Open House/ Back to School Night

After a very, very long day of in-service training, I headed back to school for open house. I was SOOOO nervous last year. However, this year things have been happening soo quickly that I didn't really have time to get nervous. I was a bit nervous before it started, but then it just flew by and it was SO MUCH FUN. I just love meeting the new students and I'm actually very excited to get to know them. But, the best part was all my old students walking or running back into my classroom to say hello and give me a HUG.

That just made my day, I really have the best job in the world. Not only did it make me feel terrific, but I could see that my new students and parents were very happy to see that I had such a good relationship with my old students.

So, as it stands, I'm excited for the new year to begin. I'm also sad that I won't see my old students much.

As a note, last year and this year I had a sign up sheet if parents wanted a phone call before school started. Last year one parent signed up. This year....FOURTEEN. I'll be making a lot of phone calls on Sunday and Monday.

In the meantime, I have Declan's open house tomorrow night and then we're off to a favorite get-a-way spot for three nights - Trout Lake- for some hiking and huckleberry hunting. It seemed like a great way to cap off the summer and avoid the temptation of hanging out and working my my classroom this weekend.

Last week we had a playdate with Declan's best friend from school. I just had to take a picture. Bryce is TALL. They are so cute. Bryce is the tallest kid and Declan is the shortest. I'm sooo glad they're going to be in 1st grade together. Bryce is just a great kid and his Mom and Dad are also teachers. It's nice when your kiddo hooks up with quality friends :)

Through the years

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

1st Grade

The close up
Seems like I always buy this pose, my favorite




Thinking about Pokemon

Usually I'm only tempted to buy a couple of poses...this time it was sooo hard to choose. I ended up getting A "Gallery" pose or something. Huge. Framed. Black & White. Too much money, but....beautiful. I'll photograph it sometime and post. I also bought a tri- pose or whatever they call it...framed for my new wall. I spent sooo much money. I usually get a free sheet and purchase one or two others... not this time. The trip also turned out a little more expensive because they opened a Vans store two doors down...even though he has some great Sketchers for school...I couldn't pass up some classic checkered Vans. Dec LOVES them, says they're the most comfortable shoes ever...so those of you who still have school shopping to do, consider Vans.

The shoot went O.K., but only after threats and bribes. He hates going in for photos...which is why it has been 1.5 years. On the way in I said "Your friend Kelton loves having his photo taken." (yeah, I resorted to peer pressure) He responded "Well, Kelton is Kelton and I'm me!"
The above photo is from our recent trip to the east side of the state. It's always relaxing to just hang out with friends and drink lots of coffee :)

There is a funny story about Java Jigglers, bikinis and my 6 year old son...but frankly I'm too lazy to type it all out right now.

I'm wrapping up summer, I work two days this week. Three days next week and then I'm back for good. I'm really looking forward to meeting the new kids, but can't wait to get past parent night ;)

More Photos

A friend wanted more perspective on the room. These shots help give you a better idea of the layout of the room. There is about 2 feet on the other side of the bed to get to Declan's room. The color of the wall in the second shot is a more accurate look at the color. I think the flash makes it look lighter in the other photos.

The stairway comes right up to my bedroom. I'll get photos of Declan's room later. Things aren't put away since I rearranged everything.

Painted

Here is my bedroom after it's been painted. When I shut Declan's door it blends right into the wall. You can't get a sense of it, but the room is actually pretty big. The comforter is something I saw displayed at a local store 2 months ago. I've thought about it often, and I finally had a reason to buy it. As you can see by looking at the pillows, no O C D here.

Now that my room is complete, I can go out of town feeling kind of relaxed. The clock is ticking (I was told recently that teachers think of August as the "long Sunday", you know Monday is coming soon) and I'm going over the mental list of all the things I was SUPPOSE to accomplish this Summer. Oh well, I had fun. That is the important thing :)

Short Update

It's been a nice and somewhat lazy week. Declan is in Seattle for 10 days. Anything beyond 3 days and I really begin to miss him. Things were better this week as I had my nephew around for 4 nights.

I've been working on the upstairs of our house....well me with much help from my wonderful Dad. Until now Declan and I have shared one BIG bedroom that is about 400 SQ ft. I've been wanting to put a wall up for quite sometime...my Dad finally did it for us this week. It's sooo wonderful.

Now when he has friends over they really have their own space. I won't have to constantly be stepping on Legos as I go to and from my bed.

The remodel inspired me to update my linens. I'm going with a very Pacific Northwest Lodge theme. Today my Italian Roast Portuguese flannel sheets came in the mail. They are soooo soft. I sleep on flannel year round. I'll be painting soon. In the photo you can see the door to Declan's room. I thought it would be fun to have a kid size doorway - 48". It's placed at that end of the room to allow the best air flow during the summer months.
This is a photo from our recent trip to the beach.

Declan now has specific weekly duties around the house. I'm starting with cleaning the bathroom sink. It seemed fitting as he makes a HUGE mess brushing his teeth. Hopefully this will encourage him to be more careful.

I'm off to Eastern Washington in a couple of days. One last relaxing mini-vacation at a friends house. I find it the most relaxing thing in the world to visit my friend Christy. She is really like family and we just hang out and drink coffee and let the kids play. I think there will be lots of swimming this week, we'll see.