Flowy Hi-Lo Top

I survived my first week back at school.  It was a hard transition from summer back to work this year!!

I'm lucky that at my school, I'm allowed to wear jeans everyday!  I know at some schools you only get to wear jeans on Fridays.   

Back to work tomorrow!  The weekend flew by too fast!! I'm head teacher this year and it is a lot of work!  But I'm getting the hang of it.  Hopefully I just don't mess anything up too much! I've already made a couple of mistakes, but that's ok! 

Writing Center

This is my writing center.  There is a rectangular table with chairs under the board for children to sit and write.  It shows examples of each type of writing, and then has paper for each type in the blue paper holder.  I sometimes give students a specific assignment, or sometimes let them choose what they want to do.  This is perfect for differentiation because strong writers can choose to write a story, poem or letter- requiring full sentences.  Beginning step or younger writers might choose to write a list- just requiring words.  I also always have seasonal/thematic words for them to look at, as well as a word wall.  I downloaded all images from teacherspayteachers.com.

My first day back at work was Friday.  I felt ok about going back to work.  I had been preparing my baby to go back to her Auntie/Babysitter for a few days.  She seemed fine and said she wanted to go.  When we got to my aunt's house, my baby made a sad face and her lip started to quiver.  I could tell she was trying to hold in her tears.  When we got inside, my baby completely lost it and would not stop crying!  I ended up just leaving because I knew she'd calm down once I was gone.  I don't know why, but this crushed me!  I knew my daughter would be fine and would stop crying when I left.  My Aunt even text me a smiling picture of her a few mixtures after I left.  But I still didn't feel any better.  When I got in the car, I called my husband crying.  When I got to work, our staff meeting was starting and I was still crying!! I finally got ahold of myself, but then during our 10 minute break, my friend asked me what was wrong.  I burst into tears again!! I'm so thankful for my schedule of having summers off, but it is so hard to leave your babies after spending 2 months straight with them.  It was even harder than coming back from maternity leave because now that she's almost 2, she knows what's going on.  When she was a little tiny baby, she didn't know any better.  So pretty much it was a horrible first day back.  I have really good friends at work who made me feel better though.  Hopefully Monday will be better.

Today our whole family went to the zoo!! I was so much fun.  My favorite are the elephants! We also saw the polar bears being fed.  I needed a fun day like this after my bad day yesterday!!

Ashley

Lace and Leopard

Lace and Leopard

Today is my first day back at work!!! I have been working at home a little bit- mostly pinning art project ideas from Pinterest.  Hopefully I'll remember to take some pictures of the art projects we do so I can blog about them.
My husband bid for his new shift and it's not too much of a change for us so that's good!  Going back to graveyard was a possibility, so I'm glad he will be home at night! 

Seasonal/Thematic Book Organization

I am obsessed with organization.  I like to change out the books that I display in my bookcases.  I change the seasonal ones every month, and change the thematic ones every time we change committee themes.  To keep all of the book organized when I'm not using them, I keep them in magazine holders.  I turn them backward, wrap them with construction paper (wrapping paper would be prettier!) and put a label on each.  I got the labels from teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Common-Core-And-So-Much-More.  I store them in 2 bookshelves.  This set up has made it so easy to switch the books out every month and also very easy for volunteers to know where to put the books away if they are helping! 

Pink, Glitter and Bows

2 more days off until I go back to work!!! My husband has off the next 2 days, so we will get to spend time together before I go back.  He bids for a new shift today, so that's always kind of stressful.  You never know what will be open by the time he bids, so it's hard to plan.  His department is going to 12 hour shifts, so that will be a big change!
My daughter will be going to daycare for the first time this school year.  I think she's ready because she'll be 2 and needs to learn to play with kids her own age, but I'm a little sad.  My aunt was her babysitter last school year and it was nice having her with family.  But I know she'll have fun playing with the kids.  When we go visit the daycare she never wants to leave.
My middle son already started school because his school is year round.   My oldest son goes back a week after I go back.  I bought them both new school clothes and shoes, and bought myself some clothes and shoes as well.... I need new school clothes too!  :)

Kimono Sleeve Top

  This is my kimono sleeve top.  I like the colors and how light it feels in the heat!
Only 3 more days until I go back to work!!!  I'm both bummed and excited to go back.  Yesterday we interviewed for a new teacher.  Today I hope I can go see my friend's new baby!

Sausage and Shrimp Skillet

This skillet is so delicious and sooooo easy.  And it's low-carb friendly!  Here's what you need:

Sausage

Shrimp

Zucchini

Squash

Bell pepper

Olive Oil and Seasoning

First cut all the veggies up and cook in a little bit of oil until tender.  I usually cover mine while cooking.

Cut up the sausage and brown both sides.

Add the shrimp and sausage to the veggies.  I bought cooked shrimp.  I thawed the shrimp, took the tails off and rinsed it really well before adding it to the skillet.

Stir it all together and let it cook for a while.  Add seasonings to taste and that's it!!!!  My whole family loved this skillet- even the picky eater!

Enjoy!

Ashley

Pink Floral Skater Dress

I can't believe summer is over and I have to go back to work this Friday! I have had so much fun staying home with my kids.  This was my last weekend off before going back.  I can't complain about because I know teachers are so lucky to have 2 months off every year, but it is hard to get back into work mode after being home.  I'm excited to see my friends that I work with, but I will miss my kids. My husband came to my school on Thursday and helped me move all of my classroom furniture.  I'll post some pics of how I organized everything once I go back to work!

This is what I wore to church today.  I love the floral design and also like that it's not too short.  (Although I'm only 4'11, so everything is a little longer on me than it's supposed to be).  The wedges are super comfortable because the strap around the ankle is stretchy.

I'm going to start watching Married at First Sight again.  I don't know why but that show is addicting!

Ashley