Kansas City Convention

Well...we made it back from Kansas City in sort of one piece!
We left with 24 kids and came back with 23.
Don't worry...she's fine!

Overall we had a great time at the convention.
Over 6,000 journalism nerds in one place.
Awesome.

Instead of recapping everything that we did...
I'm going to post a link to my buddy Sarah's blog.
She wrote EVERYTHING down and posted pictures.
Her blog is at http://verpootens.blogspot.com.
Please check it out!

I have to say that I could not go on these trips with anyone else.
Sarah is the best travel partner.
Except for the snoring.
This was our 7th convention traveling with kids.
We are a great team and I love her dearly for dragging me to these things.
P.S. Thanks for letting me use your toothpaste bud!

Excitement Of The Day

12 years of teaching.
I have had one kid pass out in my class.
But today was THE day.
The day that a boy PUKED
Right inside my door.
Awesome.
I couldn't even go in there.
I was outside of the library when I heard the news
And I was gagging without even being near it.
I called for backup.
I made an executive decision.
Everyone...go to A lunch!
Yum.
The glorious cleaning ladies scrubbed the carpet.
They are so wonderful.
It was all cleaned up by the beginning of B lunch.
And to my delight, the gentelman was sitting back in my class.
Oh yes...he went to the nurse
Looked a little pale
But gutted it out and came back to class.
He said he felt better now.

First Day of School 2010

Mommy and Tristyn are back in school already!
I can't believe I've been at Lake Central for 12 years.
I can't believe this is Tristyn's third year at Miss Cheryl's.
She loves it there, but wow is she having a hard time this week!
Going to bed early is a challenge.
Waking up early is a bigger challenge.
I guess we both need to readjust our body clocks again.

We have also started potty training!
She has been wearing big girl pull ups to school.
Amazingly she has been keeping them dry too!
I will keep you all posted on the progress.

I just found Tristyn's other first day of school pics.

I thought I would post them here to show how much she's grown!

First day of school 2009.

First day of school 2008.

Daily Grind

Tristyn is 1.5 years old today!
Ugh...halfway to 3.
Wait...does that mean the terrible 2's will be over by then?

I was thinking on the way to work yesterday
About how my daily schedule works.
And if I get off by one minute
It throws my whole day off.
I thought I would share my daily routine with you
For all to enjoy!

5:15 a.m. - Alarm clock rings.
5:25 a.m. - Get up and make my bed.
5:28 a.m. - Hop in the shower.
5:38 a.m. - Get dressed and head upstairs.
5:40 a.m. - Yell, "Ash...it's 5: 40!" and turn on the coffee pot.
5:45 a.m. - Yell, "Ash...get up...it's 5:45!"
5:47 a.m. - Pour coffe and butter or cream chesse my bagel.
5:50 a.m. - Go to the garage and pull out the car.
5:55 a.m. - Make sure Ash is moving and dry my hair.
6:00 a.m. - Go in Tristyn's room and say, "Good morning pumpkin!"
6:01 a.m. - Give lots of kisses and get Tristyn dressed.
6:05 a.m. - Put Tristyn's coat on, give her a bite of bagel and head to car.
6:10 a.m. - Wait for Ashlee in the driveway.
6:12 a.m. - Pull out of driveway and head to Hobart High School
6:12-6:22 a.m. - Listen to loud rap music before dropping Ashlee off.
6:22 a.m. - Tell Tristyn to wake up and blow Ashlee kisses.
6:31 a.m. - Make Tristyn grab Miss Cheryl's newspaper.
6:35 a.m. - Tell Tristyn to have a good day and head out to Lake Central.
6:39 a.m. - Get on I-65 South.
6:41 a.m. - Pull onto US 30 East.
6:50 a.m. - Order an onion bagel toasted with plain cream cheese and a medium coffee with cream and sugar. (If $ allows or if I am anticipating a HARD day)
7:03 a.m. - Turn south on US 41.
7:08 a.m. - Fight cars getting into the high school parking lot.
7:13 a.m. - Run into the school.
7:15 a.m. - First hour bell rings.
7:40 a.m. - Check Farmville.
10:10 a.m. - Check Farmville.
11:00 a.m. - Eat lunch
1:25 p.m. - Check Farmville
1:55 p.m. - On White Days...get to car and beat the buses out of the parking lot.
2:09 p.m. - Bell rings...the day is done!
2:10-3:30 - Run around and get things done.
3:30-4 p.m. - Pick up Nug.
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Make and eat dinner.
5:30-6:30 p.m. - Play
6:30 p.m. - Give Tristyn a bath.
7 p.m. - Read Nug books and kiss good-night.
7:00-8:00 p.m. - Do random things around the house.
7:30-8:00 p.m. - Read and go to bed.

