Halloween bat craft

This Friday, I will be going to Michael's school to lead his 1st grade class in a Halloween craft (right up my alley, right?). I found several adorable crafts for elementary aged kids and I think the 2 of us will definitely be doing some of the ones I have found. This is the craft I found that I think will be perfect for Michael and his class to do! The bat is adorable, with the exception of that flower...what the heck is that about? You can print out the template in either color or black and white, which I think black and white would allow them to get more creative with. I think his class will do a great job with this project and I'm excited to do it! To make your own bat: click here.

Mall rat

I go to the mall a lot. While working I enjoy walking back and forth with the baby and I also go for leisure. It got me to thinking...how many calories do I burn doing this? I decided to look up the average calories burned while walking at a mall and was pleasantly surprised at the number. The site gave a list of many other activities, so I figured I'd share some of my findings, most of which I participate on a normal basis. These estimations on the site were given for a 150 pound woman, so calories burned for yourself may vary slightly. They also are all per hour.

60: Sleeping

65: Taking a shower

70: Eating a meal (sitting down)

75: Reading, watching TV, Sitting (some brain activity)

90: Grocery shopping

100: Quietly standing in line

110: Brain work - study, desk job, computer work

120: Chasing after kids

120: Driving a vehicle in moderate to heavy traffic

130: Busily cleaning house

130: Walking moderately

135: Mall type shopping - walking, trying on clothes, carrying packages

140: Impatiently standing in line

225: Heavy housework

230: Yoga (breaking a sweat)

250: Light exercise, walking (sweating somewhat)

280: Line dancing

385: Bicycling (12 mph)

390: Hiking, rock climbing, uphill

400: Power walking (4 1/2 mph)

440: Spinning class in a gym

540: Circuit weight training

600: Jogging (5 mph)

850: Elliptical or Rowing machine

Past month update

First post for the month of July...oh well. Past month update: I've now been at my new job, as a nanny for about a month now and I love it. I get to hang out with the easiest and sweetest baby ever, and also with a super cool 6 year old. I get a little stir crazy, but we go out and about almost everyday, just to get out of the house. I was a bit of a slacker at the gym this past month, just going to the trainer maybe once a week, but I started back regularly this week...go me!

Sweet summertime

Summer is officially here! Not that weather would have made us think otherwise...it's been so bloody hot. Last week, I officially started my new nanny job, which is awesome. I am now nannying for Mandie, a beautiful 4 month old girl and Michael, who is 6 years old. I've only been working for them for a week, and I know that I'm going to absolutely love my job.

On Thursday and Friday, Kim and I went to Siesta Key for a fun visit. Unfortunately, it rained the first day we were there, but we were able to walk along the beach before it rained. I found that Siesta Key is very similar to Clearwater Beach, only they don't have large hotels along the water...it's more natural looking. We passed the rainy time at The Daiquiri Deck, a restaurant that has the most crazy concoctions of daiquiris I've ever heard of...highly recommended. We were able to go to the beach on Friday, where we only lasted a couple hours because it was too incredibly hot. Then, we went to St. Armand's Circle and later to Ellenton Mall. We most definitely had a great time!

June crafts

Before I left work on Friday, I snapped one last picture of my bulletin board. I will admit, I'm going to miss decorating that each week. The last craft we did was make kites in the sky. I gave them fabric, so they cut it to size of a kite. I thought it turned out rather cute. I'm not sure if I updated you on the other things that are going on with this board. In the "grass" are some tissue flowers we made, and also some bugs. In the sky are some butterflies as well.

Another craft I did the other day was a calendar page for June. I was in a purple mood for a few days, so the calendar was as well. I like the cute surfer car on the bottom of it.

Last day at Right Track

Friday was my last day working at Right Track, a before and after school program at the church I grew up in. I was overwhelmed by the amount of hugs the kids gave me and how they didn't want to let go. Seriously, some major death grips on me! I'm going to miss those kids a lot. It was super sweet too, they made a huge banner for me and signed it with a bunch of witty things. And Lisa and Bonnie (my bosses) bought ice cream for sundaes as my goodbye treat for us and the kids. Bonnie also bought me some beautiful roses and an awesome water bottle that I can attach to the stroller once I start my nanny job. I do love a good water bottle! All in all it was a great day, and they will be dearly missed.

