School

I have a big decision to make soon.  I'm sick of driving to Indy, but I've made friends here. I like the students and their families, but I've haven't grown attached to any of them like I did at Fairview. I was in it to win it at that place. Ok, maybe a few. 

Last night Hayden told me that he never gets to see me anymore. I have to spend more time with them.  They are going to be grown up and gone soon and I'm going to be so depressed.  

Should I put a resume together and look for a job closer to home?  Or should I stay in Indy because I know what to expect here?  I have grown to like this age group, but I miss 3rd graders. Which grade?  Or should I just be a Walmart greeter?    So many decisions to make. 

Cincinnati Gardens

The Bantams played 2 games yesterday at the Gardens. It's a historic building that opened in 1949 and it's always freezing in there!  They played the Cincinnati Swords, a Gold team that has only won a few games this season.  We are Silver. The Swords hit hard and played a little dirty. Henry and Hayden were knocked around quite a bit.  Hayden said the games were tough. They won their first game and lost their second game. I really wanted to leave that place with two wins. Hayden scored 2 goals and won the MVP award.

Hayden has really matured this season. I'm so proud of him and he is still the amazingly, awesome, nice kid that he has always been.

Mommy Quiz

I saw this quiz on Facebook.  I'm trying not to post on Facebook this year, but I thought this would be fun to look back on in a few years.  So I quizzed my boys....

WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your child these questions and write down EXACTLY what they say. It is a great way to find out what they really think. 

1.    What is something mom always says to you?

Henry – do you homework

Hayden – Hayden come here!

2.    What makes mom happy?

Henry - sleeping

Hayden – seeing good grades

3.    What makes mom sad?

Henry – sports teams losing

Hayden – losing a friend

4.     How does your mom make you laugh?

Henry – she makes jokes

Hayden - cursing

5.    5. What was your mom like as a child?

 Henry – she was rough and tough

Hayden - poor

6.    How old is your mom?

Henry - 43

Hayden - 45

7. How tall is your mom? 

Henry – 5 foot 2

Hayden – 5 foot 1

7.    What is her favorite thing to do?

Henry – watch us play hockey

Hayden – sleep, take a nap

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?

Henry – she hangs out with friends

Hayden – watch netflix (netflix and chill..   Ummmm Hayden that means have sex, ohhhh. Nevermind)

8.    If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Henry – creating a school based on sports

Hayden  - breaking a world record

9.    What is your mom really good at?

Henry  - teaching

Hayden -teaching

10.                  What is your mom not very good at?

Henry –  being a morning person

Hayden  -  video games

13. What does your mom do for a job?

Henry – teacher

Hayden - teacher

14.What is your mom's favorite food?

Henry - pizza

Hayden – upland

15.What makes you proud of your mom?

Henry – you work in Indy everyday

Hayden – your mom is losing a lot of weight 

(Hayden took the computer away from me and typed this. He didn't want to say it out loud.)

16. If your mom were a character, who would she be?

Henry – Anna (because she is all about adventures and she loves her family)

Hayden – Marlin from Nemo

17. What do you and your mom do together?

Henry – watch games together

Hayden – walk on the b-line trail

18. How are you and your mom the same?

Henry – we like sports

Hayden – we are both blonde

19. How are you and your mom different?

Henry – she’s a girl

Hayden – she’s older than me

20. How do you know your mom loves you?

Henry – she told me

Hayden – she cares a lot about me

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?

Henry – Wrigley Field

Hayden - Chicago

23. How old was your Mom when you were born?

Henry – 31 (it’s my number)

Hayden – 22 

Weekend

This weekend was a bust. I did nothing. I read very little, watched a lot of mindless tv and slept a ton. Lame.  The boys have a 2 hour delay in the morning, but I still have to get up and leave my house at 6am. Lame to the 2nd power 

I did try to take a walk this weekend. I felt like a human Popsicle and my face hurt. I think I got to 10,000 steps on one of the days. 

I went to see my brother yesterday. Henry was the only Streib boy that would go with me. We looked at some old pictures.  

