Parent-Teacher conferences & a little bit of babbling.

I am sitting here at the most fun location on the planet. Parent-teacher conferences! Let me tell you, for a special ed teacher- they are extremely boring. I appreciate the parents who do decide to come, but it is usually parents that I see every day anyways! As I am writing, a school counselor approached me to see how bored I was- it is a fact that special ed teachers usually stay pretty "un-busy". I have a book out, Ipad, laptop, diet coke, finished work, and lip gloss.Yep- I am prepared! Yesterday we had parent teacher conferences as well. Two days of parent teacher conferences.It is fun to b e able to people watch, match parents to their children and say, "Ohhhh......now I get it! The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree!"

 Yikes. I get Friday off in return so that is good. Friday is also payday. The first one since May! I can't wait. Devin still has school, and we have decided to send Carson to daycare still because it is part of his routine, he really loves it, and we have to pay anyways. :)

When they get home we are headed to the mall to pick up Carson his very first pair of these:

I just adore the Tiny Toms! He is not very into shoes right now, as he is pretty much a full-blown walker. I am hoping these soft, moldable shoeswill encourage him to walk in them, and more importantly, keep them on his feet!  

Here are my favorite quotes from today:

One of my students likes to undress sometimes. Another student, who barely talks, looks at him and says, "HAVE YOU NO SHAME!?" I about died. You may not think this is funny, but if you knew these kids, you'd pee your pants.

Another from an adult to a student: "______, you smell like a taco!"

And, one I hear everyday: "Mrs. Hardman? Do you think I should go fart out in the hall?"

Talk about having no shame.

fancified oatmeal!?

I have been eating oatmeal for breakfast religiously since July. Let me tell you, it gets boring! I am not talking about the delicious little "____& Cream" kinds, either. I'm talking steel cut oats with cranberries or bananas and a small amount of brown sugar. Gets kind of hard to eat, let me tell you!

I love eating oatmeal in the morning because it really fills me up all day. However, last week I was struggling. Dreading having to eat it. Then this morning, I had a genius idea!

Peanut butter, banana and honey oatmeal. OH MY YUM!

I didn't add a ton of peanut butter or honey, that kills the purpose of a nutritious and delicious breakfast. But every bite this morning was a gift from above. Could it be because my tastebuds have been warped from boring oatmeal? I don't really care! I am stuffed, satisfied, and ready for the day. Take that Mr. Quaker.

A little creativity

I like to to to be creative! I feel like I make an honest effort, anyways. I love exploring Pinterest in my down time. I want to improve myself, so I love looking up new recipes, new ideas for my classroom, and most importantly, new ideas for my little basement! We aren't working with much so every little bit of inspiration is good for me!

In the last few weeks I have:

Refinished a chair

Refinished a dresser

Painted a design on a rug

Made some awesome dinners

Made some fun decorations for home and classroom.

Here is the thing- I feel like when I look at these websites or other people's blogs, I want what they have. Badly! I can't wait until I have my own house, more money, more kids, more space, more everything!

I have been sick and just started sone antibiotics. Last night was the General Relief Society broadcast. I did not feel well enough to attend, so I stayed home. When my mother in law returned, she shared some things that President Uchtdorf shared. The main thing was to be happy now. don't waste your life waiting for the next best thing. Live YOUR life now. We aren't supposed to covet our neighbor, but that can be really hard at this stage in life. It is hard to not want what others who may be a little farther along in the journey than we are. The important thing to remember is to enjoy the journey!

I am grateful that the lord gives us exactly what we need,when we need it. I am inspired to take others creativity, and use it to strengthen and sharpen my own talents. Others talents aren't to be envied, but to be shared so that we might benefit from them in some way. That is the way Heavenly Father intended it I'm sure. I will add some pictures tomorrow of the imperfect yet talent developing things I have been working on!

Carson: 14 months old

Dear Carson,

Tomorrow you will be 14 months old! Here are some things about you that we want to remember forever, like how you always close your eyes when I say, "cheese!"

Likes: Snickers the dog,screaming,dancing, daycare friends, chicken nuggets, trail mix m&m's, any kid of fruit (especially bananas and watermelon), splashing in toilets, drinking bathwater and dog water,bath time, rough housing with Mommy and Daddy,people who wear glasses, being tickled, thunder, climbing stairs, changing the channel, talking on the phone,cars, trucks, unwinding toilet paper, going on walks, opening drawers and making messes in general.

Dislikes: Pasta of any kind, peas, strangers without glasses, not getting his way, diaper changes, being out of food, being prevented from doing any of the above "likes".

