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Thursday, October 27, 2011

W is for Wed Wibbon Week

I am just rereading the last post I wrote about the first day of school.  And feeling very lame that I haven't written since then. It's true. These kids are funny, I'm just too busy to blog about it! How do the super bloggers do it all?! I admire them.

Hopefully, I will find the time to write about this year's cute little darlings. In the meantime, I will leave you with a quick update on how Mr. TV is doing.

The Scene: The Office time-out desk. Mr. TV is "taking a break" from his fourth-grade class (has it really been two years?). He is admiring the wall in front of the time-out desk not doing any of his work. Off in La-La Land. 

Action!

Me: Hey Mr. TV. Are you needing to take a break from your class?
Him: ZZZZZZZZZZZ
Me: Hey Mr. TV. It doesn't look like you're getting any work done.
Him: ZZZZZZZZZZZ...I'M ASLEEP!
Me: Oh. Okay. How are you doing otherwise?
Him: HELLO?! DON'T YOU KNOW MY DOCTOR IS IN INDIA? I HAVEN'T TAKEN ANY MEDICINE IN A LOOOOOOOOOONG TIME!
Me: Well I didn't know that. Do you remember how in second grade we talked about how you have to try really hard to make your body and mouth do what you want it to?
Him: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I want to put a disclaimer on our BE DRUG FREE slogans...*Unless they are drugs that the doctor gives you to help!* I'm not going to elaborate if I'm talking about students or teachers...

Happy Red Ribbon Week!

Monday, August 22, 2011

B is for Beverage

My new little darlings started today. I love that they always say "You're the best teacher ever!" and I say "I'm going to tell your first grade teacher!" Their reactions crack me up.

I can already tell these kids are going to be funny. I just feel it.

Here is a quick example:

I grabbed a glass of iced tea at the end of lunch and brought it with me to recess. One little darling (I'm going to need some time before I can think of good nicknames) was curious about my drink.

Her: Ms. Buckler, what are you drinking?

Me: (holding up my clear cup that contained ICED TEA) Um...chocolate milk.

Her: Nuh uh! It's brown! It looks like beer.

Friend: Beer with ice would be gross!

Me: How do you know that beer with ice is gross?

Friend: Dunno (runs off)

Me: It's really tea.

Her: Yeah, I figured. Cause teachers shouldn't drink beer.

Me: You're right, Sweetie. Go play.

Here's a virtual toast to a great school year! I'm going to go have a glass of tea and relax. =)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A is for Addictions

A very rainy summer + a new laptop + an aversion to the sun even when it is out + the ability to ignore the unorganization of my house = a lot of time in front of a computer screen

It is not my fault. I have addictions. I admit it. I am now going to be a commercial for 4 (yes 4!) websites I am now in love with. Do not read on if you give into peer pressure or are easily bored.

This is the definition of pinterest:











So apparently, I'm not alone.

Below you will see pictures of things I have actually made using the inspirations (or "pinspirations").
Key:
First picture: Pinspiration
Second picture: my version (sorry for the iPhone picture quality)








$97.99 sold-out version on ModCloth turns into my $4.99 from Salvation Army version. Now to find the perfect time to wear them.






Easy-peasy no-cost operation signs from The Teacher Wife.











Smarty Pants full of Smarties candy from The Inspired Apple










I needed to use my bulletin board to make a new focus wall (see below) so I needed some other ideas. Using The First Grade Parade's idea and signs from Mrs. Dillard, I created my new Bucket Fillers set up.










I knew I wanted to create a Focus Wall for our Treasures reading series, so I adapted Frogs, Bees & Under the Seas' to work for me.

 





My students always love to be silly, so these cheers and chants from The Apple Basket Teacher were perfect. I made them into cards that kids can pick when they answer questions correctly.

I also loved some of the organizational pins I found:











I never would have thought of using binder clips to keep my Mimeo/Elmo cords from getting lost. Genius, Unplggd!










One of Meck Mom's many ideas. Okay, so it wasn't such a sacrifice to eat Chinese food to get my containers. Honey Chicken...mmm...

One of the most popular pins I saw on Pinterest was milk crate stools. Mrs. Clemens and I decided to make them. Here is our version:









 Yeah, so The Boutons' crate stools are actually finished. Ours will be...eventually.

And finally, I really wanted to be able to give myself a new pedicure, but luckily, my lovely aunt gave me a new manicure. You think my students will get that I like ladybugs?
















