The Greatest Show On Earth!

On Saturday afternoon we made our way to Rupp Arena. No, not to watch our beloved Wildcats play basketball but because the circus came to town!! The circus- you know the event where they can get away with selling $22.00 light up toys and $12.00 sippy cups of Lemonade. Thank goodness we walked away only with the $12.00 cotton candy (which did come with a hat)- but it was not an easy task. Pretty sure we will never be able to afford to take all three kids to the circus but we will see!  Clark was so excited to go and had been talking about it all week. He woke us up yesterday talking about it. He also asked if Mickey could go and if Mickey needed a ticket. Well, of course Mickey went as did we all and we had a WONDERFUL afternoon. He loved every minute of it and we LOVED watching him light up as something new came out. We loved the elephants, tigers, motorcycles and he LOVED the clowns.  We went with some great friends and their equally as excited three year old and that made it even more fun.  I am just glad I did not have the babies yesterday because I guess I was born on the day my older sister was supposed to go to the circus and instead I was born! And I take it that was pretty traumatic for her and I have heard a few times in my life from her how it ruined her life- SO I am glad Clark will not have to experience the same thing! ha! (No seriously- true story!)
Here are some pictures from our day with the Ringling Brothers.

Two excited boys!

Me and my 3 kiddos!

Watching the pre-show.

I LOVE this one. He was SOOOOOO excited.

Clark and Mickey enjoying the show.

Where It All Goes Down!

This week over on Blog Hoppin' it is TEACHER WEEK. Last year I played along with my girl Babbling Abby for her Teacher Week and you can see those posts HERE, HERE & HERE. This year I have been a little busy in a new house, a new grade level and  growing twins. So this is my first day to play along. So if you are visiting from Blog Hoppin' WELCOME to my blog. I blog here about all things related to my life. It is not a straight teaching blog, but I do share teaching ideas every now and then and have been known to do a teacher link up on Thursdays, along with super cute pictures of my sweet 3 year old and his adventures and all things related to me expecting twins in a few short weeks. I hope you come back and see me!

My name is Abby Snyder and this is my first year in 5th grade. It is my 8th year in the classroom. I have previously taught 2nd and 3rd but I decided that having twins was not a big enough challenge and I should try a new grade level too! ha! Well, I am so glad I did. I LOVE 5TH GRADE!! This week is our 3rd week of school and I have enjoyed it so much. I have a wonderful class. I only have 21 kiddos which around here is pretty much unheard of and I get to teach reading 3 times a day! We departmentalize in my school and one of my teammates teaches math, one teaches social studies and I teach reading. We teach our own writing and science. I am really enjoying and adjusting quite well to it. Having a WONDERFUL team has made it such an easy transition and I am so glad I am here.

Because I moved to a new grade I had to move to a new classroom this year. Moving while pregnant was not that easy, but I worked a little at a time until it was done. I am missing the HUGE closet I had last year, but surviving without it. Other than that my room is HUGE and I am loving all the space. I try really hard to make my room as cozy as possible. I like it colorful and organized since it is where I spend a majority of my life. Many of my kids come from homes that are the exact opposite so I want to provide them with a fun, clean, organized place to learn. I teach in a building that is close to 90 years old so my room does have a little added character of beautiful wood floors and such that I do love. I know that I will make many changes as the year goes on, but the pictures below are what I have so far.

So without further ado WELCOME TO ROOM 204-
Where it all goes down!




Come on in!
Here is the view from the door.
See what I mean- BEAUTIFUL floors.




This is the view when you first walk in.
Love the tennis balls on the chairs to silence the noise on the said beautiful floors.




Right front corner.
My mailboxes, read a loud books, my student target space and such.




Left front corner of the room.

The black storage bin holds extra markers, paper, pencils and supplies.
The white storage bin is all things whiteboard. Markers, erasers, magnets and things.
The yellow shelf is where all my classes turn in homework and pick up missed work.
The buckets on top were from open house. I used them to collect completed back to school paperwork.
The rules posted are WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING rules. It is a school wide program we are using. If you have not heard of it GOOGLE IT- it is wonderful.



Indoor recess games and a cozy reading corner.

