I'm Still Here

Don't you worry, I'm still here and breathing ... just been busy and can I just tell you that kindergarten is simply exhausting!

I keep telling people this year that we could make some money if we just had a reality tv show of the students of Hope Academy.  There's certain ones that you just have to turn your head and laugh!  Parks, Burns, and I sure do have quite the interesting group of kinders this year.  

We've have one student refuse to come in from the playground... not just once, but TWICE ... The second time the assistant principal went out to get her.  Her reason for not coming in .. "well ... I just wanted to play" 
This same student one day threw herself back in a chair exclaiming, "Mrs. Burns .... there's something wrong with me ... I really need to go to Ms. Pets room ... I just can't learn"  ... if only you knew this girl. 

My class this year consists of very busy busy BUSY children.  I have one that screams almost daily that I "can't talk to him that way ... I don't even know what DFS means!"  I actually got screamed at twice today.  He came over to apologize for the first time ... and when he got mad again he made sure to scream "AND NOW ... I'M NOT EVEN SORRY!"  Good thing I just turn my head and laugh.  

Today, my principal informed me that I just need to "get them straightened out" ... I'm trying my best.  

Then I come across things such as this ... 

.... and I'm brought back to reality.  My heart hurts for so many of  my students because they've been through more in their short 5 years .. than I have in my life.  (and let me just say that I've been through quite a bit ... but I'm also soooo blessed).  Many of these students just need someone to love and care about them.  Now, if you ask my Mom and sis ... they say I'm mean.  It's called "tough love", and at the end of the day ... I hope my kiddos know just how much I love them.  Even my kid that screams at me tells me almost every day that he loves me.  Makes my heart melt .... 

Besides work, I've been quite busy soaking up some time with the family!  

This past weekend, my Mom and I headed to STL to help with some Tobejonesy day details.  I was a little worried at first because I'm not quite as crafty as my dear sis ... and sometimes I have a heard time picturing the visions in her head.  After WAYYY too long at Hobby Lobby and even a trip to JoAnn's, we got all the supplies needed for a craft.  It turned out so well, and I'm pretty sure we accomplished the Amy Roe vision ... unless she just said that to make me feel better. 

Here's one choice of fabric we picked out ... the ONLY thing we could find in this "teal but not quite teal" blue that Amy dreamed up ...

I know it's kind of tablecloth/curtain fabric ... but I promise you'll be surprised with how it turned out!  

This week, I also able to attend my nephew's JFL game.  I really enjoy watching him play and he's definitely gained some confidence since last year.  Here's some action shots ...

 One of the many reasons I love fall.  Watching football is so fun ...especially when you're a proud aunt!  Love my #56! 

It's definitely been a busy, busy couple of weeks!  Each day seems to get better at school, and I know I'll look back on these beginning days and feel like my kinders have come such a long way. BUT at the end of the day ... I feel like this...

Looking forward to a 3 day weekend that will include some family time!  There's nothing better than time with family!

Back to School

This week was the official back to school week for DPS61!  It's hard to believe that we've started the 13-14 school year.

Monday was a work day for teachers.  This was the day to put the last minute touches on the classroom, get lesson plans made out for at least this week, and help Mrs. Burns, the new kinder teacher who was JUST hired, get her room sorted out and ready.  Here's a glimpse of my classroom ready and waiting for my kiddos!

Our new "Under the Sea" behavior chart

OCD Paradise!  Books organized by topic with bins and books labeled by number

Tuesday, my birthday, was the annual rally (which was enjoyable), meetings with the staff in our building (that included the Hope staff singing "Happy Birthday" to me, and the K teachers working like crazy to get this new and improved kinder classroom ready for these kiddos!  Mindy and I helped Chierstan get all of her curriculum out of boxes and sorted, her room somewhat organized (by stealing borrowing shelves), and much, much more to get her room ready.  Open house was this evening and the room needed to be ready!

Open house treat - "You're o'fish'ally in Kindergarten!

Open house was so enjoyable.  I had 7(of 24) students come ... many excited but some scared.  I was able to talk to them and their parents to help ease some fears of starting kindergarten.  It was SO wonderful seeing some precious faces that would be joining my classroom.  With all the stress of getting the room ready and helping set up a new classroom, these precious faces brought me back to what I LOVE about my job.  Not everyone gets to hang out with Kinders all day .. and boy are they FUN!

After pulling almost a 12 hour day on my birthday, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve! I was anticipating the meeting of all my new kinder faces!

