Proverbs 31 Wife

What woman doesn't want to be a Proverbs 31 wife?  We hear it all the time, and it sounds good in theory doesn't it?

But guess what?  It's hard.  Plain and simple.

Of course trying to be "perfect" at anything is hard.  That's why I just can't do it.  I've come to accept that.

But just because I can't have perfection doesn't mean I can't give it all I've got.  I've read lots of things about being a Proverbs 31 woman, and honestly I didn't like all of them.  Some made me feel guilty about what I know is my true calling in life - teaching.

Then I came across this book.

Now this is what I had been looking for!!!  I knew after the first few pages this was the book for me.  I immediately related to the author, Sara Horn, on so many levels, and I'm convinced we would be great friends if we ever did meet.  :)

Here's a passage that literally had me laughing aloud (which also got me a goofy look from the hubs):

Who doesn't want her kids to like her so much they bless her or actually pay her a compliment?  Who doesn't want her husband praising her and going on and on about how great the house looks and how good dinner was?  

I felt antsy about this topic, so I did what I always do when I'm stressed.  I cleaned.  The kitchen was a wreck, with papers and odds and ends from my son's first week of the school year all thrown haphazardly onto the counter.  The sink sat full of dishes, and the stovetop hadn't been cleaned in days and stains around the burner had lingered for weeks and weeks.  My husband is a great cook, much better than I am, but not so great at cleaning.  I'm good at cleaning, just not so good at making time for it.  

As I put some things away, I noticed the messy pantry, not to be outdone by the similarly disorganized fridge, so I spent about two hours reorganizing everything.  I pulled things out, I put things back.  I tossed old veggies that were past their prime.  I moved cake-and-cookie decorating stuff out of drawers and into a nearby closet, since I don't use them very often.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have done just that when I'm frustrated about the kind of wife and mother I am.  My kitchen cabinets have been organized so many times due to that exact stress.

The book goes on about how Horn tries for a year to be the best Proverbs 31 wife she can be.  It's funny, sad, and to me - all together amazing.  Horn is so real in her experiences and doesn't leave out the hard times.

This was by far the best book I've read in a long time, and one that has honestly changed my life.  It's also a quick read, well, for me it was.  I couldn't put it down and finished it in less than 12 hours.  I've noticed my attitude has changed and I'm more reflective of the type of wife and mother I am.  I'm letting some things go and stepping up in other areas - because my family is worth it.

I highly recommend all wives to read this book!

There's also a Proverbs 31 Wife blog that Horn has.  Check it out here.

Where Are We

I've never had a "Where Are We" sign.  Crazy to think I'm going into my 8th year and I've never had one.

Trust me - the front office would love for me to have had one.  I cannot tell you the number of times they were trying to find me and I was with my class in the science lab or outside for an activity.

So, I decided after seeing a million pinned on Pinterest this summer I would do it.  Now, I didn't go for a fancy smancy one.  I just stuck to paper and labels this time.

But I kind of like the way they turned out.  :) I used just a notepad from Mardel and printed labels.  I should have probably bought clear labels, but I already had these and goodness knows I've already spent a lot on my classroom this month!

Why oh why is August always the month when I decided I HAVE to have something for my room???

Anyway - back to the signs.  So I used my trusty home laminator and now all I have to do is cut them out and punch a hole in each top for a binder ring.

Now my goal will be to find "that kid" who can remind me to change it each time we leave.  There's at least one in every class.  ;)

Donors Choose

If you are a teacher you NEED to know about Donors Choose.

If you love to support teachers and students you NEED to know about Donors Choose.

Basically, Donors Choose is awesome.  End of story.

Donors Choose is a website where teachers can post projects that they would like to have funded in their classroom.  Teachers can request things from materials, books, furniture, guest speakers, and even field trips.  Other people can read the projects, and then choose to fund them in part or all of it.

Go check it out here.

Amazing huh?

Personally I have had several projects funded.  My brother was the first one who told me about this site, and I have to admit I didn't believe it until the very first box of materials came to my classroom.

In return for the donation, teachers are asked to create a thank you package which includes letters from the students, a letter from the teacher, and pictures of the students using what was bought.  (With signed permissions slips from parents of course!)  But what teacher wouldn't want to send a thank you?