It looks crazy when you read it like that.
And yes...I do go to bed before 8 p.m.
That's what happens when you don't have TV!

Makeover Night!

Tristyn and Rhonda.

Headbands are cool.

6

+

---+....love Tristyn

Can you tell a difference?+++++

Ahhh...me and moisterizer...whatever!



Filling in my wrinkles.

Sarah and Betty...the girlie girls.

The boys having tea.

My friends Kate had a makeover party.
Miles and Dustin hung out with us too.
Tristyn had fun with the headband and celery.
We also made up a new game.
Yoga Ball Wars.
You know it was all Dustin's idea.
You balance on the balls and see who can stay on the longest.
Here's a video of our rodeo.

Soooooo Busy!

Me, Tristyn and all her awesome LC babysitters!

My managing editor making faces at Tristyn.

Taking care of Nugget.

Sarah, Me and Tristyn at the State Journalism Convention.

Youngest Journalist Ever!

Holy moly have we been busy lately!
So busy that I haven't had time to blog.
I have been so stressed about our state journalism convention.
Sarah and I are in charge of the On-Site contests on Thursday night of the convention.
We totally revamped them this year and it was a ton of work.
We had a list of about 50 things to do up on my wall.
We finally accomplished the whole thing right before we left.
We took 32 students and Tristyn!
She was sooo good! So, were the high school kids.
The contests went fine.
The business meeting on Friday was great.
We introduced our license plate project
And everyone now thinks that we are rock stars.

What else have we been up to?
Leslee has had a couple of gymnastics meets.
She didn't win any ribbons, but hopes to improve for next year.
Ashlee and Billy are at Shimmer today.
That's the women's wrestling up in Berwyn, IL.
Tammy was lucky enough to drive them there...ha ha! Sucker!
BJ is proud to say that he has beaten the Tony Hawk skateboarding game on Playstation.
He also had a pretty good mid-term report.

Tristyn has her 4 month check up tomorrow.
I will keep everyone posted on her weight and stats.
She is getting so active!
And she's getting some meat on her bones!

First Week of School

Ashlee, Tristyn, BJ and Leslee on their first day.

Me on my first day of school.


Me and Tammy on her first day.

The first week of school was a killer.
Last night I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30 p.m.
I woke up at 11:30 a.m.
I ate, went to the bathroom and went back to bed.
I woke up at 1 p.m. and I'm still tired.
Changing the morning routine is different.
I have to wake up super early to feed Tristyn and get her ready for school.
But it's all worth it when I wake her up and she just smiles at me!

School has been crazy.
Being in a new classroom is throwing both Sarah and I off.
Wayyyy off.
I can't find ANYTHING.
I keep forgetting my lines during lectures.
And the format of my room is taking a lot of getting used to.
There's nowhere to stand in my room.
My favorite place to lecture from is on top of the counter!
Sarah's room echos like no other
And you have to turn off the lights by cutting the fuses in the fuse box!
Someone cut a line during construction
So Sarah doesn't have a phone
And we both can't hear the announcements OR the bell in our rooms.
I'm sure we'll get used to it, but it's going to take time.
Other than the new room, my classes are awesome.
I have a photo class with 21 kids in it....heaven!
On Blue days I have Scout, Intro Journalism, Photo and Plan.
On White days I have Photo, Homeroom, Photo, Plan.
White days are my monkey days.
Those are days where even a monkey could do it!
This is the first year that Sarah and I both have students with special needs.
Sarah has a boy with downs syndrom in photo.
I have a boy with muscular dystophy in journalism.
That's what I love about teaching...always new challenges.

Ashlee started her sophomore year.
Good god I teach sophomores...how can she be a sophomore?
I'm old.
She is now on a block 8 schedule and adjusting to that.
She's still working at McDonald's and having a grand time with Billy.
No...Billy is NOT her boyfriend.
They are wrestling buddies.
Seriously...they watch women's wrestling together.
*me rolling my eyes*

Leslee started middle school.
Again...good god middle school.
God bless all the middle school teachers across the land.
I have no idea how they put up with those raging horomones
And puberty crazed kids.
Now...Leslee is the one if you ever met...will not talk to you.
She doesn't smile and comes off as mean or shy when you see her.
I swear...at home this girl does NOT shut up!
I think I heard every move she made on the first day of school.
She is joining gymnastics and started playing the clarinet for the band.
She is way too organized with her school stuff.
I think she gets that from me.
The girl even put her name on her little pencil erasers!
And she wants to eat Tristyn...literally.
The girl can't get enough of this baby.

BJ is the big man at George Earl.
My third grader.
The man with the mohawk.
His folders are already bent.
WHY can't this boy be neat? WHY?
I seriously haven't done his laundry since before Tristyn was born.
The rule is...if you want your laundry done...bring it downstairs.
Where is his laundry?
Spewed all over his bedroom floor.
I guess he'll come crying when he has to go to school comando!

