My 25th Birthday

My 25th birthday has come and gone. I anticipated it feeling weird and being scary. Friends told me stories of their emotional 25 birthdays.

Instead, I thoroughly enjoyed mine. I went out with some friends for Mexican food and margaritas which is a birthday tradition in my family, especially when your brother was born on Cinco De Mayo. I enjoyed who I spent my birthday with and was happy to be in the presence of friends. Of course, I missed my family but I get to see them at Christmas.

Instead of my birthday being scary or weird it encouraged me reflect on what I've done in the past 25 years. I am happy and thankful for what I've done . I am not focused on what I haven't accomplished yet.

I've done some ridiculous, fun, amazing, and tough things. I am proud of what I've done and so thankful for the people who've supported me and made all my adventures and achievements possible. Specifically, my mom and dad! Thanks.

I've been inside a giant tortoise shell in the Galapagos Islands.

I've been so thrifty, or would you call it cheap, that I wore half my luggage through the airport to avoid ridiculously unreasonable baggage fees while backpacking Europe.

I scuba dived on the Great Barrier Reef. Are you kidding me?

Graduated college from UGA with a degree in Early Childhood Education.
I became a teacher and I've taught for almost two years now. This was my first classroom.

Had my first grown up, all by myself, apartment and LOVED it!

Got to see my brother graduate from the University of Tennessee.


Worked at a summer camp in North Dakota then decided it would be sane to move there for 13 months.


Just to name a few.....

The Great "White" North

The Great White North.... what a lie, so far. It's only snowed a handful of times since I moved here but nothing has stuck yet. This is apparently very unusual. It's not uncommon for kid's to trick or treat in their snowsuits. Not this year. I'm not sure what this lack of snow means for the rest of winter but I'm scared for when it decides to hit hard! Here's what I've done to get ready for the brutal temperatures and wind of a North Dakota winter.....

Bought an ice scraper.
There's no using a card from my wallet anymore for the occasional windshield frost. Up here it's common knowledge that you need to let your car warm up for 10 minutes or so before driving.

Went shopping for snow pants, a serious jacket, and some long johns. It was a very overwhelming experience at Scheels. Never seen so many jackets, pants, hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves in my whole life. I mean the display was literally from floor to ceiling.

You kind of figure this out when someone comes to visit but there really aren't that many sights to see in Fargo, North Dakota. One of the most exciting things might be the ferris wheel in Scheels. Yup, ferris wheel in Scheels. It's on my bucket list now.


I am so hot in this picture (get it?).... turns out it's easy to break a sweat while trying on winter gear.

This is my assistant and I at recess one day. Turns out kids here get just as excited about snow as kids in Georgia. Surprising to me. Not only have they seen it once, they've seen it for months but they are still just as thrilled.

Got some all weather tires put on my car.
I got the fluids checked. They're good down to -34 degrees.
I bought some de-icer windshield wiper fluid.
They got this foreign stuff up here called insulation. Not necessary to keep your faucets dripping and your cabinets open to prevent the pipes from freezing when it's below 32 degrees. The fact that southerners have to do that at all is a laughing matter up here.

DIY Dresser Project

Well, like I've said before I packed up what I could fit in my car and moved to the Fargo/Moorhead area. I was in need of furniture when I arrived. Thanks to my lovely roommate, Amy, I got this dresser and up-cycled it to my liking! See how I transformed it here.

Before

Before


Before


During


Some wrinkling on the map but I used dark blue paint on the top to make the water look textured and to disguise the ripples.


Finished Top

I put new handles on the drawers too!

DIY Resource

Visit these Flicker albums for hundreds and hundreds of letters & number you can download and use in cool craft projects. I made the words above using Picnik.com.

LETTERS
NUMBERS

Alphabet Centered Theme Weeks

The head teacher in Clifford's Clubhouse before me started alphabet centered theme weeks. We are only on A right now so I could abandon this plan but I think I want to stick with it. She gave me all of her old lesson plans to go along with this. I plan to use some of her themes and some of her ideas but be creative and unique too. This is what I've come up with so far. What do you think? Leave a comment if you have other ideas. The possibilities are endless. I don't like the K theme. Do you think I could use Kristopher Kolumbus for K instead of C? Haha

Airplanes

Bugs

Colors

Dinos

Eric Carle Books

Fall

Gardens

Halloween/ Hats

Ice Cold

Jobs

Kindness & Manners (linked to Thanksgiving)

Leo Lionni Books

My Five Senses

Numbers

Oceans

Presents (Linked to Christmas) or Planets

Q& A: What are the kids curious about?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Dr. Suess Books

Trees & Seasons

Under the Sea

Valentines

Weather

eXtreme Sports

Your Family

Zoo Animals

It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A!

Well this week I spent about three and half days working at the YMCA. Because it a child care center the students attend year round. I have 24 students. About 5 of them have been in this class for a while now and the rest have either just started at the YMCA or more likely just moved up from the 3-4 year old class.

Much of the week I was busy doing train sessions. Other times I got to spend time in the classroom getting to know my students and the routines they have. I have the freedom to redecorate the walls, rearrange the classroom, and implement new policies and procedures. I think I'll do all of that over time. Monday it will be just my assistant and I leading the class. I have to complete some more training sessions next week so a few morning I'll have a sub replace me. I am starting to establish relationships with the students but I am hoping to start establishing my routines and roles starting the following week.


Here are some interesting facts about my new position and about YMCA philosophy/rules.:

• My classroom is called Clifford's Clubhouse.
• Each class takes one field trip per month planned by the head teacher of the classroom.
• In the winter if field trips are too difficult we can go swimming at a different Y location.
  
