Fabric. The fabric of our lives.

Happy Sunday friends! I love Sundays. Love them from the tip of my toes! Such a time to plug in and recharge. And I love me some sunday morning worship surrounded by my church family. I then love having lunch w the family and running errands w mom. And by running errands I mean target. Duh.

Today, mom and I got crazy and ventured to the local fabric store because I have decided I want to re-cover the stools I created last year (Pinterest inspired...project pictures later...I have to drive to school to get them) I wanted brighter fabric and a fresh look for a new year. (My dad, who spent many hours w this project last summer, thinks the old fabric was perfect.) 

I also searched for fabric for the curtains mom is making me this year!!!! "Wait, Cait I thought your classroom didn't have a window?" You might ask. Oh, you're correct, these will be real life curtains for my fake window!

I scoured that fabric store, looked at and touched every fabric in that place...and nothing spoke to me. See, I can't just buy ANY fabric for my windowless window curtains...it has to be perfect! That window is like my alias, my theme song, my thang. 

So, I left w out curtain fabric, but snagged some cute stool fabric and a nifty two inch hole punch :) 

I hope you're plugged in and recharging for the upcoming week! Let me leave you w some words that spoke to me today. 

Everyone has something he/she is totally crazy about, addicted to, fixated on. What if we all took that zeal we have for that thing and applied it to our faith? I mean holy moly what could be accomplished if we focused our fixation and our crazy towards The Lord! I need to work on this, because ill tell anyone who has ears about my laminator...but I shy away from talking about my faith. God blessed me and all of you w the zeal for all things teaching, lets give it back! 

Always Sunny With Him...

So this weekend, due to some uploading issues with my usual "Always Sunny With Him..." post, I decided to just blog.  Which to me is basically vomiting words.  And oh how good does it feel sometimes! This weekend I did nothing, which is one of my favorite things to do. But isn't it funny how when we say we did "nothing" we really did so much, but it is so much of our normal that we take it for granted as "nothing."  

I always say that I wish God spoke to me more.  I'm one of those "Ok God if I can chug this glass of orange juice before this commercial is over that means you want me to _____."  Really, Caitlin. What I mean is I never really stop to listen...I plan and manipulate what I hear.  Maybe its a girl thing?  Maybe its a virgo thing?  Maybe its a teacher thing?  Who knows.  What I do know is it's what I do...and that my personal goal and my prayer for myself is that I can start letting go and letting God.  What do you need to let go of and give to God?

I have learned, more so in the last two years than ever, that when you plan God laughs.  Case in Point. Five years ago I would have bet money I'd be married and planning for a baby at 24.  God said HAHAH. Two years ago I would have bet money I'd be engaged right now planning a wedding.  God said HAHAHA. One year ago I would have bet money I'd be living in my very own house right now.  But yet again God let out his deep belly laugh and HAHAed in my face.  Now don't get me wrong, they're not nasty, mean, bullying haha's.  They are more like haha if you only knew the plans I have for you type of laugh. They are like haha your disappointments would make you laugh too if you could actually see how your life will turn out. And sometimes, especially when I look back on some of the guys I dated, they probably are HAHAHAH you were honestly hoping to marry him? (because I do believe God has an amazing sense of humor).

See, if God had answered my prayers two years ago...I would have never accepted the job I have now, I would have been in a relationship with someone who didn't share my faith, and I would have been two hours away from my entire family. Two years ago I thought my life was over when those prayers weren't answered.  But oh my Lord had my prayers been answered then, I'd have lost or never known the amazingness of what I have now...my school, my friends, my kiddos, my Cami, my family.  Wow, how amazing these last two years have been.  And yea there were some sucky times.  But aren't the sucky times so much less sucky when you are where the Lord wants you to be?

