2 weeks into the school year

So, I've just started my 4th year teaching at my current school.  I couldn't be happier.  The students I have this year are wonderful.  I'm a little concerned about my 4th hour only because it's such a BIG class, but they are great kids and they try really hard.  I think it'll be ok.  I'm super excited about the exchange this year and I know it's going to be fantastic.  

I think my biggest concern right now is that I'm still having issues with my sciatic nerve.  I've ended up with Piriformis Syndrome which is causing major sciatic pain down my right leg.  I'm stretching like crazy, doing my exercises and trying not to overdo it, but I'm so over this.  I wanted to be WAY better by now.  I guess the good news is that my back feels amazing!!!  I know that I'll get this figured out and it'll all be ok.

We've had a crazy week with illnesses and injuries.  Last weekend Jake had a temp of 102, the next day seemed to be fine.  Monday night Ellie injured her thumb at gymnastics and it was still hurting on Thursday - so I ended up taking her to children's mercy and she's got a splint that she's supposed to wear to school and at home for the next 5 days.  So then Saturday morning she woke up with a fever of 101.5 and was feeling like crap - she ended up with strep throat.  So now I'm praying that I don't end up with strep since I've been on steroids for my Piriformis Syndrome.

It ended up being a relaxing Saturday and mostly relaxing today so that Ellie can get better.  We watched a ton of Doctor Who prepping for the new episode last night.  Today so far we've played video games, cleaned out my closet so that James can put a new closet organizer up, and hopefully will relax the rest of the day.  

I have really bad Sunday night blues and so I have to take care of myself to not get overwhelmed about going back to work - it's not that I don't like work.  I don't even have to worry as I already have lesson plans written for this week, but's just that it goes back to not being with my kids and my husband all day.  I love having family days.  I love my time with everyone at home.

My summer 2014

So, it seems like this blog was dead, or at least I just hadn't had time to deal with it, but I wanted to come back to it.  I'm trying to decide what direction I'm going to take it.  I'm considering keeping it about my life, family, etc and then creating a new one for my teaching.  

At any rate, this last school year was amazing.  I was at Chrisman only and I had a full schedule of amazing students.  I really loved all of them.  I felt like this was my best year teaching ever.  I'm hoping that every year I'll get better and more effective.

The worst part about this year is that my back had decided to become awful.  Some of you know I've been dealing with some back problems for a while now - since I was pregnant with Ellie so like almost 11 years.  At any rate, in March it got so bad that I could barely walk.  I ended up going to the doctor, getting X-rays and other scans and eventually an MRI.  I had a bulging disc and it was putting pressure on my sciatic nerve.  It was causing severe pain and also tingling down my right leg.  I ended up getting 3 epidural shots in the nerve and while they helped some, they didn't help enough to make a difference.  I ended up going to a neurosurgeon and they got me into surgery almost a week later.  So, I've had a microdiscectomy and laminectomy on my lower back.  It was amazing - when I woke up from surgery the pain was gone.  Now I had surgical pain to deal with and am still dealing with, but the original pain was completely gone.  I feel so much better now.

So, I'm spending my summer recovering from surgery.  I feel bad for my kids, they are stuck in the house with me.  I'm thankful for my friends and family who come to visit and bring meals.  They have truly made life a lot easier during this time.  

Tomorrow is the 4th of July - this is my first real outing since my surgery on June 17th.  I'm excited to get out but nervous about being sore and dealing with pain.  Luckily everyone is very understanding about what I'm dealing with.  

I'm hoping to post some pictures from tomorrow and update soon.  My goal is to really keep track of things here because my goals now are to get in shape and lose weight.  I need to keep myself motivated and be held accountable.  So, I'm looking to you all out there in Internet land to help me with that.  

Beginning of the year, Halloween, etc.

I haven't even looked to see when the last time I posted was.  I had intended to keep things going and really continue my blogging since I had been doing so well.  Anyway, off to my update...