You can join the pinning fun too, just click the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button to the right. I can send you an invite, but I can't be responsible if you become an addict.

I also found Vistaprint.com and did several orders for FREE stuff. All I paid was shipping. Totally worth it. Here are a 4/13 of the things I made:
















1. Tote Bag (free!)
2. Car Magnet (free!)
3. Mouspad (free!)
4. Postcards turned into Star Cards (free!)

I'm hooked. They've gotten a customer for life.

I stumbled upon a very cute website for fonts called LetteringDelights.com. I got "Scribble Kids" for 50 cents and proceeded to make labels for almost everything on my shelves.








One last addiction to talk about is Teacher Tipster. This guy is absolutely hilarious. He teaches first grade and obviously loves his job. He has made all kinds of videos that demonstrate his tips. I recommend watching:
The Hallway Song, Brain Chains, SillyBrations, and Magic Trash. Then, I recommend you find several hours to watch the rest of them and join his Facebook page. He is just fantastic.

Okay, I think that is all for now. I am as ready as I'll ever be for my darlings to start tomorrow. I am looking forward to sharing some hilariously random things that second graders say and do with you.

And as always, thanks for supporting my addictions. (Teaching, blogging, children's books, Cherry Coke, ladybugs, chocolate ice cream, pinterest...)


Sunday, May 8, 2011

M is for Moms

This week's writing topic was about our mothers.

The students were given an interview form to gather some information about their mothers to use as their details.

I thought it would be pretty cool if I had my mother call and answer the questions on speaker phone.

Since my mother doesn't understand that my whim is her command, I had to improvise during our writing time.

I told my students that her favorite color is yellow. She likes to vacation in the mountains. And her favorite holiday is Christmas. I also finished the sentence "My mom likes it when I..." with "make her laugh because I am her funniest child."

My mom decided to call at her convenience, which happened to be during math, but we conducted the interview anyway. My students loved hearing her on the speaker phone.

These were my mom's answers:




















Don't worry. I asked her permission to forge her signature. This time.

So I was 1 for 4, but I'm not even sure my mother knows what she likes...

I did not complete the other portion of this assignment though. The students were supposed to draw a picture of their mothers on the back of the page.

This was one (rather accurate) drawing:





















This is a drawing of this guy's mother at the beach. It was raining and windy.























 I'm not sure if Mom is frowning because a) her umbrella is flying away, b) a giant clam is on it's way to devour her, c) a huge bird is flying directly over her, d) a coconut is about to drop on the family Cadillac, e) deadly looking stingrays swim around in shallow water, f) there are spiky waves headed her way, or g) her son is in the cabana safely eating a sandwich.

I especially enjoyed Curly Top's portrait of his mother. There is just something about it that screams love.

.

.

.

.






















Or maybe that was just me screaming...

Have a wonderful, lovely, fabulous Mother's Day!

Friday, May 6, 2011

A is for Appreciation

It has been a week full of teacher appreciation.

(Despite the fact that our district/state informed us of further budget/position cuts, but I won't go there now...)

Our school's wonderful administration and PTA gave us little gifts of appreciation all week long. It was very sweet of them.

But the most meaningful displays of gratitude come from the actual kids we teach. This week, Sassy made sure I felt her thankfulness.

And Sassy KNOWS how to appreciate the finer things in life...Just look at this picture she drew of the bedroom she would like to have if she could decorate it any way she wanted to.

There is Harry Potter wall paper and she is diving into her trampoline-jacuzzi.

She also has a dog that says, "wolf".

But the important things are the signs on her door. (click to enlarge)











I promise I don't promote the discussion of good "looken" boys.

Sassy appreciated me on Wednesday. She brought me a red leather Brighton belt. She handed it over and said, "I appreciate you and please don't use this on me..."


She also informed me it was actually from her grandpa. I found out that it was originally for Sassy's sister, but was not as appreciated by her sister as it would be by me. So...thanks Sassy's grandpa! (He is a loyal reader of this blog.)

Sassy appreciated me again today. She brought me a wrapped gift this time and said, "I would REALLY appreciate if you didn't use this to spank me!" It wasn't a paddle, but this:
 That would probably leave a mark...

