Teacher Talk Thursday

Abby over at Snyder Stories  has just started her first edition of "Teacher Talk Thursdays."  I'm excited to be linking up with her today to read the great ideas from so many other wonderful teachers! Today's theme is organizational tips.

Library Pockets

I use colorful library pockets to keep students' lunch cards.  They are labeled with each child's name and the kids are able to quickly and easily get their cards out at lunch time.  I also just started a new sticker system with my class.  They can earn stickers when they are following directions, making good choices, etc.  Each child has a library pocket with their name on it and a white index card.  They collect the stickers on the index card.  When a child gets 10 stickers, he/she gets to choose from my treasure box.  I also do table points, where tables earn points when they are making good choices as an entire table, but decided I needed to do something more individualized for the majority of my class.  :)

Fabric Bins and Cube Shelf

I actually originally bought this unit for our basement when we got it remodeled, but it was a little small for the area I wanted it for. It fits perfectly in my classroom, though!  I used these bins to store toys for Free Choice Center time.  Each bin is labeled (Legos, Lincoln Logs, Blocks, etc) and the kids can easily grab them during Free Choice time.  Clean up with these bins is super easy, as well.  I'm actually going to buy one of these in white with navy and red (or brown, can't decide) bins for Baby B-shaw's nursery. I think I am only going to get four or five bins and the empty cubes will serve as bookshelves.

Plastic Containers

My teammate, Lindsey, left this bookcase in the room when she changed classrooms.  It's perfect for my plastic containers that I store my math manipulatives in.  Each container is labeled with the name of the manipulative.  This picture was taken at the beginning of the year, but the shelf is now filled with all different kinds of math tools and objects. 

Can't wait to hear about your organizational ideas!

Babymoon Booked!

I'm so excited that Kurt and I booked our babymoon, our last trip away before Baby Bradshaw makes his appearance and the sleepless nights commence!  After much debating, we've decided to go to New York City.  I really wanted to go somewhere warm, but we only have three days to get away and the flights make the trip so much more expensive.  

We'll be heading to the Big Apple in February by way of bus.  The bus will pick us up about ten minutes away from our house and will drop us off at Penn Station in NYC.  We booked the first class bus for the way up, which includes free Wifi and extra leg room, and will be taking the regular bus home.  We got a good rate at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, so it will be awesome to be staying right in the middle of things.


So far on our list of things to do include seeing Green Day's American Idiot on Broadway.  Kurt has never seen a show on Broadway, so that will be very exciting.  Neither of us are huge Green Day fans, but it will be cool to be familiar with many of the songs in the show.  Plus, Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day, will be starring in the show when we are there.  

We also want to go to John's Pizzeria for their famous pizza and Serendipity 3 for dessert.  I can sense a "food" theme happening for this trip!  Why not?!  Kurt also says he has some other things in the works.

Kurt and I have both been to NYC many times before, but it will be nice to be running on our own time, doing whatever we want to do.  I'm really looking forward to this getaway!

Baby Brain!

This is seriously how I've felt recently.  Like I need to go to a meeting: "My name is Kate, and I have pregnancy brain."  

Now, I know there are a lot of opinions out there regarding pregnancy brain and if it's a myth or reality.  I know the truth:  I know it's a reality, because I'm going through it right now.  And I still have 16 weeks left.  What the heck is going on?!  I'm forgetting to do things all the time.  I forget who I've talked to and who I haven't. It's driving me insane!  I'll admit, before this pregnancy, I wasn't the most "with it" person.  I've been described as ditzy before; I've forgotten to do things, show up to places, etc.  But this is just ridiculous!  I'm blaming my terrible sleep.  But tell me it gets better....please?!?!

Snow Day!

That's right, here on the east coast, we're having a...

This is our first snow day of the year, as we've only had 2-hour delays to this point.  This storm, which left us with some snow, sleet, and freezing rain, is one of those types of storms that almost guarantees us getting a day off.  We really didn't have that much accumulation, but our road and sidewalks are still covered in ice as I write this. 


Kurt had a two-hour delay for work, so we both took this opportunity to sleep in.  It was great!  As Kurt was getting ready for work, I made us some cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Yum!  He's now on his way into work and I plan to pretty much just chill today.  I have some laundry to do, report cards to finish, and I'm going to make a chocolate cake for a luncheon we have at school tomorrow.  I'll mix that in with daytime t.v. and maybe a trip to Goodwill to donate a bunch of stuff, if the roads clear up a little later.  I love snow days!!

Week 23 Bumpdate!