So maybe hearing God isn't actually hearing his voice in the quiet of your brain (which is a HAHA moment because my brain is never quiet).  Maybe its not sitting down and having meditating prayer time when all of the sudden everything makes sense.  Maybe its applying to ten counties in your state and ONLY getting an interview in the county that you were raised in, the county that only hired two elementary teachers that year, the county where you never ever expected to work in.  Maybe its going to work every morning and going to church every Sunday and being surrounded by people who you know fit into your life as though they were made to be a part of you, and realizing you would have never known so deeply, or at all, if God had answered your prayers two years earlier. Maybe its having your 13 year old sister raid your closet and realize this would have never happened if He answered my prayers. Maybe its having a stomach disorder that basically crippled you and then mysteriously went away as quickly as it came and getting a clean bill of health as soon as you accepted God's NO and started living the life he had planned.

I'm not the type of person to hear God right away.  But I've grown to be the person who realizes two years later WOW when I didn't have my crap together, God held that crap together.  And when I can't hear him and figure things out just by listening, He says NO to my prayers and I am forced to listen. Just like a parent, He says no not to be a tyrant and to take away our fun, but to love us and guide us when we can't see the way ourselves. Regardless of how you hear Him, He is da bomb diggity and I am oh so grateful.

Keep smiling friends, it's almost Spring, and we all have our God holding our crap together s

How we Keep it Always Sunny on Sundays…

We teach Sunday School.  And smile from ear to ear for the entire hour and a half listening to the the three and four year olds play, pray and talk and talk and talk and talk. 

We go grocery shopping and make faces that we can't name...but both do simultaneously without prompting.  

We listen to our Dad's whining about how we used to bond and do fun things like play airplane.  And after five minutes of explaining calmly that when you are 24 there are other ways to bond and other fun things to do,  you honestly get tired of hearing it...

and prove to him...

we still got it. 

Always Sunny With Him...

On another note...Valentines Day made a huge come back this year. 

A big ol' jump up and down, butterflies fluttering, face turning red, buckle them in and smile the whole way home, loving the redeeming qualities of all things...even sappy holidays kind of come back. 

Always Sunny With Him...

This is an AWESOME YouTube video!

DJ Spurry Spins a Bad Week Around...

Ever have one of those weeks where you can't catch a break and your head hurts so bad you figure life must actually physically be pushing down on you?  You want to cry, take a personal day, hide away and eat until you can't eat anymore.  And then just when you think you can't take much more, God drops a beat boxing white guy from Baltimore City in your school.  And this beat boxing white guy puts on this awesome assembly for your kids and just when you think the assembly is over he asks for a volunteer.  And a good chunk of the staff and students begin yelling YOUR name at the top of their lungs.  So beat boxing white guy calls you up to be his assistant and you beat box together, in front of your school, with a microphone, while its all being videotaped....and for just that beat boxing moment, you forgot everything else that was going on and truly laughed with your friends and students.

That basically sums up my day.

If by chance you are reading this blog from Maryland or surrounding areas, please check this out!  The beat boxing white guy is Max Bent and he was terrific...I'm sure your kiddos would love him too!
http://www.yamd.org/assembly.html 

Always Sunny With Him....

I have a new man in my life...and his name is HP!

Oh happy day!!!! I am so excited to introduce you to my new beau Mr. HP.  He is convenient, handsome, super handy, inexpensive, very efficient and I missed him even before I knew him!  He is so great and he has inspired me to create and create in COLOR.

My teacher BFFL over at Shafer's Shenanigans went on a math manipulative organizational cliff this weekend. She created some super cute labels for her bins that you can grab here. She inspires me daily and I am truly a better teacher because of her!   Me being a pink/everything has to match freak took her labels and added a border to match my bins.  

 I also went to the dollar store today (love that place!) and I finally bought clipboards!!! My poor kiddos use their slates as clipboards now.  I think my beau Mr. HP inspired me to buy them just so I could create this cute label for the yellow bin they will go in.

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekend and have had some restful and fun times with family and friends.  I have decided that I am going to start a new Always Sunny in First tradition and leave you with some wisdom I bring away from church every Sunday.  I'm going to call this segment Always Sunny With Him.

