Typical Crazy

These pictures are pretty typical of what goes on at our house on a regular basis.  I was getting stuff done on a Saturday... laundry, cleaning, dinner, etc. and Mason was hanging out in his "corral" in our bedroom.  Luke asked if he could get in and play with his brother and I obliged and when I sent in to check on them I hadn't anticipated Luke dumping an entire basket of clean laundry into the "corral" before he got in.

Luke proceeded to put on an "underwear hat" and suck on his brothers paci... 

These crazy boys surprise me and make me smile everyday.  I love that a pile of clean laundry and each other can keep them occupied and I love this typical craziness. :)

Never Say Never

If you had told me 10 years ago, HECK! If you had told me 5 years ago that I'd have two little boys and be driving a mini van I would have sworn up and down "NEVER!"

This summer, when the AC situation in the Jeep got dire (thing no air vents in the back, rear facing infant seat and 110 degree temperatures) we started thinking about the possibility of getting a new car.  We were looking at BIG SUVs (think Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon, etc.) and my mom suggested that we just "try" out a minivan so we could at least cross it off the list and say we'd looked at all our options.  We went to the Honda dealership, went on a test drive and wrote a check that day. :)

I knew it was perfect when Luke said that he really liked the DVD player and comfy seats, but that it was FREEZING in the back :)

We've had it for over a month now and I'm loving everything about it. The doors open by themselves, people!

I struggled with being one of "those moms" driving a van (hahaha), but knowing that it was what's best for our little family made the cool-factor less important. :)

Here is Luke helping Dave put on the license plates a few weeks ago....

We're loving the van and are looking forward to lots of family fun in it... and it just reaffirms my thoughts about never saying never :)

All good things...

All good things (including summer fun), must come to an end.  So when Luke went outside to "help" me put the sprinkler on (yes, we have a sprinkler system... but since we're in a drought you're only allowed to run it two days a week so we usually run our little sprinklers a few times as well) I decided to encourage him to just go for it :)

No hesitation on his part - despite being fully clothed...

This sweet boy has had a super fun super, but I have a feeling that he'll have just as much fun this Fall (when we can actually stand to be outside for longer than 20 minutes - and without being immersed in water).

New Classroom

MCA added a new middle school this year... but not a new building.  At the end of last school year I was told that I was going to have to leave my big, airy, open classroom (with all the cabinetry and great view) and move to a portable at the other end of campus where our new middle school was going to be housed.  To say I was nervous is an understatement.  I had been in my room for 6 years and wasn't looking forward to moving to "The Peninsula" as student fondly refer to it (sometimes we also refer to middle school as "The Patio" or even "Juarez" hahaha)

Once the move was imminent, I embraced it and decided to make my little portable fun, girly, inviting and homey.  It was a mess when I got in there, but I think it's getting there.  I'd still like to add some window coverings (I'm thinking solid pink valences with yellow trim... maybe) and have more frames to add, but for now it is what it is.  

Here's the view of room 505 from the student doorway...

The SmartBoard had to be mounted in between those windows, so there wasn't really any good option for seating other than rows.

Standing to the doorway, if you look to the right this is what you see...

Looking back toward the door (on the far right of the picture below).

This table is where I keep all my extra copies of assignments from when kids have been absent (pink crate) and where my bathroom signout and other stuff is all kept.  The pink trimmed magnet board was made for me by a student a couple of years ago:

I have Ryan Gosling "Hey girl" pictures scattered throughout.  I think it adds a nice touch :)

This table is to the right of the SmartBoard and it is where my laptop goes and is pretty much where I'm "stationed" during class... kids turn their papers in there, etc., etc.

The opposite corner...

Since I don't use the white board for lessons, I turned it into a big assignment calendar...

Kids are always sending me funny pictures, verses, etc. (and I'm pinning them on Pinterest - hahaha) and my faves I print out and put around the room...

I hate! E.T. and so one of my lovely students drew this for me a couple of years ago :)

The room had this weird "nook" where I couldn't put desks, so I decided to make it my little area:

Flowers from my boys :)

Look girls! It's our picture :)

(For those of you who aren't math nerds, a TI-84 is a graphing calculator - hahaha)

This is where I do a lot of my prep - keep my copies, lesson materials, etc.

These are a few of my favorite things :)

The big square frames used to be in our little "den" and then they hung in Luke's room...

I repurposed them into the two with the chevron print fabric...

This picture was back in June... these used to have "gilded" frames and hung above my kitchen cabinets.  I spray painted the frames, made the little verses and....

... now they look like this!

There's a door that leads to this little hallway with two storage rooms and then the door on the far end opens up into our Latin teacher's room.  She and I are trying to figure out what to do with our hall space.  Once it's cute I'll show y'all, but for now here's what it looks like...

 Anyway, hope that you enjoyed the tour!  It's small, but fun :)  The girls have loved it! hehehe

Totally different than my old classroom, but I'm loving it so far.