Back to School

We enjoyed be-bopping around the back-to-school picnic...and then it happened.

We transitioned back to the working world. And we're doing fine. The kids seem to fit right in at the new sitter and I'm enjoying being back in my classroom at school.
I've always liked that I get to teach a couple sections of each grade-level so I get to have many of the same students over and over. Love those 3-peat FACSies. Most of them.

Our school building was painted over the summer and my FACS room got a facelift too! (Mainly so we can fit MORE kids in!) New tables, chairs, countertops, some appliances, sewing machines & cabinets, and a fancy demo mirror. Woo-hoo! Here's a sneak peak at all my new loot!

Love my personalized Erin Condren planner from Peggy!

Of course I miss our lazy days of summer, but I'm thankful that I really do enjoy my work at school. Now just to perfect that balance of things running smoothly both at home and at work...

Inspired by 8th Graders

Every semester my 8th grade FACS students participate in the MTMS Dessert Challenge. For this "challenge" they get to pick out their own recipes (in groups of 4) and make them for a panel of judges (other teachers and principals). It's fun to watch them take such pride in making pies from scratch or creating a multi-layer cake. Grocery shopping for this event is a nightmare, but I usually do walk away with a few recipes I'd like to try again myself. This year's winner...Oreo Balls...from a group of 4 boys. I've never attempted to make cake balls...I hear it's quite complex. I had one (advanced) group of girls venture to make cake balls from a cake they made from scratch. This resulted in their group (and me) staying after school until 4:30 one day. And actually, their cake balls were quite ugly. The boys on the other hand, easily finished within the 44 minute class period. And they were good. I attempted to make the recipe for our staff cookie exchange. Don't tell anyone...but the boys' turned out much prettier than mine. But they do taste great! And they were considerably easier than other cake ball recipes.

Scrape off icing from a pack of oreos. Mix the icing with a package of cream cheese until fluffy and crush up the cookies in a ziploc bag. (Crush them up until they are crumbs. I left mine as chunky pieces and I regret it). Mix in the crumbs with the fluffy icing/cream cheese mixture and shape into balls. Chill them in the fridge for a bit.

Then dip in almond bark.

The dipping was difficult. There had to have been an easier way.

Back in the fridge until ready to serve. Perhaps I need to ask the 8th grade boys for some tips...

Find the recipe at cooks.com.

Timberwolf Spirit!

Nothing like a tacky Christmas sweater party with co-workers to celebrate the season!

This year, I didn't mess around with my attire. I borrowed a festive Christmas JUMPER that had been retired from my mom's extensive Christmas collection. And Cade is modeling his monkey hat knitted by my Grandmama. He LOVES to wear it!

It was a fun-filled evening at Emily's house complete with a BBQ dinner and white elephant gift exchange.

Everyone showed their Christmas spirit with excellent outfits.

But I have to brag a little, my jumper did win me 1st place in the sweater contest. Nothing beats a jumper! I'm petitioning for all the teachers to wear their tacky Christmas attire to school the last day before break...mainly because that jumper was crazy comfortable!

Bring It On

11-12 School Year...we are ready. My pretty friends from MT (who are all pretty pregnant this year!) and our annual "First day of school" pic.

Guess I'll be the only one serving a full school year for the 11-12 year!

Almost There...

So the picture is a little premature. Three and a half days left. I love summer. I love my job--but it's also part of my job to love summer.
Middle school kids do crack me up, especially lately. We made smoothies in the "Food Prep" unit (which is way more fun than the sewing unit, by the way). We make a drink called "Cloud Nine" that I got from another FACS teacher. While they get to choose from a handful of recipes what they want to make, Cloud Nine is always a popular choice--I'm sure it's because it has ice cream in it. One student even said he tried to look the recipe up online so he could make it for his family. He said the only recipes he found when he searched it online all contained vodka. Whoops.

I was feeling generous this quarter so even the 6th graders got to make smoothies. This is ordinarily a luxury reserved for the 7th and 8th graders only. I am now reminded why that is so. Not one but TWO different groups didn't get their blenders screwed together tight enough causing their entire smoothie to leak out all over the blender and the counter. Poor kids were so disappointed they were practically licking it off the counter...I'm sure they would have if I wouldn't have forebode it. (Forebode?! I'm pretty sure that's right). A lot of the funny moments are at the expense of the 6th graders. Teaching them lifeskills is quite a trip. Heck, you haven't lived until you've tried to supervise 26 kids with 12 skillets making bacon. Scariest thing I've ever attempted. Now, you know I'm a pork-lover, but we've got to switch to turkey bacon if I ever attempt this again. 6th graders and gobs of grease DO NOT MIX.