Happy Snirt Week Friends...

 Let me just start by saying that as a Christian, I celebrate Jesus' birth all year long.  Being a Christian isn't always fun,rainbows, butterflies and super sparkly days, but my belief in Christ does give me a joyful heart even when I am not "happy."

BUT that week after the actual man-made holiday of Christmas....that time is kind of depressing.  I think I like the build up (Thanksgiving-Christmas Eve) so much more!  I equate the week after Christmas to the week after a freshly fallen snow (which by the way, with this global warming stuff...I doubt I'll ever see snow again in MD).  You know when the pretty snow (Christmas) starts to melt and mix with dirt and becomes that nasty brown mess (the week after Christmas)?  Well that nasty brown mess, my friends is SNIRT (snow/dirt).  And we are in the midst of snirt week.  Good luck!

Snirt week has a way of highlighting the things in your life that you weren't noticing during the freshly fallen Christmas snow time....

1. I need to get out of my vacation coma and do lesson plans.
2. We still have a lot of school left in the year.
3. IRA's and report cards are looming in the January forecast.
4. I have no room in the inn for all of my clothes/accessories.
5. My dog is not as trained as I thought she was.
6. I somehow have acquired a taste for very expensive things (David Yurman, Tory Burch, etc.)  These brands aren't sold at Target...and hello, I'm a teacher.
7. I pay for the gym monthly...enough said.
8. Eating peanut brittle and sugar cookies for breakfast isn't socially accepted after January 1st.
9. I only have four more days to wear yoga pants.
10. Can someone please sell me their adorable, little, perfect for a single teacher house...for relatively cheap?

In other snirt week news, I FINALLY finished my snowman literacy activity packet for TPT. Check it out!

My next task is to create 'THE DESK FAIRY" system that I threatened my students with before I left.  Stay tuned for that!  

Also, before I depress you too much....

Holy Teacher Chair!!!!! I cannot wait to set this up in the front of my classroom!

Holy Teenage Sister...when did that happen??!!?!?

An Amazing Holiday Gift...

Happy Tuesday Friends!

Today was our last day of school in the 2012 school year (how crazy is that??!?!?)  I have just hauled in my many amazing kid given presents...gift cards galore, a Coach purse (holllly awesomeness), tons of sweet treats and the cutest six-year old written cards you will ever see. The best gift I got today was seeing how truly thrilled all 19 of my students were to get the chapter books I gave them.  It was such a blessing to see how excited they were...a few of them even stopped mid-chaos-holiday party to begin reading!

I am now going to get sappy and share with you something that truly touched my heart and will be with me forever...I had a great day with my kids today.  The day was laid back (it was PJ day) and stress free.  I had fun!  My kids and I made hot chocolate, we laughed and were excited about Santa coming, and we had a blast eating treats literally all day long! It was one of those days where you say to yourself, as you're wiping frosting off a desk, "this is why I teach."

Which immediately brings me to tears because I have felt sadness and deep loss for those students in Connecticut as if they were my own.  My heart cannot fathom the pain those parents are feeling, but I can begin to understand what those teachers are and were feeling, because every teacher knows the very unique love we all have for our students.  Even the ones who drive us absolutely nuts, we love them. We provide a second home, a welcoming smile, a constant in their lives.  And regardless of what happens that is evil in this word, that fact will never change.  Ours is not a profession that you fall into, it is not a profession that you come into half heartedly...and that is evident in the stories and accounts we are hearing on the news.  I thank God for those amazing teachers who loved those babies until the very end, I thank God that we are still a nation full of schools with amazing educators, I thank God that every one of my students was shielded from the media and had no idea there was a reason to fear, I thank God.

On a lighter note, I will will leave you with some of my holiday highlights from the past week....

Kettle corn with melted peppermint hershey kisses...amazing!

Holiday Language Arts packs I sent home with my Language Arts friends

Tacky Christmas Sweater Family Portrait

Rosie's Holiday Haircut