Superhero Capes!

As you may know, I am nannying for my three favorite boys in the world again this summer. The oldest has a birthday coming up in a little over a week, and the twins had a birthday the week before I started working with them. I figured since I missed the twins' birthday, and it is so close to their older brother's, it would be okay for me to get all three of them something and just give them each a gift on the upcoming birthday.

The boys are (just turned) 4, and (about to turn) 6. All day long they play make believe games. They are fixated on pretending to have some sort of super powers. For example, Q can "move as fast as a rocket!" and T can "never be hurt or killed". I got it in my head that I should make all three of them superhero capes for their birthdays. I looked around online and found some cute ones with some basic instructions and decided to get to work. I am INCREDIBLY amazed this turned out as well as it did given that I had no pattern or any real measurements of any kind to work with, only pictures for ideas.

I'll post pictures of all three when they are done, but for now I'll post about the one I finished the other day (disclaimer: the pictures don't all match the finished cape. I sort of forgot to take pictures as I was going so some pictures go to one cape, some to another):

How to Make a Superhero Cape!

1. fold fabric in half selvage to selvage. Use fabric chalk to freehand the shape of the cape like this, and cut out:

Mine is about 11 inches wide, and 28 inches tall.

Here is what your cape looks like unfolded (you'll need two of these for each cape):

If you're making more than one cape, I'd suggest working on all three at each step.

2. On your background color of felt, draw the shape you want for the superhero emblem. I just freehanded mine using a ruler.

3. Using double sided fusible interfacing, trace the background shape, then draw the superhero emblem inside it (make sure to draw it backwards if need be because it will be mirrored when you iron it on to the fabric). Iron this on to the second color of felt, cut out, remove interfacing, and iron on to the background color.

4. Lay the emblem on one piece of the cape and center it where you want it. Iron it on using the fusible interfacing. Using the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine (and a contrasting color thread), stitch around all the edges on the emblem to add some detail while securing it to the cape fabric.

5. Place both pieces of cape fabric right sides together. Stitch all the way around but leave about 6 inches open to pull the fabric through. Pull fabric through to the right side and iron. Then, using the contrasting thread, stitch around the edge using a 1/4 seam. Sew velcro on to the neck pieces to make it easy for kids to get on and off themselves.

6. Be amazed that you actually made something that looks like a cape not having any real directions, measurements, or pattern!

I'm finishing up the last of the three capes this weekend and giving them to the boys on Tuesday. I'll take some pictures of them wearing them and post them later. :) Such a fun, simple project. The total cost came out to be $8 per cape. What a great inexpensive gift! Anyone have a little boy who needs a cape?!?

Former Student

I had the greatest surprise the other day! Remember sweet M who I taught in first and second grade? Well when I told my class I was moving last summer he was one of the most heartbroken about it. After school ended he wrote me letters weekly all through the summer. I even ended up taking him out for ice cream late in the July before I left for Colorado so we could spend some time together and I could tell him goodbye. Unfortunately, in the process of moving to Colorado and back again, I lost his address and had no way to write back to him after his last letter. He has crossed my mind often this year, and I have wondered how he has been doing.

A week ago, out of the blue, I got an email from his mom. She said she had no idea if it was still my email address or not, but M had mentioned me that day and said he really missed me. He told her that his third grade teacher had told him she heard I moved back to Texas and was teaching elsewhere in the area. So, M's mom told him she would try and email me to see if I was around. I was so happy to hear from her when I got the email. I responded right away saying that yes I was back and town, and I would love to meet up with her and sweet M to catch up! In her response, in which we talked a little about details of where and when, she started by saying, "I am so glad you are back in the area. I read your email to M and he got the biggest smile on his face! I just know you are his first love...."

