Will You Miss Me?

Today with our last few minutes together before Spring Break I began explaining to my students that when we come back "You're going to be really big kids and have homework!"

Me: Any questions?

Student: Me and Tahmiere have the same shoes!

Me: Wow you sure do! Any questions about the homework?

Student: blguhahdgk

Me: Maybe you could swallow the water that's in your mouth first before you ask your question.

Student: Gulp! My friend's comin' over to play.

Me: Nevermind...Well friends I won't see you for a WHOLE week! I'm sure going to miss you! Are you going to miss me?

All my students echoed in chorus, "YEEEESSS!" excpet for one student who screamed, "NOOOO!"

I looked at him with a sad face...and he tucked his chin down with a smirky grin and giggled..."Just kidding." 

That there is one of the many reasons why we have Spring Break. 

Spring Breaks a Comin'

1 more day and I'll be freeee!

I think it's going to become tradition to visit my sister over Spring Break.  Two years ago I flew down to Lubbock, Texas...yeaah. It was windy...and we had to make our own fun.

This year I get to fly south again to a little place we like to call paradise.  I can't wait! Martin and I have been counting down the days.  

Everyday for the past week Martin has said, "This time next week we'll be in Florida." or "This time next week we'll be eating Cuban food and smokin' cigars."  "Did you know this time next week we'll be in Florida!?" 

I just want to lay on the beach and be with my sister.  

36 more hours :) 

Snow Day! Snow Day!

Last night, after whining for a good 30 minutes to Martin that, "We're probably not going to get a snow day and we're going to have to drive in the snow and the district doesn't care if we all slide into a ditch...." my phone rang.  It was indeed the district telling us that we got a snow day.  Sorry for doubting you district.  

We woke up this morning to 8 inches of beautiful school canceling snow. 

I've decided for this special occasion that I'm not going to take a shower until I absolutely have to...and I'm not going to move from the couch unless I need to eat or use the bathroom. 

So far so good!

Who Needs a Weather Man...

when you're a teacher

It's a very scientific fact that children can predict the weather better than any satellite or fancy shmancy radar.

Don't believe me? Take today for instance.

I think every student talked in a voice that was 1,000 decibels louder than it needed to be.  They were wondering around aimlessly, tired, then excited, then tired, then silly, then grumpy.  They were like nervous cattle. 

We did a lot of Yoga today...while listening to my new tranquil piano music with birds chirping and streams trickling. Ahhhh sanity. 

The weather has been very confusing lately (or maybe just typical Colorado).  I believe yesterday was close to 60 degrees and now I am looking out my window at some very serious snow falling. This afternoon we went through every type of precipitation...rain, hail(thunder), sleet, snow. 

Please chant the following as loudly as you can up at the sky...

"SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY! SNOW DAY!"

...we really want a snow day.

Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Everywhere!

Holy Moly!

What the heck happened to our apartment?

Gee, I wonder what I'm doing the rest of the day...

On another note I totally embarrassed myself this morning when I went to a Bridal Shower that isn't until tomorrow.  I wondered why I was the only one there even though I was fifteen minutes late...I had been running around like crazy all morning while Martin sat calmly watching a Yoga special on how stress slowly kills you. 

I'm going to go be zen for the rest of the afternoon 

Yesterday

Yesterday went a little something like this....

Wake up and find we did not get a snow day :(

Make four kids cry

Have an orange lockdown at school

Drive home in a mini blizzard

AWESOME!

Then it went a little something like this... 

Dance with my husband 

Watch a movie

Fall asleep on the couch at 8

much better

A Bit O'Fun

I spent the entire day lying to my students yesterday.

Me: "OH my GOSH!! What are THOSE?! Who did THIS? What HAPPENED?"

Students: "You did it! You did it!"

Me: "It was like this when I came in this morning!"

Students: "NOOOO! You did it!"

Me: "I didn't! Look! Footprints! Who's are those?"

Students: "A clover's"

Me: "ummm...you mean a Leprechaun's?"

Students: "YEAAAAH!!!"

Me: "What did he leave you?"

Students: "GOLD! He left us GOLD! Look! He walked on the tables! Hahaha silly Leprechaun! Look! A note! Read it to us!"

Me: "Dear lads and lassies, top of the mornin' to ya. I hope you don't mind the bit o'mess I left for ya. Hope you have a lucky day! Mr. Leprechaun." 

