Thank Heaven It's Friday!

What. A. Week.

This week just felt physically heavy for some reason.

But, now it's the weekend so it's time to party!

I am spending the weekend at my mom's house for a women's retreat.

I'm very excited to hang out with some awesome women.

Here's my High Five for Friday:

(Check out the others here.)

1.  I stepped out of my box this week.

I am not super confident in my skinny jeans since I am a bit chunky, but I felt pretty good in my skinnies with my Converse sneaks.

My girl nuggets told me I looked cute.

 2.  This is the DISASTROUS text that my mother sent the man who plowed her driveway the other day.

Yeah...

She's never met him and then sends him this by accident.

I laughed so hard I cried while driving to school.

Her advice:

1.  Always wear your glasses when texting.

2.  Always make sure that you're sending it to the right person.

 3.  Our Tim McGraw tickets came in the mail this week!

Woot woot!

4.  I got these cute buckets at Target (Tar-jay) the other night.

I LOVE rainbows and bright colors, so these were right up my alley.

Thank you dollar bin.

5.  Apparently my friend L thought that Tar-jay was the name of one of my nuggets!

Too funny.

See, it's been a long week.

How has your week been?

Anything fun or interesting happen?

Laters!

Mrs. B

Nugget Funny

This video made me giggle so hard!

I'm definitely showing it to my nuggets tomorrow.

Sometimes we all need a pep talk.

I hope you had a great Thursday!

Laters,

Mrs. B

Tears...

I swear...I have cried WAY too much today.

There have been tears of frustration, tears of joy and tears of sadness.

I'm not an emotional roller coaster or anything...or maybe I am.

Tears of Frustration

I started the morning with a 2-hour delay.

Not a problem in my book...

I spent the time discussing report card grades (Friday's the end of the 3rd quarter already!!) with my team.

While doing so, I had yet another crushing moment where I remembered that WAY TOO MANY of my nuggets can't read where they need to.

My class has more total than the other two combined.

We all use the same curriculum, I have been doing interventions with my nuggets before we were required to, they have been performing well on their phonics tests......

Ugh.

It makes me feel like I'm not doing something right, even though I am working my tushie off.

So, cue the tears of frustration.

Tears of Joy

I had one nugget who wasn't here when we did the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory - it assigns a lexile score for reading) so she went with a teacher to do the test.

She was gone for a while, which I noticed, but didn't think much of.

This nugget has worried me this year because she has some trouble processing and retelling information.

We have taken this test 3 other times this year and she has gotten a 0 each time.

When she walked back into the room with the teacher I could tell something was up.

She looked like the cat that ate the canary.

Her cheeks were flushed and she couldn't stop smiling.

I walked over and said, "You look like you have something to tell me..."

She broke out into the BIGGEST smile and said, "I went from a 0 to a 479!"

A 479!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I screamed...not a little squeal, but an all out freak-fest.

And then...

I started crying.

Man, I'm a dweeb!

I just couldn't help myself.

She was so proud of herself.

(BTW...the range for a nugget to be considered "on grade-level" at the end of second grade is 450-650, which means that she is reading well enough to be successful in third grade!)

The other nuggets were flat-out amazed.

I had to explain to them that they were good tears.

...and then they talked about it all day.

"Remember the time you cried?"

Yes, yes I do.

Tears of Sadness

So, you'd think that I would learn my lesson and realize that I'm a bit over-tired and over-emotional today.

Nope.

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

I started out watching the Bourne Ultimatum but then switched to The Guardian.

I love The Guardian, but it makes me cry every time.

I watched it for LITERALLY 10 minutes and cried.

Gah!

I give up.

I'm watching Pitch Perfect.

I need some giggle in my world.

This video made me giggle.

These are the teachers at the middle school in my corporation doing a "Cupid Shuffle" flash mob to relax their nuggets before beginning ISTEP.

My mom is the pretty lady on the left with short, grey-ish hair in the red shirt.

Love to see teachers making their nuggets laugh by being dorky.

How was your day?

Mrs. B

Food is Good

Ok...so I like to fancy myself an amateur chef.

Handsome Husband is also a really good guinea pig.

We eat a lot of chicken every week and it gets a bit redundant sometimes.

So, I decided to try something new.

I made teriyaki chicken with peppers, onions and chopped apple.
(I found the original recipe here and then modified it.)

First, I cut the chicken into strips.

Then, I covered the chicken with peppers and onions.

I used a lot because 1) we really like them and 2) they cook down a lot.

 Then, I mixed low sodium teriyaki sauce and low sodium soy sauce together and poured the mixture over the chicken and veggies.

Wrap it up tightly.

Put it in the oven at 425 for 25 or so minutes.

When it was cooked I chopped up some apple (Fuji) to put on the top of the chicken.

Holy cow, was it ever tasty!

We paired the chicken with some roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar.

(This is not the best picture ever, but I was STARVING and I was lucky that I even got a picture before I did a face plant and ate the whole thing without a fork.

Classy...)

This was super easy!

Handsome Husband kept raving about it while he was eating.

He actually cheered, "Yes!" when I told him that I had packed him the leftovers for lunch today.