Then I saw this on the back:
So Sassy actually "appreicates" me, but I think that's as good (if not better) than appreciation.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week, fellow educators! I hope you felt as much love as I did.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

R is for Reality

Last week's reading focus was Reality and Fantasy. It apparently carried over to this week.

As I've said before, one of my favorite things about second graders are the conversations they have when they don't think we're listening.

We had a P.E. field trip to the bowling alley today. (Mr. Random: Don't let me leave here without maple syrup.) That meant we had to eat our lunches in the classrooms. While some were finished up their ravioli, others were drawing pictures.

This was an overheard conversation:

Mr. Man: Have you ever seen a ghost?

Mumble-ina: No. You can't always see them.

Mr. Man: Yeah, 'cause they are made of clear stuff.

Mum: Nuh uh. Some are made of spirits and dust.

Mr. Man: Oh! Like vampires?

Mum: (outraged!) No! Vampires are made of real things! And they sparkle so you can see them.

Mr. Man: Ms. Buckler? Are unicorns real?

Me: (confused) I thought you were talking about ghosts an vampires?

Mr. Man: (whispering to Mum) She's listening to us!

I felt this was a good time to casually walk by and observe what kind of pictures were being created.

This was Mumble-ina's:


**I would like to apologize for the poor quality of this photo. Our school's tech specialist (Hi, Mrs. H!) and I both know I could have scanned it, but I'm too lazy.**

 Me: Mumble-ina! Who is in this picture?

Mum: That's me. And that's Robert Pattinson.

I must have made a "teacher face" because she said, "oh fine!" She then added some words and gave it back.





















Now it is clearly labeled as myself with my favorite baseball player.

Me: Um, I have brown hair and so does Mr. Longoria.

Mum: Well...Sassy taught me how to draw it!

Me: Oh, Sassy made you draw a picture of smooching? Let me see hers.




















Peer pressure is so tough.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

C is for Crat-er

One Line Wonder was at it again today.

Three times a year we give the FAIR test. This assesses students' fluency, reading accuracy/comprehension, spelling, etc.

One of the sub tests consists of a list of multisyllabic words. My students were NOT good at this at the beginning of the year. Since then we have learned a lot of spelling and vowel rules. They've all done much better.

I gave the FAIR test to OLW today. She got about 90% of the words correct. Since this is the last time they take the test, I wanted to use it as a teaching tool.

I pointed to a word she missed.

Me: What was this word? We just learned about it in Science.

Her: Crat-er.

Me: No...What were those holes on the moon called?

Her: Craters...

Me: Doesn't this look like it could be 'crater'? Haven't we learned the sneaky 'e' makes 'a' say it's name?

Her: Yeah, but it could also be crat-er.

Me: Does that make sense?! Have you ever heard of a crat-er?!

Her: Of course!

Me: When?!

Her: My baby sister says crat-er when she wants a cracker because she's only three!

Me: Oh good gravy! Thanks, OLW, we're done here.

Her: You got it, Dude!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

S is for Spectacular

It's FCAT week. All week. ALL week. I'm cracking up a little because our schedules are rearranged to accommodate testing times. I don't do schedule changes well. It leaves us a lot of time after lunch to enjoys each other's company. If I didn't occasionally have adult contact, I'd probably crack all the way.

I have a 5th grade buddy that's been visiting because he get's special FCAT treatment. He's been entertaining our class for 3 mornings now. (FYI: He's the one that reminded me to Bring Whales.)

Yesterday, Buddy drew on the board while waiting for a student to finish morning work so he could read a Dr. Seuss book to them. I had to take a picture before I HAD to erase it.

Mr Fact Man: Wow. Buddy is wonderful at drawing.

Buddy: (in his own monotone Buddy-ish way) I think you mean spectacular.

He got a little bit of cabin fever during our reading centers today. The whole rotation through centers thing was a little too much for him.

He decided to amuse himself by drawing on my whiteboard AGAIN.

Buddy was not a fan of the timer. He informed me time goes faster when you aren't watching it.

Me: How am I supposed to know how long the kids have to be in my group?

Him: Guess-timate. It's ridiculous.

Me: What does THAT mean?

Then the timer rang. He was ready to go to Music.
I hated to tell him we had one more rotation. He did not take this well. I asked him not to stand in front of the projector, because I do like to watch the timer. I'm weird like that.


Him: Are you happy now? Voila (pronounced VELLA)!

Me: Thanks, Buddy. It's almost over.
Him: ...
Then the timer came to life and caught some food.