So one of my latest projects was probably one of my most expensive because it was a piece of furniture.  Anyone in the teaching world knows that furniture costs an arm and a leg, so I honestly didn't think this one would get funded.

But on Saturday my amazing parents decided to fully fund the rest of the amount.  Talk about thankful! I love them so much and I love that they support me in teaching.  Both of my parents are/were accountants (my dad actually works for the FDIC now).  They have never once made me feel bad about wanting to serve as a teacher.  They have supported me 100% of the way.  I am forever grateful to them for that.

So this is what I'm getting!  I'm so pumped!!!

So, go check out Donors Choose and good luck!!!

Little by Little ;)

The school I'm transferring to next year is Little and that's how this organizing process is going - little by little.  But it is getting there.  :)

My hubby was off work last Friday and was able to keep K so that I could go sweat it out at school.  I spent a little over six hours there and was able to get a lot of organizing done.  I still have some more to do, but I made a lot of progress.  I moved furniture around a lot and was able to start seeing how our classroom would function.  I'm itching to start the actual decorating part, but I won't let myself until everything is put away for the most part.

This was the very first shelf that I organized.  It's the new home to most of my art supplies.  Labels will come soon!  :)

For the time being my picture books that don't fit on the big shelf had to go above my lockers.  I don't love it, but it is what it is for right now.  See the hanging shelf?  Yeah, it's broken and it almost knocked me out cold the other day.  Oh the surprises that come with a new room!  This is when I'm very thankful I'm married to a man who is quite handy!

See that new cabinet?  I LOVE it!  My friend from high school (who is a kinder teacher) saw my pictures on facebook and asked if I wanted a shelf she had in storage.  Best $20 I've spent in a long time!  I put lot of math materials inside.  The best part?  I can close it!  :)  And that flower garland most likely will not be staying up there.  That was my attempt at taking it away from K without hurting her feelings.  ;)

My desk is hidden behind all those boxes and such.  The kiddos' mailboxes are there, my dry erase paddles, and my listening station books/cds/tapes are in the plastic tubs under the printer table.  My mom and I went fabric shopping the other day and found the cutest jungle print fabric for a curtain to hid the plastic tubs.  I have more storage under that table, but I'm not sure for what yet.  Trust me - I will use it though!  I also cannot wait to cover that chalkboard with paper.  I hate that green with the green on my walls!

One of the things I did on Saturday was tackle this baby.  Apparently the teacher who moved out of my room took most of her curriculum because it was organized in her cabinets and such.  So the teacher whose room she was taking dumped brought all her stuff to my room.

I managed to get it down to this.  I boxed all the decodable readers that I HATE.  Seriously - what kid wants to read books like, "The fat cat sat on the mat."  Ew.  Not sure where those are going yet, but I do not want them in my room!  These were the books that stayed in my keep pile.  

I rubber banded them up and shelved them.  Much better than being all crammed in a box.  It's like I have my own little slice of a bookroom in here.  :)

I still have all these to go through that the other teacher brought over.  SIGH.  

Here is my new rug that I bought at Ross.  I.  LOVE. THIS. RUG!!!!

Mama/Daughter Outing

Last Friday I took K to get her haircut.  Now, some might think I'm crazy, but I take her to Southlake to get her haircut.  There is a place there called Sweet and Sassy and it is beyond awesome!  I took her there for her first haircut - they do a big hoopla for the first haircut and I loved the way the treated K.  Their haircuts are still only $14 for 3 year olds and they add spray glitter, a little heart glitter thing for her face, curl her hair a bit, and give her a sucker after.  To me, K feeling that girly and special is worth the little extra drive.  Plus it gives me a reason to shop in Southlake.  :)

One of my favorite places in Southlake is the Vera Bradley store.  (Angels singing!!!)  Now, I wasn't introduced to Vera until college.  It just wasn't as big in Texas as it was in Louisiana back then.  Girl meet bag.  Girl fall in love with bag.  Girl has been hooked ever since.  :)  

So K and I headed in pre-haircut to kill some time.  I honestly had no intention of buying her anything until I saw the sweetest little purse design called Caitlyn.  Now, how do you pass that up when your daughter is named Kaitlyn and loves all things girly?  I lost all willpower, hence K getting her first Vera bag.  She loves it and has been taking it everywhere we go.  

