29 Things

I had a bad couple days at work.

I actually considered quitting.

It's all good now.

No worries.

With it being the 29th today,

and it being a cool thing,

I thought I'd heed some advice from my principal

and remember the good things.

So, here's my list of 

29 Things I Love About Teaching.

1. I love sharing my experiences with my students.

2. The ability to help students acheive their best.

3. Knowing that I inspire some of my students.

4. I feed off the energy of my students.

5. I get to share my enthusiasm. Did you know enthusiasm is contagious?

6. Teaching grade 2 is amazing. You can't imagine how much growth there is.

7. I work with a group of fabulous professionals.

8. You never get bored of teaching.

9. Have you ever seen a lightbulb go on in one of your students?

10. I have an administrator that listens and is supportive.

11. I get to read. Every. Single. Day!

12. I get to share my love of books with 20 other people.

13. I have the best assistant teacher.

14. My teaching partner thinks I'm great!

15. I honestly have the job I've always wanted.

16. I get siblings who know who I am. It's like being a rock star.

17. Kids say the darndest things!

18. Seeing children help each other out.

19. Hugs! I love getting hugs from my students. 

20. I get to travel. With the vacation time I get, I get to see the world.

21. I love it when students ask thoughtful questions.

22. I learn all kinds of things from my students.

23. I get to act like a ham in front of my class. And they still love me!

24. A month off at Christmas, Easter Break, Mid Term breaks, Summer Vacation!

25. Ethan and I get to go to school together.

26. I get a kick out of telling my students we're going to play a game, and they think I'm not teaching them anything!

27. I have the best timetable ever, this year!

28. If a lesson's going stray, you can improvise and the students never notice.

29. It's who I am.

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 52

Saturday was market day.

I love market day.

Ethan's favourite part of market day

is eating the noodles.

Scott had to go into the office

later that afternoon,

so Ethan and I went on a date.

Correction,

"It's not a date mommy.

You are already married to Daddy."

My handsome non-date date.

 The latte's mine.
The black forest mousse,
we shared.

 Open wide!

He's so proud to be paying the bill.


Happiness is having a non-date date with your favourite little man.

Future Ex-Husband

It was Elizabeth's birthday this week.

This evening, a few girls went to the cinema

before her birthday dinner.

We decided on the chick flick

This Means War.

I found my future ex-husband here.

Yes, Tom Hardy.

Hellooo....

British accent

and

tattoos!

I love you Reese,

but really,

you picked the wrong guy. 

Valley of Silence - Nora Roberts

I've noticed that I tend to read a lot of series. And while I enjoy them, I do have a pet peeve. When it comes to the last book of the series, I'm usually disappointed. The last few books don't tend to have the same pull or excitement as the first few. 

Well, that was not a problem here. Valley of Silence is the last book in the Circle Trilogy and I have to say it's my favourite. 

In Morrigan's Cross, Cian is turned into a vampire. His brother Hoyt is visited by the goddess Morrigan and told he must travel into the future and gather the Circle of Six who will battle the evil vampire queen Lilith. During this book, we watch as the circle is formed, we see them train, learn about each other, and we see Hoyt fall in love with Glenna.

In book 2, the training continues. This time we watch as Blair fights her feeling for Larkin.

Now the Circle of Six consists of 3 men and 3 women. Two sets have been paired off, so obviously you enter this one knowing it will be all about Moira, Queen of Gaell, and the vampire, Cian. Ok, asides from the whole war thing which is so sad, how does a vampire and a queen from another land possibly make it work?

My mate, Sarah, recommned this series. I started crying at chapter 17 and I still had over 200 pages to go. Needless to say, I texted her, wanting to know if I should expect to cry for the next 200 pages. I did. On and off. It got pretty dicey there too, for awhile, but Sarah has never steered me wrong. And neither did Nora!

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 51

Scott's a little funny when it comes to flowers.
He won't buy me flowers over Valentine's
simply because it's expected.
He likes to say I'll get flowers when I least expect them.
I like to say I never expect them,
and I never get them.

So on Valentine's I thought I'd be cute
and send Scott this card.

Turns out he didn't read his email until
Tuesday night,
but Tuesday afternoon he came home with these;

Happiness is getting flowers when you least expect it.

Half Way There

Four weeks ago,

I convinced some colleagues to join me in doing

the Six Sisters 8-Week Health Challenge. 

Granted, they call it the weight loss challenge,

while we call it the Health Challenge.

We also came up with a name for ourselves;

PHAT.

As in Physically Healthy, Active Teachers.

Today marks the beginning of week 5.

(So far I've lost 3 kilos).

To celebrate the half way point,

Elizabeth decided to throw a 

Half Way There Healthy Pizza Party.

The idea was to get us all together,

healthy toppings only

and we'd have a great afternoon

making pizza. 

Susan got the kids to show her how to roll out her dough.

Kay is proud of her healthy pizza loaded with veggies.

Diana is super excited to be making her own pizza.

That's my pizza there.

Tommy appointed this as the best looking pizza.

Somehow, 

during the course of the afternoon,

we abandoned,

or rather forgot,

our healthy habits, and went for the  dessert pizza.

Can't wait to see what we do to celebrate the end of 8 weeks!

Going Paperless

I really want to go paperless.

I've tried to go paperless.

I have an iPhone, iPad, Macbook.

There's no reason I should still be using paper.

But I can't go paperless.

Am I too old?

I couldn't find a lesson plan book I liked,

so I made one.

It has my plans written all over

and sticky notes for other plans and ideas.

Then, when Scott gave me an iPad for my birthday,

I thought I'd use it for school purposes.

I even found a great app.

But, for some reason,

I prefer my homemade lesson plan book. 

It works better for me.

