The Friendship Egg

So this post is a 'teacher' post! So for all of you non teachers out there...too bad! :P This is an activity that I did with my kiddos on the last day before Spring/Easter Break! They really enjoyed it, so I thought I would write about it! 

We read the book 'The Friendship Egg' By Megan Bryant. It's a super cute story about a bunny who finds an egg and takes it around to all of his friends to see if it belongs to them. And when he does, they each add a little drawing onto the egg. And in the end, it turns out to be a gift for the bunny from all of his friends! 

Thus 'The Friendship Egg'. 

It is really not as 'cheesy' as I make it sound ha ha...

and my grade ones LOVED IT! 

As I was reading the story to my kiddos I was thinking about how we could make our own friendship eggs. 

So this is what we did...

I gave them each a worksheet with a giant egg on it. They wrote their name in the middle of the egg so they knew that that was their own egg. Then they passed their egg clockwise to the person sitting next to them. I gave them about 45 seconds to draw some kind of little picture onto their friends egg. Then we repeated this. 26 times!!! Until everyone had drawn on each others egg. The kids had a total blast doing this and kept yelling out "hey _____, I have your egg now!!" ha ha ohhhh the excitement! 

Drawing on the Friendship Eggs!

Time to pass the eggs!

Our class set of Friendship Eggs! 

This activity was a real hit with my kiddos and I will for sure being doing it again next year! 

HAPPY EASTER! 

Day Five!

Woo hoo! We made it!!! We completed our five day fitness challenge. Day 5 was definitely the hardest day...I was exhausted and so was my body! But we still managed to get through it! And just to prove that we did...our day 5 picture! 

I still look asleep ha ha
And I'm wearing my brothers hockey
sweater for good luck!!

And this is us later in the day....

Just to prove that we don't look half asleep ALL day long...ha ha 

I have really enjoyed this challenge! It was definitely the kick start that I needed to get into a better fitness routine. And I needed to prove to myself that I could do it! No more excuses! My plan is to stick with 5:30 am workouts 3 days a week. My body definitely needs a day off in between! 

Now we are on SPRING BREAK! WOO HOO! And headed for Vegas for 5 days!!

Happy Weekend everyone!! 

Day Four!

DAY FOUR

Another successful workout this morning! We also had our last class of TRX for the winter session tonight. It kicked my butt!! AND we also had our monthly Zumba session at school day! Normally I don't get to do much of the workout with my students because I am chasing a certain child around the gym...ha...BUT my lil buddy went home sick today so I actually got to do the session with my kiddos. They were MUCH better than me!! And super cute!! They just LOVE the zumba instruction that comes to our school!

Workin the TRX in the basement!
I was so tired I couldn't put my
 contacts in!! haha

Last day of our fitness challenge tomorrow!! 

And the last day of school before Spring Break! Yippy!!! I am one happy girl!!!

Day Two....and Three!

DAY TWO!

 We started off the morning at 5:30 with day 2 of our fitness challenge! It was a great workout and I managed to snap a picture of my hubby on the treadmill........while I was on the elliptical next to him! ha now that's talent!! 

GO BABY GO!

Yesterday was a lllllong day! It started bright and early with our workout and then ended late, as I had Celebration of Learning at school, and then a staff get together right after! I was completely exhausted when I got home and a little bit worried that our day 3 workout might not happen the next morning...

DAY THREE!

So despite being pretty dang tired, I still managed to get up early for our workout this morning!! I am very lucky to have such a supportive and motivating husband...or else I definitely would have stayed snuggled in bed when my alarm went off!! 

We had another great work out this morning! It has been surprisingly easy to get up and work out each morning, and I am finding that it is helping with my energy level at school throughout the day! I can't believe it will be Thursday already tomorrow! Only 2 more days of our challenge!! 

Looking a little more 'awake' after
some warm ups!

Treadmill day for me! 

I'll be back tomorrow to blog about Day 4! We have a double header tomorrow...our 5:30 am workout AND our evening TRX class! Good thing it's almost SPRING BREAK!!! 

Day One! And a lil more St. Patrick's Day...

So today was the first day of our 5 day fitness challenge! And I survived!! GO ME!! 5:30 am is definitely early... but I actually felt great afterwards, and managed to survive the day at school. The whole point of this little challenge is to try to fit an actual fitness routine into my schedule. For those of you who know me well, know that I eat, sleep and breath my job. And before you tell me that that's terrible or feel sorry for me....DON'T! Because it is a choice I have made. I love my job, and I love that it is a HUGE part of who I am. I understand that there will be a time when I will no longer want my job to be my life...however for now, I'm fine with it! So with my Job consuming so much of my time, I find it EXTREMELY hard to find time to work out. Damian and I enjoy taking fitness classes together, and love our TRX class once a week. And I'm sad to say that some weeks that's all I manage to squeeze in!! Yikes! My wonderful husband is definitely my motivator in this challenge! He is a pppretty disciplined guy and works out 4-5 times a week! SO he is just along for the ride in my lil challenge! ha ha 

So this is the plan... I can't possibly put more into my evenings (dinner, chores, school work) ....soooo I MUST get up earlier and fit my workouts in at 5:30 am.This will give me time to get a 30-45 min workout, shower, get ready, and get to school at 7:50, my usual arrival time :)  We are very lucky to have our own gym set up in our basement...because if I actually had to get my butt into a vehicle and actually drive to the gym at 5:30 am, it.would. never. happen!!! 

