Brush wash

It's 2015 and I've come to realize a few things. Some of the things about myself I really don't like...weight, makeup, hair, clothes, my lack of organization, mouthiness (is thing a word?). Don't mistake this as a post about my lack of self confidence. I love myself. I just feel like I've been spending far too much time on some things (social media) and not enough time taking care of myself. This isn't a New Year's resolution, but hopefully a lifestyle change. I've used the excuse that fb is my way of sharing with my family, since none of them live near by, but this blog used to be where it was at! 

I'm ready to start caring a little more about myself. I started with a brush wash. All you makeup junkies don't laugh at my little hodgepodge collection of cheapy brushes. I can't spend money on brushes when I'm not educated on them.

 

I used Lauren Conrad's suggestion http://laurenconrad.com/blog/2013/06/beauty-school-how-to-clean-your-makeup-brushes-tips-tricks-ilana-saul-june-

That bowl of gunk came out of my brushes...this was the third bowl full. I'm embarrassed. This should be done weekly per Lauren and my new YouTube obsession. I'll share more about her soon.

Happy new year to all of our friends and family(and may be a long lost reader or two).

Dusting It Off

It's time to (yet again) dust off this old blog. I really want to print yearly blog books (I'm all about memories) but I haven't added any in so long.

It's soon time to start back to school and this year is bringing a big change. My Sweet E will not be getting out at daycare anymore. She'll be traveling on to big school with me. I am so excited (and I think she is too). I don't think it has hit her yet though that she's not going to be attending with all the girls and boys that she's known since babyhood. We live in the city, but I work at a county school (it's never made since to me...I think if all the school systems combined it would be a less wasteful use of resources).

Today we did a girls day with a haircut, spaghetti (Olive Garden), school supply shopping, and a cupcake. 

Hopefully I'll get back in the habit of blogging. I've got to do some posts about funny brother.

Walking and a Spend the Night Party!

Our Rowe Baby turned 16 months on Saturday. I can hardly believe it. He's not into walking much (5 steps max). In Sunday he decided he's going to take off! So at 16 months and one day, I proclaimed he is an official walker.

Sweet E had two slumber parties over the weekend...yes two! The first with me, mommy! It's something we've wanted to do for months, but something has always come up. I decided Friday afternoon to just go for it. We had dinner with the boys and then went and locked ourselves in her room. We did a lot of playing with babydolls and hair. B said it was an official slumber party because their was lots of giggling and staying up past him. 

Saturday night the fun continued when one of E's classmates needed a favor because of a death in the family. Georgia came over, then we headed out to a gathering for our hunting club. Another of their classmates',Ella, dad is in the hunting club too. We stayed out past their bedtimes and then they stayed up another hour when we got home. They had a blast! 

By Sunday, my Sweet E was worn out! She is growing up so fast! 

Another off the top side note-when I picked her up from gymnastics yesterday she was more excited than Christmas morning. She had conquered the bars! She has been taking gymnastics since August, but has been afraid of the bars. She was so thrilled that she did all of it by herself! That talk we had last week about setting goals and pushing yourself paid off! I love to see her so determined and reaching her goals!

Be prepared SNOW is predicted for lower Alabama today!!!

Mid January New Year's Resolution

Make more posts on our blog (where it counts) and less time on Facebook.

I would love to print this at the end of 2014 to help preserve precious family memories.

Ones like this jewel from last night. Sweet E and Rowdy R (like that new bloggie nickname?) watching Monsters University while I cleaned. This was the sweet moment before Rowdy decided to grab hands full. Of popcorn and throw them across the living room! So goes life with a toddler!

Our Clean Change

Last week I decided to make a huge change for our family. Our diet had to get under control. Sugar and processed foods were taking over! At first I thought about Paleo, but its much too restrictive, especially for kids. So clean eating was my choice. We re-enrolled in emeals.com under the clean rating plan. This is very helpful to me as I learn the does and don'ts. We have had some delicious meals! E has been eating all of her fruits and veggies like a champ. She has had raw spinach as a snack two different times over the last week. 

Tonight we had Beef (aka venison in our house), spinach, and red quesadillas, not the most creative name, but the most delicious thing I have eaten in a long time!  We also had minted strawberries. Everything was so good I brought this dead blog back to life, you know to save FB another food post! 

I've had several people ask me about it, so I thought this would be a good way to share the details. I can't say I have complied 100%, but I am finding the more I follow the rules the less I want the junk. I had a brownie today and threw most of it away. I felt yucky! That is something I never would have done before. I usually would have gone back for another! 

This was from our first night. It is a spinach salad with grilled chicken, strawberries, and nectarines plus lots of fresh herbs. We had it along with these yummy grilled whole wheat pitas topped with olive oil and garlic.

I hope we're making this a lifestyle change. I don't see why it will not work for us. 

Since January, I have lost 25 pounds. Now I feel like I am at a plateau. So I also started CrossFit last week. I am not strong at all, but I am trying my hardest. I am very sore...so I know I'm doing something. 

Hopefully, I'll update the blog more with the details of our lifestyle change. I want to include some clean eating recipes we try also plus keep adding a few funny stories from those beautiful kiddos that opened this post!

Top 10 Tech Tools I Can't Live Without

I have really enjoyed learning about new technology resources in this class.

My Top 10 Tech Resources I Can't Live Without Are-
10. Glogster
9. Prezi
8. Blogger
7 .YouTube
6. Pinterest
5. My class iPADs
4. Go! Math teacher resources
3. My classroom projector
2. My laptop
1. My cellphone- It's old as dirt, but I still can not live without it.

Mobile Apps

What mobile apps are available for your subject area? List and describe at least 4 apps that could be used on a smartphone, iPod, or iPad in the classroom.

Some of my third graders favorite apps are listed below.

SparkleFish is a modern version of Mad Libs. Students are asked to record nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Their voices are then used in an animated story. It always brings plenty of laughs while learning the parts of speech.

Strip Designed (POW) is a great app to use while teaching sequence of events. Students use the camera to take pictures and turn themselves into a comic strip. It comes complete with speech bubbles and special effects.

All my students, especially the boys love Rocket Math. Students complete math problems to earn money to design a rocket. The more they get correct the better rocket they can build. The goal is for the rocket to reach outer space.

I know this is one that everyone has heard of, but my students love Stack the States. I am so glad because at the beginning of the school year many of my students didn't even know what state they live in. I'm not joking! This app has students answer geography/history related questions about states. It has a multiple choice answer section. If the students answer correctly the state is dropped and the students move it around to stack it. If they stack it to the goal line they earn a state to help complete their map. The goal is to completely fill a US map. They have to be careful though because the states can fall if they are stacked off balance.