Teacher Appreciation Week

This Week is officially Teacher Appreciation week. To celebrate, Chick-Fil-A gave all teachers a free chicken sandwich. Can I just say that I love Chick-fil-A so much. They really didn't have to do that but they obviously really appreciate teachers and that's so nice to see these days. Also this week Sonic is giving away free cherry limeades, so I will probably hit them up tomorrow. In addition to all the freebies it's also teacher appreciation week and my daughter's daycare. Ellie's teachers and everybody at the ELC 1 work really hard to teach our kids and take care of our babies while we are at work. To show them how much we appreciate them we have had fun events and goodies for them all week. Tomorrow is art appreciation day (Make the teachers something) so I had Ellie do her very first canvas painting. I must say that I'm very very very impressed with her painting skills. She knew to dip that paintbrush into the paint and then paint on the canvas, then go back to the paint and paint again. I was amazed. Here's her picture to give to the school.



My school, Willbern Elementary had teacher appreciation week about three weeks ago and it was amazing. We got to wear yoga pants and jeans all week and we got to do yoga one afternoon. They also fed us every day and we ate like kings. It was delightful.

So to all of my teacher friends out there happy teacher appreciation week!


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Spring Fling!

First off - I am loving this AMAZING weather! I just spent the last hour and a half outside on my hammock reading Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Askaban and the temperature outside is incredible!

Have I mentioned how much I love spring time?? Well if I haven't - I LOOOOOOOOVE SPRING!!

Yesterday Casey and I spent the afternoon outside getting the yard back in order. We had the guys at All Seasons Lawn & Landscaping come out and put fresh mulch down in our flower beds and then I mowed the lawn while Casey edged. I'm not going to lie, I kind of like to mow the lawn. Makes me feel strong and independent - I don't need no stinking man to mow the lawn! (We'll see if I'm still saying that in the 120 degree heat of August)

After mowing the lawn I relaxed in the hammock for a while with Riley and then made fajitas on the grill. It feels so much better to have the lawn back. I want to spend every extra minute I have out there and that's a great feeling. Here are me and the cutest dog in the world snuggling on the hammock. :)





Now that I have had my outside fix, it's inside to eat leftovers and watch American Idol. WHOO HOO!!!



ALSO- Good news: I PASSED MY PPR TEST!!! I took it this past Friday and got my scores today. For those of you who don't know - this was the last thing I needed to do to get my full teaching certificate. I just have to do some paperwork, be observed one more time and then I'm a fully certified teacher which means that the journey I started a little over a year ago is almost fulfilled! WHOO HOO!!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

IT SNOWED IN HOUSTON, TEXAS TODAY!!! Yes it's true, Houston, Texas, the hottest, muggiest, most gross weather having city in America, got snow ALL day long today. On Monday when the weather reports about Houston getting snow came out, I was thinking "Yeah, right- it never snows in Longview and Houston is WAY hotter!". The kids in my class kept assuring me that "On/In/At Friday it's going to snow!" Well today as we were doing morning circle and calendar, I looked outside and it was actually snowing! I could not believe my eyes. It was hard to see but the kids were so excited anyway. Since many of them had never seen snow before I decided that I would take it upon myself to let them go on a "mini-field trip" outside to play in the snow. So I bundled them up and instructed them that they could do whatever they wanted except scream and that if they screamed we would have to go inside immediately. Of course as soon as a snowflake hit their skin they all started screaming with excitement and I had to take them inside, but they really liked it. Later during the day when it started really coming down I took them out again and they really got to play in it and I didn't have to worry about them screaming because there were 3 other classes full of screaming kids outside too. The day was pretty chaotic with parents coming to pick their kids up early for fear that the roads would get too bad, but other than that it was a great Friday! Here are some pics of the kiddos in the snow while we were loading the buses and also one of Riley in the frosty grass!