School started with a whirlwind of activity this year.  It just seemed like the minute we started going, we didn't ever stop.  Each week would fly by and with no break in site I was getting exhausted.  My kiddos were feeling the same way so I knew it wasn't just me.  (And, after talking to several of my other teacher friends: elementary and high school levels, they all said the same thing) We all feel like we're just dragging this year.  It's not that the year isn't going well and it's not that we're unhappy with things (there are always minor things that we can be irritated with, but nothing serious).  I honestly wonder if the reason for the burnout feeling is that we really had no break from the moment we started school until today.  And the only reason we got the break today was because of a crazy week of parent/teacher conferences.

Luckily for me, I had a nice break last week when I went to the Foreign Language Association of Missouri (or FLAM) conference.  It was so nice to go and sit in professional development sessions that were actually valid and were useable in my classroom.  Foreign Language is SO different than any other type of teaching, and I know that administrators and higher ups in the education word don't really understand that.  Now if we started teaching this kids in the elementary levels, then maybe in the high school level, foreign language might look different, but we don't, so all of the FL teachers do the best we can and we try to implement these strategies that might not work in our classroom.  We try them, they fail, we might try again because we're a tenacious bunch, but then we give up because it just doesn't work and we stick to what we know does work.  Anyway, the FLAM conference was AWESOME!!  I came back with SO many amazing ideas and I can't wait to use them.  I'm actually going to be putting them to use starting next week!!  I love it when I go to things and can immediately bring something new to the classroom.  So that was a nice break - was it relaxing? No.  Only because for me it's stressful to be gone from my family and it's hard work sitting in the sessions even when they are exciting and rejuvenating.  Plus, it's always WAY more work to be gone from school than it is to just go and deal with it.

This last week, was a go and deal with it week - partly because it was too hard to be gone and partly because of parent/teacher conferences.  Apparently over last weekend I did something to my back and my sciatic nerve was ANGRY!  It was hurting so badly, I could barely walk, by Tuesday 11 am I was shaking and almost in tears from the pain, by Wednesday I was so done with it and was so grateful that I had a chiropractor and massage therapy appointment.  I love my massage therapist - she's amazing.  It's not fluffy feel good massage - she digs in there and actually fixes the problem.  I don't feel it's a good session with her unless I cry on the table.  I was upset though after I got up from my massage because I didn't feel instantly better, but I then went to the next room to my chiropractor and he got everything back where it was supposed to go!  It was instantaneous - I could walk again.  Now I'm having to watch it and still be careful because that muscle is so tight, but it's SO much better than it was. 

Anyway, so I sat through parent teacher conferences with my back killing me, and just dealt with it because it was easier to just be there and get it done.  Luckily, my students' parents are awesome.  It was a great night talking to these families.  I laughed a ton, I learned a lot about my students, and it's always nice to see the families that I know really well and that really enjoy seeing me.  It made me feel so validated and that I'm doing a good job.  Sometimes, as a teacher, I just need to hear that because honestly I feel like there are times what I'm doing doesn't matter at all.

So here we are, 1st real day off since Labor day.  I got to sleep in, I'm enjoying my coffee while the kiddos play.  We have a couple errands to run, but really today is going to be a lazy day.  I'm going to do some cleaning because on Halloween night our French exchange teacher arrives.  (More on that in a second).  But really I'm just going to take it easy and enjoy being with my kids.

This weekend we're going to do  lots of fun Halloween activities.  Saturday evening we're going to a friend's party, I'm working on convincing James to go to the zoo on Saturday morning for Boo at the Zoo.  Sunday we've been invited to two trunk or treats, and I think we're going to hit both of them, but one for sure.  Monday the kids are off school so Ellie and Jake will be at daycare all day together - which both kids actually really enjoy (I love my daycare!!).  I have professional development on Monday.  I'm hoping it will be something actually useable in my classroom.  I'm doing my best to go in with a good attitude because it definitely makes the day go faster if I'm not as grumpy. 

Halloween is on a Wednesday this year - which kind of drives me crazy.  I wish we didn't have to deal with it in the middle of the week.  Can't we have a Halloween observed on a Saturday evening?  That way kids aren't out super late and then are exhausted the next day?  I don't know, just my opinion.  We're doing a lot of our Halloweening (It can be a verb, right?) early because the French exchange kiddos arrive at 7:30 that evening.  I'm making my whole family go to the airport to meet our teacher who will be staying with us.   My kids are so excited to meet her and honestly I am too.  This is going to be such an amazing experience for my family and for my students.  Things I'm nervous about are: lack of privacy while they are here, how many activities we have planned on top of normal life activities, getting through my curriculum at school that I'm already behind on because of other things going on at school, etc.  Plus I'm already worrying about when we go to France in March.  I know it'll all be ok, I'm looking forward to France, but I'm also nervous about being away from my husband and kids.  I know they'll survive without me, but I'm going to miss them terribly.

