GO UTES!!!

So here's to all those BYU fans who are so full of themselves and are so rude about it all! GO UTES!!!

Me in a nutshell

So here's what I'm thinking, feeling,wanting, hating lately....

I'm annoyed by.... Sony and my computer
I'm bored with.... My dating life
I'm concerned with... Parent teacher conferences this week
I'm depressed by... The cold weather
I'm enjoying... Spending so much time with my niece
I'm frustrated with... My computer at school and our computer tech
I'm grateful for... So many things but mostly my family
I'm happy about... My kids are finally learning to behave (most days)
I'm impressed with... The Utes and how well they are doing this season
I'm jealous of... Anybody who is somewhere warm right now
I'm kind of.... lonely
I'm in love with... My niece
I'm mad about... That a certain selfish idiot has influenced so many people that I care about
I'm nervous about... A couple of my conferences this week
I'm optomistic about... The future
I'm pissed about.... My computer and that I have to give it up for a month...grrr
I'm questioning... What to get everybody for Christmas
I'm relaxed by... Lately hot chocolate and a good book or a good movie
I'm stressed about... Being in charge of Student council and starting my masters
I'm thinking about... Tomorrow and how much I have to do!
I'm unhappy about... The cold weather
I'm vexed by... My students and how helpless they act and how they never try they just complain and whine about everything
I'm wondering... If there are any good guys out there
I'm eXcited for... Disney on Ice on Thursday, Christmas,and the new niece
I'm saying yes to... going Christmas shopping this week
I'm zany because.... I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it all in

Yippee!!!

So as many of you know we were doing a bag drive at my school in October. Wal*Mart gives our school $5 for every garbage bag full of plastic bags...now these aren't small garbage bags these are garbage bags bigger then me. Anyways my class worked their little tails off hauling in bags all month and then spending recesses in fluffing up the bags so that we could get more bags full. Anyways on the 30th we had 33 bags full and the next class behind us had 16 bags...so basically we had it in the bag (no pun intended). Then one of the parents called and made the lady over the whole thing go pick up 26 garbage bags full of bags on the 31st. So we technically lost...except that the contest was supposed to have ended on the 30th and they didn't even haul their bags in. So here my little darlings worked their tails off just to get beat by a class that didn't do anything. In other words I was upset (yes I am a little protective of my little darlings). Anyways today when I got to school they had brought has donuts for the donut party we were supposed to have won. It made the whole thing much better! So congrats to my kidos for all their hard work...they truly earned those donuts and totally deserved them!

Venting!

As you are starting to do your Christmas shopping may I just recommend not buying any Sony products. Don't get me wrong I totally love my cute pink Sony Vaio...but what a pain to try and get the dumb screen that keeps turning red while I'm writing this fixed, even though it is under warranty still. It took me 3 hours on the stupid phone with them and yet they are still going to have my computer for a month and won't even guarantee that it will be fixed at the end of that month. When I first talked to them they told me they would come to my house and fix it just to fax in my receipt...then when I called back they told me to send it to California for a month. They were impossible to try to talk to and get information out of not to mention rude and they couldn't even speak English...seriously annoying! So Sony you just lost a customer.

Field Trip Fun!!!

Last Wednesday our class went to Red Butte Gardens for our field trip. We learned about plants and animals and the plant life cycle. It was a gorgeous day and we had a lot of fun. From playing games on the bus to walking around the garden exploring and playing at the park while we ate lunch...it was a great day! Here's a few pics I snapped of my cutie pie kids!

Bad Omens

So if you know me very well you know I hate the cold. Which means I hate snow and winter. So it's not even the middle of October and I've already woke up two mornings to snow on the ground. I am thinking this is a bad omen of things to come. I am already ready for summer. I'm trying to remind myself of the few good things that winter brings...like hot chocolate (I've had 4 cups in the last two days trying to stay warm), Christmas, Christmas lights, and warm blankets and hoodies. Anyways I'm already wishing for Summer to come fast. So here's my countdown to warm sunny days full of flip flops, shorts, ice cream, and lots of sunshine!