 And that dinner turned and tried to catch the flying roasted turkey (by the ladybug).












And then the dinner's dinner got away. "Just in the nick of time."
















And then the timer beeped and the Schedule Keeper turned it off. Before Buddy was ready. She picked it up, stopped it, and put it back down. In the WRONG spot. So he fixed it.

















Me: Hey Buddy! It's time to go!

Him: I've been TRYING to TELL you that.

One Line Wonder: Wow, he has a very creative brain. He just gave me an idea. I need a new sheet of paper.

Him: I think you mean spectacular brain.

Monday, April 11, 2011

B is for Birthday Suit and Babies

**I am NOT saying that birthday suits lead to babies...I just so happens those two things start with the same letter.**

The Setting: Math

The Characters: Me, Spacey's younger brother, Mr. Random.

Action!

Me: Good job, Mr. Random. Your math is all correct. Please go to your math center.

Him: Ms. Bucklewr, do you know what a birthday suit is? (turns pink)

Me: Yes, I do. Isn't that what you're supposed to wear on your birthday?

Him: No!

Me: I bet you wore it on your BIRTH day. The day you were born.

Him: Nuh-uh! (turns tomato red)

Me: What? Do you think your mom put clothes on you in her tummy?

Him: No! I'm gonna go do math now...

Later, I had to retell this story to Mrs. W. She asked him if he wore his birthday suit when he was a baby.

Him: I can't remember.

Cut! Cut! Cut!

It was almost as scary as that story Sassy wrote about her "Best Day Ever" being the day she was born.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This morning Mr. Fact Man asked if I know what a liger is. Duh! Of course I do!

Then another dude asked what a horse mixed with a zebra would be called. A Zorse? A Hebra? He decided to ask our 5th grade visitor, "When a horse and a zebra fall in love, get married, and have a baby, what do they call their baby?" Our fifth grade visitor replied, "Mixed."

I really don't mean to talk about where babies come from, but sometimes it comes up. I heard Mr. T.V. asked one of my teammates if "she done got herself pregnant" and when she confirmed she really does have a baby in her belly he said, "That is NOT your stomach."

I SWEAR I don't know where they get this stuff! I blame it on Nickelodeon.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

O is for Old-Timey

This post is all about one hilarious little darling. I will call her "One-Line Wonder" because she keeps us laughing daily with her humor.

She doesn't even know she is so funny. In fact, her normal facial expression makes her look like she's mad about something. She often says her one-liners in such a dead-pan way that it makes it 100 times funnier. She look around and say, "What?! What's so funny?"

One-Line Wonder was asked by a classmate why she gets to go to a reading group everyday and she informed him, "It's cause they think that if I can read better I can spell better and it ain't working yet..."

In my reading group a few weeks ago, we had a 'loss of sanity' moment. We were learning about lost cities and we read that the ancient city of Tikal was buried under trees and vegetation. I asked how archeologists found it. One-Line Wonder says, "with chainsaws! R-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r!" and shook the entire table and portable floor with her spastic, dead-pan enactment.

My whole group lost it. Our laughter was so distracting that all the other kids were interrupted and had to know what was so funny. We were all clutching our stomachs while she looked around saying, "What?! What' so funny?"

The green reading group now has an inside joke. Anytime there is a word with an "r" they have to make the chainsaw sound.

For example:

"The moon goes around the Ear-r-r-r-r-r-th!"

"A tomato is a fr-r-r-r-r-r-uit!"

"It's your turn to r-r-r-r-r-read Ms. Buckler-r-r-r-r-r-r!"

Our fifteen minutes of group time is quite enter-r-r-r-r-taining.

Today, One-Line wonder and I were working one-on-one for math. She comes back from her reading group when the rest of the kids are working on math centers.

Curly-Top walks over to our table and asks, "Ms. Buck-wer, where are those thing-a-ma-jigs?"

Me: (knowing exactly what he was looking for) They are in the box with the "watcha-ma-call-its".

One-Line Wonder: (muttering to herself) People these days...they go around saying things like "thing-a-ma-jig" and "wacha-ma-call-it". It's a shame.

Me: (snorting with laughter) OLW, how did you get to be so funny?!

OLW: Well, I watch this old-timey show called "Full House" and they say lots of funny stuff.

Me: (outraged!) That show is not old-timey! It was around when I was a kid!

