Love | Bananas.

My heart is full.

Any woman whose love has taken flight for more than a few days time knows how full her heart will be upon his return.

Andrew had to go away on business three days last week, returning on Friday evening. I had missed him so dreadfully much, although the return to school from spring break kept me entirely too busy to dwell on the business of his leaving. Upon his arrival Friday night, I only wanted to be in his presence and soak up the joy that only having another adult in the house can bring. There were three items on the agenda: a sweet kiss on the lips to let him know I missed him greatly, resting my head on his chest to feel his arms over my shoulder, and spending quality cuddle time on the couch, listening (if listening means watching his lips move) to his stories of work-related issues in the beach area of the Outer Banks. My love had finally made it home. I had security knowing my family was together again under one roof.

Disclaimer: Don't get me wrong. This feeling is not always the case. But it is true when they (I'm guessing "they" were great philosophers of love) Distance makes the heart grow fonder. No, my life is not a storybook nor a fairytale. Just thought I'd add that bit.

After spending some quality time together throughout the weekend, I woke up refreshed and exuberant on this fine Sunday morn. Happy to have my love home, and with a horrifyingly large amount of brown polka-dotted bananas, I decided to make a favorite of Andrews.

Banana Bread. 

Click here for recipe.

Here's to doing something sweet for the love in your life. 

Growing. Tis better to be an only child?

My baby is growing. Every time she walks through school, all the teachers comment on how long her legs are getting. I, of course, think this is insanely awesome considering my short mama self. Yup...I am short and I pray that she grows into the vertical height I never had. I am such a proud mama to my little munchkin. She is smart, beautiful, artistic, caring, and lovely.

Speaking of my lovely child...she is the only one Andrew and I have. We've talked about having more children more times than I can count, but the answer always tends to be the same: No. It's not just Andrew who finds the idea of having another child outside of our realm of reality. There are times when I can't imagine bringing a child into our lives, especially because we both have full-time careers outside the home. Who would love and take care of our little one when and if I went back to work? I know it sounds somewhat snobbish, but I wouldn't have another child unless I could stay at home the first few years. The infant/toddler years are truly so much fun. Then again, I guess a parent would do whatever it takes to support their child, even if that meant both parents working full time during the day. I just can't bring myself to do it! One of my desires is to be a stay-at-home mom with toddlers and babies roaming around the house. It'd basically be like my own little classroom, so my education degree wouldn't technically go to waste. *Wink, Wink* Maybe this idea would go over well with the hubs...YEAH...PROBABLY NOT.

On the other hand, there is this issue of Meredith growing up as an only child. I feel guilty more times than I wish to admit about my child being the one and only. I grew up with five other siblings, my twin sister and four brothers. The adventures we had together were full of excitement, imagination, and lots of fights to the death ("GIMME MY BARBIE BAAAAAAACK!!!   MOOOOOOM!!!!"). Either way, I wish Meredith had that endless banter between siblings that I remember with my childhood. There are times when she is playing at the park and I think...Man, it sure would be nice to have that brother or sister who always looks out for you no matter what. Or how great would it be to always have a playmate that isn't boring mom or dad. Meredith is getting older and sooner than later she will realize that mom and dad are super boring and she won't want to play with us. That's where siblings come in...except...we don't have another. I guess we'll just have to stay cool forever. That might be easy for myself...ha!

Anyway, the question of more children is always up in the air. We are so young anyway (27 and 31), so no permanent decision needs to be made now. Whatever happens....I hope it's the best for my wee little Irish/Italian family. I pray God's hand is over our lives, directing our paths in whatever we do.

What do you think? Are you an only child? Did you turn out fine?

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake. Delish.

Lately I haven't had the energy, interest, or time to bake anything. This drives me crazy because I absolutely adore baking...especially more so than cooking. Although I'm too tired after school to do anything constructive, yesterday I had this overwhelming feeling to bake. So I did. It must have been a Pinterest-inspired moment, because otherwise I'm not sure I would've made this sweet lookin' thing.

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookie Cake. From Kraft.

I've yet to taste this cake all put together, but in pieces it's delicious. I can only imagine what it will taste like once cut and on my plate. Yum!

You can find this delish recipe here.

Blogalicious. Designing.

