Brady's Annual Cardiology Appointment (or my annual anxiety attack!)

So we made it almost a year between Cardiology appointments.  Last year we had a terrible visit- the worst of it being that we were told Brady has a clot in the undeveloped part of his heart.  We had just put him on meds for ADD which (we know now but didn't know then) lower his cumadin level to the point of almost non-existance.  The nurse accused me of not giving him his meds and  the whole visit made me feel like they were saying- "if you just gave your kid the meds we prescribe your kid wouldn't have a clot." and then sent me on my way saying- "Come back in a year!"  Are you kidding me!!!???   The lovely cumadin nurse the next week listened to me cry and was sympathetic and helped me to figure out the source of the problem.  But, that clot- ugh!  I wanted them to get it out immediately-  It has been in my thoughts and prayers every day wishing for it to go or to at least for it to stay where it was and not to give him a stroke.

This year was completely different.  Brady and I plan these days as mommy/Brady days of fun, throwing in a doctor appointment and this day went as well as planned. We had a great visit, the doctor said that the clot was not nearly as bright on the screen as last time. (which means it isn't as big)  The doctor said he thinks that the clot may come and go.  When I asked him how that could happen he was lighthearted and said it was just his theory and told us not to worry about it at all.  He said the clot is stuck in the underdeveloped area which is millemeters and that there is no where that the clot can go.  There was something very reassuring about the whole thing.  He also has a great new nurse that asked lots of good questions and answered very throughly.  I am still no excited about the clot, but I am much better able to deal with it.  These days are so full of anxiety for me, so I cannot even tell you how much relief comes from a great visit. 

 

We have been excitedly preparing for Christmas!

Visiting Santa!

 

 

Following our Elf on the Shelf's antics!

 

Visiting the Christmas Tree Farm

 

Emelia's First Christmas program!

(can you believe I spent more time doing

 her hair than the program lasted! lol

mom bought the adorable dress!)

 

 

These are just the most magical years with the kids!  There are so many fun things to do!!!

 

 

Have a great week!

Julie

 

OOPS! Neglected!

Updating has been on my to do list for-ever!!!  So here is a quick catch up!

 

We went on our first airplane trip as a family! 

I went to a conference in San Diego and brought the family along! 

 

It was beautiful!

 

 

 

We stayed right across from the Bay.  And across from the ship used in the Pirates of The Carribean!

 

We ended our trip with the San Diego Zoo!  Kids LOVE the pandas!

 

We spent the rest of the summer with visits from family,  pooltime, playing outside,

 and of course our weekly ice cream truck visit!

 

Then {way to soon} we had the first day of first grade:

 

and the first day of preschool!

 

 

We have replaced the busy summer with the busy life of the school year.  Now we are excitedly getting ready for the fun of Thanksgiving and Christmas!

 

More to come...

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

 

Basements, Garage Sales and Summer Break (really? this is a break?)

It is 2 weeks and a couple days past the countdowns and goodbyes of the end of the school year.  Since spring break I kept saying- it will get better after May.  Which, in all fairness. it did.  I love that I can make dinner with the windows open and listen to the kids playing happily in the yard, I have been awake before the alarm every day, and we have added picnics and walks by the lake to our weekly agenda. 

Picnicing at the gazebo...

Then come the projects-  first up- community garage sale.  We do it at my house, I have a nice big garage, it is a good excuse to clean it up, and everyone comes over which is fun. My kids loved having time to spend with "Auntie Pam", my good friend from college.   But, garage sales are totally time consuming!  Plus our dryer decided that this was the week it should catch on fire!  So we had to add a few trips to the laundrymat because I like to wash my kids stuff before I sell it.  (I know that is crazy, but I think they sell better- plus I get really nice compliments every year! and I prefer to buy garage sale clothes that are fluffy and clean! Totally worth it in my opinion.)  Also adding to the stress is that one year a local morning show filmed for a few minutes in my garage for the whole Rockford area to see. So now I feel that my garage sale has to look "TV ready" just in case! :)   But that was a week ago, so now- done!

Next up-  my basement.  or the dump underneath my house.  I have other phrases to describe it, but I like to keep my posts rated PG so I will keep them to myself.   It is where my dog has been sleeping at night, curled up in an old chair or a big box with a comfy old comforter in it.  So it smells like dog and musty basement.   I took pictures, which thankfully, don't include the smell. However, I will not be sharing them until I am finished and have an after photo I can be proud of!  So my project this week has been to eliminate the smell and paint the basement floor.  I have gotten rid of a huge pile of garbage and have another one ready to go.  ICK, but so far so good! My goal is to turn it into a room that I can send the kids to play where they can  run around and play with those huge toys we don't have room for upstairs.  Someday, I want to finish it, but until then I found a little money in the budget to put into it- so I am working on getting it decent for a couple hundred bucks.  Good Luck to me!!!!!     