Ah, three and a half days.

Cadeocentric

After a LONG 5-day (over 55 hours, thank you winter homecoming) work-week it was time for a refreshingly Cade-centered weekend. A Pioneer victory was an added bonus as well!

Who doesn't love babies in jeans?

Cade loves anything that he can pull up on to stand with. He can stand on his own (without holding onto anything) for a few seconds but hasn't really seen a need to try to take any steps unless he's holding onto something or someone!

We're also very into waving lately.


I tried to get him to pose with his Valentine's bear from Grandma Jan & Grandpa Mike...this is the best we could achieve. He loves to hug the bear though!

A hair-raising good time at Red Robin with the Hepker's

He has always liked to pull himself up and play in the pantry...but this is getting a little out of control!

Get in the tub, Cade!

A tasteful naked photo?

I'm thinking it may be time to upgrade to the real bath tub...but that actually still scares me a little. Seems so...slippery.

Cade doesn't mind this mini-tub!


Now onto two 4-day work weeks in a row. AND, good news, the sewing unit is over! Another one survived, phew! It's actually really fun to see the kids get excited to take/wear their creations home. Heck, I'm making a difference in the world, one pair of pajama pants at a time!

OCD Behavior?

School has begun (for teachers, kids on Friday). You'll be glad to know (since most of you work full-time ALL YEAR..can't fathom it!!) that I'm focusing on the positive and just being thankful that I had the last 3 months off with Cade and NOT COMPLAINING about going back. At least not today anyway.

At our first staff meeting back they had us do an "ice-breaker" that is really sticking with me. A lot of people dread ice-breakers. I pretty much love them. Hey, I was a peppy cheerleader, sorority girl, and overall conformist...why did you think I wouldn't like ice-breaker games?

On with the ice-breaker. The theory is that everyone has at least 1 or 2 OCD behaviors. After a brief introduction you then had to share your behavior of choice with the entire staff. It was hilarious...and frightening. Freak-o people are everywhere. And I'm definitely one of them. I had to think hard to narrow down from many, many options what I was actually going to say out loud as my OCD behavior. Answers ranged from pretty common closet sorting tendencies to alarm clock setting tendencies to having to set the TV volume at a multiple of 5. It was actually quite a bonding moment to learn all this baggage about people. I can't help thinking about it randomly. Like how one guy has to go to bed at 10pm no matter what. That was like 2 hours ago...

I realized that I'm a freak about...

--crumbs on my kitchen counter (yet somehow I can have an inch of hair and hair spray on my bathroom counter and not give a rip)

--Living room couch pillows (Don't touch 'em!!!)

--Closet has to be sorted by color/purpose

--Check book must be balanced and reconciled

--Slow drivers...wait any driver in front of me...this might not be OCD but just impatience...judge rules...still counts

--Having to clear shows off the DVR as if it was on my to-do list instead of just watching TV for pleasure

--Cell phone chargers not staying plugged in when the phone isn't charging

--Sorting items and putting them in a specific order when placing them on the check out conveyor belt in case the check out guy doesn't sort things my way

--Kitchen utensils sorted in my Pampered Chef carousel thing (all spatulas together, all wooden spoons together, etc)

--Having to blog since it's been a few days even though I am DEAD TIRED!!!

But, if you've made it this far, please respond. The world wants to know your OCD behavior. C'mon, I know you have at least one or two. And if you're a relative of mine...I bet you have more!!!!

SO Blessed!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! Megan and Kelli, who have become such dear friends at MT, organized a small luncheon shower for Baby K.

What great hostesses! Pretty flowers, appetizers, and the best cookies ever. Um, I may have had at least 2 basketballs and a baseball today. So yummy!

Some of the gang from MT and Amanda drove up from Topeka too!

Baby K got lots of wonderful goodies and the flowers sure are brightening up the kitchen! A clean house and fresh flowers? Sounds like it's time for lots of visitors!!! Thanks so much everyone for helping us prepare for his arrival. Now, as my doctor said at the last appointment, "We wait."

What We've Been Up To...

A quick re-cap of what's been going on the past few weeks. Really I've just been too lazy to load pics from my camera each day (or week...or month) which leaves me with little to write about without pics.
More Home Improvement Projects!

