Getting Into the Swing of Things

I think we’re slowly getting into the swing of things getting back into our back-to-school routines. I Our first week back, I was exhausted. I was also pulling rather late nights at work; usually not getting home until close to six. This past week, I was able to be home before five every day, and that was really nice. I hope to continue it. I’m also trying to be more mindful of trying to only do at work what I have to do at work. If there’s other stuff that I can bring home, I try to do that. That way, even though I’m still working, at least I’m at home. I’m also trying to keep on top of my grading and entering things into the grade book so that I don’t have a ton of that stuff piling up (it’s probably the easiest thing to fall behind on). It was really nice, this past week, to have a three-day weekend. I spent Monday grocery shopping, grading, and getting myself prepped for the week. I also decorated for fall, since I know I will have less time when the actual official start to fall occurs (which is…September 23rd, I think). It’s much easier to do it over a holiday weekend! Also, I keep my decorations pretty simple because, well, it’s always more fun to put things up than to have to take them down. I see pictures of rooms beautifully decorated for the different holidays or seasons and I can’t help but think that while it’s beautiful, it seems like way more effort than I’m willing to devote to the cause. Easy up and easy down! The rest of the week was spent doing what we do during the majority of the year: work, school, and down time when we could squeeze it in. It’s hard to believe that September is already a third of the way gone. I suppose staying busy makes time seem to pass more rapidly. Here’s to hopefully heading into cooler weather finally (we’re only supposed to hit the upper 90s for the first part of the week and then dip down into the lower 90s right at the end…we’ll see if that happens)!

My autumn sign. I love that it has a silver pumpkin because I have silver pumpkins sprinkled around as part of my fall decorations.
The area over by our little electric fireplace.
I’m a sucker for anything gingham or plaid. I actually use this garland for both fall/Halloween and Christmas. I just trade out the things around it to make it fit.
The countdown is still going strong. These pumpkins are fun because they aren’t fake…they’re from our garden!
See? There’s my silver pumpkins!
More gingham…
This trio livens up the partial wall next to our dining room.
These pumpkins are NOT real…I think my favorite thing about them is their asymmetrical quality.
I think the piano is always my favorite, no matter what else I do around the house. Maybe it’s the multiple levels allowing your eyes to settle on more than one area, or maybe it’s the contrast of the decorations with the starkness of the black and white keys, but it’s just the perfect spot to decorate.
Abigail was watching Doc McStuffins (a cartoon about a little girl who doctors her stuffed animals and toys) and decided she needed to start up her own clinic. Here she is charting up her first patient.
And here she is giving him a check-up. I think my favorite part of this photo is her little “I’m really concentrating” tongue. And yes, Puppy (her names for her stuffed animals are usually pretty basic) was a very good patient.

One Week Down (and a couple of birthdays)

Last week marked the first week of school and also was the time that we celebrated both my birthday and Joseph’s. Everybody had a great first week back (even though Abigail has had some days where she’s been testing the boundaries, but I was not too surprised, seeing as we’re back to structure after so many unstructured days). Paul brought in cupcakes on my birthday for me to celebrate with my class, I went out with my friends for Indian food that night, and we ended up the week with a trip to Main Event for Joseph’s party. We basically had him invite a few friends and we paid for wristbands and game cards for them. Overall it was a pretty stellar week!

Pumpkins from our pumpkin plant in graduated sizes. 🙂
I got my birthday presents early so I could use them during the first week of school: a new teacher bag which is backpack-style (which is going to be better for my back than having the unbalanced weight of shoulder bag)…
…and a totally fitting shirt (which I picked out).
First day of first grade!
Paul was able to take the day off, which was helpful since I had a meeting after school, so he got all the first day pictures for me. 🙂
First day of sixth grade! He’s been walking with a buddy to and from school and has been very accepting of that change (especially in the heat of the afternoon).
All set up at her table for the first day!
This was some time this past week. She was happy to come to my classroom after school to hang out and look at some of the graphic novels on my bookshelf (and reacquaint herself with the yellow chair) while I prepped for the next day.
I walked up to my classroom door and saw this fun surprise on Friday. 🙂 My coworkers also made me a card and we all ate lunch together, which was nice.
I came home to see this awesome set-up. This is what happens when two birthdays collide, haha.
My “birthday” balloons…
…and some cool Nightmare Before Christmas stuff…and chocolate, which is always appreciated!
I didn’t have the time nor the energy to go all out with Joseph’s cake, so I did a quick creeper and made sure we had something else to fill up the rest.
Enjoying he favorite treat breakfast: a doughnut and milk.
Before Joseph’s party, Paul spent all morning mowing, edging, weed-whacking, etc.. He also finished up the walkway along the side of the house that he’s been chipping away at a bit at a time as he’s found time here and there. I love that I’ll have a nice walkway to walk along whenever I need to put something in the compost, trash, or recycling.
We took down my banner and put up Joseph’s. 🙂
Opening up presents during his party. He got some gift cards…
…video game stuff…
…a video game…
…and Beyblades. It’s all pretty much what he’s really into right now.
The completed cake.
Blowing out the candles!
Abigail didn’t mind not getting to hang out with the big kids because there were plenty of games to keep her busy, like Mario Kart…
…and this virtual reality game.
What you can see on the screen is what she was also seeing. The chairs would vibrate, move back and forth, etc.. She had so much fun. She giggled, jumped, and said, “Woah! This is crazy!” repeatedly.
They finished out the party with a bowling game.
The black lights were a cool twist.

And So It Begins

This week was craaaaaazy. I had teacher trainings and work days all week. Paul took half-days for the entire week so that Joseph would only have to be watching Abigail in the mornings. We had Meet the Teacher, Paul and Abigail built a volcano (and did all sorts of other fun activities), and we ended the week with savoring the last moments of summer. It’s crazy to think that school starts on Monday. Here’s to a new year!!

In my spirit shirt all ready for the staff group photo.
He was very patiently letting her snuggle him.
Paul and Abigail’s volcano.
All ready for Meet the Teacher!
My welcome sign. I’m going to leave it up for the first day.
Ready for the kiddos!
I posed in front of the 4th grade sign.
Abigail posing in front of the first grade sign. She said she needed Floppy because she was feeling anxious. I think she just wanted to bring her rabbit. 🙂

She was super-excited to watch it erupt. She also insisted that she and Paul wear safety goggles. 🙂