whirlwind of fun in F-2

Oh my goodness.....what a first day back!  The kids were

Sweet....and very helpful which is always nice.

Third graders are not like kinders though....no big

excitement that I was back....makes me laugh!  

Since I have been reading...

Everything they did today made me want to giggle!

We did a very fun Fraction Sundae Activity from Amy Lemons:

I thought they turned out super cute!  I am in the middle of taking

down my non-fiction anchor charts and putting up some of 

Amanda Nickerson's Wonderland questioning charts!  We are digging 

back into fiction....tune in tomorrow for some details from the 

read alouds we are using to make connections to our communities unit!

Thank you to all my new followers for your sweet comments....I am so

excited to have you here and I am enjoying your blogs too!  

How Mrs. Coop got her groove back!

So after ten days away from school recovering from my gallbladder surgery I head

Back to my class tomorrow....I am so excited to see there smiling faces and get

going on the great projects we have a brewing....

My day started off with breakfast and planning at a favorite spot....Denica's....with 

my super fabulous friend and teaching pal....we started this third grade road together

this year....me a first timer to third and she also a first timer to third but also coming 

back to teach full time after many years staying at home with her boys.  She is always

there with an idea, inspiration, encouragement, and a shoulder to cry on if needed.

Here is a picture of our post breakfast and big planning time:

We are starting a unit from Lesson Plan SOS on communities....we planned

out some great read alouds to help our students expect to connect between

three different texts....Roxaboxen, Weslandia, and The Chalkbox Kid.  

We also shared some laughs about this hysterical book I learned about while

Blogstalking last week during recovery....if you haven't read this book....

YOU MUST...it is so laugh out loud funny....

Oh yeah....that cookie....yummy! And a super fun card from my pal!

We headed over to our classrooms to gather up and organize after a week of

having a sub....so glad I went in...this will make Monday morning so much

smoother....and so will packing my lunch for the week as well as the kids for

tomorrow.....woohoo!

Now I sit on the couch checking through the animal reports they worked on 

last week....I plan to put a post it on each with notes to encourage them while I watch

the academy awards...

I am also super excited that this brand new book was in my school mailbox...

So that sums up my awesome planning day....I even had time to paint my nails...cheers!

PINTERESTing Thursday

So I am at home again today.....slowly making my recovery!

My sweet four year old was home too....she was awesome...

And enjoyed a few episodes of strawbababababerry shortcake!

We made some things from pinterest too!  First up was homemade

puffy paint....1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1/4 cup water, and four drops 

of food coloring.....voila homemade fun!

She made quite a few masterpieces...

Then I laid down a bit before I forced myself to stop reading

a great book by Jennifer Weiner....Then Came You, I definitely

recommend it if you enjoy chick lit...

Here is a summary:

The lives of four very different women intertwine in unexpected ways in this new novel by bestselling author Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes; Best Friends Forever). Each woman has a problem: Princeton senior Jules Wildgren needs money to help her dad cure his addiction; Pennsylvania housewife Annie Barrow is gasping to stay financially afloat; India Bishop yearns to have a child, an urge that her stepdaughter Bettina can only regard with deeply skepticism until she finds herself in a most unexpected situation. Interlocking dramas designed to ensnare; bound to be a bestseller.

Back to dinner.... I prepared pico de gallo and chipotle rice...

recipes found on Pinterest of course:

Currently my two littles who are also known as oil and vinegar

are giggling through their dinner....it is driving me a little 

Crazy....hope the hubby is on his way home soon!

what I'm lovin' wednesday

I can't believe it is Wednesday!  I feel like today is the turning 

point in my lovely surgery debacle...I went to see my surgeon 

and she confirmed my reaction was to the surgery prep solution.

So the dermatologist double checked and I am not on super meds!

Looking forward to a day of no itching and rash soon!

Love that I have gotten a lot of fun reading

Done while in recovery....the stack is getting shorter!

Love how my hubby is doing everything to help me!

Love how hank our dog thinks he is a human!

Love the nap I took today....gotta love Benadryl!

Love this dress....wish it was pink....looking

for a fun dress to wear to a wedding this summer!

This rings so true....if you just think about what 

is wonderful....it changes everything!

Happy Wednesday my boggy friends!

i <3 my valentine TOMs

Ok....so the hubby gets a gold star....he purchased me the most fun pair of TOMs for valentines day!

Ummmmmm.....are you jealous yet?  I am absolutely insane about them and I was so surprised!  

I had no idea that they were coming out with ballet flats ( my fav style of shoe aside from flip flops)...

Thanks to my super trendy and in the know sister in law.....these darling flats are now in my closet!

