journal writing

I started Writer's Workshop with my kids today.  It's always funny seeing what the kids "write".  

I put write in quotes because at the beginning of the year, most of my kids aren't writing.  They write some letters, then I ask them what their stories say and write what they say on their paper.  

Today I had one little girl write....

"Once upon a time a woman disguised herself as a kid."

Another little girl wrote.....

"The purple platypus went to work at 9 o' clock."

And another little girl wrote....

"I see twirlies everywhere."

All these funny journal writing made me think of this picture from an e-mail I received once.

A drawing a little girl drew of her mother that makes it look like she's an exotic dancer on a stripper pole.

Here's the message the teacher received the next day:

Dear Mrs. Jones, 

       I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic dancer. I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter how hectic it was last week before the blizzard hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that several people were fighting over who would get it. Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole. It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Home Depot. From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in. 

meal planning monday

Monday: Baked Spaghetti, Green Beans, & Garlic Toast

Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pie

Wednesday: Veggie Chicken Pitas & Chips

Thursday: Chicken Express (with a coupon of course!!)

Friday: Creamy Chicken Taquitos, Rice, Bean & Homemade Salsa

Saturday Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon & Biscuits

Saturday Lunch: Hot Chicken Salad Pitas & Chips

Saturday Dinner: Emma's Birthday Party

Sunday Lunch: Leftover Hot Chicken Salad

Sunday Dinner: Grilled Chicken, Corn on the Cob, & Salad

james 3

This morning at church, we read this passage from James 3.......

¹Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. ²We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. ⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, ⁸but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Our teacher had us all write words on the board that were positive types of words that come out of our mouths.  Many of us had to think before we went to the board to write our word.  After everyone wrote a positive word, our teacher had us write negative types of words that come out of our mouths.  It didn't take us near as much time for us all to think of negative words.  

After the illustration our board looked like this....

Just like it was easier for us to write the negative words, it is easier for our sinful nature to say those negative words.  I want to have more positive words come out of my mouth this week than negative words.  I want my mouth to bring praise to the Lord in everything I say this week. 

the best part of waking up is sonic in your cup

I love Sonic drinks.  I don't like coffee, so a Sonic Coke Zero with vanilla is like coffee to me.  I love Sonic so much that I go just about everyday!! I am addicted.

Thankfully the Sonic right by my school gives teachers 99 cent Route 44's all day everyday.  I go so much, that the owner of the Sonic even knows my drink.  If the owner takes my order, I just say "Hey It's Katy. Can I have my regular?"  

Right before school started the owner asked if she could set up a deal where I give her son a ride to school (he's a 4th grader at my school) in return for FREE Sonic drinks!!  Of course I said yes!! I just can't pass up a Sonic drink, especially if it's free.  So now every morning, unless the owner if not working, I get a free Sonic drink.

What a great way to start my day!! And week!!

I really think that my Sonic drink every morning helped me have a great first week!!

14th row fun

Yesterday afternoon I got a text from Matt saying that some of our friends had won 4 free tickets to the Ranger's game and wanted to know if we could go.  Matt knew I was exhausted from the first day of school so he made sure to put in the text that the seats were on the 14th row!!  There was no way I could say no to tickets on the 14th row on one of the coolest evenings of the summer.  Even if I was tired.  

I am so glad that we got to got to the game early, because the Army Golden Knights did a parachute demo on the field.  The first plane dropped one person, and the second plane dropped 6 people.

While the skydivers were landing, one got stuck on the flagpole.  It was crazy!!

You can see a video of it here.

Our seats were behind the Rangers dugout (and to the right a little bit).  We were definitely in the foul ball zone for left handed hitters.  It really made me watch the game.  I was even able to catch Josh Hamilton's homerun hit!! Can  you see the ball??

It was just a great night to be at the ballpark.  It was 82 and breezy and the whole game was so exciting. It was a close game until the very end.  I had the most fun I think I have ever had at a Rangers game.  I LOVED being so close and right in the action, especially at a winning game!!

Thanks Julie & Eric for treating us to a fun & free night at the ballpark!!

first day of teaching kindergarten: take 4

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

If you want to see all of my first days of school pictures growing up you can see them here.

I had a great first day of school.  I didn't have any major problems at all.  It an exhausting day though. I literally have to tell them how to do everything.

Here's what I sound like through out the day.....

"Please don't do that, no ma'am, tuck your chair in, great job, stay quiet, no sir, put a bubble in your mouth, sit down, write your name, don't touch the walls, walk quietly, go potty, great job, get a drink, not yet, straight line please, line up, criss-cross-apple sauce, watch where you are going, hands in your lap, kiss your brain, are you listening, come over here, awesome job"**

**multiplied by 10 or maybe 20 or more like 40

out of the mouths of kindergarteners

"I'm tired because my Dad woke me up in the middle of the night to come to school."

