New Beginnings!

Over the past two weeks, I’ve gotten married, got a new job in a new grade, and was named the head softball coach. My life is full of firsts right now and I am loving it.  I am going to be teaching 5th grade at Central.  This is where I went to school k-12 so I am super pumped about it. I am also super pumped about the fact that even though I am changing from first to fifth, I have taught fifth before and am pretty familiar with the curriculum.  We are getting Go Math! for our new math series.  I have heard mixed reviews but I am going with a positive attitude about it.  I posted a similar post a few weeks ago and the board decided not to do the transfers until about two weeks ago.  I thought I don’t want to jinx myself so I removed it, but now it is official and I am ready to move rooms, get organized, start planning…WOW I think I need to get busy!  Not to mention wash, dry, fold, and put away the clothes from the honeymoon, write down the 60+ gifts we received at the wedding, write 200+ thank-you notes, etc. etc. AH I am very blessed! Oh and the softball job…my sweet daddy has already cut the grass several times for me and I worked today for about and 1 1/2 using what we call the Mennonite tool to get the grass off the edges of the infield. I am busy busy girl.

Please leave a comment if you know any upper elementary blogs.  I am going to miss my first grade blog friends so much. 

Thanks so much!

Back to Reality!

We are back from our Honeymoon in Antigua which was AMAZING!  I will post pictures ASAP!  The wedding was fabulous. We are so blessed. We had almost 400 people sign our book and probably another 100 that we just had to let in the doors because a. they were sweating to death and b. we wanted to start on time.  I had so much fun at the reception talking to people that came.  It was hot but the outside pictures were 100% worth it. Jennifer, Maci, and Misti from Jennifer Photography were incredible and Jennifer even stayed up that night and gave us a sneak peak of our pictures.  WE LOVE HER! Sneak peak below!

PS- I’m obsessed with pintrest!

Love, Laura

Updating and getting with it

My college professors always talked about a trait great teachers had in common… it was called withitness. Meaning you were with it at all times in your classroom, mainly during multiple activities such as centers.  I always thought I had that trait down pat in my classroom and in my life.  I usually can do several things at once and accomplish all the tasks in a fair amount of time.  Well that was before I was planning a wedding!  My withitness has flown out the door with 19 days until I say I DO!  I am way over due for a wedding update and since I am still up in the air about my teaching assignment that is all that I am thinking about!  I had my engagement pictures and bridal portraits done by my fabulous photographer Jennifer Tidwell.  I love my engagement picture for the paper:

We went dressy for the classic olin mills pictures and then fun for our outdoor. I don’t have anymore to put on here right now but will in a short time.

 

Im not sure which to do list I am on or what I have and have not checked off but I do know that I am caught up with my 250+ thank- you notes from my showers {that were awesome by the way.  We are very BLESSED with great friends and family} My 525+ invitations that I hand calligraphied (sp?) are sent out and only one came back whoop whoop!  Bridesmaids dresses are here, tuxes are ordered, music is going to be amazing, and I am super pumped about the honeymoon… I guess somewhere in between all that there is going to be a gorgeous wedding. Here are some pictures from our showers:

 

Easter and Bubblegum Fractions

Because I have no time to think or come up with original ideas I used eighteen25’s Easter cones and Cara’s Fraction Action packet to get me through the week after spring break. The bubble gum activity was by far the class favorite and I just loved the pictures that I took..We were cracking up!’HALARIOUS! NOT SO SURE tHIS group was kicking booty with bubble blowing

Then the boys got up… She looks mad but shes just concentrating

The Ss standing are the ones that blew bubbles!

 

WE LOVED IT!  THanks Cara!

I’m BACK!

Well for those of you who are even still out there my little faithful 40! haha I am posting after a very long hiatus.  I really have no excuse other than I have been sooo busy and so tired at night I have had no ideas or anything worth posting about.  I have a little down time on this Sunday afternoon and decided it was about time to get back into the swing of things if I was going to continue to have Open House!  For those who have been following and know that I coach softball our JV season is over.  We finished up 21-7 with five of those losses coming from the same team which happens to be our rival and is coached by my best friend.. I think I have mentioned this before, but I am extremely proud of those 19 girls who I would claim as my own any day.  We finished 2nd in our county which isn’t what we wanted but it was better than going home…. right? Below is a picture after playing for about 10 hours in the sun and losing the county championship.. we are forcing smiles but we all truly love the game and had a great season!

So now we are on to the end of the Varsity season and we will be hosting our Area Tournament this week.  The top two teams will advance to the Regional Tournament in Huntsville next week.

Speaking of Huntsville,   I am sure that you have heard by now about the terrible devastation that our state (Alabama) is facing. E4 and E5 tornados ripped through the upper half of our state last Wednesday.  Luckily my town wasn’t hit terrible and we have very minimal damage with a few trees down, but neighboring towns like Hackleburg, East Limestone, Phil Campbell, and Tuscaloosa were not so lucky and are experiencing mind boggling devastation.  The link is from a local photographer, Amanda Chapman, Facebook page. You can click on her name or the picture below for more photographs. The destruction is uncomprehendable and these people need everything.  There are places taking donations to the cities by the truckloads.  It is amazing the generosity we are witnessing in our state in such a time of need.  We are truly a state that works together and serves a living God and we believe that He will take care of us through the storm!

I can’t keep but count my blessings and I think that we will remember how lucky we are to have a house to clean, a yard to mow, clothes to wash, and mouths to feed for a long time after hearing and seeing the heartache of the victims.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

I do have wedding and teaching related posts coming in between the loads of laundry :)

SO VERY THANKFUL

{Laura}

S-P-A-R-K-L-E

It is all the rage in my classroom! My kids play it in line, at the lunch table, during snack, you name it they are playing it.  The other day I went to my desk to get my reading book after calendar and I heard one of the say sparkle ready go …table… and I was like SERIOUSLY  I came to get my book not drink my mocha and browse the internet!  lol They take it extremely serious.  The main thing that I use it for is whole group rewards.  We start out with the whole word spelled on the board and every time I have to get on to the class as a whole I don’t have to yell or scream (sometimes I forget I don’t have to do this) I simply go erase a letter!  It works like a charm… here’s a video explaining the excitement and how to play if you are not familiar with the game.  We play with our spelling words and/or sight words for a challenge.

SPARKLE!

Rain Rain= School Dismissal

We got out at 11 today because the first of the April storms is supposed to bring tornados and very strong winds.  It was fine till about 15 minutes ago and the bottom dropped out.  Which is fine with me!  I got a much needed nap and some blog time!  I realize this is the first post in almost three weeks.  I had such high hopes for this little blog! Hopefully after softball season everything will chill out and I can get back to it like I had intended. 

Speaking of softball I would just like everyone to know that although it eats up most of my time and extra brain cells I.LOVE.IT!  I also love my team and every single girl on it.  We are 17-5, which is amazing, and three of the losses are to the same team!  (which happens to be our rival, which happens to be coached by my best friend, which makes for some exciting moments) This weekend wraps up our JV season with the county tournament and the varsity season will just be peaking with area games, and big tournaments.  We are going to the Gulf Shores Tournament next week for spring break and if the name doesn’t ring a bell to you… Gulf Shores is at the BEACH!  We are super pumped about going to the beach play softball!  haha it is a great mix! 

I am just going to post some pictures of things that we are doing in our classroom.  Most of them are activities that other bloggers post because I have no time to think of original ideas during ball season.  Maybe it isn’t too late for you to get an idea for a spring lesson from the pictures.