How Far Along: 23 weeks...time is flying!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Will find out at my appointment next week.  I'm sure there has been some gain this month, though!

Maternity Clothes: All maternity pants and a couple maternity shirts.  

Gender: A bouncing, not-yet-named baby boy!

Movement: All the time, especially when I sit down or as I'm trying to go to bed.  Kurt felt him really kick this morning and screeched!  It's getting real!

Sleep: It's getting more difficult.  I wake up usually three or four times a night to go to the bathroom. One night last week, I woke up either six or seven times, I lost count.  I hate sleeping on my side, so I think I toss and turn a lot.  

What I miss: Not much

Cravings: Chocolate, but I always crave that!

Symptoms: Heartburn and acid reflux.  I woke up last night with terrible acid reflux.  Tums have become my nightly snack.  I never had this issue before I was pregnant, so it's very weird to me.  

Best Moment this week: We're starting to clean out the room that will be the nursery.  Kurt laid flooring in our attic yesterday and today, so that has become our big storage area.  My dad is coming down at the end of the month to paint for us.  We're thinking of painting the room a little beige/tan and then just doing navy curtains and other colorful accents.  Also, my parents are getting us a glider rocker and ottoman, so I stopped at my mom's furniture store on Saturday to pick out the finish and fabric.  It should be really nice!

Cute story:  One of my students said to me the other day, "Mrs. Bradshaw, I know your baby is growing because I saw that when you were standing up there, your tummy is getting big."    Out of the mouths of babes!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that we had a two-hour delay today.  A snow day would have been even better, but as I say to my kids, "You get what you get and you don't get upset!"

I'm loving that Miss Macey is getting a haircut on Friday.  She is overdue! This is what she looked like right after her last haircut, and that was in late October!

I'm loving my ever-accomodating hubby!  My car has been in and out of the shop due to a dead battery and then a stalling issue this week.  He's taken a cab or gotten a ride to and from work  twice this week just so I could use his car.  He hasn't complained even once about it! What a team player!

I'm loving that Baby B has been kicking and moving like crazy this week.  It's my (not so) subtle reminder that he's a healthy little guy growing inside of me!

I'm loving that we began our baby registry at Babies R Us and Target.  What a relief!

What are you loving this week?

Who knew...

Who knew that it would be so hard to name our first born baby?!


Yes, we do have nearly four months left to decide on the perfect name for our little one.  But seriously, this is one of the toughest first jobs we've had as parents.  We have a few names that we kinda like, but nothing is really jumping out at us.  Add to that my nine years working in an elementary school and dealing with lots of children and there are many names that are on my NO WAY! list just based on the fact that I knew a kid with that name who ________  (insert random behavior issue, etc here!).  


Ugh!  I know it will come to us, but I want it now!  And so we wait...

Poor girl...

Macey isn't feeling too well!

After a night of her shaking her head every 10 seconds and rubbing against the couch, we took her to the vet today to find out she has a double ear infection.  My Macey pup is going to get some extra TLC this week as she is recovering.  I feel like a sick dog is almost as bad as a sick kid.  Besides the head shake and rubbing, she's unable to give us any feedback on how she's feeling.  Poor girl!

Back to Reality

"It's amazing how quickly ten days goes when you are on vacation."

That was my Facebook status this morning.  Today marks the last day of my winter break, and I'm pretty sad about it.  I get so excited about the holidays and everything leading up to Christmas, and then it's like, BAM....over with.  We had a very busy ten days, which is probably why they went so quickly.  But, still, I'm looking forward to our next day off, Dr. Martin Luther King Day, and some potential snow days.

Our past ten days were filled with:

- Christmas Eve and early Christmas morning at my parents' house

- Christmas Day at Kurt's parents' house

- Dinner at a great restaurant on Christmas night to celebrate Kurt's 32nd birthday

- Some "Day After Christmas" sales shopping

- Hanging out with some college friends

- 20 week doctor's appointment and finding out we are having a boy!

- Shopping for the new little one (Great deals at Gymboree!)

- Dinner at Melting Pot

- Lunch with Kurt and my brother (they work together, so I went down to meet them)

- Hanging out with friends to watch the Terps in the Military Bowl

- Getting my car back from the repair shop and in great condition!

- Late Christmas celebration with the in-laws (and nephews)

- Dinner with Kurt's high school friends on New Year's Eve

- Game night with friends for the rest of New Year's Eve

- Watching the Caps beat the Penguins during the Winter Classic

- Gift Exchange with friends from college

It's been a very busy, but very fun 10 days!