it’s been a while

I am most certain that my best friend Kaley and I are kindred blogging souls… we have the same post titles on the same day two times which is quite scary. Obviously we both had a whirlwind first three weeks of school…. wait, did I just say three weeks – YES! That is how long we have been in school. I can’t believe it. I feel obligated to my few readers to update you all on how my life as Ms. Courtney has been going. In a few words – fast and crazy!

In order to fully describe my first day of full time teaching… I must show you what I looked like.

Please notice the massive ulcer and huge zit – talk about scary. For the entire first two weeks of school, my lip was swollen and eating was difficult to say the least! I sent this to Kaley as a happy first day of school picture…we have a weird relationship! The first morning was, as many veteran teachers warned me, crazy. If it had not been for Abby’s Fun With Firsties Unit, I would not have made it through the first week. We made Jitter Juice which in my opinion could have used a little alcohol however the kiddos loved it and begged for the recipe (sprite and cherry kool-aid).

though this was only my 17th full day of teaching, I already know so many things I would do differently. However, if I could give advice to a new teacher for the first day of school it would be to have a helper. Had it not been for Sara, I would not have made it. So many parents were asking questions, etc. and Sara calmly put everything away and did it with a smile. I will have to find a new helper next year because by then she will have her teaching degree. She loves her first placement and I am so glad she is having a wonderful experience!

I forgot to mention that the first day of school I gave blood which was probably not the best idea in the world – talk about out of it! However, I am a firm believer in donating blood!

The past two weeks have been super busy not only with school but also with The Distinguished Young Women of Choctaw County (formerly Junior Miss) program. I am the co-director and have been so busy. the program was this past Saturday night and I was so happy it went off without a hitch. I love the program and I am so happy to help with this great program but I am also glad it is over! The seven girls worked so hard and I think we have a great representative to State with Paige Walker…

A classroom funny that happened last week… during the Lord’s prayer, I hear this “Our Father, who Art in Heaven, HOWARD be His name…” I just about lost it. Kids have no idea how funny they are. As I sit here now with one thousand things on my mind, I am slowly realizing that I can’t do it all – which is a hard pill for me to swallow. This afternoon, Momma and I are meeting with our wedding directors (Mrs. Debbie and Mrs. Trisha) and hoping they are full of wonderful ideas to get us back on the wedding track!

I haven’t mentioned mine and Daniel’s sweet little big baby… Belle is growing like a weed but still thinks she is a puppy! This is her stretched out as long as the couch at Daniel’s Parents’ house. She is precious and I wish I got to see her (and Daniel) more than I do!

I know I am all over the place… bear with me! My morning walks have been few and far between – mainly because I feel that extra hour is imperative to my daily functioning! However, one morning last week I DID make the walk and got the greatest picture of the morning sky. I really do live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Back to school for a minute – I am PUMPEd about our new technology. Thanks to a donation from a local Trust account, our school was able to purchase projectors, document projectors, flip cameras, Mimio notepads, and clickers! My favorite new toy is the document projector –seriously, I use it ALL the time… here is a picture of me reading a story to my kiddos on the first day. FYI – if you are not a teacher, it is a new age overhead projector!

On a completely random note – I am so impressed each time I look at my best friend Kaley’’s new photography business – If you haven’t visited yet, visit their blog!

My last random thought for the day is that in my next life I want to be Cotton – this was at 6:45 a.m. and he was already taking a nap!

I am also still aware that I owe an entire post to Josh’s graduation weekend and Rhett’s second birthday party – maybe I will get to that before my post on Labor Day!