I found 2 that I liked enough to take with me. The one on the left is my senior picture. I call it my Michael Jackson years. I think the picture on the right was taken in Martinsville, Indiana. I was 8 years old. 

I ended this fabulous MLK jr weekend with friends at Upland. I watched the twins play an intense game of chopsticks on their fingers. I love watching them go into their own little world. They seriously forget that anyone is even around.  

 

3 day weekend

We are supposed to be in St. Louis this weekend for a hockey tournament. A bunch of parents complained about going because we would just be getting back from Canada. So the coach pulled us out of the tournament. I'm bummed. I wish we were there. I like watching the boys play hockey.

I took 2 naps today instead. I'll probably finish watching the Making A Murderer documentary on Netflix. The show makes me insanely angry, so I can only watch a few episodes at a time.  It's a story that needs to be told though. 

Elective

My elective this 9 weeks is drawing class.  I went to the library and checked out a ton of drawing books from the kid's section.  I have 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.  They are pretty nice kids.  One girl has already been accepted to Herron.  It's an Art's high school in Indianapolis.  She's so excited.


So yesterday we watched a short video about how to draw Yoda.  The kids all moaned and groaned about their little Yoda's, but I think they turned out just fine.


I really love their artwork.  It's all over my room. My walls will be covered by March.                          I'm having a lot of fun with this group. The kids like to listen to music while we are drawing, so today we listened to David Bowie and talked about how awesome he was.


                 

Success in Canada

The boys won 2 games and lost 2 games in the Silversticks tournament. Our team was the only American bantam team to win a game in their division.  We were placed in tier 1 for the playoffs and we lost to a really good Canadian team. Hayden scored 2 goals and Henry really learned how to check people up here. I really enjoyed watching the boys play against the tougher teams. I hope they learned a few lessons from the losses. 

Henry and his little gang of friends walked around town with another Canadian team. Henry told me that the Canadians asked our boys why they weren't fat.....

We spent about and hour looking for a place for Harrison to eat around the hotel. It's kind of a touristy, little casino town. We saw a lot of chain restaurants and blingy lights and then he said he lost his appetite. I found a place for him to eat in Toronto, but he didn't eat much. I think he's losing weight. What happened to the freshman 15?  

Canada Bound

We are on our way. Im camped out in the back seat of the van. I have pillows, blankets, and a nook that is full of books to read. 

The boys are eating their way through all of the snacks. They should be gone in an hour. It's about a 10 hour drive to Pelham Ontario.  Everyone will be in survival mode in about 5 hours. Thank goodness for headphones! 

         Hayden found a comfy spot. 

I hope the boys do well in the tournament. It would be nice for one or more of the Blade's teams to come home with a trophy. Opening ceremony is tomorrow and I'm so excited to see our team participate. 

Tomorrow's the big day...

First day of school in 2016 is tomorrow!!!  I prepared myself today by reading articles about how to be a better teacher and I also found some fun problem-solving activities for my students. And I went shopping and spent about $100 on new school supplies.  I want the first day of school In 2016 to be as fun as possible. I'm only going to be with my class for two days this week. We are leaving for Canada on Wednesday morning and I'm super excited about this adventure!  I hope the guest teacher is good and keeps them all in line until I get back on Monday.  

The twins do not want to go back to school tomorrow. I have never heard them say one negative thing about school until this year. They both complain that it's boring and they hate school.  It's so sad because they really loved their elementary school.  They had amazing teachers that challenged them and kept them engaged.  Hopefully North will provide a better environment and they will learn to love school again.

New Year: New Goals

16 Goals for 2016

1.  Visit 16 new cities or towns. Outside of Indiana preferably 

2.  Get a 40,000 steps in a day badge on Fitbit 

3.  Run a 5k

4. Stop drinking Diet Coke 

5.  Read 16 books 

6.  Take a class 

7.  Organize my pictures 

8.  Paint the boy's bedrooms 

9.  Write more 

10.  Spend more time with the boys because, wow, do they grow up fast 

11. Eat better food. Although, I just had ice cream for dinner 

12. Spend less time on social media. 

13. Ride my bike 1,000 miles

14. Get another tattoo 

15. Go watch the IU women play basketball 

16. Go on an adventure