is currently...

Loving: my new school and grade level team!  Don't get me wrong, I am still quite nervous and fairly overwhelmed with switching to a new school and grade level, but I am really enjoying my new school and coworkers. I was getting completely burnt out ready for a change from my old job, and this seems to be a good fit. The climate there is so relaxed and friendly.  This week was just meetings and classroom prep time, with an open house sprinkled in the mix.  I did get to meet a few of our kids and parents.  The kids show up Monday, so ready or not, here we go...

Reading: Janet Evanovich's Hot Six.  I think  I have blogged before that Ryan got me into the Stephanie Plum series.  Since he has been working like crazy this summer and I have hardly worked at all, I have caught up to him.  We are actually both reading this book.  We tried for about 24 hours to share the same copy  before Ryan got completely exasperated with me and downloaded it to the iPad.  These books are soooo funny!


Watching: Project Runway and Modern Family, the latter I have just started from Netflix.  I am fully aware that I am extremely late to the Modern Family party. 

The other night I just wanted some mindless television to relax to in bed and ended up on the Style Network  watching some old reruns of Sex and the City.  It was towards the end of the show when Miranda has Brady and is just struggling to be a good mom and maintain the status quo as a hot shot lawyer.  Finally she ended up going to tell her boss she was cutting back on work and then walked home and put Brady to bed.  I ended up totally tearing up, raising my fist in solidarity and saying "You go Miranda, you go girl!" When I used to watch that show originally I always thought she sort of a less interesting character, but now that I am a mom, I relate to her in a totally different way.  I kind of love her and want to be her.... ANYWAYS...

Thinking About: the Save the Dates that still need to be addressed and sent, the cake people I need to call, how long it's been since I vaccummed my carpets, etc. etc.  Between starting a new job, planning a wedding, keeping up with Isaac and all of his commitments, my mind always seems to be racing and it seems like I am always trying to squeeze in one more thing.

Anticipating: some family bonding time this weekend.  We have been making great use of our season passes to Dorney Park and I anticpate a few more trips up there before the season is over.





 
I'm not going to lie, I am also looking forward to school starting.  The summer is so relaxing , but Isaac and I thrive on a full schedule and routine.  I like lazy summer days with nothing on the agenda, but I am ready for the hustle and bustle of fall.

Wishing: that Ryan has some luck on the job search.  We aren't too happy with his current job but it has been slow going finding something that is a good fit (hours, salary, commute, a neighborhood where there aren't bullets flying regularly, etc).  Keep your fingers crossed that he is able to stumble across the right job. 

Making me Happy:  So many things!  These new shoes (pink AND studded AND less than 20 bucks?!  I hit the motherload!). 

 

Lush products.  I am mildy obsessed with that store.  In the past month I have bought this and this and this (and this and this and this...).  I bought their little foot care kit and made Ryan use it with me.  Here is a shot of us in the midst of our foot mask.

 

Therapeutic Thursday -- Destressing from School

Therapeutic Thursday...

How do I relax after a long day/week at work?

I don't have a cute picture or anything, but I really made an effort last year to leave work at work when I left at the end of the day.  I stopped checking my work e-mails in the evenings after I had been home for a few hours.  To the extent that it was possible, I tried to avoid bringing work home with me, opting to stay at school until it was done.  I felt like I balanced things a lot better last year, having better boundaries with school and home.  Now that I am doing a brand new grade and basically starting over, we will see if I can be as good about it as last year. 

I like to meet with up with girlfriends at a cozy restaurant in the city, eat good food, gossip and laugh.  This is one of my favorites places in Center City. 

 

 

I am not a huge TV person, but I go on jags where I like to mindless watch hours of a particular show on Netflix.

Recently I have watched season after season of Glee, Intervention, The Biggest Loser, Teen Mom, Modern Family and Psych. 

 

And spending time with your best friend always helps too...

 

Thanks for hopping over!!

Teacher Week - Teacher Must Haves

Hello-- I am joining in the Teacher Week Link-Up from Blog-Hoppin.

Here are a few things that are must-haves in my classroom.

1. Fun bulletin board borders (although I have nothing up on the bulletin board yet!) I chose this leopard print from Michael's this year:

(they also have tiger , zebra, and rainbow leopard).  My seven year old son was very disgusted by this bulletin board and wanted to know why I couldn't just do apples.  I also used fabric instead of paper for the background.  It doesn't fade or show seams or holes. 

2. Highlighter tape -

Great for bringing student's attention to certain things in the textbook.  It peels right off when you are done.  It also comes in super giant roles to use on chart paper.

3. Sit and move cushions-

Great for my students with autism.  They can have the movement they crave while still remaining at their seats.



4. These puzzles (and all of the others like them) from Lakeshore. 

They have all different reading ones, math ones, shapes, colors, sight words, word families, etc.  They are great to throw out as busy work for the kids and don't involve writing.  (Many of my students have OT issues and hate writing). 

Thanks for hoppin' over!

Pinterest Success!

I finally did something I pinned on Pinterest!  

(Well, not counting this fairly disastrous crockpot meal, which people only ate to be polite....) 

I have been cleaning my closets out and there were several items that were too worn or stained to give away.  It called to mind a bunch of headband tutorials floating around Pinterest so I figured I would give it a try. 

Why not, right? 

 I made this cute T-shirt headband (please excuse my horrible hair.. I was so excited to take a picture of the headband, and I didn't realize how wild the rest of my hair was... oops). 

I followed this tutorial from Sugar Bee Crafts.

Well... Actually... at first I attempted this one (pinned several gazillion times)

so I decided to try to create the five strand head band like this.

