anni. numero tres.

we've been married three years.

i know, it went fast for you too, right?

well... three years ago was a pretty wonderful day. my favorite, i'd say.

a lot of joy, right?

luckily, three years later, we are wildly more mature.

oh, wait.

maybe not.

but we love each other, love life together, and love Jesus.

that's good enough, right?

just so it's common knowledge, we have officially deemed this coming year as quite possibly the best year ever.

why?

oh, just let me tell you.

baby.

moving to a house. 

(oh, yeah, we're moving to a house in three weeks! 

thanks to great friends who have to temporarily move!)

living in grosse pointe with friends and family near.

matt's laid back year of medical school.

i finish grad school in a month.

the excitement of interviews and preparing for residency.

our last year in d-town will be the best yet.

i can feel it.

oh, and we did celebrate a bit this year :)

 fancy dinner at a fun restaurant.

 bought a new car. (to us).

that's actually unrelated, but it sounds good, right?

 saw batman at midnight. and i stayed awake.

and next weekend, after matt's next board exam, we're having a mini vacation to ludington beach! yeshhhh. 

my birthday.

i got very spoiled for my birthday.

my family and friends were thoughtful and wonderful.

and the actual day of my birth was pretty incredible.

check it out:

when i woke up, matt gave me headphones and the computer with friends playing... with instructions to not move. he said he had to make my gift. 

(he even pretended to pound things with a hammer in another room. haaa.)

but really, it was breakfast in bed.  

impressive, right? 

orange juice, sausage, chocolate chip pancakes with a birthday candle in them... and a decoratively placed orange slice. haa. good stuff. 

 then, i took off for a weekend with friends. we spent some time crafting! the fabric above is for a quilt that the amazing katie is going to make for our baby... it's going to have writing on it from people who come to the baby showers!

 this is a SUPER cute maternity dress that I watched katie make. i can take very little credit for the creation.

 homemade baby blocks out of foam and fabric!

 and onesies. freaking adorable.

yep. bowties and vests. and ties. 

 we also hung out, played games, made smoothies and transported them in very conventional manners, etc.

haa. good stuff.

on a side note, check out a recent and disgusting craving i had:

yep. narsty. but it was so, so good.

newest experiment.

i'm terrible at using a blender.

i have gotten it out probably once in three years.

too hard to clean.

too bulky to get out.

not worth it for me.

enter hand blender.

last night, it effectively combined two of my current favorite things into a delicious treat:

ice. and simply lemonade.

mmmm.

let the season of the hand blender begin.

my teaching idea.

okay.

so i want to revamp how i teach math this year in first grade.

and i found BUILD, which is incredible:

(thank you, pinterest...)

but, the issue is that BUILD is made to use five days a week, two centers a day...

i need something that's four days a week and two centers a day.

plus, BUILD had no problem solving (which i make a huge focus in my classroom)

so...

i created BASE.

Students will complete two centers a day, but during the centers, just like Daily Five, i'll meet with small groups and work to challenge them or catch them up, depending on ability.

i'll introduce them just like Daily Five, one at a time and work up to the 10-15 minutes that i'll want them to consistently be able to do.

i'll use bins like BUILD for the different centers, allowing the students to choose their centers... more details on that to come (i really want to have leveled materials in the bins, so i have to think it all through more!)

it's just in the thinking process, but i'm really excited!

i'm going to relate it to BASEball with decorations, so that should be fun, too!

watch for more to come...

p.s. i love my job.