able to get into a groove with that blog, as I have done with updating you all about the kiddos too!!

Tyler's dinner from Sunday night, he was very proud of himself!