Ode to Summer 2014

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the "official" last day of the summer....

The one downfall of summer is I haven't been in the pool since June, and we all know that is a teacher's worst nightmare!  Summer is supposed to be for laying out, swimming, and more laying out.  What happened to the summer weather this year? 

The unseasonably cool temps were a let down, although it allowed for more activities outdoors without being too hot.  This summer will go down in the books as a summer full of F's. Which are Family, Friends, and FUN!


This summer included:
-a kickoff to the summer by attending a Cardinal Game with my man

 -Slumber party with Adam and Jamie (in which I lost a toenail)

-a benefit for sweet Laury

-Bailey's wedding weekend with Courtney

 

-a weekend in Indy with my brother, sis in law, and precious Bryn visiting the Zoo

-Cheering on Dylan as he pitched and played 1st base

-The Sangamon County Fair concert where I may or may not have been overserved :)

-quality time with my favorite fur baby

-Movie and firework dates.  The fireworks in Maroa were even in 4D this year!  Soo good you could TASTE them....Literally! Brandon was nothing but thrilled!

 -a 4th of July celebration that included so many of my favorite people getting together to celebrate the 4th and two very special birthdays

-quality time with my favorite niece

-STL Zoo Trip

-First Ever Triple Date that was a huge success!

-Facetiming with my man

-Zoo trip with Katie, Peyton, Sawyer, and Paislee

-More movie dates

A few others that I didn't take any pictures of are:
-many family members gathering to celebrate my Grandma's birthday and spend the day together
-B and I heading to Amy and T's to spend a short weekend hanging out with them
-Finding out that I will be having another NEPHEW in December!! :)
-Dinner is Springfield with some of my most favorite ladies!

Definitely a picture overload!  This summer has been soo much fun and I've loved all the time spent with so many people I love!!! I am eternally grateful for all the family and friends that I am blessed to have in my life!  Life just wouldn't be the same without any of you! 

Definitely spent some time thanking God and lucky angels, my Dad and Robert, for all they continue to do to bless me and guide my life!

On top of all of this fun, I also packed, moved, and set up a new classroom at Hope! 
During:

After:

I'm looking forward to starting a new year in a new room with my K partners by my side!  Bring it on 2014-2015! 

Looking forward to meeting my new kinders, beginning the Leader in Me Process, and watching my two nephews play some football!!

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Chirp chirp....

I know this blog has been long neglected, and I do have a "summer catch up" post that I will be writing shortly, but now I would just like to focus on what I've spent the last three days doing ....

 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The Leader in Me

The school that I work at has been looking to re-theme for the past couple of years.  Our reality is that we are a "magnet" school but because of the bad reputation, we struggle getting students, parents, and families. I'm not exactly sure where or why the "bad" reputation started, and that is not important, but the staff has been working hard to find a theme that would best fit us, our students, and our community.

The Leader in Me seemed to be the perfect fit. It is based off of the 7 Habits by Covey, and the end goal is to find the leadership in every child and to help each child to find the leadership in themselves.  This is very powerful stuff, and I encourage you to look up more if your are interested!

"Leadership is a choice, not a position." ~Stephen R. Covey

These last three days have been spent collaborating, watching videos, reflecting, and completing exercises to help deepen the knowledge of the 7 Habits.  We, as a staff, must first own the Habits ourselves before we can expect our students to.  It's so powerful as you learn this Habits and see how they can make such a positive impact on your life.  I've spent these days reflecting on recent events and trying to determine what Habit I could use to make better choices. 

"We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals." ~Stephen R. Covey

I know to some of you this may sound boring and maybe worthless, but to me, this is stuff that can change the world both children and adults.  I look forward to bringing this change (little by little) to my school and seeing the change in the students and the staff.  It makes me feel excited and empowered!

Bring it on 2014-2015!!

"We must first make our Habits, then our Habits make us."

Love for Laury

On May 31, thanks so some very special ladies, we had a whole day of celebrating Laury! The "Love for Laury" benefit was held to help raise money for bills that accumulated when she spent just over 4 months in the hospital. This day consisted of a 5K, bags tournament, spaghetti dinner courtesy of Fazoli's, and an auction.  All of the proceeds went to benefit Laury.

Love this special lady!

It was such a fun day spending time with Laury as well as getting to see many other family and friends that day.

Here are some pictures to recap the day:

The whole group before starting the 5K

 

 

Items for the auction

Laury with two very special nieces

It was such a great time had by all!  There was one point during the dinner that I looked around the room and it almost brought me to tears to see the amount of support for Laury.

Laury has had some tough times these past 2 and 1/2 years, but things are starting to look up for her! 

I love this lady so much!!

*Sending a shoutout to those of you that I "borrowed" pictures from*

May Already?!

I honestly can't believe it's already late May, and there's only 4 more days with my precious kinders. 

 I know I've said this before but I LOVE my job!  There are days that these kiddos make me crazy, but there are soo many more days with moments that make me proud! This morning during our Daily 5 groups, many students were showing me the sentences they were writing in their journals, and I was beaming with pride.  It's amazing to see the learning that can occur in one short year with students. 

