Never Been So Happy....

TO SEE FEBRUARY 1!

Remember when I said I was going to do a "monthly resolution", and January's (craaaaazy) resolution was an all-out ban on sugar. And...it was successful!

It was hard, at times. But overall, it was was way easier than I anticipated. Once I got it out of my head and was busy, it was fine. Everyday after lunch I just had a habit of grabbing a treat (or six) from the coveted treat jar on my desk. It was as natural as taking a swig of diet coke, which is a common occurrence in my life. Let's just say that I got a LOT of little things done around my classroom during that time that I'd normally be enjoying some sugary goodness. It was helpful for me to finish my meal with a piece of fruit, then chew on a piece of sweet gum. Helped to trick me into thinking I had a sweet treat....I mean, it was no Snickers, but it worked.

I had a little epiphany about this month of mine...I definitely do better in moderation. I feel like I can have a couple treats and still be healthy. Now, I didn't really start this month with a "get healthy" attitude, or a weight loss goal. But, I'll totally admit I was hoping it was a side-effect. (It wasn't). I kinda did it as more of a challenge, to see if I could. I found myself at times eating a meal, then going to the kitchen for a snack...simply to try to cure that sweet craving. What could have been cured with a small (ish) bowl of ice cream or a couple chocolate goodies was definitely not cured by a bowl of cereal....a handful of chips....toast with peanut butter....more chips. I did learn that I don't have to eat a treat just because it's there. When I couldn't even consider eating a treat that was there (hello, I went to baby shower yesterday....in all it's yummy treat glory!), it wasn't even a choice.

So, while I am glad that I fulfilled my resolution...I'm glad to be done! I definitely didn't think I could do it, totally thought I would cave in on a stressful day. Whew...and January had stressful days! Sometimes a little treat just helps the day. Full believer in that.

Next resolution:
In February, I will blog everyday.
Big or small,
something will be there daily.

*and the majority of said blog posts will most likely be written with treats in hand

Clean Up Crew

Usually Dizzy just settles for waiting for the food to fall on the floor.
But when macaroni and cheese is involved...

And...we have a toddler!

Who needs toys when there are QTips, Cheerios, and a vent to toss it all in?

Will had closed the door to the bathroom...clearly up to no good! He seriously spent probably an hour putting QTips and Cheerios in the vent...then I'd empty it out back on the floor, and he'd do it all over again.

Toy Chest

For Christmas, RJ's dad put his new shop to work! He made Will a beautiful, sturdy, all handmade toy chest. I think it's so meaningful to have gifts like that...handmade that will last forever.



At first he did not love being in the toy box!



Loves it now!


He made two frog cutouts for the front,
along with Will's initials.


Love the new toy chest!
We don't even need a babysitter now,
we'll just toss Will in with some food and he'll be set!

Worksheet Sassiness

"Using a Calendar" worksheet....
Check out number 9....



"What day of the week will your birthday be on this year?"
Answer: "wot do you kir"

Survey Says....

We had to do a survey at school. Every teacher, parent, and student is surveyed. It helps to determine then overall quality for our students.

They were suppoed to write the things they like about our school, then a list of what they wish could be different. Thought this little gem was cute:

Let me decode for you:
Likes: P.E., recess, white slips, watching Garbage Monster, Mrs. Cox, Mr. Cox, baby Will, After School Club, the Smart Board, and the iPods.

Along with other items that are actually used for education, and among reallly cool things like iPods, I'm proud that my whole family made the cut!

Will's Popular!

I passed a parent of one of my students in the hall the other day. She said that whenever her two daughters are playing house, there's always a baby....always named "Baby Will".

So cute!

Drumroll please.....

We have a college grad in the house! Wooooohooooo!

I won't get all mushy gushy on my blog here....but I will say that I am so incredibly proud of all the hard work this man has done. He's one rad guy, and it didn't take a fancy leather book with a diploma inside with fancy fonts to tell me that!

Anyway, he won't brag....so I'll do it for him!
The job search adventure begins!

"I have a dream..." Third Grade Style

We learned about Martin Luther King, Jr., then wrote our own "I have a dream..." speeches.

How cute is this:

"I have a dream that Michle Jackson didn't have to die and that my dad wood have a job."

I really don't like Sponge Bob Squarepants....I just think it's obnoxious.
Santa gave Sponge Bob bubble bath to Will...
I'm sure it was because it was "Wacky Watermelon" scented.

I happened to glance at it the other day.
The grammar error on the back makes me even more annoyed by Sponge Bob...

Pet Peeve

Totally bugs me when people say, "I could care less..."

If you could care less, then you still care...
which is the opposite of what you (probably) mean.

It makes sense to say, "I couldn't care less..."
Then you don't care at all.

That is all.

Oh...and the sugar-free monthly resolution is going well!
Except...maybe this is why this pet peeve is bugging me so much.
Maybe I should just go eat a cookie....

Shop

For RJ's dad's Christmas, we pulled an "Extreme Shop Makeover".

BEFORE:
Storage, storage, and more storage....


AFTER:
Room to work and store tools!



We originally thought we had 2 days to do it, because he was going out of town.

Then....I was making casual conversation and asked about his trip that was the next day.

"Oh, I'm not going anymore...it's supposed to snow..."
RJ and I threw a glance full of panic at each other.
We now had one day while Greg was at work!

So, on Monday morning, right when Greg headed out the door to work....RJ, Morgan, Greg, Nick (Morgan's friend), Daryla, Will, and I got right to work! We unloaded boxes and boxes of stuff, patched holes, took down shelves, pulled up carpet, pained the floor, painted the walls, sanded....

Since Greg usually comes home for lunch, Morgan and I had to pretend to be out running errands and meet him for lunch. At lunch, Greg told us that he had taken the rest of the day off! YIKES. We finally just told him we were working on Christmas presents and he couldn't come home. Poor guy ended up going back to work!







By the end of the crazy day, the shop was all redone.
RJ was so excited to give his dad his shop back as a place to work on projects
and keep all his tools.
It was a fun Christmas project!

I Resolve To...

I've blogged before about my daily calendar...I've bought the Life's Little Instruction Calendar for years. I rip off the daily sheet every morning, first thing when I wake up (well, after hitting snooze about ten times, on a good day). Sometimes there are ones I like, and I keep those ones. Sometimes there are weird ones.

Anyway, it's sort of refreshing to pull out my new calendar today. So many days to rip off. It just makes me wonder what the year will bring, what will be going on in life as I rip each of those papers off....all those little gems of wisdom to ponder.

Which made me think of resolutions....

I think I make resolutions....yet I can't remember any of them. So...maybe I do, but I don't keep them? That's probably the case. I think they probably last about a month or so...

So this year, I thought...I'm going to make a
"monthly resolution".
At the beginning of the month, I'll make a goal for the month....
I can stick to a resolution for 30 days or so.
A year, not so much.

January's resolution:
I will not eat any sugar for the month.

YIKES. We'll see how this goes. I'm drawing my inspiration from my friend Denise who is much stronger at setting and following through with such lofty goals. She goes cold turkey with no soda and no sugar...and actually sticks to it. I'm not crazy enough to give up Diet Coke, we all know I can't put myself through that torture. No sugar I can do, with some encouragement (and competition!) from Denise and I think I've talked RJ into it too. I think I'm competitive enough that I don't want to be the one who fails when other people are doing it too. This means our house will either get healthier and happier...or just grouchy. We'll see.