toothpick rhythms.

we don't often use books but they do have some cute songs and the kids love it when we get to use them to sing a song!  (plus the music reading skills are good) :)

1st time with books for 2nd graders... you may or may not be surprised to know there are so many things to learn about how to use a book in 2nd grade.  (oh, that's half the room!)

2nd and 3rd graders are combined at one of my schools.  I'm still not sure how to teach this group.  these pictures are of them working on rhythm with toothpicks and cheerios.  first, we all create the same rhythm and practice clapping it.  then, they get to create their own and show me when they know how to 'perform' it.  my principal walked in during this activity and it was surprisingly quiet and nearly all the kids were doing their work.  i have some... interesting... kids in this class, so let's just say that moment was a miracle.  she looked at me and smiled and said 'you are brave. very brave'  haha!!

they can be crazy sometimes and i'm not really sure how things are going.  we'll evaluate in a couple months.

but, pretty cute, huh?

Nursery on my mind

Last night, for the first time, baby girl's little kicks woke me up.  It was cute last night, but I have a feeling it will get tiresome as it becomes more frequent :)  Maybe she'll learn to sleep when mommy sleeps so that when she graces us with her presence she'll automatically sleep when mommy wants to sleep.  (haha jk!)

We also bought this little girl's first outfit.  Well, first outfit from us.  It's kinda silly, I know, but it was fun to go pick out something together!!

Sunday, instead of lesson planning, I dreamed up how to decorate her nursery.  We live in a rental house, so I don't want to go crazy (considering we might be moving 6-8 months after she's born), but it's still fun to do a little something.  These are some things I liked...

These zinc letters from Anthropologie

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This giraffe print (etsy).  It comes in rainbow and pink.  I can't decide :)

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This paint color and crib

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a mobile made from these- paint chips + heart punch!

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I found a bunch more but I can't give it all away ;)  Plus, she's not coming out for another 19 weeks, so it's not time to go crazy yet.


Seen any cute girly stuff!?!!?  Got any nursery tips!?!?

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These were both taken at 17 1/2 weeks :)

 Speaking of 17 weeks... the bottom RH corner shows 'actual size' (ish) footprints of our baby girl at 17 weeks. the cutest footprints if you ask me!

 hot date!

 right before our ultrasound... so excited!!

 20 weeks and off to work!

p.s. i thought i would be one of those people who takes a cute picture in the same outfit and location every week but the weeks have been passing so quickly!  oh.my.goodness. well at least it's cute when other people on pinterest do it...

Random on a Thursday

I've decided to start walking in the mornings before work.  I could jog, except that I hate jogging.  But I love walking.  And yesterday morning as I was headed into work, I thought to myself... I love these cool mornings.  It's too hot to walk after work, and my feet are so tired.  So I might as well go before work.  Plus, I miss some form of daily exercise, and even though walking is not very strenuous, it's better than sitting. 
Reading through 1 Corinthians right now.  The Lord is teaching me doctrine in a new way!  How great is this:  "God is the sources of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, and our righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written, 'let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'" (1 Cor 1:30-31)

My school district lets all teachers borrow a lap top.  They use those white macbooks.  I love having one.  It's so lightweight and convenient and it works great!  Even though it's on loan, I'd like to get a a sleeve/ case for it so it doesn't get banged up in transit every day.  I was thinking something like this...

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But i might just try making one.  Looks simple enough.

Last random thought- I like Thursdays.  Because it means tomorrow is Friday.  And I do not have one of those 'i love fridays, i hate mondays' kind of attitudes, but I do appreciate my weekends now that I'm working full time again.

Happy Thursday! :)

Links

Interesting article about understanding how the Old and New Testaments work together rather than contradict each other. 

Blog post of a wedding of 2 fabulous friends of mine who recently got married.  Seriously, their pictures are GORGEOUS, even if you don't know them!

A recipe i want to try

I'm tempted by this way overpriced planner

I spent some time working at this bookstore last weekend.  (because if you work on a saturday, why not head to a cozy hipster bookstore where you can spread out at an antique table with a delicious cup a joe?)

picture update

We went and saw where Paul's new office will be :)

I spent many days setting up my classrooms

in progress

I 'lost' my iphone on top of our car only to discover where it was when it fell off the roof on the interstate 1 day later... this case is the remnants.

hung out some with this little munchkin! 

went to Denver with the hubs and forgot to take pics! These are all I have... 

a cool bookstore

me exploring at Red Rocks Amphitheater while Mr. Cook was in a conference.

what have YOU been up to? :)

funnies

Ohhhh elementary school... maybe these funnies will brighten your Tuesday.


kindergartener (after not getting the instrument he wanted): "i don't want to play your instruments anyway. they're all broken and dirty."

4th grader (after waiting with his hand in the air for like 8 minutes): "i have a hole in my hand like Jesus."  he showed me the 'hole.' it was a tiny scrape in the middle of his hand... looked like it was made with a pencil.

1st grader (to me in the middle of our activity): "I like you."

:)