Celebrate!

I'm linking with Ruth Ayres, and her weekly link up.  Read More about that here.  

Okay.  Let's begin by celebrating the fact that I have a bathroom to clean up when hypothetically one of the children decides to flood the toilet.  Just saying...hypothetically.  (It only took me 3 hours to be able to type that sentence!) 

But this was a good week.  Quiet.  But good.

Celebrate Rest.

I rested this week.  It felt good.  Early bedtimes.  Quiet nights.  I slept until 7:00 A.M. this morning.  (Which is practically the middle of the day for me.)  It was a restful week.  

Celebrate the Unexpected.

Nothing fancy here.  Our laptop refresher course ended a bit early.  So 3 friends headed to Noodles and Company.  After that, a bit of shopping.  (Where I found awesome deals on the clearance rack!)  I also had the chance to help a friend look at dresses for her daughters.  I'm in a house of boys, so this is fun for me!  There was also a bit of uproarious laughter and a few stories exchanged when we realized that 80's fashion is back.  (acid wash and all...)  I loved this unexpected break from the daily routine.  

Celebrate the 100th Day of School.

We've had some fun this week in first grade celebrating the 100th day.  My little friends have grown so much!  These past two weeks have been amazing for them!  We have much to celebrate!  

I hope you are celebrating too!  

Joy!

Kendra

#nerdlution Update Week One

First of all, it's weird to not use the #nerdlution hashtag everyday, like I did when blogging was my #nerdlution. But I'm quite sure it's not cool to Tweet pictures of my clutter.  ;)

Secondly, I've chosen some more "local" #nerdlutions for this round.  Here's how it's going:

Notes of encouragement:

This week, I intended to write to 5 different people.  It has ended up, I've written a note/email each day, but it's only been to my husband.  I'm considering this a success!  I may branch out soon, but as this becomes a habit, it's cool that he's getting the best energy I have for this.  Too often he gets what is left , and just is awesome anyway.  So I've just been writing encouraging notes and leaving them in his car.  It's been a good way to stay positive even when he and I are both working a lot right now.  This one might stay this way (only notes to my husband), so stay tuned...  I see the benefits of reaching out to others, I also see the benefits of taking care of my family too.

50 Bags in 50 days:

Well, I have filled four bags this week.  Not one a day though.  Monday night was crazy at bedtime.  I've been working through tiny spaces in the house, so I can feel successful.  Instead of tackling a whole room, I'm tackling 1 drawer/cupboard/space at a time.  I've done one drawer in the kitchen, the pantry, a bag of random clutter lying around, and the remnants of an old backpack that has turned into a hand-me-down for Little Brother.

So...week one?  A success!  Hopefully you are feeling successful about your #nerdlutions this week too!  Have a great week!

Kendra

Slice of Life Week of January 28th

Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Two Writing Teachers.

So I'm lingering on some blogs this morning, and this post from Clare at Assessment in Perspective pops up.  It was so inspiring.  (A sidebar-- My Tuesdays seem to be inspired by everyone's blogging.  Keep up the good work.)  :)

And it reminded me that we have this book in our library bag by Peter Reynolds:

In this book, Leo is working hard to be industrious.  In his quest to get his to-do list done, he begins to multiply until there are 10 Leos!  Yet, they never seem to be finished!  When Leo finally slips away to take a nap and dream, the other Leos become indignant and leave!  Leo reminds us all that doing less is best, and there is time to dream.  

I thought about this book all day long.  It was a great reminder in the middle of winter, when I'm trying to be strong and industrious, there is time to dream!  Tonight I chose writing, reading, and relaxing because there is time.  As I kept a "reverse" to do list (what have I already accomplished), it was a great reminder that a lot happened today and it's time to dream and relax.  

Doing less.  Dreaming more.  When I consider my One Little Word, this fits right in.  Strong doesn't have to always mean industrious.  Strong can mean being established enough to understand that it is time to stop and dream a bit.  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm joining Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers for It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?.

So this post almost didn't happen. I've never seen a 5 year old put on quite a production at bedtime.  If you are familiar with Love and Logic, you will understand when I say I think Jim and Charlie would have been proud.  :)  (Maybe Saturday night, not so much...)  Anyway, the logical/early childhood side of me understands the 5 year old working on a sense of self regulation.  His Mama  however was in the hallway doing a yoga pose at one point just saying over and over again, "I know it's dark at night, I love you."  And I had to blog about it to have that little volcano eruption now that it's fine and all over since we are sleeping peacefully...So...on to the books!  This week in our reading lounge we have new nonfiction from our library. 

  A clever, engaging book on the states of matter.  It even dives into density a bit.  