Tammy is still teaching at Hobart.
She's not thrilled about it and still looking for an administrative job.
Keep your fingers crossed for her.

I feel like I've been so busy and tired lately!
I just haven't had a chance to sit down and blog.
And I have so much more to blog about!
And so many videos to share!
So bear with me and stay tuned.
I swear more is coming.

SCHOOL IS OVER!!!

The front of S-103...Sarah's old room.

S-101...my old room.

SCHOOL IS DONE!!!
Thank the goddess above it's over!
Those were the longest two weeks of my life!
Maybe it was due to the fact that Sarah and I were sharing a room.
Maybe it was because we were done with everything so early.
It just seemed like I was a fishy swimming upstream.
But I got everything done.
Entered all my contests on time...
Mailed all my memberships on time...
Turned in all my grades on time...
Had my checklist done early this year...

Even covered and bordered all of my new bulletin boards.

Sarah and I took one last trip to the old rooms.
They started totally ripping stuff out at 7:15 this morning.
They waste no time.
We took more pictures.
Got sad.
I didn't cry and I don't know why.
I asked my principal to get me a block...I want a cement block.
*Sigh*

I feel like a ten pound weight is off of my back for a little while.
It's good to have a break.
Ok I'm a nerd though...

I went to Office Max right after school today
And bought a new calendar planner and my summer notebook.
You know...to keep track of "stuff."
And I have the new photo textbook right here ready to be read.
NERD!!!!

Now I have to clean this house.
Get it ready to roll.
Get ready to change my life around.

This summer and next school year are going to be rough.
Everything is new.
I want a day or two to recoop and then we need to reset.
Organize this house, our lives, our schedules, our priorities.
Accomplish the "to-do" lists that get brushed off to do other things.

People think I'm crazy.
I have a crazy life.
Some people refuse to even come over here because they can't handle it.
I call it an adventure.

I love summer because it's always an adventure.
And I will continue to document it on this blog.
Life happens fast and I like to share it with everyone.
I can't wait to see what this summer has in store for us.
Hold on tight.

Good-Bye to S-101

My empty room.

Leftover textbooks.

Sign too high to take down.

The old darkroom.

What an emotional Friday.

By noon everything was ripped out of my classroom.

Gone.

The maintenance people are awesome.

They made things so easy.

The computer guys are all awesome.

They ripped everything out

And had everything re-hooked up in the new room by 2 p.m.

Except my color printer is broken.

Change can be a good thing.

Leaving S-101 after 9 years is hard.

That's where I started...my first real job.

I had no idea what I was doing...I wasn't even a real teacher.

I've taught approximatley 1,630 students in that room.

Wow.

That's a lot of photos.

Time to start a new chapter.

IT NEEDS TO BE OVER!

Can this school year be OVER yet?!?!?!
SERIOUSLY!!!!
I almost can't take it anymore.
It is sooooo hard to get up in the morning.
I rolled out of bed at 6:20 this morning.
Took a quick shower and jetted to Dunkin Donuts.
I made it to school by 7:18.
Only 3 minutes late.
I have 5th hour plan, so it's ok.
BUT SERIOUSLY?!?!?!
Can this school year just die already?!?!?!
Ugh!!!
I was whining from about noon on today.
There are two weeks left of school.
Kids need to follow directions.
I am at the point where every question that is asked
Is answered with complete sarcasm and falsehood.
Call me a bad teacher, but come on...it's MAY PEOPLE!
FIGURE IT OUT AND READ DIRECTIONS!!!
Today I got 3 paper cuts.
I banged my head on my desk at least 4 times from exhaustion.
The newspaper is done for the year.
DONE. DONE.
36 page senior issue..all color...done.
Incoming freshmen issue...done.
Thank GOD.
Now...what to do with them for 2 weeks?
All 20 computers will be ripped out of my room tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
What to do? What to do?
CAN'T IT JUST BE OVER?!?!?!

Doctor Update

Went to the Doctor today.
I missed my appointment last Monday.
And then again last Friday.
But I got there extra early today!

My weight...181.2.
She was very proud of me for this.
I have no idea how I've gained
When I haven't been eating much this week due to stress.

Blood pressure was normal.
Again, I laugh because I have been stressed out of my mind lately.

Baby's heartbeat... in the 130's.
She said it sounded good.

My belly measurement...34...perfect.
34 weeks.
She says I'm due July 1st.
I thought it was June 24th.
Whatever...she'll come when she's ready.
She'll probably be ready before I am anyway.

I have to drink some raspberry tea or something now.
And take some other healthy pill junk.
She said to make my cervex softer.
Hey...whatever works lady.