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Donors Choose

I have a proposal on Donors Choose for supplies for my classroom. I am trying to get supplies to do a writing workshop to improve my kids reading and writing skills. I have already been funded for part of it and now just need to get funded for the rest. So if you know of anybody looking for something to donate to send them here. It's tax deductible and is a great website for teachers that sets them up with donors for classroom projects. Here's the link and thanks for your help!

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=206694

Another niece!

That's right I'm having another niece! She's due the end of January!!! I'm excited to have another little niece to play with and take shopping with me and spoil rotten!

Labor Day weekend!

To finish the summer we went up to our cabin in the mountains by Kamas for the weekend! It was a much needed break after a rough first week of school! My parents and I left early Saturday morning and started the weekend off by making a stop at Swiss Days in Midway. If you know my mom and I we love crafts and to decorate...so of course we love places like Swiss Days. We got some Christmas presents for Ally, we each bought a big magnet board, and a few other things. Then we bought some nice big yummy scones and headed out. We went straight up to the cabin where Grandpa and Grandma and Jeff, Julie, and Kelsey were already having fun. It was so nice to just relax and I got quite a bit of work done and was also able to do some reading and painting and we got to enjoy a little wild life (a moose and some birds and chipmunks). Saturday was a beautiful day and Sunday was pretty nice until Sunday evening. Sunday evening it started poring and pored most of the night. We woke up Monday morning, Labor Day, to more rain which quickly turned to hail, which then quickly turned to snow! I of course hate snow so wasn't thrilled for this. We packed up and headed down the muddy canyon road. We had to load the fourwheelers in the snow and almost got stuck in the drive way. But because we left earlier then planned we did get to stop at the outlet stores on our way home where I bought 2 sweaters and 2 pairs of sunglasses. It was a really fun weekend despite the snow!
The magnet board I bought!

Quick summary of the rest of my summer!

Ok so I decided I am just going to sum up the rest of my summer in one more blog and then I can stay caught up with what's going on now!

I went shooting with my friend Sevy and all of his guns several times this summer. We go up to a shooting range in Avalon and it's a ton of fun.

In August I went to the Emerson Drive concert at the Salt Lake County fair with Kasi. We ended up getting to stand about a foot away from the stage so we were way close and it was a ton of fun. Well except for the fight I got in with a 40 something drunk lesbian (that's a whole blog in it's own so ask if you want to know that story).

Another highlight of my summer was all the fireworks which is one of my favorite things about July. We watched Riverdale's fireworks on the 4th and then the Weber state fireworks of course and for the 24th we were at Bear Lake so we just watched some that people were setting off from the beach.

Here's some pics from the rest of the summer...

Bear Lake

Ok I'm going to kill 3 birds with one blog and combine all 3 trips (one each month) to Bear Lake. I'm also including a slide show from each trip cause I have a ton of pictures from all 3 trips!

In June we went up to our cabin with the family. My Mom and Dad, Grandparents, Brother and Sister and Ally, and Uncle and cousins Dallin, Landon, and Creed and his fiance Ashton all went. We had fun flying the kite, soaking in the sun, riding the jet skis, and just relaxing.

In July we got to go over the 24th so we left Thursday morning and got to stay until Sunday. It was a blast! This time it was my grandparents, my parents, Stacie and me, and my cousin and his two very cute friends Schafer and Alex. We had an absolute blast flirting with the cute boys, soaking in the rays, riding the jet skis and getting thrown off of them, watching movies til all hours of the night, playing in the sand, and of course getting our butts kicked at badminton by the boys cause we were a little too busy staring and flirting to actually play.

Then we got one last trip up there the weekend before school started in August. This time it was my grandparents, parents, me, My brother and his family, and my uncle and 3 cousins, and then my other cousin and his fiance. Again we had fun relaxing, playing, swimming, and of course soaking in the rays...one last dose of summer fun before it was time to go back to the real world.

Catch up!

