Goodbye Mardi Gras, Hello Jamaica!

Today was my first and last Mardi Gras parade this carnival season. Every year my school has a PreK and Kindergarten parade...and let me just tell you. These parents take this parade SERIOUSLY. It's like an actual Mardi Gras parade, just mini sized. They go all out and I love it! Huge floats, great throws, nice crowd. You really can't beat it.

See what I mean? Insanity. One of my kids actually gave me a child sized "Muses" shoe in our school colors. (For those who don't know, Muses is an all women parade and they hand out bedazzled high heel shoes as a cool throw). How freaking cute is this?!

My "Muses" shoe, Mardi Gras tutu, and a daiquiri I picked up on the way home haha

Such a good day! Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Jamaica and I can't wait. Pretty scared to leave Buster Boo behind, but I'm hoping 7 days pass really quickly in a dog's eyes. At least that's what I'll be telling myself! Sandals Grande Rivera in Ocho Rios, here we come!!!

Crayon Creations

In my Kindergarten class, the teachers always give the kids a cute little Christmas present. Last year I made my class CDs with all of their favorite songs we play in class, and this year I decided to do the same thing. I bought all the supplies, burned the CDs, put them in cute cases....AND none of them would play. Way to go Ms. Stephanie!

The day before our big Christmas party I came up with a new idea. I would make them all crayons! I had seen the idea online and it didn't look all that difficult. I got a few containers of old crayons and started peeling them. Evidently crayons are MUCH harder to peel than the crayons I grew up with. There was no way I could get enough crayons peeled by myself while they were napping...so instead I broke a few child labor laws getting the kids to peel crayons for me instead of nap. They were all highly compliant because let's face it - what kid wouldn't rather peel crayons than nap!

As they gave them to me, I cut them up into small pieces with some old scissors. I got enough to make a huge container full by the end of nap time. Way to go kids! :-) After school I ran to Kmart and bought some gingerbread silicon molds.

And here comes the easy part. All you have to do is fill the molds with the crayons. I had enough to go all the way to the top, but as they melt down they get a lot smaller so it worked out well and they turned out perfectly thick. I decided to put the molds on a cookie sheet with a little water on the bottom to make sure the molds didn't get messed up. Not sure if that's step's necessary, but it worked out for me!

Put the oven on 225 and melt the crayons for about 15 minutes. After they come out of the oven let them cool for 15- 20 minutes. When they feel cool to the touch, you can start popping them out of the molds. I was surprised by how easily they came out of the molds - and how awesome they turned out! They even came out with facial features which I wasn't expecting.

The kids (and a few family members I gave them to) absolutely loved them. I guess next time I could do them in color families, but it was hard enough getting the kids to help me peel the crayons. I doubt they would have been excited to sort them by color after peeling them. Eh, maybe next time I'll bribe them with some cupcakes or something! 

Buster, the Other Reindeer

 

So in my Kindergarten class, we read a book called Olive the Other Reindeer.  It's a really cute book about a dog named Olive who thinks she's a reindeer and helps Santa in all kinds of funny ways. 

Anyway, my kids love Buster (probably because I talk about him too much) and decided to insert "Buster the Other Reindeer" into Rudolph's song. After my class busted out singing a round of Buster the Other Reindeer to Santa yesterday, I decided to do a photo shoot of my little reindeer.

 

Buster was not as amused as I was.

Merry Christmas! 

Love, Buster

You know you're a teacher when...

So I stubbled upon this on Pinterest and just had to post it. I was laughing the entire time because each and every one of these are SO true (especially the one about wishing there was a margarita machine in the teacher's lounge haha)!


You Know You're a Teacher When...
By: Jeff Foxworthy


1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.
2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.
3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Ms/Mr._______" and know you have been spotted.
4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another.
5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty minutes.
6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and planning period.
7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.
8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine.
9. You want to slap the next person who says "Must be nice to work 8 to 3 and have summers off."
10. You believe chocolate is a food group.
11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.
14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin.
15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own needs.
17. You can't pass the school supply aisle/dollar spot without getting at least five items!
18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."
19. You find true beauty in a can of perfectly sharpened pencils.
20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer.
21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.

Working with kids = getting sick...sometimes

Working with kids comes with a lot of great perks, but getting sick is most certainly not one of them. I had parent teacher conferences today and it made me realize something. I have always been the strep throat queen (I have no idea why I still have my tonsils after getting strep so much), but for some weird reason this year I have remained relatively healthy. Go me! I think it has something to do with the vitamins I've been taking, so I wanted to share my "secret." I'm horrible at swallowing pills. Horrible! So every day I take two Flinstone vitamins. Laugh if you want, but I will swear by them.

I've also been taking Emergen-C every morning and afternoon (only when I'm starting to feel a little sick, which has been happening a lot lately since the weather is constantly changing). I like the raspberry flavor the best...and I don't add as much water as it recommends. I started feeling sick right before my wedding and these little babies saved me from coughing down the aisle. Hopefully they keep on working because getting sick this weekend is just not an option! I'm going to a good friend's wedding, watching the big LSU game after, and going to the Saints game on a double date with my little brother. No time for getting sick!

