I'm a Bad, Bad Blogger!

I have no idea how you other moms and teachers do it!  I am nearly drowning this year and blogging has been one of the last things on my mind.  My sister asked me to write a blog post for her travel blog, Glam Girls Travel and it got me in the mood to write again!  I'll let you guys know when it gets posted--it's all about traveling with young children.

I think I posted a while back that I was going to try out self-contained this year.  Well...it's going!  I do miss teaching reading all day long!  I also miss only having to prep for reading & language arts.  I do like having the same kids throughout the day, though. It can be challenging at times, but I do feel like I have a better grasp on behaviors and their progress in school in all subjects.  My teammate and I have discussed it and I think we have decided to go back to switching next year...one of the main reasons being....

I'm having a baby!  

We're expecting a little girl in May!  So, does that get me off the hook for not blogging since August?  All you moms out there know what that first trimester exhaustion is like.  Well, mine still hasn't gone away and I'm 26 weeks.  Today is actually the first day that I feel like my energy is coming back.  Thank goodness!  I'm even considering going into school tomorrow to get some stuff done that has been neglected for far too long. 

I'm also getting ready to start Math Workstations this week.  I was busy creating some games during family movie night (luckily my hubs and kid gets it!)  I went to Dollar Tree earlier and got some dice, playing cards, flash cards, and some containers to house everything.  Once I work out the kinks and see how things run, I will definitely be posting more.  I know it's going to take some trial and error, given this is my first go-round!  

Well, I hope everyone is having a great weekend and I hope my fellow midwesterners are staying warm!  It was 45 degrees here today, which is a heat wave compared to the -35 wind chills we were having three days ago!  I am going to make a goal to post at least once a week from now on, so stick with me!  

Not Teaching Related, But Fun Anyways!

My sister is coming into town this weekend for her favorite nephew's birthday party, so I decided to host her a bridal shower for her local friends since she's getting married in November in Florida.  I know I'm probably not the norm, but I hate bridal shower games.  Well, any shower games for that matter.  And having been the recipient of several showers, I think they are even more uncomfortable for the guest of honor:  you are a grown woman opening up presents in front of 50 people and are expected to have a specific reaction for every single one.  Again, it's probably just me, not trying to offend all those shower-lovers out there!  But, because it's my sister and my matron-(I hate that word, too!)-of-honor duty, I had to come up with something for the 25 or so shower guests to do.  The tamed-down shower games are as follows:  Famous Couples & "Love" Songs.  


Sorry, no toilet paper wedding dresses here.  In the Famous Couples game, guests are asked to write down the other half of a named famous person.  I'm posting a copy here.

For the other game, "Love" Songs, I downloaded songs with the word "love" in the title.  Some examples include "Love Me Tender" by Elvis, "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, and "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family.  Not all songs are your typical love songs, though, I also have "You Give Love a Bad Name" (Bon Jovi, of course!), "Your Love is My Drug" (Ke$ha), and from my favorite movie of all time, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers.  Game players must write down the title and artist of each song.  The person with the most correct, wins.  You can also play this game at a baby shower and use the word "baby" in the title.  


This post is obviously not at all teaching related, but this is what I've been up to today, and thought I'd share!  


I also want to thank everyone for participating in my linky party!  I tried to look at and comment on everyone's top ten lists.  If I missed yours, please don't be offended, it was an honest mistake!  Also, don't forget to enter my super-fabulous giveaway!

A Random Thought...

I've learned recently about myself that if there is a book in the house that I am interested in, I would much rather read that book than watch TV. You would have to know me personally to know how big of a deal that is: watching TV is my biggest vice.
The question arises then, how do we get our students to that point? I'm hoping The Book Whisperer has some answers!

One thing I've Learned...

One thing I have learned since starting this blog is I HAVE GOT to take more pictures!  I am a fairly new mom, so I take plenty of pictures of my beautiful little boy, but I don't take any of the fabulous projects we do at school.  This occurred to me when posting about the volunteer appreciation event I hosted last year.  A perfect supplement to that blog post would have been a picture of those awesome (if I do say so myself!) favors.  


So if any of you (my three followers!) notice I don't take pictures of something that you would like to see...call me out on it!  Please.