It's Official!!

Well, today was my very first day as a 4th Grade teacher! It was a lot of fun! Lot's of talking and explaining rules...my voice was pretty rough by the end of the day. I have a lot of really great students! I'm really excited to see what this year brings. :)

One of my students even gave me an apple. My FIRST apple as a real teacher! HAHA! I started eating it and then realized that this moment had to be documented. ;)

Kinda a goofy picture, but oh well. :)

Life

I know it's been ages since I last posted. I'm always planning on posting and I have so many pictures that I want to upload, but something else always seems to be the higher priority. Today is different though. I'm not going to post an update on my life although that's way overdue; today I'm writing as a release to my emotions and a tribute to someone who has been an inspiration to me although I've only met him a couple of times.

I just learned that Jason Zimmerman died this past Saturday. He's the author of the blog Adventures & Misadventures of Daily Living. I've been following this blog for a couple of years now and I always find something to laugh at, cry about, or feel inspired and uplifted. I have so many great teaching ideas from this man because he's a teacher too and he's one of those teachers that actually do make a difference in kids' lives.

It's incredible how we all have an impact on one another! Even when we don't know another person all that well they can still leave an impression. I'm going to miss reading his blog. I'm going to miss the motivation he gave me to be better, to try harder, to put as much effort as I possibly can into my teaching.

Now, I'm going to go back to doing my laundry and the mundane things of life. It seems that I should be doing something more....

To my family and friends that may read this post, please know that I love you! I don't say or show it enough.

Thank you Jason for teaching me and inspiring me.

Baylan's Birthday and Night with Aunt Lacey

So, occasionally I'll have one of my nieces or nephews come have a sleepover at my house. It's a lot of fun and I think it helps them feel special. :) This time it was Baylan's turn, it also happened to be his birthday! We went to Tucanos to celebrate. I think he liked it, although he did say that it was the only time in his 9 years of living that he ate so much he almost threw up. Ha Ha Ha!

Brave kid ate some chicken hearts. YUM!

They may have done something to him...

The people at Tucanos sang Happy birthday to him in Portuguese (I helped of course) and he danced with the Tambourine. :)

 Such a cute kid! We had a lot of fun!!

HALLOWEEN!

This year's Halloween was awesome! My family had a totally awesome costume party, and everyone dressed up! My favorite costumes were probably Kade's and Tyson's. Those brothers of mine can always make me laugh!

On Halloween night I carved pumpkins with Kate and Ian. Kelly also came over for some of the fun. We had so much fun!

Peach Shakes

This post is WAY overdue! My brother Cody makes the BEST peach shakes ever! I had been begging him to make me one for a few weeks, even before the peaches were ready ha ha! Finally, the peaches were ready and he made me one. It was DELISH!