Week(ish) in Review

School is officially in full-swing and has single-handedly taken over my life.  Wes has been balancing the demands of working 2 jobs.  Needless to say, we've been a bit busy, so I apologize for the lack of posts.  Despite the ramped up schedule, we've managed to squeeze in some fun over the past week that we thought we'd share with you tonight.  Hope you've been enjoying the change of weather - LOVE the autumn feeling in the air!

Somebody turned 27 last Sunday!

Unfortunately, Mark didn't wear his Albino Penguin suite when we went to dinner at Trata that weekend.

You can officially fit 6 adults on a king size bed.

This happened!

All is right with the world now.

I was able to meet all of the kids that I'll be working with this year!  Those are 2 of my super sweet 3rd grade boys.

On Friday evening, we celebrated Steve & Karyn's new home!

After a trip to the market on Saturday morning, we picked up my Grandma to head to the candle shop (see below) and I was lucky enough to score her homemade marinated eggplant and hydrangeas from the yard!

p.s. the eggplant was grown in her garden.  Nothing beats homegrown!

If you've never been to the Main Street Trading Co. (a.k.a. the candle shop) in Macedon, YOU.NEED.TO.GO!  Their trademark, in my humble opinion, are their incredible candles, but if that doesn't light your fire, every inch of the converted country home is filled with antiques, country furniture, folk art and more!

p.s. Check out Uncle Bobby hanging out behind my Grandma!  He surprised us when he showed up at my Karyn and Steve's housewarming party on Friday.  

Let the festivities begin!

Today marked the first official day of the new school year and I was lucky enough to have a very handsome visitor mid-morning, who delivered this bright bouquet!  Amidst the first day chaos, it was just what I needed to keep perspective.  :)  

This year will be a bit different as I transition from a classroom teacher to an academic intervention teacher role.  As with any change, I feel a mixture of emotions, but as usual am mostly excited and ready to see those happy, bright faces tomorrow morning!!

Drive safe tomorrow - there will be lots of extra little ones out and about! ;)

Sunday Morning Happiness

There's something about the quiet of Sunday mornings that makes me smile.  This particular Sunday morning I am inspired to blog about some other things that have made me smile recently...

Reading my favorite blog - A Cup of Jo.  I happily stumbled upon this blog a few years ago and have been hooked ever since!  It's a daily blog that covers everything from fashion to travel to parenting.  I've found so many great ideas from this blog - gifts (for myself and others :)), fun things to do while in NYC, interesting and easy recipes - this writer has quite the insiders perspective on all things lifestyle.

I've always had a slight obsession with this woman and her music.  There's something about her vulnerable confidence that intrigues me and the tone of her voice brings chills to my arms when I listen to her music.   Her most recent album is one of the best, in my opinion.  I literally CANNOT stop listening to this song...Just Give Me a Reason.  So, so good!

When Wes paints.  He's really talented.  My personal favorites are his black and white paintings...

I love the simplicity. 

Wes is currently working on a top-secret painting to be revealed soon. Stay tuned. :)

My kiddos working hard and enjoying it!  There's nothing better than when you teach a lesson, it goes really well, and the kids are able to turn around and demonstrate the skill on their own.  Here are some of them working together to ask "wondering questions" about their non-fiction reading. :)

 Hope you're having a HAPPY Sunday morning, too!

Fall Happenings!

 

We discovered the deliciousness of The Italian Store.  We've been to this local Italian Import store a few times since we've moved to Arlington, mostly for pasta and wine, however, it wasn't until recently that we tried their pizza and subs.  

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. 

I started teaching a Family Literacy Class for the parents at our school.  Along with basic English skills, they learn more about Providence ES and Fairfax County Public Schools, so that they can better help their children through the learning process.  I love it!  This was a night when we brought the parents and the children together to learn.  This little one is actually in my 1st grade class, and both of her parents decided to come to the Family Lit class!  What a great example to set for their children!

 Then of course there was our super-fantastic bachelorette/bachelor party weekend!  We say it all the time, but we are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have such wonderful family and friends.  They proved it again that weekend, with such thoughtful plans for our special day!  

 

Just this weekend, a few of my loyal college friends made a trip down to visit Wes and I!  We took in some DC history, delicious food and of course enough red wine to fill the Potomac!  

 

This photo is taken outside of Fords Theater, where Lincoln was shot.  Highly recommend checking this place out - very interesting artifacts in the museum, which is in the basement of the theater, as well as the house across the street, where Lincoln actually died. 

It's been a beautiful Fall so far!  This coming weekend is Wes' marathon!  Stay tuned for pictures from the big race! 

~Jitter Glitter~

Tomorrow's Open House and I get to meet many of my new kiddos!  One of my favorite things to give them before the 1st day of school is Jitter Glitter.  However, as I'm looking around our living room floor, I'm thinking it's possibly one of the parents least favorites. :)

Reason #428...

...why I'm marrying him. :)

He willingly cuts lamination...and like a champ!

Last day of "Freedom."

