InstaFriday - Another Busy Week

Gotta check in quick today!  Super stressed and too much to do...ya know, story of my life it seems, but fall break is coming up at the end of next week, so hoping life slows down for just a little bit then (even if it is just one week)!

 I have seen this just about everywhere, but was so skeptical!  Turns out that putting your iPhone in a glass really does work to project the sound!  I was sick of plugging my phone into the speaker (and I would have to take off the case in order for it to really work) so I tried it!  Now, in my classroom, it's the only way to play music!

 Saturday was a busy one.  I woke up bright and early and headed to my friend, Holly's house, to run/walk.  She is trying to get my knee running again, but what was even better was that I got to spend time with her!  Then it was off to Kyan's first basketball game of the season!  He was so excited and looked adorable out on the court!  After the game, I spent the afternoon at my friend, Angela's, for her baby shower.  It isn't very often that the old team all gets together, so it was nice to catch up with everyone.  Although it really made me miss Lora something fierce! 

 Actually planned meals and had grocery shopping done all by 9am Sunday morning.  I was able to sit back and enjoy the day with my family.

 Monday afternoon I got mail at school from a former student.  It brought tears to my eyes.  She was one that I never really thought I made an impact on, but turns out I was wrong.  Goes to show that you never really know whose life you can touch.  It made me miss my 8th graders a lot.  The hardest part about adjusting to teaching 2nd graders is that there isn't that bond that you get like you get with a teenager.  Don't get me wrong, I love being with my kids and don't regret my decision, but something like this makes me miss it.

 Kyan and Lola both have a school fundraiser going on.  For Kyan, it is super serious and he is so into it.  He has been calling everyone and their brother to sponsor him running.  His little voice on the phone is irresistible too, they can't say no to him!  To date, he has sponsors that are supporting him for $16/lap that he runs around the Raceway!  Thank you family and friends for helping out!  Another element to the fundraiser is that the Apex team donates a year's worth of school supplies for every $10/lap raised to a student in Peru.  So Kyan has already helped to supply one student with supplies, he wants to help one more before the race!  Only $4/lap to go and he just might do it!  Lola, on the other hand, is oblivious and would rather eat jerky and read me books all night!  

 Kyan got braces on Wednesday and it makes him look so old and incredibly adorable!  Just like yesterday I remember the day my sweet baby boy was born...and now he has BRACES?!  What?!  It is true what they say about time, it really does fly.

 

I accidentally forgot to put dinner in the crock pot before I left for work Thursday, so I ran home during my prep period to throw it in.  One of the perks of living a block away from where you work I guess!  Dr. Pepper Slow Cooker Roast Beef, it was what was for dinner and it was delicious.  Although, I will say, I am not 100% sold that I will be using this recipe again.  I needed a little more oomph or something.  It was super juicy and very good, but it was my first attempt at pot roast and I want to try another one!  Sleeping Beauty fell asleep around 7 and I wished to be her.  Seriously.  I am stressed and feeling a little under the weather, but I had too much to do, so instead I just watched her while I worked.

Happy Weekend Y'all.  We have another busy one, but hoping to slow down and relax a little on Sunday!  Go Cardinals!

InstaFriday - Low Key

This week was pretty mellow yellow, and much to my surprise after going through my pictures this week to post, I realized I hardly took any. 

Love being able to be at school each and every day with my babies! 

Friday is school spirit day at school and we all wore our matching shirts!

 Basketball Camp on Saturday for Kyan - lots and lots of drills!

 I promised myself and my kids that I wouldn't go into work this past weekend and I stuck to my guns!  We were very lazy the entire weekend and laid almost the entire time!  However, that sweet little face was DYING to go to Target (my kinda girl), so on Sunday afternoon, we headed there for a little mommy/daughter time!  We ate dinner there (Pizza Hut) and she told me that she "had the greatest day ever, just you and me"!  Love her.

Hand Me Downs from cousin Ava!!!  Lola hit the jackpot!  This box was stuffed with so much good stuff!  Lola has already started to wear a lot of it!  Lucky to have such a stylish cousin!  Thank you so much for sending it our way Auntie Erin and cousin Ava!

 Kyan has to read nightly for homework.  When he chooses to read to his sister, it melts my heart a lot!  Love them.