Look at that cute backside first of all! He, he! Matt hung up the custom blinds we ordered. We had hoped they'd arrive in time for Papa to be able to assist with this during their visit...the blinds were delivered the day after they left. But Matt did a super job. It took him significantly less time to hang these than the living room blinds!


They began working on our basement! We wanted to get the basement finished ASAP after moving in. I was afraid if we started using it unfinished, it would always remain that way. While neither of these pics are great shots, they are putting in a 3/4 bath, a 4th bedroom, and a family room area. We are pumped! More pics when they get more exciting.
We've moved on to the "Food Prep" unit at school. As frustrated, angry, and stressed as sewing with the small children that I teach makes me--cooking has the opposite effect. I don't know if I just feel more confident because I taught Meal Management last year or what. But I love the Food Prep unit.
Apple Pizza ready to go into the oven! (Cinnamon on apples--they aren't that brown).

A culminating activity for the 6th grade Food Prep Unit is the "Manners Meal" where we invite the core teachers to join us for lunch. The students make all the food, send out invitations, and greet & serve our guests. The teachers then rate the students on proper etiquette and manners. I was SUPER nervous about pulling off this event. But it turned out awesome! The kids were so cute and did a fabulous job. And the food was really good! Yea! I love the staff at my school. They were so great with this project with the kids.


Now the 2nd quarter begins, I get new students, and we start again. And we have to sew again. I'm giving this a second chance...surely it will go smoother this time now that I know what I'm doing a little more! Right?
As you can see, life is pretty much about school. I get up, I go to school, I come home I go to bed. Repeat. I think I'm just gloomy about it because it's dark when I go and it's nearly dark when I get home. It will get better. I will master this...some day.

Do these pants make my butt look big?

It's my favorite time again, sewing time. Feel the sarcasm. Only this time...I get to do 3 different projects simultaneously instead of the same thing for all classes like last year. And, oh yeah, the kids are like 10 years old, too! Background knowledge about me...sewing is not my favorite. I think sewing is a "nice to know" not a "need to know." What? But you teach FACS right? Yeah, but step into this century. I teach lifeskills...and there are a million other more important lifeskills that rank above sewing. I always tell the 6th graders that in FACS class we learn the skills you need to be a successful adult. One girl asked me, what does sewing have to do with being a good adult? Exactly! In other words, who sews? So we try to focus on time management and problem solving rather than hard-core sewing-ness. My district is pretty staunchly old-school when it comes to FACS...so we will sew. But I won't be a super-advocate for it. Not dissing on sewing, just saying "nice to know" not "need to know."
So I spent the weekend practicing the projects and making detailed instruction sheets and video clips.

8th graders make PJ pants, which are really fun to make. 7th graders make aprons, which are not so fun. 6th graders will make locker caddies (hanging pocket thing for locker) which are cute...but I know they're going to be super-confused...because they always are.

Got a little tricky here. In the pics where I needed two hands and I had to set the timer and balance the camera under my chin. Nice. Wish me luck!!

Thanks!!!

A big thank you to my grandparents who sent me this great plant on my first day of school! This year there are windows in my room so I'm hoping this one will have a better life expectancy than last years. :( My fault!
And yes...I photographed myself here using the timer. I just hope no one was walking by my classroom then to see my little photo shoot!

Observations

"Get To Know You Day!" Love it! Luckily I get to have FOUR of them this year because I'm teaching 9-week classes. Praise the Lord!

Here are a few things I've noticed upon making this transition to Middle School Teacher and Kansas Citian.
1. 6th graders are SO cute and innocent and fun to have in your class.
2. Somewhere between 6th and 8th grade they completely lose their innocence...and cuteness.
3. Why do so many people let their middle school child wear so much make-up? Wow!
4. Do not miss the lights! The stoplights here are LONG. You miss the light, you lose 3 minutes. You miss multiple lights...you lose 10 minutes.
5. Just because it appears to be a finished street/sidewalk on mapmyrun.com does not mean that it is actually a finished street. You may have to run through a field for awhile before getting back to your neighborhood.

Major Decisions

As the school "work days" wind down and soon turn into just school days...I reflect on what I've accomplished. And it really isn't much. Hoping to get a lot done tomorrow so I can feel completely ready. I tend to be a slow worker in making crucial decisions in regard to curriculum, procedures, and...oh yeah...clip art. This took me about 30 minutes. No joke. But isn't the chocolate chip cookie head that wears pearls (far left) just the cutest? :)



Not quite ready for kids to arrive...but almost!