OLW: My point exactly.

Me: Alright, go get Sassy to help you with your math...

OLW: You got it, Dude! (Michelle Tanner style)

Me: Cut. It. Out. (Uncle Joey style)

Her: (rolling eyes) I'm funnier-r-r-r-r-r-r-r.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

P is for Parking

So sometime back in 2010, I became the TEACHER OF THE YEAR (I haven't mentioned that before, have I?) and there was one VERY exciting perk. In January, I got to take over the TOY parking spot.

It was exciting. It is at LEAST 10 feet closer!

So I took a picture of it.















And for perspective, I took a picture of the rest of the parking lot where I USED to have to park. You know, with the "regular" people.













And then came Relay for Life fund-raising time. You know, the Relay for Life where we had this site:
















 
 And we won these trophies:
Anyway...As a fund-raiser, I decided to raffle off my parking spot. For $2 a ticket, teachers could get the chance to park 10 FEET CLOSER everyday for A MONTH!

The teacher who won got to start parking there today. And this is what it now looks like for me:

 Yep, that's my black car waaaaaaaaaaaaay back there. 

And I forgot my classroom keys in there this morning. And it was such a loooooong walk to get them.

At least she feels guilty about it.

At least "Jeans Month" was also a fund-raiser so I'm not wearing heels.

At least I may get a little more cardio in.

At least April is only 30 days. 

I think I'll get over it.




Monday, March 28, 2011

F is for Future

I just wanted to pop in and say I am not ignoring this blog. I am just taking a little hiatus. I am the first-time co-captain for our Relay for Life team and I have been a little busy. My plan is to post more frequently in the future. You know, before summer comes and I get a new crop of darlings.

I'll leave you with these little gems to tide you over.

We are reading about space and the moon this week. One little guy decided on his future career. You could actually see the idea form in his eyes. He lit up like a light bulb and blurted out: "When I grow up, I'm going to become an astronaut and change my name to Neil Armstrong!"

I did point out that he could do that AND keep his own name. But, I didn't have the heart to tell him that our government can't afford space travel right now...

Later in the day we learned that, believe it or not, there was ANOTHER dude on the moon with Neil.
Wanna-be said, "I gotta get a side-kick!"

They decided the other guy's name was Buzz (Aldrin) Lightyear.

The younger sibling of a child I've previously taught pipes up with, "not me...the second guy never gets to be the cool one."


Oh, the futures of 8 year-olds. It's fun to think of their potential.

Monday, February 28, 2011

C is for Choices

Lately, I've been a little saddened/angered/disgusted by certain governmental choices and have not found much of anything humorous to write about.

Today (like most days) the darlings reminded me that no matter what, we educators do this for a reason.

We usually read the story from our Oral Vocabulary Cards on Mondays. These stories provide higher level vocabulary words and often incorporate a moral of some kind.

I stared today's story by exclaiming that I LOVE it because it is fun to read. My students eagerly waited for the story to begin. I told them that the character in this story had to make some choices.

The title is La Cucarachita Martina Gets Married. It is a tale from Cuba. (If you are surprised that little Cuban cockroaches get married, you're not alone.)

Of course, this title got many giggles and ewws. I am happy to report that the cooties have returned to my class this year. Unlike last year's no-cootie problem.

Anyway, these cards start with a question that is meant to draw out students' background knowledge. This was the point where I saw just how much they already "know" about this topic.

This is what I was told to say: "Imagine you are a character in a story and you want to get married (huh!?). How would you find someone to marry?"

This is a list of what they would look for in a spouse:
Someone who...

is kind and gentle (aww)
has never been to jail
is pleasant
can make dinner for you
very likes you and never wants to divorce (um...)
was your girlfriend first
can stay home with your baby (this came from a girl)
is not your enemy
smells good
likes the same things you do like video games

Believe me. I was doing my very best to not bust out laughing. In fact, being unmarried, I took notes. Just in case.

So now I had to read the story.

I started dramatically. Once upon a time, there was an attractive and clean cockroach known as La Cucarachita Martina.

I showed them the picture.







Now Martina decided she was bored and it was about time she settled down. The problem was, she didn't know which of her many suitors to choose. Her idea was to put on her best dress and sit on her porch to wait. When her suitors arrived, she would ask them to sing for her. Basically, the best singer would win.

Me: Is that a very good way to find a husband?