Thankful for the Troops

As the holidays approach I am thinking about things that I am thankful for even more than ever. This week I had to comfort a very upset child and ended up making a cool class project out of it. Let me explain - one of my kids, Raven, is dealing with something very difficult right now. She just turned 6 and her mother is serving in Afghanistan right now. Raven is a very well adjusted, very bright child, but occasionally has a meltdown (rightfully so) because she misses her mother so much. On Wednesday Raven was particularly upset because we were talking about Thanksgiving and how we would be spending it. Most of the kids were saying "I'm going to my grandma's house with my mommy and daddy" or something along those lines and when I looked over at Raven she was visibly upset and soon started crying. I can't imagine how hard it is for her knowing that her mom is where she is and not coming home for a very long time. I decided to turn this into a special class project and on Thursday and Friday we made Thank You cards for Raven's mom to send to Afghanistan. This definitely cheered Raven up and Raven's grandmother (who she is currently living with) said that she was so excited that the whole class made cards for her mommy. I am sending the package on Monday, but I thought this one was particularly cute and that you might want to see it:




One of my kids Kendall did this one and yeah it's not perfectly spelled, but this is REALLY good for a kindergartner! Anyway, I hope that all of you are thinking about what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving and being especially thankful for your families. I know I am so thankful and feel so blessed that I have not one but TWO wonderful families this year (mine and Casey's).

I survived Parent-Teacher Conferences...barely

So today was Parent Teacher conference day and boy was I nervous. So nervous in fact that I threw up twice before I got to school and once as I was walking in. Who knows if it was just nerves or maybe a touch of food poisoning, but it definitely was not fun being nauseous all day long.

Conferences went really well after I got in the swing of things and all of the parents seemed very receptive to my recommendations and concerns. Yay!

After leaving work I went directly to Half Price Books because today was the last day that they had an additional 20% off for teachers. Boy am I glad I went! I got about $100 worth of awesome best selling children's books for a total of $35- yay! I am most excited about the pristine hardback copy of "No, David!" by David Shannon that I found. David Shannon is by far my kids favorite author and is quickly becoming mine as well - his books are so cute! My class asks me to read that book to them literally every day about 3 times so I'm glad I now have my own copy and don't have to sneak next door to get Tiffany's copy. Yay for new books!

This evening I am working on lesson plans for my official Region IV observation tomorrow- I am super nervous so keep me in your prayers! Off to bed I go now!

I'm a Kindergarten Teacher!!!

HOLY CRAP!! Today I went in for my interview for a Kindergarten position at Willbern Elementary in Cy-Fair ISD and they HIRED ME! The interview went amazingly well and the teachers, principal, and AP are awesome. I know now why God hasn't provided me with a job until now and that's because I was meant to work at Willbern with the amazing Kindergarten team! I have not stopped smilling since I left and I am SO EXCITED!

So the bigger news is - I START TOMORROW!! I was expecting to start a week or two from now, but they want me to start tomorrow! Of course I won't be teaching until Thursday, but I will be doing observation and doing lesson planning tomorrow! WHOA! I cannot believe how blessed I am!

Tonight I am going to girl's night with Jessica and Kelli but I will probably be up half the night working on stuff for my classroom. Wish me luck!

Haaaaaaarrrrrrryyyyyyy Potter!

This weekend Casey and I did not do much at all and loved every minute of it! On Friday afternoon we did yard work and I mowed our entire 1/4 acre front and back yard all by myself! WHOO HOO!! This is only the 3rd time I have ever mowed a lawn - so YAY! After the yard work and a much needed shower, Casey and I went out to eat at Brother's Pizza and I cheated (GASP!) on Atkins by having a delicious slice of pizza. I figured that I burned at least twice that many calories mowing the lawn so I deserved a little treat. After that we went to Wal Mart where they had all of the Harry Potter movies on sale and we bought the first one since I have never read the books or seen any of the movies. I also bought a really cute shirt from Miley Cyrus/Max Azria's new line for Wal Mart which is SO CUTE!! I was really impressed! We went home and curled up on the couch with the dogs and watched as much of the movie as we could get through before going to bed. I really loved the movie so I decided to start reading the books with all this time I have on my hands. I went to the library and luckily - they had plenty of copies for me to borrow. That's my project for this week - Book 1!


This week I only work 2 or 3 days so I am going to have a ton of time on my hands. I am hoping to get the front and back gardens weeded and the house super clean.

Also - today is the last day of my Alternative Certification Program! I have one assignment to do and then I'm done. Now I just need that job.....

Interview Update!

My interview was today at Cy-Fair ISD and boy was it a tough one! The lady interviewing me had been a teacher for years and really knew her stuff. She asked me a lot of straight to the point questions and a few theoretical questions and I think I did a pretty good job considering I'm only 2/3 through my Alternative Certification Program. At the end of the interview she said she was recommending me for hire and sending my information out to all of the principals- yay!! She gave me great compliments at the end of the interview and said that I was a "natural" and was going to be a great teacher. Now I just need to find a CFISD principal to hire me! If anyone knows anything PLEASE let me know!