Every adult who came into our class yesterday got bombarded with the story of how the Leprechaun visited our classroom. Each time they told the story it became more exaggerated. 

Students: "And then he flew across the floor because he has wings and scratched up the Promethean Board (I have no idea where that came from) and then he drove home in his car. Because he lives next to the school." 

It was fun to see my students so excited and so very gullible. 

It was such a beautiful day that we even made an excuse to walk around the playground...because tomorrow we could have ten inches of snow.  

Substitute

Yesterday morning was great.

I got to spend half the day at another school watching a Kindergarten teacher. I had told my literacy coach that I had actually never seen a Kindergarten teacher teach except when I was in Kindergarten 20 years ago...and I really only remember when the girl next to me hit me. 

I'm glad to see that I'm not too far off in my own teaching.  It's so amazing how much you can learn in such a little amount of time.  

I spent 3 hours after school rearranging my classroom trying to use the ideas I saw in my own classroom. 

I'm pooped. 

But I think I finally have my room the way I want it. Which leads me to my substitute this morning...who should maybe find a different day job. 

I walked into my classroom this afternoon and just about had a heart attack.  Things from my ceiling were no longer hanging, my calendar was on the floor, which is literally impossible, and one of my student computers has a CD jammed into it.  Then the whole time I'm trying to put things back to perfection, the substitute is rambling my ear off about how she had forgotten how needy kindergarten students are and how my brightest student didn't, "Have a clue." She handed me her card and said, "Be sure to put me on your top five substitutes for the calling list."

Yeaaah...I'll be sure to do that.

I hate having substitutes. I don't know of ANY other job that takes as much work to be sick or absent. It's sort of like having someone come live in your house for a day...they probably snoop around, put their feet up on the coffee table, and then blame everything that went wrong on the "dog". 

Yoga

Dear Yoga,

We love you.  We love how you're teaching us to be flexible and strong.   We love how we're learning techniques to help us calm down...well maybe our teacher likes those more than us.   We love pretending to be big tall mountains, snakes, and butterflies.  And we  especially love our Namaste time when we get to lie down, close our eyes, and just breathe!   

Love,

Mrs. Wolfe's Kindergarten Class 

Happy Birthday Auntie!

Happy Birthday!

I had never heard anyone else call their aunt "Auntie" until I started teaching. My students always are calling their aunts, "Auntie." I always tell them that's what I call my aunt too :) 

Happy Birthday Auntie! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Love,

Your Niece-ling

Me Married? Yippee!

Sometimes I still have to pinch myself to realize that I'm married.

Me.

Jessica.

Married.

Marrying Martin was something I had wanted more than anything since high school. As we began to date I knew Martin was the one I was supposed to spend my life with...but at the same time we were only 18.  I waited (not necessarily patiently :) through all four years of college, two years of teaching, until we were able to say, "I do."   

(us in 2004)

Our marriage was a long time coming and I still can't believe I'm finally married to him. It is the best gift I've ever been given...I never want to take what we have for granted, even when things aren't perfect. He truly is my everything...and even after 8 months of marriage I still can't believe how lucky I am.

Park

Today was beautiful.

Blue skies, sunshine, and birds chirping.

We decided to spend the afternoon at the park.

Martin went for a run.

I people watched...

read a book...thought about life.

We should spend more Saturday afternoons at the park, it's good for the soul. 

How My Morning Goes

At exactly 4:50 EVERY morning, without fail...my cats begin to wake me up.

I usually shout out that, "My alarm does not go off for another 30 minutes so please go away!!" 

It doesn't help.

4:50 AM: Margo decides it's time for me to wake up by crying as loudly as she possibly can in my ear.

4:53 AM: Margo then decides it's time to give me a bath.

4:57 AM: The purring starts. 1,4000 times louder than a jet engine.

5:00 AM: Margo gets pushed off the bed

5:01 AM: Margo jumps back on the bed

5:03 AM: Margo gets pushed off the bed

5:04 AM: SILENCE!

5:05 AM: Wilson decides it's time for him to give it a whirl

5:07 AM: Wilson thinks it's a fun idea to sleep on my face

5:09 AM: Margo jumps back on the bed

5:10 AM: Margo thinks it's a fun idea to sleep on my head

5:13 AM: Both cats get placed on top of Martin

5:16 AM: Margo decides Martin needs a bath...Martin sleeps through the whole thing

5:20 AM: BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! 
5:21 AM: Get up
5:22 AM: Cats curl up for a nice nap

Wordless Wednesday

Lean On Me

This is a typical picture of what it looks like when I come home from work. Little baby Wilson just wants his mama...what can I say? 

