A fun game to play!

 So, my dear friend Pomai brought a fun and easy little game to play on Christmas with her to my house. It was a blast! It's a great ice breaker game to get everyone mingling and out of their comfort zones.  

Here is how it's played: the host gets name tags (one per person) and writes a famous person's name on it. Then, everyone at the party gets one of those name tags stuck to the BACK of their shirt. You can not ask who the person is, but you can try and guess by asking only yes or no questions. Everyone can see your name tag but cannot give you hints. 

So... we played this the other weekend and Jordan's name tag was my mom's name! Everyone else had people like Coco Channel, Ghandi, Bill Clinton and he got Lorie O'Connor! We were all dying! 

The picture below is the face Jordan made when he guessed it correct! We all had a blast! Thanks to Pomai!

I'm at the gym...

So.... since I have been on break, I have had some daily routines. Such as... sleeping in until 9:30 (or later), lunch dates with the hubs or friends, shopping until I drop, or going to the gym. The holidays are a time where I tend to put on weight. Let's face it, it's not hard to do with all the holiday drinking, eating, and wanting something sweet after a meal which becomes a hard habit to break after the holidays end. So, I really needed to get back the feel of needing a workout to be in my daily schedule. So, I did a 10 day challenge with my dear friend Baylee. We made a promise to each other to workout together for 10 days straight. No drinking and watching what we eat. 10 days later...WE DID IT! We were total gym rats. We started every workout with a warm-up on a cardio machine for about 35 mins and then doing some free weights and plyos! I didn't really see a drop in the numbers on the scale (about 3-4 lbs) but I felt it in my clothes. I could see a change in the shape of my arms and legs and yes the belly! I want to keep this up once school starts again. I will keep you posted on how that works out.  Until next time....

Resting on my break...

I have been getting lots of shut eye on my winter break so far. So much that Jordan snapped a picture of me with MY phone. Notice my mouth is open- I look like I am knocked out and dreaming happy dreams! I love having time off to catch up and relax!

"zzzzzzzz!"

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree...

Christmas 2010

Aw, Sophie loves Christmas time! She might look a little thick... don't worry, it's just her "winter coat". Ha-ha, glad we got a tree at home this year! :)

What I am in really into right now...
James Franco.
Working out.
A vegan meal replacement shake called Nano Greens 10.
The idea of not traveling over the holidays.
Reading other people's blogs on my down time.
Pandora (Beyonce and Dixie Chicks stations at my #1).
Hummus salad wraps with cheese and tomatoes.
and... the fact that its getting cooler in Kihei!

too cute for words...

My niece puts THEE biggest smile on my face! She has so much personality and  she can light up a room. 

I think she will be a star! 

These pictures can just give you a taste of her spunk, bubbly personality, and her sweet charm. I love being her Aunty!

I just wanna SCREAM!

I kinda just feel like I want to scream.

Be left alone, 

but not for too long.

I feel like going somewhere,

but not sure where.

I feel like I want to give them a piece of my mind,

but then again they're not worth it.

It's just a time I am feeling like I want to scream. 

Thankful for....

So I was thinking I'd take a moment to think about what and who I am thankful for in my life. Well, since it is Thanksgiving week and all. . .

 Jenn, my mentor... she's done so much for my learning as well as helping me learn the art of teaching. She has played a huge part in my journey in becoming the teacher I am today.

My job. I could spend hours in my classroom with out pay because I get so wrapped up in my ideas to help the kids learn the best they can. It's a good thing I don't know the alarm code because then I'd be there till dark!

 

 My dad. For showing me my artistic side is a gift.

 Dan and Court for always being my support system and just a phone call away. KK has started a new chapter in my life. I get to be an Auntie. I cherish that role very much!

 Dwight, for stepping and being part of my life and doing it all over again.

 My doggie Sophie, for being a best friend and giving endless love.

 My team- "friends are family you choose". Brent, Ka'ai, and Pomai are true gems that I am grateful to have in  my life.

 June, for being a long distance friend. We always pick up from where we last saw each other. Bonnie, for always being great with words and full of laughs. We laugh so hard my stomach will hurt. Good times and memories with both these ladies!

 Where do I begin, this woman has made me who I am today. She's the person I turn to when all hell breaks loose and she pulls me back down to Earth. I'd be lost without my Mom.

 My Tay Tay, she's an old soul with a carefree attitude. You don't find true friends like this very often. I hold our friendship close to my heart.

Jordan, my husband, my man, my rock. He knows me so well. I thank God everyday for Jordan. I am always thinking how exciting our future will turn out to be! He keeps me from loosing my cool, he reads the fine print, and rubs my back every night in bed to put me to sleep. I love my husband.

Friends and Family Lend a Hand :)

 This coming new year, my dear friend Pomai will be teaching a unit in my class about sustainable aloha. It will be great, I KNOW IT!

Notice the bean counters... my Mom made these for my class. They are simple and great for the kids to use for hands on learning. All it is are dry lima beans sprayed red on one side and green on the other side. Thanks Mom!

I got a second job...