Wednesday was it!  The first full day with students, and man, was it CRAZY!  I seem to always forget just how hard the beginning of the school year is! These poor kiddos come in after having never been to school all day before, and some haven't even been to school at all.  It's all about teaching them to raise their hand to talk, stay in their seats when asked, and all of the school-wide expectations.  The first experience at lunch was NUTS!  It's not easy to get 72 kinders through a lunch line for the first time in a timely manner.

We made a ca-yoot "1st Day of Kindergarten" sign to get all the kiddos pictures with this day.

Jill - an AMAZING teaching assitant

Myself

The Lovely Chierstan

The Lovely Mindy!

Thursday seemed to be a bit better than Wednesday.  My kiddos were beginning to catch on a little bit to the expectations and we seemed to make it through the day a little easier. I did add a new student who has never been to school before ... I began teaching him all about school expectations...

Friday was extra crazy!  One kinder student tried to run away because she wasn't allowed to play during recess. We came to the rescue to find help for that. Then, Chierstan had a severe allergic reaction and ended up leaving in an ambulance.  Thank goodness she is doing just fine now!!  This meant I was taking 20+ kinders out to get on 19 buses .... and I didn't know all of their names ... talk about a MESS!

I'm glad the first week was short ... I'm not sure I could've done more than 3 days.  I put in lots of hours this week .. not getting home before 7 any night but Friday.  Needless to say, I was completely exhausted!!  I was heading to bed around 8:30 or 9 each night ...

I'm ready to bring on week 2!  Every day should get just a little bit better in this crazy Kinder class, but I wouldn't trade it for the world!  I really do LOVE my job ... there's nothing better than spending my days with precious kiddos ... even if they exhaust all my energy!

A special shout out to my SIL (and bro) who got me an AMAZING book for my birthday. That book was my "get away" every evening this week.  I spent a little time each night reading... It's nice to have some "me" time this week! :) 

The Last Supper

which is actually a weekend recap; however, this is the last weekend before beginning the 2013-2014 school year!

Last week was full of prepping my classroom for a new year!  I spent hours getting posters out and up, labeling items, putting up the bulletin board, and organizing the majority of my classroom books. Organizing books = OCD nightmare but it now looks wonderful with labeled bins by topic and books in the bin are numbered.  Let's hope these kinders understand my craziness OCD and are capable of keeping these books organized. 

I knew I had to get lots of work done because I had a full weekend planned!

Friday morning consisted of getting on a big yellow school bus and walking some streets in Decatur to welcome some new students to Hope Academy!  I wasn't looking forward to going, but it was a good time.  Tip for next year = wear comfortable shoes!

Friday afternoon, we were on the fast track to finding a new kindergarten teacher.  It was decided last week that we would open a new classroom due to the 60 kinders registered. Nothing like waiting until the last minute to get this done ...  We chose one .. and I'm SUPER excited to add her to our K team!  Looking forward to a good year! 

Friday evening consisted of a much needed mani and pedi with Chrissy and heading out for a bit with some co-workers to ring in the new year.  Good time! 

Saturday started by heading to my nephews first JFL jamboree!  It was very hot sitting in the bleachers, and he didn't get to play .. but it got me ready for football season.  It makes me proud to see my nephew out there playing ball!  Of course, after we left, my SIL called me and they had put Dyl in!  Grrr!  Next time, I will see him play! 

Saturday afternoon, we packed up and headed to the Illinois State Fair.  We used to visit the fair every year, but have slacked off a bit.  We hunted for the chickens (my Mom REALLY wanted to find them) and were very unsuccessful.  Needless to say, the Roe's aren't familiar with the livestock barns ... who is shocked? 
We walked around and visited some normal stops while at the fair - the hypnotist, high dive show, butter cow, and ice cream. It was fun to spend some time together, but I felt like the fair was kind of a let down.  We didn't get to meet up with my cousins because of lack of phone service.  Sad  news ... 

Sunday brought a wonderful gathering of most of the family!  Having almost 20 of the most special people in your life all together in one place is just simply amazing. We were able to gather the RoCo's together as well as my Grandma and Aunt.  We were celebrating my SIL and I's birthdays. It was such a fun time together.  

Do you think I took pictures?  ... No... I was too busy talking.  Use your imagination and check Amy and K's blogs for pictures. I'm sure they'll have some shortly!

Here's the only two pictures I took this weekend ...

I am not proud of this precious girl at all ... can you tell? 