Also, I've heard a lot of people swear by Zicam Rapid Melts. I bought some yesterday, but I'm not sure if I like them quite yet. I'll let you know if I become one of those people who love them though. I'm not sure that what I've been experiencing lately is a cold - probably just allergies, so I doubt these are supposed to help with that. We'll see! 

And when all else fails, there always my go to "get well soon" soup.

I love you, Taylor Swift (and my 5 year olds that think I look like you)

As I’ve said before, I absolutely adore Taylor Swift. I think she’s such a good roll model for young girls, she writes truthful and wonderful songs, and she seems to be a genuinely nice person. I had the opportunity to go to her concert a few weeks ago, and I fell in love all over again. It was such a fantastic concert...and we kind of had the best seats in the arena (if I do say so myself).

Club level, 9th row :-)

Aren't they amazing seats? I'm not sure I can go to a concert and not be that close again...we got way too spoiled. Also, funny story about the video. I was playing it in the classroom to show my assistant how close our seats were. One of the little kindergarten boys in my class comes up and says "Hey everyone...look! Ms. Stephanie is in a video the computer!" For a few minutes a bunch of the boys were gathered around talking about how great of a singer I am. All of a sudden one of them yells out "Wait, that's not Ms. Stephanie! She has shorter hair..."

I still think it's so funny that they thought all the rest of the video was completly plausible, but it was my hair that gave it away. Yes, children. I sing and perform every night while you're not in school on a glittery stage with ballerinas...oh and I look so much like Taylor Swift. You gotta love 5 year olds!

I'm famous! Well...sort of.

You know how I mentioned getting stalked by a photographer while shopping for school supplies? Well here it is, folks. My picture in the paper.

Guess that means I'm officially ready for school to start tomorrow!

Apologies

I realize I haven't blogged in a VERY long time. I wish I had some eloquent explanation as to why. I guess mainly the end of the school year and the beginning of summer weren't particularly interesting. We did go on a fabulous vacation to the Bahamas - which maybe I'll write about later, but besides that life has been exceptionally boring. The good kind of boring. The kind of boring that includes limited to no drama.

Hopetown, Bahamas = Paradise

School ended. My Kindergarteners graduated and are moving on to first grade. The summer of a teacher (that has no personal children) is generally spent doing things that require a minimum amount of brain power. I started working at a summer camp almost immediately afterward school let out and that lasted for 6 weeks. I now have 3 weeks off before I start up full time again at school. This time off is amazing...for example today I spent all day on the couch, reading on my Nook, and playing with Buster. See - nothing newsworthy.

Buster Boo is getting so big!

I do have a fun story to share. I've been working in my classroom...you know, trying to get things clean and organized before the crazy crunch time starts. I decided to wash all of the stuffed animals and random other things the kids used this past year. The first few loads came out perfectly. The came these.

Mean, mean Target bags

Apparently I had a brain fart while washing these. I had the sense to tie all of the handles so they wouldn't get tangled and even washed them on the delicate cycle. Then came the problem: the dryer. I knew not to put them in there. I knew it, but I did it anyway. Que melted bags and little red bits everywhere. It took me 3 hours to successfully feel like the dryer was clean and wouldn't ruin future loads of laundry. 3 HOURS. Ridiculous.

So, make a mental note. Never ever put your eco friendly grocery bags in the dryer. And if you do, find a swiffer cloth, a magic eraser, and scrub for 3 hours.

Oops!

Snacking like a 5 year old

Working at a school, I find the hardest thing in the world is to not snack during the day. There is a legitimate "snack time" built into our day, making any diet unbelievably hard. What else are you supposed to do besides snack?

Anyway, today I was so excited about a snack that one of my kids brought in...I just had to share. Do you remember Gushers? I used to eat them ALL THE TIME as a kid! I was so excited about it that I ate three packs. I forgot my coffee this morning, so after three packs of Gushers I was definitely good to go in the hyper department!

This week one of my kids also brought in those crackers with the spreadable cheese. Oh my goodness – it brought back memories. So good! I may have hoarded the leftovers in the cabinet...

What was your favorite snack as a kid?

Run, run, as fast as you can!

It's so easy to dwell on the negatives of life. Lately, I feel like I have been complaining about my job. My latest complaints have been along the lines of: my kids making me sick at LEAST once a month, the parents of my school acting crazy, and realizing that I have to make around 75 people happy with me per day (no joke! Between administration, coworkers, parents, and students I have to make way too many people happy in a given day).

As much as I gripe about my job, being a teacher is probably one of the most rewarding/creative jobs there is. Let me ask you this. Have you had a gingerbread man run away at work lately?

 

After I read the story of the Gingerbread Man, my class made cookie dough and wrote about how to make a gingerbread cookie. My kindergarteners baked small gingerbread men for them to take home and I made a big gingerbread man for all of us to share.

After the pan got back from the cafeteria, the one I made wasn’t on the pan. He ran away like in the story! We spent a good week looking for him – with sightings reported by the maintenance men, the cafeteria staff, and middle school teachers. He even left an after school announcement. And sent me a text message letting me know where he stayed for the weekend.

Gingerbread resort!