Weight Loss Week 3, Happy Birthday to me, and more!

Birthday Flowers from Grayson and his mom- thanks guys!

Holy geez I can't believe it's only been a week since I last blogged- so much has happened! Last Wednesday was my birthday and although I didn't really have a very good day that day (except my kids all made me cards and one of them sent me flowers to work - so cute!), last weekend was amazing! On Friday I got off 2 hours early and headed up to Longview to hang with the fam and of course to see my beautiful cousin Jen and my adorable God daughter Abby. On Friday night Daddy and I went shopping for a while and then out to eat for my birthday at Red Lobster (we always go there because Casey doesn't eat seafood so that's the only time I get it!) and had a nice time hanging out and talking about everything that is going on in our lives right now. Being on the Atkin's diet has really changed my outlook on food and being healthy and I kind of feel like I've drank the Atkin's "kool-aid". I love talking to people about it and this weekend Daddy and my mom decided to do it and try to get healthy. It's such an easy diet because you can eat as much as you want as long as it's the right thing. My parents and my biggest problem with food is that we are always hungry or we just eat out of habit or boredom. With this diet we can still do that AND lose weight- it's perfect! Getting over not having carbs or sugar has been pretty tough for us, but it's so worth it. After eating and talking Daddy and I went to Wal Mart to get him stocked up on Atkin's approved food. On Saturday Daddy and I got up early and I made eggs and bacon for breakfast. We then went on a quest to find a suit for me to wear to my interview this week (oh yeah I forgot to mention that! I have an interview at Cy-Fair ISD on Wednesday, July 29th! YAY!!). So we went to Dillards, but before we went in I decided to peruse the sidewalk shoe sale. Boy am I glad I did! I found an ADORABLE pair of Coach wedge sneakers type shoes AND a pair of Cole Haan flats that are perfect for teaching BOTH FOR $9.99!! They were both originally $160-$175 each so that's over $300 in shoes for $20.00! That kind of thing NEVER happens to me! Aren't they cute??

After the initial excitement of finding awesome shoes IN MY SIZE for cheap we went on to find a suit. After trying on several not-so-great looking suits we finally settled on a grey Gianni Bini pant suit. It looks really great on and I'm super excited about my interview! Keep me in your prayers please!

Saturday afternoon Mom and I went shopping for my birthday gift - a new pair of running shoes. After getting my new iPhone I really wanted a pair of the Nike Plus shoes that have the thing in the bottom that tracks your workouts and runs. We found a really cute pair at Kohl's and I loooove them. My Pumas were getting a little worn out, plus Zach got a hold of them and chewed up the back quite a bit. I haven't gotten the chip to put in them yet, but that's the next step. At least they are comfortable!

Saturday evening Mr. Paul and Mom took me out to eat for my birthday at this AMAZING steakhouse out in the middle of nowhere- Avinger, Tx. It's called Five D Steakhouse and if you ever get a chance to eat there I highly recommend it. The steak was great and the restaurant was so cute! Apparently people drive from all around to eat there and I can see why - it was awesome! Here's me and Mom at the steakhouse:



After eating Mom and I headed to Kyle and Serina's wedding at The Reserve in Longview where my cousin Jen was a bridesmaid and my God daughter Abby was a flower girl. It was a very nice wedding but BOY was it hot! They apparently didn't open the place up early to turn the AC on so it was sweltering inside and out before and during the wedding and during most of the reception. Jen and Abby looked adorable as usual (except for those cowboy boots you had to wear Jen!) and the reception was fun. I cheated a little on the diet by having a tiny piece of grooms cake but it was DEFINITELY worth it! It was some variation of Black Forest cake and it was delicious! After the reception Jen and I and a bunch of people I hadn't seen since I was 12 years old went to McCann Street Grill to hang out. I found out that vodka has no carbs so my new drink of choice is a vodka w/ water. Not the most delicious thing, but at least it's healthy. Here are some pics from the wedding:

Kyle and his bride Serina

The beautiful Jen
Me and Abby in her flower girl tutu

On Sunday I got up and made Daddy breakfast and Mom came over early to join us. After that Mom and I went to get Jen and my Aunt Karen their birthday gifts and headed out to Meme and Papaw's to celebrate. It's so nice to get to go out there because before I went to college Jen and I were there on a weekly basis. Here's a picture of me and Meme and Papaw at the wedding:



