Saturday, March 30, 2013

Spring Break has Started!

Last week was...one of those weeks. Needless to say that after I had hit the exhaustion wall on Thursday...I got a good night sleep on Thursday night and Spring Break started! I forgot to show Norah's painting from last week...it was Watermelon time!

Norah dyed eggs on Friday and she did a great job! They came out so bright in color! We did the eggs in the morning and then Norah went to my mom's house to hang out so that I could get some things done and even was able to make it to the Good Friday service at our Church. The service was really great and to be honest...exactly what I needed after the week I had. There is a feeling of happiness I always get when I go to Church. The service was full of stillness and quiet movements, you could visualize the story as it was told. I felt refreshed after it and ready to conquer Spring Break 2013!
Friday night we headed to our Friend's house to celebrate Rowan's 3rd birthday! It was a lot of fun...they had snow cones, a pinata filled with candy and lots of food! The kids and adults had a blast! This morning we got up and headed to Brookgreen Gardens for the Eggstravaganza! They had Alice and Wonderland characters out and stations set up around the gardens...it was a good time!











I have gotten to watch some Random movies (actually just parts of movies...caught the end of "As Good as It Gets", part of "Sleepless in Seattle" and half of "Pride and Prejudice") and read my book too! I am so excited about Spring Break...I plan on watching more movies, reading a lot, spending loads of time with Norah, hanging out with our friends, Spring cleaning around the house and just enjoying time off! Well now to make some "Pokey" Cake and a casserole for Easter lunch tomorrow and hang out with Jeff! I hope the Easter Bunny stops by our house tonight!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

1 day to go...

On one of my daily blog reads...I saw this...
"We are totally and completely on the same page- with everything.
He validates me, and I him.  We buoy each other up and love each other unconditionally.
While we can't change other people- or their choices, we have the power to 
lead our family with the good choices we make and strive to make."
 and thought how wonderful it is written. This is how I feel about Jeff...we feel so lucky to have a good marriage. Jeff is the BEST!

Tonight I had some errands to run and a dinner to attend so Jeff and Norah had family night together and headed to the beach with the dogs. They had the best time and Norah brought home several "presents" from the beach...shells, etc. and a dead crab...oh yeah, she is so excited about the dead crab!
And of course you need a dog pic...
Well now I'm off to bed with a big day planned tomorrow as I head to Charleston to observe a school in action that uses IPads in their classrooms on a daily basis....should be interesting and exciting to see! Then it is Spring Break time and I cannot wait!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

The countdown is on!

Just 4 days this week until the start of Spring Break 2013! I am so excited about Spring Break! This weekend we had some fun...first up Saturday morning (early for me!) I went out to volunteer at the "Minds of the Run" 5K/1 mile walk at our school. The rain held off and we had a great event! Jeff and Norah did the 1 mile walk together...so cute! (Love my number 166 and 167!) They also had someone face painting and making balloon animals...so great! And they had lots of yummy food from Pawleys Island Bakery!

Next we went to lunch as a family and then my Aunt Susan got in town! She and Norah went on their own adventure which included eating at the "chop chop" place, a house tour of her new house being built and an ice cream! She loved it all! Then they had a "slumber party" at our house too. Meanwhile, Jeff and I had a date night at Frank's Outback. It was awesome! I am still craving the beet salad I got...so good! We promised each other to have some more date nights in our future...we are bad about not making time to have them. Today brought lots of rain and we enjoyed chatting with Aunt Susan so much this morning that we ended up not making it to Church. I hated missing it because I love to go but hope to make some of the Holy Week services this week.

Today since it was so rainy...Norah, Ellie and I headed to the movies and saw "The Croods" which was so cute! I even teared up watching it! It had a great theme of family. I could totally watch it again! We did not see it in 3D but could see that it would be cool to watch it that way.
Also in the news is that I took a new position for next year at our school...Middle School Director and this is a decision that took a lot of thought and prayer for me. I will still be teaching some classes too. Once I came to the decision that I would take the role...I felt 100% committed and am so excited about it! I have so many ideas swirling around my head and look forward to an amazing next year! Now it is back to another Sunday night as we prepare for tomorrow and our 4-day school week!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Wednesday...half way there!

Two more days till Friday! Yeah! I'm ready for the weekend! My Aunt is coming in town and I think there is a date night involved for me and Jeff! So love a date night!

Norah went to painting class again today and here is her latest...
How cool is that! I love it! She is really enjoying the class and cannot wait to see what next week will be! I'm kinda amazed what she can do with a paint brush at age 5...I know, I know...I'm her mom so I think she is the greatest! :)

So I found something fabulous on-line one day and must share it here...
Yeah...how awesome is that bike and pink too! Too bad it costs a lot of $$ because that would be fun to sport around the beach! You can check out their website HERE

Speaking of internet finds...found another interesting website "Becoming Minimalist" and you can check it out HERE There is some great information there....I really want to pare down our life more over time...it is such a work in progress!! Well off to bed as it has been a long day! :)

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Tuesday Things!

Our friends Ellen and Will had their 2nd son yesterday! They named him Smith and I cannot wait to meet him! Congrats!

