Wordless-ish Wednesday: Oh Christmas Tree...

The $79 one we really wanted to get... if we lived in a mansion...

The $14.99 table top one we got because we actually live in a tiny apartment :)

Little Letters

Dear Overly Enthusiastic Lady at Zumba Class,

 I admire your energy and toned arms.

   Thank you for your willingness to look like a character from SNL.

 Sincerely,

Your Zumba Classmate

Dear Little 1st Grader Who Asked Me What Was On My Forehead,

 It's a pimple.

     Thanks for pointing it out.

 - Your Teacher

Dear Fisch,

Thank you for spending a hour chopping wood so you could make me a fire in the fireplace.

     I like being warm and I like you...a lot.

 Love,

Mc

Dear Zooey Deschanel,

You make me laugh and want to sing.

Your truly,

Me

Fisch, Family and Football

     Thanksgiving day was spent with Fisch's family at his parents house.  With just his mom's side there...and some not even able to make it... there were a total of 30 of us.  Coming from a small family myself, it made for a kind of overwhelming but very festive Thanksgiving.  To add to the festivities, the Packer game was on and during half time it was decided we get our own game going.  I am so thankful to have been invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with such a fun family :)

Wordlessish Wednesday: Igor Menaker Photography

Beautiful

At the art fair the other day, I fell in love with the photography of Igor Menaker.  I especially loved his Aspen Series. When I actually have enough money to buy art or if there ever happens to be a special occasion where someone wants to buy me a fantastic gift, I want one of these please :) Click on the link to view his website and images as i did not want to infringe on any copyrights.

I Love Names

I love names.  I love hearing new names.  Looking up meanings of names. Looking at name lists...you get the point.  One of the great, though sometimes difficult, things about being a teacher is all the names you are exposed to.  It seems like the names are getting more and more unique every year. And no I don't count spelling a kids name in some weird way being unique. It's just causing you child to have to spell their name everytime they say it for the rest of their life and all their teachers to have to look it up everytime they write it. Please can we just agree on the universal spellings of Brayden (Braeden, Bradyn, Braden), Charlie (Charley, Charlea) and Peyton (Payton, Payten)???

This year, having a lot of students of Mexican decent, I have also been exposed to a lot of hispanic names.  Having 300+ students, I thought it would be fun to see if I could find the most unique names for every letter of the alphabet (some are not that unique but I didn't have any other names for the letter)...because I am a nerd and I love lists and names :)...I have also taken it upon myself to color code the names since some are a little ambiguous.

(Black=Boy Red=Girl)

A- Atana, Ainsley, Adeliah, Alorriana

B- Bjorn, Bo, Brooks

C- Charlea, Colby

D- Deakin, Darlene, Detsy

E- Eleri, Ellis

F- Fabian

G- Garrison, Grady

H- Hugo, Hogan, Hudson

I- Ithzanamy

J- Jazlyn

K- Katia, Keagen

L- Luz

M- Mykolas, Mystie, Meadow, Marlee, Marlen

N- Noah

O- Olivia

P- Piper

Q- Quinlyn

R- Regan, Rayna

S- Sylus, Signe, Shaye, Skye

T- Trevyn, Tierney, Tyrus

U

V- Vanina

W- Wilson, Wyatt

X

Y- Yahaira, Yolitzi

Z- Zayden, Zondra

Art and Friends

My good friend from way back in middle school, Heather, came to visit me on Saturday.  We went downtown to the Overture Center for the annual art fair.  It was kind of a spontaneous Groupon Prurchase, 2 for 1 tickets, and I didn't quite know what to expect but It turned out to be so much fun! What can beat an afternoon of art, yummy treats, and holiday shopping with one of your best friends? Thanks for a fun afternoon Heather :)

There also happened to be a huge rally at the capitol.  The energy was amazing and it was wonderful to see so many people coming together peacfully for a cause they so strongly believe in.

Things that I am thankful for this week...

A fat, gassy moose in the woods with his friend squirrel excited because they found an Icee machine.

A Dinosaur who is really excited because he found a lamp on clearance but who is about to slip on a kite.