Storage and my math wall.
(The orange reading books are gone now.)



Fun spin rack of books. I got it at a book store going out of business sale. SCORE.



My area.
I do sit here more this year as there are LOTS of papers to grade in 5th grade!



View of the back of the room.
My reading area, classroom library, and small group work area.
LOVE the RedCat amplifier attached to the wall. Do you all have these?



 Well, there you have it folks. Those are all pictures taken with my phone and not the best quality. But hey!
So glad I got to play along today and I am looking forward to seeing inside your rooms!! I LOVE stealing learning your ideas! Hope you are all having a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!

30-32 Week Update

HELLO! I am still here and I am still carrying these two sweet babies around! We have just been sooooo busy with the new house and back to school that I have been a little MIA. We do not have Internet set up at the new house yet and getting free WiFi from the neighbors is not that reliable. So I have been WAY behind on blogging and reading blogs. So here is a little update on me and our duo as we have reached week 32.

The Snyder Duo Week 32
32 weeks 1 day.

Week 30
(First Week of School- first night in new house)

Week 31

Week 32

Baby Size:

According to my sources the babies are bout the size of a head of lettuce. Each about 19 inches long and weighing in around 3.9 lbs. At my last ultrasound a few weeks ago Shepard was about 3.7lbs and Sara Kate was measuring 3.13lbs. We go to the doctor tomorrow for our 32 week appointment so we shall see how they are measuring up then.

Weight Loss/Gain:

At my 30 week appointment I was +20 lbs. I am not sure if that still stands 2 weeks later, but we will find out tomorrow. All I know is that this belly is BIG! It gets bigger each day and finding things to wear is getting VERY difficult.

Maternity Clothes:

YES. Even my maternity clothes are getting too short due to the fact that this belly sticks out so far. I am running out of things to wear. I am thinking that if I really go 6 more weeks my 5th graders are going to start asking questions about my lack of wardrobe. I have about 6 nice things that fit. We went to a wedding this weekend and I tired on the dress that I wore the week I delivered Clark and it was obscenely short. Everything is short. EVERYTHING.
Sleep:

I am still having trouble sleeping. I get up on average 5 times a night to go to the bathroom which makes uninterrupted sleep impossible. I guess it is just preparing me for getting up numerous times during the night to take care of these two. I find it VERY difficult to get comfortable even on nights when I am exhausted. I just don't sleep well at this point.

Symptoms:

I am feeling good, but by the end of the work day I am spent. My ankles have been swelling lately and some nights they are about the size of my thighs. NO KIDDING. You should have seen them at 11:30 the other night after the wedding! YIKES! I am also realizing that it is harder for me to keep up with Clark and to walk around in stores. A long trip to Target and and grocery trip to Kroger this weekend taught me that. By the end of the trip my ankles were huge, my bladder is busting and all I want to do is take a nap.

 Movement:

They are moving all the time. I feel kicks, jabs and rolls. I can even see most of the movement from the outside. I am not sure if the movements are arms, legs, knees, or any of that, I just know there is lots going on inside there. I am supposed to be kick counting and watching for 20 movements in 10 hours and I am pretty sure we are WAYYYYY above that. I know the movement might decrease soon due to the fact that they may soon run out of room. But as of now they are still moving machines. It is a little distracting at times as I just want to watch my belly roll around rather than my principal at faculty meetings or even the preacher on Sunday mornings.

Best Moment This Week:

Well we have had lots of interesting moments this week such as my first public pregnancy breakdown at Target on Saturday, but one of the best things was that we had the nursery painted on Wednesday and I do enjoy the color. It looks great with the bedding and tonight we plan on putting up the second crib and working some in there. Right now it is bare walls and ONE crib just so I could get an idea of what it will look like. Hopefully I will work up there a little bit each night this week to get it looking good for my sweeties.

Still LOTS to do, but the paint looks good!
This room was blue with a navy celling so the change is good.

What I Miss:

I still miss Jazzercise. I miss bending over easily. I miss sleeping on my belly. I miss having lots of energy.I miss clothes that fit. Don't get me wrong. I love feeling these two move and I love that they are growing big and strong, but  there are things that I miss.


