Pure Randomness…and some freebies at the end!

I had my SIL’s baby shower this past weekend!  Oh my word!  I swear I have reorganized and cleaned every inch of this house several times over.  And somehow, it is still not advisable to open a closet, door, or drawer in this house because you may not know what is in there!  My office and craft room had become a giant storage room the last couple years and I spent so much time purging and trying to organize.  When you come down to it, I just have too much stuff.  Not on the level of hoarders, but still…I scrapbook/ stamp, quilt, and make jewelry – all collector hobbies.  They come with tons of stuff!  I also have tons of books and clothes.  Just too much!

I also ended up having a guest list of 25ish people – we only had about 16, but I had to be ready for 25. This meant turning the hubbies man cave/t.v. room into a party space.  My upstairs (I have a ranch house) is pretty limited. About 8 people can fit comfortably, so we had to have the eating and gift opening in the basement room.  It is half the size of my whole house so it is a great room – just neglected.  Plus, some people just don’t think deer heads and other stuffed woodland critters are acceptable décor at a baby shower!

Please tell me someone else out there all of a sudden realizes how long it has been since you have dusted/vacuumed/washed some part of your house.  I have done more cleaning in the past two weeks than I have done in a year!  I have the chapped hands to prove it!  I think a once-a-week cleaning person is something I will think seriously about! 

At any rate, the shower was lovely and I saw a lot of my relatives that I only see on special occasions.  My SIL received beautiful gifts and all is well.  I had pictures I wanted to share, but do not have my cord to transfer the pics.

I was out on Friday because I have had a vicious go-around with a throat/sinus/ear thing that has just left me miserable – the headaches are crazy.  I would feel okay when I started out the day, but by lunch time I was suffering pretty bad. It was good to have a day to rest and putter at getting ready rather than running around like a crazy woman after work to get ready for the party.

I had last week off, but I was prepping for the party and had my interview to go back to school at a local university. I am waiting for words near the end of this month to see if I was accepted.  I had such mixed feelings about it.  I really want to pursue an advanced degree, but the timing is just weird and work is only getting more stressful every year – all teachers are feeling it. I keep wondering if I can do all of this.

The third thing going on is that it is the dreaded report card time.  We came back from break to a whole Dr. Seuss Read Across America deal and had to re-do assessments we had given at the mid-year mark less than 6 weeks ago.   I have enough data to do reports, but feel behind in the actual testing. 

I have my report cards done – sort of!  Now it is time to proofread, print, and stuff.  I am one of those people who will agonize up until the kids are actually on the bus with their report cards…maybe even until I get back the next day and there are no voicemails waiting for me!

If you have lasted through this post, you are a truly loyal reader!  I have a few goodies I worked on today and will share! It has been one of those year where I seem to spent a lot of time plugging holes in learning before moving on to grade level concepts.  It is not just a few kids, but usually the majority. 

My kiddos have been struggling with hearing and applying basic phonics patterns.  We have reviewed digraphs – again, and are now reviewing blends - again.  For some reason, my kids are just not hearing the sounds.  They either interpret sounds as incorrect letters or are completely random.  I made chuck cards to put on a ring to review during each guided reading session. Just print, cut, punch, and put on a ring.  Sometimes, good old-fashioned skill and drill is needed!

The second pressing issue with my class is the state of their journal writing.  I  have never been huge on checking journals all the time, but my crew this year is really good at pretending they are doing what they are supposed to and it is difficult to constantly hold them accountable.  At any rate, I wanted to push the point that they should be practicing the skills they are learning in their journals.  I made these little bookmarks and hope the novelty will convince the kids they really need to do their best work on a daily basis. 

I hope these little items are helpful! I am off to take more cold medicine and proof read report cards!  Fun!!!