Happy New Year

Well, time really flies right by when you're insanely busy doesn't it?  November and December were here and gone without a single blog post.... how did that happen you ask?  Well with 12 credits, new assignments and responsibilities at work and the never ending craziness that comes with being a parent to two very busy children and all of the sudden it's a new year!

November was a short month school wise due to teacher in service days and then the Thanksgiving break.  Turkey day was a good one for the family, we ate too much and enjoyed the numerous football games that were on, and got to spend time with the family.

December was also short, Christmas break and New Years will do that to you.  Throw in the fact that we had to prepare for the Holiday concert here at school and things were crazy.  I have to say though the concert was wonderfully done.  We have a new music teacher here at the school and he is doing wonderful things with the 3rd-12th grades.  They did an amazing job.  And the K-2 music teacher got together with me and we were able to do some Hawaiian inspired holiday things to spice things up.  She was in charge of the music and songs and I worked on the folk dance portion.  With the help of my dance teacher of 14 years who choreographed a Hawaiian dance for the kids we were able to come up with something quite special for the kids to preform.  I also taught my kindergarten students how to do the chicken dance and they mastered shaking their tail feathers beautifully for the concert.

Enter Christmas break that was not at all what we had planned, but we made it through somehow.  It started with my son breaking out in a horrible rash all over his thigh the first night we were on break.  After taking him to the doctor we found out that he had shingles.... seriously!  We've always said that he has an old man's soul, now I guess that he has an old man's disease as well.  I have found that shingles can happen to kids, though it's rare only about 2% of all shingles cases are in children, at least that's what my research is telling me, I'm no doctor though so what do I know?  So we spent several days with him lying on the couch and not wanting to move at all.  Getting him to eat and drink when we could and keeping a cold compress on his thigh as it seemed to be the only thing that was actually bringing any relief.  On Christmas eve he did feel good enough to move around so we headed to my parents for presents and food and fun.  Then around 2 am I woke up with a horrible stomach flu.  Good bye to Christmas morning traditions, hello to mom laying in the bathroom all day.  NOT fun!  Then just when I think that we're starting to do better and may be able to actually squeeze something fun into the few days that ended the year my daughter got a fever and now has a sinus infection.

On the up side.... 12 more credits are now under my belt and I did manage to get straight A's yet again.  :)  I don't know how I was able to do it, given all the stress I was under this last semester, but I did it!  Yahoo!!

Now it's 2013 and it's going to be a great year... I hope! :)  I'll be taking only 9 credits this semester so hopefully that will give me more time to focus on my resolutions.  They include drinking more water and eating more fruit.... and tackling one major house project a month.  I think they're doable goals.... here's to happy thinking! :)

Hope everyone had a great holiday.... what are your resolutions?!

Happy Winter... What? Isn't it supposed to be Fall?

So much to do, so little time.  Did you know that it's almost Halloween?  Seriously!  How did that happen?  It seems like school just started yesterday.  Craziness!  I feel like I still have so much to do!

And speaking of crazy, the weather here is insane.  We went from summer to very cool fall in a days time.  Fall was here for a week and now it's winter for sure.  It's been snowing on and off every day.  We've got highs in the low 40's... yes LOW 40's!  Recess duty went from a nice ray of sunshine to a winter coat and a wool hat in the matter of 2 weeks.  It makes me sad, I love fall, the beautiful changing colors, the cooler nights and warm days.  And it's already gone.  We put two new trees in our backyard this spring, they're beautiful Autumn Blaze maples, the leaves turn a vibrant deep red in the fall, they're beautiful.  Problem is with this crazy weather, they only half turned red and they're still on the tree for the most part.  The tree is even upset about this weather!

The first day it snowed there was literally a skiff, but the kids were so excited about it that it didn't matter at all.  They were determined and the built a snowman.  Okay so he was a hairy snowman because he was covered in grass but the did it!