Something tells me I have quite the shopping partner in my future!  :)  

Locker Tags

I haven't been up to my classroom in several days.  This is mostly because, believe it or not, it's not really that fun to take a 3 year old up in a MESSY room with no air for long periods of time.  Shocking I know.  My dad also recently had surgery, so I spent some time at the hospital and at my parents' house.  Luckily he is on the mend!  

So while I have been out of actual room, I've tried to take time at home when K is busy playing, napping, etc. to work on what I could.  I've almost finished making all the labels for my new binder spines, I've starting putting together my lesson plan binder for the year, and I made these locker tags.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to renumber the lockers due to the layout of my room, so I needed something to cover up the existing locker numbers.

Cutouts from Mardel + numbers cut with my Cricut + lamination* = new locker tags!

*Yes, I have my own little laminator at home.  I'm a total teacher nerd. ; )

Ahhhh....Freak Out!

Please tell me you just sang that title...if not then we can't be friends...okay...now go back and sing it and then we can go back to being friends.  :)

Ever had one of those days where you just want to scream into your pillow?

Anybody?

Bueller???

Well, today was one of those days for me.  I had my annual freak out moment.  It happened.

My poor, poor husband.

It all started when I was trying to sit still in a workshop this morning.  It's the first one that I've been to this summer and usually I'm pumped about going because adult conversation is beyond amazing when you spend most of your hours listening to the latest three year old drama about Rapunzel and Flynn.  Plus, I knew some of my old teammates would be there and I love them dearly.

Now, for the record, I think the presenter was a wonderfully nice lady and she wrote a pretty darn amazing math book that I plan on using a lot this year.  But I'm not programmed at all to sit still - one of the main reasons I don't expect it from my students either.  If a student has to stand up in the middle of their work I'm totally cool with that, because there is no way I could go without moving for long periods of time without driving myself crazy.

So - you've got the me not being able to sit still.  You've got the freezing temps in our professional development center.  And then to top it all off I answered a math question in a way that confused a whole lot of other people.

Sorry.  I can't help it that my brain just works a bit differently.  Get over it and move on people.  But one lady just couldn't let it go.  She made this scrunched up face and said my way made no sense.  Then we watched a video where a 3rd grader did the exact same thing I did.  Boo to the yah lady.  (I'm not sure what that says about my math brain if I'm thinking like a 3rd grader, but oh well.)

So I was not in the best of moods.  Luckily I was able to go to lunch with a dear friend who I haven't seen in a few weeks so that made my day better.

The calm before the storm if you will.  At least the calm had carbs...lots and lots of carbs.

I'm not sure when exactly the next part happened.  Maybe it was the heat.  Maybe it was the bad drivers around me.  Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't get Spotify to play over my car stereo like I normally do.  Maybe it was a fancy combo of all the little things.  But I worked myself into a pretty bad mood.

I'm driving K home from seeing my parents - my dad recently had surgery and we were checking in on him.  She started complaining about being hungry, so I called Cody to see if he was already home.  My plan was to pick up something on the way home for dinner - you know, working on that mom of the year award again.

I'm not exactly sure what Cody said, but something set me off.  It was something along the lines of where do you want to go or where do you want me to meet you.

Pretty normal husbandy type question don't you think?

But for some odd reason it set me off.  I wanted him to say, "Don't worry about it babe.  Let's go to (insert name of any Mexican place here)."

So I lost it.  Literally - yelled at the poor guy...in front of my 3 year old.

I know, I'm awful.

It ended up being this all out cry after I got the first few sentences out about how I don't have enough time to get my classroom ready.  I don't know where I'm going to put everything.  Blah, blah, blah.

I hung up the phone and cringed.  What did I just do?  I took out all my stress about my classroom on Cody and he didn't deserve it at all.

K had been quiet this whole time and heard everything, which I hate.  I gently told her I was sorry for yelling and asked for her forgiveness.  She just looked at me with her sweet little face and said, "I love you Mama."

Bless that sweet girl.

I hate that it happened.  I would like to say I calmed myself down and was fine when I got home, but I was still pretty snippy with my poor hubby.

But now that the big freak out has happened I'm hoping it's all better from here.  I still have so much work to do, but it could be so much worse.  I know I need to stop counting the things that stress me out and count my blessings.  I have far more of those than I even deserve.

Here's hoping I can do just that......because I do have another workshop tomorrow.....