 Proud to say that I have been able to leave school before 3:30 two days this week!  Something that hasn't happened since I started teaching 2nd grade.  I will probably pay for it and be super swamped next week, but...I enjoyed it for now!

Hope you all had a great week!

Happy weekend!

InstaFriday - It's been two weeks...

....yeah, I know!  I neglect this blog as it is and then I don't post about our week last week!?  

Onto this week!  Not as many as you are used to, but I am busy!  

School is always on my brain!  While I don't share too much on here about my classroom way of life, I want to share a picture of these cool Whisper Phones my friend made for the kids in my room!  The kids got to personalize them using duct tape!

What is a Whisper Phone?  Made from PVC pipe, you hold it exactly like you would hold a regular phone to your ear and you whisper in one end and in the other you hear your own voice loud and clear!  So cool {and quiet too} You really can't help but pick one up and try one when you see them!

This week I actually planned out our meals and tried new recipes too!  Helps us to not eat out so much!

Jalapeno Popper Sliders

Grilled Corn Salsa 

Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream

Chicken Enchilada Dip Rollups

 Sleeping Beauty.  Bloody Mary (best way to start off football Sunday).  Dance Party with Auntie Kiki.  Remembering 9.11.01  Snuggling my girl.  Thirty Minute Massage.

 I had a great week, this picture is the icing on my cake.  I love their relationship and hope that the bond that they share lasts a lifetime.

 

 Hope everyone had a great week too!  Happy Weekend!

InstaFriday - Birthday Week Continued...

 Friday was a good day.  It was the last day of my school birthday celebration and I went out with a bang!  I was a lot tired though, Kyan got stung by a scorpion the night before and we were up late (or should I say early?  He didn't get home until after midnight).  He is okay, just a LOT scary and the first one in our family to ever be stung by one of those bad boys!

Ok, back to birthday day at school.  For my treat, I tried the Magnum bars above.  Even better than the ones I tried last week!  Do yourself a favor and try one! 

My class gave me the sweetest present there on the bottom left.  I have the perfect spot to hang it in my room!  

To end my day, I met up with the girls from 8A.  I don't really think I have words to describe how awesome it was to sit down and just BE with them.

 On Saturday I took those two cuties to see Ice Age 4!  I have been working so much lately and wanted to be able to find time for just them!

 Sunday was my actual birthday an I couldn't be happier getting another year older!  I was SPOILED by my family and not only did I get all of my favorite things that I dropped giant hints for, but I got help cleaning the house from top to bottom on Saturday!

Later in the evening, I taught my friend Meghan how to make spaghetti and meatballs!  So much more fun to cook with someone else!  Kyan's favorite part is to mix up the meatballs, so I let him have at it, as I hate doing it!

 We were able to enjoy our hard work in the kitchen on Monday, with our golf buddies of course!

 Picture Day at school and man, do they look so grown up to me here!  

I love them and how willing they are to take pictures of everything/everywhere for me!

 Free Family Fun Night and Curriculum Night at school last night!  Kyan was bound and determined to win BINGO, he didn't move from his spot for over an hour (and still had no luck)! 

Inservice for me today at school (no school for my kids), so they got to spend the night at their friends' house!  So exciting!

This week was a good one (minus one day, but we won't go there, I am over it)!

I had an amazing birthday week, thank you to everyone who made me feel so special!

Happy Weekend Y'all!!! 

InstaFriday - Birthday Week!!!

 She sleeps.  I could watch her forever.

Friday nights is Lola's night at gymnastics and she is LOVING it! 

 Saturday morning I met up with my cousin Hannah at a place called Sweet Salvage.  A junk sale that happens on the third weekend of every month.  Note to self, don't go there when you are broke.  Pure torture!  I wanted everything and bought nothing!  Sad day.

Kyan went roller skating for the first time and looked adorable!  Brought back LOTS of memories of going to the roller rink myself when I was younger and we are already making plans to go back!

Oreo got a new mansion!  Little Houdini Hamster kept getting out of his old cage!

Went over to help friends craft and get ready items ready to showcase for their Super Saturday craft day at church!  Can't wait to make one of everything myself to keep!

 Eggs.  It's what's for breakfast all week!  Made mini quiche to just reheat each morning.  Much better than what I have been eating!  

Went to school to see that the copy fairy had been there!  Booyah!  So nice not to have to sit by that machine for hours!