"My Mom and Dad sure are going to be bored without me home!"

"Is it okay if I color a piece of art instead of a picture."

"I think I'm going to like school after all."

"This is the BEST school ever!"

I'm looking forward to many more Kindergarten Bloopers this year.  

I think I have a pretty funny group of kiddos!!

meal planning monday

Monday: Roast, Carrots & Potatoes @ Nonnies

Tuesday: Taco Soup

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese & Pasta Salad

Thursday: Baked Spaghetti, Green Beans, & Garlic Toast

Friday: Red Robin (using a giftcard)

Saturday Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon & Biscuits

Saturday Lunch: Pizza

Saturday Dinner: Hamburger Helper & Salad

Sunday Lunch: Last Sunday Lunch w/ our ABF

Sunday Dinner: Chicken Tenders, Salad & Sweet Potato Fries

sobe lifewater

I have a new obsession.  

I love Sobe Lifewater.  

I especially love the 0 Calorie ones.  It's a great "after work-out" drink that tastes great!!  

I wouldn't have normally tried Sobe Lifewater because they are $1.59 a pop, but over the past couple of weeks, CVS has had Sobe Lifewater on sale for Buy One Get One Free.  But even at Buy One Get One Free, this deal wasn't sweet enough for me!!

There is a game on Sobe's website where you can win a Buy One Get One Free coupon.   It will let you play once a day and you can print the coupon twice.  Since we have two computers in our house, I was able to print this coupon two more times on our other computer. When paired with the CVS sale, each Buy One Get One Free coupons gets you 2 Free Sobe Lifewaters!!  

Over the past 3 weeks I have stocked up our beverage fridge in the garage with 72 Sobe Lifewaters for absolutely FREE.  I didn't pay a penny for a single one.  If I paid full price for all of those it would have been $114.48.  

The crazy thing about this is that I might be able to get even more for Free.  Each Sobe Lifewater that has a black cap, is possibly eligible for another Buy One Get One Free coupon.  You just have to look under the cap to see if there is a code to put in their website. The CVS sale is over, but you can still play the game on their website until September 14th.  I'm stocking up on my Buy One Get Free coupons for another sale.  Hopefully I can score some more of these Sobe Lifewaters somewhere else!!

broccoli pasta salad

We had a luncheon at our school last year, and someone brought this salad.  I searched the school for the maker of this salad so I could get the recipe for you!! I knew this would be a delicious recipe to post about!!

Here's what you'll need.

6 slices of bacon (I used pre-cooked)

20 ounces of fresh cheese-filled tortellini

1/2 of cup mayonaise

1/2 of cup sugar

2 teaspoons of cider vinegar

3 heads of fresh broccoli, cut into florets

1 cup of raisins (I use the golden raisins)

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 red onion, finely chopped (optional)

Microwave bacon, drain, crumble and set aside.  Cut broccoli and set aside.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil.  Cook the tortellini in boiling water for 8-10 minutes or until al dente.  Drain, and rinse under cold water.  

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar to make the dressing.  In a large bowl, combine broccoli, tortellini, bacon, raisins, sunflower seeds and red onion .  Pour dressing over salad and toss.  

Mmmm Mmmm.....Enjoy!!

come awake

We all carry various burdens and struggles that sometimes prevent us from living the life God intended. Christ's sacrifice, though, reminds us that he defeated every last thing that might encumber His people. Thus, the charge to us all is to come awake and be one with Christ again.**

My church showed this video a few weeks ago before our sermon series titled "Beautifully Broken" and last week we sang the song during worship.  I really love the lyrics to this song and when put to a video it's very touching.

Come awake.

**IgniterMedia

back to school

And summer is over....just like that.

I sure an going to miss it. It went by way to fast.

This week is full of meetings, meetings, and more meetings.  And some more meetings.

It's a little frustrating because every year we sit through meetings ALL. DAY. LONG. with our mind going a million different directions thinking about all the things we need to be doing in our classroom.  It sure would be nice if they just cut out the meetings and let us work in our classroom for 5 days.  

I think every teacher would agree with me!!  Am I right ladies??

Anyways, happy back to school!!

meal planning monday

Monday: Dinner @ The Havard's House

Tuesday: Dinner @ My Parent's House

Wednesday: Brisket, Restaurant Style Smashed Potatoes, & Veggies

Thursday: BBQ Sandwiches with Chips

Friday: Chef Boyardee Pizza @ My Parent's House

Saturday Breakfast: Cinnamon Rolls

Saturday Lunch: Corn Dogs & Sweet Potato Fries

Saturday Dinner: Talapia with Shrimp Bayou Sauce & Veggies

Sunday Lunch: Pasta Bag

Sunday Dinner: Taco Salad

casey & her big brother

If this sweet little girl doesn't give you baby fever, I don't know what would.  Miss Casey was a perfect little baby and her brother Caleb knew just how to make her smile.  

it's that time again....

Last year, about this time, I posted about how I have bad dreams before school starts. You can find that post here.

Well it's that time again.  

The bad dreams have already started.  

I started working in my classroom on Monday so I think that's why they have started.  I have a to-list a mile long, and I just can't stop thinking about school.  When I finally fall asleep at night, the last thing on my mind is always school, so all my dreams are about school.   

So far I have dreamed that they put all boys in my class, then I dreamed that I had all the special ed kids, all the ESL kids, all the speech kids and all the requests.  All the teacher were mad at me because I had kids they were supposed to have.  I also had a dream that I turned on a video for what was supposed to be 10 minutes long, but I couldn't get it turned off so we watched TV all day.  My principal was secretly watching through a window so I got in big trouble.  Last night's dream was the worst.  It was mass chaos.  I forgot to bring nice clothes for Meet the Teacher so I met all my parents in my work out clothes.  Meet the teacher is from 4-6, but everyone came at 4 so I had parents mad at me for not talking to them right away.  I was totally not prepared for them to be there.  I didn't have any of the notes or take home stuff out for them and I didn't have any of my cabinets cleared out for them to put supplies up.  I was so stressed in my sleep. 

The funniest thing about all these dreams is that I did a lot of preparing for this school year at the end of last school year.  I am very ahead of the game and ready to go.  And I have 3 years of experience in Kindergarten.  I guess all teachers just get a little anxious before school starts. 

This morning I woke up at 6:45 to pack Matt's lunch and chat with him before he left for work.  I usually just wake up and get out of bed when he leaves, but I decided to stay in bed this morning.  I forgot to set my alarm, so I slept until 10am.  I never to that.  Ever.  That should tell you how tired I am and how restless I am at night.  

If you think about it, say a prayer for me and all the teachers out there.  We need lots of good rest before the 1st day of school.   

foundations

We had our Smith Family Reunion today. (a.k.a our first staff meeting) We have a lot of changes and a lot of new staff members this year so our design team went all out in planning our "reunion".  

One of the things we did today was go under the school (literally, we climbed down this secret door in the janitor's closet) and sign the beams underneath the foundation of our school.  The reason behind doing this was because 3 years ago when our school was still being built we had a special ceremony with our principal and our namesake.  

All the teachers and their families came to the school and signed the foundation of our school.  We got to pray in our classroom and write scripture on the foundation of our own classroom.  

Today our principal wanted to give our new staff members a chance to sign the foundation of our school as well.  

It was neat to go back and look at my pictures and remember the scriptures I wrote in my classroom.  As I am starting to get ready for this upcoming school year I am praying these same scriptures for my new group of kiddos. 

And while I'm praying for my new kiddos, I'm also praying for my sweet friend Sarah.

Sarah and I started teaching togethers 3 years ago.  Her and her husband moved to Waco this summer so this will be our first year not teaching together.  She is at a new school with all new people so I know that can kind of be scary. So say a little prayer that she has a smooth transition to her new school.  And if you think about it, say a little prayer for me too, I'm kind of having a hard time not have her around.  I have never not taught with her, so it's just kind of weird not having my friend around.  

It's going to be a good year though.  We have a firm foundation centered around Christ, and I know He is going to do good things at our school this year.  

tonight

Tonight I......

..... did Day 9 of The 30 Day Shred.

......folded 4 loads of laundry.

......emptied and refilled the dishwasher.

.....made this delicious Taco Salad for dinner.

.....went on a walk with my hubby.

......sorted my Sunday paper coupons.

And now.....

......I am watching

I know it is probably the trashiest show on television, but The Bachelor/The Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad is  my weekly guilty pleasure.  

And.....I'm not ashamed to say I'm watching.  

Okay, maybe I'm a little ashamed.

Are you watching??

meal planning monday

Monday: Taco Salad

Tuesday: School Staff Cook-Out

Wednesday: Sandwiches, Chips & Grape Tomatoes

Thursday: Nachos

Friday: Chuy's

Saturday Lunch: Bagel Bites

Saturday Dinner: Cook-Out with our ABF

Sunday Lunch: BBQ Sandwiches & Chips

Sunday Dinner: Lunch @ Church Leadership Mtg.

kiwi-mango salsa

When I went grocery shopping on Sunday one of the sample ladies at Kroger was passing out samples of this salsa with tortilla chips in the produce aisle.  I am a "stick to the list" kind of shopper, but I broke the rules and bought the ingredients it called for right then and there to make this salsa. It was so good!!

You will need.......

1 mango

3 green kiwis

3 golden kiwis

1/4 cup diced red onion

2 Tablespoons of lime juice

1/8 teaspoon of salt

Diced Cilantro-as much as desired

Cut. Mix. Eat. Enjoy!!

We ate our salsa with fish tacos and it was delicious!!

recovering

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you have probably seen my updates about Izzie.  

I took Izzie to the vet yesterday for what I thought was a little sore on her tail that looked like it was getting infected.  Come to find out, it was actually an ulcerated tumor that had begun to get infected because of the open wound.  The vet advised me to go ahead and remove it even though it was benign.  I could have just given her an antibiotic to clear it up, but the word tumor just scares me and I didn't want to have to deal with a bigger tumor down the road.  

Anyways, my Mom dropped Izzie off the vet this morning and she went into surgery around 11:30 and the nurse called me around 12:30 saying everything went just fine.  I picked her up after school at 4:00 and she has been extremely groggy since we got home.  

**pics taken with iPhone

She won't eat anything, drink anything or go to the bathroom.  She won't even take her pill that I have wrapped in Velveeta cheese, and she LOVES Velveeta.  I'm hoping I can get her to take her antibiotic and her pain medicine in the morning so she can feel a little better tomorrow.

Poor thing.

i just have to brag

I'm pretty sure every Mother teaches their children not to brag.  I know my Mom did.

Sorry Mom, but I've gotta break the rules today.

Surely it's okay to brag about how much you saved at the grocery store. 

I got all this stuff from Target, Albertsons, and Kroger for only.......

$13.38

I saved a total of $80.04 which is an 86% savings!! Yipee!!

Sorry, I just had to brag!!

P.S.  I successfully had my third coupon class and I would love to have a fourth.  Leave a comment on this post or send me an e-mail at katymlink (at) gmail (dot) com if you are interested in joining me!!

tennis shoes & fried alligator legs

Student: Can I have a tennis shoe for my nose?

Me: A what??

Student: A tennis shoe.

I'm pretty sure he meant a tissue!!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me: What would you like for lunch? Your choices are chicken nuggets, turkey with gravy or a cheese sandwich.

Student: I dunno

Me: Well sweetie, you've gotta pick one.  Chicken Nuggets?

Student: Nope

Me: Turkey

Student: Nope

Me: Cheese Sandwich

Student: Nope

Me: Just Cheese

Student: Nope

Me: Just Bread

Student: Nope

Me: Well, honey, what about fried alligator legs? (said very jokingly)

Student: Mmmmm, Yes (said with a big nod and smile)

Me: Seriouly, have you ever had fried alligator legs?

Student: Yes, they are yummy!!

Me: Where have you had them?

Student: In Boston with my family.

Me: Alrighty then.....

I just wrote down that he wanted a cheese sandwich then moved on to the next student.  His response....

"I'll have what he's having!"

Ironically the chicken nuggets were actually chicken strips today.  

Would it be bad if I told those two boys that the chicken strips were fried alligator legs??

hot, sweet & spicy

Today was THE hottest day of the summer hitting 106 degrees.  

The absolute worst thing to come home to on the hottest day of the year is a hot house.  Our house was 91 degrees and felt like a sauna when we came home.  I just about cried at the thought of having to buy an air condition with my summer school money.  

Matt messed with some switches and we got it running again but only time would tell if it was working properly.  

Thankfully last week a friend from high school who works for the PR firm that represents Red Robin asked if I wanted to try out a new burger for free!!

If you know me at all, you know that I love anything free!!  So I was super excited about this opportunity. It worked out perfectly that we had a place to go eat dinner for free when we needed to get out of the house for dinner!!

Every year Red Robin hosts a Kid's Cook-Off where kids submit their own recipe to be served at Red Robin.  This year's winner, 10 year old Emma P. created a Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger.

Matt and I were lucky enough to get a sneak preview tasting of Emma's burger before they are offered to the public tomorrow.  Not only did we get to try her burger we also got bottomless fries and beverages.

I was a little bit nervous about the "spicy" part of the burger.  I don't do spicy at all, but the sweet honey taste toned down the spicy taste.  It was delicious!!

We both thoroughly enjoyed our burgers. 

So why am I blogging about this?? 

Because I wanted to tell you need to go to your nearest Red Robin and get your own Spicy Honey Glazed Bacon Burger created by Emma.  For every burger sold Red Robin donates fifty cents to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.  

Hurry though because these burgers will only be available at Red Robin until September 12th.

And for those wondering......when we came home from Red Robin our AC was down to 85 degrees and we woke up to a cool house this morning at 80 degrees.  Praise the Lord we don't have to buy an air conditioner!!