I Made It! #SOL16

It's the last day for the Slice of Life Month of March Challenge, and I can't believe I made it! I have written every single day and commented on posts from others every single day. I can't say I always wrote inspirational posts - or reader worthy for that matter, but I'm very proud of myself for making it to the end. I wasn't sure if I could do it, but I set my goal and worked towards it every day. I really enjoyed reading posts by so many others that I didn't know about before. I'm happy that I've found these new blogs and I will continue to read them moving on. Now I have to decide how I want to continue blogging. I know I will participate in the Tuesday Slices, and I'm excited for that. I need to figure out how I want to move forward with other posting though.

This was a great challenge, and I really appreciate those at the Two Writing Teachers blog who started this, arranged everything, organized it for all us, and carried it out!

Hooray! 31 days of posting:)

Planning, Planning and More Planning #SOL16

At our school we have an auction every two years, and this year was an auction year. All the teachers have to offer some type of package for parents to bid on for their children. One of the items I offered with two other teachers is Chopped. We opened it up to be bid on two different times, so we'll have a total of 12 kids competing in the game. I'm meeting with the other two teachers to figure out what we need to do to prepare for the game.

We have a young group, first graders, and an older group, sixth graders, that are competing. (It was only supposed to be offered to fourth and up, but that didn't happen:)) We need to decide how we're going to work the competition since we have such a large difference in ages participating. We think the best way is to split each of the six into groups of three. Then we'll have two first grade teams compete against each other and two sixth grade teams compete against each other.

We have to decide on the ingredients that need to be included in the baskets, as well as what other items/ingredients need to be available as "pantry" ingredients. We also have to decide whether we'll have the kids actually chop ingredients or if everything will already be prepped and ready to use. We have to decide how the teams are going to be judged and what they'll win. Will everyone win something or just one team from each age group.

There is quite a bit of preparation that has to take place before April 9th! I think there are so many things to think about, I hope we don't miss anything. If there's something you think we might need to consider, I'd love it if you left in as a comment.

I hope it will be fun for the kids!

Bullet Journals #SOL16

Have you heard of bullet journaling? My daughter introduced me to the idea. We scoured bullet journaling on Pinterest. We watched some videos on bullet journal - how to do it, what to include. Then, we ordered some Leuchtturm 1917 dot journals and pretty colorful pens on Amazon. And we waited. Today they arrived. Yay!

We looked at our new journals. Where to begin? It was a little overwhelming. Neither one of us wanted to write something in our brand new journal and mess it up. We went back to the bullet journal images on Pinterest, watched a couple more videos and then we finally took the plunge. We created some daily pages, a To Do List, an exercise page, and a goal page.

We're excited about this new bullet journal journey. Do you bullet journal?

Hope for Our World #SOL16

Yesterday was rainy and gloomy. We met my parents, siblings and their families at church. The minister preached about the true meaning of Easter but he also spoke about his sadness. His mother is in her last stages of life. He talked about his faith and her faith and the power in knowing that this is not the end. I was moved by his strength.

We went to lunch together afterwards at my parents' club. There were many, many families there, spending time together over a meal. You could see the love at each table. Children begging grandparents for help with the push-up desserts. Parents scooping children up for hugs. Everyone taking care of their families.

The children were having a great time. They were trotting between tables, grabbing desserts, climbing into laps, scaling chairs. There was plenty of movement amongst the children. There were smiles. There was laughter.

My father turned to my mother and said, "Seeing these children gives me hope for our world."

The New Morning Wake Up Routine #SOL16

Here I sit. The dog and kitten woke me bright and early this morning; 4:30 am seems to be their new time. The kitten stretches his arms out and paws at the dog, just a little bit mind you, and the dog trots back and forth from one end of the bed to the other. Meanwhile, the other cat is perched on top of my side. This is the way I have been woken up the last four or five mornings. I try and ignore it. I try and soothe the dog, so she'll settle back down, but to no avail. This trotting back and forth becomes a bit frantic, and then I know, there is no more sleep for me....it's time to get up. Take everyone outside. Make the coffee. Now, here I sit.

The new morning wake up routine...I don't like it!
I'm tired:)

A Day of Thanks #SOL16

I am thankful for today.

Today is my first day of spring break, and I am thankful.

Today my sister and her family are coming in town, and I am thankful.

Today I spent the day with my daughter, and I am thankful.

Today we had lunch with friends, and I am thankful.

Today I was able to sit and read quietly, and I am thankful.

Today I spent time with my brother and parents, and I am thankful.

I am thankful for today.

When a Good Book Grabs You #SOL16

You know that moment.  I have this book. It's a rather big book. I've heard it's good. I love the author, Pam Munoz Ryan. I heard her speak two years ago and fell in love with her even more. This book has been on my "to read" list for quite a while. I haven't picked it up, until yesterday.

We have a group doing book club, so we met on Wednesday during advisory time to decide on what book or books we were going to read over the next couple of weeks. The students voted on four books, so we will have four groups going. Two out of the four I have read. Our list is Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (read and loved), Savvy (read and loved), Peak (haven't read but plan to read with my boys), Echo (haven't read but plan to read with my girls).

I have a copy of Echo in my classroom library, which I pulled when we were voting.

Yesterday, my kiddos were working on poetry and Echo was sitting on my table. No one needed me at that moment, so I opened the book - just to take a look, mind you. Well, that was that. I read the first few pages - the opener.  I WAS HOOKED! I continued through the first chapter and had to stop because it was the end of the day. BUMMER! We had to pack up and head to carpool.

I don't know that I can wait until after spring break to read this with my kiddos. Ryan really grabbed me from the very beginning. I already want to see what happens next.

I will try to wait, but really.....I think I will read it now and reread it with the girls:)