first day of school

a wise, wise woman once said:

“I love the second grade… It’s so much better than first grade where you don’t know what’s going on, and definitely better than third grade with all the politics and the mind games.” –Phoebe Buffay

happy first day of school, friends! 

Monday Made It: August 4

{one}

see the difference?! the entire thing is done now, don't you worry!

Ok, so we did not actually make the fence. A kind gentleman who spoke primarily español did all of the construction (and did a fantastic job, if I do say so myself!), and then quoted us a pretty high number to seal it. Both B & I decided that was a project we could take on ourselves to save some money, so we marched up to Home Depot, purchased materials and weather sealed that bad boy. BY HAND. 

...until I realized that a sprayer is less than $20 (and our brushes were like $9 each...) and picked up one of those to use on the second coat. We worked two days + one morning with my darling father and sister on staining/sealing/whatever, and both days it was well over 95 degrees. Probably closer to 105. Brutal. And of course, we did it between like noon and 5pm each day. The whole time, I told B that when we list the house I am FOR SURE insisting that the phrase "hand-sealed fence" be added in. His response every time was a variation of "Um, we'll see when the time comes..."

{two}

My second project of the week is my teacher planner/organizer/binder. I mentioned in my August Currently that I am fighting off mild feelings of panic and overwhelmingness about my classroom. 

Let me tell ya what: when I printed out that lesson planner and started filling it up with all of my grand schemes and plans for the sweet nuggets that will waltz into my room and demand that I fill their heads with knowledge (... a girl can dream, right?) I felt better. This is what it's all about y'all. My classroom will come along. It will be reasonably acceptable by the time school starts. BUT my kiddos will have things to learn and do that are super fun and engaging and they will all become a part of our classroom community because I will be intentional about it. That, my friends, is the part that I am truly jazzed about. 

Back to the "MADE IT" part: (which again, I didn't actually make BUT I did put together!) Check out this cutie planner from A Modern Teacher. I am loving it. I downloaded one from her last year, but it just didn't fit my needs as a special education teacher so I rarely used it. Nothing against the planner- it was awesome!* I couldn't find the file from last year to reuse it, and I just loved the new colors and patterns + I wanted the forms that matched so I went ahead and bought this year's version. I put it in a 2" binder (overkill? We'll see...) and I really like the way it looks. I also like the options I have for layout, and I LOVE the small group planning sheets. 

*If you are a multi-age/multi-group special ed teacher, I might recommend this guy. I haven't used it, but it would have been a MUST HAVE for next year if I stayed at my last job. It looks like everything I was missing in my life and more.

#healthyteacher: Bountiful Baskets

Y'all, I had the best experience picking up my Bountiful Basket last Friday! The whole pick up process ran like a well oiled-machine, and I really think the baskets are going to a) make it easier for me to eat healthier during the school year and b) push my boundaries when it comes to cooking! I got the "conventional basket", and for $15 it came with:

-6 bananas

-5 figs

-a large bag of seedless red grapes

-7 limes

-4 large navel oranges

-8 tomatoes

-1 head of lettuce (cabbage?)

-4-5 radishes

-1 clamshell of cherry tomatoes

-1 large avocado

-2 heads of broccoli

-1 box of mushrooms

I also ordered a bag of cherry pecan granola (an extra fee, of course, but it came with TWENTY-EIGHT servings), which I immediately began putting into portion control ziplocs because it is SO delicious that I would not be able to stop chowing down if I ate out of the big bag. 

Apparently there was another someone in the house who enjoyed the process almost as much as I did...

My meal plan for the coming week looks like this to try to accommodate some of the fruits/veggies that I received:

How do you maintain healthy eating habits during the year?! Let me know!