• Restaurants that have paper on the tables AND crayons you can draw with.
• A boyfriend who plays the scribble game with me and is amazing at it.
• Having a job I absolutely love.
• Making new friends.
• Having too many places to go on Thanksgiving (as opposed to nowhere). 
• Netflix Instant so Fisch and I can have Breaking Bad marathons.
• Old friends.
• My family.

Wordless Wednesday: Winter is Near...

1. Bare Birch 2. New boots 3. Last of the Apples 4. Delicious 5. Fire

New Hair...Kinda...

Before

After

So I got a haircut and highlights today. See a difference? Yeah...me neither. She said it's warmer.  I'll just keep telling myself that.  Luckily it was a Living Social purchase so I didn't pay full price for the same color hair.

A 2 1/2 day weekend...

       Parent teacher conferences were last week which meant we had to be at school until 7:30 both Tuesday and Thursday night but we got Friday afternoon off... 2 1/2 day weekend! Woohoo!  The best part was Fisch took a half day on Friday as well.  We had big plans for our free afternoon but ended up accomplishing nothing in exchange for a big lunch at Laredo's (local Mexican restaurant) and a nap.  I'm usually not a big napper but oh man was it awesome.  We did end up going out later in the evening with some friends so we didn't feel like total bums.

      Saturday, one of my best friends, Brye, came up to hang out and do a little shopping.  We ended up going to the mall.  I usually don't go to the mall because it totally overwhelms me and I'm cheap but it ended up being so much fun. 

 We tried on funny hats at Charming Charlie, went on a mini shopping spree at Forever 21, got Gloria Jeans (Oh so bad for us but oh so good. Yes, I opted for the whipped cream and sprinkles.   No, I didn't have time to take a picture before chugging it down),and I got to hear all about Brye's theory that Build-A-Bear is just taxidermy for kids.
     We also managed to stop at my favorite consignment shops, Platos Closet and ReThreads before heading home. We had fun there too... 

     The rest of the weekend was spent buying new tires, putting plastic over our drafty windows(winter is coming soon, folks!),and getting hooked on Breaking Bad.

Hope you all had a nice and relaxing weekend!

The little things I was thankful for this week...

• Spotting the rubber ducky mobile around Madison. It always makes me chuckle.

• Coming home, exhausted, at 8 pm after Parent/Teacher conferences at school, to a fire in the fireplace and dinner that Fisch made. 

• Followers of McFisch hitting double digits...woot woot! Thank you, you lovely readers out there!

• Seeing the biggest smile spread across one of my more challenging student's face when I told him he did a great job in art that day.

• 1 minute mug brownie

• Snuggling with Penny

• Being able to splash through puddles with my new rain boots :)

• A warm, cozy home to go to on cold, snowy nights.

• Friends to make fun plans with

What were you thankful for this week?

Happy 11.11.11!

Wordless Wednesday: Naughty Penny

Penny's favorite places to sit: watching the fish "Penny Bait", on my clean laundry, in front of my computer when I am trying to work.

Things that have made my heart happy this week...

• Getting to one of my schools and finding a muffin on my desk from a student (it wasn't half eaten when I arrived).
• Making plans for future dates with old friends.
• New rain boots
• Finishing my report cards!
• A can a soda randomly exploding all over Fisch in the grocery store and laughing so hard I almost started crying.
• Pumpkin Spice coffee creamer.
• Watching the sunrise on my way to work.
• One of my more challenging students asking me if he had art that day and upon finding out he did, replying "YES!!" with a smile on his face.
• Looking forward to spending the weekend with Fisch's family up north.

Hope you all had plenty of heart happy moments this week!

Have a good weekend!

Overwhelmed

     Sorry for the silence the last couple days.  It is nearing the end of the first quarter at school and report cards are taking over my life. At the last school I taught at we gave each student 3 grades for art. At my new school we give 20.  It's nice we are so thorough, but I have 306 students. This means I have to give 6,120 grades per quarter (plus comments)...24,480 per year! And this is just for report cards.  It doesn't include grading each project for each kid during the quarter.  I absolutely love my job but right now it is making me feel very overwhelmed.  
     One light at the end of the tunnel...Fisch said he'd take me out for a nice dinner when I finish all my report cards :)