Week in the Life - Tuesday

Tuesdays are my least favorite days of each week! This week's Tuesday wasn't horrible, it was just blah. We made it through, and that was the highlight of the day.

This morning was very quiet. Jason slept in a little bit and Jaxon slept in a lot bit. It was so peaceful while I was getting ready for the day, it was nice to just breathe and think for a minute! Every year I take a photo of my makeup for my morning routine and it always seems to be different. I wonder what makeup trends will be like ten years from now? 

Besides the fact that I look horrible tired in this photo, I adore it! I don't usually enjoy photos of myself, but this one seems to say a lot. What you might now know: I've been working really hard to learn that hairstyle and it's finally turning out nicely, all those cords hanging down drive me insane, and I am saving those empty toilet paper rolls for a classroom project. I got this photo by setting my DSLR camera on the toilet tank and using the self timer.

When Jaxon finally woke up, I was still at home eating breakfast, and he always wants bites of my oatmeal. I know this because he puts his finger right on the middle of his tongue and then says "bi, bi" (we are still working on the T sound.) After his bites of food, he ran over to the other side of the couch and flung open the curtains to see if the babysitter was here yet. He is letting the neighborhood know he is awake and ready to play!

I really struggle with documenting my work life, because I just don't know what is worth including and what isn't. For today, I chose to only show myself, not my classes. It's the first week back so it's all about setting the tone and explaining the classroom expectations. I was feeling a little discouraged already, until I overheard one kiddo in the hallway say something along the lines of "except for Mrs. Brees' class, that one I can see because it's actually useful." They won't ever say it to me, but maybe they do see the value in what I am trying to teach them.

I asked hubby to take photos this year to help with WIL and he came up with this paperwork photo. It's his least favorite part of the job, so I don't know why he documented in first. But I love that he is taking photos of his daily life too!

While I was working out, the boys played in the water again. This kiddo loves any type of water!

Then they worked on taking the potatoes out of the garden box. Potatoes were the ONLY vegetable I grew this year. There was such a long rainy season in the Spring and I was so busy with other things, that I never got any seeds in the ground. We got a lot of potatoes though...the've been sitting there haunting me like the ghost of chores I can never get done. I was so appreciative and thankful that Jason thought to help me out with this. And I know Jaxon probably loved digging in the dirt!

What is he saying? "It's food, not a ball?" "Don't touch my harvest!" I don't ever know what he's thinking!

We had Tilapia for supper which is a huge step forward for me. I do not like fish, but know it has nutrients I could really use. Jason loved it. Here I am feeding him some grilled zucchini which he made a disgusted face at but then asked for "mo bi" which means more bites! LOL!

We watch a little bit of the movie Turbo every. single. day. He is screaming "go toe" for Go Turbo and I am just zoning out! 

I love finishing the day with the foam roller! If you are working out or running or just have back pain or something, this is the best therapy for it that I've found. Today was ALL about the hamstrings and glutes, because my pathetic Monday workout actually made me incredibly sore!

That's my Tuesday! How did it go for everyone else?

Week in the Life - Monday

The first day of Ali's Week in the Life project also happened to fall on the first day back to school for me. In the rush of getting Jaxon up and ready for the babysitter, trying to eat breakfast...let's be frank, just trying to get out of bed...I forgot ALL about WIL!

I was reminded when Michelle posted on Instagram and I quickly snapped to! Literally...snapping pictures of everything around me!

After an hour of frantically taking photos, I reminded myself to stop, to slow down and remember that this year I really wanted to focus on words and stories more than just photos. I always bank on my photos doing the talking, but then I remember that I will not always remember why those photos were cute/funny/meaningful. Once I took a deep breath and figured out what I really wanted to remember about yesterday, the stories started jumping out at me.

So, I missed most of the day, not remembering about WIL. All I have from before 4 pm is this:

My Passion Planner page to remind me to stay on top of documentation this week.

Afternoon snack. Working on getting protein and carbs in before my workouts in the evenings.

Every "First Day of School" should start with a Thank You note and Starbucks! 

The bags I carry with me every day: purse/camera bag, gym bag and lunch bag.