This book shares facts related to what animals will do regarding behavior in a lifetime, or how an animal will change and grow in a lifetime.  The combination of nature and math is pretty awesome.  

I love the Pebble Plus brand from Capstone.  We are celebrating on Wednesday!  

#nerdlution: The Sequel

I learned a lot during #nerdlution Round 1, prompting me to declare mission accomplished on January 20.  Blogging became a habit.  (One I abandoned last week, but I'm blaming that on too many after-school commitments. Anyhoo...I'm getting back on track.)  Although my goal focused only on blogging, I began doing a Plank-a-Day challenge on January 2.  On Day 25, I can now plank for over 3 minutes, compared to 20 seconds of sheer torture when I first started.

This approach of setting a daily goal and focusing on making it a habit seems to be working for me.  Enter #nerdlution Round 2.  Last time, I suffered from Goal Envy.  I wanted to make sure history didn't repeat itself, so I read many of the posts from my PLN about #nerdlution today.  But, as I reflected on other people's goals, which I would surely benefit from (organizing, writing, random acts of kindness, swearing off Diet Pepsi...really I should do them all), I also thought about where I'm at right now.  One of the unintended consequences of blogging more is that I am reading more.  But, after watching last week's schedule demolish my reading and writing time, I know that I need to make an effort to be purposeful about reading time between now and Spring Break.

Goal #1: Read 1.32 books from my GoodReads to-read list every day.  Essentially, I want to read half of the 132 books on my list before St. Patrick's Day.  I also want to do this without purchasing a single book, meaning my library card is going to be getting a workout.  

Goal #2: Finish Plank-a-Day and begin another core-strengthening challenge.  (I'm open to suggestions...I found Plank-a-Day through Twitter.)

Bring on #nerdlution Round 2!

#nerdlution Round 2

#nerdlution brought our blog back to life.  So, when round two was offered, my first thought was, "Why not?"  There's more to do to improve!

So I spent the weekend brainstorming.  I thought about food, exercise, reading, technology use, connecting through Twitter and blogging...the list goes on.  I also am starting to hear a crafty/artistic side speaking in my head, this might be my summer goal.  

I considered what I could realistically accomplish to make a positive shift for myself and my family and community. 

So I narrowed it down to these two #nerdlution goals.  For the next 50 days:

1.  I hope to write notes of encouragement each day.  Sometimes it will be handwritten, sometimes it will be electronic.  Some will be to colleagues.  Some will be to family.  Some will be to people far away!  Earlier this month, I received a handwritten note in the mail that was so encouraging to me.  I want to pass this feeling on to someone else!  

2.  Less is more.  50 bags in 50 days.  Some bags will get thrown out, some bags will get donated.  My donated bags will become part of our Saturday routine, as we move around town.  My goal is to fill at least a "Target bag" each day with stuff.  We have a lot of "stuff."  It's time.  

Here's to a successful #nerdlution if you are participating!  

Celebrate! Week of January 25th

I'm linking with Ruth Ayres, and her weekly link up.  Read More about that here.  

As January drags on, this will prove to be an excellent topic to blog about each week.  This took a little more reflection this week, but indeed there are things to celebrate!

1.  Basketball.  

This is a sport that is really bringing our family together.  The boys have an Uncle who is coaching basketball here in the Midwest.  We love cheering him on when we can in person, but usually our cheering happens via Twitter.  He had a great win last night, and the boys were so excited!  I then had the chance to take my youngest to a high school game, and watch our local girls remain undefeated in an overtime nail-biter!  It was so fun to be with my youngest.  He's really picking up on the game, and spent the night watching the score board, noticing free throws, and starting to pick up on when to cheer.  Our oldest is playing basketball, and this year he's playing full court for the first time.  It's been fun to watch him grow as a player, and we love the organization that he's involved in.  

2.  Being Industrious.

So my husband has been working every weekend in the month of January.   Oh, was I weary this week when I considered him taking off for work again this Saturday. It's necessary for his job, and I know he's ready to be done too.   However, when I look around, I've had to use that time to keep our boys engaged in life, or they would happily Kindle the month away.  :)  So we have been using this time to work on projects around the house and in my classroom.  It's kept things running smoothly.  And while sometimes it feels like a drag and monotonous, it sure feels good when you sit down to relax and things are actually completed and finished.  We've stayed on top of things this month, which is a good feeling.  

3.  Friends

I had a chance to be with some friends in this past week.  From pizza, to margaritas (just one please), to laughing out loud again and again to cupcakes to a therapeutic exchange of stories (read screaming, laughing, and several conversations taking place at once), the time I spent with my friends was such a blessing!  I sure do celebrate them!  

So, even in the depths of January there is still much to celebrate!  What are you celebrating this week?  

Kendra