stolen again!

rachel continues to inspire me with her method of speed blogging. i'm overloaded with lesson plans & classroom decor, but i gotta debrief with myself about life. so i'm typing it out here...

Excited about: j. and i painted his/our bedroom elephant gray this weekend. the trim is glossy white & it looks AWESOME! i can hardly wait to sleep there in just over 2 months!

Not excited about: the potential bad behavior of my little 4th grade angels

Procrastinating: on actually typing out my lessons for the first day of school. which is wednesday. zoiks!

Thinking: how in the world could i be any happier? i have basically my dream job at age 25. i'm getting married to the love of my life this fall. i am so so loved by my amazing friends & family.

Reading: "frindle" [our 1st book for 4th graders], "as for me and my house" [for pre-marital counseling], "mere christianity" [just because]

Cooking: i made lasagna [homemade!] for the first time on saturday. i wasn't convinced it was worth all the effort b/c cooking those dang noodles took forever, but j. said it was delicious. so that made it worth it. and on friday i grilled steak for the first time. i overcooked it [darn!] but that's ok.

Watching: DVDs of sample reading lessons done by my co-teachers. let me tell you, i was on the edge of my seat...

Listening To: joe purdy station on pandora

Missing: my parents & brother. i just saw them in NY a month ago, but somehow i miss 'em still...

Laughing At: my hilarious fiance. who always makes me smile & crack up with his silliness.

Wishing: that i could have gotten this job just 1 week earlier so i had more time to prepare!

Promising: pictures of my classroom sometime this week!!!!

new job= ups and downs

i continue to be a complete slacker when it comes to taking pics of my classroom. [although at first sight it was ugly-as-heck so i didn't even think about taking any!] additionally, the computer at home is currently out of commission so i couldn't upload any even if i had them. checking my email randomly at j's house is annoying. i'm such a spoiled brat... my life is seriously awesome & here i am complaining about not having a computer at my beckon call. okay, getting a grip now...

my new job as 4th grade teacher is equal parts utterly amazing and beyond stressful. in the past 4 days i've crammed tremendous amounts of information into my brain: reading curriculum, daily schedule, weekly schedule, student statistics, math education, cooperative learning, school policy, writer's workshop, etc., etc., etc., etc.

on top of all that i've been trying to decorate my classroom and prepare for my first 3 days with students next week. i scrubbed their desks with brillo pads [no, seriously. they were disgusting!!!!]. i wrote their hilarious names in cursive to stick on their desks. i assigned textbooks. i created a job wall. i made a welcome bulletin board. i thought through my management plan.

j. helped me today doing all sorts of tasks that i just haven't had time to get finished [LOVE him!!]. i'll probably go in on monday to organize my library books into categories, plan lessons, and do other last minute things. tuesday we have more workshops and planning. then on wednesday the kiddos arrive!

did i mention that i can't freaking wait to meet them?!?!

MAJOR celebration!!

last wednesday i had an interview for a building substitute [basically, going to school every day & working in whatever classroom needs a sub].

they offered me the position on thursday. full-time. with benefits. with an expectation of moving into my own classroom whenever there was an opening. i excitedly accepted. and thought about it all weekend.

i went in for professional development this morning.

they told me that a 4th grade teacher resigned on friday afternoon. they offered me her position. i accepted.

for the last 3 hours i have been grinning like a fool. i'm a teacher. i have my own classroom, my own students. i can't even wait.

mom's visit

my momma was here last week & we had an AWESOME time!practicing wedding bouquet creation
posing in golden mirrors
showing some love @ LOVE park
and wandering through elfreth's alley

24 hours of cuteness

my friend julie and her husband went out of town at 7:30 on saturday morning. i watched their kids until 12:00 on sunday afternoon. it was a whirlwind time, full of fun, laughter, minor injuries and hilarious quotes.

they love love love hanging out with j. they adore books. they are very funny and smart. they play the same game at the pool over & over & over again.
i'm so glad i had the chance to play with them and take care of them. i was tired afterward, but it was good kind of tired... the kind of tired i get when i spend quality time with kids.

wanted: new clothes

i did a little window shopping while mandy was here this weekend & that was NOT a good idea. i'm currently unemployed and do not need to be spending money on clothes. however, gap, j.crew, and h&m all have me drooling over their latest threads...

like these khakis:
this darling gray button-up:

and who wouldn't love a purple flowy top for the end-of-summer?!
guess i better hop on over to the thrift store to see if i can find any deals... darn.

whirlwind weekend

all of a sudden it's monday night. i just blinked and the weekend was over. here are some highlights:
we heard our friend evans play at an open mic. he was by far the best~
i got lots of hugs before j. went to cross-country camp for 3 days!
mandy was here with her new, cute haircut!
we posed in van windows, making practically the same face!
we sat at the train station after a mini-philly tour
2 of my fav friends smiled beautifully for the camera. i love them~

happy almost weekend

today was the last day of our summer program, so it feels like friday even though it's thursday. we had our end of summer picnic but i didn't take any pictures because j. came and i was so distracted introducing him to all my students and their kids. he's such a champ!

in other news, i have poison ivy for the first time in years. i'm pretty sure one of the kids at work gave it to me because i was helping them all wash their hands after we played with paint on tuesday. ick. i've been trying my hardest to keep from scratching & i put ointment on it multiple times.

another reason i feel like it's the weekend already is that my friend mandy is coming to visit and i'm just excited for her to arrive! mandy taught in japan, too, and she recently started nursing school in baltimore. fortunately for me, baltimore is wicked close to philadelphia! we have big plans to explore downtown, have brunch with linda, and hang out with all my local friends. plus, she'll meet my fiance & get a tour of his house!

a hidden talent

[image here]

today one of my students was trying to feed her 7 month old sweet potatoes & corn while also trying to read with her 4 year old. i valiantly volunteered to feed the baby so she would have both hands free.

those 10 minutes were the best minutes of my day.

my student said, "thank you, miss kelly."

and i said, "no, thank you for sharing!"

baby spoon maneuvering: just one of my hidden talents.

summer 2010: field trip 2

we went to philadelphia! lots of fun was had by all.

i finally got to go to elfreth's alley, the longest continuously inhabited street in the country. [confession: i've been wanting to go there so badly that i used my summer program as an excuse to visit. so cool!] it was really fun & i think the students/kids enjoyed learning a little history, too.
we also visited the national liberty museum, which was good other than the fact that our tour guides sort of rushed us through. we would prefer to mosey a little bit, i think.

anyway, i loved getting to spend time with these munchkins: