mama's back to work

 
I love my class.  I love it.  Look at this sweet little girl in my class reading her bible during daily five. 

I love being back at school with big kids. Love my school, love the staff, it's all great.  The grading and planning and all that is fine.  Standing at the copier for over an hour each Sunday afternoon kind of stinks, but I'm working through it.  (Check out this funny paper I graded the other day.)  Working full time is having it's challenges though. 
 

 
 This was our recent grocery trip.  Don't tell anyone!  Look at all that processed stuff!  I'm using the crock pot a lot, but there are some days that we have rock climbing or soccer after school and we aren't getting home until late and need to have something to grab.  The kids love it.  I'm embarrassed.

 
The poor pool got neglected and I let the chlorine run empty for too many days.  Green came and took over.   I was actually trying to take a photo of the spider in the middle of the picture.

In other news...

We had a dental health lesson that required an egg in vinegar.  This jar was full of vinegar when I went to bed.  I set it in my school bag so I wouldn't forget it.  This is what it looked like in the morning.  All that vinegar was in my school bag and on my stacks of freshly graded papers. The house may smell for weeks.

 
 There were a few larger items that we had been talking about  wanting, a few floor pillows, a big  bucket for our recess equipment, a  carpet for our reading area, etc.  The poor recess boy was struggling to carry it all in his arms and had asked for a big bucket.   I hadn't asked anyone for them and  didn't think we'd get them until I put  them on my personal Christmas list  and sent my family shopping.  The first Friday before I left for the night,  an  old friend came by and dropped off those exact items (and a few extras!)  that  she had cleaned out of her classroom years ago when she taught and had  them  sitting around at her house.  She  said she just felt like  she should bring them all over to my classroom. God  blesses us in all  kinds of ways!  The kids were amazed the next Monday.  When I told them how it happened, they said it was a school supply miracle!  We had a lovely discussion about how God knows our needs even before we ask.  

 
I'm finally using the 'show what you know' board and it's been fun.  It's a nice quick way to make an assessment.  I put 2-3 questions up on the board and they answer them and add their note to the board.  It's also quick to tell who hasn't turned in their work.  I have some kiddos who do their work and then loose their page on the way to turn it in.