1st Grade Christmas Party

I couldn't make it for the whole party, but I got there while they were eating and at just the right time, because, Santa stopped by! Each kiddo was able to sit on his lap and have a good little conversation with him! I'm so glad that Jacilayne has finally decided Santa is okay and will sit on his lap (2 years in a row now!).  This time, however, she told Santa she wanted a remote controlled truck.  WAIT...WHAT?!?! How come she never says the same thing, except phone and ipad? In her defense, it seems that what happens is whatever the 1st kid up says they want, normally becomes the theme in the classroom! It's like they have major memory loss once they sit on his knee...?!?! Anyways, no she is not getting a phone, I told her I would write Santa a letter and tell him she is too young for that and an ipad!

Here is she is at her class party with Santa!

Has It Really Been 7 Years Already?

Do you know the old saying, "Time flies when you are having fun?" I'm pretty sure I heard that a time or two growing up but never really understood it.  You know they say, the older you get the wiser you become!  I now understand what this means! Although parenting is not always fun, in fact sometimes it's down-right exhausting, stressful, and hard, BUT, it is by far the most rewarding thing I have ever done or will ever do! The last 7 years have flown by like the speed of light.  I don't know where my baby went but I am sure that I am beyond blessed to have this beautiful, brown-eyed girl to keep me busy and make my heart warm! Since her birthday was on Thanksgiving, we have her our presents that day and sang to her at our family's Thanksgiving later that day! The next Sunday was the designated party day--Jump for Joy here we come!! No pics from the kids playing, but there are tons of what was going on in the party room (I'll spare you all of that, however, I will share the birthday cake later on!).  I still can't believe she's 7! YIKES!

This was after her birthday party.. we went to eat!! Some of our faves!! 

Happy Birthday at Grammy's!! My pretty girl! 

It's the Most Wonderful Time....Of the Year!!!

Christmas is one of my most favorite times of the year! I love everything about Christmas, except shopping, hence the reason I did 95% of my shopping online this year.  Anyways, this post was not about my experiences shopping or not shopping this year! This post is about school stuff! Yay for school ideas! I forgot to take a picture of my Thanksgiving bulletin board, but here is my Christmas board this year! Both the reindeer and the Santa I used last year in a different setting, but this year I decided to use them both on the same board!

Rudolf is tangled upside in the lights and Santa, well, he had too many cookies and got stuck in the chimney! Both of these I found on Pinterest last year! Santa comes with a writing prompt, If Santa Got Stuck In My Chimney (or something along that line).

I added in the shadow snowmen for the display because I really liked them and thought my class did a fabulous job on them!

Thanks again, Pinterest, for the awesome ideas!

The Most Dreaded Time--Loose Teeth

I can deal with a lot more than I ever thought before I became a mom, but loose teeth---- I CAN'T EVEN DEAL!!!

This crooked, snaggle tooth makes me sick!! But that smiling face makes me happy! Please just pull that tooth already!!!

A Good Friend, A Good Run, A Good Cause

I've haven't been running since the beginning of October because my feet needed to heel up quite a bit.  I've been feeling really down, lazy and tired because I'm not able to do anything because the pain was terrible and then went to tolerable but I knew that doing anything would cause the pain to increase.  I was pumped to run two 5K's this month but slowly watched as I let these events slide from my view as the pain in my foot was not leaving. Plus, it turned off much colder than what we are used to in November!  We sat at dinner Friday night and I get a text from a very good friend sent me a text saying she had been running that night and it wasn't too cold after about 10 minutes and that she wanted to run Saturday night and if I would be up for it.  My heart screamed YES YES YES! My mind---EXCUSES! It's too cold (36 degrees Friday night), I haven't run in a month, my foot is going to hurt to bad.  My heart won the fight and I made arrangements for Jacilayne and signed up for the run at a little before midnight! Even though I hadn't ran in over a month, I managed to make it a mile before I had to stop to tie my shoes, and then kept on another half to 3/4 mile, managing to make it up the dreaded hill the first time and halfway the 2nd! That half walk up the hill might of been 1 minute and then two more stops later on for maybe 20 seconds.  I finished the 5K in a little over 43 minutes.  I was pretty proud! I have to give a shout out to my good friend!  She rocked that run and I am so proud of her! She finished in 34 minutes! I needed this run! I needed it for myself! I needed it for my confidence, energy, determination, motivation! I'm glad I have a friend close by that I can run with (hopefully)!

So to you Joey Scherler, Thank You for asking me and making me want to do it! It was a pleasure to be there with you even though we didn't get to really run together!

        Before the race, so excited!                        After the race! Clearly, I'm about to die! 

Plantar Fasciitis= A Pain In My Foot--Literally

I started my running journey almost 2 years ago when I started training with the couch to 5k program (C25K).  I used this program all winter in preparation to run my first 5K which I ran in March of 2013.  My first run was the Color Me Rad in OKC! It was so much fun! As soon as we finished and returned to my brother's house, he signed us up for the Mud Factor in June of that year, another first for me! I survived the Mud Factor and I mean that literally! It was the hardest thing next to childbirth I think I've ever done--but it was so very fun, I mean, when do you get to play in the mud as a 29 year old?!  I expected to be sore after the mud factor but much to my surprise, the only soreness came from my feet.  I lived with sore feet from June until October.  Okay, so it was much more than just pain, it was like excruciating and knives being stuck into my heels.  At first it was just during my first steps in the morning, then it evolved to be the first steps after I would sit down at any given point during the day, regardless of if it was a 20 minute sit-down or a 20 second sit-down.  

