Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

 10.  Take a walk (or two) every day with my Riley. Gotta strengthen my muscles for labor!

   9. Read, Read, Read!! If you know me, you know that I love teen fiction novels. Getting to teach 6th grade next year, I will actually get to share some of that with the students. I just started reading Maximum Ride by James Patterson per Ethan's suggestion. So far, so good!

   8. Work on our Hawaii scrapbook. I want to make a scrapbook of everywhere the Air Force takes us. I have yet to start ours for Hawaii and I should probably get a start on that!

   7. Organize binders for next year. I want to make sure that I am super organized for when I return to work. No more scrounging around for important documents and no more last minute preparations!!!

   6. Blog once a week. Gotta keep up with this.

   5. Clean clean clean. I want everything to be spotless and perfect for when Aria comes home the first time!

   4. Finish shopping for Aria. I feel like it is never ending! I keep thinking of things we will need or that I want for her. Or I just find something that I probably shouldn't buy for her. haha

   3. Finish the nursery! I'm still desperately trying to find a few things second hand that I want to add to her nursery. It will not be complete in my mind without these essentials. (Which aren't super necessary except for my imagination.)

   2. Spend some much needed bonding time with my husband. In just a little bit it will no longer be just Ethan and I. It's going to be really important that we get to spend a lot of time together this summer.

   1. And the number one thing on my summer bucket list is...

                 To meet our daughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

             I cannot wait to hold her in my arms for the first time. To see Ethan's reaction when he first sees her. To know that she is ours forever and always! There is nothing I have ever wanted more than this!!

And there you have it! My productive summer list.
           

One year down...

Today was the last day of school, and the last day of my first year of teaching. It was truly bittersweet. Saying goodbye to my first ever class was sad, but I am more than ready for summer break. Now that I have one year of teaching special education under my belt, I feel slightly more prepared and not quite so lost when it comes to all of the paperwork and procedures that go along with SPED. So I have a goal of getting super organized for next year during this summer.

This year has truly been a great learning experience. I have encountered the good and the bad, and the extremes of both. I have prayed for these kids, laughed with these kids, fought for them, and had my heart break for some of them. I learned a lot while at Liberty about teaching special education, but nothing really prepares you for what it is truly like. I was blessed this year with an amazing team and we would not have accomplished all that we did if we didn't work together so well. I feel good about this past year, despite all the hardships, and I truly think I made a difference, however small.

I enjoyed the opportunity to work and teach in an inclusion classroom. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. I wish that everyone could see the benefits of co-teaching and inclusion. I've encountered so many teachers, Sped and Gen. Ed. alike, who do not want to share their classrooms. Who only want to work with their gen. ed students, or their sped students. I won't lie, there was a lot about this year that was difficult, but I truly believe our students benefited greatly from having both teachers work with them. We were able to do so much!


Although I am scared out of my mind to move to 6th grade next year, I am hopeful for a great year. I know that it will be another great learning experience and will help to better me as a teacher. The Lord will not give me more than I can handle, so I am being open and trying to be positive about all the possibilities. One thing is for sure, I will be spending some time this summer brushing up on my math skills!! haha

Now for summer!!!! Oh what to do first???

Goodie Bags

Well, tomorrow marks the last day of my first year of teaching. With that being said, I wanted to prepare something for my students as a farewell/what a great year gift. I spent a lot of hours on Pinterest and various websites trying to find good ideas. I have to commend those teachers who go all out and spend tons of money on their students, but with a baby on the way and 24 students I thought something small would suffice.

There are several things in the gift bag. The first thing I added was a Kool-aid packet and silly straw, idea courtesy of Pinterest. I found the gift tags at A Cupcake for the Teacher (what an awesome freebie!). Here it is:

I then added a pack of Chips Ahoy cookies with a tag that I created (but found the saying on Pinterest) that says "You're One Smart Cookie." 

The rest of the bag is pretty simple. After teaching for a year I've noticed that for some reason the kids these days are obsessed with mustaches. So I added a mustache finger tattoo to each bag. (Even the girls!) I also added a bookmark that says Summer and a couple of dum-dums. The bag topper has a cute poem on it that I also found on Pinterest. (Of course!) 

I'm pretty proud of them. They took forever and I couldn't have done it without my wonderful hubby helping cut things out and holding stuff for me as I put them together. I really hope the students enjoy them!! Here's the final product: 

Nursery Sneak Peak

Ethan worked all day long last Saturday, and we both worked all day Sunday on Aria's new room. We are so excited at how well it has turned out. I seriously have the best husband in the world for painting the nursery all by himself!

 We aren't quite finished yet. I am still looking for small odds and ends to finish it off. I really believe she is going to love the bright colors! Ethan has already said he's jealous because he never had a cool room like this as a kid. So I don't want to give too much away but here are a few sneak peaks of the new nursery! 

Only 9 more weeks (or so) until we get to hold Aria in our arms!