Happy

I can't get enough of that Happy song by Pharrell Williams. It makes me want to get up and move my body. My students and I have been listening to it in the mornings to help us wake up and get into the right frame of mind. We watch videos of cute kids dancing along to the song and everyone in my class has a smile on their face.

Had lunch with Goodwoman today.  We talked about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She's a good friend to talk to when decisions need to be made. She's super analytical and has a good head on her shoulders. I trust her judgement and I know that she always has my back. What a great friend!  I'm lucky and I'm feeling pretty HAPPY and sleepy. It's kind of a gray and rainy day today. The perfect day to catch up on some much needed sleep. 

Tri North

I took the twins to the Tri North welcome night a few days ago. I saw a ton of former students there and I met a few of the teachers. There were also a bunch of kids that my boys knew there. This made me feel so much better about sending these two off to middle school. Harrison was getting on my last nerve at this age, but the twins are different.   Let's give a shout out to being different here!! Hayden grabbed my hand and was holding it while we were walking down the hallway!  Harrison only talked to me when he needed something in 6th grade.  

Hayden told me that he can't wait for middle school to start last night. He's excited, so I'm excited, but I'm still not happy about this growing up thing.  

Hayden saw this picture on the wall at Tri North. He liked it so much that he asked for my phone, snapped a picture of it and posted it to my Instagram account.  It must've made him happy. 

I'm losing it

Henry lost 4 things while we were in Florida.  He lost his towel, his goggles, his hoodie, and the boomerang.  All of these things were BRAND NEW, except the hoodie.  I refused to buy him replacement items, so he spent half of the vacation without a towel.    I was so ticked at that boy. 

Henry

We did a little writing at school today.  I challenged my group to tell a story without using the word then.  I'm so sick of reading stories that say and then, and then and then.  BORING.....   I gave them a list of cool sentence starters and other words to use in place of the word then.  One kid totally surprised me!  He wrote a fantastic story about falling asleep in class.  (which he has never done)

One little guy in my group is what most people would call a tough cookie.  He doesn't say much.  Trust me, I've tried everything to get him talking.  I have to keep a close eye on him because he's a runner.  I noticed that he was writing today during writing time.  This kinda surprised me because he's usually off task 99.9% of the time that he is with me.  So, I walked over and said, hey!!  whatcha writing about??  He wrote me 2 notes.  

Here's the first note.

And here's the second note....

Hey, did I mention that he was writing during writing time?  

It's Sunday Night

I slept until 6 pm today and I feel like I've been hit by a truck.   Allan took the boys to the doctor today because their ears were hurting.  They have swimmer's ear and the doc gave them antibiotic drops.

I'm trying to remember the schedule for work tomorrow.  It's changed like 5 times this year and I can barely keep up.  I think it's mostly the same, but I need to go through some emails and figure it out before 8 am.  I do know that there's only 9 weeks left of this school year and I am so thankful for that news.  I have 45 more days with these kids.  My twins have 45 more days of elementary school.  Oh man.  I can't wrap my brain around that.

Hayden

I'm never getting in a car again

OHHHMYYYYGAWD  that car ride sucked.  It took forever to get home.  It's going to take days, maybe weeks to recover.    I planned to ride my bike to work next week, but of course, it's supposed to snow.

Hayden, Alabama

Abby and Titus

On Our Way Home

So last night I had a dream that I slept through my alarm and all of a sudden it was Monday morning and we were still in Florida.  Instead of just throwing everyone in the car and hurrying home, I decided to just quickly enroll 6 kids in school. Apparently, missing one day of school was not an option...  Weird. 

This trip has been one fun filled adventure after another. Picked up a few Haydenisms just today!  I took the boys to Hardee's for the first time ever and Hayden read the sign:  hand-scooped milkshakes.  He said,   Ewwwwww, do they really scoop it with their hands????  

And then when he ordered his burger, he said, I want the one dash four L.B. burger.   I freaking died laughing. 

The kids all got along for the most part and the weather was amazing. The boys surfed again with Mr. Surf.  I think Henry is ready to try the real thing.  He loves that Mr. Surf calls him Hang Ten Henry. 

Every year we take a few more people with us and every year it just gets better. I can't wait until next year. 

My Dream

Last night, I had a dream that I was in shape again. I was running a ton and I felt great. My body looked decent and my clothes fit. I really want my clothes to fit again. I need this dream to turn into a reality. I hired my trainer back, but I'm still only going to the gym a couple of days a week.  I also need to stop eating so many carbs. I'm pretty much ignoring all the other food groups these days. I'm leaving for Florida in 9 days and I'm not looking forward to putting my swimsuit on. 

Istep Time

We had a snow day today.  Henry went to school and helped me cover up all my posters, etc for IStep. I think it's so silly to cover anything up. The tests are timed and if a kid is smart enough to look up during the test and find the poster or sign that will help her do better on the test, then good for her. The student still has to apply the information that is on the poster.   I mean, there aren't questions and answers posted everywhere.

Pinocchio Minecraft

I'm hoping for some good news this year. I'm always so hopeful and then we get an F.  Not this year!!!  This is our year. We have really great teachers at our school and the students are amazing. They all have their own little story of survival and  I'm ready for good results for everyone involved.  I'm forever hopeful. 

Twins are 12

The weekend was filled with birthday love and laughter.  It was just what we all needed.  Things have been a little rough around here.  

Henry made it into middle school ALPS.  He is very excited about this.  The boys will be separated for the first time in their lives.  I hope they at least have lunch together.  

Istep starts tomorrow and of course, it's snowing like crazy outside.  The kids at school are more stressed than ever about this test because the entire town is talking about how they are not reading on grade level.  I've been trying to keep everyone calm and give as many compliments as possible.  Some are buying in, but others are just rolling their little eyes at me.  I'm hoping this 2 hour delay turns into a snow day.