Spa Day

A few days ago, my daughter and I got massages. Gracie's birthday is December 21st (she came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve in a stocking!!...I die from the cuteness) and it has become a tradition that we have a spa day each year in celebration of her birthday. This year, for one reason or another, we were not able to get appointments until December 30th.

Now, the place we go is Niiiiiiiccccceeeeee! As soon as we walk in, everyone there treats us as if the ONLY reason they got up that morning, was to ensure our comfort and relaxation during our spa experience. We start by slipping into the softest robes EVER. I don't know what these robes are made out of, but they remind me of the Hanes commercials where the man is wearing kittens. Honestly, it feels like we are wearing kittens.

I apologize for the poor picture quality, but you must understand the dark, tranquil, aromatic, kitten coziness just didn't lend itself to a great picture with my iphone. We couldn't wait to move on to the next part of our spa experience: Hot Tea

In our real life, Gracie and I do not drink hot tea. In our spa life, it is the best!! We always look forward to it and we always choose the same flavor. Gracie chooses cinnamon and I choose peppermint. So for about 20 minutes we sink into comfy chairs in our kitten robes sipping hot tea as if this is our job. Then a "spa attendant" gently whispers our name (like the library, people ONLY whisper at the spa) and we go our separate ways to get our massages.

Oh man. Wowwwwwwwwww. For an hour, I don't think one time about lesson plans, seating arrangements, the sun, the moon and the earth (our concept for next week) or grades. It is awesome.We left the spa feeling refreshed, relaxed and happy.

 

And then yesterday happened. My back. It hurts to move, breathe, blink. Too much vigorous massaging? A pulled muscle? I don't blame the massage 100% but I do think it is a bit of a coincidence. I sat in an awkward position in my chair allllllll day yesterday with these two best friends.

I have the same plan today. However, this small set back (no pun intended) will NOT deter me from missing out on spa day next year. Maybe I should just find a package that includes the kitten robe and hot tea without the massage??

 

 

Nicole

 



 





Books, Books and More Books

I have read, read and read some more over the Christmas break. In a chair with a blanket and a book (and more often than not, a 20 lb cat named Chester!) is my favorite way to spend the day. I set "reading goals" for myself each year and my 2014 goal is 50 books. Since I have not had to work for over a week (!!!!!!) I have managed to read alot of books.

I really enjoyed this quick, cozy read and definitely plan to read another in this series.

PAGE TURNER! I had heard so many great things about this book and it certainly did not disappoint!

Wow! I just loved this book so much and wanted to give a Alice a big hug at the end of it. This is one that will stay with me for a long time.

Twists and turns at every corner. Just about the time you think you have it all figured out, there is a very sharp turn in the plot.

A quick, sweet read that takes place in Maine and has a cottage. I'm a sucker for a book with a cottage in Maine!

 

I enjoyed all of them but highly, highly recommend The Husband's Secret and Still Alice.

 

I am starting my 50 book goal of 2014 with Where'd You Go Bernadette. It was a gift for Christmas and I can't wait to dig into it!

 

Happy Reading in 2014!

 

Nicole



My Classroom

I am really excited about being in a new school this year. I have had fun setting up a new classroom and getting things ready for the upcoming school year. I was in my last room for 8 years so it was a bit of a challenge to decide where things should go in my new room. I put alot of time into planning how to make my room the most efficient and "user friendly" it could be while still being a place where students were comfortable. I am pleased with the way things worked out. I hope I will continue to be pleased when I actually have to use the room with students in it!

This is what I walked into... white, empty, booorrrrring



 See all my boxes stacked above the lockers?

More boxes

More white, empty boooorrrring

A sad little blank bulletin board :(

That sad bulletin board was the first thing I had to fix!

I unpacked all the boxes and put my labled tubs with science supplies above the lockers.

A closer look at the labels on the tubs.

I organized my book shelf with more supplies. (I don't know why this picture is weird, I tried and tried to fix it and then I just accepted it. I hope you will too.)

Vocabulary Wall

Standing at the front of the room.

Standing at the back of the room.

Anchor charts, tubs for science notebooks and tubs for science folders 

My desk area...not that I ever get to sit there!

And finally...this is how I worked at home this summer on lesson planning, always always with my helpful assistant, Chester. 

  

Nicole



Back to School and Back to Blogging

It's time to say goodbye to summer and hello to the new school year. I returned to school last Wednesday but won't have students for another week. We have still managed to stay busy every second of the day ALLLLL day beginning VERY early in the morning. I came home on Friday and slept for 16(!!) hours straight! I was so tired. It never ceases to amaze me how the summer months can just zap me of my teacher stamina. I better get it back quickly because back to school WITHOUT students is the easy part! My summer was a much needed break filled with alot of relaxation and adventure. Here is a recap (except for pictures of me in my pajamas, much of summer was spent that way !):

A big step in our house remodeling: FLOORS!!