Anyway, the plan is to go pick up Francoise and then get home as quickly as possible to let the kiddos go trick or treating for a little bit before bed.  We're all going to be exhausted Thursday morning, so I figure we'll just go with it.  I think several of my students are going to come with us because my neighbor, Ellie's friend's dad, has this awesome haunted house behind his house and all my students want to go. 

I'm hoping to post some pictures from Halloween and the French exchange while they are here, it probably won't happen until after the French leave.  It might not happen until Thanksgiving.  However, I am going to try and post at least once a month.  I find that I handle things better if I can write it out and see it in print and realize what I'm worrying about is silly. 

Cookie Dough Dip

I've become addicted to Pinterest in the last several months - looking for recipes mostly because I'm always looking for better ideas for dinners.  Well, this one post kept calling my name and it was the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip.  So I found a recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it.  It was not good.  Basically it was cream cheese frosting with oats, flour, brown sugar and then m&m's and chocolate chips.  It looked really appetizing, but unless you wanted to just eat cream cheese frosting - it was lacking.

So in my craziness, because I can't let this go, I decided to try and make my own chocolate chip cookie dough dip.  It was awesome.  Basically I took the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe, left out the eggs, mixed it all in my electric mixer and while it was mixing I added some milk.  I have no idea how much I added, but it's up to you how much you want to add because it affects how thick the dip is.  I wanted mine a little thicker than frosting so that it would stay on the chocolate graham crackers that I served it with.  I tried my first bite and man I was thrilled.  THIS was what cookie dough dip was supposed to taste like.  The milk helped smooth out the flour texture and it was thick enough to be filling without being ridiculous.

As my friends and I were eating this last night, we thought of all the variations you could use: mini chocolate chips, m&m's, butterscotch chips, toffee chips.  You can serve it with chocolate graham crackers or vanilla wafers.

We all agreed that I was not allowed to bring this back to game night because it was SO addicting.  The entire bowl of it was gone by the time the night was over.  In my book, that's a major win.

Stupidly, I didn't take any pictures of the dip, I wish I had, but it looked just like cookie dough, because that's what it was.  I'll even attach a picture of cookie dough, so that I can pin my post to Pinterest in hopes of getting rid of the other nasty cookie dough dip recipes on there.  Cookie dough dip should not have cream cheese in it, even though I LOVE cream cheese.  It should taste like cookie dough, not cream cheese frosting.

Summer begins!!

I realized that I hadn't posted anything since Ellie's birthday. I'm a very bad blogger, however; there's been a lot going on. We had Ellie's Birthday, followed by the 2nd grade Luau, then my sister's baby shower and then it was May. May is an insanely busy month, especially for a teacher. I actually looked at it looked like I had started a post, and left it because I just had too much else to do.




School ended on May 21st, which also happens to be my birthday. I had several students write me very nice notes, bring me cake, gifts, etc. They were so sweet. The last day of school was a really good day. I was glad to see my students one last day and to wish them a good summer. The best news was that I was moving upstairs near my friends in the normal part of the school. I'm excited to be getting a nicer room and to have some storage within the room to put all my stuff. I also had it confirmed that I will be teaching hours 1-4 at my school and then teaching 6th hour at the other high school. It'll be stressful but good. I honestly need to get my butt working and get vocab lists and power points made for the 1st chapters for all levels.

Anyway... With school ending, summer began. We've been to the pool a ton. Kids have enjoyed swimming and learning how to roller skate at the skating rink. We also started swim lessons this week. Ellie loves it, Jake kind of does but the water has been really cold!


Another exciting thing in our lives - my sister had her baby on June 3rd. Adrienne Esther made her appearance at 11:28 weighing 8 lbs 3 ounces. She's a doll. I'm so proud of my sister too, she absolutely rocked labor and delivery and it wasn't easy. I know I couldn't have done what she did - pushing for 3 hours, etc. She absolutely kicked major ass. There aren't enough words to express how excited I am to have a niece and how awesome my sister is.