Well, it's about that time - the school year officially begins on Monday (for teachers, at least).  I took a sneak peak at my class list and it looks like, so far, I'm starting off with 23 kiddos.  I was telling Wes the other day that I'm actually really excited for this school year to start.  I feel so much more prepared and comfortable going into this year, compared to the mix of emotions I felt last year at this time.  Through the summer work I've done, I have been able to form great relationships with some of my co-workers that I didn't really get a chance to know in the craziness that was the 2011-2012 school year.  Of course, nothing compares to my West Irondequoit friends - I still see people that resemble you in the hallway and get a momentary thrill of excitement, followed quickly by disappointment.  Soon enough, we'll be together again. ;)

Anyway, in my preparation for the new year, I've been looking through the numerous Teacher magazines I find in my mailbox at work.  Check out what I found yesterday!!

As I sit hear, at Starbucks, enjoying my last Freedom Cup of Coffee, while writing this blog post, I can't help but open a new tab to place an order for a set of these!  It's the little things in life, people.

I'll meet my new eager (fingers crossed) learners at Open House next Thursday afternoon.  Stay tuned for a photo!

Schoooool's out.for.summer!

Well, it's that time of year again; another school year is in the books.  And what a year it was - by far, my most challenging, for a number of reasons, but let's not dwell on those.  Leading up to Friday, I joked with Wes that this would be the first year I'd be happy to see them leave.  That I would understand what other teachers meant when they half-jokingly mumbled, "don't let the door hit ya on your way out."

No luck.  I still couldn't help but feel a enormous sense of emotion as each one of them exited my classroom on Friday afternoon.  The inevitable tears welled up and overflowed as I read to them Mrs. Spitzer's Garden, a story about a teacher who lovingly tends to her "garden," preparing it to flourish.

There are a lot of opinions about our school systems "failing our kids," these days, mine included, but I couldn't help but feel like we must be doing something right when I watched buses leave for the last time this year, filled with kids waving back to us with tears streaming down their faces.

I've come to realize that I work at a very special school, led by an unbelievable Principal.  I won't get into the laundry list of reasons why I feel this way, but here's just a small glimpse into the community he and his team have created...

Here he is running with students during recess, helping motivate them to increase their Running Club totals.

Check out the school's courtyard, which includes a small pond, a composter that kids add to each day after lunch (as young as Kindergarteners do this - all on their own!), and numerous gardens filled with fruits and vegetables that are actually used in school lunches!

6th graders chalked all along the front walkway on Friday, so that students could read inspiring messages as they left the building for the last time this school year.  

 

Teachers lined the bus loop to wave goodbye to the students as they drove away.  I wish I had video of this moment.

 

  Bus drivers were honking, kids were waving out bus windows back to their teachers.  Such an awesome tradition.

Speaking of traditions.  :)  In true, Wes & Jaime fashion, we celebrated the end to another successful year with our favorite meal and some bubbly!

Smile Safe Kids!

School pics came back the other day, so obviously I brought mine home for Wes to put in his wallet immediately.  Well, apparently as part of the package these days, parents receive two cards with their child's picture and precautions to take should they go missing.  Interesting, odd, or smart?  We weren't sure how to take it.   


...and in case you were worried, both Wes and I are carrying a copy in our wallets.  Serious.  

Another Year is Underway...

...and here they are in all their glory:

They're cute, but oh boy have they already tested my patience!  Transitioning from end of year 2nd graders to beginning year 1st graders is going to be bumpy, but we're going to make it!

Ta Da!!!!

Here's a glimpse into my classroom!  Fiiiiinally, finished...for now, at least.  Wes has been pouring his sweat and tears into the trails; this is where mine have gone...

A look from the doorway.

Looking back towards the door.

A view from my desk towards "computer central."  Five desktops in place and three laptops on their way!

Looking at "computer central" from the doorway.

"We love reading!" made it to Virginia! :) The reading table was setup for Open House today.

Dot carpet - genius.

Calendar math setup to the right, writing and supply center to the left, daily schedule in the middle.

That's right folks - a SMARTBOARD!!!!!  I'm told that having the projector mounted to the ceiling is a luxury.  I am just happy not to ever have to pull down a projector screen again, or drag the Elmo cart out into the middle of the room, attempting to perfectly position it so that everyone can see and kids can't stick their freaking hands in front of the projection. *sigh*

What could be better than a dot carpet and a Smartboard?  A FREAKING COLOR PRINTER (that actually works) DIRECTLY NEXT TO MY DESK!  I almost hugged the Tech. woman when she told me that the grade level color printer would be housed in my room.  And then she told me that there's a room filled with ink if we ever run out...are you kidding me??  Extra ink right at the school?!  I'm in teacher heaven.

FYI, my room is a converted computer lab.  Here's a look at a couple of the before pics.  

What's in a name?

One of the many positives of teaching in Northern Virginia is that I have had the chance to meet other teachers from all over the country.  Whether you're an educator yourself, or have one in the family, you know that with every teacher comes an abundance of stories.  So, in an effort to maintain a pulse during our orientation last week, we started to share some interesting student names we've experienced.  Here are just a few...

• La-a (pronounced Ladasha)
• Siblings:  Lord, Sir, Adonis and their older sister Michelle (poor Michelle)
• Jesus - however, instead of pronouncing it the Spanish way (Hay-zoos), the child preferred to actually be called Jesus, as in the heavenly lord above.  So, when the Principal would get on the announcements, she would have to say things like "...and the most cooperative award goes to Jesus!  Yay Jesus!" 
• Alpacino - just the child's first name.

Seriously parents??