I have been feeling under the weather and just plain sad the last few days, but my family and friends sure know how to make me smile and feel loved!

I came home Saturday afternoon to find these sitting on my porch:

With this note attached:

It made me so happy I cried...nothing feels better than tears of joy!

My co-worker, Amanda, made me a vegetarian dinner! It was absolutely delish! Here is a picture of the leftovers she sent me home with:

While I was there we made candles. It was a really fun process, and I think I have a new hobby. I got to make them the color and fragrance of my choice....very cool! They match my house perfectly!

Amanda, not knowing this is my favorite flower, got me this cute little plant, too! I have already planted it in a bigger pot and have it on my front porch next to the bigger version!


Thanks so very much for reminding me how loved and blessed I am to have you in my life!

Thirteen reasons I re-did my bathroom (for Rachel)

1. There was a leak behind the tile.

2. The tile started to mold.

3. It smelled like someone pooped in my bathroom when I took a shower.

4. The linoleum was ugly and stained.

5. I love taking long baths!

6. Hurricane Ike destroyed my roof...

7. and some of my ceiling...

8. and some of my sheet rock/painted walls...

9. and some of my carpet (I had a mushroom growing inside my house by my back door because the carpet was soaked)...

10. and I have a good insurance company that issued me more than I needed to fix the necessary repairs...

11. and my dad, Joe, has some serious hook-ups with carpentry/tile work...

12. and I got my roof replaced and bathroom fixed and still have money left over!

13. Last of all, I picked out the tiles and border all by myself, man not needed!

Yes, I love my new bathroom, except the gold trim. It was very expensive to have all that changed so maybe if I teach summer school I will. Thanks for the compliments!

Before:

AFTER!!!!!!

SpEcIaL Ed At It'S bEsTeSt

My 7th grade students will take the writing portion of the TAKS test this year, so I have been trying to teach all I can to prepare them for success. On the writing portion, they have to respond to a prompt as well as answer multiple choice questions on the revising/editing section. They have really been struggling with spelling common words, so I have been giving them spelling tests. We work with the words for 5 days in class, and the are assigned to study the words for homework every night. The last test I gave them was these 5 words: about, above, across, because and below.



I gave my kiddos 10 minutes to study with a partner before the test. I even offered to help some of my kids that are shy and don't work well with others. I noticed one of my very talkative students was not working with a partner. I asked him why and he told me he had studied at home. WOW! They DO care about their grades, education, success, future, etc.....right?!?!?



This is the above students way of 'studying':

he wrote the spelling words on the OUTSIDE OF HIS HAND!! Then, he told me they weren't the spelling words and he was NOT trying to cheat!! WHAT? Um, precious, sweet student of mine...you are cheating so go wash your hand and we can discuss this when you come back.

I had to take several deep breaths! His mother works in the district and I know I should have called her but I decided to give him a zero and extra homework....I didn't have the energy to call and tell her just how 'special' her precious baby boy is!

Yes, I am glad I have a few days left of Winter Break. I love my job and my students but I felt compelled to share with the blogging world what my days can be like. Fun stuff and good times are always happening in my classroom!