Friday Facts

Fact #1 IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN.

Three days of student teaching down, 67 to go. I wonder how many cans of aerosol hairspray made the ultimate sacrifice to produce that music video?

Fact #2 Speaking of aerosol hairspray...

Mom and Scuba Dad, circa 1995. Naturally, my brothers and I think this is the most heinous picture of all time. But then? They were cool. Scuba Dad was doing the metal thing with the big hair (while also maintaining an uncanny resemblance to Tim Curry), in blatant denial that the eighties were over, and Mom was rocking the Kelly Kapowski bangs. They were hot! They were fun! They were... my age?

I can't wait to see what Landon has to say about this in twenty years.

Fact #3 Best hair tutorials ever. Good things come to those who Pinterest (lesson planning, shmlesson planning).

Fact #4 Grab my cane and turn on The Price is Right, I've officially joined the Old and Lame Club. My mom kept Little Man Tuesday night so that we could have some grown-up time, and we didn't even do anything cool. Mostly, we watched bad TV in our sweatpants and ate popcorn until we passed out at 10PM. Who are we?! 

Fact #5 Someone is testing the waters...

         

What's next? A girlfriend? College? 

Happy weekend!

thank you, frostburg

Yesterday, we drove an hour into the middle of nowhere for a three-hour orientation, given mostly in monotone.

It was a really valuable experience.

Oh-- and you should also know that it was 4 degrees outside.

The end.

Friday Facts

Fact #1 On Monday, I sustained an injury from stretching. In a seated position. That's right, folks, I'm 22 and falling apart, one joint at a time. It's gotten better, but I still can't totally look to the right like a normal person without turning my whole upper body. For the better part of the week I've felt like Joey from that episode of Full House that I don't expect any of you to remember because you all have lives and/or are not total losers.

Fact #2 Remember that time I complained that Landon was too busy being Mr. Independent to snuggle with Momma? And I was all heartbroken and boo-hoo, cry-cry? He must have heard me because bedtime has suddenly become very high-maintenance around here.

Fact #3 Being that I am broke as a joke these days, I'm happy to report that I have discovered a cheap alternative to my Dunkin Donuts iced coffee obsession. I was kind of skeptical at first because, let's face it, most instant coffee is disappointing, but this is amazing. It's almost-- dare I say it-- better than the real thing.

Fact #4 You know there's a need for welfare reform when the system hands out benefits left and right to those who take advantage of it, while honest, hard-working people like myself "make too much money" to qualify for health insurance. I wait tables a few nights a week and substitute teach while I go to college full time-- apparently you have to literally live in a cardboard box to qualify for any kind of assistance. I'm usually not one to ask for handouts; I have too much pride for that, to be totally honest. But it would be nice to have access to affordable healthcare, you know, so my seven-month-old can get his shots. Glad my tax dollars are going to the people who really need it.

Rant over.

Fact #5 I made these a few weeks ago to help some fourth-graders review for a benchmark, and used them again today with some fifth-graders. They were way into it-- mostly because it looks like it's straight outta Minecraft-- but one way or another, they were excited about math. I'll take it =] Teacher friends-- feel free to share with your kiddos!

Fact #6 May is shaping up to be the most anticipated month of 2013. Student teaching comes to a close, followed by a week in Florida with my little fam, and then-- drumroll, please-- GRADUATION! The rest of the month will find me planning for Landon's first birthday and praying / crossing my fingers / making human sacrifices (just kidding-- maybe) to the gods of elementary education that I might be offered a teaching position for the fall. Please?

Fact #7 Dying.

Happy weekend!

capable

I was working with a student today who was hitting a wall in math. She had been stuck on a problem for quite some time before she called me over with the words, I can't do it. Before I even walked over to her, I asked Is it that you can't do it, or that you don't know how? She thought about it for a minute, and finally said, I don't know how. Can you help me?

Have you ever thought about that? There's a difference between I can't do it and I don't know how to do it. It seems trivial, but it isn't. The former is a decision-- you have decided that you cannot do it, and you never will. You've closed the door. The latter acknowledges the fact that you might not know how, but leaves the door open to figuring it out.

Kids need to hear that it's okay that they don't get it or understand or don't know how. There are going to be lots of times that you will face something and you won't know what you're doing and you will fail. But if we empower them-- if we encourage them and build them up and show them all the ways that they are capable, AMAZING little people-- they will not say I can't. They will shake it off and admit that they don't know how, but they will reach out and ask questions and use their capable little minds to figure it out. 

Friday Facts

Fact #1 Writing Landon's birth story is going to take the better part of the next decade. I've been working on drafting it for quite some time (I mean, hello, the kid is seven months old) but I'm still not ready to post it. I get really anxious about big life moments (shocker) and want to get it just right before I put it out there for the whole world (or maybe just my mom-- who reads this anyway?) to see it.

Fact #2 It is apparent that second grade pretty much sets the tone for adult life. At least, today it did. One little girl in my class decided to make a valentine (practice for the real thing, naturally) for the boy she likes. When she gave it to him, he responded with a less-than-enthusiastic, "Uh, yea, I guess so," and threw it in the trash. Sounds about right.

Fact #3 I'm probably really late in boarding this train, but Evernote is the greatest app of all time. At least in the top five. Think virtual sticky-notes that sync between your computer and your phone. Being that I am the queen of real-life post-its, this is blowing my mind.

Fact #4 This website is almost as addicting as Pinterest and Facebook. Don't get sucked in. SAVE YOURSELF.