Tomorrow marks the last

It's been a long time coming, but tomorrow marks my last day working for Right Track. I'm pretty sure I will leave with a few tears in my eyes. I will definitely be dropping in from time to time to visit some of my favorites. Oh sorry, I'm not supposed to have favorites. My bad. I'm going to miss the humor those kids bring, and infinite talks of Twilight. I'm going to miss my 4th and 5th graders...there's a humor they possess that is just so hard to describe. They don't take themselves too seriously, and just know how to fool around and it's still funny. And they're not at that age yet, where all of their behaviors are annoying (middle schoolers). I will miss them dearly, and thinking of them while I'm holding a beautiful baby and playing with an awesome 6 year old :)

March Crafts & Music

Alright, I know it's been quite a while since I've posted, and I apologize to the 2 of you that actually read this.

At work, I changed my bulletin board yet again. I quickly get tired of looking at the same decor in the classroom, and my OCD kicks in, and I have an intense urgency to redecorate it. I decided to be optimistic in this ungodly cold winter we've been having and do something more spring-y. It is all hand painted by yours truly, and the hands are all from students of my class. In the grass was our craft of shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. I think it turned out super cute!

Craft-wise, I also made a month of March calendar page for myself. It is all stamped, except for the 2 flowers at the top and bottom. I liked the pattern of the paper, so I decided to be a little more simple this month. I like the end product very much.

A couple nights ago, Brooke and I attempted to find most of the songs that are used at The Round Up, for the main dances. It was actually rather difficult remembering all of them, and sitting through endless videos on YouTube of people doing terrible renditions of dances. She thought that I should post them, so they could potentially help someone in search of them. So...here is what we found. I'll post more later.

1. Cheater Cheater (King Mix) - Joey & Rory. This is virtually impossible to find via download.

2. Copperhead Road - Steve Earle

3. Watermelon Crawl - Tracy Byrd

4. Wild Wild West - Escape Club

5. Wipeout - Fatboys (feat. The Beach Boys)

6. Born to Hand Jive - Grease

7. Swamp Thing - The Grid

8. Trouble - Travis Tritt

9. I'm A Cowboy - Smoking Armadillos

10. Ride - SirMixALot

11. Born To Boggie - Hank Williams Jr.

12. Uprocking Beats - Bomfunk MC's

13. Burning Love - Travis Tritt

14. Redneck Girl - Bellamy Brothers

15. Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy - Big & Rich

16. What Was I Thinking - Dierks Bentley

Other songs they do, which don't necessarily have dances are:

17. Shots - LMFAO feat. Lil Jon

18. How Low - Ludacris

19. Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band

Day of Doodles

This past week was a pretty low key one. Friday I attempted to play racket ball with Kim...we were terrible, so we opted for biking instead, then had some lunch. The entirety of Saturday was spent painting the entire living room, which turned out beautiful. We picked a khaki color for some of the walls, and a nice green for the rest. Once the door frames get painted another coat, things get put back into place, and the new doors get put in, it's going to look like a completely different house! Yesterday, I painted the baseboards, then babysat Michael (an awesome 6 year old who kills me on the wii) for the evening, which was a lot of fun.

Today was a long one. I worked the morning shift (7-9) then came back from 1:30-6. At 5, the entire staff had to drive down to St. Pete to attend the most boring meeting of my life...seriously, I would have preferred sitting through 4 straight classes at FSU. We didn't get home until 9, so it was quite the day. Today was a very doodlicious day for me. I had the spirit of sketching and rolled with it. I shall show you!

The first couple were sketched this morning, and were done completely upside down. I was drawing it for a kid, so I had it facing them (don't ask why I didn't just turn it around). The first is Pierre, a French painter. I decided he needed a wife, so I drew Hilda, although she turned out a little dirty...so she's the maid. And yes, that is sudoku on the sheet I drew on.

In the afternoon, all the kids in my classroom gathered around a table to color/draw...I didn't even make them! I asked them what they wanted me to draw, and one girl told me she wanted me to draw an emo person. I did just that. I was going to draw them slitting their wrists, but thought that might be a little extreme for a church setting. If you can't read it, coming out of the boombox is "sad music..."

During the eternally long class tonight, it gave me more time to draw. I have to warn you, this picture is a little morbid and twisted. I was joking around, writing "bored to death," and drew a revolver. Then it turned into drawing different ways of dying. Demented, I know, but what the hay. Included in these ways of dying is: lightning, a hair dryer in a tub, falling off a mountain, getting hit by a car (with a boom!), shark attack, a rope, and fire. Like I said, I'm twisted and I'm sorry if that offended anyone. And yes, that is sudoku at the top...I'm a little obsessed.

Bulletin Boards

I've decided that my life isn't all that interesting to post something every single day, so every other will have to suffice sometimes.

