You know it's a happy home when you don't have enough chairs for all of your guests, you have to turn down the AC because the oven is turning over yummy treats all night and there is so much energy in the room.
Sarah and I were so glad to christen the new pad, put all of our pots, bowls and pans to good use and to hang out at OUR place for once. The Rangers' victorious game was on towards the end of the evening, sangria-filled glasses clinked in the air, we were so proud to show off how clean our rooms were and the boys really brought their culinary skills and gave some of the ladies a run for their money.
Paula Deen's lasagna was a cheesy hit and the party beverage went off without a hitch.
We have already talked pumpkin carving, thanksgiving feast and a few pals offered up their awesome porches and kitchens for cooler-weather gatherings.
What a great idea. Who knows? We could still be doing this dinner and fellowship thing years down the road with our kids and spouses in tow.
I got on Facebook after work today and could not stop laughing and smiling. Tyler had posted pictures from our late-July wedding weekend celebrating our other BFF Gray and I was reminded all over again how much fun we had. Fun, FUN, fUn, Fun, fUN,...all around good times!
posing like cheerleaders with our floral pom-poms pre-ceremony
got a little bit antsy waiting to get our hair did so we did our own manis?
what's not fun about a ROTUNDA cake?!?!
aaaaand Thank you Mr. Wheeler for your amazing rendition of Uva's Good 'Ol Song...
I am realizing that I never posted about the fabulous Tally-time we had because as soon as I unloaded my boxes here in Dallas, I was off! I also returned to a new job, quite the unpacking fiasco and the start to a new school year.
I have SO many pictures at this point from the weekend that I just have to share. Not to mention the warmest of wishes and biggest post full of love that I want to wish on this beautiful new couple. They have had quite the newlywed induction - the BAR exam, new teaching job, new condo, hurricane season, moving to a new town, you name it! But of course, just like everything else, Wiley and Gray have lived every day with a smile on their face!
It seems like just yesterday we were all sitting on the couch in graduate school, watching movie marathons, making house dinners together, and bossing Wiley's pledges around!
oh, michael's bistro.
gray is a bit tired and cranky at a football game. curly hair all around. :)
I cannot believe they are now Mr. and Mrs. I cannot wait to see where life takes them and what growing and changing they do together down the road.
Cheers to GWG!
beautiful bridal brunch!
bow-quet by sister, aka Pippa Crabtree
precious church
serious PARTY bus on the way to rehearsal dinner
incredible venue, beautiful toasts, great music!
bbq sauce and coozie. happy girl!
wedding day! Father of the Bride with the gals at the salon.
we like carbs. go ahead, judge.
only Gray would have a color-coded binder for the big event.
get it, C!
my date, Tyler, and her bouffant.
Gray chose amazing colors.
SO PRETTY!
LOVWEE.
admiring our beautiful bride.
Also, I do have to say they had the BEST first dance jam.
Tonight I went with another 'newbie' at my school and our academic head to see this amazing documentary. I have so many ideas and thoughts and statistics running through my head and I absolutely plan to tell everyone I know to go find a local screening to see this.
What an incredible, heartbreaking, though-provoking, meaningful film to watch - as a teacher, as an older sister, as a future-parent (and by future I mean WAY down the road - no surprises here, peeps!), and someone who has spent her whole life working with children.
This movie touches really deeply into the "rat race" that children, parents, educators, adults, teenagers, and medical professionals are witnessing in the lives of our youth. Coaches at extra curricular activities, guidance counselors who suggest full course loads, schools that create a competitive environment and busy resume builders are realizing the unhealthy and inappropriate way we are raising and reaching out to children in today's fast-paced world.
I could not scribble fast enough on my little notepad tonight while I sat in the theater at the local church who provided a viewing as part of their "parenting series" down the street from my apartment.
Did you know that there is NO correlation between the amount of homework students are assigned and their academic achievement? In the U.S. and other countries?
Just so many ideas and questions to think about:
There is no such thing as a "best" school to get into. We need to think about the "best fit" for our children when we pick the schools they go to as children and later on when they apply for college.
Adults who are successful in their career fields are not the ones who can recite all of the rules for using a semi colon or apostrophe, but are the individuals who can socialize appropriately, problem solve and work in a group setting.
We should differentiate between children who are 'good kids' and who are 'good students.'
What about multiple intelligences? Does the SAT test creativity? Artistic ability? Naturalistic gifts?
When we encourage children to perform and produce we overlook the PROCESS that they developmentally need to experience at school. Children need to learn, NOT memorize and regurgitate.
Where do we value project based learning? How has NCLB prevented us from making that a priority?
In the classroom - on a daily basis - is it quality or quantity?
What kind of culture have we raised our children in? Is it one where they can be themselves and admit they made a mistake or are stressed out, or is it one where we are encouraged to cover up pain and horrible days with an "I'm fine."?
If children do not have time to play, how do they find out what they love to do? If we all want to go to a good school and get into a good college so we can have a good job and be happy, shouldn't we find out what we love to do at a young age and do PLENTY of it?