Okay so in the spirit of trying to remain positive.... one good thing about this weather?  Well hunting for deer should be much easier.  The cold weather gets the deer moving around here.  Now I just need to find time to go to the woods and hunt... anyone have some time to spare?

Straight from the Student's Mouth

Whenever I share these with my husband he always thinks that I'm making this stuff up... if you're a teacher or you work at all with little kids you know that it's impossible to make this stuff up.... Here are just a few from this week:

A first grader who was upset about a kindergartener being in the first grade room and moving chairs around, "He needs to respect his superiors!"

A kindergartener who got in trouble for calling a classmate a slowpoke, "I'm just kiddin' you're really a fastpoke!"

And a first grader who was having a hard time getting PE shoes, "Well that's just great, I'm last again, this is seriously the worst thing that could ever happen!!"

Yep, it's that hard being a first grader :)

PE Teachers are CRAZY!

Seriously, who else is brave enough to stand in a gym full of 23 yes TWENTY THREE 1st and 2nd grade students, and give them balls to throw at each other hoping that they'll catch them and you won't end up getting hit?  :)

Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.....

If you've ever had a day where you think that nothing can possibly go right you're going to LOVE this... my Wednesday was such a bad day that when I woke up today I really did NOT want to get out of my bed.  Here's how it all went downhill!

The day started out pretty well, my husband was up before me and had the coffee ready when I got out of the shower... what a good man!  The kids and I were on schedule and headed out the door to find a FLAT tire.  Now I'm a home grown Idaho farm girl, a flat tire doesn't scare me at all.  It wasn't quite as flat as this picture I've inserted, had it been I do know how to change a tire... thankfully I only had to drive down to our shop to air it up.

Here comes problem #2.  In our shop, it doesn't seem to matter who uses the air compressor, it never gets shut off, so there is always air built up.  This means that if there is anything connected to the coupler (that's the slider thing at the end of the hose that allows you to connect different attachments) you better be holding on to it very tightly because the second you release the coupler it's going to go flying.  Once again, being a home grown farm girl this is all stuff I know.  For whatever reason... slick hands, no grip at my ripe old age of 30, or karma..... my grip was not good enough.  The coupler had a larger coupler attachment hooked in and it came flying out right to my foot at 250+PSI.  I'm pretty sure that my toe is broken!  Powering through and not wanting to be late to work I get the tire aired up and drive up the street to the school.

The day went on without any major problems.... until I'm walking down the hall on my way to pick up my 3rd and 4th grade PE class.  A student came out of the classroom not looking so well, I'm about to ask if he's okay when the poor kid pukes in the hallway, close to but thankfully not on me.  All I can think is that he must feel just awful.  As he runs in the bathroom I go to tell the teacher what has happened, unfortunately she already knows because it happened in the classroom as well.  So I take the kids to PE and the day continues to go on.

The end of the day comes and my kids are headed to their after school Catholic class, which means I'm headed home to actually catch up on homework!  What an idea huh, being caught up?!?  Yah... insert problem #4.... while loading the kids backpacks and my bag into the car I managed to hit the lock button and lock my keys in my car!  My car and house keys, my cell phone, my work keys, my laptop and iPad all locked in the car.  So I go back into the building to call that wonderful husband that made me coffee this morning to ask for his spare car key.  He has it on him and big bonus, he's seeding in a field that is only a few miles from town!  So I borrow my mom's car and head out to pick up the key.  I return to the school parking lot thinking things are going to be okay, I'll unlock my door and head home and still have some time to get a few things done before picking the kids up.  Nope, problem #5.... Scott's key will NOT unlock the doors, it won't even turn in the drivers side door.  SERIOUSLY!  I'm not making this up.  Wow!