However, the next time I cook this dish I am going to cook it in the crock pot.

I think that the chicken would be a bit more tender.

Plus, we wouldn't be eating at 7:45 on a Monday night if I did that!

You could also add crushed pineapple for a bit more sweetness.

Let me know if you try it!

Laters,

Mrs. B

Sunday Social 3.3.13

It's hard to believe that it's already March!

This year has been flying by and it's going to be over before I know it!

I'm linking up here for Sunday Social.

This Week's Questions:

(They are brought to you by the number 5.)

1.  What are 5 songs you'll listen to for the rest of your life?

1)  Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

2)  Lead Me to the Cross by Hillsong United

3)  Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

4)  Blackbird by Paul McCartney

5)  Kodachrome by Paul Simon

2.  What are 5 things on your bucket list?

1)  Have children with Handsome Husband.

2)  Visit all the MLB baseball parks.

(I've hit 7 and will get to 8 in April. 

I've been to see the Red Sox (woot woot!!), White Sox, Tigers, Mets, Indians, Brewers, and Cubs.  

I'll see the Dodgers in April.)

3)  Get asked to attend the high school graduations of my nuggets down the road.

4)  Travel the world.

5)  Do a sprint triathlon.

3.  Who are 5 celebs you'd love to hang out with for a day?

Freddie Mercury

Harrison Ford

Rebel Wilson

Jennifer Lawrence

Zooey Deschanel

4.  What are 5 things you always carry in your purse?

An assortment of lipgloss,

multi-colored pens,

headphones,

my crocheted sock monkey coffee coozie, 

and my reading glasses (I'm such an old woman.)

5.  What are 5 books on your reading list?

Eat, Pray, Love

Bossypants

Love Wins

The Language of Flowers

The Chronicles of Narnia

6.  Share the last 5 pictures on your phone.

New hat...made it.

Pen case or teething toy?

I need to be friends with this person in real life.

Handsome Husband decorated my day on the calendar.

Don't judge...

Next Week's Questions:  "Never Have I..." themed

1.  What is one movie you are terrified to watch?

2.  What is one TV show you have always wanted to get into but haven't yet?

3.  What is one daring activity on your bucket list?

4.  Would you ever travel alone?

5.  What activities do you like to do alone?

Have a great week!

Laters, 

Mrs. B

I Hate Mondays...

Today was just one of those mornings where things didn't start out well...

It took me forever to get ready this morning...like a snail's pace.

I couldn't seem to get it together to make my breakfast smoothie.

I started my car (yay for remote starters!) only to have the inside of my windows freeze (boo for winter!).

I then had to sit and chill for WAY longer than I wanted to.

(Mind you, I was already running 15 minutes late...that's a lifetime when you work 45 minutes away.)

There was a murder-suicide down the street so we were on a soft lock-down for most of the morning.

My heart breaks for that family.

One of my nuggets came up to me and said, "Mrs. B, I'm hot but I'm cold..."

Yup...fever.

Ugh.

I hope I don't become infected as well.

On the bright side...

I am having a great hair day.

It is beautiful (cold, but beautiful) outside.

I got a new coffee mug for school...I NEEDED IT.

(Well, I needed it like I need a hole in my head, but it's cute!)

We hung out with these folks last night.

A quick pick-up-some-furniture-and-leave-them-in-peace afternoon turned into a "Should we just order pizza?" evening.

Even though the one yelling at me (lovingly...promise) looks like a booger, it's the one in the middle you have to watch out for.

She's stubborn as a mule and did NOT want to sleep in her new big girl bed last night.

Seeing these little dudes in here made me want to tweak JT's song and sing, "I put my fish in a cup."

Yeah...I went there.

I got a whole box of brand new, unbroken, gorgeously assorted colored chalk.

I need color in my life people...and yes...I actually DO like chalk.

I'll be ending my Monday by being yelled at in spin class.

How was your Monday??

Laters!

Mrs. B

High 5 For Friday!

It's Friday, Friday.  Gotta get down on Fridaaaaayyyy.

(I'm totally singing as I write...)

I'm linking up with Lauren here to celebrate the start of the weekend.

1.  Handsome Husband got me a new subscription to US Weekly!

I don't care one iota about anything in here, but it is fantastic mindless fodder for a Friday night.

 2.  I got these fantabulous new slippers in the mail this week.

They are from Urban Outfitters.

3.  Lauren retweeted his hilarious (and SO TRUE) tweet.

They are so unnecessary...

4a. My nuggets get into the weirdest situations...

He got his finger stuck in his shoelace!

He discovered that all he had to do was STOP PULLING! 

He inadvertently created his own Chinese finger trap.

4b.  From one nugget to another while in library today: "You know, So-and-so, you have an awful lot to say.  Could you give us a break?"  

Oh.  

My. 

 Heart. 

 If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black I don't know what is!

5.  It's March, which means that it's my birthday month!

I turn 29 on the 19th...

Holy cow...

29...

I'm still chewing on that.

However, just because I'm going to be almost 30 doesn't mean that I can't celebrate the whole month!

I also picked up this wicked cute desktop calendar from Ruche.

Have a great weekend!

Laters, 

Mrs. B