So, I got a second job to save up some extra money for paying off debt and other things. I found a tutoring job at a school just up the road from mine but the sad news is that is suffering and under restructuring.  The school is paying teachers to tutor after school from 2pm-4pm with money they got from a grant. So, I got hired to tutor the kinders. 


I sat down with the lady in charge of the hiring and the grant money and she told me she was happy to have teachers like me on staff for this because we know how to teach arts integration! She said "these kids sit so much all day doing paper pencil work- I want this time with you to be really fun and not just home work help". I thought it would be simple since I do it daily in my class. The only difference is I have started teaching with the arts from day one of school starting. It takes a lot of time to get the young kinders to a level of working together and getting "less silly". Not only that but I feel it takes a certain amount of technology (just the basics like a cd player, musical instruments, etc.) 


On day one of the tutoring job, the lady in charge comes by the classroom I was in and hands me over white lined paper, pencils, and index cards. I looked at her and was not understanding what this was for? I thought to myself "I thought she wanted arts integration?" And she gave me paper and pencils?????... I knew from that point we had a lot to learn. 


Well, it's only been day 2 of tutoring and I already have taught the students about "bubble space". That's a spot in the room they can find where they can move and make their bodies into shapes without moving out of their personal bubble space. It's great go get the kids to move without getting wild. Like I said before, we have a long ways to go, but this batch of kids really liked the drama work they did today. They made their bodies into the letters of the alphabet!  And I had fun teaching it to them for the first time! 


I am excited to see where this goes... I'll keep you posted!

This is all I want to do on Sunday. This week has been so busy and I've feel like I've just been going-going-going! A little rest will be nice.

KK at the classroom!

 

 Kait was mixing colors and painting just like the rest of my kinders, she fit right in! 

Going to dinner with Dan and Courtney was so much fun! I loved getting to spend a night with them. We laugh and talked for hours. Not to mention the mean was UNREAL! This old car was parked out front of the restaurant so we had to get a picture in it!

We went to a pumpkin patch and it was so much fun! There were some of the biggest pumpkins I have ever seen there! I loved seeing Kaitlin run all over chasing the chickens. I wish I could of gotten video of her doing that! This visit I was reminded that my family means everything to me.

Blogger Pictures

Service Dogs in my classroom...

The yellow lab's name is Murphy and the black lab was Pono. They came to teach us about their jobs as therapy and service dogs. It was a wonderful visit and the kids enjoyed it SO much! I have to add that I did get this great idea from Ms. Rose's kindergarten blog and contacted the local service dog school. The trainers at the school were so thrilled we were inviting them to come to our classroom. The kids learned a lot and really had a GREAT time! 

Friday Night w/ Dylan

This Friday night Jordan, Dylan, and I went to Stella's for dinner and then we rented a movie. This kid is so funny he has me laughing non stop! He has such an awesome personality and a huge heart! 

Classroom updates...

I am so proud of Our Class Quilt that I had to blog about it! The kids made the frames and just love that is hangs in our room like a flag. I am loving my job!

My loves right now...

I love watching Flipping Out and The Rachel Zoe Project on Bravo.
I love Thursday night with Jordan. They've become somewhat of a date night!
I love my new cell phone and hands free set.
I love Myfooddiary.com. It really helps keep me honest when logging what I ate for the day.
I love that my mom is coming to visit soon! I wish Dan, Court, and KK were coming too!

on a good note....

School is in full swing! I am happy to be back to my same school in my same classroom. This year I have 20 kids that range from 4 to 5 yrs old. There is exactly 10 boys and 10 girls and I am stoked to have this bunch of leg huggers. Although, they are making me work for my money- I will tell you, it's been a smooth start. This year, I am going to focus on being "green", teaching was sustaining aloha truly means, and well...reading. Last year, my focus was on different things and I feel changing it every year keeps things fun. Also, I will be doing a collaboration with the drama teacher at our school. We will be creating 8 lessons for the kids using drama integration and language arts. It's going to be quite spiffy! So far this year we've had lots of laughs, some tears, and I'm happy to say no phone calls phone yet for unnecessary behavior.  I will keep you posted with what's happening in Rm B-104 :) 

say cheese (an oldie but goodie!)

New addition to the O'Connor Office team

She can direct your calls, fax, type 200 words per minute, use any gadget apple makes with a touch screen, and stick it to the man by screaming at the top of her lungs.

sleepy head

She's just comfy that way! I love her! Our puppy dog- Sophie!

"pudge pudge" and "big fat toe" weird pet names with a funny story behind them!

I've been inspired

Ok, I started this blog back in 2008, but I just left it alone because life took over my time. Then, my sister in law (Courtney) started a very cute blog for her daughter. When I would sign in to check out her blog I kept thinking to myself that I need to work on mine, but I logged into my Facebook instead. Just recently, my dear friend June made one for her and her hubby. I love it! And so, all that has motivated me to get my blog up and running for good. Not only that but I'm slowly realizing that Facebook is turning out to be a real ugly thing in certain ways. So, I am going to put my energy towards this blog for my close friends and family to keep in touch with.