Right now I'm an emotional wreck.
Horomoes are all over the place.
I cry all the time.
Sleeping is horrible.
My anxiety is at new heights.
I'm exhausted, yet I keep going.

There is no stopping.
Not until June 7th.
Not until the last final is graded.
Not until the walls are knocked down in my classroom.

And I eat pizza after the graduation ceremony.

How You Know You're REALLY Pregnant

Senior Banquet was tonight.
It was a big hit.
$180 for the DJ was scary, but he was good.
Food was good and the costumes were creative.
Thanks to all of my friends for sacraficing their Friday night
To chaperone and hang out with 400 seniors.
God bless you all!
I have to say that Sarah and I can throw a kick ass party.

The dance ended at 11 p.m.
After dropping Sarah off at home I decided I was hungry.
Out of all of the fast food places I pass by on the way home
I couldn't say...Hey...that sounds good.
No.
I wanted Fruity Pebbles and I wanted them right then and there.
So, I stopped at Meijer at 11:45 p.m.
Picked up some Fruity Pebbles, Rice Krispy Treats cereal and Captain Crunchberries.
Oh...and some grapes which are in the freezer right now.

Usually after an event like this where I'm in charge
We go out for a drink to relax and celebrate that it's over!
Tonight...I sat on the couch and ate Fruity Pebbles.
And they were damn good.

Best Smile I've Seen In A While

On top of my blog here I have a banner
It reads...
Wesley...We Believe.

Matt Wesley is a senior at my school.
He is a member of Sarah's yearbook staff.
Back in October he almost severed his spinal cord
While at football practice.

He has been in and out of several Chicagoland hospitals.
Yesterday, as I was coming back from the restroom
I saw a kid come through the front door
With the biggest smile on his face.
I don't think I have ever seen a student more happy to be at school.

It was Matt
Along with his mom and dad.
He wheeled down to our rooms and was surrounded by journalism nerds
Who talked his poor ears off.

As my kid takes a nice seat on the nerve in my lower back
I tried to just grin and bear it.
Because seriously...
It's got to be nothing compared to what Matt has been through.

First Amendment Symposium

Here's a video of my 2005-2006 editor in chief Zach King.
He's giving his speech about Truth at the First Amendment Symposium.
He made me so proud!!
It was an awesome teacher day.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me

Yesterday I was walking down the hall
Down to the teacher's lounge for lunch actually.
Our library has two big display cases out there
And our librarian has done an awesome job with them this year.

Right now he has one covered with Black History information.
The other has historical election stuff...pins, posters, etc.
He has a whole collection of stuff from John F. Kennedy.
One poster reads, "Vote for Kennedy" and his picture is underneath.

As I walked down the hall past the display
A boy walking in the opposite direction says to his friend,
"Vote for Kennedy? Didn't that guy die?"

Are you serious?
Are these kids living under a rock?
He actually thought that Kennedy was in this year's election.
Can someone tell me why teachers can't smack them upside the head?

Best Thing About Teaching

Oh yes...SNOW DAYS!!
Especially snow days where I get to stay home
And Tammy and the kids still have to go to school!
Ha ha ha ha!...evil laugh.
Sorry Tammy.
Sorry kids.

Today I actually got 5,000 phone calls to tell me it was canceled.
Thanks everyone for making sure I knew!
Yes...it is 8:11 a.m. and I'm still up.
But...the kids have left and I think it's time
For me to crawl back in bed
And read Harry Potter.
Ahhhh!
I love teaching!

Nothing More Frustrating...

Do you know what sucks?
When it's cold and snowy out
You get out of bed late and don't shower
You drive to work and stop at Dunkin Donuts
Cuz you think you have a couple of extra minutes
Then you get a block away from work
And the bell rings in about 7 minutes
You come up over the little hill
Pull into the parking lot
And see approximatly 5 cars
At a school with about 3,000 kids.

Damn 2-hour delay!
Damn automated alert system!
Damn them not having my correct phone number!

It's ok though.
I had a peaceful morning with my itunes.
I got a lot graded and odds and ends done.

I'm glad I wore comfy clothes this morning
It made me more happy about the situation.
I went vintage today...
I had a Ball State long sleeve T on from 1999
And a sweatshirt from my freshman year of high school...1992.
I looked hot.

What We Learn In Photo Class

Homecoming Dunk Tank

Constitution Day 2007

Sept. 17th was Constitution Day!!
We decided to make t-shirts with the First Amendment on them.
Because the 1st Amendment is important to student journalists.
High School students need to know their rights.
We made 250 t-shirts and every single one of them sold.
Teachers and students I didn't even know bought them.
All in support of the 1st Amendment.
This picture only shows a small bunch of kids who wore them.
I'm so proud of my students.
They rock!