Today another teacher and I took our 6th grade (minus one student that was unable to attend...we missed him!) to Charleston for a History walking tour and a Geometry Scavenger Hunt. It was glorious weather...beautiful! We were so happy that the sun came out as it rained so heavy last night...it actually woke me up. But look at that sky...perfection!
Here is a slideshow I made as I did the Geometry Scavenger Hunt too! You had to take a picture of different geometric shapes. I cannot wait to see what my students did! I already heard one student state that they were making an iMovie with his pictures...so cool!
Click HERE for my Geometry slideshow!
After we ate packed lunches at the Battery Park we then got some ice cream on our way out. It was a great day!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Monday Quotes...

Sometimes I just stop and think about all the good in my life. My life is by no means perfect but I rather count all my blessings then think about the negatives. I also love quotes. If you know me...you know that I always have a quote of the week for my students so I constantly look for them. I love to read and love finding meaning in words. I have put some quotes on here before and thought I would put a few to think about this week as sometimes you just need something to inspire you.






And we found a new blessing for Norah to say...how cute would this be printed out too! Norah really liked it!

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Week in Review...

This will probably be a random post as this week was pretty busy and a blur. We had school where my kids had standardized testing so we worked on our tessellations. I will have to post pictures when they are all done. They are so cool! The weather is turning warmer which is awesome! We were able to open the doors at our house this week some and let the fresh air in! Love it! There is pollen everywhere but it does not seem to be as bad as it was in Charlotte.
Norah went to the painting class again on Wednesday and this time painted surfboards.
She is really loving going to the class and it works out awesome because her art teacher at school is able to take her after school to it for me. I always have a meeting on Wednesday after school so I like knowing that she has something to do while I'm at the meeting. I wonder what they will paint this week!
Friday night Jeff went to spend the night out on a "island" to do some fishing and hanging out so I finally got to watch the movie "Life of Pi"...I cannot say enough good things about it. Having read the book and knowing what would happen...it still made me cry and utterly mesmerized by everything (the film itself is beautifully done.) The movie is now one of my all time favorites! I cannot get it out of my head...it may be a movie I own so I can watch it again and again! I loved all the actors who played Pi but especially the adult Pi. Just an amazing movie and story! It makes you think about all kinds of things. You have to watch it now!

Saturday we went with friends to the baseball fields in Georgetown for their opening day. I took my sister's son, Alex, with us. After we finished watching some baseball, I picked up a lunch for them and took them to a park to eat and play. It was so beautiful outside that I didn't want to spend anytime inside. We ended the night having pizza with my mom, Denny, Glenn and all the kids at my mom's house. The whole day was great and the kids had a blast!

Today we went to Church and of course Norah sported some green! And had dinner with my mom, Denny and Alex. Jeff cleaned his boat and I cleaned out my car...a relaxing Sunday!
This week is set up to be pretty busy and crazy and will end with a bang as this Saturday is a 5K run/1 mile walk at our school. I will be volunteering at the race and Jeff and Norah will be doing the 1 mile walk. It should be a great time and there is still time to sign up at www.mindsontherun.com

Well now it is time to do the normal Sunday night routine to prepare for tomorrow. I will leave you with a picture that Jeff took with his phone of Norah that he sent to me and said that Norah looks just like me! What do ya think? I love my Jeff and Norah!!!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Book Club, Beach and TV Shows...

We had book club Thursday night (Thanks for hosting Jan!) and discussed our book "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" which was great! My mom is now listening to it on "tape" and I cannot wait to hear her views as it is one of those books that makes you think about things. We ended up putting some names of books in a "hat" and Jan picked one randomly. Up next is "One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Right Where you Are" by Ann Voskamp.
Friday we had a lock down at school due to a bank robbery in the area. We were able to dismiss the students at regular time and luckily we were all safe and nothing happened at our school. I thought our school did a great job working together and taking all the necessary precautions. It was an experience but so happy with the outcome. We knew we needed a low key weekend to regroup from all the busy we have been doing. So we took the dogs on the beach on Saturday to let them run. It was a beautiful day! It is always refreshing to be on the beach...there is nothing like it! Norah collected a lot of great shells and Darcy and Finn had a blast running wild!





So in our down time we watched some TV shows...We recorded "The Americans" and watched the first one. I think it will be a good show to watch this Spring.

Next I recorded the first "The Bible" from the History Channel and watched it. I thought it was interesting. I think it will be a great mini-series to watch and am recording the rest of them.
Also we randomly caught the show "Banshee" on Cinemax and it is far-fetched, random and very adult but it is entertaining because it is crazy. It is not for the faint of heart...
Today we went to our friends Amanda and Lilly's birthday party! Amanda and her daughter, Lilly, share the same birthday...how cool! It was a great time and met some wonderful new folks too! I love that so many people we are meeting live in our neighborhood. I think Norah is going to have a great time growing up here. Also at Church today, a student from our school (she is a senior) sang a solo and it was great! I was so impressed! Well I am excited that it should start getting lighter later with the time change which will make me feel like I can get more done in a day! Hopefully Sping weather will be following soon too! Well time to gear up for the start of a new week!