So far this week...and it's not over yet...

In tribute to one of my all time favorite bloggy sistas who has a totally swanky wardrobe, adorable kiddos, and a house to die for...this one is for you. Her latest post...It's only Thursday, cracked me up. Flowerpatchfarmgirl, this one is for you! As well as for Truth Thursday, which I haven't done in ages...

So far this week...

1. I reminded my children to brush their teeth 8 times. How much longer must this go on?

2. Twice I fell asleep while reading my book before bed. (My days are EXHAUSTING!)

3. Ripped out all but 3 of my tomato plants because I am SO SICK of red tomatoes staring me down from the kitchen counter. I get it, you can't can yourselves...

4. Found out 6th grade volleyball practice starts tomorrow. 9 days into school, and it begins...

5. Found myself laughing out loud too many times to count.

6. Felt like a rock star today when one of the Kindergarten classes I help saw me in the hall and yelled, "Look who it is! (pointing at me.)

7. Decided the motto Keep Calm and Carry On really does apply to motherhood or dealing with Kindergartners, or even husbands for that matter.

8. Came to the realization brown and gray, as painfully drab as they are, really are the colors that look the best on me. (does this mean I'm drab too?)

9. Noticed that I really could, and do often get sucked into other people's blogs, pinterest.com, and etsy. I could easily lose WHOLE hours doing it.

and
10. Admitted to myself...just the other day, while constructing a car out of posterboard, I CAN use my graphic design background to help with crafts at school.

That was my week in a nutshell. It's not for everyone, but it'll do!

Comedy of Errors...aka...Disaster from the Get-Go

Last night we went over to our friend's house for a cookout and swimming, and basically a last HURRAH before school started today.

We had a great time! (Thanks guys!) And we got home a little late. One hour later than school time bedtime as a matter of fact. Not a great start to the school year...but we knew the kids would probably sleep hard with all the swimming they did.

We came home and the kids immediately went to bed, with promises from them that there would be no talking, and they would get right to sleep.

I packed our lunches, set my alarm, and went to bed. I had planned on canning pizza sauce, but decided I didn't want to be up till midnight the night before school started.

Fast forward to today.

I woke up, not with my alarm (found out later the alarm was set right, but the clock was set wrong...) but by my internal clock.....ONE HOUR BEFORE I HAD TO LEAVE FOR SCHOOL!

To say I freaked out is an understatement.

"Holy CRAP, get the kids out of bed!" I yelled to Brent, while I dashed to the bathroom for my 10 second shower.

I hurried as fast as I could (praise the Lord my children can get their own breakfast and dress themselves at this age!) and ate my breakfast and had my coffee while getting ready.

I kept having these hot flashes, and told Evan to get the extra fan from the bathroom upstairs...I was overheating, thinking the whole time, what is wrong with me, early menopause at age 37? Good grief!

We miraculously made it to school on time, but didn't have time for any extra things before we left. No first day of school picture in our regular place on the porch, no time for me to fill out school paperwork like I planned, no leisurely time to read my book over breakfast. I had a splitting headache, and the day had just begun.

Today was also the first day for the kindergartners to stay ALL DAY everyday for Kindergarten. THIS was a big change for many of them. They could barely last till lunch at 11:00am without breaking down for a snack. The wonderful teacher I work with whipped out extra slices of watermelon for everyone before morning recess.

After my 25 minute lunch (Oh, that's right, I have to claim 30 minutes on my time card each day, but really only get 20-25 minutes to eat. We'll not talk about that now...) I had to corral 44 kindergartners out on the playground by myself. Oh yeah. Thrill of my day.

It went ok, thankfully.

Oh, my headache was still raging by the way. Lasted the entire dang day.

Since there were no specials like Library, Gym, Art, or Computer today, there was no time to check email, or even sit down for a minute. My bladder was made of steel I believe.

At 2:50 I took the walkers and bus riders (did the kindergartners multiply since 8:00am?) down the hall to get on the bus. To say the first day getting on the bus is chaos is a little bit of an understatement. We got them where they needed to go, though, and I ran back to my room to finally check emails.

3:30 came quickly enough, and it was time to go home and start supper, mow, fill out that tedious school paperwork, pack lunches, can pizza sauce, OH, and write this little 'ol post.

I did take the kid's annual first day pictures....but it was at 5pm, and not 7am like we had originally planned.

Grace refused to hold up 6 fingers to display the year in school she is. Too cool I guess.

Bless Evan for stickin' with me!

I can't believe they are this old already. This is Grace's last year with me at school. Next year she moves over to the high school where the junior high is.

After today's theatrics, I'm just hoping for a calm day tomorrow.

I have checked and double checked the alarm.

5:30am will come way too soon!

Top 5 quotes of the day

I'm a kindergarten teacher's aide.

This you know if you've delved into my profile before.

While this might not be my dream job, I have it because I want to be at the same school with my own kids and keep the same holidays as them.

There are days that I am drained emotionally and physically, but there are also some extremely funny moments that bring me out of my funk.

Here are the top 5 quotes from the last couple of months. All names have been changed to protect the actual people!


#1 I was talking to a fellow staff member in my room one morning and we were laughing about something. A little kindergarten girl came into my room and said, "WHAT are you LAUGHING about?"
I said, "We were laughing about something funny."
"Well," she said, "Sometimes adults think things are funny, but THEY ARE NOT!"
(ok, she really knew how to put us in our place... and laugh all the harder!)

#2 I was walking down the hall with a little boy I take to another teacher on a daily basis. As we walked, he started to really grab his butt. I asked him what was wrong and he just kept right on diggin'. When I asked again, he said in an exasperated tone, "My underwear were STUCK to my butt!"

#3 We have an incentive program at our school called the smiley face program. When teachers, or staff members in the building catch your class being quiet in the hallway, etc. they can give them a smiley. For each smiley face increment of 25, a party is usually awarded to the class. We have pajama day, or extra recess time, etc. Whatever the teacher chooses. So, one day, we were doing a math paper, and it was a little difficult for them. I was helping the little boy I help on a daily basis, and the little girl across the table from me said with a great sigh, "I could really use a smiley face party about now!" (Yeah, well, I could really use a FRIDAY about now too honey.)

#4 I walk a little boy named, let's call him George, to another class each morning. One day, out of the blue, as we were walking past our librarian, George blurted out (about the teacher we were going to see) "I would like to lick Mrs. Jones. I bet she would taste like a chocolate chip cookie!" The librarian and I got a good laugh out of that!

#5 A little boy in our afternoon class repeatedly hugs me in a gigantic bear hug each time we go down the hallway for a bathroom break. (why he picks this time of day, I'll never know...) One day he told me as he hugged me, "You're about my favorite person right now." (Hm...how about in 10 minutes?)

So, as you can tell, kids will say the darndest things. To them, most everything is black and white. There are NO grey areas. They usually know when I've had a long day, cause they'll go and say something extremely hilarious.

May you all find yourselves belly laughing at least once a day!