Update & Weekly Weigh-In

I haven't blogged much lately and didn't keep up with my weekly posts either. To be honest, it is very rare I even get on the computer anymore.

I am loving summer but I am at the point where I am ready for it to be over. I still have a lot of things to do before the school year starts but I am just so ready and excited to start my career.

Being a stay at home mom is difficult for me. I have definitely fallen back into the rut I used to be in when I was home all of the time. I get so bored and that causes me to feel down and that causes me to eat. I have not done very well the past month or so in the weightloss department. I actually gained 4 pounds. :( However, I worked really hard this week and I was able to lose those few pounds, so now I am back to where I was at my last post.

I feel like I have finally pulled myself out of this at-home rut and have found my motivation again. I have gone to the pool a few times in the past 2 weeks and every time I go I see moms who are older than me with kids younger than mine in bikinis. I sit there and think "man, I wish I could look like that." And then I realized - why can't I? Today I saw a lady who looked like she was 40 with a 3 yr old and she was wearing a bikini. UGH! If these people are older than me, and their kids are younger than mine, then there is no reason I can't wear a bikini too!

The other night I had an adult temper tantrum and Kyle so kindly sat their and listened. :) I was venting how I feel like my life revolves around everyone else. Everyone comes first, all the time. I vented about this is the reason I am fat because I never have time for me. Then I watched "Extreme Makeover: Weightloss Edition." The woman on the episode was morbidly obese, worked full time and took care of her kids and husband. I so sympathized with her. The trainer told her that sometimes you just have to make everyone else take a backseat and it is okay to put ourselves first. That really hit home for me. That is exactly what I need to do. So, I have decided to let everyone take a backseat. I will take the kids to the park and the pool - but they have to sit through a 45 minute walk first. The kids can watch cartoons - but they aren't allowed to bug me because I am going to exercise for 2 hours while they watch tv (instead of me watching tv for 2 hours too.) Kyle also hooked up a tv in the exercise room for me and ran the cable lines so now I try and watch the shows I like live instead of on dvr so that I can watch them and exercise at the same time in the exercise room (there is no dvr in there.)

I have only had this new attitude for a few days now but I am hopeful I can stick to it again. If I can just get through the next 4 weeks, I will have no problems because after that I will be working and on my feet all day and I won't be around food 24/7 and I know the weight will fall off. I even made myself motivational posters and hung them up in the exercise room. One of them says.... You didn't get a college degree without studying. You won't get skinny without exercising. I worked so hard to finish school so if I put that same effort into exercising then I know I can do it.

So anyways, enough with the words.... Here are some pictures from today:

First, the kids to a "backseat" :) and I pushed them for about 45 minutes around the neighborhood. Kyle got my stroller "fixed" so I am hoping it won't break on me again.

Then we stopped at the park for some play time.

Last, we stopped off at the splash pad next to the park. They were so hot and I didn't have swimsuits with me so they just played in their clothes. We were the only ones there so it was nice and I was able to sit in the shade and cool off.

I have found that when I exercise right before it is time for a meal, I make better food choices. I was so exhausted when we got home so I just whipped this up real quick for dinner for me. (Grilled chicken, okra, broccoli and an orange.)

Pounds Lost: 26 pounds

Pounds Left: 46 pounds

Feeling GRRRReat!

These letters are for one of my bulletin boards will I will display impressive work.... 

These animal friends below will eventually be cut apart (and laminated) and one will be on each side of the board kind of displaying/pointing to the work that is displayed.

These little guys were extremely difficult... definitely the hardest animals I have drawn so far. You can tell I free handed them because they definitely do not look the same, but that's ok.. they don't have to be twins. :)

birdies

I am going to have some sort of tree(s) in my classroom. What's a jungle without some trees!?

These birds will be sitting on branches in my tree(s).

(Note: that is why the feathers around his feet are not colored in - that part will be cut out so that the branch can go in between and under.)

(They will eventually be cut out and laminated.)