Top of the marnin' to ya, dear readers!
First I'd like to say that I'm overjoyed to see some new followers here!
I love seeing new people here and leaving comments from day to day. Connecting is so much fun!
Secondly, I am excited to display the new design here today. Since beginning in my teaching career back in October, 2012, I haven't been able to play with blog design as much as I've wanted to. In all honesty, I MISS IT! Blog design is the creative side of me that I can let loose on and just be totally me. Plus, the results are always inspiring me to create more.
If I could...I would forevermore go into web design...
BUT...Life must go on and children must be taught and I must get paid. =)
So...What do you think?

My ultimate goal this morning was to create something fun and bright, but also modern looking.

Trimmed.

Nothing is better than a little pampered time. After a year and a half, I've finally found a hair salon that I feel is worth the price. The atmosphere was enjoyable, clean, friendly, and modern. I even enjoyed my hairstylist. I know there's not a huge difference between the before and after, but it feels so nice to have my hair texturized.
As the stylist started to texturize, or thin out my hair, she said there was so much it could take all day. Ha! I have thin hair...but a lot of it apparently.
Anyway, oh happy day!  G Patton Salon...thank you for holding up your good reputation.

AWESOME=Android App/Classroom Management Tool

When you're a teacher, it seems there's not much to life besides teaching....except for those three months out of the year called summer. Whatever the hardships teaching may bring, I am continuing to try and look on the bright side of things. I love working with children, seeing them smile and hearing them laugh. Even more, my heart is so full to see them achieve great, no matter if it's solving misunderstandings with a friend or finally understanding why sentences must have punctuation at the end and a capital letter at the beginning. Light bulb moments are my absolute favorite. With all the wonderful feelings students evoke in me, they can also sir up some fairly intense emotions as well. I find that a classroom full of drama packed boys and girls can be a terrible experience if there's no classroom management plan in place. For a little over a month now, I've found that my students simply don't care about my classroom management plan. It just didn't do it for them...it didn't help them to see the light in why we have to remain on task and follow instructions, be respectful and helpful to our peers. Well, recently I came across a website called Class DOJO. You can enter all your students names, then each student gets a monster looking icon which represents them in the classroom. The first day I implemented this in the classroom my students loved it. I projected the computer screen all day long so they could see how it would work in our class. What's even better is that Android market has am app for it! So I don't have to correct behavior by going to my computer screen all the way across the room, but I can do it on my phone. How awesome is that! Another feature I'm in love with is the connecting with parents feature. I can print reports every week and send them home to parents or I can email them to parents. I must say, this is a huge time saver when it comes to writing or calling parents to let them know how their child is doing. Not only can I take my classroom management tool with me on every bathroom break, recess time, and lunch breaks, but I can connect with parents so easily and effortlessly. Below are some screen shots from my phone.

Just Some Things...My Classroom and Life.

Sweets.

Valentine's day was wonderful. We almost always go low-key on the big day...small but special. Wednesday night Meredith and I headed to church for Bible study, then arrived home to see a special display of roses for both of us, along with cards, a balloon, and chocolates. I was seriously overcome with love upon reading my card and seeing Meredith's face light up at hers. I love that my husband sees his daughter as his valentine. It literally makes me tear up just thinking about it. I love him so.

How You Know. Manicure Edition.

Today's message is quite simple. You need a manicure when your nail polish begins looking like a hot mess. That is exactly the reason why I don't paint my nails very often. I hate the process it takes to make nails look so pretty. You paint two costs, then a clear coat, then they have to dry for what feels like FOREVER. I find the process tortuous, but the result is always sublime. I once read an article that said men always love a woman's well-manicured hand on his chest. I don't think my husband really cares, but to those husbands or beau's that love nicely polished nails, it's not easy keeping nails up.
So...I know it's time for a manicure when my polish is peeling off from both ends of the nails. Yup, this is how you know. being a woman isn't easy...

Top of the Marnin!

That is Top of the Morning.  :-) Today I'm working on lesson plans. I'll work, go to church, work a bit more, then go to the much anticipated Super Bowl party! Isn't it so exciting! Two brothers competing for the title today in football...how crazy would that be? "Hey brother, I'm gonna kick your tail today. Your team can't handle this!"
Yeah, that would be awkward. Any who....have a beautiful Sunday Super Bowl Day.