What Mom wouldn't be thrilled to come home to this scene?? Toddler in the middle of a mud hole, running through water...at least he's not crying, kicking and screaming, right?

More water play.

Then we moved to the sprinklers when they came on, and this was just too precious to miss. Days of summer are quickly ending (as if they ever seemed to start) and this seemed like a great "summer-y" moment.

While I was getting his bath ready, he ended up almost naked in his dirt hole. I just can't keep this kiddo out of the mud and muck. He is who he is.

There won't always be cute bath toys and bubbles, so this was important for me to capture.

Now THIS photo...this is my life all in one picture. A toddler (always half naked) running around as a blur while I try to catch up AND soak in the moment all at the same time. Things are just going so fast, I now know why people say life gets away from them before they realize.

Hugs and kisses before bed. These may make it into photo frames, I love them so much!

That wraps up my Monday. I hope to keep up steam and progress all the way through the week. I was tempted NOT to do it this year, because it's the first week of school which makes me pretty frazzled and the boys are taking a special trip this weekend. But, I've come to realize that there really isn't a "normal" type of week for me, so anything is important enough to document and remember. 

Wardrobe Recap - Teacher Work Week

This week was a blur! Back into the classroom, back with my coworkers, back to meetings, back to school night, back to stress... It was a very productive week, but it just never seems to be enough, am I right?

I have a ton of things to share about my classroom, they just aren't ready yet! I am super excited about the new things I am trying this year: Project Based Learning, Comprehensible Input, Flipped Classroom, Interactive Notebook, etc.

Before I get into the teacher-y details of my career life, let's look at the fun stuff! Here are the outfits I chose for this week back at work. It's always hard because it's HOT outside and FREEZING inside, so I never know how many layers to wear! Teachers: always have a jacket!

MONDAY: neutral flats, white skinny jeans, navy blouse with white hearts, denim jacket
Great first day outfit!

TUESDAY: This was probably my favorite! Gray striped top from StitchFix and coral colored skinny jeans.

WEDNESDAY: Back to school night so I threw in a dress and some heels. The heels didn't last all day, but longer than I expected! This dress was a gift from my friend Meg, we found it at The Loft! It is comfortable and adorable!

THURSDAY: teal tank and white striped blouse, cropped boyfriend jeans and sneakers. I was very productive in this comfy outfit, but it was cute enough that I was confident meeting parents that came through the building randomly.

I had to add a workout outfit in there. LOL!

FRIDAY: We don't normally work on Fridays, but we do today. I went easy with a New York and Co. sweater and boot cut Silver jeans. These black and white flats I scored at Target for only $10! Jackpot!

...............Here's hoping the first week of school goes well in this Little Life....................

Spanish 1 Infographic Syllabus

I jumped on the Pinterest band wagon and devoted some SERIOUS time to turning my class syllabus into a condensed, one page, info-graphic.

Yes...I adore the results and hope the students actually pay attention to it this year.

No...I am not happy that it isn't successfully saved online so I have some work to do to alter it for my Spanish 2 class.

Yes...I am very excited to hand these out the first day!

No...I will never get the hours and hours of my life back that I spent making this!

If you are thinking of making an infographic, make sure you have a COMFY chair and LOTS of free time to work!

Hayne Family

Meg is one of my closest friends even though she lives the longest distance away! She is teaching in Seoul, South Korea. When she visited this summer, we squeezed in some time to do family photos in Golden and they turned out so well! What a better way to celebrate their time together while Meg was home!

PL Catch-up

** WARNING** this is a photo heavy post!!

I promise I have still been scrapping even though life is just zooming by these days. Can anyone tell me when things slow down?

I currently have several digi albums in progress: my 2015 Project Life mixed with my 2015 One Little Word, a summer memories scrapbook, and my 29th year scrapbook.

Let's get right to the pages. Here is where I am with my Project Life album (all being made with the Project Life App)...

At the beginning of each month, I include a photo of Jaxon with his Little Tykes truck that matches the theme of the month as well as this page with our "selfies" and our currently cards.

