To do lists- UPDATE

So this morning I posted about to do lists! One of my fav websites is Baby half off! Awesome stuff for mommies, wives, and even teachers sometimes! I clicked on there today, and what did I see? PLANNERS! Planners for everything! So, go check it out! Super cheap and super cute! AWESOME!

Wifey Wednesday - To do lists

As a wife, you are expected to take care of the kids, cook, clean, and so on. I am proud to say that I have so much help with all that. My husband is amazing! He definitely helps with all of those things without me asking. Actually, normally he has to ask me to help him. Growing up, before my mom would leave for work, she would leave me a to do list and it would all get done. As you know, I'm a teacher, so to do lists are a big part of my day! I have found that there are a lot of to do lists out there and finding the one that works for you is important to make sure that all your "stuff" gets done.

One type of to do list is a digital one. At my school, we use gmail. There is a way on gmail that you can create a to do list when you are in calendar and actually check things off when you are done, which I LOVE! Google calls it tasks! This is a good to do list if you are on a computer all the time. Or, you can put your digital to do list on your smartphone. I have done this before but sometimes I forget to mark it off. Now that we are in the digital age, this would probably be a good to do list for most!

I am a very visual learner and love to see things written out and love to write things out, which is why to do lists are so good for me! So, I love written to do lists. There are some great examples on pinterest that I love. Some are for daily planners, weekly planners, or monthly planners. They are colorful and the best part... Most of them are FREE! How could it get better than that?

So, what's on my to do list for today??? Cause I know you are wondering! :)
1. Fold towels
2. Clean off the desk
3. Update teacher website
4. Post blog
5. Call mom
6. Give Ily a bath (Ily is our daughter. Her name is Isla but we started calling her Ily for short!)

I literally put every little thing on my to do list. I think part of it is cause it makes me feel good to mark things off!

So, do you make to do lists and if so, how does it help you make it through your day? Maybe if I get brave enough, I'll actually put my handwritten to do list up one day! They can tend to get long a messy! :) If you have a specific to do list that you love, I would love to know which one!

I guess it's time to go be lovey mommy(wifey) and get to my to do list before little one wakes up!

Bloggey blog!

So, I have been on maternity leave this week from school and what do I do when I'm on maternity leave??? I play on FB and find contests to enter! All I see all over the web is how bloggers get to review products and then get to keep the product for FREE!!! HOW AWESOME!! So, I want to do that. But... the only thing is you usually have to be an established blogger! My goal this year since I am now a mom of two is to blog at least twice a week (I am actually going to put it on my to do list) and get better about the topics that I blog about. I am thinking a mix between teaching stuff and mommy/wifey stuff since those are the things that RULE my life! And did I mention how much I LOVE my life! Anyway, hopefully I can get established enough to start being a product tester! So, I may need some help to stay on track but it will happen! Remember, it will be on my to do list! And to assist in this endeavor, I am going to try and get back into twitter to help as well! So.. Here goes nothing!

How to get third graders to do work???? HELP!

I am at a loss! I have tried different things different things to get my kids to turn in their work. I seem to have the same few kids who don't turn in work and then the work that I do get from my kids is either all wrong or poorly done. I think that I am going to ask other teachers for examples of high quality and non high quality work and we are going to do a lesson on that in my class. I don't feel like the work that I give is hard. I feel like they just don't care and I don't know what to do. I send home missing assignment alerts for those who just don't turn in the work. I let them redo work that is less than a 70 for a grade of up to a 70. I feel like I am more than fair but am I being too nice? What do the 4th grade teachers do? Am I thinking that they should have more responsibility than what they should? I don't know what to do. What do you do in your third grade classroom or what advice can you give for this issue?  I need help! Let me know what you think!

Pursue positivity

Yesterday, I was useless! Literally! We went on a field study with our third graders to the UTA planetarium and to see a science magic show. It was totally awesome and would have been better had I not been sleep deprived as well as getting a splitting migraine. Now, I started getting migraines when I was about 19. I remember my first one! I called my mom, who was out of town, in tears cause my head hurt so bad. Come to find out, they run in my family. My grandfathers sister suffered from them. Anyway, I had such a bad migraine when I got home yesterday from school, I couldn't even eat or keep my eyes open. Michael literally took care of Ariya all night. I sat up to feed her then went right back to sleep. No fun at all. This was a major migraine. Nausea and all!
So, you might be saying, "what's positive about this?" Well... The fact that I have a loving husband who took on the responsibility of our child alone last night without complaining and who knew how bad I felt. I really don't know where I would be without him! He is one of a kind and out of this world! Love him do very much and he is a perfect dad! So, there is your daily positivity.
I can't wait to start running next week! I know it's going to rock!
I will leave you with some pics from our field study to UTA yesterday! Enjoy penguins!
Making fog




At the MAC




Making fire




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Next year

Today, I found out I will be teaching third grade again! I am beyond excited. I am also excited cause of who my team will be! One of the members is the current fourth grade teacher who will bring so much wisdom and knowledge to our team! The other is one of my best friends. I am so thrilled that my principal let us teach together again. We taught kinder together for the past two years. She is an amazing teacher and I can't wait to learns from her. The last person is new but I'm sure she will fit right in.
So, that was my positivity for today! Now, for those who don't know, Michael has gone vegetarian. I'm proud of him but it's hard to have meals when I'm not vegetarian. So, I am going to try something. Starting next week, I am going to try and start cooking for both of us. Maybe using tofu and veggies a lot but I would like to cook good healthy stuff. Also, I plan to start running again next week. I will keep you updated on that too.
Last, here are a couple pics of Ariya! She is growing and growing.








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides!! Please share with family and friends!

Have you been looking for a way to help out kids? I have the way!

Michael, Ariya and I are going to walk in the CF Great Strides event on May 19, 2012 and we would like you to help support us. For those who don't know, Michael and I are both carriers of CF which means that any kids we have will have a 25% chance of having the disease and a 50% chance of being a carrier. We just found out that Ariya does not have the disease but that does not change our decision to continue to support the cause. This is something that is very close to both of our hearts! If you notice the name of our team is "Born to Breathe"! Michael and I believe that every child should be born to breathe and the only way to make that happen is to find a cure for CF! Please support us and donate! Also, if you would like to join our team and walk with us, please contact me and I can get you all set up!

Here is some more info about Cystic Fibrosis!

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a devastating genetic disease that affects tens of thousands of children and young adults in the United States. Research and care supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is making a huge difference in extending the quality of life for those with CF. However, we continue to lose precious lives to CF every day. That's why your help is needed now more than ever to ensure that a cure is found sooner - rather than later.

We would love to have you or anyone you know join our team or at least make a donation! Remember, even $5 helps! Share this with friends, coworkers, family members, ANYONE! Also, if you work for a company that matches donations, that is great too! Share this blog with anyone you know and make a donation... Or join us for the walk!

Thank you in advance for your help!