So that is my "break".  (and working on a Common Core Curriculum team a few days a week)  Hopefully I will get this all behind me soon and really get more relaxing time in!  :)

Hope you are all enjoying your summer!
Julie

A Role-Reversal!

So this past week, I got to do the little role-reversal and be the PARENT at my son's school for Muffin's with Mom!  I am finding out for the first time how much these little things, as difficult and time consuming pains they may be, mean to the child and to the parent.  It was so sweet to see my kid up there singing his heart out and proudly handing over his little booklets he had made.  I needed kleenex that is for sure!!!    What a wonderful Mother's Day!

Here are a couple of my treasures:

I love the dotted letters in "I love..."  That is apparently me.  :)

and what mother would not just adore a lovely Star Wars picture for Mother's Day!  :)   I am not sure what the pirate at the top is doing there!

Hope your day was lovely!

Julie

18 days, but whose counting???

This pretty much sums up my life right now!  May has been CUH--RAY--ZEEE!  I am really looking forward to spending some time relaxing with my two!  But I just have to make it through the next 18 school days...  I can do that...  right???  Hope so!

My adorable niece-  I just love her so much!  She made this super cute video of Emmie and herself in the backseat of my parent's car on the way to the circus during spring break!  I think it is wonderful-  My judgement may be a bit imparied because of the subjects of it, but whatever...  I am sharing it anyway!

They are just too cute! 

So I probably need to head to bed-  the others have a few hours of sleep already and will be up in 6 hours.  Hopefully I can get my Sunday nap!  :)   Have a great week!

Julie

Spring is in the air!

We are recovering from a very busy weekend...  not that we did much, it was just one of those weekends!  I am finally getting to uploading my Easter Pics...   We had such a fun day.  Here is some of the day in pictures:

Decorating Eggs!

Easter Egg Hunt Loot!

Fancy Updo... (can't turn the pic... sorry!)

And attempted kid pics...

maybe I could photoshop a couple of them together.... 

Yesterday Emelia was playing VERY quietly.  I could just hear her jabber and sing now and then.  When I went to see what she was up too this was my view...

She was playing school! She was reading to her "students" and singing with them.  How a child who has never been can set up something so close- I'll never know!   Maybe teaching is in her blood!    :)

Have a happy week!

Julie

A New Blog....

After blogging for several months, I have decided that it is time to be thinking about what I wanted this blog to become.  So after much thought, (and apparently talking- if you ask my husband!)  I have decided that this is going to be my personal blog...  the one I share about my kids and projects and junk like that.  So I am happy to share my new blog...

FUN! FABULOUS! FIRSTIES!!!

The web address is: http://www.funfabulousfirsties.blogspot.com/  I am excited to be able to share lessons and ideas and freebies through the new blog!  I am getting ready to host my first giveaway next week!  So, all of you that I know personally can follow the adventures of Brady, Emelia and crazy me (and my husband!)   trying to keep up with them without the bother of lessons and freebies.  :)   

I was able to do my FIRST little girl up-do.  I cannot  believe how much fun I had!  Who needs to go on vacation when you can stay home and do your little girl's hair!  :) 

I will upload pics tomorrow! 

Happy Easter!  My kids at different times made me so proud this weekend talking about the true meaning behind Easter-  Gotta LOVE THEM! 

Julie

SPRING BREAK!

Spring Break is halfway over!  My list of things to accomplish is not!  I wonder if if it is common for teachers to overplan every break with a hundred things to get done, or if it is just me? 

I finally got in my order for a grant that I wrote for a Public School Grant Committee.  It is called "Dance to Advance!"  I saw it last June at the technology conference and have been hoping for it since.  It connects to the Interactive Whiteboard and the students have to read the screen and use their feet to answer questions.  Super fun!  The best part is that I can program the questions to fit what I am working on-  now I just need about 6 more hours in my day to make use of all the great resources I have! Not exactly a bad problem to have!  :)   You can take a look at it HERE.

I have been haing a great time with my own kids!  We have been doing art projects and reading and even made a quick trip to visit family in Minnesota.  I found the cutest book at Barnes and Noble called PIGGY BUNNY for Easter.  It is a-dor-a-ble!!!!!   Between that and the Easter Bunny's Assistant we heard of through THEINSPIREDAPPLE we have been reading a ton!  We have also been playing a version of a game I found on FIRSTGRADEBLUESKIES.  Anything to get my kindergartener to practice sight words at home.  "Cause don't you know that you are not supposed to make your kid do schoolwork at home, mom! You only think so because you are a TEACHER!"  Ugh---  I for see some long nights with homework in our future!  So I have to find little ways to "trick" him into practicing without it seeming like work.  The egg game has been fun!  We have also used Angry Birds and taping sight words to bricks.  :)  I found some really cute Star Wars clip art I am working on some review stuff for him too!

I am getting my tickets to the next technology conference this weekend!  It is in San Diego and I am so excited! Besides gettinng to go to one of the best conferences I have ever been to in my life,  I get to take my family on the kids very first plane ride and they are going to swim and relax while I go to the conference.  Then we get to stay a few days and explore!  CAN'T WAIT! You can check it out:   ISTE Conference

I finally was able to see The Hunger Games after trying to find the time to get away for a couple hours.  Worth the wait!

Have a great Easter weekend!

Julie



PEEPS, jelly beans and more jelly beans!

Well, the week before break is finally here!  We are going to spend the week on Easter treats!  The first couple of days we are focusing on PEEPS...  from my Learning with my Peeps unit.   I really love the Technology and Science activities in this unit!   It ties together my favorite things in the classroom-  eating :) - technology- and science!    There are several experiments that you can watch on a computer or Interactive WhiteBoard and  Scientific Method sheets to do.  My kindergartner at home LOVED doing these!  It was really fun!  My students love experiments, so I know they will be a hit!

As if thePeeps aren't enough- Towards the end of the week we are doing Jelly Beans from my Jelly Bean Unit!

Both are for sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!  I also came up with a couple of Jelly bean inspired freebies that are in the store as well.  A number word/number matching activity and a group of Jelly bean themed literacy activities including 2 books for students to make!

 You can go to my store HERE.  I am excited to do the riddle book with my students!  I know they will LOVE IT!  I made a kindergarten version of jelly bean math as well.  I love to make things I can use with my own child and that I can share with his teacher!   

So that is what I have been busy doing this past weekend!  I am so excited to finally get my store going that I am having a

SALE!!!

(anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE A SALE!)

Today went so fast, I could hardly believe it!  Hope the week goes the same way!  Can't wait to spend a little time with my boy and girl!!!  

Hope your week is awesome!!!

Julie

3 days til the weekend, 2 freebies, and 1 more set of report cards til summer break!

So I made it through yet another grading period and could not be more thrilled!  I have been so nervous about this round of assessments, but it turned out way better than I thought!  So yay!  Tomorrow is my little one's preschool screening.  How can they grow so quickly!?  I can't wait to share this milestone with her.    3 more days until the weeked!  It felt like today was Wednesday, so I am all thrown off...  missed a special yesterday (first time EVER)  sheesh---  I think it is just time for a Spring Break!!!

So we are in the midst of all things spring and Easterish...  I LOVED the Reindeer Applications I found through PINTEREST and decided to come up with one for an Easter Bunny...  I found one on a Kindergarten blog, but needed to step it up a bit...  so I combined a bunch of ideas and came up with this...

Here is the link...  Bunny Help Wanted

I took the kids pictures with Bunny Ears to hang with them in the hall and they are all too precious!!!  My favorite sentence a student wrote was "I can hop with a basket real good!"  How hilarious!  Love how they got into it!!!

The other freebie of the day is a little throwback from our state testing...  we cheered on our third grade buddies by giving them some kind of note and treat for the day.  Here is our PEEPS inspired treat:

You can download it from this link: Somebunny Special...

The graphics are from www.scrappindoodles.com  love them! 

The borders are Ellie Lash from That Girl...  love her blog!

Finished the whole Hungry Games Trilogy!   Now what???  

Have a great night!

Julie

Leprechauns and all that fun stuff!

What a fun busy weekend!  My kids spent the last two days trying to find "evidence" of Leprechauns in our house.  I spent the last two days trying to find our house!  My husband worked all weekend, so it became the perfect time to get out warmer weather clothes and go through the kid's rooms and put toys we don't play with anymore into the garage sale bins.  It feels so good to purge, but wow, how do we end up with all this stuff!  and the amount of Happy Meal toys..wowza...  I'm thinkin we need a whole lot more of home cookin!  I also found some time to put the finishing touches on my next Packet...  I am in the process of gathering Math Center activities that I have been making for the new Common Core Standards this year.  I have to say I am LOVING Common Core so far!  We have so much more time to work on concepts and I am impressed with how well the students understand so much more deeply---  and all of them are getting it because we spend so much more time on them in centers.    This is how I run my math centers:

3 times a week I have about an hour (give or take) and I try to get in 4 fifteen minute centers. 

