Forgive me!

Wow.  It's been a while.  A long while. I promise I have a very good reason for being completely absent from this little blog for the last few weeks months.  In fact, it's the best reason I can think of...

 It's true! We are expecting a little one on April 30th.  The hubs and I are thrilled.  Sawyer is...undecided. ;)

In all seriousness, I have missed blogging and all of YOU so much.  I truly am sorry for not getting back to those of you who have reached out, asked questions, and sent sweet e-mails.  Truly.  I feel so out of the loop.  I'm telling ya...even blogstalking in the evenings has been too taxing. It has been straight to PJ's, fuzzy socks, and naps after school.  Thank the Lord for a fabulous husband! I feel incredibly blessed that I have not been terribly sick or any of that nonsense....just plain ol' worn out. 

 So long story (kind of) short....the first trimester and the beginning of a school year with 21 "spirited" first graders combined...just really kicked my tail.  I hear wonderful things about you, second trimester...so bring on the nesting and the energy!

I was hesitant to tell my students about my pregnancy too early...but one of my cuties began to question what (and how much) I was eating each day at lunch because of my growing belly...so I decided to tell them after our field trip to the pumpkin patch.

They gasped and broke out into applause.  It was pretty special...and downright adorable.  I felt like I should stand up and bow.  They immediately began shouting out names.  They came up with "Sparky" and "Pumpkin" (which may have been due to the fact that we spent all day at the pumpkin patch and were eating pumpkin ice cream at the time).  In any case...we're going to keep thinking.  I'm not sold on either of those quite yet. ;)

In fact, now that I think about it....all of the names that they have come up with so far have been better suited for a dog rather than a child.  Maybe they think I am going to give birth to a golden retriever rather than a human. Hmmm.

Our classroom has been a busy place despite my exhaustion, I promise!  I will be back very soon with pictures.  My kiddos are making so much progress.  Our school is doing Action Based Learning labs in the morning and I really see it making a difference in some of my babies who struggle the most. 

Are you familiar with Action Based Learning?  It has a lot to do with brain research and crossing the midline. It's really fascinating to see and hear about the connection between some of these fine and gross motor skills and academic performance. 

To *try* to make up for my blogging absence...I'm going to throw a little sale in my TPT store...20% off everything!

And lastly, here is a fun Thanksgiving freebie to work on "adding two."  We are gearing up for a big unit on addition in my classroom! 

Happy teaching to you!  It feels good to be back!