At this point I'm ready to just sit down and cry.  So I walk back into the building and ask my mom to give me a ride.  She offers to call AAA and have them send someone to unlock the door for me.  On any normal given day this would be perfectly fine.  On this specific Wednesday however, I not only need to get the kids from their after school class, but I need to get my son to his pee-wee football game.  Knowing this my mom also offers to let me take her car.  So things are going to be okay... we'll get there one way or another.  On the way to the football game my toe is throbbing so bad that I think I'm going to cry.  I want to look at it, but with all that has gone wrong already in the day I'm afraid to take off my shoe.  The kids win their football game 50-0 and it's cold enough that my toe is now numb, time to go home.

I get back to my mom's house to find that the locksmith was finally able to unlock my car, YEAH!  So the kids and I head home.  It's already an hour past their bed time and they're exhausted so they quickly wash, brush teeth, change and hop in bed.  Things are finally starting to look up.  So with the kids tucked in and my husband on his way home I decide that I'm deserving of a glass of wine.  I've been saving this wonderful bottle of a carbonated burgundy wine that my mother-in-law orders from New York and gifted to me when I turned 30 this summer.  I get the bottle out, open it and turn around to get a wine glass out of the cupboard.  I turn back around to see that the wine is completely fizzing out of the top of the bottle and all over the counter.... SERIOUSLY!!

At this point I drop my head and walk away, I don't even attempt to clean up the mess.  My husband comes home, sees the mess and goes looking for me.  He finds me laying on the couch with a look of complete defeat!  Foot elevated with a bag of ice on my toes.  After hearing about my unbelievable day he goes into the kitchen, cleans up the fizzy wine mess and pours me a glass.  Okay so now the seriously is a good one, SERIOUSLY what would I do without this man?!?

I've lost count of how many things went wrong so let's add one more thing to the list.... at some point during the day I also managed to chip my front tooth.  I don't know when or how but I do know it's chipped!  So here's to a better day.... broken toe and all!  Enjoy the laughs it's okay, I'm laughing now too! :)

Amazing Opportunity

This week I had the chance to attend a training for Khan Academy and implementing it into the classroom.  As someone who is very passionate about math I was super excited about this before I even left for the training.  All I have to say is that the training was absolutely AMAZING!!  Not only did I meet tons of great math and elementary teachers to network with but I took away an energized feeling about Khan Academy and using it as a supplement in the classroom.  Not only does this site have tons of math, but there is now science, art history, history, and computer science tutorials as well.  At some point, my superintendent would like me to present all of this wonderful information to the teachers I work with.  It's very exciting!  My two favorite areas include the Vi Hart videos... she's hilarious .. and the LeBron asks section which I can't wait to introduce to my son, he loves LeBron James.

So yeah for things that make you feel energized about something that you already love to do... in my case, teaching math!

Organizational Sunday

We spent our Sunday getting ready for winter by splitting wood today.  Thankful for good friends who come to help.  we cut down three huge maple trees in our backyard this summer after one lost a huge limb that nearly landed on the house.  We found out that it was rotting from the inside out so we decided to take down all three and start over on the back yard.  This resulted in a huge mess of wood that needed to be split and stack.  So while the boys split I stacked.  We ended up with quite the stack, we'll still need more, but we're well on our way to being ready for winter.  

Football & Fibonacci

After spending all day yesterday at a Pee-Wee Football Jamboree I came across this Foxtrot Comic by Bill Amend in my math book this morning.  I couldn't help but laugh so I had to share it.  Especially since my little football player is also a math whiz himself.  :)  The Jamboree literally lasted all day, and was followed by a trip into town for groceries and supplies for the princess's birthday party this weekend.  All day meaning we left the house at 8:30, drove for an hour and a half, then sat in the blazing heat until 3:30 watching the games. In between games us moms spent our time peeling off sweaty jerseys, pads and helmets.  Then trying to make sure the kids got enough water and some snacks in between.  Even with only one football player in my car it smelled like a boys locker room by the time I got home.  YUCK!  Sweaty smells and all though it was all worth it.

