Fourteen in '14.... a linky

I am joining this party hosted by the above blogs. Join in or just hop over and read more!

blessed. That's my word for this past year. I think it's true of every day of every year really, but I see so many blessings in this past year. Last school year I was working in a school in a classified position, or in other words, for an hourly wage. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful for that job, but getting back into a classroom into a certified teaching job.... that was just what my soul needed. Looking ahead I think my word will be.... balance. I know my job deserves everything I've got, but so do my kids. I've got to find the balance.

Woooo-hooo..... I have so much to learn about Project based learning (or project based teaching) and I have so much to learn about multi-aged classrooms. My goal for 2015 is to excel at one of these areas and to become proficient at both without letting my family completely slip away. It is a lofty goal and it may not be attainable in just one year.

Well, I think I am starting to sound a little redundant, but it is getting a job. I have some other really good memories this year.... my daughter graduating from high school ranks at the top, but always looming in the back of my mind was the need for a job. So here I am employed in a profession that I love, and it is a great feeling.

My classroom right after I got it set up. It doesn't look this clutter-free now! 

We had family photos taken and this psychedelic picture is one of the "artistic" photos that our friend Tim did. I absolutely love it. I also love that I have a J.O.B. and can afford to have family photos taken. Hallelujah! 

Our first "just us" project for the year.... Re-Creation of The First Thanksgiving. I rely heavily on the 5-7 teacher to pull us through all-school projects, and this was our first project that was independent of them. 

We learned that the first Thanksgiving was a political gathering and that the women were not actually invited to the table.

The women probably ate "behind the scenes" somewhere, behind the houses or inside, but we just set up a separate table.

This is our representation of a Wampanoag shelter, as they built their own shelter for the feast.

This is a pilgrim house.

Children's activities included leap frog

They might have played Blind-man's Bluff also.

One student researched the men's activity of Log Throwing. He gave a demonstration using a carpet roll cardboard tube for his log. 

I guess it is the blog I posted the day that I accepted my job. I am so, so grateful. Read about it HERE. 

I've been hunting around and trying to locate a favorite and honestly, it is a waste of time. I am more of a "user" of Pinterest.... I usually go to the site and then download what I want and if I download it, why pin it? Or bookmark the site. I do have some good pins, but there's no one favorite. Most of my pins are education related but I did pin a gluten-free brownie recipe for my gf daughter, which you can see here. 

These pajama pants are sort of Seussical and a little psychedelic and super, super soft. My para and her son (my student) gave them to me for Christmas. I have been wearing them all day long. 

I give up. I can't think of anything, which doesn't mean that there is nothing new in life or even that I don't have a fave, but my mind is seriously blank. I even did some blog-stalking in search of an answer, but to no avail. I haven't tried Stitch-fix yet. Hopefully soon..... 

Favorite restaurant..... we usually go to Applebee's because there are some foods my gf child can eat, but I really like steakhouses. I like Longhorn Steakhouse.  Lately I have been enjoying Montana Mike's Steakhouse. Really what I love at Montana Mike's is the rolls. 

I have recently given in and started watching Sons of Anarchy and I am hooked. But my FAVORITE is Parenthood. I am so broken-hearted that this the last season. I feel like the characters are real and like I KNOW them, they are my friends, they are like my family. 

I don't go to the movies very often, but I did go and see Need for Speed with a friend and we liked it. I think Aaron Paul is very charismatic.

Hmmm.... I don't really adore any of my clothes right now. I think my favorite article of clothing is not a so much one article. I am loving scarves right now. I love how you can take an infinity scarf and add it to a tired, well-worn outfit and it is all new again. 

Oh. my. goodness. So many! Here are just a couple! 

And a couple more:

"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

"Not my circus, not my monkeys." and really the way I heard this one first was.... "Just because the monkey is off my back, doesn't mean the circus has left town."

That was my fourteen! Hope you had a wonderful year and don't forget to hop over and read about everyone's year!