Photo #24, #25, and #26

After school yesterday I drove down to Brooklyn Center for a math workshop.  I absolutely LOVE going to workshops!  Yes, I admit, I am a nerdy teacher when it comes to learning new strategies and teaching methods that will reach my students.  I wish I could afford to go to them more often!  Plus, what teacher doesn't love an occasional day off from school?  I spent Sunday night cleaning, doing laundry, and getting packed up.  On Monday I planned for my sub and kept telling myself that all the work to plan for my sub was going to pay off come Tuesday.  As I was driving down on Monday evening, the weather took a turn for the worst!  Driving a huge van down to the cities, I encountered rain, sleet, and snow all in one trip...but, I made it safely!  Another perk about being out of town was having a night to myself to stay up and sleep in without a baby waking me up.  As I am cuddled into my nice warm bed my text message alert goes off at 5:00 a.m. that says that school will be cancelled for the day due to bad weather and several inches of snow.  Go figure!  And now, I am wide awake!  Ha!  Ha!  I decided to make the most of my day so I got up, made coffee, watched the news, and surfed the internet.  It turned out to be a great start to my day!  The workshop was amazing and full of good resources!  And best of all...

 I was able to enjoy a nice lunch that did not include elementary cafeteria food, soup from a can, or last night's leftovers.  What a treat!  And the other best part about lunch was that we were given an hour to enjoy it!  Ha!  I am lucky if I find 20 minutes to just SIT down and eat during the school day. 

 

Driving back to Frazee was a bit challenging at times but overall, not nearly as bad as I was expecting, provided all the school closures.  Pulling into the parking lot of the high school to return the van, I stumbled across a bit of a surprise that I wasn't expecting.  There in the middle of the parking lot was my lonely car with about 12 inches of snow piled on top of it.  While I was away the plow came to plow the parking lot and managed to plow me in.  After about a half hour of sweeping snow, I was back on the road to home to see my family.  As nice as it is to get away, it was even nicer to come home to that sweet little face of my daughter that is always eager to greet me at the door.  (And of course, the hubby was happy to see me too!)

Photo #20, #21, #22, and #23

January 27, 2013...

a big day for our sweet little Evelyn Faith Drewes!

 

 Today we had the privilege to go to Bethlehem Lutheran to share the baptism of Evie!  She was so well-behaved up there for the pastor.  After she was blessed with the baptism water, the pastor was praying for her.  While this was being done she was full of smiles and played with her dress.  What a sweetheart!  Pictured behind Evie are her godparents Stacy and Todd, her parents Amy and Tyler, and her other godmother Ashley.  She is definitely blessed with a family that loves her!  GOD IS GOOD!!!

Taking pictures with little ones always proves to be a bit challenging.  As you can see, Hailey and Evie were not thrilled about the photo opportunity.  :)  
 

  
Molly had to make sure to get some play time in with the special girl of the day!  So cute!  I walked into the bedroom and the two of them were yacking away at each other.  

And then it was time for dinner but of course these girls wanted nothing to do with the ham dinner spread.  Instead they were busy driving this car around and screaming/giggling every time that they drove it into the wall.  Crazy girls!  Can you tell that they are a bit excited?!?!

Photo #19

Here I am...normally I don't post pictures of myself nor do I like to get my picture taken but there is a story behind this.  Originally I had decided to start a blog because I wanted a New Year's resolution that I could keep and that would be purposeful.  My photography brings me joy and happiness and it was a goal of mine to capture the little things in life that make me happy in an effort to embrace my "new life" down here in Detroit Lakes.  Through this experience I have grown to LOVE blogging!  In fact, I think that I love it a little too much as it often keeps me up way too late on school nights!  That being said, this new-found love of mine has grown into a desire to start a blog for teachers to access to see all of the fun ideas and resources that I do with my kiddos.  Through this, other teachers can (hopefully) learn from me as I have done through others.  Like I tell my students' families...Together we are better!   (right Mrs. Sullivan?)  Anyways, back to my story.  As I was editing and adding to my personal blog, I was starting to notice other teachers' blogs.  I was also noticing how they are making a side business through a website called Teachers Pay Teachers.  With some more research and experimenting, I have figured out how to link my Teachers Pay Teachers store onto my blog.  I have also linked my Pinterest account to this blog in an effort to one day link them all together and use the three resources to market and advertise my Teachers Pay Teachers business.  You can access these accounts below:

Angie's Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Angie's Pinterest Account

Mrs. Olson's Blog
(NOTE:  This blog hasn't been added to  yet.  I have a vision for what it will look like I just haven't started yet!  Trust me, it won't take me long at the rate I have been going!!)

I don't have any items created to sell on Teachers Pay Teachers yet but hope to by the end of next month.  Stay tuned!  So, what does this long story have to do with getting my picture taken you may be asking?  I want these three accounts to have the same picture of myself and let's face it, when you've got a husband and child to capture and I'm the one behind the camera, you just don't have any pictures of yourself alone!  If you venture over to my TpT Store or Pinterest account, please "follow" them as I appreciate all the "followers" as I can get!  Thanks!!!

Photo #18

Let's play hockey!  Now, let me clarify...I am NOT a Sioux fan nor will I EVER be a Sioux fan!  The hubby convinced me to wear this jersey for the Gopher/Sioux game this past weekend and since I am always up for a little friendly competition, I agreed.  We enjoyed a night out with some friends while grandma and and grandpa watched our little Miss Molly.  It was nice to have some husband/wife time, even if it was spent with some friendly arguments over whose team was going to win.  Overall, a fun night!

Photo #17

We met up with my sister, Ashley, tonight for dinner at Bleachers.  Molly was quick to greet Ashley right when she walked in with a loud "HI!!!!!".  The rest of dinner was spent with lots of laughter as Molly entertained us by showing off for Ashley.  She sure does love her auntie!  What a nice way to spend a Thursday.  Thanks for the nice evening Ash!

Photo #16

 

Today was one of THOSE days and I was definitely the crabby teacher that I don't like to be.  As frustrated as I can get with my students at times, they sure are receptive and caring.  One of my students asked me, "Mrs. Olson, what is your favorite animal?"  Caught off guard by this random question I answer, "white bengal tiger" and proceed with the craziness of the day.  I really do think that the words "Mrs. Olson" were said a few hundred times today...one of those days when everybody is telling on everybody, they all want to tell you about every little detail that is going on in their life, and everybody has questions about everything that we are doing.  Needless to say, I was completely wiped out by the time I left the school tonight at 5:45.  As I was getting ready to pack up, I notice this picture folded up on my desk.  When I opened it, I admit that a smile was brought to my face and I found myself even a little choked up.  These kiddos are so incredibly frustrating, special, and rewarding to me in my life.  In the end, it's moments like these that prove to me how much I love my kids.

Photo #12, #13, #14, and #15

 

It's family haircut night!  Our family traveled to Hawley tonight to visit our favorite hair dresser, my lovely sister Amy.  Nights like these are a definite perk to living down here.  I couldn't just bring Papa Murphy's and my family over on a Tuesday night to get our hair done and be home by 9:00 p.m. to have Molly in bed for the night if I still lived in Bemidji.  It was a lot of fun to watch Molly and her cousin Hailey play the night away.  The girls played themselves to near exhaustion tonight.  Lots of giggling, dancing, screaming, running, and singing.  Here is a glimpse into their fun...I think they held hands most of the night!

Photo #11

 

What's better than an unexpected snow day off from school on a Friday...a day off from school with GOOD coffee!  It's the little things in life right?  As I opened the cabinet to make my coffee for the day on this particular morning, I reach for my bag of coffee and I stumble across this saying:  "Life is short.  Stay awake for it."  This was a great way to start my morning.  After drinking a pot of this coffee, I felt ready to tackle the world.  Laundry, dishes, cleaning, school work, and of course internet surfing...what a great way to spend a day to myself.  You know you are old when you enjoy spending your day off cleaning! 