Looking Forward To:

We are taking a multiples class at the hospital tomorrow night. I hope to learn all kinds of good info there. I am also looking forward to my 32 week appointment tomorrow to learn all I can about these two. This weekend we are also going to the circus on Saturday and I have a baby shower on Sunday so I have LOTS to look forward too!! :)

Big Brother Certified.

Well, hello all!! It has been a crazy few weeks around here. School has started and I LOVE 5th grade so far. My kids are great, my team is wonderful and I think I am adjusting pretty well. On the first day of school I had my 30 week ultrasound and on the second day of school we moved into our new house! So as you can see we have been beyond busy. Tonight I made myself sit down and do nothing! I have not done that in a while due to all the goings on. I have no read blogs or posted. I have so many things to share like pictures of my classroom and school things, pictures of the new house and fun stories from the whole adventure and my 29, 30 and 31 week pregnancy updates. So choosing where to even begin with the updates took some thought, but I decided to share something super cute from this weekend.

On Sunday Clark had his Big Brother class at the hospital. We thought it would be a good idea for him to learn all he could about his upcoming job if becoming a double big brother in the next few weeks. When we got there he was not so sure about the whole idea. All the kids were supposed to bring a doll or a teddy bear. Clark brought both Mickeys since he is having two babies. He stood at the door for a while and did not really want to talk to any or participate at first, but by the end he was all involved.  I am pretty sure he was the youngest one there because the class was for ages 3-7 and many of the kids were very knowledgeable on all things baby and then there was Clark- only interested in dancing around swinging Mickey in the air until he finally got the hang of things.

The class began with the instructor reading a book all about when the baby comes. Then they got to make a gift for their new brother or sister. Clark got to make two! One for his brother and one for his sister! It was quite cute and he loved it. They made little picture frames and Clark made sure to put pink stickers on Sara Kate's. It was very sweet.  After gift making, they all sat in a circle and talked about all things baby. There were words like uterus and breast used, but Clark had no idea what to think.  They talked about the belly button and she showed them pictures of what it will look like and how not to touch it or play with it. She also had a doll with a soft spot and she let all the kids touch it. They talked about being careful with the baby. After all the discussion, they practiced putting on diapers. Clark was VERY into this and even asked her for help. I must say I was pretty impressed with his diapering abilities and I am hoping that he remembers them in a month or so because I am going to need all hands on deck!
After the diapering lesson we all got to go to the nursery to see the babies and we even got to see a room like one where I will be in he comes to the hospital to see us. It was a fun afternoon and I hope he learned a thing or two. I am so in love with my big boy and it is my prayer that he adjusts to his new role well- I hope we all adjust to our new roles well!

Clark and Daddy working on the gifts for Shepard & Sara Kate.

He LOVED using the glue stick.

The finished product. They are on the fridge waiting for pictures of cute babies!

Notice how C was not so sure about the whole idea.

My BIG BOY diapering Mickey.

LOOK MOMMY!

Daddy got some practice with "baby Mickey".

Getting his certificate. He is officially ready to be a BIG BROTHER.

The best I could do. He did not understand the concept of posing with a piece of paper.

On our hospital tour.

Checking out the babies. Clark LOVED this part. So did I!

It was a fun afternoon and we did enjoy watching our boy act big. We know he will be a wonderful big brother to our new additions. I just can't wait to see him try.

In One Week.

Next week is a big one. Wanna know why? Well, next week I will be 30 weeks pregnant with the twins on Monday. The FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL is Tuesday. We close on our current and NEW house on Wednesday. Movers will be moving us in on Thursday. So needless to say things are wild around here. My classroom is looking good but my house is becoming a lot like camping because I keep putting everything in a box, taping it up and labeling it. I am excited for all that is to come next week and I hope that it all happens smoothly. So as I head to school this morning for PD day number 2 of the week I will leave you with a few pictures of our current living conditions. 

Yes- these are the same boxes I just unpacked from my classroom move.
They have all been re-packed with our stuff!

The garage is stacked full.

You know the necessities- vitamins, bowls for cereal and bowls for spaghetti-Os.

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!!!