Family Fun

A couple weeks ago Ryan, Nicole, and little Sophie came for a visit.  It was a much needed break from all the stress/business that my first school brought me.  We had a lot of fun!  

Lots of Yo Gabba Gabba was watched.  Sophie is a little obsessed with it.  

And she went crazy when Nicole bought her a Foofa shirt and doll.  

She loves her so much.  

Fun at the pool.  

  

The best part of their visit...

...ok, it wasn't the Big Turks {they were a close 2nd}.  The BEST PART of the whole visit was finding out Nicole is pregnant again!  Another Van Orman baby is on the way!  :)  

My mom is heading to California with some friends for a week long trip at the beach.  But before she left, she stayed and visited for the weekend.  She started off her "vacation" by helping me clean/organize/decorate my classroom for a couple hours.  Then we went to a delicious Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Then we stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up some essentials and started our Cameo Creations.  

Saturday was a BUSY day.  

In just one day we:

-cleaned, rearranged, and organized my room, the hallway, laundry room, kitchen, living room, and office. 

-got manicures and pedicures at my favorite "bon qui qui" salon

-went to Wal-Mart {again}, Target, TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Jo-Ann's, Scrapbook Barn, and Hobby Lobby

-made yummy dinner

-finished all the cameo creations

-watched the Hunger Games until we couldn't stay awake any longer.  

She left right after church this morning.  It was a fun, short, busy week.  I'm looking forward to when she {and my dad} come back down here for the winter.  

 

My Cameo Creations!

I FINALLY GOT A SILHOUETTE CAMEO!

And what are the odds that on the same day I bought it, Hobby Lobby had its last day of 50% off all scrapbooking paper.  Heaven help me.  

I wish I had more time during the week to play with it, but wanted to share with you a few of my creations.  :)  

My first cut was an epic fail.  

The mat was just too sticky for thin paper.  

After I cut a bunch of card stock, I tried again, and was successful.   

Super cute {and cheap} birthday treats for my kiddos. 

Inspired by Rachelle and Pinterest.  

Natalie made a sweet banner for her 5th grade, so I had to copy and make one for my new 2nd grade room.  

Looks adorable!  I love the bright colors!  

Also love my mom who climbed up on the counters to hang it for me.  :)

 My new 2nd grade team has been wonderful!  It's been a really hard transition starting a class in the middle of the year, but they have made it SO much easier!  I decided I should make a simple thank you gift for them, so thanks to Pinterest again, I made these.  

Another copy cat, I LOVED the mirror Lindsey made, so I made one to put above the sink in my room.  

I might have gone a little crazy with the letters on all my bulletin boards...  :)

And finally, the real reason why I bought the cameo was to help my mom make the cute crafts she found on Pinterest.  She is so funny.  After I told her I wanted to buy a cameo, she kept calling me and asking if the "toy" I wanted can make each craft she found.  They answer was always yes!  So we went in on it together.  But luckily, it resides in sunny Arizona with me.  :)  She wanted to start out with a Halloween and a Fall banner to hang around the fireplace.  We didn't get the ribbon yet, but look how cute they are going to be!!

Like I said, I wish I had more time to play with my cameo.  I have a lot more ideas, so stay tuned!  

  

On another note, I LOVE 2nd Grade!  It is so wonderful!  Back in the spring when I was applying/interviewing for jobs I asked Lindsey how she liked 2nd grade compared to 1st and she said "second grade is first grade on steroids!"  It really is!  I love it!  :)

starting over

Ain't that the truth.  

It was a hard transition starting the year out at a charter school.  It wasn't at all what I expected.  The staff was wonderful, friendly, and supportive, but it was just hard.  Plain and simple.  But, looooooong story short I got a job with Mesa Public Schools teaching 2nd grade!  I'm super excited!  For one thing, it is A LOT more money.  And I'm also really excited to move up a grade.  I've loved teaching first, but am really looking forward to teaching children who no longer wet their pants, can tie their own shoes, can sit still for longer than 2 minutes, can write their name...  On Friday I said goodbye to my first graders {so sad!}, packed up my room, and unloaded it all at my new school.  I start on Monday, but thankfully I get two days to work in my room.  So here we go again!