Spring a Ling

As I am typing this right now I can hear the birds chirping.

It makes me smile. 

I think I even see one blade of green grass out the window.

This morning I walked out to find no frost on my car windows and the smell of fresh rain. Rain makes everything happier.

I even spruced up my classroom a bit for spring today... 

When I was little my sister and I used to think Spring was such an "ugly" season. It would be warm outside, but everything was still dead.  I hated that. I think I'm over that now because Spring can not get here any sooner. 

Awww the birds stopped chirping...they must have gotten some sense knocked into them that it is still very much winter and the clouds look like they have stupid snow in them. 

I think I have Springitis.

Great Weekend

This was the first weekend in...well...let's just say a really long time that I've actually accomplished something. I got to spend the past two days working side by side with my mom planning for school. 

My mom used to be a primary teacher before I was born, she is amazing...plus she loves to cut and paste (and can cut straight) which is helpful when you're planning for kindergarten. :) 

  

We were out all day Saturday running errands to get me prepared...teacher store, dollar store, Goodwill. We stayed up until almost midnight looking and working through book after book of ideas...all I dreamt about last night were math and literacy centers.

This morning we were up with the fog and spent another few hours putting our ideas into reality...Kinkos, dollar store, Michaels.

What has taken me 7 months to do on my own, my mom and I did in two days. I wish my mom was my daily classroom helper...I wish we didn't live so far apart. 

Sometimes you just need a guiding hand (a nonjudgmental hand)to get you started.

I feel inspired to finish the year out strong...only 50 or so days left...I've got to make them count. And with my cheering crowd going strong (i.e. my mom) I think I can do it. Wait, wait...I know I can do it. 

Mini Getaway

I'm heading home this weekend...

I'm looking forward to spending some much needed girl time with my mom.

Thinking about nothing.

 Being in the comfort of my parent's house.

It's always nice to have somewhere to go that lifts your spirits up and rejuvenates you.

Talk to ya'll Monday :) 

The Pile

Here lies the pile.

Martin's pile.

It has been here for 33 days straight.

As far as I can tell it's probably going to stay there until we move out.

I started to sort through it and was told very loudly, "DO NOT THROW ANY OF THAT AWAY!!!"

...like I'd throw away his Passport..geez 

 

or his Bob Dylan ticket from 9 years ago

or his teeny tiny miniature violin 

or my Senior Piano Recital program 

           

or prom pictures and cards from high school

or our mall photo booth portrait from college

...I could keep going if you want, the pile is quite large

Ahhh memories. I guess the spot in between the chair and side table is your home for now...unless my husband gets an inkling to start creating a scrap book.

Wordless Wednesday

A little belated

Do you ever have one of those days where you only think of yourself? That day was yesterday for me.

I'm sorry for not thinking of others first. I rarely ever live my life scowling at everything around me...I just couldn't get out of my bad mood.

I was missing my sister more than ever and that makes everything difficult. I know she's so far away every day, but somedays just hit harder than others. Then I looked at my phone bill and the long distance charges to florida are more than scary...oh man 

And because I was being selfish and sad I forgot to wish my wonderful and only brother-in-law a Happy Birthday.

so I will do it now...a little late, but still enthusiastically!

Happy Birthday Don!

We are so lucky to have Don as a part of our family.  He takes such good care of my older sister, he makes us laugh, and he is there to help us with our computer needs (which is a lot). 

Our family wouldn't be the same without you :)

iPods and Kindergarten

You may be wondering what these two things have in common.

My first thought was, "Nothing I hope! Kindergartners and iPods should not be used in the same sentence!"

We are starting a Take Your Teacher Home project for some of our lowest kindergarten students. It's a really cool project where we record our voices reading books, letter names and sounds, poems, vocabulary words etc. onto an iPod.

Yes, that's right...our little kindergartners are going to be responsible for an iPod shuffle. 

Will we get them back all in one piece? Unscratched? Still working? Not colored on? Will we get them back at all?

Who knows.

I'm just glad my students aren't actually taking me home with them...just my stuffy nosed voice...