Center 1: they get to go on computers.  I make them do Xtra Math first and then they can do ABCya.com or Kid's College.  Xtra Math is great for math fluency, takes about 5 min after rhe initial 20 min testing, gives me information about what they are acomplishing, and (THE BEST PART!)  it is FREE!  Gotta love it!  I also signed my own kindergartener up to do this at home.  It is great because I can send home their pin numbers and they can work at home.  I get to see both home and school scores!  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Center 2: Some kind of math fluency game.  It is either on the whiteboard or a small group work.  I have about 10 I use all year and just change up the facts.  It really helps with managing the center. 
Center 3: a game or activity that goes with the main concept I am working with.  Sometimes I sit with the group and help, sometimes I pull students from another center to remediate or get in some extentions and sometimes I test students one on one for our district assessments that require it.
Center 4:  This one is the wild card...  sometimes I give the students the manipulatives we will be using for the next concept and let them play however they want with them.  Sometimes you just have to use the pattern blocks to make a wall or a really long snake out of the unifix cubes!  I find that giving my students "play" time with the manipulatives, the novelty is gone when it comes time to use them and they say on task better.  Sometimes I will put out something and let them make their own explorations...  a scale and a bunch of objects, that kind of thing...  then I make them draw and write about what they did.  I have a few listening centers I have made that go with math skills and this would be the center for doing that as well.  It is kind of the "whatever I need it to be'" center.

That being said,  here is my first bunch of activities I would use in Center 3...

I just uploaded it into my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  You can download it here!

The other project I have been working on is finishing up the Hunger Games Trilogy!  I decided that I have been out of the loop for too many of these big crazes and I was ready to jump in.  and YUCK!  I cannot even believe how horrible the premise is for these books!  Yet, I cannot put them down!!!  I just can't wait to see what will happen next!  Not exactly the "feel good" happy, inspiring books I am usually drawn to, that is for sure.  I read the 1st one in a day, the 2nd last night and finished it today and I am about 60 pages into the next!  I do read fast...  so off to learn more about the MOCKINGJAY!!!  

Have a great week!

Julie

Sunshine! Glorious Sunshine!

I can't even imagine how we went from winter to this incredible weather!  Yesterday morning when my class was graphing our weather for the month, I noticed the day that was marked for snow and asked the kids if that was a mistake!  We even checked weather.com to make sure!  Wow!  That hasn't been that long!  So I spent my day working on changing out winter to spring for my kids clothes...  quite a job!  It is one of my least favorite jobs because I get so sad that they will never wear any of my favorites again!  I did get out the new I bought on clearance last summer and am pretty excited about the new wardrobes! 

I have also been working on my new unit to put on Teachers Pay Teachers...  it is a set of Comparing Numbers Math centers/ tub activities that my students have been loving!  Hopefully I will be getting that out by the end of the weekend! 

Here is an example of one of our sight word activities we have been doing.  I made it out of a punchball from the dollar store.  (they come in 3's)  I was excited when we were reading yesterday because one of my strugglers said excitedly:  "This word was on our sight word ball!" and then he said it.  There is hope yet!

I just use a sharpie to add on the words that our traditionally hard from our list.  (I do throw in a couple of easier ones too so it isn't so overwhelming!!!) 

So I am off to blow bubbles with the kids!  Love these sunny rays!

Julie

Beautiful Weather and Springtime Fun!

Wow!  I could live in this kid of weather FOR-EV-ER!  The sunshine and the signs of spring---  keep them coming is all I can say!  I have decided that we are going into the "not-quite-summer-yet prepared-ness mode" in my classroom.  You know, the things you do to keep them attentive so that you can try to get some kind of learning into them...  usually it starts the beginning of May, but we have WAY WAY WAY too much to do to let them start the coast mode! 

Steps to "not-quite-summer yet" summer preparedness:

1. LOTS of large motor movement breaks!  We do about 5-10 a day.  Many times in between centers and after sitting for more than 20 min.  Our latest fun has been dances on our Promethean Board and YOUTUBE!  