I love when little birdies share great ideas with husbands!  Thanks 900 packs!

So....not only are they the cutest.....they are also super comfortable and supportive!  They do run a size 

Larger than what You would normally wear in regular TOMs....there are many other colors and styles too!

Happy shopping!

four day weekend=recovery and reading

So here we go.....my surgery story!  

All week I have been looking forward to getting this surgery over with.  

As many of you know I had a gallbladder attack back in December.

Since I was training for a half marathon, I wanted to wait to have

the surgery.....and at the same time I kept doubting if it was necessary.

Fast forward two and a half months.....a long time to eat low fat and be

in fear of having another attack....the one bonus....I lost 8 pounds!  I 

decided to do the surgery over the four day weekend so I could take the 

Least amount of days off.....being a teacher, it is such a pain to take time

off.  

Mike took the weekend off and he and Kate came with me on surgery day.

Here I am with Kate....my almost 10 year old before the surgery....and before

the creepy nurse arrived.....oh my goodness!  This nurse arrived to take me to

the operating room....and she looked like a he and I was freaking out....I can

just remember her words...."we will take good care of you".....eeeeek!  I wanted

to jump out of the bed.....told my other nurse....maybe I am changing my mind.

She called in my nurse anesthetist and I was given a little something to relax me.

Once we hit the ER.....I was out quickly and I don't remember a thing....I did wake 

up thinking I was at a dance competition....yikes!  My doc informed mike that I had

over 100 gallstones....several of which were large and would of given me problems

later....this made me feel so relieved and validated doing the surgery!

At home mike took great care of me as I struggled through pain, not being able to

sleep, awful shoulder pain from the air they put in my belly, the itchy rash, and changing

my bandages.  Not to mention....he exhausted himself doing laundry, dishes, cooking, 

and entertaining the kids.  My hero!

Yesterday I felt much better and I am only taking Advil for pain which is great.  The 

Vicodin doidnt really help.....just made feel loopy and may be the cause of the rash.

A shower was awesome....made me feel so much better.....just this darn itchy rash all 

over, yup you guessed it my stomach.....where the four incisions are...darn sensitive skin!

I enjoyed reading Soohie Kinsella's newest book from cover to cover yesterday...it was awesome!

Today mike is back to work.....and Kate is in charge!  My fabulous friend since fourth grade

took Kevin for the day and Momo has Caroline.....so here I sit on the sofa!  Looking forward 

to another day of reading, blog stalking, watching chick flicks, and feeling relieved that surgery is over!

my teacher bag

Today I am linking up with one of my favorite blogs....

The Clutter Free Classroom

I have been working on my classroom organization and each week she has a new task...so far I have one more drawer in the desk to clean out, I made a teacher area, and I am working my way through my keep/giveaway/trash/recycle sorting.  

This week she is talking about teacher bags.....interesting since next week when I head back to work I will only be carrying my new light weight purse and iPad only....why?  Well....I just had my gallbladder out and I can't life anything heavier than 10 pounds!  

My teacher bag is always super heavy and packed with things to grade, plan book, my laptop, a dozen of my favorite purple pens, my reading notebook, and post it's of course!  CFC suggested using an expandable file for papers you are grading....so guess what....my sweet daughter found me one in the dollar aisle while the kids and mike snuck out to Target!

My bag came from creative memories and I just love it....I use to be a consultant but just recently quit that and became a blogger...woohoo....I have one for family memories and the other for teaching/reading/running and other fun stuff I am busy with.  Just this week I got several comments on my bag....I love that it is sassy and stylish.  The pockets on the front are great for my itouch, post-it's, pens, and camera....this way they don't get lost or damaged!  The straps are comfortable and just the right length.  Here is a picture my daughter took for me since I am laid up in bed...

You have to check out her blog because she is also offering up 15% off through her friend who sells 31....they have awesome bags....I ordered one of their utility totes for my Stella & Dot bling.....yes I turned in my creative memories consultant status and became a S&D stylist...lol!

Hope you all are enjoying your Saturday!

animal research reports

Myclass has been diggin into a very cool animal research project over the last few weeks.  We began by comparing a non fiction animal book to a fiction animal book.  Then they learned all the non fiction text features in readers workshop.  We learned to read like non fiction readers would....once our mind is full of information we stop and jot our learning.  This led us to choose an animal and begin using our skills to read about them.  We used the book and some kids search sites through the local library to gather information for five different paragraphs they would later write.  With the help of lessonplansos.....we had some great tools to guide the students as well as a rubric and self evaluation to use later.