Alright so I have sucked at blogging lately...and I've actually had a lot to blog about just been busy and made this my last priority. So seeing as I have had a request to update my blog my goal is to do a blog everyday of what I've done this summer and catch it up (but don't be surprised if you only get it every other day)! So for starters to end summer school the 2nd week of July we took the kids on a field trip to Swan Lakes where we got to play a round of mini golf and hit at the batting cages! It was a blast! A lot of these kids are so poor that they have never been to batting cages or mini golfing. As a matter of fact this was actually the first time I've ever been in a batting cage...I've watched before but never hit. It was fun I was the only teacher who would do it and the kids loved it...they were cheering me on even the 5th and 6th graders were into it. And amazingly I only missed about 2 of my balls so it was fun! Here's some pictures from a really fun day...I forgot my camera that day of all times so they are from my phone so not the best but oh well still cute!

Living Planet Aquarium

I'm a little late on this one but two weeks ago tomorrow our summer school classes got to go out to Sandy for a field trip to the Living Planet Aquarium. It was so much fun! We got to see tons of different sea animals and we got to pet Sting Rays (without their stingers anymore of course), sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. We also learned about the largest animal to ever live on earth...the blue whale...it was very interesting! I would recommend visiting the aquarium if you haven't already. It's well worth the trip!

Pink addiction!

So here's my new addition to my pink addiction! I know I am totally out of control when I go buy a new bag just cause the pink one is cuter then the old bag I had! I'm off to Bear Lake so I get to try it out...and I am sure nobody in my family will have any question as to whose bag it is!

All Mine!

So this coming Saturday marks the 2 year mark from when I bought my car! My goal was to pay off my car by the 2 year mark! Well guess what as of this past Friday I officially own my car! That means I am officially out of debt for the time being! Yay!

Quote of the Day!

Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
--Winnie the Pooh--

Over Her Dead Body

I rented a super cute movie this weekend that will probably go on my list of favorites. Over Her Dead Body is super cute but still funny and kind of sad at the same time. Eva Longoria is awesome as usual and Paul Rudd is major cute! There are a few parts that were kind of corny like how she died (I'm not telling you how cause I don't want to ruin it but you can kind of see it coming)...but it was still cute and I would definitely recommend watching it. I am going to have to add it to my movie collection soon! The plot is that Kate (Eva Longoria) dies and she doesn't want her boyfriend Henry(Paul Rudd) to move on so she sabotages it from the other side.

Winnie the Pooh Quote of the Day

Winnie the Pooh

So I totally love Winnie the Pooh! I just bought a book of Winnie the Pooh quotes called "Pooh's Little Instruction Book" that is full of cute Winnie the Pooh quotes...so you'll probably be seeing lots of quotes of the day by Winnie the Pooh on here in the near future.

Here's the first one of what I'm sure will be many:

"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.”

Pool Shark...not!

So on Saturday night I proved very well that I am definitely no pool shark...try like the total opposite and you'll almost have as bad as I am at pool! It was still a blast though so here's some pictures from CV's phone! Thanks Blake for trying to teach me how to play and for letting me be on your team...I did improve I just still suck

This one's for my students! =)

So last week was bittersweet! I was looking forward to it being over cause I have been burned out and ready for a break for several weeks, not to mention my kids had totally forgot how to behave and a few of them had turned into little brats! Anyways come Tuesday, after a nice long weekend, I was really glad to be back in the classroom (sometimes it's hard to be there but I miss it so much when I'm away). I got there in the morning excited to see my kids and found out we were the only 2nd grade class that had mad improvement on our end of level testing from last year. My kids scores on average had gone up 2% from the year before. So we got to go out in the back of our school and play on the big blow up toys for an hour and then we got popsicles. It was a lot of fun and I was so proud of my kids.

Friday was an exciting day to be done and to be able to have a break....but it was also a very hard day. I did fine until I was walking my kids out. Everyday I walk them to the front of the school and they give me hugs or high fives. Knowing this was my final time I had them and that this would be my last high five or hug was so hard...I started crying with the first hug and just cried harder and harder as each one gave me a hug goodbye. Several of my kids are moving to different schools and so I knew I probably wouldn't see them again which was very hard! I walked down to my class and sat and cried for a few minutes and then had to pull myself together to go to our luncheon. My students were a huge part of my life and I'm sure next years will be too but for now I feel like a part of me is missing!

It's amazing how much of your life your students become...but when you consider you spend over 30 hours with them each week I guess it makes sense. I have loved getting to know them and their cute little personalities and little quirks. Even my tough kids have become a huge part of me. My hardest student, I am realizing is one of the students I miss the most. She has taught me a lot this year and we have grown and figured out each other together. I will never forget these cute kids...this being my first year I think I counted on them to help me out a lot...and they have been so patient with me as I figure out what I'm doing and as I switch things around and screw things up. I will miss their hugs and their cute stories and funny comments...they really have had such an impact on my life this year and have kept me smiling and laughing even when I am so tired and worn out I feel like I could just curl up and die.

So in ending this is to my adorable students who I will miss so much! I had the cutest little girls this year who always tell me how cute I look, who always want to help me, and who are always drawing me pictures and writing me letters. And to my boys who kept me laughing and kept me on my toes. I had some boys who would say the funniest things that I would try to get mad at them for talking when they shouldn't be but instead I would just start laughing because what they had said was so funny!

Real Game!

We went to the Real soccer game last night! It was so much fun! We played DC United and won 4 to 0. It was an awesome game despite some terrible reffing. Go Real!

A-Z tag!

A- ATTACHED OR SINGLE: Single as can be
B- BEST FRIEND: Kristen, Kevin
C- CAKE OR PIE: cake...chocolate
D- DAY OF CHOICE: Friday
E- ESSENTIAL ITEM: cell phone
F- FAVORITE COLOR: pink
G- GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Graduated from college
H- HOMETOWN: Farmington, Utah
I- INDULGENCES: shopping
J- JANUARY OR JULY: July hands down...January is my least favorite month
K- KIDS: someday
L- LIFE IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT: Family and Friends
M- MARRIAGE DATE: uknown
N- NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: 1
O- ORANGES OR APPLES: apples
P- PHOBIAS OR FEARS: Claustrophobic
Q- QUOTES: "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...it's about getting out there and dancing in the rain!"
R- REASON TO SMILE: signs of spring, my students
S- SEASON: Summer
T- TAG FIVE FRIENDS: Anybody who reads this
U- UNKNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: I am allergic to fresh fruits and veggies
V- VERY FAVORITE STORE: Kohl's and Aero
W- WORST HABIT: Being shy and insecure about talking to guys
X- X-RAY OR ULTRASOUND: Never had either but I don't want to be pregnant so probably an x-ray
Y- YOUR FAVORITE FOOD: poppyseed chicken, and chocolate
Z- ZODIAC: Taurus, the stubborn bull, and yes I can be pretty stubborn

It all started with barbie!

So I think I finally found how my addiction to clothes all began.

After I got home from a shopping trip tonight with several new outfits I don't need, a friend asked me if I played with dressable barbies when I was young. My response was "oh yeah all the time! You should have seen it my barbies had 3 suitcases full of clothes, me and my cousin were always changing their clothes..." Ding ding ding...and that is where my addiction bloomed.

My barbies had 15 outfits for every occasion...somehow I think I got it ingrained in me that I was supposed to have 900 outfits like my barbies did. Well I'm definitely working on it. I may not have quite as many as my barbies did but I do have 2 closets full and for some reason on a regular basis I get it in my head that I don't have anything to wear and need to go buy more. Now I just need the pink convertible...that would be awesome! (I'm not joking...I would love that cause I also have an addiction to pink)

Donors choose

Hey just wanted to update you on my post a month ago. I did a proposal on the website Donors Choose to get some materials for my classroom. They have a great offer for Thursday April 10. They will match any donations made. So if you donate $10 my classroom gets $20 towards our proposal. So if you work for a company looking for something to donate to or if you or somebody you know wants to donate let them know. Thanks I appreciate all your support. Oh and here's the link to my project again and also remember all donations are tax deductible.

