Weekend at home...finally!

We are finally staying in Jackson for the weekend and I am so glad. We have been traveling every single weekend for over a month! Please don't get me wrong- I LOVE to travel, but it's been a little much lately! Last weekend we went to Chattanooga for a surprise birthday party for Brett. Thanks to all of you for coming! I really hate that we don't live closer to most of our friends, but hopefully we will one day....sooner than later.

Here are some things we are looking forward to........

FALL BREAK! I am SO excited about our beach trip to Destin! I am hoping to have my "trash the dress" pictures done while we're there.

Halloween party in Atlanta. I am SO excited about this!

Gatlingburg trip for the MT vs. UT game with Jessica and Bree! I love our fall Gatlinburg trips. I wish we were staying longer than just the weekend!

Have a wonderful weekend :)!

Serving Others

We finally were in Jackson on a Sunday and were able to go to our wonderful J2L class this morning. Our message was about being a servant to others. This really hit home to me! I am good at encouraging people, but I will admit that my free time is limited, and sometimes I do not want to use it serving others..so that is one of my goals this week! Mike talked about how Jesus set an example of serving, by washing his disciples' feet, which was a huge act of serving in those days! (John ch. 13) We also watched a clip on Beth Moore titled The Hair Brush. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U088JkiQeDQ. I hope this video inspires you to be a servant to others this week!

Crafty Saturday

I have found so many cute decorations to make for fall, and with the hubby out of town this weekend, I decided to have a little craft night/day!

This is a door sign for my classroom! I added ribbon to the edges, and am going to make a bigger orange bow the the top!

Here's what you need to make this (super simple):
1 yard burlap
white, yellow and orange paint
paint brushes
ribbon
hot glue gun

I painted the burlap, let it dry, then hot glued the ribbon to the sides. Today I wrote trick or treat with puff paint, then went over it with a paint brush and black paint!

Not gonna lie...

So, before I started teaching, I seriously thought it would be a piece of cake. Boy was I wrong!I guess I thought, I love children, I would love to have summers off... I knew about standards and didn't think it would be a big deal to teach them to younger students. The thing is, you don't just teach standards, you have to make them somewhat fun so the students will actually retain the information! How would you make comparing and ordering numbers fun?? It takes a lot of time, thought and effort to put a lesson together! Please do not get me wrong, I LOVE my job and can't see myself doing anything else. It is very rewarding seeing all of my time and energy put into a child, especially when they have the "light bulb" moment and get it!

In our journal article today I asked them to tell me two adjectives to describe school, then tell me what they needed me to do to make school a more enjoyable place. Pretty much all of my adjectives were fun and boring. I asked them how school could be fun and boring at the same time and they said it just was.

Some of my students have a really hard time getting all of their books in their desk so I decided to clean a few of these desk out today.. Well, I found a journal article torn out and crammed into the back of one desk. It read, "School would be more fun if you would not make me sit by (two other children's names) I told you Mrs. Smalley I wanted to sit by (another child's name)! I laughed SO hard and when this little boy got back from exploratory, I told him I found his journal article and got the note. Little things like this make all of my hard work worth it! I NEVER know what is going to come out of their little mouths..but they definitely say something every day to make me laugh!

Labor Day Weekend

What a wonderful weekend! Friday night we arrived in Chattanooga just in time to catch the second half of the twins football game, then got caught in a crazy rain storm!Saturday we had a lunch date and made a peanut butter ball from a pinterest recipe! It was AMAZING and super easy. We also went to a football party at Bree and Jimmy's! It was so fun to hang out with friends! We made it back to Brett's dad's house just in time for the Georgia game. Sunday we went to a BBQ on the river with family! It was sooo nice. I now want a lake house :) Today, we went to South Fulton for a delicious meal from my Mom! I am exhausted! Better rest up because we'll be on the road again for a wedding!

Jessica's 25th Birthday Surprise

I couldn't leave this one out...
One of my very best friends just celebrated her 25th birthday and her sweet husband pulled of a great surprise party! We met in Murfreesboro at her favorite restaurant, Maple Street Grille and enjoyed amazing food and each others company! Great job, Jeremy!

Weekend Fun

Here we go again! This is the third weekend that we are out of town. I am so happy that we always have somewhere to get away! We love going to Chattanooga to visit friends and family, and we love spending time together on the drive! We're hoping to make it to Brett's little brother's football game tonight.

I hope all of my blogger friends have had a great week! I am still loving my job! I wore my bangs back today, kind of poofy, and one of my kids asked why I had that bump on my head hahaha! I love them!

Have a great LONG weekend!