Crafty Girls!

So a few of my MG girls friends have gotten into making crafts for your house! So I decided I would join in the fun. I went to Wood Connection and bought some really cute wood crafts for St. Patricks day. I made the Lucky sign prior to the craft party night and it turned out really cute! I am so excited to go get a SPRING sign and make to have up for April and May. Here are the two projects I have been working on. They turned out pretty cute.

This one is still drying. 12 hours later! The glue I used for the sparkles is not the best for glitter!

The final finished project. Still slightly wet!

Thanks for the fabulous fun ideas Annika and Steph! I love you both!

NEW POWER HOUR!

OK so as many people know in Murray District they have an hour (or in my case a 1/2 hour) of a teachers day that is dedicated to literacy learning. It is called "POWER HOUR." I am so lucky to have this time. I have 3 aids that come in and help me and my students to enhance their literacy skills. Well I have been following the direction of the other 2 teachers and doing what they did during power hour. But after talking to my principal I have completely revamped my power hour. I've been thinking about changing it since Christmas but I didn't know if I could. Some days I still feel like a student teacher that has to do as the other teachers say. But I don't! Not that the other teachers do not have great ideas and instruction, they just don't always work for everybody!

So we use to have 4 groups in which the students went to through out the week. But they only received 30 min. of instruction total on guided reading and spelling. So I decided instead of the students attending 2 of the groups a day they are going to go to 3 ten minute groups, giving them 40 min. of instruction in each subject each week. I am so excited to change it next week I hope it works they way I think it will and I hope I don't overwhelm the aids that help me.

I am also planning to redo my center instruction. I feel bad that my kids are being guinea pigs this year! But they are all so smart that I think they can handle it! I am going to try what another teacher suggested on her blog here is the poster board I am going to make.

The students are assigned their first group they have to go to and then they can choose between three others after they have accomplished the task of the first group. I hope that it works. I think that it eliminates a lot of the unpleasant paper work that they have to accomplish in the centers I am doing now! THANK YOU KELLY'S WEB PAGE! I love all the ideas you give me! Their are so many websites that are such a big help for teachers. Here are just a few...

http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/

http://www.jmeacham.com/

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org

http://www.hellofirstgrade.com/

http://www.uen.org/

Just a couple that I use all the time. It amazes me that teachers use to work with out the Internet! I love that teachers post their ideas on their web pages! It is such a big help!

Bad Day, Sad Day, Glad Day!

Today was both a hard day and a GREAT day! I was observed for the second time today by my principal. I was worried that it did not go well at all. She observed me during Power Hour, which is a small group process that kids move through. I have been frustrated with different parts of my power hour time and daily centers. One of my power hour aids is just not watching or taking care of her group. Therefore, I have to stop my lesson to discipline off task students. It is getting old. Today while my principal was observing me, she noticed the same things so now I have her on my side. Not that I didn’t previously but it just felt good to talk to her about it.

I hate being observed because I feel like I am not my best because I try to hard to be my best when someone is watching. I was not nervous before or during the observation. Things went okay. After as the students were leaving to go to recess and my principal was leaving I got extremely nervous that things did not go well. I realized that transitions took to long. Which I have always noticed but it doesn’t bother me too much. Basically, it put me in a bad mood and I was frustrated for the rest of the day.

Well after meeting with my principal after school, I WAS WRONG! She said I did great! We were able to talk about a few things that I was concerned with. (aka centers) She said my transition was forty-five seconds. I wondered if that was a good thing or bad. She said it was fabulous! Needless to say she raised my spirits after a long hard day!

Feeling Crafty!

SO lately i've been feeling really crafty. I am so excited to get started to get started on my newest craft St. Patty's day Decor! I went to WOOD CONNECTION and bought these really cute decorations. I am so excited and nervous to put together. They look pretty easy but I want to dry and modge podge some paper onto the wood so we'll see.

Here are some crafts that I have been working on...

SWEET ROSETTES

I've started a little bow project that I am going to sell in my sister in-laws salon "Forever Young!" Here is a start to what I have made...

Birthdaygraw!!!

Ha ha okay so my friend, who is kinda crazy, no offense Sam love ya! She plays this game called "Birthdaygraw." So starting the Thursday before your birthday and ending the Thursday after your birthday basically you can get people to do anything you want them to do for you just by saying "Birthdaygraw." I laughed so hard at this idea. She had her husband changing channels on the TV for her, her aunt buying her drinks, her mom paying for dinner, and more! Honestly funny! But it got me thinking! How often do people take advantage of their birthdays. I honestly have a hard time telling people it is my birthday because I don't really want the attention. But at the same time who doesn't want their birthday acknowledge. Now there is the whole facebook thing where everyone in the world knows your birthday. It is fun to hear from people of coarse but really how big of deal is your next birthday?

Well mine is pretty big. Not to be a hypocrite but I am turning 25! Yes TWENTY-FIVE! I can't believe I will be a quarter of a century old! It is kinda a big deal!

I am just thinking about everything I have done and I can't believe it! I have traveled to many of the states including California(a few hundred times), Hawaii, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Nevada, and probably more! I have been all over the world: London, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Salzburg, Rome, Florence, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In my 25 years I have graduated High School, gotten a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, and a Masters in Education. I have been teaching for almost a full year and been married for 1 1/2 years! I wrote my highschool sweetheart on his mission, married him a little more than year after he got home, and now enjoy watching movies with him everynight. I have watched my family get bigger! I have gained in-laws. I have a testimony that is strong and keeps growing. I am a Young Women's leader, even though I still feel like I should be in Young Women. I could go on and on!

