K is for Kindergarten

First of all, I've been teaching upper grades for the past nine years. And, this is definitely a first. I figured, I have an awesome team and they'll just have to show me the ropes. Dude, I am beat by the end of the day. Completely drained. No joking here. Kindergartners have so much energy. Where does it come from? I don't know. All I know is that all day long, I feel poking at my leg, tapping at my arms, and hear them say things like, "Teacher, I'm hungry!" or "Teacher, when are we going to play?" AHHHH! That was just the first week of school.

The second week was a tiny bit better. They're starting to figure out a routine and learn my quiet signals. But boy, do they say the darnedest things. I am constantly chuckling.

More stories later.

Bay Area Birthday

Highlights from the weekend:

1.Taking the BART from Oakland Airport to North Berkeley Station carrying luggage, a baby, and no stroller. What an adventure. What a work out.

2. Steam Engines in Tilden Park--15 minutes of pure childhood fun. Amazing view and it only costs $2.00. Worth every penny. Yay, we have video footage.

3.Cheeseboard Pizza--my favorite, cilantro, corn, and cheesy goodness.

4. Pixar Animation Studios--Whoa! Unbelievably cool. You just had to be there!

5.Lake Merritt Bakery--Late dinner but so worth it. We had the best fried chicken and waffles. I mean, these waffles melt in your mouth.

6.Bay Area Discovery Museum--We had a lovely picnic with an awesome view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Great place to explore and be one with nature. The kiddies loved it. Fiona was in awe!

7. Thanh Long--The best roasted garlic crab in the world! The garlic noodles were a hit too! Fiona especially loved slurping the noodles.
8. Love At First Bite--Ninang Angie surprised us with a box of cupcakes. Ninang Gail had her eyes set on the red velvet cupcake. I had a peanut butter cupcake and Fiona had a teeny tiny chocolate cupcake. She loved it! What a way to end the weekend.

9.Elephant Pharm--We all wanted a quick shopping fix. Reminded us of a Longs Drugs but 10 times better. We came out with a ton of junk. Best purchase was the aluminum water bottles for the entire family.

A much needed getaway before I started work. I heart the bay area.

Summer Evening Hang Out

I don't know what it is about these turtles but kids love it.

Our precious little ones, Jonas, Fiona, and Ruby.

Here we are, The Three Amigo Mamas!

Books! Books! And More Books!

Wondering, what's in the box?

Looks like a little Somebody is trying to runaway from the mess she made. This happens daily. I know I should put them away. But I don't. Eventually I will.

Classroom Makeover

Piles of books and papers to sort through. Not looking forward to it one bit. But it's something that must be done. Key phrase: Pace myself! New classroom and new grade. Am I crazy or what? School starts September 2nd. But I'm already having anxiety attacks. Ugh!

Before the fabric

...and after. What a difference color makes!

Thank goodness for help!

Is Martha Taking Over?

Kmart? Now Walmart? To my surprise, the Walmart craft section was actually stocked with decent stuff. They had the cutest DIY projects (excellent gifts for kids), wedding favor supplies, and scrap booking galore. For all you scrap booking fanatics, there's a really great selection to choose from--tags, stickers, hole punches, and stamps. I, myself, want to attempt a mini-album for Fiona's first year on earth. We''ll see how that goes. I've checked online for more products but the stuff looks better in person.

Bad Toy!

I know accidents may happen, especially at "this age". Fiona is crawling at full speed and finding herself into all sorts of messes and corners. We really need to baby-proof our home better. Just the other day, she was playing with a toy that looked harmless at first. It was one of those noisemakers from New Year's Eve, that accidentally made it into her basket of toys. So anyways, to make a long story short, she managed to stick her little finger in a skinny slot. Of course, it got stuck, and then all of a sudden you hear crying and see blood dripping. Owwee! Far and I could feel her pain. It was a pretty deep cut, not your regular paper cut. So, papa applied her first accident band-aid around her wee finger. Poor baby. The entire day, she kept fidgeting with it and putting it in her mouth. It was a chore trying to distract her from taking it off or eating it.

And as for the toy, well, you know where it's at...the basura. Bad toy!