Fact #5 Whether you are a person who prays or hopes or wishes or crosses your fingers, please do all of the above with our little family in mind. Big opportunities on the horizon. Praying and hoping and wishing and crossing my fingers that soon I'll have super awesome news to share =]

Fact #6 

...isn't actually a fact, just a sweet little baby stopping by (in his new dino jammies, looking chunkier than ever) to wish you a happy weekend!

Time for a Haircut

The days leading up to a haircut are so annoying.

Until you actually made the appointment, it probably didn't bug you that much. Split-ends, schmlit-ends. But then you scheduled a haircut and OHMYGODYOUCAN'TSTANDIT. All of a sudden, you're looking in the mirror and a hobo is staring back at you. Everything is wrong and you obsess over it until you're sitting in the salon and your hairdresser PRAISETHELORD is fixing you and all is right with the world.

I think you go through a similar pattern of emotions as you anticipate quitting a job.

Until you have a new prospect in sight, it doesn't really bug you that much. Dead-end, schmead-end. But then you find yourself just a few months away from graduation and OHMYGODAREALJOBISSOCLOSEICANTASTEIT. All of a sudden, you're dreading every minute of work. Everything you kind of hated before is amplified and now you're counting the months, the weeks, the days until you can PRAISETHELORD put in your two weeks and never have to take a food order again. 

And all will be right with the world.

Looking forward to my haircut tomorrow, and the other things that await me in 2013.

seven months

This time last year, I was just starting to show my pregnant belly and going crazy waiting to find out if you were a boy or a girl. And now, BAM-- you're seven months old!

SO many big things happened in the last month, but the highlight? You're a creepy-crawler! You can army-crawl your way across the room in a flash, especially if you're trying to get to something you're not supposed to have. You've recently started rocking on your knees, so I think a full-on crawl is in the near future!

All of this newfound mobility has led to a few changes around the Kozlowski house. First change? Lowering the pack and play so that you don't flip out of it, you crazy little daredevil.

Second change? We bought a baby jail! Sorry, stinky cheese, but your recent conquests for electrical outlets and wires of any kind have just about given me a heart attack. Woo woo for baby jail!

We've continued exploring more table food this month, adding strawberries, blueberries, and noodles to the mix (all cut/squished/mashed so momma doesn't have to do the heimlich). Bananas continue to be a favorite, and you are ever the puff monster! I've been trying to make the transition happen from bottle to sippy cup, but you are not-- I repeat-- NOT into it! I've even pulled out juice as a secret weapon, and you continue to look at me like I have three heads when I offer you the evil sippy. Seems like someone is stubborn like his mother.

That same "someone" has also left his nine-month clothes in the dust! We have officially moved into your twelve-month wardrobe. You are looking less like a baby and more like a little boy every day, and it's killing me! I put you in your first pair of Oshkosh jeans and a hoodie the other day and almost cried like a weenie. Fast-forward a millisecond (okay, two years) and you'll be picking your clothes out yourself and I really will lose it.

This is the outfit I'm talking about, though you can't see the jeans. I can already see the toddler version of you, waiting in the wings.

As if you haven't packed in enough big milestones already, you're getting your first tooth! It's one of your front teeth, on the bottom left, and it's just beginning to poke through like a wee little dagger. It basically came out of nowhere-- no fussing or crying from you, tough guy! Gigi says that most teeth come in twos, so we're waiting to see if she's right =]

This month marked your first Christmas, and it was absolutely perfect. It was so special including you in all of our family traditions for the very first time. And it wasn't until the week after Christmas that you finally noticed the tree (and tried to pull it down on yourself), so we had a relatively disaster-free holiday! You got all kinds of goodies from Momma and Daddy and grandmas and grandpas, but I think the most exciting part for you was the wrapping paper (which is not edible, by the way). It will get even better in the next few years as you jump on the Santa train, and I can hardly wait!

Your favorite toy, Christmas morning.

Noisy toys from Pops, of course =]

A sweet family picture in front of Gigi's tree. Merry first Christmas!

Love you, little dude! So much has changed already, with so much more to come. Happy seven months!

Friday Facts

Fact #1 Some things never get old. PB&J with milk, in sweatpants, watching The Parent Trap is perfection whether you're twelve or twenty-two. It's even better when your child and your husband are asleep ;)

Fact #2 Even though it breaks my momma-heart when Little Man is sick, it's the only time he'll fall asleep snuggled on my chest and nothing in this whole wide world beats that.

Fact #3 I am an avid blog-reader (stalker?) and have yet to figure out how these women juggle families and professional lives and still have time to maintain perfectly manicured posts, day after day. Are there secret bonus hours in the day I don't know about? Because I'll just throw it out there-- twenty-four are NOT enough. Kudos, ladies. You are rockstars.

Fact #4 Christmas is over, so winter can be over, too-- right? No?! I want flip-flops back. And a tan.

Fact #5 I've been too busy recovering from the holiday hustle that I never got around to making an official New Year's Resolution. But I don't think I'm going to resolve to do anything. I'm just going to try. Try to be a better wife, a better mom, a better friend... I'm just going to try. Fair?

Happy weekend!

2012

So 2012 started out a little like this:

Which turned into this:

And in between, there was a whole lot of this:

Looking ahead, 2013 promises to be a pretty big year! I graduate in May, which will hopefully lead to a big-girl job in August. Landon turns ONE (and this momma will cry her eyes out) in June. AND we might start the first official Kozlowski Family House Hunt in the fall..?! There's definitely a lot to look forward to, but I'd still say 2012 is the year to beat.

Happy new year, from our family to yours!