Frazzled Mom/50th post give away

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth but I have fallen off the land of blogville and have missed it terribly. I think I have been online maybe 2 hours in the past week and most of that was trying to find great pictures for my classroom's job chart. I posted a while back about the opportunity I was given to teach one of the two 4-K classes at my children's preschool. Although I have a degree, having babies and staying home with them has been my classroom. I have not actually had my own classroom. I started with the other teachers this past Monday to get our rooms prepared. They had so much stuff at the school to decorate the room with but of course since it is my first classroom I wanted to put my own touches in the room so I have gone OVERBOARD in getting the room ready. I have to say I am not all about the traditional primary colors either. Now of course the kids need to know them and learn them but I do like a lot of other colors as well so some of my decor might be called a little rebelish(a word I think I just made up) We have some pillows in the reading center that have seen much better days so I am going to pick up some animal print material and my sweet MIL is going to make some new pillows for me, I think the kids will love them. Ladies after this week of lesson planning and room preparing I have to tell you I really had no idea how much work these teachers put into their rooms and lesssons. I also thought (especially at preschool age) that when you went home that was it. Well you have to earn a certain number of training hours outside of class time. There are staff meetings, cpr training, open houses, programs, all taking time outside of the classroom. If you have a kiddo in preschool or any grade for that matter, thank them, I mean really let them know how much you appreciate the work they do. The preschool is in a church and the church does not want the classrooms to look like school rooms on Sunday mornings so we have to remove some items and we are limited to the wall space we can use. At first I was disappointed that I could not do more but after this week I'm thinking that is the best rule I have ever heard. I am tired and the kids have not even come yet. They come tomorrow and though I am tired I am equally as excited to meet all their sweet little faces. I have prayed for each of them as I have cut out their name tags. Today as I sat in the room I prayed over the room, for the children, and all the parents of the children. I want to be a blessing and not a burden to each family. I will have to let you know how it goes. They are coming in groups over the next two days. The first official week starts next week.

Now I mentioned in my last post that I would be having a give away in honor of my 50th post. Well this is it. Number 50!!! I am so excited that my sister got me started blogging because I have loved it. I guess it can be tempting at times to make your life seem more exciting than it is but I have not come across too many blogs that are that way. I have read a lot of stories about struggles, marriages, parenting and there is a lot of pain and raw exposure. Knowing that other people are going through valleys and reading about how they get through them is so encouraging to me. I don't mean to say I am ever encouraged by some one else's pain I am encouraged that I am not the only one. I also am encouraged by those who share their love for going to yard sales and thrift stores and turning a once drab find into something beautiful all at a very low cost( no pretending there). As I blog and share pictures and glimpses of my life I have become very reflective and thankful for the blessings that the Lord has given me. So I want to thank all of you bloggy friends for keeping " it "real.

I do not have my digital camera so I will not be able to show a picture of the gift until Fri. or Sat. but I will begin today and anyone who leaves a comment beginning today with this post will be included in the drawing.

Blessings