Sunday Letters

I don't know if/when it's time for Sunday letters, but I am feeling the need! The need to purge my sarcastic soul with a few letters.

Dear BTL:
For some reason I can never remember exactly when Sunday letters are supposed to post, but I have a head full of them, so today seems like a good day.
love,
a faithful letter writer

Dear Child of Mine,
Please stop injuring yourself. It is unnerving and exhausting. *sigh* Apparently 11 year olds are not good candidates for hot glue gun usage. Or walking. That is all. Just stop. Know you are loved and treat yourself accordingly!
love,
your mom is not your guardian angel (slow down)

Dear Fall,
I have a confession. I love you. I dream about you all year long. I love the scents, both the naturally occurring and the over-scented manufactured ones.... hazelnut, pumpkin, the smell of campfire, the smell of everything apple (pie, candles, desserts, caramel apples, apple cider....). I love the cool nights and the warm days and the colors and leaves falling. I love the circle of life represented in the dying leaves and trees. I love you. I am your biggest fan. It's a little creepy.
love,
a twitter-pated romantic

Dear One-who-shall-remain-nameless,
You said I was hard to read, but then again, so are you. Whenever I give up and believe you've rejected me completely, you reach out again. I don't know you well enough to know if you are playing head games. I'd say something flip like, "I'm moving on" but where would I move on to? Yet another round of head-games? I'm waiting. I'm more than a little confused. And I don't plan to be anyone's pawn. So I hope you are genuine. Time will tell. I just don't like the story it is currently telling.
As sincere as I can be,
one confused girl whose been jaded and pawned many times before

Dear Lesson Plans,
I am going to wave this wand, and if you could just be completed, copied, laid out and ready to go, I would deeply appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Tired of the time you take

Dear Cough and congestion,
I'm pretty sure you originated in the depths of hell. Thanks for coming to visit but now that I've gained a great appreciation and respect for your mighty power, could you just go? They say that what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, but as one who's feeling weak and beat down, I say that is still to be determined.
your subservient one,
I'm not dead yet

Sort of Five for Friday

 1. First things first. Ms. Horn is sick. Ick. Ms. Horn is me. I am so sick with head and chest congestion/cough stuff. If affects every post I want to make. No photos of that!

 2. Last weekend I got some organization going for groups. I hate it how I am always hunting for names every time we have a transition to a different group.

 3. We taste-tested apples and gold delicious was a clear winner in our classroom!

 4. My bestie came to visit and we went to Hillsboro's Arts and Crafts Fair last Saturday! It was so much fun to see my friend. I found a few things I couldn't live without too! ;)

So many things we were going to do but when I started fighting this sickness, it became survival week. I'll have to finish apple exploration next week! My kids are working SO hard! They will celebrate having filled a second "Cool Beans" chart. They voted to have a movie at the end of the day, we will do that Monday since I was gone today.

Five for Fraturday

Five "random" things from our week! Thanks for Doodlebugs for hosting Five for Friday!

 1. My planner arrived! It is from Plum Paper! I love it! But instead of settling my desire for an Erin Condron planner, I just want one even more now!

 2.  I didn't have any counting bears and I really wanted some. I asked my principal about it and here they are! We had so much fun sorting them this week!

 3.  Many of the students in my class know letter name for upper and lower case letters, so we are focusing a lot on letter sounds! We downloaded this game from Miss Kindergarten (it's a freebie, go to TpT and check it out!)! This week we are doing the apple game, but the Pumpkin sound cards are ready to go! :)

Letter Ff is one of the letters we have already learned in Fundations, so my students are so excited to do the entire letter-keyword-sound (with the action of course) for the letters we've learned!

4. Labor Day fun! We went to the farm, fished, roasted hot dogs, drove through a CRAZY wind storm, and finally watched some Royals baseball with the fam! My phone doesn't have a flash for the selfie camera so here's a dark and fuzzy picture of my niece and I ready to watch some baseball!

Just fishing and hanging out like sisters do!

Ominous clouds brought crazy wind!

Go Royals!

No photos for my fifth. I am gearing up to be more intentional in my teaching, and more thorough in teaching my students what they are learning. Working on be more mindful to tell them their "I can" statements so they know why they are working so hard! And working on organization, a never-ending battle in Kinder! I want to meet district/building expectations, be a great partner, make time for my own two girls, and still engage my kiddos in less "formal" ways..... hands-on is the key, for every grade (in my opinion) but let's be honest, that HAVE to have this in Kinder. Some things are going amazingly right and my kids are learning SO MUCH already! But as you Kindergarten teachers already know, there's always more we can focus on and change. Wait a minute, that's not Kindergarten specific! That is any grade level! Have a great weekend everyone! The State Fair is happening in Kansas just a few blocks from my school. My littles are so excited!