2.  Monitered movement-  somehow all this sun gets these kids motors running!  I have changed up some of my centers to be ones in which standing, throwing, and moving is involved.  Large number lines, sigh word toss, and write the room are good standbys.  I used a punching ball ballon to make a fun sight word toss.  We practiced how to use it today in a whole group and hopefully it will go well in the center tomorrow!

3. BUDDIES: Now that our state testing is over, we are using our 3rd grade buddies as much as we can.  The kids work hard during silent reading to practice for when we meet, and work to earn time wth them.  We are also starting to work with them to help with our writing.  The 3rd graders we buddy with are awesome role models.  LOVE THEM!

4.  Good old fashioned bribery! I am not too proud to offer a bribe!  Right now we are working to earn a day of chewing gum by filling up a gumball chart with circle stickers.  We are also going to work for a popcorn party with our 3rd grade buddies next.   I also offer incentives such as: if you work quietly during the center I will let you all lay on the floor when I read the next book or whoever is working hard gets to pick the next song we dance to!  Random lunches with me also perks them up a bit!

I LOVE spring and all the fun things that go with it!  I made a fun unit tied to the Common Core for First Grade and then added a bunch for my kindergarten teacher friends (and my son's class!)  It is all based on the sugary PEEPS!  I have added it to my slowly growing Teachers Pay Teacher's Store!

LEARNING WITH MY PEEPS LINK!

It has some fun books to use in shared reading, reading center activities, links to use with a SMART, PROMETHEAN, or other INTERACTIVE WHITE BOARD, Science, and Math.  All of it is adaptable for Kindergarten, First Grade, or anywhere in between!  It has been lots of fun and the kids are way excited to dive into the PEEPS sitting on our shelf!

Hope your day is great and you are getting the same awesome weather!  11 days until Spring Break! 

:) 

Julie

March madness...

So far March has come into the Gesin household like a lion...  we have had injuries and a rocky start!  Last Monday I took a little tumble in our garage thanks to all the stuff I just had to bring back and forth to school and a missed step.  After a couple visits to the chiroprator and advil, I am slowly getting back to normal.  Saturday, we were beginning the love of Spring when my son fell and got a concussion!  I think today we are all healthy and pretty much pain free, so we have lots to be thankful for!  I love when the time change comes and it starts to be outside weather.  It has been wonderful not to have to huge mess when I get home of toys thrown about and to sit and draw with the kids on the steps and driveway while we grill out!  Tonight we even had time to bake some cupcakes and bananna muffins for some yummy treats throughout the week,  Not to shabby!

One of our fun moments:

CRAZY HAIR DAY!  So funny...  boys with shorter hair have very little options for Crazy hair day so we came up with a plan...  the next time one came around we would cut his hair into the coveted MOWHAWK...

So even though I really don't care for Mohawks, I think he looks awfully cute in one!

Hope you get to enjoy the great weather!   14 Days until Spring Break!!!

Julie

Leaping into a new month!

I cannot believe that we are already to the end of February!  One of my teacher friends started the count down...  58 days!  ACK!  I am stressed about getting these kids where they need to be!  I have a few teachery things to share. 
1.  I just found Steve Spangler Science Videos on YouTube.  (My family sat and watched his videos during dinner-  ummm.... really???  There goes the no tv at dinner and uninterupted family time rule!  Oh yeah-  and what kind of nerds watch science experiments for entertainment?  Teacher's families I guess!!!!!)  My students LOVE LOVE LOVE the experiments and beg to watch them.  I have come up with a couple of scientific method sheets to go with some.  I will share them in the future!  My kids were asking me to write down the name of "that guy" so I sent home the info today.  I am guessing many will be watching science experiments tonight!   Speaking of YouTube...  there are some really fun Just Dance Kids postings.  My students and my kids at home love them!  ...and it gets in our 10 min. of physical activity requirement...  and it is the fastest way to get them to clean up and move to the carpet.  Win Win Win! 

2. I have found some incredible center ideas on PINTEREST!  I made a variation of one I found, but wasn't long enough.  You can download it HERE.

The activities like this that I have seen only have 4 spaces, so this gives a few more.  Some of my kids are fast decorators, so they do some on the back too.

3. I have also been working on some fluency phrases.  One of the games I have is made of questions: the students play in a group.  They roll a dice and read the question that is the same number as the dice.  They tally up each time they read and after 5 times they write the question on the back.  I have all the kids in the group read the question at the same time.  (This is one that helps to have a volunteer at!)   Download it here:  Question Fluency Game

So that is just about it.  I have a game of Hide and Seek to join and some Kindergarten homework to cheer!  Wish me luck!

Julie