My kiddos

After Christmas break I felt like my kids grew up a TON.  My class is extremely diverse; from all over the world, and in first grade I not only have to teach them to read ... but also English! AH. I have seen the "light bulb" go off in over half of my kiddos, which is amazing! But, I have a few that are still really struggling. My focus these next few weeks is to do more guided reading with them and still manage to challenge the others... assistant please? 

This month we have been working on addition and subtraction math problems and our teeth! 

 Addition math problems :) 

 We graphed how many teeth we lost and a "How to" 

writing about brushing our teeth. 

Happy Sunday! 

x 

Month of Rest

It's been awhile, really way too long. But similar to Brugge, I took a bit of a rest from blogging. Brugge is packed in December, with people everywhere -- to the point where they close the streets, only allowing buses. In January, most of the shops all close up for the month to give everyone some time off... so that's why I did, hehe! 

Here's a glimpse of what I have been doing this past month. 

Resolution update: 

• I have NOT cracked my fingers. I can't believe it, Ryan can't either. This has been a bad habit since middle school. 
• I just started reading Daring Greatly and feel like I have highlighted every page. "Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone, I am enough."

           

• Spanish - I went to sign up for the course and it's dutch translated into spanish... so that's not happening. 
• Photoshop - I just started a free course! I'll have a more in-depth post about what I have been learning! 

• Squash is now on our plates a lot more, I've already made these 3 recipes 

 Quinoa with Caramelized Butternut Squash and 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Quesadillas

Butternut Squash and Sage Risotto 

I also sent some goodies to some of my high school girlfriends! Which is better than post cards, right? 

How are your new years resolutions going? 
x 

Enjoy

2014

A bad habit I'm going to break: 

Cracking my finger knuckles.

It takes 21 days to break a bad habit, what about a really bad one?

A new skill I'd like to learn:

Photo Shop and Spanish

 I have already bought photo shop and signed up for an e-course... hopefully the adult language center here in Brugge has an opening for their evening Spanish class! 

A person I hope to be more like:

Oprah and a better version of myself. 

A good deed I'm going to do:

Help the homeless and volunteer

There are quite a few homeless women that I encounter during my commute to work, I usually give them a few coins but this year I'd like to make them sandwiches. I'd also like to find a place to volunteer once we move back to the D.C. area - something like Boys and Girls Club, which is a great organization that I worked with during university. 

A place I'd like to visit: 

Previous post

A book I'd like to read: 

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown 

A letter postcard I'm going to write: 

One to each of my high school best friends

A new food I'm going to try eat more: 

Squash and Kale 

I'm going to do better at:

Keeping my cool.  

My mom and Ry know this about me, but I tend to be a very stressed and anxious person. I let little things really get to me and oftentimes it effects my body. 

What are some things you will do this year? 

Happy 2014! x