Once the students had gathered the information for their five paragraphs using a box and bullet technique...

   

Then they added a topic sentence and a conclusion sentence before drafting their final paragraphs....these paragraphs will each go into the coordinating section with a drawing or photo they print from the computer.  The final product will also include an about the author section with a book recommendation (my super sweet teaching partner came up with this clever addition) of a fiction book about their animal.

The unit will end with some great oral presentations....which we plan to do in the library to share with our librarian what we have learned.  Then....after using Amanda nickersons chocolate chip cookie rubric unit they will help in grading their work.  Finally we will have a writing celebration which is the most fun.....I guess I better get their realistic fiction narratives graded so we can celebrate that first!

Here are some more pictures of the kids work and them in action....

best part of this project is that they are all in different spots working 

at their own level and pace...

How i met my hunny...

So I am linking up with Buzzin With Ms B....

Buzzing With Ms. B

I met mike the summer before my senior year of high school....a few of my friends and I were cruising down hopyard in Pleasanton.....when we saw a cute guy in a tan and green pick me up truck!  We followed them to where they stopped....Burger King and then ran in giggling to the bathroom....mike and his buddy were eating a burger...We All hung out that night and numbers were exchanged...over the course of the next few years we dated off and on....kept in touch...and then we began to drift apart and ended up in relationships....not good ones but it gave us time to realize how much we were meant for each other...

Fast forward to December of 1999... I decided to visit mike at Costco while I was in town and on break from school.  I was teaching in Texas but my parents lived in California still.  Over the next five months we talked on the phone, emailed, visited each other, attended spring training in Arizona, and thought of each other all the time.  He came out to help me drive from tx to ca with all my stuff at the end of the school year...and popped the question too!  I still remember driving back with him and staring at my engagement ring all the way...we were married in June of 2001....

Last April we spent a week away from our three children in Maui celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary!  It was such an amazing week...

gallbladdix

This is the face of a girl ready to eat food with out fear of pain and a trip to the ER....

.

I sent this lovely picture to the hubby yesterday while I was at my pre operation appointment....I am so ready to be done with the journey that started 3 1/2 months ago....this week has been the worst...not sure if it nerves or stress or just the gallbladder but I am living off of saltines and plain bagels....yum!  We had a staff bowling party today....when the snacks rolled out I laughed....fried onion rings, mozzarella sticks, and hot wings....I stayed far away.  

On the upside....I have lost eight pounds and according to my surgeon (who looks like she is 22) I should lose more while my system figures out how to process fat again....makes me think of that line from devil wears Prada.....I guess I am just one gallbladder surgery away from my goal weight...lol!  

Stella & Dot LOVE

So back in November I became a S & D Stylist and had an amazing Launch Trunk Show...I ended up with about 25 people at my launch and it was a total blast!  Since my super awesome sponsor made me the host and stylist for the show I ended up with a ton of Jewelry for free and put all my commission in for more at 50% off.  I think I ended up with $1000 in new jewels.  Now....I find that I have to add about 15 minutes to my morning to decide on jewelry to go with my outfit....I am loving it!  I have since held only 2 more trunk shows and both have been for my good teaching friend.  We did one with her friends and then one with parents from her class who are mommy friends of mine since my daughter is in her class.  All in all she is ending up with about $400 in free jewelry too!

My Second Trunk show set up.....thanks to Karie for sharing her Bling with me!!!

The best part about the timing of my start was that I was able to purchase jewels at 50% off and give amazing gifts to family and friends for xmas and birthdays!  So cool!  Today I hit my jumpstart....which means I get another $500 in free stuff and at the same time I have almost $300 in commission.  YIKES!  I plan to get a new handbag with the commission, purchase some groceries for the family, and get my haircut and highlight.....AWESOME!

Right now my mind is spinning trying to figure out exactly which jewels I want to purchase with my free jewelry credits....lucky me!  I think these two will be must haves....I plan to wear them to a fun wedding this summer....just need to find that perfect dress....I am thinking a bright pink one shoulder....

So my bloggy followers, if you enjoy S & D half as much as I do, I think you should get on board and become a stylist too, there are just too many great benefits!  Well...I guess it is time to go to bed and dream about jewels!

Dance Moms????

Have you watched the show?  Well I am happy to say that according to my almost 10 year old daughter I am NOT like the dance moms!!  We had an awesome day together, so proud of my Kate!!  Here is a link to my smile box, which is my favorite way to share videos, of her dress rehearsal:


Kate's Dance Smile Box

Enjoy!!!

Tinkerbelle Half and Girls Weekend!!

