Cool App

My brother sent me this cool little photo collage that he made on his phone! It's called "photoshake". Love it!

Planning Oliver's First Birthday

My little baby is turning one! Where has the time gone? Seriously, where? I have heard so many adults throughout my life say this when they are talking about how fast their children grow up, but come on!! I never believed it would really feel this fast. There are moments that it feels like months have just flown by, but at the same time I don't remember what I did with my time before him. Craziness.
I have decided not to throw a big first birthday for Oliver. The party will consist of mostly family. But, I do want to do a few special things. Since his birthday is in May I have been inspired by Maypoles.

I plan on using these bright and cheerful colors to decorate. Check out this amazing rainbow cake. I know it looks like quite an undertaking for someone who has trouble following a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I have to give it a try!

Teaching Tuesday (night)

Since we are currently on Spring Break and I'm not teaching in the classroom I am going to do something different for Teaching Tuesday.
I would like to share some of the children's books we read to Oliver. My friends gave me a book themed baby shower, which was awesome, so my little man had a small library before he even came into this world.  Books have been read to Oliver since he was 2 weeks old, and it has been amazing to see the different roles books play in his life as he develops.
One of his favorite books right now is: Hey, Wake Up! by Sandra Boynton. Her books are adorable. Simple, yet funny and engaging. We read it every morning :)

Searching for a New Abode

{Found via Modern Rags }

So, after spending a little short of 5-6 hours scouring the homes for rent on Craigslist I have  unfortunately come to find we can't afford to move. I think I already new this sad truth before I started looking, but was hoping to discover a great little place we could afford. 

How did you find the place that you are living? Craigslist, Newspaper, a friend? I'd love some suggestions.

Teaching Tuesday

I love technology.

Ah, Spring Break. We are on a year-round schedule at my school site, so we actually have the entire month of April off! Don't hate me. We do have to teach through most of July. 

During my break I plan on taking a few technology based courses my district is offering. We have recently received Promethean Interactive Whiteboards , which are absolutely amazing. The technology has completely changed the way I teach. There are so many amazing things the Promethean board can do, so I need to take a few more classes to learn as much as I can. 

I have been doing the best I can given the small amount of training I've had. So far I have made Flipcharts on my computer to teach from (AWESOME, I'm using so much less chart paper). I have also used a software program called ActivEngage which allows students to respond to questions that I send to their laptops. The kids and I LOVE it.

One of the courses I plan on taking teaches about a program called Kurzweil. I don't know a lot about this program, but I do know it has the capability to read text to students. This can help a lot with a FEW students. I need to learn if it's applicable to more students that DON'T need a lot of reading support. 

Do any of you use Promethean Whiteboards in your classrooms? I would love to hear about how you incorporate them into your daily lessons. 

Happy Spring Break to you all!

Hello!

Here is what has been occupying all of my time!

(worth every minute of course)

A lot has happened since my last post. Some good and some bad. I am going to try and focus on the good. Here are some of the good happenings: My stepson turned 12 years old (last year of the tweens!), my baby laughs and is almost crawling, my husband took a Rock Band course at a community college and they recently did their presentation. It was awesome check it out! 

I am looking forward to Spring and prospect of new beginnings. Even though it is pouring and very windy here in Southern California.

How are all of you? Any exciting "Spring Break" plans?

Break for Now

I will have to take a blogging break for now. All of my time is being taken up with work and family. I am NOT complaining. I plan on posting again in the not so distant future. :)

First Days of Daycare!

We have survived the first 3 days of daycare! Oliver seems to really like his teacher but is refusing the bottle! I was so upset and worried about it yesterday when I picked him up because I thought for sure on the second day he would give in and take it, ah, no! (looks like I've got a little stubborn guy). My fear of him not eating at daycare gave me the will power I needed to stop breast feeding during the day. I never thought this would bother me so much but it really does. I will probably start again after I know that he is consistently taking the bottle. I'm sorry to say that until then boobs will only be available at the late night feeding. When I got home I needed to try to give him a bottle (the thought of it made me cringe) so I poured myself a glass of wine to relax a little before the screaming started. But to my complete surprise and utter happiness, he drank 5oz right away! He must have been really hungry because he didn't make one little whimper in refusal. He didn't do as well at daycare, but did eat a little more than he did the first two days so we're making bits of progress.
If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!

My Mantra: "For Pete's Sake, Stop Worrying."

I am returning to work this week! I am trying to stay positive and optimistic so I don't loose it when I  take Oliver to daycare. I am confident that he will be great because he will be in competent hands but I'm going to miss hugging and kissing him all day!

I have always been a worry wort. When I was about 8 years old my dad wrote this quote on my alligator chalkboard, "Don't worry about things you can't control, only about things you can." I have repeated this to myself over the years and will never forget him writing that for me. So many years later I still need a reminder about not worrying! So, when I saw this in Real Simple magazine I had to cut it out and put it on my chalkboard (I wish I still had the alligator one). It makes me smile and think of my dad (and his name is Peter!).

Oliver 3 Months

Oh my goodness time is flying by my little guy is 3 months old!

What he's doing: smiling, cooing (sounds like a little bird), lifting his head and supporting it for a longer time on his own, laughing (Well I've only heard it twice, but it was the BEST!). He has started to want mommy more than he used to, which is going to make starting daycare this week a little rough. Oh and he decided he doesn't want the bottle anymore! This is going to be an interesting week!