Summer Break and Looking Ahead!

Hello there! I hope you are having a wonderful summer break and not working too hard yet to get your room ready. ;-)

I thought I'd pop in and catch you up on my summer break and upcoming life changes. I know we've been pretty quiet here, but I'm hopeful that will change a little this year.

1. I finished my Master's Degree as a PreK-12 Reading Specialist and passed the Praxis exam! Whoop! Whoop! I am so thankful to be DONE. This will be my first year in my position as the Title I teacher that I don't also have homework on the brain.

2. I took up kayaking with a teacher friend. We ventured out almost weekly this summer, and I'm so thankful she invited me to try something new. I tend to want to be home all day, every day in the summer to recover from the busy year.

3. I started volunteering once a week at The Pregnancy and Family Resource Center. It was a little outside my comfort zone in the beginning, but I felt called to get involved beyond saying, "I'm pro-life." It has been a blessing to get to know new people who have a love for the Lord and a desire to help people.

4. Vacation to Chicago! I never would have picked the destination (I'm a small town girl), but my son is interning there this summer. We had a good time doing all the "touristy" things...Navy Pier, Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), Lake Michigan, Buckingham Fountain, Cloud Gate ("The Bean"), Lincoln Park Zoo, and of course, pizza. I personally felt that Auerilo's was the best, with Giordano's taking a close second. ;-) 

My favorite part of the trip, though, was getting to meet all the people at Sauk Trail Baptist Temple in Richton Park! Such a sweet spirit! It was a little overwhelming to meet this wonderful congregation who had taken in my son, took excellent care of him, and invested in him and his future in ministry. If you want to read more about that, you can click over to my author blog.

5. Writing. I've been working on my 2nd Bible study this summer. The progress has been slower than I would like because of finishing up my Master's, but I'm hoping to move a little more quickly now. Click here for my first study, There's a Fly in my Tea!

6. Trim Healthy Mama. I've been eating the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) way since October 2017. I lost 18 pounds by March 2018 and have maintained that. It has become a big part of me, so I had to share. I love the food freedom that I've found (remember I ate pizza twice on vacation--Ha!). 

The plan just makes sense to me. It doesn't cut out whole food groups (i.e. carbs). It is not a quick fix. It does take some effort and smart food choices. Going back to that pizza...if I had wanted to stay on plan, I would have just scraped the toppings off and ate that with my salad. When I do choose to eat off plan (which is rarely because I feel so much better eating this way), I just get back on plan with my next meal or snack. 

7. Now...looking ahead. I report back to work on August 19th. I will have three days of inservice before taking Thursday (the first day of school) and Friday off to take my youngest to college. Both my kids will be away at college this year. 

This year will be quite different for us. No kids at home. No more homework (YAY!). I am still coaching volleyball--chose to give up basketball to free us up to visit Chaz and Harley. I'm excited for a slower pace! 

I hope to share some ideas and information from the Reading Specialist point of view this coming year. 

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Catching Up with Pictures

Good morning! Yep, you guessed it. I am officially on summer break. :-)

I know I have been MIA on the blog lately so I wanted to catch up and pictures are the best, so...

My kiddos have kept me extra busy for the last month or so. I'm very proud of them and their accomplishments, but I can honestly say I'm most proud of their humble attitude in the midst of it all.

Harley's drawing was featured in the Kansas Congressional Art Competition and on display at Mark Arts in Wichita, Kansas. This was titled "Cosmo" which was her horse's name. We still miss him! 

Chaz (in the middle) graduated along with two of his cousins. He was valedictorian of his class and kept us busy with a Governor's Award ceremony, filming for Top of the Class award, graduation parties, and finally, the graduation. If you're curious about where he is headed and how this mom is feeling about that, check out this blog post on my author site. 

I had the privilege of speaking at a "Mothers and Others Luncheon" on May 5th for a church in Dexter, Kansas. Many of the ladies had gone through my Bible study, There's a Fly in My Tea! It was fun to meet the ladies and the picture above was my table of supporters who went with me. Pictured L to R: my niece, Harley, my mom, my mother-in-law, my sister, and me.

The Dexter ladies had such a sweet spirit. These flies were a fun gift they gave me! :-)

 Harley turned 17! She will be a senior next year!

These signs were made by a kiddo in what I would say was my most challenging reading group this year. They kept me on my toes, but we had a good time. And as you can see, we became best friends forever. ;-) I had these kiddos as 2nd graders so it was fun to have them again.

I've been doing a Proverbs challenge on my author Facebook page. Feel free to join us!

After 22 years of marriage and remodeling two different homes, my husband is finally getting the garage of his dreams. Yes, I took the picture through the window. I didn't want the workers to think I was a weirdo snapping pictures of them!

Exciting school news! We are getting a preschool next year! Hip Hip Hooray! I cannot even begin to explain how needed this is in our rural community. However, to make room for the Pre-K, we are doing a lot of rearranging. This will be my new space. I'm excited for the window, but not the necessarily the work to set it up. I literally moved my stuff in, shut the door, and left it. Ugh! Once it is painted and I get some storage shelves, I'll start trying to settle in.