Mine... was not *quite* so successful....

I did use a T-shirt but it seemed more ribbed or textured or something than the fabric she used in her tutorial, so when I stretched it, it never formed the "yarn".  Also, I just couldn't seem to get the hang of the braiding.  Some of it looked acceptable, but some was puckery and "off".  I will revisit this one in the future, but in the meantime, I figured I better start with something more basic. 

So I found this pin and decided to give it a shot:

I am not going to lie.  It took me about ten tries before I got the hang of the knot, watching her video over and over.  

THEN, when I finally got the hang of it, I realized I had made some of the strands way too small.  There was no way it could go around my head... AHHHHHH.

Third time was a charm though and I think my headband looks almost exactly like hers.

Then there was the matter of the ends.  None of the tutorials really explained how to attach the strings and cover them nicely.  Mine ended up being kind of a mess...

Overall though, I think it is super cute, and I am excited to bust it out next week at school.

yeah sunglasses tan line...

P.S. You can follow me on Pinterest if you like, but my boards are nothing special. 

Engagement Photos!

Probably you've already seen the sneak peek from facebook, but we got our cd full of pictures from the delightful Erin Bertoni.  Here are some of our favorite shots that didn't make the cut for our Save the Dates.  

We started at Boathouse Row, worked our way through the Water Works, the gardens behind the Art Museum, the Rocky Statue, the art museum steps and then the other way with the city as a backdrop.

 It was nearly 100 degrees in thick, eastern PA humidity. I am surprised I didn't end up with sweat marks everywhere. 

I am also completely unaccustomed to not wearing sunglasses outdoors (no exaggeration, I wear sunglasses

all

the

time. 

I am very squinty in these pictures that made the cut, so I can only imagine how many pictures on the cutting room floor must have featured me with my eyes totally closed, grinning away.

Yay for touristy monuments in Philly!!

 FYI wedge flip flops were a terrible choice for this session.  We did a lot of walking that day and I felt like I spent a lot of time clenching my toes together to keep them on while I tottered up hills and stuff.  Also, I feel like they photographed like of oafy looking. 

Friday Favorites

I haven't done a link up in a while. It's late, but it's still Friday!

1. Date nights!  Ryan has been working a hectic schedule of very long overnight shifts which has not been any fun for any of us.  After working seven straight days he finally got a night off and we went to see Carolina Liar, Kelly Clarkson and The Fray.  Sadly, due to my inability to both driveaggressivly and follow a GPS, we ended up driving through the city.  As a result we stopped at no less than 1902298239823 stoplights and we ended up missing most of Carolina Liar, which is a shame because I really enjoy their music. 

I had been leaning towards getting lawn tickets, but Ryan found us a great deal on Stub Hub on seats in the center of the arena. He totally made the right call. We ended up being in the perfect placebecause both Kelly Clarkson and Isaac Slade of The Fray came out and performed a few songs from a small stage in the audience right in front of us.  The pictures are terrible quality, but the first one is Kelly Clarkson and the others are Isaac Slade. 

Kelly Clarkson put on a great show.  She really does have an incredible voice.  She covered  her bases singing most of her big hits (Since U Been Gone, Miss Independent, Breakaway, Because of You, etc, etc) which, let's be honest, is what people want to hear when they go to a concert.  She was very cute and bubbly, even if she does say "y'all" about every other word (personal pet peeve, plus isn't she from OHIO?). 

The Fray also put on a great show.  I like Kelly Clarkson and The Fray equally but I thought they were a bit of an odd pairing.  Kelly Clarkson is pretty much cheesey ballads and rockish pop.  The Fray is very serious and angsty.  I thought they had a reasonlyy upbeat and fun show, considering most of their music is fairly melancholy and piano based, but it seemed that most of the people were only there to see KC, because once she was done, quite a few people went home.

2. These fun printables that I am incorporating into my classroom!  I've already printed the flipped supply signs.  I will be printing the posters when I get a new color ink cartridge.

3.  Tackling something that has been hanging around on your to-do list FOREVER.  In the spring my brother Joe and Ryan put a ceiling fan up in my bedroom (which has been so so so lovely all summer).  Joe converted the single light switch into this double one.  Joe left me with the task of getting a new switch plate to put up.  And for the past four months or so this is how I left it.....

Well, with the new school year charging towards me like an out of control locomotive, I have renewed motivation to tackle those tasks.  It usually takes me until about November to get my head above water and until then I only do the true necessities in terms of housework.  Anyways,

Ta-DA!!!!

I know this is nothing to brag about really, but I am still going to allow myself to revel in the small burst of ecstasy when you finally get to cross off a nagging task, even if it is a small one. 

Ocean City

Hello! Here is another quick update on what has been going on in the Stephenson household. My sister and brother in law came to town and the whole family heading down for a week at beautiful Ocean City at the Jersey Shore. Ryan was able to join us for the whole week and he somehow survived.  We did a lot of walking on the boardwalk, watching the Olympics, and eating yummy food.  Ryan and I were even able to get away for an evening and have a nice date night at the Crab Trap.

 The whole family got to meet Joe's sweet new girlfriend Melissa:

We took in some sights including the Cape May Zoo.

Saw random things on the boardwalk.

We had beautiful weather almost the whole time we were there.  Blue skies and nice temperatures.

Isaac got lots of uncle bonding time in...

We did a lot of reading and napping at the beach...

More random boardwalk things...

It was a very relaxing week, but our beach trip always signals that summer is slipping away and soon it will be back to the busyness of a new school year. Ocean City I love you so!!!