Nothing interesting.

I have nothing interesting to say, as I've spent most of the last hours being sick. Yesterday, I had a fever and threw up 5 times. I know you didn't want to know that, but I hate throwing up so much. It was gross.

However, today I am feeling better. Still a little weak, but I can actually get off the couch and I'm eating again.

My sister is coming home from college on spring break next week, and in two weeks we are headed to Florida with my family! I'm very excited for that.

Beach, here we come. :)

(This picture was taken while enjoying my strawberry lemonade in San Diego in 2011.)

Alphabet crafts/activities.

Alphabet Name Rockets

Alphabet Finger Painting Letter Tracing

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Coloring Page with Letter Stamps/Pads

Glitter Name Tracing

Letter Cookie Cutters and Play-Doh

Alphabet Stencils

Table Puzzles and Big Floor Puzzles

Magnets

Alphabet Uppercase/Lowercase Egg Matching- I actually didn't do this, but I saw this picture and thought it was an awesome idea.

Alphabet Matching Puzzles

Valentine crafts/activities.

Hearts Watercolor Painting

Candy Hearts Gluing- I had pasted this heart onto red or pink construction paper. Then I had then glue candy hearts onto the coloring page heart, and had them glue paper hearts all over the construction paper background.

Hearts Scissor Cutting Practice

Hearts Cookie Cutter Stamping

Heart Cookie Cutters with Play-Doh

Hearts Foam Stickers

                                                 

Decorating Valentine Bags (for our class party)

Gluing Hearts Mural

Blue Man Group.

Last night Kley and I saw the Blue Man Group at the Civic Center downtown! We felt like fancy people. We decided to spend some of our Christmas money on tickets, and it was worth it! Kley had seen them in Chicago a few years back, but I had never seen it. It was so so good- funny and extremely entertaining. I would recommend!

You only get our selfie picture and the program, sorry. I tried to sneak another one in during the show, but Kley scolded me because we weren't supposed to. (The lighting was so wild and there were lots of strobe lights, so it probably wouldn't have turned out anyways. That's what I'm telling myself.)

It was a great night, and definitely something we don't usually do!

My generosity dilemma.

So, our church has been doing a series about generosity, which has been really encouraging and also challenging. I wrote before about wanting to be more generous, but today I had a dilemma with it.

I was on my way to eat lunch with my mom, when I saw this elderly lady walking very slowly on the sidewalk, carrying bags of groceries in both hands. I thought about stopping to ask her if she needed help or a ride, but I didn't. Should I have? I thought about turning around and going back, but by that time it had already been a few minutes.

Everybody always teaches about "stranger danger" and to never accept a ride from someone you don't know. Granted, I figured that an older lady wouldn't be trouble, but I thought that it might be weird to ask if she wanted a ride. Would I accept a ride from a stranger? No. I don't know, I'm probably over-thinking it, but it was an interesting thing to ponder. I know we live in a fallen world, but how are we supposed to overcome that if people never do something radical or different to extend their generosity?

All I know is, I want to be more generous. Of course, we need to be smart, but I want to take the opportunities God places before me and take time out of my day to extend kindness.

So, to the woman on the sidewalk, I'm sorry I didn't offer to help you.

Pops concert.

Tuesdays are my day off, since we have four ten hour days, so I was able to go to my sister's dress rehearsal of her choir concert today. The real thing is on Friday night, but we can't go because we are going to Blue Man Group (so pumped!). It was a 50's and 60's themed show, and it was actually really good! I was impressed. The dancing/singing was really fun to watch. Good job, Kayla! :)

(I could not get a picture without that lady's head in it. Oops.)

Favorite baby videos.

These are two of my favorite baby youtube videos. I have probably watched them each at least 50 times over the years. :)

Baby ripping paper

Evil eye

The rainbow after the storm.