After a week of this, my kids were getting pretty concerned that he wasn’t coming back. I told them that maybe they should make a trap at home and bring it to school to catch him. THIS is what they came up with. A shoe box with double stick tape so he would stick to the bottom AND a box that had M&M buttons as bait and said "Welcome Gingie!"

He's back!! And so much fatter than before...

So cute. They were SO excited when he came back. I really do love my job!

I'm BAAAACK!

I’m sorry I’ve been on hiatus for a while. The last REAL post I made was around a month ago...and a lot has happened since then. There is oh so much to catch you up on (and I apologize in advance because this will be long). Here is a random recap of happenings from the past month:

1. School is going well, although sometimes it seems as if parents need to be reminded to get a hobby (that is, one that isn’t bugging your child’s teacher). A few of them got that memo and decided to have a silent competition for the cutest kindergarten snack. Here are a few examples:

Bat Cookies

Snack-o-lantern -- SO CUTE!

This wasn't my class, but I just love it!

2. I finished reading Lauren Conrad’s book series called LA Candy. If you were a fan of The Hills (or just interested to hear about the other side of reality TV), I would definitely recommend them. There are three books in the series and they are very easy reads…relatively mindless books are my favorite ones. Here is a picture from the book signing where I got to meet her! (If you’re wondering why there are peanuts behind her, it’s because instead of the book signing being in a BOOK store it was at Sams)

Lauren Conrad book signing

3. I learned that going to a Saints game for Halloween is way more fun than going to a party. People watching was a lot of fun, the game was great (minus the fact that Stealers fans SUCK), and we both loved dressing up for a black and gold Halloween.

Black and gold costumes!

4. I love all of my rent-a-babies. Thank goodness my friends and family have adorable kids we can borrow every now and then!

My hubby and our niece

My best friend Molly's cute baby

5. Being a homeowner reminds me of this quote from the Notebook.

6. I went to Nashville to visit my great friend Victoria for her birthday. It was a much needed, amazing, relaxing, girly weekend. She seriously is the best hostess in the world. Visiting her is always so much fun! Here are a few highlights from my trip.

I've always wanted to go to a vineyard!!

The cute cupcake place that made Carrie Underwood's wedding cupcakes

The Nashtrash tour...SO FUNNY!

Beautiful weather!

I absolutely cannot believe that tomorrow is the start of October. Where did the time go?

The fall weather has been absolutely beautiful lately. Hopefully this fall weather continues for quite a while because it is wonderful! We will need it for our big move this weekend and the reunion LSU tailgate! It cracks me up that my students think it's "cold" outside. One of them told me he thought it might snow soon. Oh Kindergarteners...

PS: I need to start keeping a record of the funny things my kids tell me. Today one of them told me that one of the girl's hair bows broke and he was going to take it home. When I asked him why he said "My dad can fix anything!" I reminded him that he has 2 brothers and no sisters, but he said his dad is the best fix it man in the world so it would be ok. So cute!!

Working with kids = getting sick

I guess getting sick is one of those supposedly fun perks from my job! My kids gave me strep throat this week, which is terrible timing considering we are closing on our house this Friday and need to start packing and finish shopping for things! There is SO MUCH TO DO and practically no time to do it in - our weekends are entirely booked up until November (no joke)! I know we'll "make it work" somehow...and I'll definitely post about this fun new adventure of becoming a homeowner!  

But, on the bright side, being sick comes with daytime TV, soup, and a note from my doctor telling me to rest and not "clean the house or pack boxes until Monday." Considering how I've been feeling since Sunday, sleeping nearly all day will not be an issue at all. I definitely feel guilty about sitting here doing absolutely nothing, but hey, it was doctor's orders!

PS: Is there one thing you always want when you're sick? When I was little my grandma would always make me Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup from a box. I still want it every time I get sick (or lonely) :-)

Inspiration for all of the teachers out there

Teaching can be a very, very rewarding job. But even the best jobs have rough days...especially when you work with unpredictable 4 and 5 year olds. A coworker sent this in an email from a book called 365 Meditations for Teachers, and I wanted to share it. Even if you are not a teacher, I think it totally applies to most areas of work (especially the bold parts).

"A teacher's job was highly respected within the community in which I was reared. My parents always told me to follow the teacher's directions. There was never a time when I heard either of them say that the teacher was wrong and I was right. Whatever the teacher said was the gospel.

In today's world, some people don't have that same level of respect for teachers. Grades are questioned and teachers are held accountable for almost everything. This kind of attitude can make teachers feel their job is not important. Yet, the majority of teachers I have worked with have been wonderful teachers - teachers who have a lot of passion for their jobs.

So, next time someone says something about you, your classroom, or your teaching style, continue to say to yourself that you are a great teacher. Walk into the buildings each morning reciting affirmations, remembering that God loves you and has chosen you. You have to feel good about yourself before someone else can see the greatness in you. Smile and keep doing a great job every day. Don't let outside influences interfere with the job God has given you to do with HIS children. After a period of time, those who criticize you will begin to see the light that is shining around you.

Father, help me keep my joy when others try to destroy it. Amen.

--Angela M. Bailey"