Week 24 was Father's day, so we went the entire weekend in Colby, Kansas racing and playing at the water park. I don't successfully get Jason into many pages, so I have been working on documenting more of his life and this page with his birthday gifts and activities was a lot of fun!

Week 25 was our wedding anniversary and the week we left Jaxon with Grandma and Grandpa while we traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah for my Spartan Super race. We also got to hang out at the pool with Meg this week and that was the highlight, since we miss her more than words can say!

Week 26 was when we started to struggle with Jaxon. I believe he is *slowly and painfully* working on his two year molars and he has some BAD days! He won't eat, won't sleep and tests my patience with the sobbing. Over the weekend we all relaxed at the reservoir to try to refresh ourselves.

Week 27 Jaxon had his first dentist appointment and we went to the North Pole Amusement Park with my Mom. After all of that, we boarded a plane and flew to the midwest to visit with family and friends.

Week 28 was our full week in Iowa, so I somehow crunched all the memories down to one layout. I am okay with this, because I split each activity up into different layouts in my summer memories album.

Sometimes when weeks are so busy I don't take photos or if they seem run of the mill and boring, I give those weeks just one side instead of the whole page. Here I put week 29 and 30 together. I tried to make them mesh better by using similar journaling cards with the circles, but kept them separate by the colors I used.

Next I have my summer memories album. Since I take a LOT of photos of each event, here is where I include more in-depth coverage of the summer activities we have been doing...

Simply loving playing outside on the back porch this summer.

Going to the zoo is our favorite outing! This time my friend and her daughter joined us and we all had a great morning!

More photos from the Colby, KS water park. This is my absolute favorite pool in the whole world right now!

Our day at Pirate's Cove with Meg is one I absolutely don't want to lose photos from! Meg is living in Korea right now, so our time is limited and the memories are HUGE! 

Our day at the reservoir gave us so many cute photos I felt like they all needed their own space in the album.

Fourth of July was not eventful by any means, but had some funny stories I really wanted to write down!

Our trip to the North Pole with my Mom. I loved adding the "flashback" photo to show me in 1991 and me with Jaxon currently. I adore adding old photos in my current albums!!

A whole spread about a 45 minute flight? Why not! This toddler has flown more times than his father right now, so each one is worth documenting!

These were random moments from Iowa, so I just threw them all together. They were just too precious to leave out, since we don't live close to my in-laws and value the time we do get together!

Lake Okoboji deserves a whole album, but I kept it in perspective and just made a page! I love being at the lake and watching Jaxon play there for the first time just made me feel overflowing with joy!

I didn't get many photos from my visit with Instagram friends, but I managed to make it a page and just put it with the pool photos we had from the week. It is always fun to meeting my lovely Insta-friends in real life!

Lastly, I've been working on my "29th year album." This project felt a little self serving at first, but it has turned out to be one of my all time favorites! It's like telling a story just about me and how I've been changing before I turn 30 (which is ALL too soon!). I've included mostly my fitness journey, but thrown in my marriage, my hobbies, my favorite things, my goals and my career. Here is what I've added this summer...

My first "Summer FitCation" check in page. I included nutrition and physical goals and progress.

A little more about our 6th wedding anniversary and road trip.

A page ALL about the color run! This one was tough for me, because I wanted to include ALL the photos but just didn't have space! I am not a fan of tiny photos, so getting too many of those in there would have bothered my OCD scrapbooking side!

My middle "Summer FitCation" check in page. I put in my tummy progress, new workouts, how much I've been training with long distance running as well as my flexibility progress. All of those things are important to me since I want to be a well rounded fitness fanatic!

All of these layouts were made with my cell phone! There are absolutely things I miss about paper crafting as well as digi scrapping, but the fact that I can keep up with this outweighs everything else! Running around after a toddler, working a full time job and a side business, getting my workouts in, and juggling everyday life make it tricky to get everything documented. But the Project Life App is what suits me best right now! I will do another post later explaining the other apps and tricks I use on the cell phone. For now, I hope you enjoyed my layout catch up!

....................Precious moments will be remembered forever in this Little Life....................