Photo #9 and #10

 Brandon and I have been very busy planning our new home and photo #9 is a photo of a photo of what our new home is going to look like.  It's not the best quality of photo but I felt it was important to include on my blog because we have decided that this will be what our home is going to look like.  Every time I see this photo it brings me so much excitement and joy because when we came across this home we both said, "This is it!"  When we show our friends and loved ones this home, they tell us, "That is a Brandon and Angie home."  We can't wait!!!!  

Photo #10 is another photo of a photo that we came across as we were collecting house ideas last week.  This fireplace and mantle will resemble what ours will look like in our upstairs livingroom.  Did I mention that we are excited?????  This is another photo that brings an immediate smile to our face when we see it. 

Photos #7 and #8

What a perfect way to spend a Sunday morning.  My sister and her boyfriend, Andy, were over last night and got up with us this morning to enjoy some egg bake and coffee (Mountain Dew and Pepsi for Andy).  After breakfast we challenged eachother to a game of Rummikube.  I forget how much fun it is to play games!  Of course, as you can see from the picture below, we had to pull out the orange push-ups from the freezer.  Orange push-ups and coffee at 10:00 a.m.?  I don't see what's wrong with that?  Ha!  Ha! 
 

Photo #6

Happy birthday Grandpa Merle!  Last night we got the family together to celebrate the life of my Grandpa Merle.  It's hard to believe that one year ago this man was holding on for dear life in the ICU in Fargo after being hit by a semi truck.  It's times like those that a person realizes how fragile life can be.  He's my reminder to cherish all the little moments in life, love people and let them know how much we love them, apologize, compliment, laugh, cry, sing, dance, and take advantage of opportunities to spend time with friends and family.   My grandpa is a fighter and we are all very thankful that we are still able to have him in our lives.  This is a photo of all the little girls in our family (ages 5 and under).  They got matching shirts for Christmas this year...aren't they adorable?

Photos #4 and #5

As I post this picture I have to giggle a bit.  I stumbled across this photo opportunity the other day at school.  This explains why I haven't posted over the last few days.  Coffee and meds are the two coping mechanisms that have gotten me through my first week back to school after winter break.  I am amongst the many "lucky" ones that have been struck with the upper respiratory infection/cough.  In an effort to focus on the positive, I am thankful for STRONG coffee and PRESCRIPTION cough syrup to get me through these tough days.

I found myself looking around my classroom on Thursday for an inspirational photo.  Before I knew it my camera was busy snapping shots of different signs, projects, and areas around my classroom that I found to be inspirational.  By the time that I was done, almost an hour had passed and instead of being frustrated that I just wasted an hour of my time, I found myself with a smile on my face because my classroom is a place in my life that makes me feel joy and happiness.  I love my job.  I stumbled across this quote this morning, "Do what you love and you will never work a day in your life."  Now, I am not going to say that sometime my job doesn't stress me out but I can confidently say that I am in the right profession for me.  Teaching is my calling and it makes me proud to say that I am a teacher.  It brings me so much happiness to instill the love for learning in my students.  The fire that I light in my students for learning will affect them for a lifetime.  One of my students said to me the other day, "Mrs. Olson, do you know how I can tell that you love your job?  Because you make learning fun for us and we love to come to school because of that."  I think this is the best compliment I have ever heard and the fact that it came from a 7 year old makes my heart smile. 

Photo #3

Perfect photo for New Year's Day...cheers to new beginnings!  We are choosing to be optimistic about building our home this spring.  For those who don't know our story, we have unofficially sold our Bemidji home to a very grateful family who made a good offer on our home and will close on our house after they sell their house in South Dakota.  Yes, we are taking a bit of a chance but we have done all of our "homework", background checks, pre-approval letter from buyer's bank, etc.  They are currently living in our home, paying our mortgage and utilities while they wait for their home to sell.  This will allow for us to pay off some loans and draw up some house plans for our new home.  We are really excited about planning the design of our new home and very eager to build and move in by summer (hopefully)!