The pee wee team played 5 mini-games.  They won three and tied in two of them.  And as for my little QB who was actually playing running back and tackle (yes this could get confusing) he did wonderfully.  He proved that size doesn't matter if you follow technique.  He brought down several big kiddos.  I was able to capture this one on video.  My little guy is #23.  Enjoy and excuse my yelling!  I'm off to finish my math and then do some of my Sunday organizational items :)

Homework, Football and AAUGH!

It's been a crazy week!  Getting caught up on homework tonight has officially fried my brain.  I am worn out!     I had some fun with my Children's Literature class this week though.  We had to search out and find Patricia Polacco books.  I already have several in my own personal collection so this could have been very easy for me.... but who am I to take the easy road?  I mean it's not like I'm busy or anything!  ha!  So anyways, I went searching for Polacco books that I didn't have and I found several great ones.  My favorite was probably Rotten Richie and the Ultimate Dare.  Talk about a great story that any child could relate to in some way shape or form.  If you've never read any Polacco books I would highly recommend them.  They all have great story lines and lessons for kids.  They're just plain good reads!  You can find all of them and more information about the author at http://www.patriciapolacco.com/

Well that's it for tonight.... I have to get up early in the morning and do more homework before we head out to watch a day full of pee-wee football for my son.  It should be a good day... a very LONG day... but a good day.  I have to brag on my boy, last night at practice he took a very hard helmet to helmet (illegal hit for all of you non-football types) hit.  He was running the ball and even though in all reality he probably should have been knocked out from the hit, he held on to the ball (NO FUMBLE!) and got back up and went back to his huddle.   He's quite the little player.... given the week I've had I probably would have laid there and played dead!

Spinning

 

Seriously!  I need a laugh after today so I went searching for some teacher funnies.  I came across this and it reminded me of a fellow classmate in the math class I took this summer.... I just wanted to scream at the poor guy sometimes.

Needless to say it's been a frustrating week!  I'm exhausted and ready for it to be Friday.  I'm just not caught up on lesson plans and organizing at school and I feel like I'm stuck in a tornado.  I just start spinning when I get to work and it doesn't stop until around 3:30 p.m.

For all the organizing I've done here at home getting things taken care of I haven't had the chance to do that at school and that's what I need to do.  Guess I knojw where I'll be spending some time on my weekend.... well after the Pee Wee Football Jamboree that I'm told will last ALL day!  Yippie!  Here's to spinning.....

Sunday Organization... Freezer to Crock pot

I'm often asked how I manage it all.... working, kids, farmer's wife, full time student, and now pee-wee football which takes a minimum of 4 nights a week.  Well for me, it's all about organization.  During football season that means my crock pot is my best friend.  Not only that but freezer to crock pot meals become a huge necessity!  A couple of weeks ago I took a morning to throw together several freezer / crock pot meals.  The few hours spent doing this was so worth it.  I now have 10+ meals in my freezer just ready for cooking.  My family is actually getting fed a meal at night instead of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  It's been wonderful.  So here are a few of my recipes:

Teryaki Chicken - split the following between two gallon size freezer bags:

2 cups chopped baby carrots

1 red onion chopped

2 large cans of pineapple with juice

4 garlic cloves

6 chicken breasts

1 cup of teryaki sauce

To cook:  empty bag into crock pot, add an additional 1/4 cup of teryaki sauce to pot.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours.  Serve over rice.

Hamburger Soup - for each crock pot meal put the following in a gallon freezer bag:

1 lb browned hamburger - I season mine with salt, pepper, garlic, and add chopped onion as well.

2 cups chopped baby carrots

2 cups peeled chopped potatoes

1 cup frozen green beans

3 cups beef broth

1 clove garlic

1 package Lipton onion soup mix

To cook: empty bag into crock pot, add water to cover veggies if needed.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours.  You can also add a little red wine for a deeper taste.