And to cap off my weekend, I enjoyed a few glasses of wine by the pool with my friend who I haven't seen in forever!  Perfection.

 "Captain Kangaroo called and he wants his pants back!" says my husband when he saw my outfit Monday morning!  Bwah!  Very funny.

My friend Adam, who happens to be married to my even better friend Holly, and he cooks the BEST stir-fry ever!  Whenever he makes it, I always get leftovers, however, now that I don't work with his wife any more (sad day), I begged for a cooking lesson!  I'll share the recipe as soon as I decipher through my notes (don't hold your breath, it could be a while)!  Best part of the lesson...I got to take it all home!!!

For one night only, I didn't have anything school related to do (and if I did, I just ignored it) and crafted while watching Bachelor Pad (guilty please).  Made a few notebooks for my friends at school who have been so helpful to me during this tough transition (haven't talked about it too much, but it ain't easy)!

 He sleeps.  I usually catch the sweetest pictures of Lola sleeping, however, Tuesday morning I snapped a picture of Kyan, curled up with his bear and blanket (still, after all these years).  

That same sleepy boy was my lunch date several hours later!  Perk of my job!!!  He has been begging since school started and I finally caved!  I see many more lunch dates in our future!

 Did I mention it is birthday week for me?!  I have been spoiled by my coworkers - duty covered, ice tea EVERY single morning, sweet treats!  And uh, that Emergency Chocolate, yeah, already gone!

Yay for coupons!  Saved 20% on my salon services (see below on what I had done) and got a free product!  Woohoo!

 Brown hair.  My mom's favorite (NOT).  The blonde was getting to be a little too high maintenance for me, so I am going with easy for a while and keep it one color.  I happen to like it a lot and change is good...right?

Happy Weekend!  

Can't wait until Sunday (it's my birthday!!!!)  

Any guesses as to how old I am?

InstaFriday - Easier each Day!

School.  

It is on my brain.  

When I am not there, and I am there A LOT, I am working on something at home for it.

The nice thing about it, is that I have my kids there too!  So I don't feel as bad spending so much time there, because they are there too!  When it is time to leave, they usually are the ones complaining that they are not ready to go.

 

Okay, now that you know what is in my head, here is our week...in pictures!

Friday was spirit day at school and we all sported our MPE tshirts!  

Kyan wrote the best message in his Welcome Back to School Pack and seriously made me realize that I made the right decision about switching schools {even as hard as it is to say that}!  "I know this year will be awesome because I'll get to see my mom!"  Yes, my heart melted.

Lola started gymnastics once a week and is LOVING it!

Lola wanted ketchup with her nuggets.  Ok, so she didn't need eight of them really, but they were too cute not to take extra!

 Saturday was a day that the kids and I had been looking forward to all week!  Grandpa and Grandma time!  

Lola and I were treated to pedicures by grandma!  I love me a good pedicure, but having a four year old wiggle around on me was NOT comfortable!

Swimming at the waterpark was a BIG hit {it always is}!  Lola conquered the slides!!!!

Since I have been at the kids school, Kyan has been so huggy and lovey on me!  After the waterpark, he snuggled up nice and close!

Went to dinner at Dillion's at the Zoo for dinner.  Ate dinner sharkside!  It was so cool!

The balloon lady at the restaurant was bananas ridiculous!  The kids each got a special balloon and were happy as clams!

THANK YOU Grandpa and Grandma for an amazing day together!  We always love spending time with you and having Ava and Brayden there this time was extra special!

Kyan and Lola got to spend the night with Grandparents Nebraska, but I met back up with them at church and then out to breakfast on Sunday morning!  Lola enjoyed her butter, with bread!  We said our goodbye and parted ways, so they could spend a little more time with Ava and Brayden before they had to leave.  Plus, I spent my day at school!

Since I have started second grade lunches consists of hummus, pita chips, and pretzel chips of all flavors!  Monday night I started on Kyan's teacher's birthday present!  Nothing like waiting until the last second to get started!  I had bought everything at the start of the weekend, but I put it off as usual until I could put it off no longer!

Mrs. Jones is the best teacher on the planet!  Kyan had her for kindergarten and is lucky enough to have her again this year for 2nd grade!  Wanna know something even cooler?!  She is my teammate!  It is awesome to be able to learn for someone who is so incredible with kids!  He was excited to not only give her this sign made by mama, but tickets to the Cardinals home opener this weekend!  She has never been to a game, so when he saw how excited she was to get them, he was on cloud nine!  Thank you Mrs. Jones for all you do!  You have a special place in the Roseland family's hearts!

