Help a Teacher- Pass the Word

Help spread the word-  this is a neat giveaway for teachers!!!!  If you know a teacher or are one, pass the news!  If you enter from this blog link, I will be entered too.  :)

Family time

I love my kids!  :)

Today the young people and I all met up at the house and headed out to see the Hobbit. :) I was so excited to be with the kids- all of them- and to see that movie!!! We made a little "memory" that will be a joke for years to come at Robert's expense.  I had to make a bathroom pit stop during the movie.  When I came back and was sitting back down in my seat, I didn't see Robert stretching his long legs (and he didn't see me sitting down apparently), and somehow he kicked me in the face.  Got me right in the eye- glasses went flying down two or three steps in the dark, and my eye felt like it was bleeding.  I was kind of stunned, couldn't figure out what hit me; he was stunned and apologizing like crazy (like his mom). :)

One of the boys got my glasses for me, but they were so banged up, I couldn't wear them.  Watched the rest of the movie with not so great vision, but thankfully it was a big screen and I didn't really miss anything important.  Rob was able to bend the ear and nose pieces back into place enough to get me through until Tuesday when I have to try to get excused from an after school meeting to get to the eye dr.  I have a small cut on my eyelid and am waiting to see if I will end up with a black eye.  Boy, am I going to tease that son of mine if I do!!!! hehehehehehe

The rest of the day was just normal- menu planning, lesson planning, and working on teacher materials for my store.  I'm starting learning contracts with my kinders this week, and I try to differentiate a lot, so I'm knee deep in all of that.  Shoot, I have to pay the bills too- YIKES!  Better get on that now!

Happy weekend!
Beka :)

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Friday- my favorite day.  Today I worked super late in my classroom- moving furniture, reorganizing the library area, getting things straightened up and looking through my teacher books and resources to plan our very first kindergarten learning contracts for this school year.  I sure hope my little ones are ready for this level of self-management!

I am way too old and have too crummy a back to be moving large bookcases and pieces of furniture; you'd think I'd learn this lesson eventually.  But here is what I have to show for my hard evening's work- a beautiful library area for the kids on Monday morning.

 Here is the whole library corner plus word wall.  I've got baskets for alphabet books, math books, science, and poetry on the floor (I wish I had tons of shelves here).  You can't see them, but on the small bookcase, I have baskets for many different characters the kids love- Curious George, Franklin, Little Critter, etc.  I color coded my author study books and put them in the red & blue crates; I hope to really get the kids into author studies now in this last half of the year.

Now to lesson plan, pay the bills, do my Donors Choose work, and finish those pj pants. :)

2013- Page 3 - Thankful Thursday

I'm going to try to do a Thankful Thursday each week.  I just want to make sure I keep thinking of my blessings; I think I do this, but it can't hurt to be deliberate in keeping the thankfulness in the front of my brain. :)

• thankful that I got to have four Christmases- with Shanesa, then all the young people, then our Thomas five, then my Illinois family. :)  As the kids are getting their own adult lives, we are having to learn to adjust.  Christmas is not what it once was, and that bothered me a little at times this last month, but then I remembered that we have to change.  I will miss the Christmases with my little ones, but we will make new memories and build new traditions and that will be fun too.  It was also so nice to spread out the fun, laughter, joy, and giving.
• thankful for safety on our travels to IL & back- about 1,800 miles total and part of that was in snow
• thankful my hubby is feeling better, that he went to the doctor (did you feel the Earth shift on its axis this week???? He NEVER goes to the dr.!), and that he is getting appointments for further medical care.
• thankful for our healthcare provider- Sara is the BEST.  I've had some really crummy doctor experiences, but Sara has been so good to me and to the kids the few times they've gone in, and now to my hubby.  I am so thankful for her!!!!
• thankful that I am finding/taking time to do some sewing and creating- it was so nice to give my kids(students) all fleece reading blankets, and I was able to make something for my assistant, Shanesa, Rita, Barbara, my sister, my brother (in-law), my niece, and now I'm working on pajama pants for my momma.  :)  

• thankful for the laughter of children- I didn't want to go back to work, but I was so happy to see my kiddos and hear their laughter and get lots of hugs!

My niece, Zoe, LOVED this cloth when we were at the fabric store.  She kept pushing off the other bolts of fabric from the cart, leaning backwards to lay her head on it and saying, "soft, soft." :)  When the clerk was cutting it for us, she kept pointing and saying, "mine;" she wanted it back and was not happy that Aunt Beka had given away "her" soft fabric.  It was cute and funny, but she was oh so right- this stuff is amazingly soft.  I want a blanket or pj's with it too.  You're pretty smart, Zo!