• We must do one cooking project per week. It must be healthy (no cookies, no candy). I have to turn in my grocery list ahead of time and it is bought and paid for for me.
  
• You have to do one art project per day.
• You cannot use food for art projects because it looks bad to use/waste food for art when some people have trouble affording food to eat.
• I get a credit card and may spend $75 per month on classroom materials.
  
• I have an assistant. Her name is Melissa.
• The YMCA serves every kid breakfast, lunch, and 1 snack each day. I get to eat it too!
• Meals are served family style in the classroom meaning kids serve themselves and pour their own drinks.
  
• I am not allowed to give the children anything preprinted- so no worksheets. Obviously I do not think a day full of worksheets is the most effective teaching method or age appropriate for 4-5 year olds. However I think preprinted worksheets could be really useful for learning letters and practicing handwriting. Maybe I can cheat the system in some way. I am thinking of getting a class set of mini, lined, dry erase boards.
  
• They use Creative Curriculum which is a ten center choice system. "The environment is divided up between 10 learning areas: blocks, dramatic play, toys and games, art, library, science and discovery, sand and water, music and movement, computers, and the outdoors."
• There is a girl names Natalee in my class and it's hard to know when my assistant is talking to me or her on occasion. I should also mention that the kids call teachers by their first name.
• Everything is based on CHOICE! I can provide whole group activities but I the children always get the choice to participate or go to a center.
• We use home made play-doh and it must be made fresh with the kids on a weekly basis.
• I have a free gym membership.
  

As I learn more I'll keep you updated. I work 8:30-5:30 so the hours are longer than I worked at New Life but I think I'll have less work outside of school. I get 4 hours of paid planning breaks per week. I have to do two hours worth at the YMCA and the other two I can leave and do errands like go to the library, purchase things for the classroom, go print things at office max, etc.

For now, I'll leave you with this story a student told us on Friday, " My brother stayed home today because he smashed his wiener in the toilet!" Apparently his brother is 3 years old and potty training and the toilet lid fell down on his- you know- and it's now swollen. Poor guy!

Local Talent

Since coming to Fargo I've had the pleasure of seeing the Johnson Family Band twice. They are a wonderful band to watch. They play a mixture of folk and blue grass music.

This is how they describe themselves on their website "We met in bars and classes we took together in college, and have spent the past few years playing in small town bars, barn dances, parties, venues, and festivals. The music is rooted in a traditional mountain feeling, but draws influence from jazz and rock-and-roll as well."

Check out their music on the video tab on their website.

Monkey Bread

Happy Labor Day to everyone! I hope you've enjoyed your weekend and spent it with those you love!

In all of my free time I've been cooking, doing crafts, and still watching 24. Luckily work starts soon because I'm not sure how much more time at home I can handle.

On Saturday I made monkey bread for the roomies! I used this recipe at pillsbury.com and based on a pin in Pinterest I made the monkey bread in muffin tins. It ended up being kind of a mess. The recipe says to cut each biscuit into fourths. I decided to put 3 pieces of dough in each hole in the tin. They over flowed the pan particularly the melted butter and brown sugar mixture that you drizzle over the top at the end.


They were tasty but not like Mom's. Somehow mom always makes it perfectly for breakfast on Christmas morning. Also, no matter how many times I open a roll of biscuits or cinnamon rolls it always scares me!

To Julianne...

Did you watch the VMA's? I did.

How about Lady Gaga dressed as a man at the VMA's? Interesting huh. I have to say the thing that stayed with me the most was Adele's performance of Someone Like You. It was beautiful. I cannot remember the last time I actually bought a CD from a store but today I ran right out and bought Adele's CD, 21. It's glorius. Buy it. It comes highly recommended by ME!

So I have a job and training starts this week but I didn't have to go in today. So what productive things am I doing with my life you might ask? Well obviously I bought Adele's CD. I finished the first season of 24 on Netflix and I made a yummy hotdish. Holy cow, upon first impressions I did not see the "bad-ass" Jack Bauer everyone talks about but after finishing the first season- I get it.

What is hot dish? That's apparently what they call casserole's up here in the midwest. The recipe is listed below. These are the things I did differently though. If you know me, then you know I HATE chunks so I put the onion and pepper in a food processor. I used an orange pepper because Walmart didn't have any red ones. I added a jalapano and I left out the mushroom. I used frozen spinach because it's easier. The first time I made this I had a request for the recipe. That's a sign I should make it again right? I won't say it's easy or quick but it sure is tasty!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta!

Three-Cheese Chicken Pasta

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

8 oz. Penne pasta

1 tsp. olive oil

8 oz. package mushrooms

1 small onion, chopped

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

3 cups chopped fresh spinach (it’s basically a whole bag of spinach)

1 tsp. oregano

¼ tsp. pepper

16 oz. container of cottage cheese

2 cups shredded roasted chicken (Cook this first!)

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar

½ cup shredded parmesan

½ cup milk

10 ¾ oz. can cream of chicken soup

Directions:

1. Cooks chicken first

2. Cook pasta, drain

3. Preheat oven to 425

4. Heat olive oil in skillet coated with cooking spray over med/high heat. Add mushrooms, onions, and peppers. Sauté 4 minutes. Add spinach, oregano, and pepper. Sauté 3 minutes or until Spinach wilts. Set aside.

5. Place cottage cheese in a food processor until very smooth. Combine cottage cheese, spinach mixture, cooked pasta, chicken, ¾ cup cheddar cheese, ¼ parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl.

6. Stir until well blended.

7. Spoon mixture into a 2 qt. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle top with remaining cheddar and parmesan cheeses.

8. Bake for 25 minutes at 425 or until lightly browned and bubbly.

* To give credit where credit is due, this is a Southern Living recipe from the Ultimate Cookbook.*