Zombies



Lots and lots of this.....

Planting, caring for and watching flowers grow all over our yard

Ready for vacation! (Clearly, she loves it when I take out my camera!)

 

Rain Forest Cafe

Chattahoochee River

 

Atlanta Aquarium (Can you see me?)

Making more friends at the aquarium (from a distance)

The Zoo!

Exploring Caves and Caverns

 

Sooooo Awesome!

I'm an official spelunker...I even have a picture to prove it.

 

A baby shower with this pretty girl (please focus on my beautiful daughter and not the remodeling that is going on all around us)

 

 

I now bid farewell to summer until we meet again in 2014 and hello to a new school year. It is time to put my spelunking lantern away and take out those notebooks and crayons.

 

Nicole

 



July

Could someone please explain to me how June walked so quietly out the door and July has arrived? Can it be that I have spent an entire month doing...uhh...well...let's see...nothing? And by nothing, I mean NOTHING. I have spent most of my days sleeping late, wearing my comfy pjs all day, reading books (not one of them educational), watching Dr. Phil and Lifetime movies and eating grapes. And strawberries. And nectarines. And more grapes.

Clearly, I am a teacher who enjoys her summer.

June is a "de-stress" and "de-school" month. June is a necessary mental health month. But as happens every summer, when July rolls around, I start getting excited about the new school year. At this point, I am not quite ready to start TEACHING 5th graders all day every day (not to worry, that is always an August excitement!) but I am excited about DECORATING, ORGANIZING and SETTING UP my classroom.

In honor of July's arrival, I was able to turn off the tv today, put "real clothes" on and go to our local "teacher" store to get a few things for my new (I am moving to a new school after eight years at my old school) classroom. You know you were meant to be a teacher when you walk in to one of these stores and you just want to cry from all the happy. The borders! The locker tags! The calendars! The stickers....oh the stickers! THE NEON SHARPIES!! The store I go to is called Teacher's Heaven... and boy oh boy is it!!

Before going to the store, I decided to use a red, black and white theme and incorporate polka dots. I am so happy with the things that I was able to find and plan to go to my classroom next week and start putting everything together. A few days of pjs and Lifetime left and then it's time to turn my attention to polka dots, bulletin boards, labels, folders, buckets and baskets for a while.

Until then, could someone pass the grapes?

Nicole







Back From Vacation

Sometimes I feel like I need a vacation AFTER vacation! We had so much fun doing so many awesome things. We showed people how it was done at Six Flags. We started our morning with a death defying ride on the Titan followed closely behind by the Texas Giant. Oh my...that's the way every day should begin. They're not called "thrillers" for nothing! We headed to Atlanta after our stop in Arlington and continued the fun with a beautiful walk along the Chattahoochee River. Stunning!! We also visited the Atlanta Aquarium as well as the zoo. We were able to hear some great live music at a fun little dive place and had the best hamburger in the world at a restaurant where we had to walk through a SKULL (!!) to get inside. While we were being entertained by the river, the beluga whales, the panda bears and the skull, Gracie was living it up in Italy...as a matter of fact, she still is! Laurel is sending me pictures everyday of their adventures. It looks like they are LOVING Itlay.

Gracie in front of the Colosseum

Awwwww!! This panda is eating his bamboo for dinner :)

Nicole

My Kind of Day

After all the "floor laying," Gracie and I decided to spend the afternoon getting pedicures and manicures. We had so much fun and it was a great way to spend the day.

We are leaving tomorrow for vacation so manis and pedis were followed by some intensive packing. Packing for vacation is a WHOLE lot more fun than packing up a classroom! However, I ALWAYS pack wayyyyy to much. I am never sure what I will need, so I just take LOTS. Gracie and I are driving to Dallas tomorrow with Britton and two of his sons, Tanner and Hunter. We are going to hit up Six Flags on Thursday!! On Friday, we are scattering all over the place. The boys are driving back home. Britton and I are flying to Atlanta to visit his brother, Patrick, and his girlfriend Marki. We went to Boston with them a few years ago and had so much fun so we are really excited to get to spend some time with them in Atlanta. Last but not least, Gracie is going to be flying to ITALY!!! That's right...ITALY! She is sooooo excited even though her Mama is a little nervous.  She will be in good hands though with my sister, Kami, and Laurel. The three of them went to Paris last summer and had a blast. Clearly, we are LOVING summer!

Nicole