Saturday, February 23, 2013

Cupid Definitely Shot Me with Some Kind of Arrow Valentine's Week




Ok, so I know Valentine's Day was over a week ago, but since pure CRAZINESS ensued, I'm only just now getting the time to share what went on that week.

I thought I was doing good, maybe a little ahead, but nope.  It caught up with me.  

First off, on the 13th, my littlest turned 2!!!  2!!!  Ahhhh!!  My baby isn't going to be a baby much longer!!  :O(


On the 14th, my husband had a birthday (I won't share his age) :O).  Yep, he's a Valentine baby!  (LOVE him!!)



If you read our post about Monday Made It, you saw this, and I'm sure you are wondering if it won or not (it's ok if you forgot about it, just go with it!)
My daughter knew I posted it on my blog and that everyone loved it, so that made her feel really good!!  (She knows all about blogging because she watches Dog with a Blog on Disney channel.  Yes, I am a teacher and I allow my child to watch TV.  At least she learned something so that makes it educational, right?  Ahem.)

Anyway...she was feeling pretty good going into the competition because of such wonderful feedback from you all.

Well, my daughter's box did NOT win!!!  Can you believe it???  Out of, like, 8 categories it did not win anything!!  She came in my classroom at dismissal time and said, "I didn't win anything!" (she was pretty upset)  and I said, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" and my kiddos in my class said, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

Then they told her they thought she totally should have won!!  Then, I took the box, with her, into Stacia's class and asked how many of her students would have voted for her box to win (I was trying to boost her ego a little) and they all said they thought she should win!  A group of her students even came in my room a little later to tell her that they didn't know WHAT those 3rd graders were thinking!!  It made her feel a ton better.  Plus, it matches her bedroom and she loves it.  She even asked if she could use it next year, so I think she's good now.  

This is what I gave my kids for Valentine's Day:

They each got a sock monkey (there's a red one to the right that you can't see) and the little can of treats.  :O)

I gave something similar to my coworkers:

I do realize that everyone does not love York Peppermint Patties as much as me, and I was being selfish by giving MY favorite candy away, but everyone seemed to like them.  :O)

Now, onto the CUH-RAZINESS of Valentine's Day at school.

We are not supposed to have V-day parties in 4th grade.  Well, we do a schoolwide reward system of giving compliments to classes, and when a class gets all of their "letters" (by getting compliments through the halls, etc.) they get a treat of some kind.  So...I decided to have our compliment party on V-day so we could kinda have a V-day party but call it a compliment party.  You with me so far?

So, I had 2 parents that were going to come in at 9:15 to help me set up because we were going to do hot cocoa and cupcakes while the kids passed out their Valentines around 9:30.

Who walks in my door at 9:00 to do my unannounced, formal observation?  My principal.  Yep.  ON VALENTINE'S DAY JUST BEFORE I HAD PARENTS COMING TO SET UP FOR A PARTY I WASN'T TECHNICALLY SUPPOSED TO HAVE!!

Oh boy.

So, I was teaching small group math, how to simplify fractions, and of course, it was my lowest group that I had pulled and they were struggling.  I was also in the floor with them because my small group table was covered in Valentine's stuff.  So...yeah.  She comes in with her laptop and sits on the floor with us and starts her evaluation.  At this point, I just pray it goes well and that the parents coming in won't be a huge distratction.

The rest of my class was doing fraction games on the floor, and they did really well (thank goodness!).  My parents ended up being late and the first one didn't come in until about 9:30, so that was good.  Overall, it went well.  

But really?  A formal observation right before our Valentine's Day Compliment party?  Ugh.  It could have gone a lot worse.  I'm just glad it's over!

So, onto the party.  Here is a picture of the goods from our hot cocoa "bar":
Mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, whipped cream (not pictured), and fun marshmallow sticks they could stir with.  We also had mint sticks they could stir with, too.

Oh, AND one of my students used all of his punch cards (my reward system in the classroom) to buy a movie and popcorn party, so we had tons of popcorn popped as well.

(And my roomom got me that pretty hydrangea too!!  How sweet!)
Here are the cupcakes.  They were so yummy.  I have a student with a red-dye allergy and so her parents often make stuff so that she can eat the treats.  I had NO idea how many things have red-dye in them, especially that aren't even red!

So, after all of that craziness, we went camping to celebrate the 2 birthdays from the week.  Of course, it was the coldest weekend in GA when we went, but we enjoyed our 4-day weekend by the campfire!  It was all about making memories with the family!  Sometimes, you just have to have a break and we definitely needed it!!  Hopefully, my kids will remember this time together for many years to come!


If you hung in there, and read all of this, BLESS YOU!!  Do you think my week was as crazy as I think it was?  Maybe I'm being dramatic?  ;O)

Have a fantastic weekend!
Amanda

Also, our friend Jess at I {Heart} Recess is having her 100 followers giveaway!  Go check it out!!  There are some great prizes!!



12 comments:

  1. Looks like you had lots of fun last week! (And craziness with the observation/nonparty party.) Your little guy is adorable! Hope next week is a little calmer for you! :)
    Lattes and Laughter

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  2. I can't believe that your principal came in on that morning - what are the chances! Your party treats look amazing! Glad that you had some quality family time!

    Looking From Third to Fourth

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  3. That was a busy week to say the least! Oh my word-I can't believe that you had an observation on Valentine's Day (Compliment Party Day) morning!! How crazy! But it sounds like you remained calm and so did your kiddos-good for you guys-I'm sure it went great!

    I am hoping your next week is calm and uneventful (we all need those weeks every once in a while!)

    Amanda
    Learning to the Core

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  4. Wow that is a crazy week. I cannot believe you had that observation! That is just too much! I am glad you pulled it off though. Here is hoping this week is calmer!

    Amy
    Eclectic Educating

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  5. Oh my! What a week - you definitely needed some R&R!! That hot cocoa bar looks delicious - yummy.

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  6. I am just trying to picture A.W. sitting on the floor!! ;-)
    Jessica
    ideas by jivey


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  7. Awe! Your little boy is just adorable and I love the Thomas cake:) My little one turns three in a couple weeks. Sniff, sniff:( I also love the Valentine's gifts that you made your kids and colleagues. I need to pin that for next year!

    I just about died reading about your unannounced observation on Valentine's Day! What!?! That just is crazy. I think your admin might just want to see if you are "THAT GOOD!" haha! Sounds like you handled it well:)

    Your camping pictures are great. It makes me want the warmer weather to come like...now! We bought a used camper last fall and cannot wait to put it to use. There is only one problem. We are on a waiting list for the campground that we love and saying some prayers. A family that plays together stays together:)

    Have a great weekend and don't fret too much about the tests (I know, it is so tough!). I go back and forth saying to myself, "Well, there is only so much I can do. I have done my best to prepare them. Wait! I need to do so much more! They are NOT prepared!" Ugh!
    Happy weekend:)
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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  8. I too had an observation Valentine's Day, but mine was planned so I was able to calm my students before hand. I am sure your observation went great! I personally enjoy seeing teachers sitting with their students at their level.

    Thanks for the shout out, I appreciate it :)

    Jess

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  9. The good news is that the observation is done! I had just had mine on Friday and am glad not to have to worry about it anymore!
    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

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  10. I really can't believe that Valentine's mailbox didn't win!!

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  11. Don't forget that you'll be featured on my blog tomorrow!
    :) Dana
    Fun in 1st Grade

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  12. I was featured with you girls today on Dana's blog...glad to find you in blogland :) Love your Valentine ideas!
    Elizabeth
    Kickin’ it in Kindergarten

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