But that's enough! 25 AHHHHH I think that I can use "Birthdaygraw" maybe once in my Week long festival!

Just Thinking

Well I have just been blog hopping and it has got me thinking! Why I am not the best writer? All of my life I have been a horrible writer. I think a lot of it is genetic ha ha no idea who to blame for that because my Grandma and my mom are two of the smartest people I know. Maybe it is because my mom helped and did a lot of my writing in jr. high and high school. It is funny because now as I am teaching writing to my first graders most of the time I am not even sure the correct grammatical order. Seriously my grammar needs work. I am glad that I don't use were and was interchangeably because that drives me crazy, "was you going to do that?" oh come on we don't live in hickville! Anyway I have decided the only way I am going to become a better writer is to write more. Which is always my goal on my blog, so here goes nothing.

Things I want to do this year...

I want to go on vacation so bad. A cruise would be way nice I am looking at cruises in August. It is sad that Trent and I literally have one week that we can go on vacation. I have to keep reminding my self that we have eternity to travel all the places I want to go. I so want to go to San Fran, New York, Seattle, Mertyl Beach, Mexico, Greece, Africa, Australia, and many other exotic places! My dream is to go stay at the Atlantis Resort in the Caribbean. I have always dreamed of going their since I was a little girl and I watched a show with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in it. Oh man! I am such a cheese ball! Hopefully a vacation will come together for this summer!

I would love to buy a house but I know that, that is a major dream. Trent and I are really picky. We would love a fixer upper but would also love a move in ready house. Something we could live in but fix up as we could. One of the biggest problems is we want a yard. Most people do not want a yard so they are harder to find these days. We have walked thru a couple dozen houses and have not found anything quite yet. I am hoping someday soon the perfect one will pop up for us. I know it is all in the right timing!

I NEED to lose weight. I would love to lose 20-30 pounds. I know seems like a lot but that is about how much I have put on since getting married. I feel like nothing will work but part of that is because I am lazy and can't get my self to work out. I hate sweating which is a huge part of losing weight. So here is the goal I am trying my best to eat healthy and avoid all the junk food. I have started using a calorie counter. It really seems to help. I did not realize how many calories certain foods are. I am allowed 1200 calories a day. Which is nothing! I am struggling staying under 1500! I am going to keep trying. I am also trying YOGA which I really enjoy it stretches me out and I feel really good after. I know it is working my muscles cause man I am sore! I would love suggestions.

I want to start making more crafts and cooking more! I would love to discover some unknown talent of mine. I love to sew! I want to make something incredible like a quilt for our bed! Ha ha Not so incredible but I would love to actually finish a project. I really want to learn how to decorate cookies. I got a whole bunch of new recipes can't wait to try them out!

Things I need to do...

Finish school. I am so close I have only my final project this summer! I am so excited to be done and have a freaking Masters Degree! I can't believe that I have a graduate degree it seems so unreal. It is funny, because in movies it is such a HUGE deal but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Although failing my comps was tough! YUCK! But i will be done in JULY! Hooray!

Deep clean my house! It is crazy how much stuff you can accrue in two years! I feel like I have piles everywhere which i know is not true but man does it feel that way. Somedays I wish that I was OCD about cleaning. I kind of am when it comes to dust! I hate dust and gross bathroom stuff! I just want to be better at organizing when I get stuff rather than putting it off!

I need to catch up with old friends I really miss my high school friends! I want to keep in touch more with Frances. She is like a sister to me and I miss her terribly. I want to know whats going on in her life! I have always had a hard time with friends and she has always been there for me. We have know each other since 7th grade. 12 years ago we met! I can't believe it has been that long! She is so incredible. I have always looked up to her. I wish that we still lived close enough that we could just play when ever we had a free minute. Man do I miss her. She always knew when I needed her and would call a the perfect time! I love you Frannie! My other girl half! ;)

I need to start being better at my visiting teaching. Every month I feel renew and gun hoe. But some how I never get to it! So that is a major goal of mine! Visiting Teaching HERE I COME!

Ok well enough rambling! I'll right more another night! But I think this is a good start to journaling! :0

Happy Valentine's Day to US!

Well Valentine's turned into a weekend affair for us. I figured I wasn't going to be able to spend to much time with Trent on Valentines because we both had work and Trent had school. So I decided to surprise Trent with a yummy dinner Friday night. Steak, potatoes, asparagus, carrots, and Italian Sodas. I gave Trent a box of popcorn for our popcorn machine! To surprise him I set up our projector and made a bed on the floor to watch a movie. We started watching "What Happens in Vegas" but immediately both of us started to fall a sleep. We decided to move upstairs and fell asleep at 9:30.

Saturday we were out washing the truck and decided to go to Training Table. It was so yummy! Then we went and say, "Just Go With It."

VALENTINE'S DAY!

I went and bought a Papa Murphy's heart shaped pizza! It was so cute!

On Trent's way home he went to 3 stores (Sam's, Target, and finally Smiths) looking for flowers for me. So sweet! He bought me beautiful pink roses!

I love having time to spend time with my love!

I wish there were more days dedicated to it!