Abilities: Can walk a dozen steps before sitting down or falling, says "mama, dada, goggie, bubba, bye, hi, hola" and "yea". Can almost feed himself with a spoon, can pull himself up on anything, can climb up and down the stairs, can dump out containers and put stuff back in, looks at us when we call his name, climb off the bed, blow kisses, play peek-a-boo, can sign "please" and "finished"

Personality: You are pretty funny. You like to laugh a lot, even when you have no idea why you are laughing! To you everything is really funny, or really sad. When you want something, you scream and point, or say, "dis!!!" and point to it. When you don't get your way you scream louder. You like to drop things off of your high chair to get our attention, and then you get mad when we take it away. I promise, it is for your own good! You are very independent, but like to have someone to play with. You are pretty demanding right now, and don't like it when Mommy or Daddy are busy. You like living with Grandma and Grandpa Hardman, because they love to play with you all the time when they are home. You love to rough house and think it is so fun when we tickle you, chase you, or try and scare you by saying "boo!" You get really shaky and laugh when we show you "the claw!" You get so excited and crawl away as fast as you can. You are so much fun! You are just starting to enjoy cuddling again. You love your blankets all of the sudden, and we are finally able to stay for church because you will sit on our laps and snuggle. You like it best when Grandma Hardman snuggles with you. She is really good at putting you to sleep.You love to cuddle with Snickers as well. You like to pet him, but sometimes you get a little rough and pet him too hard. Usually you just lay on his tummy or put your cheek on the top of your head. He sure loves you and likes to follow you around the house. You are a sweet boy with so much love! We are so happy to be your parents!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Analogies

My husband thinks I am smart.


Like, super smart. And he thought this was great.


I was writing my brother Jason, who is on a mission in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for our church.


I had a pretty eventful day on Tuesday at work. I ended up having physical altercations with three of my students. Hey- coming back from a three day weekend is TOUGH! I won't go into the details, since the nature of my job is private, but I had three sad kiddos. There was hitting, kicking, biting, scratching and bruising, and I was the punching bag for their frustrations. Hey- it's what I'm paid to do!


Anyways, in the letter, I was trying to connect my life to Jason's life in the field. I wanted to give him an anaolgy. Several people that day kept asking me if I was okay. "Are you mad?" "Are you hurt?" "Don't you just hate your job?" No. The answer is simply no. I LOVE my job. This is where the analogy comes in.


Just like missionaries, you are thrown into a new place (for me, new school) with people you don't know.Yet somehow, Heavenly Father gives us the ability to TRULY love those people. I never quite understood how missionaries could love people they didn't know very well. Well, now I do. I barely know my students. Yet, I love them more than anything. I can truly say that I feel such a strong love for them, much like a parent would to a child. They are mine, and I love them.

So how does this relate?


I belive that when you are doing exactly what the lord wants you to do, and you are where he wants you to be, you are blessed with that ability to love. This gift helps me get through the hard times. I am where I am supposed to be, so he is taking care of me. Of us.


Along with that, these are some of the most innocent creatures on the planet. I know now how Heavelny Father can love us unconditionally. We may do silly things, like hit, bite, kick and scream, but he remains calm, loves us through it, and picks us up when we are done, feelings unchanged. Am I comparing my self to him?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.


I am simply saying I GET IT. I have learned this lesson. I hope I pass the test.

No window basement tour. Enjoy,

Sounds depressing, right? No windows in the living room. Kind of sucks! When my in-laws built this house, this room was intended for my Dad in law to use as a "migrane room." Nice and cool, and dark. When we moved into the basement in April, it made the most sense to use it as our living room. I was skeptical since I am a natural-light lover. We have plenty of light in our bedrooms, thank goodness. First, I wanted to paint the walls a warm shade of yellow to somewhat brighten it up. It didn't exactly work, but I still love it!

 Here is the couch wall. I love the pillows but want a lot more! I pinned some on Pinterest that I would love to add to our couch! I have some fabric and some plans. I adore the ruffle pillow I scored at Costco!

 This is the second refinish on this chair. I love how the aqua looks with the yellow walls. Ignore the dresser. It is a temporary till I get this bad boy finished:

I want to paint it cream and get all new cute Anthro type hardware! I have dreams of a mustard dresser but those will have to wait until we have a house with lots of rooms!

This is my most favorite piece ever. I know it is popular right now, but I liked it back when. I swear this is my motto. It truly helps me get by! I love the green with the yellow wall!

Here is the somewhat cluttered corner. I love the double mirror, my cute owls and the lamp. We need the lighting! On the side of the dresser is where Carson's toy stash. I want to do something cute with the star. Not sure if I want to modpodge paper, paint it, or maybe make it a photo collage. Ideas?

Carson's first steps!

These aren't exactly his very first steps, but they are the most he has ever taken at once! This week we have just been getting two steps here or there. He isn't very happy here, it was time for bed! So glad to capture this moment, albeit shaky! He is getting way too big!

                               Please ignore my hair, no make-up and pj's!

Poop & Art

I have a kid who POOPED his pants yesterday.He KNOWS how to use the bathroom. He is very high functioning. It was not fun- my wonderful principal helped me clean him up. What a GREAT guy! Anyways, I want to decorate my classroom, and I sure do love free subway art! Here are some I am going to print:

I also want to make these super cute banners I found on Pintrest, using math and reading flash cards! Maybe some pennant banners, too. I feel like I will be in this room for awhile, so I want to make it look awesome!