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! 

A Crafty Weekend Alone

I started off this weekend determined to do something for the nursery. Knowing I was going to be home alone this weekend I wanted to do something productive towards my dream for Aria's room. All of my previous plans for DIY this weekend fell through, as I was not able to find parts for any of the projects I wanted to try. So I sat in the house for half of the day Saturday trying to get inspiration. After at least an hour on Pinterest I found something! I had seen the little birds and butterflies in stores like Target that you put on the walls and they look like they have just landed on the wall. After seeing it again on Pinterest I had an idea!

I have 4 canvases that I bought last summer on sale and hadn't found a use for them yet. So I set out to make butterflies on canvas. It took forever. (I made it through 2 movies before I was finished!) But it turned out really great and Ethan really likes it too! I found an outline on the google images for the butterflies and traced and cut them out on some turquoise card stock I had lying around. After arranging them, I mod podged them onto the canvas. Here is the result!

I also whipped this up pretty quickly yesterday. I love the frame which I found at Ross for 5 bucks!

Nothing like a little DIY to keep ya busy! Now I just have to do everything else that I put off so that I could whip these up! haha

We are now 12 weeks (or so) away from seeing our little Aria!! It's getting closer but still not close enough! We got a close up look at the labor and delivery department this week. It got me really excited to actually stand in the place where in just a few short months I will get to see my daughter!! She is doing great and is still as active as ever. We actually got a video of my belly moving up and down yesterday. She was seriously kicking the crap out of me. I swear she is already break dancing like her daddy. Nothing too new to report with her at the moment. We are just trying to get everything together and ready for her arrival!

Saturday "Yard Salin'"

Last Saturday Ethan and I ventured out into the world of yard sales with high hopes of great "baby finds". We actually did pretty darn well last weekend and came home with a futon which put Ethan in a great mood! So it was no surprise to Ethan that this Saturday, I wanted to be at it again. Only problem for him was that he was scheduled to work at noon for 12 hours. So we were up bright and early and ready to go. (Or at least I was ready to go.)

I had found on craigslist that one of the navy neighborhoods was having a neighborhood wide garage sale. Honestly, there are some things about military life that I gripe about. But this is something that I truly enjoy because it's like hitting the jackpot!! A lot of families are getting ready to PCS out and they don't want to take everything, and that's where us mommies-to-be get lucky!
I had very high hope when we entered the neighborhood and I saw all of the baby stuff. Especially the pink, signaling to me that there was girl stuff! But, due to our lack of foresight, we had no cash. Such a slip! So I was eager to get out of there to find an atm so that we could score one of the 3 high chairs I saw while driving through. Well, my hopes were dashed when we got back and all 3 were gone! I couldn't believe it! Better luck next time I guess. But we did end up with a few good finds, but nothing too big or special like we had hoped for.

Here are some of my favorite finds from today:

I am completely obsessed with baby overalls! So I was uber excited when I found these osh gosh ones!!

This dress was osh gosh as well and brand new!!

Slowly building Aria's library. I love Eric Carle!

I couldn't resist these bloomers! The ruffles are too too cute!

So even though it wasn't the great morning of yard sales I had hoped for, I at least came home with a few things. Albeit I really need to lay off the clothes buying, but it's just too darn fun! I'm fully aware of how overboard we are going.

Before I end this post I wanted to add one more thing. I just finished this amazing book by Kelle Hampton called Bloom. It's a heartwarming story of her journey through the birth of her daughter who has down syndrome. This book touched my heart as both a special education teacher and an expectant mother. I really recommend this book to all mothers. I was crying before I finished the prologue!  You can find a link to purchase the book here: kellehampton.com. You can also read the touching birth story of her daughter. Please let me know if you read it and tell me what you think! I believe it will truly bless your heart!

13 Weeks and Counting!

Tomorrow marks the 27th week of the greatest journey of my life and Ethan's thus far. It is amazing how fast time has flown and the changes that have occurred in the past 27 weeks. Not only physically, but emotionally. In the past 27 weeks I have become a mother. I have not held our baby girl yet or looked into her eyes, but I am so very much in love with the little person growing inside of me. She is such a blessing to our lives already. Both Ethan and I are getting very impatient for the moment when we get to see her face to face. I know that she will be a combination of both Ethan and I, and will remind me daily of how incredibly blessed we are to know her.

There are some women who go their whole lives wanting to be nothing but a mother. They play house constantly as children and always have a slew of kids. They have baby names picked out by the time they are 10. But that was never really me. I mean, I knew I wanted to be a mom someday but it wasn't something I thought about a lot. That is, until I got married. Marrying Ethan was the greatest day of my life. Finally we could start our life together and I knew it was going to be an amazing journey full of  laughter, tears, and adventure... and kids! It's funny how things work. As soon as I started thinking about kids, and hinting at Ethan about how neat it would be when we finally did start having kids, I began to yearn for not a little girl just like me, but a child that would remind me so much of Ethan every time I looked at him/her. I keep envisioning Aria, and I know that she will have Ethan's amazing smile and sense of humor, and probably his insane need for clumsy and reckless antics!

27 weeks! I cannot believe we have come this far. July is coming fast, but not fast enough. There is still a lot to do and a lot to learn. So it's probably a good thing we get a little bit longer to prepare. haha I seriously need to stop buying her clothes. But I just cannot help it!! Ethan and I have become experts at thrift/deal shopping. Thank goodness for the Air Force and the Airman's Attic which is an amazing place where we can get used items for free. We have started to have a lot of fun with our weekend hunts for great baby deals. We are super picky, but it pays off in the end. I'm surprised that Ethan is still out shopping with me without going completely nuts, but he is actually getting into it more! (If he reads this he will kill me!) 

So only 13 weeks (or so) until we get to hold our beautiful Aria Isabelle Massey in our arms! Stay tuned!