just lying there, at the bottom of the box

today I opened our last book order box of the year

and to my delight

I found a whole stack of these lovelies sitting at the bottom

and because I LOVE HARRY POTTER

you better believe I can hardly wait to hand these out to my kids tomorrow!

weekend finds

  

well, this weekend was not all work
there was a little play
had some time to find a couple new additions to the home
found an awesome lazy susan that is now displaying my teacups
a ridiculously cool table runner
some earrings I plan on using on a homemade sweater chain
and finally some shelf liner from the 70's that had my name written all over it

happy memorial day

today was productive

those state reports - graded

after over four hours at a coffee shop

now it's time to enjoy a sweet treat

 maybe I'll share it with husband

 he's been eyeing it since I brought it home

it was given to me by one of my awesome moms

her reason for giving me the cookie on friday

"because I'm a star"

how could I not LOVE my job?

work on display

we had fun working on our folders for open house
LOVED the final product!

sunday's "so they said"

this week brought a very rained out baseball game

and a cloudy but awesome day at the pool

I played volleyball with my kids

and laughed harder than I have in a while

so yes, I have the best job ever

this week also brought family life
I got our boys, and yes, they are where this week's "so they said" comes from

in order to try to cut down on their nerves

I gave them notecards where they could write down a question

and it would be answered anonymously 

well, after going through many blank, folded notecards

I found my favorite

A simple white notecard with the work "AWKWARD" written on it.

And yes, I started to laugh a bit.

Talk about breaking the tension.

So now, I will spend some quality time with some state reports.
Hope you have a happy long weekend.
I will be productive.
I will feel better by Tuesday.
The final two weeks of school.  I can't believe it.

well, because I like them both

      

                                                                                                 

a little something for everyone.

of course the first 24 went in the trash

clearly, I can't hear my timer

the husband thought they were salvageable

until we couldn't get the wrapper off the cupcake

well, at least I try

so after 5 dozen - I think I'm ready for tomorrow

tonight's find

these were made by a local artist

found in the window of an art store I passed on my evening stroll

pretty amazing

oh, and I survived family life with our 5th grade boys

my favorite comment today was when one of them asked me

"how did you get stuck with us?"

they make me smile

they handled the awkwardness like champs

tomorrow - 

pool party!

meet alley

our appropriately named alley cat

she came under our care when the husband called me in a panic

asking if luna was in the house with me

after it was clear our house kitty was in the house

this little one became ours too

so apparently, we have a weak spot for tabby's

it could be worse

finished up the letters for the kids travel fair boards

and even though it was pretty tedious

I was thankful there is now a device to do most of the work

to all those educators before me who had to do this by hand - 

you rock my world

rain in may. a lot of rain.

well, when all was said and done 

we spent 5 hours and the ballpark

and watched three-quarters of an inning

even though one of my kids SWORE it was two innings

he was a little confused by the whole concept

bottom line

the kids had a blast - and survived - even though they were drenched

i am

"I am" poems

awesome for open house

even got a few parents teary eyed

here is the structure I used for the poems this year:

I am (2 special characteristics)

I wonder (something of curiosity)

I hear (an imaginary sound)

I see (imaginary sight)

I want (actual desire)

I pretend (something you actually do)

I understand (something that is true)

I say (something you believe)

I dream (something you wish for the future)

I try (something you put effort in)

I hope (an actual hope)

I am (repeat of the first line)

enjoying spring, a season we typically don't have

and tonight's walk brought another bird sighting

this one a little stranger than the last

now I'm going to enjoy some fresh fruit

mmm spring.

oh, and I have TWO field trips this week

so only TWO more teaching days

which means, tomorrow, I am going back to yoga

not the only ones on a sunday stroll

sunday's "so they said"

this week was simply exhausting, but worth it

monday - teaching and then air band tryouts, which are exactly how they sound
tuesday - teaching and our last after school outing with youth power kids - a lot of jumping on trampolines
wednesday - teaching and part two of air band tryouts
thursday - said goodbye to my last equity day - no teaching
friday - 5th grade wax museum - open house - evening performance of wax museum - then open rooms!

so, after all this, I don't have much else to say, but here is my one "so they said"

after walking in the room before school I heard one of my students say

"the room, it just looks beautiful, amazing, almost magical"

yes, I love her.  I love her for noticing all my hard work from the sunday before.  I love her enthusiasm for our classroom.

That is magical.

another open house is in the books

just a few fish we whipped up today

and now I'm wiped out

good nite.

all in a days work

Love untreated pastels. Less than 24 hours till open house.
 I think I'm ready.

just another cut

Well losing class size reduction means us upper grade teachers lose our equity days. Those magical days we get three times a year to get caught up on our work, grading, planning, etc. since we have 11 more students. However next year things will be all "equitable" and I will have to find some other time to get caught up on my stacks of papers!