So, I did it....I ran a Half-Marathon.  I am still in awe, shock, and disbelief....I actually ran 13.1 miles and I did it faster than I ever thought I could do it!  Ok, enough bragging on myself....here is the run down:

Amy, Jenn, and I drove down to LA together on Saturday morning....Kara and Mom were headed over from Arizona about the same time....there was plenty of laughs, stories, and diet coke on the journey...

So we all arrived in the afternoon and headed over to the EXPO to pick up our bibs and race information....we also had a chance to listen to Jeff Galloway speak....I think that he pretty much added to all of our nerves between dicussing what to eat, when to eat, how many ounces to drink and when, how much sleep and when....you name it he said it!  What was really cool about the EXPO was seeing a long ago highschool friend and getting to meet her husband.  Leah and I worked together at Baskin and Robbins and were on short flags together.  She has been encouraging me since I signed up to run this half...it was great to see her and catch up!!  Later we checked out our amazing hotel room....thanks to mom and dad for the great view, room, and comfy beds!!  We had connecting rooms which made it even more fun!  Mom tried out her chear squad gear and then we headed over to my cousin and his wife's house for a carbo load!  Yummy sandwiches, soup, and salad....plus a fruit salad!  It was so nice to visit with them and of course to get some preracing tips from Steven!!

So the morning was upon us before we knew it....we woke at 4AM and each ate the breakfast we had planned which worked for our training:  hard boiled eggs or bagels or blueberry muffins!  Mom was laying in bed and gearing up for her breakfast at the cheer squad tent!  With only a few minutes to go before we needed to leave crisis hit....I couldn't find my earbuds....WORST NIGHTMARE!  I was beginning to freak out while my girlfriends assured me I would be fine etc etc.  I was on a mission though....I told the ladies that I was going to find a store and raced out of the elevator.  Amy followed me, as big sisters do, and we headed out to 7-11, I tried to stay calm and she even offered me hers for the race.  What do you know....7-11 was open at 4:45 AM and they had earbuds...crisis averted!!  We then headed over to the corral area....last minute pit stops and  stretches....that walk was a great warm up.  I have to say Disney knows how to make things magical....even a race!  There was the national anthem with fireworks, Mickey and friends cheering us on and a stage with live music!  So exciting.  

Our corral was released at about 6:15 and we were on our way.  The first few streets had some small hills and before I could blink we hit mile one.  Miles 2-4 were in Disneyland....we entered the back stage area and right away there were characters, floats with music, and entertainment.  Amy and I seemed to be just at the same pace which was awesome....I felt like I was being carried the whole way and encouraged just having her next to me.  I know that she pushed me to do my best and more!  We were cheered on by pirates, saw many princesses and princes available for pictures (we were not about stopping but many people did), and even ran through the castle!!  At Mile 5 Steven and his girls were on the side cheering us on and captured this great picture of us...

The great part about the middle of the race was zooming through each mile marker and seeing how well our pace was.  There was a ton of entertainment along the way (cheerleaders, marching bands, and runners with wings and tutus).  I felt great the majority of the run.....mile 12 1/2 to 13 were my roughest parts.....we were just finishing running through California Adventure and I knew it was almost the end (because everyone on the sides kept saying you are almost there) but my stomach was beginning to hurt and I feared something with my lovely gallbladdar....I decide to walk and then remembered what Drea told me....just push through don't walk....I thought about all the positive mantras and repeated them....music didn't help....I knew that my mind was playing tricks on me and I just needed to cross the finish line.  When I made the turn at Katella I was dying....until I saw the mile 13 marker.....woohoo!  I barely remember the final seconds of my run....I do remember looking for my mom (didn't see her) and then crossing the finish.  When I looked up there was Amy smiling and looking as calm and cool as she did the whole race....my rock!  What a great feeling it was to finish!

Everyone did such an amazing job!!!  

I love this picture of the five of us runners!!!

 After showers and lunch we headed our for some fun in Disneyland.....sporting our 13.1 shirts....we did it!  I have to say I never enjoyed running....I am thankful to my sister Jenn for encouraging me to start!  Who knew a few 5Ks would lead to this....the medals we were given are so amazing and cool....and heavy...none of us wanted to wear them to the park....walking was hard enough!! 

The morning after the race and all the fun in Disneyland we had roomservice for breakfast...what a treat!  The memories and laughter are things I won't ever forget.  I am not sure I will ever un another half but I feel like I accomplished something I never thought I would ever do.  I found over the last year how much I enjoy running and how good it is for me mentally and physically.

Hope you enjoyed listening to my journey for 13.1 miles....until my next race!