Sunday Letters on a Monday....

Dear Labor day Monday,
I am loving you. I love that I worked all day Saturday and I still got a weekend. I love that my alarm went off this morning and I could just hit dismiss. And again when the 8 o'clock alarm went off. Aaaahhhhh. I needed this. I *tried* not to over-schedule myself, because I have a tendency to do that. To make my schedule so full that I never get to rest. Then I fall asleep in mid-conversation because I made the mistake of sitting down! I am so grateful for those laborers who went before and fought for rights for people who bust their backs every day for our country. I am also basking in a lazy holiday morning.
Signed,
The sleepy one

Dear Facebook friends,
You know who you are. The ones who keep posting cryptic messages with pictures of fallen soldiers in them and saying things like.... "in case you thought Labor Day was just about picnics." Yeah, you. Labor Day, more or less, really is just about the picnics. Labor Day is a celebration of labor and the workers who provide it. It is a holiday established by unions to give their overworked laborers a break! I looked it up just in case my memory was incorrect. So check your facts before you call me out about mine.
Seriously?!
~a unionized worker (and I am GRATEFUL I am not an unskilled laborer, busting my back, I'll bust my brain any day!)
p.s. If you are a union-buster, please go back to work, this holiday was established for hard working union workers. Stop grilling. Right. Now! just kidding dad. sort of.

Dear Alice (the puppy),
Once again you are in deep doggy doo-doo and I don't even know what to do with you. You obviously have no real interest in pooping outside, much to my chagrin. I am worried for your safety in a neighborhood with large dogs that roam at night, but since your anxiety is too bad for you to sleep in your kennel and you cannot be trusted, alas, you must sleep outside. I am both mad at you, and sad for you. You are a naughty little girl but your puppy dog eyes work wonders to dissolve my anger. What am I going to do with you?!
Resigned to punishing you,
your owner momma

Dear Guy in the Walmart parking lot:
I am genuinely sorry that I almost hit you. In my defense.... when you are behind another vehicle, I cannot see you as you step from there to directly behind my vehicle. In spite of your shocked look of dismay and clear judgement of my driving skills, I WAS looking for you and although I saw a shadow behind the vehicle next to me, I was not able to see you until you stepped out. I might suggest stepping out with this in mind if you feel like it is truly in your best interest to walk that close to the vehicle that you cannot be seen. So.... I do feel bad. I have been nearly hit before, it is unnerving. But I also know that (in this particular instance) I was not being an inattentive driver. I am very glad you were not hurt.
signed,
I have enough driving problems, glad you are not one of them

Dear BTL:
All week when things happen, like the above Walmart-parking-lot-instance, I mentally file them away and say to myself.... "well now, this will make a GREAT letter...." So thanks again for this linky. Sorry I am late to the party this week.
love,
a sarcastic Kansas girl

Dear Teaching partner,
No doubt it is unnerving to be without the support we need. But we will continue to rise to the challenge and our kids will be ready for the next grade. Why? Because that is our super power~ teaching as if it were easy, and making it look fun. So hold on to your hat, it might be a wild ride, but our data will show our effectiveness and we will amaze and surprise those around us.
love,
your next door teaching partner

Dear Child,
I love you dearly. But your attention-seeking behaviors leave me drained and discouraged. If you could just stop for a couple of minutes, maybe I could dole out some of that love that you are so desperately seeking.
Desperate and Tired,
your Momma

Dear Teaching Tribe,
I know we agree we could not keep meeting every week once school started, but I miss you all. I miss the stories, the encouragement, the little ideas and the big. I love knowing my tribe is out there and I look forward to our next pow-wow.
With anticipation,
a "young in my career" teacher

Dear Kids,
Thanks for a great time swimming yesterday. It was fun. I don't really love to go swimming, but I love spending time with you kiddos. Thanks for being willing and for laughing and joking with me. And thanks for "running away" when I dove into the pool, it was fun to chase you.
Grateful for these days,
a happy mom

Dear Students,
Thanks for working so hard and catching on so quickly. Apparently we are the talk of the school (I have been stopped by several teachers and administrators and told what a great job you are doing). As you know, that makes me unbelievably proud, but the truth is, you are the ones who are working so hard. I love your little faces so much already. I know the end of the year will be tough.
Signed,
one proud teacher