Chuck Roast - add the following to a gallon size freezer bag:

1 3lb chuck roast - you don't have to but I like to salt and pepper the roast and sear inton both sizes before putting into the bag, I think this helps seal in the juices.

2 cups chopped baby carrots

2 cups peeled and chopped potatoes

1 large onion quartered

1 can tomato sauce - or 1 can V8

1 cup beef broth

2 tbsp lemon juice

Any other veggies you want

To cook: empty into bag and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

BBQ Chicken - split the following between 2 gallon freezer bags:

2 green peppers, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 medium zucchini, chunked

4 garlic cloves

6 chicken breasts

15 ounce can of tomato paste

1 tbsp brown sugar, Worcestershire and mustard per bag

1/4 tsp salt per bag

To cook:  on low in the crock for 6-8 hours.  Shred chicken when done.  Serve with rice, egg noodles or on a hearty chibata roll with cheese!

Philly Cheese Sandwiches - add the following to a gallon size freezer bag:

1.5 lbs sliced beef - you can use roast beef for this, or do like I do and thinly slice up a few steaks

1 green pepper, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

2 cloves garlic

2 cups beef broth

1 tbsp Montreal steak seasoning

To cook:  on low for 6-7 hours, serve on hoagie rolls with pepper jack or provolone cheese.  You'll have extra ajus dipping sauce in the crock pot too.

Other ideas:

Spaghetti Sauce:  when you make spaghetti, double the sauce you make and freeze half of it.  Rewarm in on low for 4-6 hours in the crock pot, then all you have to do is make your noodles.

Taco Meat:  when you're making tacos double your meat and freeze it.  Add it to the crock pot to rewarm.  You may need to add a little extra water so it doesn't dry out.

Other Tips:

If you're going to do it like I do, gather all your ingredients and chop all your veggies first.  Brown any hamburger you'll be using in one big pan.  Then go through and prepare your bags all at once.  It speeds the process up.

Make sure to label your bags.  The recipes I use usually last for up to 6 months in the freezer, and while mine are usually used up within 2 months, sometimes it's hard to tell exactly what is in the bag after a month or more in the freezer.  So unless you want to play, "What's for Dinner tonight?"  label!

Note:  I'm an avid pinterest follower, several of these recipes I've found on other blogs and then tweaked this way or that to fit my family's needs and tastes.  Some of the recipes are uniquely mine.  Enjoy!

Survival 101

Well I survived my first day as a K-5 PE teacher... barely!

When working with lesson plans with the teacher that is my mentor for the year she said, "if everything goes perfectly during your first class you're doing it wrong."  Well under that manner of thinking I did wonderful!

Here's how the first class went... My first class was a group of 3rd and 4th grade students, 19 in total.  We were supposed to be swimming.  All of my high school lifeguards left their suits at home though so I had to implement lesson plan B right away.  No problem there, except that plan B looked like this.......

While sitting in group going over rules and expectations I was stung by a bee, I didn't flinch or say a word, I just kept talking.  We started in on the lesson plan.  While playing scoop ball which focuses on hand-eye coordination and catching and tossing one girl got hit in the nose with a whiffle ball, hard enough that it gave her a bloody nose!   Well one of my rules for class is that my whistle is an emergency situation and when students hear it they are to freeze in their spots immediately.  So the blood is flowing out of this poor girls nose and I blow my whistle.  Give the kids credit they all immediately FROZE!  Yeah!! :)  We got her bloody nose under control and we carried on with the lesson.

By the end of the 45 minute class my wrist was so swollen from the bee sting that I could barely move my hand.  Later however, when the kids found out I was stung they were shocked.  They had no idea.

My mentor had this to say after hearing about my day:  "Congratulations on survival training 101.  You made it through the first day.  Now you need to learn which kids get hit with the ball and get a bloody nose.  It shouldn't be the one that is listening and doing what is asked.  And the good thing is the bee chose you and not a kid.  Then you would have the tears and sting to deal with in a different way.  And the up side is tomorrow should be better, but don't count on it."