These were each done on 1/4 of a piece of cardboard and done free handed - no tracing. :)

Whenever I sew, I am so relaxed and happy. I feel the same way when I am drawing and coloring. I am having so much fun creating all of these animals!

Planning Ahead

I haven't decided if I should consider myself a nerd, an over achiever, a perfectionist or prepared. Maybe all of them?

Why is it that the excitement of new binders and dividers excites me? Why is it that it is summer yet I cannot keep myself from doing "school work." Am I just used to it or do I just love school? I don't know!!

Thursday I turned in my contract for my teaching position as well as all the other paperwork. I decided to carry my own insurance as well as switch the kids. Kyle's employer does not contribute to their insurance so by me carrying the kids, we will save a little over $200 a month! (I like to think of that as my added gas expense for the month. :) )

So anyways, the principal informed me that he had decided to have the 3rd grade teachers (myself and 1 other teacher) team teach instead of self-contained. What this means is that now instead of having 1 class where I teach every subject, I will have 2 classes. I will be the math and science teacher and the other teacher will do reading/writing and social studies and then we will switch. After putting together my curriculum binders today, I have to say, I am very pleased with this decision!

With this being my first year, I have no past lessons and experience to rely on. Everything will be new for me. So I think planning for 2 subjects will be A LOT less stressful than teaching 5 subjects. So, I am very pleased.

Going with my jungle theme, these are my curriculum binders:

No, I did not have to start doing this. However, I hear so many stories about how the first year is so overwhelming and first year teachers can barely stay afloat. I want my first year to be as smooth as possible, so I want to be as prepared as possible. So, I would rather start planning what I am going to teach now than wait until school starts. I want to be able to spend time with my family after school and on the weekends and not be doing school work 24/7. So, I am trying to plan and get organized now.

Here is a side shot of my binders....

can you believe this doesn't even include the lesson plans!? This is just the information on what has to be taught.... like I said, very pleased I only have to do 2 subjects. :)  I took the kids with me up to my university this morning. I still have a lot of money on my printing account that is paid with tuition so I figured I should use their paper and ink that I already paid for. I swear I used an entire pack of paper!

I have been very blessed to have gotten a job so quickly in this crazy economy where school districts everywhere are laying off teachers. So, I am just hoping that everything continues to run smoothly and I can stay placed in 3rd grade. There is always a chance that teachers can be moved because your contract has you listed as "teacher" so you can be placed, and changed, into any grade and subject that you are certified. So, I just hope I am not doing all of this planning and then get moved. That would, for lack of better words, suck. lol.

Spotted!

I plan to have a bulletin board titled "Spotted.... Students at work" to display the students' work. I have already cut the letters out onto giraffe/cheetah paper. Below are 2 animals friends that will be on each side of the board. I drew them both free handed by looking at a clip art picture - I did not trace it.

It seems like the more I draw these, the more difficult they get! I think the next thing I will do will be something with less detail.

New Items!

Monkeys are really hard to draw! I had enough space so I drew in the banana on this one. She will eventually be hanging from a tree... Still needs to be cut out and laminated. She is the size of half of a poster board.

What do you think??? I think I found a new hobby!

I also went to hobby lobby today to get fabric to make throw pillows for my classroom library. I guess animal print is going out of season/style because the clearance aisle was full of animal items. I snagged this lamp for $20!! (It was regularly $100!)

Here is one of the few figurines I got. He was on clearance for $4.00! I think it is very fitting - an ape reading a book. :)

No monkey business!

Okay... I admit... I am addicted to my new found talent. I love drawing. I love coloring. I can't get enough of it! Sooooo here is the 3rd addition to my jungle friends.

He will be swinging from a tree in the classroom and will be holding a banana with his clutched hand. (He was done on 1/2 sheet of large poster board.) He still needs to be cut out and laminated.

So far, this one was the most difficult one to draw. I messed up a lot. And it is not any where near 100% symmetrical. BUT I am a beginner and I still think it is cute.