After the party I headed home and so far this week has been pretty great! Monday was Superhero day so I put on some tights and a red tshirt and taped an "i" to the front of the shirt and I was "Mrs. Incredible" or "Elastigirl" not sure which one because I've never seen the movie, but it was better than wearing my Wonder Woman costume and getting weird looks at the library and other places I had to run errands to on my lunch break. Here's a picture of me and Maggie who dressed up as Violet, Lexie and Andrew who were Batman and Batgirl, and a group picture of all of us at Main Even bowling:



Yesterday I spent the entire evening working on my teaching portfolio and I think it looks pretty great. A big thank you goes out to Jennifer Mawer and Katie Freed for helping me so much with this! Also thanks to Daddy and Mom, to my friends at TWYLA for supporting me through all of this and of course thanks to Casey for supporting me through everything this past year. Love you all!

Okay and now for the weight loss:

I am feeling fantastic and have been getting up and running almost every morning at 5:30 or earlier. Riley has been coming with me and is really enjoying it (not to mention losing a pound or two himself!). I have lost about 8 inches overall and 5 lbs. Here are my measurements and pics:

Bust: 33"
Stomach: 32 1/2"
Waist: 26 1/4"
Hips: 37 1/4"
Right Thigh: 21 1/2"
Right Calf: 12 3/4"
Left Thigh: 21"
Left Calf: 12 1/2"
Right Upper Arm: 10"
Left Upper Arm: 10"

Weight: 122 lbs


Needless to say I am showing lots of improvement in endurance, overall shape, and feeling a lot better. Yay for getting in shape and having an interview this week!

Hot Child in the City

Okay so it's not even technically summer and boy is it H-O-T in Houston, TX. The preschool I work at had to install a misting system on the playground because the kids couldn't even make it 15 minute without getting overheated! The kids (and the teachers) all love the misting system and it's not nearly as messy as I thought it would be.

This morning my work friend Nikki and I went to the Tx Gulf Coast Teacher Job Fair and to be honest, I was a little let down. There were probably 1000 people there and I am so glad we got there 30 minutes early because it was a mad house. I literally ran in my heels down to the floor so that I could be the first person to talk to the Conroe ISD reps. I was first in line, but they weren't doing on site interviews so it was pretty unsuccessful. My next stop was Klein ISD and I was one of 5-6 people who got interviews. Glad I'm an early bird! The interview went pretty well but I doubt I will get that job. The principal just didn't seem comfortable with the fact that my ACP course ends the week before school starts. Hopefully the thank you email I sent her will make her think twice! I was glad I got to talk to my two top schools first because the rest of the time I spent standing in lines and not really getting face time with anyone. I stood in line for 30 minutes to talk to Tomball ISD and was third in line to interview but by the time it was my turn the principal decided he wasn't going to interview anymore people because the line was 30 people long- so that was a bust. I didn't even get a chance to talk to Spring ISD or Cy-Fair because the lines were literally an hour or so long, so Nikki and I just loaded up and went back to work.

I only had nine kids today so that was pretty fun. We didn't do much in the way of academic work except for French (which the students INSISTED on) so we did some arts and crafts and hung out for most of the day. I'm starting to really get attached to these kids - they are so much fun! Tomorrow we go to Young Chef's Academy for our field trip and that should be super fun - I will post pictures and tell you all about it later this week.

In other news - Kelli's birthday party extravaganza was a blast this weekend! On Friday night Jessica and I got to the hotel and we hung out a little while before going to Goose's Acre for dinner and then we went out to Crush and Baker's Street later that night. We had a blast and we had the perfect group of girls - no drama, no annoying catfights, just good conversation and tons of fun. We all got a little tipsy so it was nice that we could all walk back to the hotel and nobody had to drive (Good call Kelli's mom!). The next morning we were all a little hungover so we slept in and then went to get brunch/lunch at the Hubbell and Hudson Bistro. It was really good and we had a fun time hanging out and embarrassing Kelli. Kasey and Nichole spotted a hot waiter and the manager overheard us talking about him so he went and got a few of the good looking waiters to sing Happy Birthday to Kelli and bring her some kind of delicious apple tart with ice cream. YUM! After that we just hung out at the pool for a while and then we all went home. What a fun night!

Kelli with her "Birthday Cake" shot - 1st of many!

The whole group at Crush in the rooftop cabana

Girls in the elevator on our way up to the room

The singing waiters at Hubbell and Hudson

More updates later this week!