Goodbye equity days. You will be missed by many.

because who has energy to cook this week?

stormy sunday

we had an amazing hail storm

which made spending the day in my classroom getting ready for
open house not as bad

and I had my mom there to help too

5 days till open house

and about a thousand adjunct duties this week

a constant supply of chocolate will be a must

sunday's "so they said"

This week brought just an outpouring of LOVE from my kids due to the whole pink slip situation.  My favorite comment though came from one of my students who actually will be going on to middle school next year.  As of now, my kids have the choice to stay at our K-6, or move on to the big bad middle school campus!  Of my 33, only 3 are leaving!

Anyways, after we came in from lunch I was asked:

"Mrs. Lewis, could you please step outside the classroom for just two minutes?  And I promise, it is completely school appropriate!"

So I did, I'm not sure what they are up to, planning some type of madness for sure!  My favorite part of the comment though was "school appropriate", you can tell this is something they have heard me say before!

my pink friday

my fourth pink friday wasn't bad

my kids were busy at recess signing petitions as to why my district needs to hire me back

and hire me back at my current site - with them

it was pretty awesome how dedicated they are to saving my job

of course it won't save my job because everything is done by hire date

but, if my time comes, hopefully the efforts of my families will be rewarded

everyone, including me, wants to loop with my kids into 6th grade

so fingers crossed!

after school I made my way to the capitol for the rally

the husband met up with me too

so we decided to go here for dinner

and I picked up a new sign

right now I'm rockin it in one of my home windows

it might make it's way to my classroom window next week

we'll see

so, bottom line

getting laid off isn't so horrible when you receive an amazing amount of support from

students and their families

let's hope my pink slip and many others are rescinded soon

kind of in love

with my new morning routine

I think it's because it reminds me of my dad

makes me feel like a grown up

and allows me to have even more fun with my kids

really, again?

Today I found out that Friday will be the day I receive lucky number seven - 

of pink slips that is.

This year I was hoping for something different.

Maybe a year where things just worked out.

It is funny how only my very first year of teaching did I not receive the dreaded "may" slip.

After a very ridiculous lunch of uncontrollable crying,

I pulled it together enough for my kids to not realize my over-the-top emotions.

Thankfully-they snapped me back into my normal self.

And then I came home to a clean house and dinner on the stove. 

Which brings me to the point of the picture with this post.

My husband rocks.

He helps me through all the craziness that comes with being a new teacher.

Maybe by our 10th wedding anniversary this can all be behind us.

Oh, and this amazing photo is thanks to Sarah Maren Photography.

sunday's "so they said"... on monday

This weekend was jammed pack with fun, friends, and family.

And with all of that, I missed my "so they said".

So

Here it is, on Monday.

What I learned this week:

I was told that

 "Kesha's song Blow is about a drug party" 

-and- 

"why couldn't we find Bin Laden sooner because it was

 clear that he would be living in the biggest house on the block?".

I Love how black & white things are for them.  And also, the information they find necessary to share with me.  No complaints here, it keeps things interesting.

today with mom

my steps - 

Today we spent our day together painting at The Painted Cork

It was a great way to spend our day.
Happy mother's day out there to all you awesome moms!

happy mom's day

rainbow cupcakes, yes please

just a little pacific ocean

I'm able to post yet again because I am sitting in crazy traffic. And I am very tired of being in a car. It has taken over three hours to get home from s.f. which should take just over an hour, and we are still not there. I mean I have a date with making some rainbow cupcakes, and a pretty cool couple too. I want my home, now.

weekend

yummy s.f. morning

Thankfully we are here for a cancer walk because these two doughnuts were gone quick.

happy cinco de mayo

Yes, we are at in 'n out.

waiting

the number of days I have to wait

to know if I will be officially pink slipped

again

or by some miracle of the teaching gods

I get to keep my job

Keep my school

and loop with my kids up to 6th grade

which is one of my favorite things ever
photo from here

cards

I love how these turned out.

Simple but pretty awesome.

I think they will make some moms feel pretty special.

waiting for superman

this documentary is amazing

and being an educator, yes, I did shed a tear or two

we need to do something now

and it starts with great teachers

check out waiting for superman

mom's day

my inspiration for our mom's day card project

wish me luck, we'll see how they turn out

image from here

comic strips

This project started simply as an easy lesson plan for a sub.

Give them a graphic organizer they are familiar with.

Write a story with a person who has some type of special power or ability.

Well, they LOVED it.

So

Time to make it something bigger.

There are actually two stories in one.

One story in purely written form.  The second is a comic strip.

Same characters, two separate adventures.

They have been time consuming

but that's an open house project!

thankful