A Blessed Week

What a week! Last Saturday, I blogged about making a dishwasher-safe Sharpie mug. I linked up to 10 parties and was then invited to link up at 3 more. This post became a record for my blog! 21 comments and 234 views is BY FAR the most my humble little blog has ever seen! I feel so blessed in this small thing. On top of the popularity of the post in those numbers, my post was chosen as a favorite from two of the parties. Thank you to the following blogs that featured my DIY project!

 

While this blog excitement has definitely been a highlight in my week, I have been blessed in several other ways!

On Sunday, we had some wonderful friends over for the first grilling of the season! The weather has started warming up and we all thought a little grilling would not only be fun but might coax summer to come sooner. We decided kabobs would be fun and then we could build our own. I prepped red onion, cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper, pineapple chunks, potatoes, kielbasa sausage, pork, and chicken and then we skewered away. Don't they look so summery?!

On Monday, we had a shocking surprise, which I will blog about this weekend! :)

Tuesday was my last day of school before spring break. We celebrated Easter by writing from the perspective of a bunny and sorting jelly beans! It was a fun day but also a little bit crazy as spring break is very much needed for all of us. That night, I tried a new recipe. I saw this pizza that looked so delicious! I adapted the recipe a bit for time and diet reasons. I used Pillsbury pizza dough from the can instead of making my own dough. I also cooked the pizza in the oven instead of a skillet. Finally, I did not use cheese as I don't really care for cheese and my husband is allergic to dairy. I did sprinkle just a bit of parmesan since it didn't seem like pizza without cheese but it didn't need it.

When it came out of the oven, my hubby was shocked at how good it looked. Then, after one bite, he said "you can make this again!" I love cooking and like to try new recipes. I feel so blessed because he both enjoys and supports this. He is fun to cook for and I love it when he loves the food. We both got to take some leftovers for lunch the next day. I had several other teachers eyeing it, asking if it was homemade, and asking for the recipe! Pizza success :)

Tuesday ended with an extra blessing in the form of a very TALL person---my "little" brother. He was driving from school to my parent's house and texted me after 10pm to see if I was still up as he was driving by and wanted to know if I wanted a hug. Isn't he so great? Of course I wanted a hug! I climbed out of bed, and tiptoed to the front door. My brother is 6'8" and gives wonderful bear hugs! He is 2 1/2 years younger than I am and we are very close. Because he goes to school six hours away, we don't get to see each other very often so a late night hug and 3 minute catch-up chat was awesome!

On Wednesday I had the majority of my parent/teacher conferences. I was blessed by several of my parents telling me how much their child loved being in school, loved learning, and enjoyed having me as a teacher. Those are the things a teacher needs to hear every so often to know it is worth it. :)

Thursday presented a new job opportunity for me! One of the 4th grade teachers at our school is not able to come back after break due to some personal reasons. They needed a long-term sub to take her class so they asked the ALP math teacher. That meant, there was no one to teach ALP math for 3rd and 4th grade in the afternoons. From previous conversations, my principal knew that I was interested in intermediate grades and that I loved math. Since I am a half-day AM Kindergarten teacher, she asked me if I would be interested in taking over those two math classes. While it does mean I have only 10 minutes to switch from Kindergarten to 4th grade math in a classroom at the other end of the school, no time for lunch, and giving up a good chunk of my spring break to develop lessons, I said "yes"! I do have interest in teaching an intermediate grade at some point. I think this is a great opportunity and  will give me a good experience to know if I do enjoy 3rd and 4th grade and teach some deeper math concepts. I think the hardest part for me right now is trying to transition my brain from adding and subtracting within 5 with my Kindergartners to very bright students. My frame of reference is a bit skewed as of now :)

I got to end Thursday with a great phone chat with my best friend. It has been a long time since we talked and it was so good to catch up. She has been my friend since we were 8 and no matter how long we go without seeing each other or talking, we pick up RIGHT where we left off and are laughing right away. She always has the best stories to tell. I am very blessed by her friendship and love the time we do get to spend together.

Today I was blessed by some quality time with my husband. We got to sleep in and get some much needed rest. Then we handled some business related to the surprise from Monday. :) We also went for a drive around the area. A little basketball filled the afternoon and evening although my bracket is totally dead now.

I am very much looking forward to this weekend and the following week of break. I hope to be productive and yet find time for relaxing as well.

Check back soon to find out what the surprise is :)