Valentine's Day was a bit insane this year. Kley and I didn't do much to celebrate together, but I am okay with that. We spent Friday night grocery shopping, cleaning, and doing laundry, in preparation for being gone/busy the rest of the weekend. But, Kley did bring home Olive Garden takeout and flowers after work, so that was a big win. :)

Friday at school was definitely a tough day. Holidays and parties are supposed to be super fun, right? I hope the kids remember it as fun, because it wasn't to me. My class was so excited that we really struggled to have self-control. Basically, they were off the wall, and we didn't even eat any sugar. (I let the kids help distribute their valentines in the morning, but had them save their bags for the party to go through with the parents. We had a snack at the party, but most of it was healthy. So, the only sugary thing they ate all day was a small dum-dum sucker. Leaving the rest of the sugar intake up to the parents was a marvelous idea.)

But, looking back on the day, I hope they remember it positively. While internally it was a struggle for me to remain positive and teach with patience, I am still glad that we were able to have a party and celebrate. We talked all week about how it was a great opportunity to share God's love with others by giving valentines, so I hope they took that to heart.

Even though it wasn't my best or favorite teaching day, there's always a rainbow after the storm. I love that about teaching. Most of the time, it's a great job and I love it so much. Even though there are hard moments, and even hard days, I am glad for the rainbows and how appreciative it makes me for all the amazing moments.

I told Kley in the car today after church that one of my favorite all time moments about teaching is during nap time when all is calm, and I hear someone quietly singing the praise song that's playing in the background. I am so thankful to be able to mold His children and to work in a place where we can speak about Jesus and praise Him all day long.

My sister is growing up and had her very first homecoming!

Last night was my youngest sister Kayla's first homecoming! My other sister, Karlie, came home from college, so her and I tagged along to all the events. It was special to have some great sister time and celebrate homecoming! (We really wanted to drive to the school and spy later on during the dance, but we figured Kayla would hate that, so we resisted. You're welcome, Kayla.)

Getting hair done.

My mom doing Kayla's make-up. She doesn't wear make-up, so it was quite entertaining to watch my mom try to put mascara and eye liner on her.

All ready. Isn't she gorgeous?

Her hair looked so neat.

Sister loves!

(Wow, my family is tall. I know we are, but I don't really think about it until I see a picture. I am 5'9" and look how shrimpy I look. :)

Shape crafts.

Last week our theme was shapes at school, so here are some crafts we did!

Shapes Pizza- One of my favorites! Cut pizza toppings in shapes and create your own pizza.

Shape Stamps and Ink Pads.

Foam Sticker Shapes.

Pipe Cleaner Shapes- This one was a bit risky, as I didn't know if my kids would get it or be able to create shapes, but they did awesome and we made a really great mural of everything they created! (I teach 3-year-olds, in case you didn't know.)

Shape Painting.

Baby shower for Jacque.

Last night I helped host a baby shower for my boss and friend, Jacque! It was so much fun. Allyson, whose house we had it at, was completely amazing at the decorating and desserts. We ordered the dress cookies, but the rest she did! There were so many little details that made it really special. 

I led the games- we did some birthing adventure mad libs, guess the baby food, and guess the children's book title. It was really fun!

Congratulations Jacque! I am so excited for you and baby girl and am so glad I got to be a part of your special shower!

The hosts (me, Allyson, and Kim)  and Jacque. I am so blessed to work with such great people!

This crazy conference week is (basically) over!

Have you every seen the SNL Surprise Party skit? You should watch it.

I was looking for an excited face on google images and this one was perfect. Why am I excited? BECAUSE CONFERENCES ARE DONE! (Well, basically. I have one left on Wednesday because we had a snow storm and I had to reschedule a few.)

It feels so good. Conferences are tough. Thankfully, I have pretty great kids and parents in my room now, so I'm really blessed, but conferences are A LOT of work and A LOT of time to prepare for. It's been a long month doing the final preparations and then working a long week actually having conferences. 

So, here's to no more conferences and to being pumped about that! :)

Jesus Calling- February 1.

One of the devotionals we are reading right now is Jesus Calling. I thought the words from February 1 were so great:

Follow Me one step at a time. That is all I require of you. In fact, that is the only way to move through this space/time world. You see huge mountains looming, and you start wondering how you're going to scale those heights. Meanwhile, because you're not looking where you're going, you stumble on the easy path where I am leading you now. As I help you get back on your feet, you tell Me how worried you are about the cliffs up ahead. But you don't know what will happen today, much less tomorrow. Our path may take an abrupt turn, leading you away from those mountains. There may be an easier way up the mountains than is visible from this distance. If I do lead you up cliffs, I will equip you thoroughly for the strenuous climb. I will even give My angels charge over you, to preserve you in all your ways.

Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying My presence. Walk by faith, not by sight, trusting Me to open up the way before you.

Horrible and Mediocre.

Horrible and mediocre is how I would describe the last two movies that Kley and I have watched. We watch way more TV shows than we do movies, so it's kind of rare for us to watch a movie. It's nice to know that we can continue a TV show, watch at our leisure (with netflix and watching online- we don't have cable), and it doesn't take up 2+ hours like movies usually do.

Kley and I have gone on TWO date nights this last month, which I am pumped about. We didn't do so hot for a bit about going on dates, so I am really glad that we've been doing better. No matter what stage of life you are at, going on dates with your spouse is incredibly important. We've done a few different things (such as going out for ice cream, driving through crazy expensive houses just to gawk, going out for dinner, etc.), but we also watched two movies.

The first was Drinking Buddies, which we mainly chose off of netflix because it had people we liked in it, namely Nick Miller from New Girl. Unfortunately, it was awful. Truly awful. One of the worst movies I have ever seen. It was really hard to connect to the characters, it was slow moving, and the ending was not an ending. It left you feeling like that couldn't possibly be the end of the movie. I won't give away the plot, although there is hardly any plot line to give away. My advice is STAY AWAY!

Last night we saw Labor Day in the theatre. We don't make it to the theatre often, and we had a special $5 coupon that expired in March that was only valid at the concession stand, so we actually got popcorn! I was really excited to see this movie, but at the end I told Kley that I would give it a C. It wasn't horrible, but definitely not a favorite. Basically, it's a single mom and her son, and they end up hiding a fugitive and they fall in love. It was an okay movie, it just left me feeling a bit uneasy.

On a much brighter note, About Time comes out on DVD this week! I am so excited to buy it and make Kley watch it with me. I loved it so much that I will actually pay full price for the DVD, and that's saying a lot for me. I think it's one of my favorite movies. I laughed, cried, and it left you feeling all warm and fuzzy about how great/important love and family is. WATCH IT!

Color and Opposite crafts.

We are doing what I like to call the "basic" themes at school for awhile, with the exception of Valentine's day thrown in, meaning we are doing colors, shapes, opposites, letters, and numbers. So far we have done colors and opposites, so here are a few craft ideas we did!

Color Mixing sheet- I liked this because we not only learned about color mixing, but got to practice tracing and following directions as well.

Rainbow Color Bead Necklaces- Good fine motor practice, and they were so pumped to wear their necklaces and take them home.

Rainbow Stripes Painting

Contact Paper Collage with Contact Paper- If you don't know what contact paper is, it's basically like a giant clear sticker. I put out big sheets of it and let them stick colored tissue paper squares all over it.

Color Collage- This was basically a free for all, where I laid out a bunch of different colorful materials (markers, crayons, dot markers, sequins, etc.) and let them choose what to do. We usually only use one or two things at a time, so it's fun to put out a bunch of things and let them pick.

Spray Bottle Color Mixing- I filled three spray bottles with water and food coloring (red, yellow, and blue) and let them spray paper. I hadn't tried this before, so thankfully it worked pretty well! It dried pretty faintly, but showed up really well while they were doing it. They also just love spraying bottles, so it was a win even if it wouldn't have worked.

Dot Marker Opposites for Little/Big- I printed this off and typed "I may be little, but God's love for me is BIG!" at the top.

Day/Night Painting- Mine didn't look exactly like this, but close. I had a sun on one side on a half sheet of yellow paper, and a moon/stars on the other side on a half sheet of blue. I had them paint the sun yellow and the moon/stars blue.

Happy/Sad Face Puppets- We had the circles made, and put them on popsicle sticks back to back and let them draw their own faces on each side.

Then, we did shaving cream finger painting one day, simply because I couldn't think of any other opposite crafts. :)