 



Before school ended I started seeing a massage therapist who does really intense deep tissue massage. She's amazing. It hurts, but I can definitely tell it's helping too. I'm always nervous when I go to see her, but I know it's really working. I've really enjoyed the first part of our summer here. I'm enjoying spending the time with my kiddos, reading books, watching movies and hopefully I can get my bathroom redone - that's my other goal!! :) We'll see if that actually happens or not.

Happy Birthday Ellie!!

Today is my wonderful Ellie's 8th birthday!! It's hard to believe that 8 years ago at 12:37 AM she came into our lives. She has thoroughly blessed us and I know she will continue to do so. She is one of the kindest, sweetest, most tenderhearted children I've ever met. She makes me want to be the best person I can be and in turn the best mom I can be.



This morning she woke to find her presents on the couch. I was very proud of her for being patient about opening them. Jake had told Ellie yesterday that she got a nerf gun from him, so James wrapped up one of his nerf guns. Ellie opened that one first and wasn't super excited about it. I explained what daddy did and then she opened the real gift. She was much more excited about the Doodle Dog thing that Jake got her. James and I got her Cynder and Flameslinger for the Skylander's game. That was a big hit too. Jake almost got upset because he hadn't gotten a skylander, but low and behold I had one waiting for him too. All is well in the Owens household this morning!! :)

Now off to clean house because we have Ellie's birthday party next weekend and then Bobbi's baby shower here in two weeks. I'm hoping to really deep clean today and then just spot clean between now and then.

Joyeux Poisson d'Avril!

Now traditionally I hate April Fool's day, but that's because I'm a teacher and I've had horrible things happen at school on that day. Luckily this year it's a Sunday and I'm grateful that neither my husband nor I believe in playing tricks on each other. I will say the French have a cool way of celebrating. They try and tape a paper fish on the back of someone without being noticed.

"In France and Italy children (and adults, when appropriate) traditionally tack paper fish on each other's back as a trick and shout "april fish!" in their local language ("poisson d'avril!" and "pesce d'aprile!" in French and Italian respectively)."

I think that's a much better tradition than doing something awful to scare or hurt someone. I'm honestly hoping to just go through tomorrow at school without mentioning it at all.

It's been a month-ish since I last posted. Jake is well into being 4. He's had another ear infection this month, but I don't think we're going to get tubes right away because insurance wants 6 in a year before they'll pay for tubes. Currently we're at 4 but if we make it through April without any, then we're back down to 3. It's incredibly frustrating because obviously he needs them again. I'm worried about him becoming amoxicillin resistant like Ellie has become with ear infections. Other than the ears though, he's doing well. He can write his name - which is super cool. He's also pronouncing words more correctly now. He used to say, "lellow" for yellow and since they worked on the letter Y at school, he says "yellow" correctly. He loves learning the letters of the alphabet and is really doing an amazing job at recognizing them. But along with all that comes the age 4 tantrums and he really is incredibly bull-headed and he just wants his way all the time.

Ellie turns 8 in about a week. That doesn't seem possible. We're having a bounce house birthday party at our house again - I'm praying that it doesn't rain. We've had such beautiful weather up until now. She's super excited for her birthday party and honestly, I am too. How is it possible that she's 8. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was pregnant with her and student teaching...

Speaking of teaching, things are going relatively well. The weather has been so beautiful that students are just done, and honestly, I am too. I'm glad we didn't have too many snow days so that we get out on time (my birthday actually) and it seems like the weeks are going to go really fast. It's definitely been a year of learning for me. I feel good about how the year has gone and I'm thinking already of things that I'm going to change for next year. I have 5 students that I'm taking to France with the teacher from Truman and her 22ish students (I don't remember the exact count). It will be a 2 week trip, the same one I went on when I was in high school. I'm incredibly nervous about it. I'm worrying about hosting someone here, staying at their house in France, traveling with students (in general), how my kiddos here are going to handle my being gone, how much I'm going to miss being at home with my family. I know it'll be ok, but it's just getting to that point.