With day one complete I feel good and confident that I can do this! And just a note...after we finish our first week challenge, I have no intentions of working out at 5:30 am everyday. I feel like a good balance will be 3 days a week! (M, W, F) I am just doing 5 days this week to get a jump start on the whole process! I don't want to burn myself out!! I just need to get my butt in gear! 



Day 1 of our early morning workouts!
 Don't I look excited!!! ha ha



Oh, and it was an exciting day at school today! The leprechauns visited our classroom over the weekend...though unfortunately we didn't manage to catch any! ha! 

Here is some of the excitement from today...



All of my students made
Leprechaun traps as a
`take home` Science project!




Awesome Leprechaun Traps!




More traps!



I have 26 students so these are only a few of the amazing and creative traps they made!

The Leprechauns also left us a special note!



They were sent on a mission!





They found all of the letters and it
 spelled out `Principal`! 



The Leprechauns left us a surprise in the principals office!

 Lucky Charms and green milk for breakfast! 



The Surprise! Oh were they
ever excited!!



I`ll be back tomorrow with Day Two of my fitness challenge! 

Feeling LUCKY!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope everyone is having a day full of 'green-ness' and drinkin' lots of beer! I cannot stand the taste of any type of beer so I enjoyed a nice mug of diet coke instead!! ha!!

St. Patrick's Day makes me think about all of the things I feel lucky for! I did this activity with my students last week and I am always surprised shocked at what a 6 year old feels lucky to have... haha! 

Here are just a few things I feel very lucky to have...

-My wonderful husband, Damian!!

-My crazy 'little' brothers!!

-My super supportive and loving parents!!

-An amazing group of friends!

-A job that I totally love!

-My amazing co workers!!

-Cooper, my parents dog!! 

-My beautiful home!!

And soooo much more!! 

My parents turned our usual Sunday dinner into a St. Patty's celebration for us! This is where I get my obsession with making everything a 'theme'!!! haha 

Love all the GREEN!

Kellen modelling the St. Patrick's
Day napkins! He did NOT wear
green...his excuse was that
he had just came from work! Pfft!!

The fam! (minus cody :(...
2 more months till he's home!!)

I made Key Lime cupcakes for dessert! 

Love these guys!! Taking a little break from
drying dishes for a team photo! 

I am one lucky girl!!! 

I will be back tomorrow to blog about our '5 day fitness challenge'...5:30 AM workouts start tomorrow morning...god help us!! I'm just hoping I can even make it out of bed! Fingers crossed!!

'Comfort Food' at it's finest!

Now that report cards are out of the way, I have been able to get back into the kitchen cooking and baking again! It's not like we don't eat during report card time...our meals are just pretty easy peasy, and not at all fun and exciting! ha!

I found this taco recipe on Pinterest and decided to change it up a bit to make it a little bit healthier and geared to our taste buds! Those of you who know me well, know that I HATE following a recipe! I like using recipes as a guide when I cook and bake, but I can honestly say I have probably never followed one word for word before. (My poor Mother is probably shaking her head at me right now!! She was a high school foods teacher for 20 years and would have probably failed her students...and ME for NOT following the recipe!!!Ha!! Love ya Ma! ;) ) 

Baked Chicken Tacos 

What you need:

2 pounds ground chicken (or turkey)

1 small white onion, diced

1 package taco seasoning

1 cup tomato sauce

1 can refried beans

1 cup shredded light marble cheese

6 hard taco shells (use the ones that are flat on the bottom for easy standing!!)

*Sour cream, salsa, lettuce, etc for additional taco toppings!*

-Preheat oven at 400 degrees.

- First, brown the ground chicken and diced onion in a medium frying pan. Drain the excess fat, then add the meat back to the same pot.

-Then add in the taco seasoning, tomato sauce, and refried beans. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes until heated through. 

-Set up the taco shells in a baking pan. 

-Remove meat mixture from the stove, and scoop into the taco shells. 

-Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and put them into the oven.

-Bake for about 10 minutes and then VOILA! Delish baked tacos!! 

Ground chicken, diced onion,
taco seasoning, tomato sauce,
 refried beans

Scoop into taco shells.
Sprinkle with cheese!

Bake for 10 minutes

-Top them with whatever you like and ENJOY!! 

 This next recipe is an oldie but a goodie!! Growing up my mom did a fair bit of baking for our family and these cookies were mine and my brothers ultimate favourite!! Little did we know that she was sneaking a VEGETABLE into our cookies! We still ate them by the handfuls!!

 I made these cookies for my husband for the first time a few years ago and I think he thought I was a bit odd when I told him I was putting zucchini in his cookies ha ha...however he ended up loving them and looks forward to when I make them for him now! :) 

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies 

What you need:

-1/2 cup butter

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 egg

-1 teaspoon vanilla

-1 1/2 cups flour

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda

-1 cup rolled oats (instant)

-1/2 cup coconut (shredded)

-1 cup chocolate chips

-1 cup zucchini, shredded 

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Beat butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

-Add flour, salt, baking soda, and oatmeal. Mix well!

-Add coconut, chocolate chips and zucchini. Mix well!

-Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes. 

Butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla

Beat! Beat! Beat!

Oh how I LOVE my
RED Kitchen Aid mixer!!!

Place on cookie sheet and bake!

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies! Delish!!

Enjoy while they are warm with a big glass of milk!! Yum!!