After a while, it turned into constant pain, and this is when I realized I didn't just injure myself during the run.  Off to the doctor I went only to learn it was Plantar Fasciitis.  So apparently there is this ligament in your foot that connects your heel to your toes (plantar).  Well, this ligament is affected by many things--age, weight, arch support.  Your arch will collapse some as you get older (not what I wanted to hear as I was approaching the 30 mark, which I was fine with until my body started to go nutso on me).  Anyways, as your arch collapses, the ligament pulls and it is very painful and causes heel spurs (which the Dr. says isn't what hurts).  There are several steps of treatments for this Plantar, and I started with the first--shots in my feet! Sounds painful, and it is but not the worst ever! 

After my first shots, I felt like a new woman! I mean, W.O.W.!! I could walk like an almost 30 year old instead of someone much more mature than me! I felt fabulous. Much to my dismay, however, the pain returned and so did the shots for the next year and few months, which leads me to the present time! I ran a 5k at the beginning of Oct. and on the same day just a few hours later I ran a 1-mile fun run with Jacilayne and by that night, I couldn't walk.  I honestly thought I was going to have to crawl around my house.. It was TERRIBLE! A few days later I tweeted (yes, I tweet, but don't follow me, I'm very boring) about my pain and #plantarfasciitis and in return I got a a tweet from someone (idk who it is) and told me about stretches (which I do) and this Kinesiology tape and a video on how to tape for Plantar Fasciitis.  

This past Saturday, a very good friend of mine wanted to run a 5K, and I agreed, sore foot and all.  I taped my foot for the first time.  Now, normally when I finish running, I can barely walk and this time, my foot was sore even before I started.  When I finished, the pain was nothing more than what it was before I started.  By Sunday evening, the only time my foot hurts would be the "first step" syndrome (that's my name for it!).  

My point in this blog is to inform.  I feel like I could have been treated differently.  I don't think I needed as many shots as I received after I talked to others who are seeing the same doctor.  I have some custom orthodics coming my way in hopes of helping with the support on my arch! But for those who are looking for additional relief or relief without getting shots or spending tons of money.  Check out the kinesiology tape and the video to help you out! 

I found my tape at Academy in green! Pre-cut strips! They have more expensive then this and different colors and designs! I'm cheap! 

http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/kt-tape-original-precut-elastic-athletic-tape-20-strip-pack/pid-674465?color=Lime+Green&N=652969652&Ntt=kt+tape&Ntk=All

http://rocktape.com/videos/feet-hands/plantar-fasciitis-2/

Transition to a big girl bed--just a few years late

Most people post this wonderful life moment when their kid is around 2 years old after transitioning them out of the crib.  The difference between everyone else's post and mine?  Mine is about 4 years late and it's a much different transition.  Our transition is from our bed to her own bed! Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change a thing about letting her sleep in my bed for 5 1/2 years (she's only 6 btw).  Late night snuggles, early morning snuggles, staring at her sweet face while she sleeps, nothing will ever make me regret my decision to allow her to sleep with me, but there is a time when it is time.  We reached that time.  Why you might ask?

NEED I SAY MORE?!

A Little Encouragement Makes Your Day Bright!

For 3 years now, I've been able to wake up each and every morning and go to the job of my dreams.. the job that I know I was destined to do.. the job that can make me laugh and cry all in the same day hour minute.  But even with the ups and downs, sweat and tears, frustration and laughter, I truly enjoy every single minute of that 7 1/2 hour school day! It is a pure blessing and peace of heart to know that you are doing exactly what God wanted you to do with your life!

What makes my job even better though? The people I work with! I found this sweet note in my school mailbox one day! 

 Sure is nice to have someone tell you that you are doing great things, because sometimes, it doesn't feel that way! What this teacher doesn't know is that I couldn't do it without her! She makes me feel like a better teacher for always encouraging me! 

The job is hard..rigorous...exhausting...frustrating.. but with the kind words of encouragement from a co-worker, you know that all will be well.. and this put a smile on my face! Ann, you are the best and thank you for always making me smile and giving me the faith to know that I am giving 110% each day and that God does have my back! 

Hey all you Tweeters!!

I have come to love making bulletin boards! They are so very much fun! I always struggle at the beginning of the year coming up with something fun! My outside bulletin board isn't near my class, so I try to find something that appeals to everyone! Since social media is a big thing any more, I decided to give this one a shot!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

 Probably not one of my very best, but I really did like it! I eventually changed out the "tweet" to something else.. before I actually changed the whole thing!

Owl Be It--Another Owl Theme

I just fell in love with my owl theme and hated to see it go! However, I needed a new take so it wasn't exactly the same as last year. So, as a teacher, what do you do?!? Why Pinterest all the owl themes you can find and come up with something.... DUH!!! What did we ever do without Pinterest?

 So, I found this cool tree on Pinterest.  I'm not very artistic but I free-handed this!! Yay me! I took this picture without anything on it, but it became the theme as you can see in the next photo! I now have owls on this board along with adding a Life Principle word each week!

 Again, another Pinterest find! The "Owl Rules" and I added the tree behind!

 I used this saying last year on my door and I love it, so this year I added some owls to it!

 New way to display the 8 Expectations!!! Use your owl branch!!

Decided we'd be the wise owls... See next picture!!

Our owls are wearing glasses!! Love these!!!

I also placed other posters and such from last year all in the front of my room with tons of quotes! It's very busy but so bright and colorful and gives the children so much to think about! I don't have a picture, but I also did a helpers spot--Whoooooo's Helping? and I used the pockets you put library cards in to write the helpers on!

Love the owls!! Don't know what I'll do next year! Not sure I'll be ready to give them up yet!!