When people ask me what I'm doing this summer...homework? At least for the next four weeks. My summer Masters classes already started and they are fast paced. Maybe ask me again at the first of July??? ;-)

Here's wishing you a wonderful summer filled with rest and relaxation!

Summer Bucket List and A Day to Remember...

Well, since Kristi linked up her summer bucket list, I thought I should do it too. I decided to link up with fellow Kansas blogger, Katie over at Mind Sparks. So here it is:

Sorry the graphic is not very clear...does anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, here goes:

1. Finish the devotional book I've been writing! If you've followed our blog very long, you know that I have been writing this book for the last couple of summers! And yes, I will finish this summer...finally! I am on the home stretch...praise the Lord!

2. Make a middle school memory book for my son. When I stayed at home with my kiddos, I was big into scrapbooking. Then I went back to work and got way, way, way behind. So instead of try to 'catch up,' I'm going to focus on his middle school years before he goes into high school!

3. Clean out and organize my buffet. This kind of goes along with the memory book. Instead of a buffet with dishes in it, I have a buffet with pictures, grade cards, and other sentimental 'stuff.' I already started this project and have things more organized--woohoo!

4. Make up a curriculum map for 2nd grade. This is my only teaching goal this summer. I'm really trying to take some time off because I felt like I worked all summer last year to get ready for my new position. I have a draft of the curriculum map complete, but I need to finish it up and correlate the standards to it for my professional development goal this year.

5. Soak up the summer sun and enjoy time with friends and family. Does that even need an explanation? ;-) First up is a Pinterest party that Kristi and I are putting together for some teacher friends!

As for today, I saw this quote on Facebook and thought it was perfect for Memorial Day:

I hope you enjoy time with friends and family today--and also take time to remember...

Crystal

Our Newest Additions to our Family

This year has been a tough year for my husband and I with the loss of our pets.  Within a year and 2 months we lost 4 of our pets.  :-(  Our pets are part of our family so it was really hard each time that we lost one of them.  

Aspen Zoe (13 years old)

 

Kody (13 years old)

 

Lucky (18 years old)

 

Zeus (13 years old)

We miss them all very much!

We had one Siberian Husky dog left that is 9 years old and you could imagine how he was doing when he was the only one left.  He has been very down and depressed with the loss of his other family members.  He has always been with another dog and they say that Siberian Husky dogs are good in packs and should always have a companion besides a human one. 

 

Raquium (9 years old)

 

 

So, we have added a couple of pets to our household.

Trust me......her sleeping is a rare occasion. Don't let her fool you!  LOL!

 

Nanook (6 weeks old)

 

 

 

Gidian (1 year old)  He is very modest as you can see!  LOL!

They have been fun to have around.  My husband and I are extremely tired and had forgotten how much work a puppy is......lack of sleep is all I have to say.  As for the cat, I was used to my 18 year old cat that liked to lay around like me........not this one, he has a bunch of energy being only 1 year old.  LOL!  I was thinking that I may get some rest this summer, but now I am reconsidering that thought with these additions to our household.  :-)

I hope all of you that are officially on summer break are enjoying it and getting some much needed rest!  Kristi

Our Summer Bucket Lists

We're linking up! Hadar, Teri, and April are hosting a summer bucket list linky party and since we both love to make lists, we had to get in on this!

Crystal's Summer Bucket List:

1. Write a book - don't laugh. I really am a writer. I haven't written much since I started teaching and feel the Lord prompting me to "get to work" so...

2. Clean out my buffet - which has all my scrapbooking and stamping goodies in it that I wish I had time to use and it is where I put all the memorabilia stuff the kids bring home throughout the year.

3. Finish my new laundry room and 2nd bathroom...I'm so excited!

{you can see we have a ways to go}

4. Spend plenty of time floating in my pool!

{getting ready to open it up - when you live 30 minutes from nearest pool, having your own is a MUST!}

Okay, on to some school stuff...

1. Figure out how to do my clip behavior system up and down. If you already know how to do this - HELP ME! Ha! Ha! I really want to make it more positive, but I have some questions. If a student moves up in the day, but later breaks a rule do they move back to the start with no consequence? Or do they bypass the starting point and go to the first consequence?

{each clip has a helmet with their names, the flags are their consequences}

2. Plan a new prize box system that does not require me to remember to give stars on a chart everyday. To be honest, I hate the prize box, but I know the kids love it so...

3. Figure out how I will work the MTSS requirements into my classroom next year.

4. Create some things that correlate with our curriculum that will provide plenty of Common Core reinforcement and assessment.

Kristi's Summer Bucket List:

1.  ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE-OK, so I put it off all year long!!  Now I have to get it done.  I need to organize everything at my house.  My plan is to get everything organized and keep it organized forever for at least one whole week!

2.  RELAX-take time to enjoy each day that I have to spend with my family and friends. 

3.  Sit in my hot tub-at least on the cool summer nights (which I hope we have a lot of those)

AT SCHOOL:

Mine are the same as Crystal only I have to add the following:
1.  ORGANIZE-yes I need to get organized there as well.

Can't wait to see everyone else's Bucket List!!