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Today found me:

• creating & publishing some more teacher stuff- here and here
• taking my hubby to the dr. and hoping they can help him feel better
• getting lunch with Rob after the dr.'s appointment :) :) :)
• doing some "dreaming" about our 25th anniversary- We'd like to take a trip next summer.  We aren't sure if we can afford it or not, but we're going to do some wishing, looking, hoping. :)
• walking around Joann's with my youngest (Thanks for keeping me company Matthew!!!)- I bought fabric to make some skirts & a pair of pajama bottoms for me :) plus fabric/batting for some baby quilts for Rob's coworkers who are expecting their first babies and tons of fabric to make burp cloths and aprons to help my sister and brother (in-law) with their sponsorship/adoption goal.  
• emailing my advisor about the rest of my coursework- I might be taking three courses this term- YIKES!- but if I do, that might also mean I could graduate this December.  That would be killer now, but oh so nice!  Either way, I'm 12-17 months from being done. :)

Now, I need to prepare for teaching tomorrow; it will be nice to see my kiddos again! Not looking forward to being back in general, but I do ADORE the kids at my school, so that will be good. :)  Oh, and thanks to God- I have had three (WOW) projects funded in the last week.  I no longer have any live projects on Donors Choose thanks to strangers. :)  Such a great way to end 2012 and start 2013 as a teacher! Makes me remember this:

Beka :)

2013- Page 1

I don't really set resolutions for myself; I am too wishy-washy about those things.  But, over the last year, I have been working on becoming healthier, and I begin this year a pant/dress size smaller than last year and forty pounds (maybe more- I never used to let the dr.'s office weigh me) lighter than last year. :)  That thought makes me happy, very, very happy.  I've never lost and KEPT weight off.  I usually lose it and then gain it and more back, but I'm losing slowly and keeping it off.  That was my goal, and I'm accomplishing it slow & steady.  Like the tortoise, I am finally believing, I can win this race. :)  You have NO idea how powerful that feels to me for the first time in my adult, obese life.

So in this chapter of my life, I hope and plan to keep working on that healthier me thing.  I hope to end the year smaller in size and lighter on the scale and would like to be able to be more physically active.  I long for walks in the woods with my hubby, and oh, how I would love to go hiking in the mountains! :)  That's a someday goal, but still!

Other things I want to do/achieve/try this year:

• continue to work on my masters' degree- This time next year, I will be about to start my last semester I hope, and I am planning on graduating in May 2014 if my classes all fall into the schedule. :)  That means half-time graduate school this year while working full-time, running an after school club for kids, working on the side for Donors Choose, serving my grade level as chair & being a teacher leader too- oh, and being a wife, mom, daughter, sister, aunt, and having a life perhaps. :)  It promises to be a busy, full year! :)
• in October, I started sharing/creating/selling learning materials online at Teachers Pay Teachers and in December, I opened up a shop at Teachers' Notebook too.  I'm nervously excited about growing in this ability, and praying I can make a go of it.  I hope to really learn how to do this better and supplement our income as well as helping other teachers.
• find more time for me- to read, to make cards and sew and learn new crafts and go for walks, rides and talk with my hubby, call my parents, go to movies with my kids, spend the night at Robert's apartment, etc.  Life is going by too fast, and all I have to show for it is my work.  I ADORE my children I teach; they mean the world to me, but I need to do things for me and for my family too.  That is one area I REALLY need to improve.  So I hope to just get away with Rob more- sometimes just getting out of the front door and walking at the park or going to a local museum, but sometimes maybe a weekend camping trip (oh, I hope we can do that more), or a night in Raleigh or Charlotte.  In an effort to do things for Rebekah, I also want to continue to learn new sewing skills/techniques and improve my sewing skills- later this month I am getting together with my cousins and sister for a weekend mini-cation and we are going to craft, sew, cook, eat, and laugh.  My cousin, Pam, is going to teach me how to sew zippers and help me learn how to properly quilt so that I can finish my big quilt top I made for Rob and I.  I am sooo excited!!!!
• This last one is most important to me- I read this quote that has stuck in my head for about two weeks now- "Sometimes, it is better to be kind than to be right. We do not need an intelligent mind that speaks, but a patient heart that listens." I am praying that God will help me to live my life with this in mind.  I am going to ask myself each day, "Did I listen today, truly listen?  Was I kind or right?"  And that includes being kind to Rebekah (which my family, friends, and colleagues will tell you is who I am hardest on).

I could set more goals, but those are the things that are most important to me, the things I've already been working on and feel are important.  I think that life changes are best done (for me, at least) in slow, steady changes and progressions, so I'll just keep up doing what I have already done to change and improve myself and keep myself moving down the path.  I am happy with where I am going, and hope to get further down the road to wherever this journey is going to take me, but for sure to a  healthier, smarter, better me.

New Year, New Beginnings

I saw this on Facebook, and it really spoke to me about a way to view each new year.  It's a new book, what will I write on the pages of my year?  I hope the year's book will be a good read when it's done, and I close the page (God willing) in 365 days.

I've stepped away from blogging and have missed it.  I got in a rut with my emotions, felt like I was just wasting my time, boring myself and anybody who might visit with my ramblings.  I've heard lots of comments about people who blog and how it's so egocentric, and I soooo don't want to be conceited or thought of as stuck on myself.  But then I remembered that I started blogging not for people to read my thoughts or to get followers but as my own way to journal my thoughts, to share memories for down the road....  I am not an eloquent speaker or writer, but I can just jot down my thoughts, things I want to remember later, share photos for myself to cherish...  I need to do this.  Some people journal in a notebook, and I can't seem to stick with that for some reason or other- every time I try, I stop.  I was journaling here pretty regularly, and then just stopped.  Time to get back to it. :)

So with that in mind, here I go.  New year, new chapter in my book.