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=166953

Read-a-thon picnic

As a reward for reading and passing the tests for 100 AR books my students picked a read-a-thon picnic. So for lunch on Wednesday they brought blankets, books, and stuffed animals. Then we went and got our lunches and brought them back to the classroom to eat. Then after lunch we read on our blankets and then even had math while they sat on their blankets. It really was a lot of fun and they totally loved it!

Ok so I am going to be competing in the Miss Farmington pageant on May 3. It's definitely not my thing...I hate being in front of people but I'm gonna give it a shot. Anyways along with the pageant we do different things to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. We each have a goal of raising $100. So if you want to help me out and donate click on the link below and it will be added to my total. Your donation will be considered a charitable donation for tax purposes and a receipt will be provided at the end of the year.

http://www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx?i=6566BCD82A55EF&e=91E9+6+85D


If you have any questions, please email me at mackenzie133@hotmail.com

Thanks for your support
Mackenzie

Classroom materials!

So there is this really cool website where people or businesses can donate money to different classrooms for different things. The teacher writes up a proposal of what they want and why and then the website allows people to make donations to the projects of their choice and they can donate as little or as much as they want! Anyways I have a proposal up for a classroom set of materials to help my kids learn their math! So if you know any companies or people wanting to donate money or wanting a tax write off send them here to help my classroom out!

http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=166953

Quote of the day!

So sometimes my students say cute things that I just can't help but smile over. On Mondays we always go around the circle and share one thing from the weekend. Well today after they had all shared one of them said "Miss Wintle what did you do?" To which my cute little Cole said "Well duh...she went shopping...just like she always does!" If you know me at all you know why this is funny. I am a total shopaholic and apparently they have picked up on this!

Sick

So I'm learning that having a cold when you're a teacher sucks about 10 times more! By the end of the day your voice is gone! No matter whether it's a bad cold or not you pretty much sound like you're on your death bed! I have a pretty mild cold right now...I started out this morning with a deep voice but it was still very much there...by 3:00 I was squeaking and everybody was saying "what?" or ignoring me cause they didn't realize I was talking!

Proofs...help me pick one!

So these are my 10 photos to pick from...let me know which one you like! (If you click on the pic it will take you to a bigger version!)

All in a days work...

So yesterday we had a lice scare in my class. One of my girls informed me she couldn't sit with the rest of the students because she had lice (you aren't suppose to be at school with lice because it is very contagious!). So I had her go the office where they confirmed she had lice. She had to be sent home and then I had to send a letter home with each of my students informing their parents to check them for lice. I was paranoid all day...I seriously couldn't stop scratching my head! There wasn't a lot of chance I had them, but my sub conscience wasn't so convinced.
The funny thing was that when I explained to my students what was going on they all started scratching their heads and thinking they had lice too. Then one of my students got sick and threw up and several of my students started complaining they thought they were gonna throw up too! Apparently 2nd graders are like sheep..if one has it they all have have to follow along and have it too!
Anyways I went home and made my mom check my head for lice with a flashlight(she didn't find any) and then made her dye my hair because the chemicals kill lice!
I finally feel clean and am no longer paranoid...at least for now! The biggest thing with lice is they aren't easy to get rid of...it is a very long and tedious process. I am hoping none of my other students show up with lice and that the problem was stopped that easily and that I made it through my first lice scare unscathed.

Sums it all up...

The life of a teacher!

I have done lots of fun stuff lately in my class and thought I'd post some pics...I can't post pics of my cute kids unfortunately cause of laws so pics of their work and the classroom will have to do!

My Fall bulletin board and Christmas bulletin board
they turned out way cute!


My February bulletin board...this pic doesn't do it justice...it turned out way cute!


Our ant farm...my kids love it!


Our Magic e's -
"Magic E is not so weak,
in fact he's very strong,
he can make a vowel be long!"

And last but not least are our cute Valentine mail boxes...here's just a few of them...they turned out adorable!