Every year I dread (and look forward to) the end.  How can I pass these kinders on to the 1st grade teachers?  I've become so attached to them!

Here's a recap of our year:
 

Beginning of the Year

 

 

The Boys

The Girls

They LOVED Peanut (and Pepper)!

 

Other than school, I've been busy with Brynzlee's 1st birthday, Mother's Day, babysitting Bryn, and a Cardinal game!  I seem to always have busy weekends.  In fact, my weekends are booked through June, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Here's to enjoying these last four days with my kids (and getting my room packed to MOVE)!!

2

Dear Robert,

I just can't believe that today marks two years.  TWO YEARS!  We were only together for a little over 2 years, so I've almost reached the point of being without you longer than I was with you. To be honest that's a "heart-crushing" thought. What keeps me going is knowing that I am not (nor will I ever be) truly living without you. It still amazes me every day the impact that you had in my life in those short 2 or almost 3 if you count the WHOLE time we "talked" years.  God truly had a plan when He guided us towards each other.

It's been quite a year without you...

First, Babies and you know how much I love babies.
-Miss Brynzlee graced us with her presence just days before your 1 year anniversary in Heaven, and spending those few weekends with her during her first month of life were what helped carry me through. This precious gift came at just the right  moment!
-Mr. Kaz Robert, your first nephew,  joined this world in November. This handsome boy captured my heart first from pictures, and then when I first held him on Thanksgiving.  I know just how special this little man would be to you, and he's even starting to look like you.  What a lucky boy! :)

I know just how much you'd adore these two ... and can only imagine what you'd be teaching them!

 

Second, Weddings!

-I was lucky enough to stand up with Doug and Chelsea at their wedding. Your presence was very apparent at that wedding. There was a moment of pure heartache that hit me during the wedding thinking that I should've been the one becoming "Mrs. Connor". I'm so honored that Doug and Chelsea asked me to be a part of their special day!  And there was that special dance that Doug picked out for him and I.... let's just say hearing "The Dance" and dancing with your brother ..... made me break down to my ugly cry face.
-Then came Amy and Tyler's wedding ... another day full of emotions for me. You should've been there ... You were there to coax Amy into giving Tyler a chance, so it only seems fair that you should've been there to celebrate them becoming husband and wife.  You would've been on Amy's tail about her wedding craziness ... and been there to support Tyler when she got a little "out of control". I couldn't be more proud to stand up as Amy's maid of honor, and let me just say, that I rocked the speech (thanks to a little or a lot of liquid encouragement).  You would've been proud!

Third, your Mom. 
Getting a call the Saturday after Thanksgiving that your Mom was being taken by ambulance to Champaign because she was full of infection was a very, very scary time. What did I do first? Run upstairs to tell my Mom, hug her, and cry.  How could this happen to your sweet Mom. She is the lady that has became just like a second mother to me and who has been there to support me at my lowest points. I'm so thankful that Aunt Debby called me to keep me informed and even more thankful to be there to support your Mom through this long, drawn out hospital stay.  I sure enjoyed our (almost) weekly visits in which we chatted.  You were brought up soo many times. Many, many prayers were said for her and I know through your support as well, she is getting better! She (along with all your precious family) was even able to make a trip to Decatur for Easter, and that meant SOO much to me! I cherish all the time I can get with the Connor's!

Fourth, your girls.
You left some very, very special little "nieces" -Peyton, Sawyer, and Addison. Can you believe that Miss Peyton started kindergarten? I was lucky enough to keep her and Sawyer overnight this summer, and let me just say, I had a blast!  You would've LOVED it!!  Little Miss Addison is still sassy (they say she gets it from me?!?!) but she's just the cutest AND she became a big sister to Rinley, who you would also adore.  I was able to visit with all of these sweet girls and their parents during visits in March.  Miss Paislee has also joined the Pollert family now, and I'm anxiously awaiting my visit to meet her for the first time!!! How lucky am I to inherit you're wonderful family and friends?!?!

Year 2 has seemed "easier" than year 1.  I still miss you, but I've just learned to push on through the heartache. I have to thank you for giving me the will to enjoy Christmas this year although I cried putting the tree together.  It brought me back to the day we went to buy a tree and you were sooooo excited. I think the exact words were "I don't care if you get a tree ... but if you put it up  by yourself.. you're taking it down by yourself."  Your love for Christmas just glowed bright through your words... ha!

<3

Two years ago today, my world came crashing down, and I honestly thought it was over... I didn't know where to look next.  In the last two years, I've realized that I can (and have to) move forward. I still miss you every day.  I promise to continue living and making you proud. When I'm down, I try to pick my head up knowing that you're looking out for me. I'm confident in knowing you would want me to find happiness. I'm just thankful to have you supporting me along the way.

I heard the song "Beer with Jesus" the other morning, and just pictured you up there enjoying beer with him.  Put in a good word for me while you're talking to him!

Love you to inifinity and beyondest forever and always,

Erin