The next day was better.  And I'm already laughing about my first class so I think I'm doing okay!

Sunday Organization.... Smoothies!

So on Sundays I like to dedicate part of my day to getting a little organizing done.  Whether its paper work, cleaning, laundry or food organizing is what keeps me mobile.  If I didn't have organization then I'd be lost and way may stressed.   So today I put together some smoothie bags.  I love to have a good fruit smoothie for breakfast, but some mornings there literally isn't time to gather all the dozen fruit and other needed supplies.  Today I tackled that issue by gathering all my frozen fruit and creating individual smoothie bags.  I just simply added about one cup of mixed frozen fruit to each bag.  Now all I have todo is pour that one bag into the blender, add a dollop of Greek yogurt and some juice or water and breakfast is done.  In the long run it probably only saves me about 5 minutes per smoothie, but hey 5 minutes is 5 minutes.  I made 20 smoothie bags in about 10 minutes.

5 minutes per bag * 20 bags = 100 minutes of extra time..... What could you do with 100 extra minutes?

Fall Semester, 7 Days and counting......

Well Fall Semester is just around the corner for me, 7 days and counting.  With 12 credits it's sure to be a busy one.  Although I'm very excited about my Math for Elementary Teachers course!  It sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun.  Also, taking Children's Literature which should be a great time.  I mean who doesn't like reading to kids?  Then I have health which will come in great use for teaching K-5 PE this year, and the Fuel Up to Play 60 Program.  And finishing out the course load is my Intro to Literature course.  Lots of reading involved with this one from what I've heard so far, good thing I like to read!

All in all I'm pretty excited.  Although I'm a little worried that I may be taking too much on, I mean working full time, 12 credits, 2 kids, one of which will be a crazy little pee-wee football player again here soon, harvest is in full swing so I don't get much help from the husband right now.... I wonder if I'll survive!

I am....

So in the thought that others who do not know me may actually visit this blog here's a little big about who I am....

I am Mrs. Z!

I am a farmer's daughter who grew up in a small town and then subsequently married a farmer, can't seem to get away from the lifestyle!  My husband and I live in my hometown with our two children.  To keep a bit of their privacy I'll call my son the Quarterback, QB for short, and my daughter the Little Princess.  QB will be a third grader this year, and it just so happens that his teacher will be my Third Grade teacher!  And the Princess will be a 1st grader.

I am a Special Education aide at our school district.  I work with primarily 6 different students aged 3rd grade to Freshmen in high school this year.  I will also be teaching K-5 PE this year.  I get the wonderful opportunity to have Mrs. R, who was my PE teacher and coach as my mentor.  I'm really excited about this opportunity.

The QB and the Princess

I am also the Fuel Up to Play 60 Advisor for our School District.  I was recently named as the Idaho Fuel Up Advisor of the Year and because of that honor our small little school was blessed with a visit from an NFL Alumni player.  Talk about BIG excited for our small town kids.

QB getting an autograph from Chicago Bears player Bryan Johnson

I am also a student at LCSC trying to finish my Elementary Teaching Degree with a Math Endorsement.  I'm taking classes full time online and attend on campus during the summers. My goal is to be done within the next year and a half, but it will totally depend on the schedules and such.

I am a Boise State Bronco's fan who lives in the heart of Idaho Vandal territory.  I take a lot of guff for this, but it's all in good fun.  I love football and all that comes with it, as does the rest of my family.  The QB is starting pee-wee football here in the next week or so which will take us out of the house a minimum of four nights a week... yep, add that to the chaos I call life!

I am an outdoor enthusiast.  I love to go camping with my family and friends.  I also enjoy hunting and fishing.  Hiking is a good time.  I'm at home on a four wheeler riding through the woods.   I love to garden and work in the yard as well.

I am a fun person who has a dream to teach and I look forward to meeting and learning from several other teachers.