She sleeps.  Oh, how can Lola sleep!  She is the worst to wake up!  In the mornings and now recently her teacher has discovered that nap time wake up is no fun!  It usually takes her 30 minutes to get back into the swing of things.  Ooops, should have warned her about that!  

Dress Wednesday.  Had it at Wigwam and keeping the tradition alive!  It is fun to see former students/teammates that have moved on still rockin' the dress on Wednesday! 

My parent praise wall is looking so pretty!  I hung the stars for this months prompt up and it just made it look complete!  I don't get to take any credit for the idea behind parent praise, just figured out my own way to display it in my room {which I will eventually get to taking pictures of...one day}!

Thursday morning took the hubby to get his wisdom teeth pulled.  Only took about an hour and then he was on the couch recovering with ice packs and lots of pain medicine!  

Oh yeah, did I mention that sometimes my kids are so upset when I tell them we have to leave school.  One of their most favorite things to do is play on the computers!  Lola usually joins us after school the last 10 minutes or so {she gets extended day with her preschool tuition payment, so I usually leave her there so I can get work done} but yesterday was a special day.  Working on getting her to NOT cry when having to go to extended day in the mornings and this was her reward for NOT doing so yesterday!  It's complicated as to why she can't just stay in my room until school starts, but she can't, so it is a work in progress and I am trying to get her to understand that it is different that Kyan gets to stay when she can't.  But, this worked, so might have to dangle that over her head for the time being until she isn't a hot mess in the mornings!

That was our week, busy!  How was your week?

InstaFriday - Back to the Grind

Another busy week...

Last Friday was "Meet the Teacher" night.  A chance for parents and kids to come in and see their classroom and meet yours truly!  I was showered with gifts (that apple dip was to die for) and surprised by a few former students that came to say hello, love them!

 Work, work, work!  That is pretty much all that I have been up to!  No lie, but managed to find some time to have a little bit of fun and took ALL of Saturday off, promising to do NO WORK at all!  I was able to keep that promise too!  We spent the morning/afternoon at a birthday party, that happened to be at a waterpark!  So much fun!  Kyan loved the diving boards the most, while Lola rocked the slide!  Later in the afternoon, went for a much needed pedicure!  When I got home, I continued to ignore the mess that is my craft room (real life, still looks this way, I just shut the door and walked away) and played video games with my family!  I love Rayman's Rabbid's!  Always gets us cracking up!  I knew I was going to work most of Saturday, so I made it a point to do what my kids wanted to do!

 Before I headed into work pretty much all of Sunday afternoon, I tried price matching for the first time ever at Walmart!  For me to remember what I wanted to match prices to, I used sticky notes (you have to tell them before they ring the item through) so that I would remember!  I felt like an idiot, but I did save lots of money!  We headed to my in-laws for a back-to-school dinner.  My mother-in-law was adorable with all of the decor and food and made each of the kids feel so special on the night before their big day!

 And speaking of BIG days...Monday was the first day of school and the first day that I was able to actually be a part of the first day walking to school!  It was so much fun!  I think I was more excited than my babies!  Usually daddy gets the honor of this very special day, but now that I am teaching that their school, it gets to be me!  BEST DAY EVER!!!!  Chad made the day even sweeter by sending the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Getting to see my kids smile at me in the hallway when I pass them or get big hugs before lunch every day, so worth making the switch.

Now, to say that teaching second grade has been an easy transition for me would be a lie.  It hasn't been anything close.   I am transitioning, but I am vulnerable and I did have my first mental breakdown this week about the decision that I made.  I told very few about what was going on in my head (some I couldn't hide my tears from) and the little things they did for me that night and the very next day meant the world to me.

The end of my week got even better when my parents rolled into town (yes, again)!  They stopped by to take us to dinner and spend any spare second they could with the kids before bed time rolled around!  We are planning on seeing them more this weekend, can't wait!

Do you instagram?  I am jenni_roseland (if you want to follow along with our week)!

Hoping to actually link up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged this week.  I am always set to, but never remember to really link to her awesome party!  

 

Happy Weekend Y'all!