Year in Review

okay, so I am addicted to Linky parties! Here is another one by A Teeny Tiny Teacher . Check her out!

Here is a review of my thirteen favorite things from 2013. I cannot wait to see yours.

Well, my husband knows all too well that my favorite thing to wear is pajamas. Granted I cannot wear them out, but as soon as I get home from work or shopping, I slap those babies on. I am especially loving these that I bought recently at Old Navy. So comfortable! 

 

Besides pajamas, my favorite real article of clothing that I can wear to work or out in public is definitely my blue jean jacket! I wear it all year and it goes with everything. I even bought a matching one for Kinley. 

Seriously?! I am a movie watching fool. My favorite thing also happens to be going to the movies. Can I just give you a list of a few of my favorites that I saw in theaters? Please? 

These are some of my favorites that I watched this year. Leonardo DiCaprio is the best actor of our generation. Charming and believable. Amazing. 

Since I make up my own rules around here, I think I should be able to put down two series: one that I enjoy by myself and the other I enjoy with my husband. It is sad that I have a lot of shows that I watch by myself and a lot that I watch with my husband but the two that I am going to list are my two favorites. I have re-watched the series a million times and never get tired or bored. 

I just cannot help it! I want to know who A is. I cannot believe I am admitting this but my sister and I read theories and clues as to who A is and then we re-watch episodes to try and pick up on the clues. It is ridiculous, but I cannot stop. It is my guilty pleasure. 

My husband and I watch Doctor Who together. Eric started watching a long long time ago and then I started maybe almost 4 years ago. We have re-watched it two times and cried recently when Matt Smith was regenerated. :( Well maybe I was doing all the crying. He was definitely my favorite of them all, but I am excited to see what the 12th doctor will bring. 

UMMM I almost forgot to add my last favorite show that ended this year... BREAKING BAD! I was/am 100% obsessed and hooked on this show. My brain would constantly wonder what was going to happen. LOVE IT!! 

My favorite restaurant is a local Japanese place called Zen. I eat there every year for my birthday and when I was pregnant with Kinley, I ate there 1-2 times per week. There house dressing is delicious. AHHH. 

Before the break, I have tried to give my students some exploration time in the mornings before we start calendar. I will have an activity to explore on the tables ready for them to experiment with. I have not wanted to try this before because I was scared it was going to be a disaster and then two weeks before the break I decided "to heck with it" and did it. The students enjoyed it and I will continue it once a week for the rest of the year. 

Here are the two things I did:

1. Put out several gingerbread cookies and several cups of water. Had them touch and feel the cookie before putting it in water. Then I had them drop it in water and watch. After a few minutes, they were to feel how it changed. It turned "smooshy" as they liked to call it.

2. The next thing I did was I gave them all a candy cane and a cup of water. They were to drop it in and see what happened. Spoiler alert: it disappeared right before their very eyes. 

These were great because it sets the students up to be able to predict based on prior experiences on the future. With these two activities, my students now have built knowledge that water can change the texture of an object. Based on this, you are now able to do small group experiments and predictions with other objects and water. 

My favorite gift this year was the gift of a wedding. My parents were so lovely and paid for everything to be exactly how I wanted it. My mom worked so hard making everything beautiful and saving her money to make it happen. Couldn't have done it without you! 

There she is waiting to give me away!

I pin so much...mostly hair that I like and classroom ideas. My friends probably hate me. LOL

I pinned this during the summer and actually used it for my classroom. I use it everyday as a reminder on how to be a good listener while at the carpet. It works like a charm every time. 

well seeing as I am the worst blogger ever, I do not have many to choose from. I do have one, however, that I do enjoy. It was a great activity for our book of the month. Check it out! 

Favorite post - you won't be disappointed

This is a hard one. This past year has been a busy one. If I think about it, the best accomplishment that I achieved this year would be getting A's in my two Master's classes while getting married and going on a honeymoon (and working). It is a huge deal because I am a procrastinator and I actually got it all done without missing any huge assignment. Y'all, I am growing up. 

This picture was taken around January. My mom and I were shopping and could not find Kinley. When we looked at the mannequins, we hardly noticed Kinley because she blended in so well with them! We did not ask her to pose, she was standing like this when we saw her. LOL This makes me chuckle every time. What a goof!

PS: You're welcome for not putting another wedding picture up here. I thought you might have needed a rest. 

Obviously my wedding is my absolute favorite of this year. So much love and fun going around, but I get it...it has been written about above and below (in my past post) so I will share my second favorite memory. 

Kinley is a pretty shy little girl. She loved Ariel, the little mermaid, and so for her birthday I called Ariel and asked her to come surprise Kinley at her third birthday party. We opened presents and ate cake when there was a knock at the door....Ariel walked in and I was worried how Kinley would react (with her being deathly shy and all). Kinley saw Ariel, opened her mouth wide and ran to give her a hug! It was the most precious thing I have ever seen. 

Also, Ariel was my favorite princess so I was super star struck too! Crying and all...what a weirdo! 

Well what do you know, I already made a blog post about this. It has very very good goals for the upcoming year. 

Let me check off number two there for being better prepared because I already got this done. 

New Year Promises

Patience. 

This word is a word that I need to remember every day. I seem to lose mine quite often. I want to remember this word and hold on to it in the new year. When dealing with four year olds all day and then coming home to an almost four year old makes you want to rip your hair out sometimes. Now when I feel like I am going to explode, I will pull out my special word and remember to have a patience. 

I cannot wait to see your 13 favorite things! Link up with Teeny Tiny Teacher!