Every teacher wants to make a difference to the kids in her class. Every teacher wants to be remembered. This year has been so tough because I honestly have not felt like I made a difference in anyone's life. I don't think there is a single child in my class this year that will look back on me with fond memories. I've really been feeling down about this. But then, to get this email from the parent of a former student, well, I really needed that. You can't tell me I didn't make a difference in his life. You can't tell me this little boy won't remember me years from now.

I'm so excited he got back in touch with me. I cannot wait to meet up with him and his mom in a few weeks!

As much as I complained about having to move grade levels and teach the same group of kids for 3 years in a row, I have to say, it worked out to be such a positive experience. There are 4 children from Highlands that I still keep in touch with. 3 of them are students I taught for more than one year. You just can't help but form special bonds with kids like that.

Tate's 3 month photo shoot!

Today I got the privilege of taking baby Tate's 3 month pictures! This sweet baby belongs to my teammate, and friend, Courtney. She wanted to do something for her husband for his first father's day, so she asked me if I could come take some pictures of Tate while he was out of town. Of course I said yes! I had so much fun taking pictures of this sweet boy this morning. He is such a cutie, so it wasn't too hard to get in a few good shots. This must be the happiest baby I have ever seen. He never fusses, and keeps himself entertained just laying around. Thanks Courtney for sharing your sweet little one with me today!

Here are a few of my favorites from our photo shoot:

So hard to choose just a few! Check out the album on my facebook to see all the rest of his adorableness! :)

Crazy Cats

In our house the cats have a tendency to play with the toilet paper roll when it is hanging on the wall. More often than not, I'll put a new roll on, walk away for a few minutes, and come back to find most of the it rolled out onto the floor and shredded. Luckily, once they have played with it once, they usually won't touch it again until there is a brand new roll there, so it isn't exactly a daily problem, but it's a problem none the less.

This morning we needed a new roll of toilet paper. My thought was, if it wasn't on the wall to roll out, they probably wouldn't mess with it. So, instead of putting it on the wall, I just set it on the back of the toilet. The doorbell rang so I went to see who it was, and by the time I went back to the bathroom (literally 5 minutes later) I found this:

Seriously!?!

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 6

Here is the final installment of our 180 Crazy Things for 180 Days list. This is the whole group portion:

153. Positive reinforcement!

154. All the parents refusing to listen to directions at the farm and going the wrong way

155. Kids eating grass on field day

156. Kids giving "pretend wedgies and pretend choking"

157. Kids bullying third graders in art from the hallway so the teacher had to put up paper in the window

158. Only whole class bathroom breads allowed

159. Military marching for PE minutes

160. Prison riot! Kids start doing we will rock you song (stomp stomp clap) during lunch all together

161. Kids "texting" on nintendo ds on game day

162. A kid with the user name "sexy" on their ds

163. kids chewing up the metal part of pencils and ripping it off

164. kids acting like babies - need to get "diapers"

165. Bullying 4th graders on the bus

166. girls breaking the toilet paper roll every day in the bathroom

167. Kids leaving trash and soap ALL over the bathroom floor daily!

168. Being required to walk in 2 lines to keep the kids closer to the teacher

169. Kids having to stand in one lunch line because they were being so rude to the lunch ladies they had to be monitored

170. Kids having to sit in one long line across the lunch tables instead of across from eachother

171. Kids climbing the soccer net at recess.

172. Recess violence daily = mulch throwing, hitting, kicking, pushing

173. insanity of 2 teachers out and NO subs!

174. Author Seymore Simon came and HE had to ask our kids to be quite more than once

175. All the second grade teachers yelling at them during the talent show and none of them listening

176. 26 kids kicked out of a movie for being rude

177. first grade kept after an assembly to get yelled at by the principal for being unruly

178. Assigned places in line for walking in the hallway

179. girls finding poop smashed between the toilet seat and toilet every day

180. kid secretly writing "bye bye" on the hallway white board before leaving on the last day

I have no idea how we survived. I think I blocked out such a large portion of the year, and honestly that was the only way I made it through. Thank goodness I have the BEST team in the world.

Can't wait for next year and the sweet little kindergarteners coming up. Oh what a change it will be! haha

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 5

Part 5 of 180 Crazy Things for 180 days:

133. Boy's parents telling him to hit others

134. Boy destroying teacher's room throwing things everywhere and ripping things off the walls

135. Boy's mom going crazy on teachers when a kid was pretend fighting

136. Girl shoving teacher out of the way to get out of the school

137. on the 176th day of school a girl told the teacher "did you know your classroom is right next to mine?" haha

138. poop falling out of pants onto the floor

139. Girl showing her crotch the first day of school

140. Girl grabbing her crotch then touching another kid

141. Girl cut another girl's shirt on purpose

142. Kids refusing to go with the reading specialist, as if they had a choice

143. Boy mocking teacher when asking kids to be quiet

144. Boy stealing another boy's milk and running away with it at lunch

145. note from parent sppd=supposed

146. Girl's mom bragging about her kid and how smart they are when they are the lowest one

147. Girl leaving her things ALL across the classroom after school

148. Girl that walks like a baby giraffe

149. Last day gift: picture of student in a baggie

150. Boys hitting and kicking everyone during the talent show

151. "get your cotton pickin' hands off..."

152. Boy had to sit behind the pocket chart hidden against the wall so as not to annoy others

First Day of Summer Break

Happy first day of summer break! Well, technically the first day of break was Saturday, but that was part of a weekend so it doesn't count. Today was the first day that I didn't have to get up and drive to school, that I normally would have.

I've had such a productive day so far! I woke up, worked out, showered, went shopping for some new summer shirts, got my tires rotated (and the slow leak patched up), went grocery shopping, made homemade vanilla ice cream, and made chocolate cookies to use for ice cream sandwiches!

I'm waiting on the cookies to come out of the oven as we speak, so I'll probably be blogging about the ice cream sandwiches later on ... or at the very least the vanilla ice cream because it tastes EXACLY like bluebell and is AMAZING!

Hope all my teacher friends are enjoying their first day off! :)

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 4

Part four of 180 Crazy Things for 180 Days:

97. Boy peeing on another boy's foot

98. Boy cutting another's hair

99. Kids eating poisonous seed pods at recess - calling poison control

100. Mean girls

101. Girl laughing in the face of a kid with special needs

102. Girl writing "dam bech" on her namtag

103. Parents passing out extra snow cones to some kids on field day

104. Boy's grandma bullying the front office staff

105. screaming match with girl's mom

106. Boy refusing the bathroom during the break to be first in line, then pooping his pants on the way back to class - repeatedly!

107. "____ spit in the water fountain" - kids refused to use the water fountain ALL year because of this

108. brainstorming "jackass" for short a

109. Boy threatening to kill himself

110. boy putting boogers on EVERYONE!

111. Boy's hair being shaved into designs when told not to over and over

112. "I whip my baby back and forth" song

113. Boy sitting at his desk and eating his entire worksheet!

114. Boy throwing scissors across the room

115. Boy saying "your mom loves you naked"

116. Boy telling another boy he has "sexy dark chocolate legs"

117. Boy touching others in inappropriate places

118. "my name is Kari" song at show and tell

119. Boy calling another boy a dick

120. Boy breaking the computer headphones on purpose

121. Boy wearing a onesie to school

122. Boy saying "___ showers with girls!"

123. Girl giving Christmas gift: "this used to be my mom's but she didn't like it so now it's yours"

124. Boy telling others "all first grade teachers are fat"

125. Boy spitting in the trashcan all the time

126. Mean girls refusing to find each others names in the word search

127. Boy's "one man play" at talent show tryouts

128. Boy throwing a rock at the birds nest with eggs in it

129. Boy opening his mouth and saying "mucus" as it dribbled down his chin

130. Girls refusing to applaud for people at the talent show because they didn't get picked to be in it.

131. Boy putting so much confetti in his hair during the talent show

132. teacher requesting chid gets glasses ALL year - last day of school he shows up with some

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 3

Part 3 of 180 Crazy Things for 180 Days:

74. Girl peeing in a water bottle

75. Girl making weapons out of paper clips and passing them out at recess

76. Girl mooning everyone at recess

77. Girl shoving a teacher out of their way at recess

78. Boy refusing to pick up an envelope when the teacher asked. Flat out saying no and walking away

79. Girl throwing a major fit and physically refusing to move

80. Boy writing "sorry you are a big fat cow" as an apology

81. Girl kicking another girl in the stomach

82. Boy throwing his jacket in the basketball hoop at recess

83. 2 girls ate glue

84. Boy asked where babies come from. teacher responded, "mommy"

85. Girl laughed at boy's mom's head covering at the holiday party

86. Girl's mom bullying the teacher!

87. Boy asking for permission to throw up

88. Girl using her belt as a whip at lunch

89. Girl throwing a fit in art as though she was possessed

90. Yelling at kids not to touch the wall then turning around and seeing the first boy in line hitting his hand repeatedly against the wall to spite the teacher

91. Girl put sticky tack in other girls hair

92. One boy FINALLY getting it on the LAST day of school "oh wait, that book rhymes"

93. Asking the kids to clean something up and finding a bigger mess after they tried

94. Boy yelling out, "IT'S SEXY TIME!"

95. Boy wearing sweat bands every day for weeks. "he looks like Richard Simmons"

96. Boy yelling out during the Fantastic Mr. Fox Play. "did y'all have fun?" "NOOOO!!!"

haha I'm cracking up just typing all these out again. Stay tuned for part 4. 2 teachers and the whole group left to go!

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 2

Here is part two of 180 Crazy Things for 180 Crazy Days:

38. Boy threatening to kill everyone in class the first month of school

39. Girl pooping on the bathroom floor repeatedly

40. Girl's mom calling the superintendent to tattle

41. Boy leaving his group and wandering around Dewberry Farm alone

42. Girl and boy saying the eat armpit hair and drink pee

43. "the only thing that could make today better is if girls were running around in bikinis and we could run around like horses"

44. Girl bringing a cell phone to school and telling teacher it was a heart monitor

45. "can I have a piece of teacher appreciation cake since my mom brought it"

46. "gimme some chili on that" to the lunch ladies

47. Girl pushing others off the stage to be in the top row of pictures

48. Girl giving every first grade teacher a Christmas gift, except her own teacher

49. Boy pushing someone off the top of the playscape

50. Girl calling her teacher rude to her face "I'm not rude, YOU'RE RUDE!"

51. Boy dancing and grabbing his crotch at talent show tryouts

52. Boy bringing crayon outside and drawing a picture on the sidewalk

53. last day goodbyes - boy asking, "can you kiss me?" to his teacher

54. Boy writing his name in crayon on a desk

55. Boy telling the class he is "a pimp"

56. Girl picking her toes during reading group

57. Boy baby voice

58. Girl telling the kids she "hates God"

59. Girl spitting gum on the playground blacktop

60. Girl doing cartwheels into people at Kroger

61. Boy sobbing the whole way to the field trip crying, "I miss my mommy!"

62. Boy singing "down by the river and the hanky panky. Where your mama is fat and her breath is stanky"

63. Girl forging a note from her parents

64. Kids screaming out during the moment of silence at field day

65. Boy wearing girl's pink jacket and all the kids laughing about it

65. Boy wearing his huge "ring pop" style rings

66. Boy asking his teacher to tie a scarf around him to look like a halter top

67. Boy and his "boob hugs"

68. Boy jumping on the stage immediately after hearing "do not touch the stage"

69. Girl bumping into teacher on purpose as she was walking laps for time out

70. Boy stabbing girl with his finger during talent show

71. One of the boy class bullies calling a girl a bully during the talent show. Can we say calling the kettle black?

72. Boy's mom emailing 10 minutes after school is out to complain about grades.

180 Crazy Things for 180 Days! - Part 1

On the 100th day of school each first grade class came up with a list of "100 things we love about first grade". Nearing the end of the year, we were all (the teachers) just about to lose our minds with the kids being SO out of control with no way to stop them. To save our sanity, we decided to come up with a similar list, only instead of 100 things we love, it was going to be 100 crazy things that happened. We figured it would give us some good laughs since the year was almost over. Once we got started and found how easy 100 was, we decided to take it a step further. We decided that there are 180 days in the school year, so we should make a list of 180. You would be surprised how easy it was to come up with this stuff!

I've decided to post a version of this list here and just not include the identifying information. If nothing else, it will make me laugh, but maybe you can get just a glimpse of what our year was like at the same time. Feel free to laugh, some of this is crazy shit! I'm going to break this up into a series of posts, one post for each teacher's class, and then one for the whole group.

So, without further ado, part one of "180 Crazy Things for 180 Crazy days!"

1. Putting a girl in timeout only to have her mom tell her she doesn't have to listen to the teacher and can play on field day.

2. Screaming fits in the hallway - weekly!

3. Girl flat out stealing another girl's yearbook and putting it in her backpack

4. Grand Theft Auto! Boy stealing a 5th grader's motorized scooter

5. Boy spitting on his neighbor while working in class because "I wanted to"

6. Boy hiding under the library bookshelves and refusing to come out for 10 minutes

7. Boy climbing and hanging on the bookshelves in library saying "I'm climbing a mountain!"

8. Boy telling girl she should write about her mom in her treasure book. "write about how she sits home and drinks beer all day!"

9. Boy coloring ALL over his brand new white jacket in marker

10. Boy bringing pills to school in his pocket - the day after a drug free lecture!

11. Boy eating markers, telling the teacher he didn't, then showing off his bright blue tongue

12. Boy breaking a pencil over his knee while the teacher watched

13. Boy's mom passing out 15 packs of gushers to random children on field day while other kids watched

14. Boy throwing his desk as hard as he could

15. Boy splashing water all over kids at the bathroom sink - other kid's face and hair were SOPPING wet!

16. Boy stomping on another boy's foot "because I felt like it"

17. 2 girls singing a spur of the moment inappropriate song at talent show tryouts

18. Boy's note from outclass, "please seek help before next year" which of course later was changed

19. Girl dumping an entire bottle of water on a teacher's foot then walking away without a word.

20. Boy saying "Mrs. Mac is fat" to other kids

21. Repeating "no climbing on the fence" 5 times. kids come back from recess - 2 climbed the fence!

22. During story time on the carpet the first week ... boy crawling and head butting children screaming at the top of his lungs "get out of my way" over and over

23. Boy spitting his water on teacher's desk and papers because he was mad

24. Boy licking the neighboring class window on his way to the bathroom.

25. Boy galloping around the carpet making horse noises for 25 straight minutes

26. Boy yelling at lunch lady "hey lady, is there any more bread back there?!?"

27. Boy running around the room with scissors in his mouth

28. Girl peeing in her pants on purpose because she got in trouble

29. Girl ripping labeling stickers off the ONLY book she was allowed to touch all year

30. Boy kicking and hitting the walls for an extended period of time

31. Someone coloring all over the carpet and no one owning up to it

32. Boy giving a used bottle of baby lotion for Christmas - gross!

33. Boy stealing someone's boomerang on the way to recess then beating children with it.

34. Boy telling the whole class "I know where puppies come from. The mom dog poops them out!"

35. Boy's mom coming to school to yell at him in front of the class

36. Boy ripping a bat from a teacher's hand and yelling "gimme that! I want that"

37. Boy sticking crayons up his nose in art.

Insanity I tell you. Part 2 to come later!