So, if I'm going to use paper for my lesson plans,

I figure I could go paperless for my student conferences.

And yes, there's a fab app for that too.

I started using it,

but once again, 

found my label stickers and notebook a better/easier way.

I know, 

shame on me.

My iPhone's great to write my appointments in,

but my Erin Condren Life Planner

let's me write all sorts of things down,

appointments, to do list, goals, exercise, food journal,

all in one place.

I know,

the paperless thing is just not meant for me.

I apologise. 

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 50

Last year, Ethan decided he wanted to take tennis lessons.

So I found a tennis coach, 

and Ethan and his mates started lessons once a week.

With Ethan's coordination issues,

tennis isn't something he can really play.

His upper and lower body don't always match up.

Which means he can either run after the ball,

or try to hit it,

but not both.

Eventually, the tennis lessons in Dar bore him. 

He was getting frustrated at not being as good as his mates.

In comes Lusaka.

There's a tennis court at school.

Ethan decides he wants to take tennis lessons.

Really?

Oh, ok.

Ethan has a 1/2 hour lesson each week.

I'm usually tidying up my classroom, 

so I'm not sure what goes on.

But his tennis coach seems happy with his progress.

Either that,

or he's happy with what I pay him.

I never saw Ethan hit a ball in Dar.

On Friday, Sydney asked Ethan to show me how he could hit the balls.

I was impressed.

Happiness is watching your son enjoy a sport.

Zambian Pride

Scott and I went to Cape Town in 2010

for the semi final match between 

Holland and Uruguay.

It was amazing!

It was my first football match I'd ever attended.

The electricity was thrilling.

To see all that orange,

was unbelievable.

Cape Town went crazy that night.

It was nothing like I could ever imagine.

I thought I'd seen it all.

I was wrong.

Last night was the finals in the 

Africa Cup of Nations.

Zambia vs Cote D'Ivoire.

Zambia's Chipolopolo

(the Copper Bullets)

brought home the cup!

Many businesses were closed today.

I had 7 students absent.

The mall even closed at 3:00 today

so that people could go to the Showgrounds 

to welcome the team home.

There were vuvuzelas at school.

Everyone wore Zambian colours

(green and orange).

I sat in traffic

and had a smile on my face.

It's a great time to be living in Zambia.

We're a part of history.

We feel the pride of all Zambians.

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

If you haven't figured it out already,

I love to read.

I challenged myself last year, 

and again this year

to reading more books.

Then I came across The Story Siren.

She has a reading challenge as well.

Her challenge is to create awareness for new

young adult authors.

She challenges you to read and review

a minimum of 12 young adult or middle grade debut novels

this year.

Now, did you know that I love

and collect

Cinderella stories?

Well, I do!

So when I heard about Marissa Meyer's novel Cinder

I knew it was one I should read.

Cinder is a cyborg living in New Beijing.

Her adoptive father died from the deadly plague

that ravages the world, 

days after adopting her.

Her step-mother,

or guardian,

hates her.

She is blamed for the illness and death of her

step-sister.

Cinder is a second class citizen and gifted mechanic.

She knows her place in the world.

But that all changes.

She meets Prince Kai.

Her stepmother volunteers her to be a guinea pig 

to scientists trying to find a cure for the plague.

She learns about her past,

all while struggling with her feelings for the prince,

and helping him conquer the evil Queen Levana.

The only thing I did not like,

is that I have to wait until next year,

when the second book comes out,

to get the happily ever after

all Cinderella books provide.

Time Management

How do you mommies do it?

Seriously.

How?

I have so much respect for you, and now need your wisdom.

How are you able to work full time,

come home, 

cook dinner, 

clean the house 

and spend time with your little ones?

I have the amazing Mary,

and feel like Ethan's being short changed.

I know Ethan has motor issues.

And he doesn't really have any core muscles.

If there was an OT here, 

I'd take him.

I found a PT, that we'll see next week.

But in the meantime,

I need to do more with him.

I have a list of the great OT exercises he should do,

and even have a yoga ball.

But how do I fit it all in?

This week, Ethan's been waiting for me afterschool.

We get home around 4-ish. 

We read, we write in his journal,

we goof off.

Then there's bath, dinner and bed time.

Do I take away just plain fun

to work on his strength?

And I have Mary!

I don't need to cook or clean.

And yet I can't fit in all in.

So how do you do it?

Seriously.

I'm feeling like such a bad mommy.

Help.

52 Weeks of Happiness - Week 49

Scott has gone to SA this week for a mining conference.

Usually, when he travels, I don't tend to eat proper meals.

My housekeeper, Mary, seems to have picked up on that.

And she disapproves.

Today, I came home to some butternut risotto.

YUM!

I also, stupidly, volunteered to bake 25 cupcakes

for Ethan's 100th Day of School celebration.

After school today, Mary baked a batch with Ethan.

Mary is strict with Ethan.

She doesn't let him get away with spending his afternoon in front of the TV.

She plays with him outside in the afternoons,

after spending the day cleaning up our mess.

And still finds time to cook for us.

Mary is the key to my happiness!

Dance of the Gods - Nora Roberts

I think I found my new favourite trilogy!

Dance of the Gods continues where Morrigan's Cross ends. What''s great is the focus is now on another 2 members of the Circle, Blair, the vampire hunter, and Larking, the shape shifter from Geall.

The circle of 6 now move onto the next phase of their journey. They continue to train in Ireland, and then travel through the Dance of the Gods to Geall, the site of the impeding battle with Lillith, the queen vampire, and her army. We see Moira begin to prepare as Queen (the 3rd book will be hers), Blair and Larkin's relationship deepens and Hoyt and Glenna begin to help the citizens of Geall prepare for war.

I have goosebumps thinking of the 3rd, and last book.