Wednesday, September 26, 2018

A Day In The Life

It's time for a Day in the Life post! I like to do these posts occasionally so I can look back and see what a snapshot of my life during a certain season was like. If you'd like to check out previous Day in the Life posts, click HERE.
Everyday is different but this was a pretty typical Monday. Here we go (get ready for picture overload!)....

My alarm goes off today at 5:00 and I snooze for a few minutes. I finally get up around 5:15, throw on gym clothes, an hit the gym for a 5:30 class. I try and listen to a podcast each today. Today's comes from Oprah. It was a great leg workout and I spotted the gorgeous full moon on the way home.





I come home and make breakfast: cinnamon sauteed apples (I prep these on Sundays) over Greek yogurt with walnuts. I love this yummy filling breakfast. I put out Hank's lunch food on the counter for my mom to feed him. I make the bed, turn on Unexpected, hop in the shower, and get ready for the day. Sometimes Hank is up at this time and it makes for very busy mornings but today he's still snoozing away. 



 My mom arrives around 7:15 and Hank gets up. Please note that Hank often gets up around 6:00. Then mornings are a bit nutty, but today he blissfully slept in!  I snuggle him for a minute, then I'm off for the day. I leave around 7:45 this day.
 Once I get to work I get some things ready for the day. I love the sun streaming through the windows in the morning. I get my water cups filled (I am obsessed with the pebble ice in the sick room) and munch on some apple energy bites (Costco) while I prep for the day. I've been doing a daily affirmation with my class and I write today's on the board: I enjoy new challenges! I have morning duty this week so I don my stylish vest and head outside at 8:45. Monday mornings are a little bit of crazy with putting new homework in folders etc. but my morning was MADE by one of my sweet gals making me a fall drawing. My kids know what I like!








We spent the morning sharing about our weekends and working on journaling and handwriting. It's apple week so we watched a video about an apple orchard while the kids ate their snacks. Then it was time for Centers! The kids love centers and I enjoy the chance to work with a smaller group. In my group today I did a "power words" assessment then taught the kids how to play Puppy Phonics so now it can be an independent center. After centers time around 11:30, we played a boys vs. girls math challenge game and did a 100 frame "Watch Think Color" activity. One of their activities during centers was this Apple ABC order sheet. I could tell the kids were struggling with it so we took some time and worked through it as a class before lunch.





12:20 was lunch time and I was starving and wishing I packed more to eat. It's nice to have a little breather with my teammates. In the afternoon, we worked on spelling and phonics. My kids went to recess and had PE in the afternoon so I used my prep time to catch up on emails and search Teachers Pay Teachers for a fun apple center to use this week. I had an awesome parent helper put up my fall bulletin board. Love those parent helpers! After I picked up my class from PE (after handling some discipline issues. Grrr), we ended the day by making 3D apple trees.


By the time the bell rang at 3:35, I was exhausted. I went outside for afternoon duty, then came in and worked on prepping sub plans for a conference I'm going to next month (really I just got the template ready to do throughout the week), then I hit the road around 4:00. I finished my Oprah podcast from the morning so I turned on the second half of Jonathan Van Ness's podcast for the ride home.



I stopped at Savers on the way home to drop off a big trash bag of clothes to donate. I try and clean and organize our closets every season and bring in a bag of donations. I last did it in June so it was time again! I love a good cleaning session. After I dropped that bag off, I went home to hug my guys and got to say bye to mom before she left for the day. I changed into comfy sweats, laid out Hank's outfit for the next day (isn't that fry shirt just the cutest?!), popped in a load of wash, and had a snack of chickpea puffs (obsessed) and a hard boiled egg.




AJ left for the gym and I played on the floor with Hank then fed Hank a bottle. I could tell he was getting fussy. The sweet little guy passed right out right after his bottle! I turned on the rest of Unexpected and packed our lunches for the next day. He stayed asleep for about 45 minutes so I logged onto the Smith's site and started building my Clicklist order for the week. I may have also had some wine I drafted my September Books Post on Sunday so I added the photos and published it. AJ got home and grilled chicken and I put together these taco salads while AJ gave Hank his dinner. We ate and then cleaned up , Facetimed Oregon Grandma and Grandpa, and went for a quick neighborhood stroll.


When we got home, AJ bathed Hank while I folded the laundry. When he got out of his bath (is there anything sweeter than a freshly washed baby?), we read him a story and he was asleep by 7:30. AJ and I headed downstairs and I had a major sweet tooth so I whiped up THIS recipe for an easy berry cobbler. AJ did some grading and I ordered part of my Halloween costume and we watched 90 Day Fiancee. AJ also changed out the diaper genie and I just had to take a pic. So gross. Lol.





We headed to bed around 9:30 and I read about 15 pages in a new book and then fell right asleep! This is a glimpse into one day in the life during this season! 
Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie 

Monday, September 24, 2018

September Reads

Hi Guys!
     I have my September book post for you today. I read 5 books and enjoyed them all. Anyone else wish they could just hibernate for a few hours (or days, or weeks) and get after all.the.reads?! Without further ado.....here we go!


1. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin: I am a huge Emily Giffin fan (her chick lit never disappoints). This one was a departure from typical Giffin novels but I really liked this new direction. It reminded me a lot of Jodi Piccoult books with the various perspectives that switch. This one is about high schoolers who make bad decisions at a party, the fall out and consequences, and how their parents cope. It dives into sexism, social media issues, parenting, and more. It was a good novel to curl up with this month.

2. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage: THIS BOOK! AHH! Let me put it this way: I devoured it in 3 days (which for a working mom is a feat, ya'll), texted numerous friends that they needed to read it ASAP, passed it on to AJ, and I can't stop thinking about it. I won't give too much away but this one explores psychopathic behavior in a child. Think Bad Seed. Can children be born devious or is this a learned behavior? Is the child really evil? Is there supernatural business going on? Who is abusing who? Who is playing who? This is twisty, freaky, fun, bizarre and perfect for Halloween time. This one is not light and fluffy but dang, it captured me!

3. By The Book by Julia Sonneborn: This one is a chick lit read about an English professor, her fun friends, and a blossoming romance with an old flame. This one is predictable, but cute and fun, nonetheless. I think this would make a fun romantic comedy movie. If you want a novel that's fast paced, cute, and thoughtful, pick this one up.

4. The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah: This one scared me away a bit because it's LONG. But it was worth it! I loved the beautiful descriptions of Alaska and the wonderful female characters we read about. This is a major Girl Power read and I loved the romance. BUT....I am getting slightly sick of reading about weird/abusive family situations (Glass Castle, Educated, Hillbilly Elegy etc). However, this one had a lot of heart to it (and it helps that it's a novel and not real, too, you know?). This would be the perfect book to crack open under a blanket this fall and get lost in the beautiful landscape of Alaska. Warning, keep tissues nearby.

5. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman an Kim Barnouin: I have mixed feelings about this read. I loved how it was light and easy to understand. It truly made nutrition basics easy to digest (pun intended) and I even loved some of the snarky writing style. I learned great things from this book, like did you know most Americans consume way more protein than necessary? What we're really lacking is leafy greens. I didn't love the push for veganism and felt that some of the "gross out" sections about the meat industry were sort of unnecessary. I will still drink milk and coffee and eat meat (the authors of this book would shun me for that), but it was worth the read for one perspective on healthy eating and nutrition.

I cannot wait to dive into my "To Read" pile next! Here is my list of 2018 reads so far! I put stars by the ones I really liked.

*1. Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
2. When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Whalen
*3. Confessions of a Domestic Failure by Bunmi Laditan
4. Of Mess and Moxie by Jen Hatmaker
*5. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
6. Glitter and Glue by Kelly Corrigan
*7. The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell
8. Parent Hacks by Asha Dornfest
9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
10. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
*11. Sisters First by Jenna Bush Hagar and Barbara Pierce Bush
12. Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
13. Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
14. The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert
15. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
*16. The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani
*17. Sugar by Kimberly Stuart
18. Achtung Baby by Sara Zaske
*19. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sara Pekkanen
20. Bachelor Nation by Amy Kaufman
*21. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
*22. The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
23. Mindless Eating by Brad Wansick
24. Now That You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
25. Our Father by Pope Francis
26. Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser
*27. How to Walk Away by Katherine Center
28. Girl Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
29. You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfled
30. This is Me by Chrissy Metz
31. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
32. The Book of Essie by Meghan Maclean Weir
*33. Calypso by David Sedaris
*34. We're Doing It Wrong by David Michael Slater
*35. Fitness Junkie by Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza
36. The Better Mom by Ruth Schwenk
*37. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
38. The Energy Bus by Jon Gordon
39. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
40. There Are No Grown-ups by Pamela Druckerman
*41. Educated by Tara Westover
42. The Little Old Lady Who Broke All The Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
*43. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
44. The People We Hate At The Wedding by Grant Ginder
*45. I'll Be Gone in The Dark by Michelle McNamara
46. People I Want to Punch in The Throat by Jen Mann
47. Hello Sunshine by Laure Dave
*48. My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
49. When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger
50. From Scratch by Allen Salkin
51. Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
52. Heartland by Kimberly Stuart
53. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
*54. Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
55. By The Book by Julia Sonneborn
56. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
57. Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie 

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Life Lately

Hi There,
    I have so much updating to do/ pictures to share! We are in full swing of the school year around here. Life is busy but we are enjoying every second. Hankers has two teeth and I'm thinking he might have a third on the way. We took family photos this morning and I can't wait to get them back. I know he's growing every single day but I can really tell when I look back on old pictures....so I just can't stop taking them! I've been brainstorming for his first birthday and can't believe it's just a few short months away. This past week we had AJ's parents in town. They watched Hank for the week and had so much fun. Hank just loves his grandparents! We feel so fortunate to have such wonderful family in our lives.  Here are some pics from our life lately!
We love our Little Gym classes!

This hair. Lol. Some days it's crazier than others 

snuggles with grandma 


posing with grandpa before photos! 

9 months in the world! How does time move so quickly?!

I took down my cookie cutters the other day and we have a new favorite toy at our house! 

 AJ and I enjoyed a date night last week. We saw "A Simple Favor" at the movies (good not great) and had dinner out. It's so fun to have some solo couple time.


after work I'm most likely in leggings (LulaRoe is my fave) and these slippers I scored for $10 at Payless

AJ's dad went on an Alaskan fishing trip earlier this month. He shared his goods with us and we have more in the freezer. So yummy! 
We are all about that Fall life over here and apple week and pumpkin week are on the schedule coming up with my 1st graders and I just love teaching during this time of year.
So one of my students wore this adorable Starbucks bow the other day. I gushed about how cute it was, she told her mom, and her mom brought me my very own on Friday. Haha. I'm sort of dreading the inevitable day she'll want us to wear them together and be twins. LOL. 
This drink right here was a winner. If you know about the Leaf Rakers Society then we are already best friends. 

We're making these cute things in class this week 

Verdict: GOOD! 

We are just enjoying these fun days and coming to grips with the fact that we have a crawler who enjoys standing. in. his. crib. now. Hope you all have a great weekend.....I'll be back next week with my September Reads post.

Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie