Currently April 2016

I'm linking up with Farley for her April Currently.  I can't believe I have not blogged since January.   I am having a great school year with wonderful students again.  Life with three boys seems to leave little time for blogging these days.  I am thinking of doing some posts about getting ready for the end of the school year and all that entails.  Feel free to email or leave in the comments any suggestions for future blog posts.

Listening:  I'm watching Live with Kelly and Michael episodes I have DVRd.  I hate when they do repeat segments and that is what the last week has been so I'm just watching the host chat portion and then deleting the episode.  

Loving:  My new black storage boxes from IKEA.  It was on my To Do List last summer to switch out all my ugly old white storage boxes for new black ones from IKEA.  Unfortunately I ran out of time last summer and was never able to make it to IKEA. My amazing husband indulged me and took me to IKEA in Schaumburg, IL on Monday.  I have not been there for nearly a decade and didn't realize how confusing the store layout is.  Afterward we had a delicious lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  I spent a couple days in my classroom decluttering the contents of the white boxes (so not fun, but so necessary) and then reorganized everything in the beautiful black boxes.

We shopped till I was ready to drop

Before

After-one box is still empty

Fruits of my decluttering labor

Love the posters from Carnegie Learning I finally put up

Thinking:  About some of the projects I want to create with my new Astrobrights packs I ordered from Amazon.  They will arrive tomorrow.  I also need to go back to Office Depot today and pick up one pack of cardstock that was much cheaper at the store than on Amazon.  I plan on sprucing up the blue wall cabinet shown in the photos above.  I never got around to putting up anything on the right side last summer before school started.  I think I might redo the posters on the left to incorporate some more color.  Please share any favorite Astrobrights color combos you may have.

My name is Sherrie and I'm obsessed with Astrobrights paper

Wanting:  The weather to warm up once and for all.  We have had lots of sun and warm weather lately, but the picture below shows what's happening right now.  We have LAX and BB games this week with rain and snow in the forecast so things might be interesting, not in a good way.

Snow snow go away and don't come back until November

Needing:  I'm going to spend some time this weekend trying to finish up the most important items on my Spring Break TO DO list.  Our trip to IKEA was very productive and we got a bench for shoes and backpacks for the laundry room and new shower curtains and rugs for the boys' bathroom.  RIP Pottery Barn Frogs that I loved so much, but my youngest is 10 now so it was time for a redo.  I also spent a couple days in my classroom and got those boxes done which was a major project.  Lots of housecleaning left to do this weekend.

Spring Break To Do Lists

Whatever:  This week marks the beginning of 4th quarter.  Every year I feel like 4th quarter is over in the blink of an eye.  School will be busy, but family life will be even busier.  My oldest plays Varsity LAX. My middle plays BB, and my youngest plays LAX and BB.  I love this time of year, but it will be crazy and suddenly it will be summer break.

My room all ready for me to return from Spring Break

The adorable and super yummy cake my mom made for Easter

I hope you all enjoyed your Spring Break and wish you the best of luck on successfully finishing up this school year.

Currently January

I cannot believe 2016 is here already.  2015 seems to have flown by with the blink of an eye.   I'm linking up with Farley for her January Currently.

Listening:  Right now all three boys are still sleeping and my husband is making breakfast.  I am very lucky to have a husband who is also enjoys cooking. I smell eggs, polish sausage, and hash browns  Yesterday he made individual beef wellingtons for dinner.  We always invite my parents to a fancy dinner every January 1st to ring in the new year with them.

Loving:  This has been a wonderful break.  It's been filled with family, fun, and lots of relaxation.  We celebrated with my family Christmas Eve and I have to say, having my 5 yo niece and 2 yo nephew just makes family gatherings so much more fun!  Other than them, my son Cooper is the youngest and he is 10.  So much fun to see Christmas through the eyes of little ones.  Thanks to Direct TV's Binge-a-thon I watched "The Knick" and "Flesh and Bone".  Loved them both.

Thinking:  I really want to refocus my time & energy on what is really important.  This from both a personal and professional perspective.  Sometimes in education we are forced to spend too much time on meaningless tasks that don't end up benefitting students. I want to be more purposeful on how I spend my time.  It's too precious to waste.

Wanting:  Can I just hit the pause button?  Or even rewind?  My oldest is turning 17 one month from today and sometimes I have trouble grasping where his childhood went.  He is driving, has a job,  and even has his own truck thanks to my dad. My middle son is in 8th grade. Even though he goes to the school I teach at, he rides the bus this year so he can be with his friends.  Because I teach 7th grade I never see him at school.  Due to the different bell schedules for 7th & 8th grade it's as if we have two separate schools where I teach.  The thought of him going to high school next year blows my mind.   Don't even get me started on my baby who is now 10 and in 4th grade.  I feel 4th grade is the shift from little boy to big boy and it saddens me greatly that he no longer wants to read our favorite picture books together and watch episodes of "Little Bear".  The boys have spent much of their break hanging out with their friends which has provided me lots of time to read and relax.  

Needing:  I usually spend some time on NYE reflecting and thinking about my goals for the coming year.  This year I did do that.  I'm going to spend some time this weekend thinking about how to achieve the goals that important to me without sacrificing family time.  I feel as educators we often sacrifice our own family time for the benefit of our students.  I have really tried the last couple of years to get a better balance between school and home life.  I feel it's so important to continue this as my boys are getting older.  I want to cherish the time I have with them all still living under the same roof.  Exercise and Whole 30 are going to be coming back in 2016.

One Little Word:  Declutter  I know it's not a profound word, but I really want to declutter my home, my classroom storage, and my schedule.  After this Christmas I have made the conclusion that we have way too much stuff and I want to start getting rid of the stuff that does not in fact bring me joy and satisfaction.