Mr. Mohawk: Sure. It's like American Idol, but on her porch.

The next cards shows the first victim suitor.














Señor Cat came to call on Martina. I heard, "he's too fat for her". I had to stop and discuss how inappropriate this was.

Señor cat told Martina how beautiful she was and bowed low. I my most terrible voice I sang like Señor Cat: Meow, meow, meeeeoooowww!

The kids covered their ears (my ultimate goal). Martina shot the poor guy down and he departed broken-hearted.

Next was Señor Rooster. He exaggerated Martina's beauty and bowed low. In my most terrible voice I sang: Cock-a doodle-doooooooooo! (ear covering again)

She shot him down, too. He departed with his eyes filled with tears.

Next came Señors Dog and Frog. You can see that this did not go well either.














Señor Dog commented on Martina's beauty and bowed low. In my most terrible voice I sang: Bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wooooooow! (Of course, ears were covered.)

Señor Dog sobbed quietly as he departed. Notice the dejected mutt in the background.

Fashionable Señor Frog was next. He told Martina that she was beautiful and bowed low. (This time, when I read "bowed low" all of the students reflexively covered the ears. Success!) I sang in my worst voice yet: Gribbit, griiiibbbbiiiit!

Of course, she stomped on his ego and sent him away with a heavy heart.

The last card look like this. Sighs of relief echoed around the classroom.









Señor Mouse was the winner. He sang with a melodious voice: Chu-ee, chu-ee, chu-ee! (Is that Cuban mouse-speak for squeak, squeak, squeak?)

Apparently, Martina the Man-Eater found this to be soothing and agreed to marry the mouse the very next day. They lived happily ever after. Blah, blah, blah.

One little cutie said, "Where's the picture of where they kiss?"

And another, "I bet they had cheesecake at the wedding."

I asked them to tell me the moral of the story. It was: That cockroach probably won't be a nice wife.

I choose to continue loving my job and invite those governmental types to come experience our world.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

V is for ValentiMes Day!

No matter how many times you tell kids it's ValentiNe's Day, some of them just can't give up the M.

Now, I've never really LIKED Valentine's day, but I can't say I dislike it. It's just that one time in third grade when my "boyfriend" embarrassed me by showering me with gifts. And then that time in 8th grade when this geeky boy on the bus told me he loved me. And then that time in college...

Nevermind.

Let's just say that I prefer Valentine's Day from the role of a teacher. Despite the fact that I posted this yesterday.






It's especially fun when I come home with chocolate.












These kids are getting good grade the rest of the year!

I was really excited to give my darlings the hand-made valentines I made them. On Friday, they were discussing what kind of valentines they were giving out and I told them I was making super secret ones.

It was inspired by this book that we had read last week:












Now don't let the title fool you. The Pout-Pout fish turns into a Kiss-Kiss fish by the end.

Before that happens, he likes to spread his dreary-wearies around.












We had a LOT of fun reading this book.













I did have to explain that there will be NO SMOOCHING in our class. Just in case.

All morning long, I got surprise visits from other teachers' students. At least I think they meant to give the valentines to me.














Slightly inappropriate? No?














Then there was this one:











I hope her teacher doesn't mind.












And Miss Drama from last year brought me one.
















She remembered how to spell my name, that I am NOT a Mrs. and that my favorite color is red. What a sweetie.
















 She must have also know that I've been working out...

Our school's Safety Patrol sold a lot of these candy grams:











This one was from a first grader. I think she's trying to butter me up.

The rest of those said names such as: Butler, Bushler, Bucker, and Bukler.


We got a visit from our lovely Women's Club ladies. They brought us all a Beanie Baby.

We also had a visitor in our tree. We noticed it on the way in for our party. We decided it was a Valentine Bird.















During our party, I asked Sassy to be the photographer.

Her: What do I take pictures of?
Me: Important things!

This is a collage of what all 12 of her pictures were like.

















Important things, indeed.

The HIGHLIGHT of the day came during after school tutoring. One of my special guys handed me something. I was soooooooooo excited because he's not the kind of dude to share his feelings.

Me: You made me a valentine?!?! Awwwwwwwwww!
Him: Just read it.

















It was a reminder for me to bring his favorite snack.

I hope that your ValentiMes' day was as fun as (or hopefully more fun than) mine.

(P.S. Valentine's Day is on a {Terrible} Tuesday next year!)