Tomorrow is D-day!  Happy School year!

P is already practicing what he will do when I head back to work ....

Next up, a Back to School post!

It's the Little Things...

...that remind me exactly how much I have to be thankful for. 

School is quickly approaching .... T minus 1 week until the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year, and as of right now I have 30 students on my list.  Yes, you read that right ... THIRTY .. but we'll save that for a later post. 

With my mind going crazy trying to get things done for school, attending two trainings this past week, on top of having a few sleepless nights this past week .... my emotions were flying high.  I seemed to find the "poor me, pity me" emotions, that I just don't like having.  It's kind of the "grass is always greener" way of mind. 

Yesterday brought me back to reality to remind me how great life can be (if you don't focus on the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days!)

I was so lucky to make another trip to Tilton yesterday.  A place that I referred to as "home" for the first time yesterday.  It caught me off guard, but it truly is my 2nd home. 

The drive began by taking these country roads to the interstate.  Roads with corn and beans growing tall and healthy along side which could only bring my mind back to Robert who simply admired that.  He's take two lane roads all the way to Tilton if it was up to him .. just to check out the crops.  (Sound like Richard Roe?) I can't remember the exact song that came on my iPod at this time. .. but it was perfect and reminded me that Mr. Robo was right there with me in the passanger seat.

Stop 1 - Elite Bridal
I met Laury, Chelsea, and Chelsea's Mom at Elite Bridal to try on her wedding dress and pick it up.  The dress is BEAUTIFUL!  I won't go into too much detail .. to save some of that for the wedding.  Fit very well ... very minimal alterations .. can't ask for much more. Also, I brought the cake topper, that my sister bought and bling'd for Robert and I.  I'm passing it onto Chelsea and Doug for their wedding.  Very, very bittersweet to let it leave my possession ..but I know that they really appreciate it. 

Stop 2 - Hometown Buffet/Meijer
From there we went to brunch together, and then Laury and I headed out to find a birthday gift for Miss Peyton.  Can't believe she'll be 5 tomorrow! 

Stop 3 - Tilton
Pulling up to Grandma's house just feels like home to me. I was able to spend some time with Grandma yesterday. Many times she's not around when I come to visit, but I always enjoy getting to spend time with her.  Even if she spent quite some time counting (and recounting and recounting and recounting ...) change to see if she could afford a pizza for her and Jim for supper (even though Jim planned on buying anyway) .. Too cute! 

Jake also came over to hang out for a bit, once he realized that I was in town!  Next time, I'll be sure to give him a heads up! 

Stop 3 - Covington, IN
Laury, Jake, Doug, Chelsea and I headed over to celebrate Miss P's 5th Birthday! It was quite the party with a Luau theme. It's so nice getting to visit with various friends and family members while attending parties like this. Of course, I spent some of the time entertaining that little ones. I love all these little "nieces" of mine so much .. and soak up all the time I can with them. Little Miss Addison and I shared a plate of fruit .. and that may have been all she ate the whole time. I was also on Sawyer duty while Peyton was opening presents.  There's nothing better than chasing around a 1 year old ... She's soo precious and such a social butterfly! 

Of course, the Kindergarten teacher in me had to get Peyton this as part of her present. 

 There's nothing more exciting than going to Kindergarten!  I am soo VERY excited for her! 

At one point during presents, Katie caught my attention and wanted me to watch the next gift being opened which was ...

 
These!  These are the exact boots that Robert decided Peyton HAD to have for our wedding. I actually had to stop him from buying them the first time we saw them, because it was still so early and we weren't sure what shoe size she would be in by then.  

Seeing Peyton get these boots brought tears to my eyes... Robert wanted her to have them soo bad, and now she does. Another simple reminder of his presence in our lives. I hope she thinks of her "Uncle Bobbo" every time she has them on her feet!

Here's the only two pictures I took at the party ... slacker, I know! 

Great look for John!

Lookin' great in those shades!

The time seemed to fly by ... and it was already time to head home. After finagling our way out of our parking spot ,(Chelsea-that's for you!  You said you wanted to see it in the blog!) Laury and I made our way back to Tilton, so I could head back home. 

I say this over and over and over .. but spending time with family and friends over that way is just what I need when I get down.  I am reminded to count my blessings that through Robert, I gained countless family and friends!  I couldn't be more lucky than that! 

The drive home last night brought more tears.  Tears of thankfulness .. and tears of missing Robert.  I just wonder how life would be different had he been here and we could be celebrating these milestones together!