Each month at work, we decorate our bulletin boards for the current season/holiday. I put a lot of work into the boards, giving the kids something interesting to look at, and even touch...and I'm very happy with the results of them. For December/January, I covered the board with aluminum foil and created a snowman out of felt. I put stuffing inside the felt to add a 3D effect and sprayed some fake snow for dimension. Each Wednesday, we are to do some sort of art project with the kids, so one of the weeks, I had the kids cut paper snowflakes and paint them with watercolors. I think it turned out really cute!

So, I went to work the past couple days tearing down the cute snowman and putting up something Valentine's Day friendly. I covered the board this time with some pretty gold fabric, and in the same way made the bear and heart shaped balloon out of felt and stuffed the inside. I glued on some furry material so the kids had something to feel (they love to touch it). Today for craft I had the kids draw and cut out animals using only heart shapes...they got very creative! I love decorating the room with crafts they do, they have such wild imaginations.

After work today, I raced in rush hour traffic to get to Tampa because I had free tickets to see Dear John. The movie doesn't come out for a couple more weeks, so I was really excited to see it. I made it just in time and had really good seats because my friend Janna got there early. (Thanks Janna!!) I have to admit, the movie was not what I expected, and I wasn't all that impressed. I'm not gonna ruin it for you all, since I'm sure the majority of girls will probably see it, seeing as how it's a Nicholas Sparks adaptation. It was worth my while, I don't regret going at all...it's just not how I would have written it.

Exhausting Day

Today was a day of exhaustion...I worked a 9.5 hour day, completely straight through (a break, are you kidding??) There was no school, so we took the kids to Lowry Park Zoo for the day. Though countless "I'm tired...I'm hungry" whines, it was a good day. The weather was supposed to suck, and rain throughout the day, but it didn't once and was an amazing temperature and sunny. (I can't say the same about Tarpon, it seriously looks like I live in a cloud outside...it's been so extremely foggy all day here.)

Today at the zoo was my first time ever touching a sting ray. I've always been afraid to touch them, not knowing what to expect. But, I stepped up to the side of the pool, jerking my hand back and forth, trying to decide if I truly wanted to touch it. One of my 2nd grade kids was mocking me the entire time, "Miss Tia, you're such a chicken, just touch it! Touch it! Touch it!" When I looked next to me I saw a 16 month old, having a ball petting the creatures. I figured, if this baby can touch this nasty animal, I can too. So I stuck my hand in, and lived to tell the story. I determined at the end that it was a good decision to touch it, but I would rather touch a dolphin hands down.

When we got back to the church, it was snack time and I sadly ate some of the fries we had for snack. So I told myself that I had to work extra hard at the gym today, which I did. I am happy to report that I ran an entire mile, in 11 minutes! I definitely had the sweat to prove it. Thus, my blissfully uneventful night of sitting on the couch, unable and unwilling to get up or do anything. That's about it for my report of the day, hopefully the rest of my weekend will prove to be eventful.

Lately...

Well, this morning started off interesting. I was supposed to work at 7am and forgot to set my alarm. So, that got me scrambling a little this morning, which always makes the day that much more interesting. Nothing else worthwhile really happened today, so I figured I would just talk a little about what I've been up to recently.

As of early December, I made a decision to become more health conscious. I now eat extremely healthy and exercise 4-5 times a week. I've been trying different things, just trying to cut back in the calorie intake daily. I also want to push myself to withstand running for a longer distance, without stopping. There is a 5k in Tarpon in the Spring, running from the beach to the bayou, and my goal is to run the entirety, all 3.2 miles. My favorite thing to eat has to be my morning yogurt and granola. I found this delicious organic cranberry and coconut granola...just as good as it sounds. For lunch, I just can't get past tuna and crackers, with a pickle on the side. I tend to get on these kicks, where I pretty much eat the same thing everyday and have no problem doing so. Dinners vary, usually whatever my mom condors up.

I work as an after school teacher for elementary schoolers, primarily 4th and 5th graders. I absolutely love my job, I just know I need something with more hours and better pay. Thus, endless amounts of resumes and applications have been submitted, though no bites. I don't exactly have a preference of what I want to do, I'm still a bit confused as to what I want to do for the rest of my life. I obtained my degree in Clothing, Textiles, and Merchandising, but don't know if that's really the direction I want to go in my life. I've worked with children since I was 15 (my first job was a child care worker), worked at countless day cares and private homes, and recently have started substitute teaching for a preschool. I have a huge heart for children, and really can't see myself not working with them. Potentially, I'm sure I will take the 3 tests needed to become a certified teacher, or find a preschool to teach at. Who knows what will become of my life...I'm just kind of sitting back and letting life happen.