Life Lately

HEY.

Remember me?

*waving frantically*

I've been MIA - but honestly - I saw it coming for months.

In fact, it happens every. single. year.

Why?

Drum roll please.

BACK TO SCHOOL.

If you guessed it, sparkles for you.

Once my foot steps into that empty classroom at the end of July, the blogging switch goes off and the teacher switch goes on - like 100 watt light bulb on. And it's totally where my attention needed to be for awhile, and that's okay.

So, honestly - life hasn't been too crazy and full of activities.

We've been doing stuff here and there, but I'm to the point where my classroom and kids are settling in, plans are being made, new family routines are a little more established now and I'm able to take a deep breath and settle down from back to school season. 

But just to check in - here's a few snapshots of life lately since it's been awhile since we chatted. :)

Harper

Pretty much my child went from toddler to teenager.

So there's that.

Honestly, she's been a challenge.

Harper has struggled getting back into the routine of school - she went off and on during the summer. One of the first full weeks back, she got hand, foot & mouth - and was out for a whole other week right when I was going back to work. And she's been super cranky and tired when she gets home making dinner, bath, and bedtime very difficult. Not to mention she's also been teething, so we're kinda on a meltdown roll. Don't get me started on the Target meltdown of the century. 

But really, on the weekends and now that her teeth finally have pushed through mostly, she's been sweet as pie. Looking older and older every day, and the sass of a sixteen year old to go with it.

Baby Shower

One of the things on my 101 in 1,001 list was throw someone a baby shower, and I can finally put a check on it. Cody's cousin Nicole is due in September, and Cody's mom, my sister in law, and I helped put on the cutest shower if I do say so myself. Ha. I think she loved it.

Cody & I

We've been trying to make an effort recently to dedicate more time to each other - including Friday at home date nights. It's so hard to balance every little thing in your life, and I'll be the first to tell you that I sit front row on the struggle bus when it comes to perfectly managing my relationships, job, fun, and being a mom. It's hard work, and I know we can all agree to that. So it has been helpful to set time aside for US.

Family

Through the B2S chaos, we've squeezed in time with family.

We celebrated my grandmother's 91st birthday last weekend, and I have to say - she's kicking major old lady booty. She's precious. 

Grace not Perfection

I mentioned awhile ago that I started reading this book with my friend Ashley. I was soaking it up and knocking it out really well, and then school started back. I'm very one track minded sometimes and have a hard time focusing on different things all at once. So, I've put the book down for awhile until I feel like I'm really ready to read and soak up what the book is saying. I'm in love with book and the message, so I want to make sure it gets my full attention and not just reading to say that I read the book and finished. 

Ashley was sweet enough to notice my quietness on social media and asked how I was doing, and we had a really open and honest conversation about how each other was really doing. And I thought it was beautiful and totally attest it to this book. Thanks Ashley! 

Classroom

I started back at the end of July setting up my classroom, and if you follow me on social media you know how crazy I can get with the ideas and projects. And although its really fun for me, it's time consuming and a lot of times it gets stressful when I try to be perfect - which isn't even a reality or necessity. I'm stilling practicing that. 

I'm teaching 4th grade reading, writing and science. My classroom has a tropical theme going on, and my kids think it's funny how many pineapples are around the room. I have the best class, and actually like going to work every day - which I wasn't able to say before. When I was told I was going back into the classroom, I had a gut feeling that just felt right. And now I know why.

I can't promise I'll be around consistently like I was over the summer, but I shouldn't be MIA for weeks either. I love writing and sharing our life and connecting with y'all, so I promise you'll see some more of me. :)

P.S. Glad we all survived ECLIPSE DAY. :P