Our children will inevitably get stressed or be upset. Do we teach them how to handle it? Do we spend time in schools teaching social and emotional intelligence?
What we spend time doing shows where our values lie. What do our children spend most of their day doing - both at home and at school?
When did it become a teacher's job to dictate what their students do once the bell rings? Shouldn't we let them go home and have a separate life outside of school? One with their family and their peers and with nature? What happened to our "day of rest"?
Let's learn the difference between what is PERFECT and what is "good enough" from our children and students. And I don't mean that in terms of settling, but in terms of having a happy, motivated child who has the ability to be creative.
Some books that were mentioned in the movie that I might be checking out from the library: The Blessing of a Skinned Knee
I absolutely love my job and love the school I am working at. Where else do you get to call nature walks, scavenger hunts, silly skits, and planting a garden WORK? And I kid you not when I say the best keeps getting better. Since the first day of "newbie training" to this past Friday I have had a total blast.
duck, duck, goose with the blue and green group.
This school is one where the faculty and staff love to work with each other just as much as the seven year olds in second grade love to zip line across the playground. Faculty "training days" and "community meetings" involve:
root beer floats and ice cream socials
field trips (yes, the teachers all got on a bus and went) to the new science museum
sing-alongs and swaying to oldies
slideshow presentations from members of the team who spent their summers participating in the most incredible "personal" (not professional) development - Can I spend a month in Fiji building homes with Habitat?
food, food, and more food. oh, and baked goods. and food.
YET, at the same time the children in my class are learning so much and having once-in-a-lifetime experiences:
picnic with a Caldecott award winner
incredible science experiments and hands-on time with robots, legos, and insects
writing and rewriting their own versions of classic fairy tales
performing student-generated skits about all kinds of school-related issues
rendering pieces of artwork inspired by famous illustrators and artists
learning research skills
problem-solving in real-world situations
taking care of the environment by recycling and composting
THE LIST GOES ON AND ON!
I have to share some pictures from this past week. We are having so much fun and getting so much done!
my classroom got a mini-makeover with some dragon-artwork that goes around the whole room!
looking for facts (versus opinions) in our library
what do we use a dictionary for?
writer's workshop
science journals
parts of speech - I have this song stuck in my head:
and our "following the leader" moment on Friday. Please ignore my singing voice.
Fall is on her way. We are drinking pumpkin spice lattes, eating candy corn while we lesson plan in the living room and I have a simultaneous itch to craft and bake. You can wear flip flops with a hoodie and jeans. Most weekends revolve around kickoffs or s'mores bonfires. Mother Nature is smiling down on the little Texans who sweated it out all summer at record breaking temperatures and has sent us a break. Temperature swings of 30 degrees? Sign me up, sister.
Sunday night again and I am feeling a miles ahead of where I was two weeks ago. Amazing how you can adapt when your life calls you to. I have been trying to snap pictures here so I can remember to blog about them and to make sure I am keeping in touch with everyone.
With September comes the end of "whites" (even though I will be wearing mine well after the fact) but I wanted to include a quick pic of my new white jeans - on SUPER sale at the Gap. We're talking less than $10, and the last pair left. I was pretty proud.
Sarah (the roomie) and I have decided that as of right now our routine includes, eat, sleep, drink coffee, teach, and eat again.
are those pumpkins i spotted at the grocery store? fall food is on the way!
dinner after bible study on tuesday nights is a new weekly highlight
discovered a new brunch spot today - tapas, sangria, empanadas, oh my!
James and Sarah made dinner - bacon, pesto and mozzarella paninis!
the best burgers in town - twisted root company
margaritas on monday night with some of the most fabulous teachers in town
And I am so excited to add pictures of my favorite cousins to the blog. Michelle and Robert Lewis came to visit me in Dallas for the big LSU game. RL and I met up for a beer the night before and I was lucky enough to see them both for brunch before they headed out of town. Cousins are so neat - siblings you only get to see every once in a while - which makes it so special! It seems like just yesterday we were all in our pajamas at Mimi's house asking her for candy before bedtime and running around like crazy people in their backyard on the swings. I just loved seeing all of the LSU fans (made me miss crawfish and gumbo!) and hearing RL lead the entire place in a "Tiger Bait" cheer made me grin so big. Our Paw Paw would have been proud.
I cannot believe what grown-up, incredible people these two have become. We missed their little brother Joseph and are already planning a "Lucky Seven" (that's what my grandfather calls all of us) ski trip without any parents! Woo hoo!
TIGER*BAIT
I had my second lake getaway this weekend - this time a cabin full of strangers, board games, too many coolers of snacks and baked goods, and life-size beanbags galore! There's something about loading up two 15-passenger vans, playing banana-grams on your sandy towel, and grilling out hamburgers on a breezy Saturday.
The adventures continue - dallas dating scene, supper club, arboretum concerts, back to school night...
Happy Monday to everyone tomorrow!
