Another Great Conversation with Matthew

Funny thing is he was completely awake at this point. Matthew and I went to his cancer check up on Tuesday (another year cancer free-Yeah!). Anyways, while we were waiting I asked him a question. Before I get to the response let me just say that during Matthews chemo/radiation he had some hearing loss, luckily he can still hear most everything. Here is my point, I asked him a sarcastic question (I don't remember it), and here was his response:

"You know what honey, I may be completely deaf, but I still heard everything you just said."

Anyone find something incorrect with that statement? Lol. Funny guy. He definitely is my other half!

Manda

Table Decor

The chew gave a lesson on how to fold napkins the other day, so I tried it. I alternated between the rings for kicks and giggles I guess. The rose in the middle was from Matt as a I love you gift, good man!

Halloween Decorations

If you can believe it I made all of these decorations. Some I even invented myself!

More Christmas Cards

Made some more Christmas Cards a few weeks ago. They turned out so cute!

New Appliances

I love having a DVR I record any show while still at school. I saw a commercial for the show called The Chew and setup a timer to record, boy am I glad I did. They did a kitchen remodel the other day for only $250 dollars (video linked)!



Anyways, near the end of the clip the lady showed how to update your appliance without spending too much money. I became inspired and check out what Matt did for me! :)

 Pretty sweet huh? It is simple and cheap! We went to k-mart and purchased plastic primer spray and the color of our choice (lime green). Be sure  to tape off what you don't want colored. Prime it. Spray paint it an hour later and presto! A new appliance that you will love! I was conscious about what I sprayed of course- I didn't spray the inside or anything that will come in contact with food or over heat. I love to collect green things, but not pay a lot, this is a great way to do it!

If you dare, try it!
Manda

Purple Mashed Potatoes

    A student comes in this morning and asks if I can refrigerate her lunch for her today, she is so excited, cause it is purple mashed potatoes. I normally never do these types of things for students, with good reason, I have to send them to the faculty room to put it in, it takes time from their P.E. and my lunch. Against my better judgment I allow her to go put it in the fridge and come get it from me before her lunch. At lunch time she comes and knocks on the door, I hand her her lunch and she tells me it must be microwaved! I sigh and ask her how long (I knew it was a trap at this moment, lol.)
   So I microwave it for 2 minutes as requested. I pull it out of the microwave and I begin to panic, there is a massive amount of steam rising form the bowl, and the potatoes are making this loud gurgling noise? The other teachers start to laugh and wonder what the heck is going on with that student's lunch. I heard one ask is it a bomb (jokingly)? I run it out to her and ask what it is. She has no idea. We take off the lid and find that she forgot to remove her cold pack from on top of the potatoes!
    She was just horrified at this point, her purple potatoes are blue and she has no lunch or money to buy lunch. I send her to my class to grab my purse and pay for her food today. At the end of the day I read her planner and what she learned:
   Today I learned that Mrs. McKnight really educated me last year on chemical reactions. I now know that if I ask Mrs. McKnight to microwave my purple potatoes for 2 minutes with the cold pack on it creates steam that causes her to evacuate a room and makes a noise that is extremely loud. Most of all it ruins my lunch.

Manda

Fiber

Today we were reading about airplanes and the Wright Brothers. I am still trying to figure out how but we went from planes- to astronaut food- to fiber- to what happened to Charlie one time when he ate a box of fiber bars. Once Charlie shared his story about the fiber bars I had tears rolling down my face!

Mid-sleep conversations

Another mid-sleep conversation with Matthew:
Me: Where did you put your mom's tickets that were on the bed?
Matt: On my journal
Me: You don't have a journal.
Matt: I know
Me: Honey, listen where is your journal and the tickets?
Matt: With the oil pump.

Apparently my husband is having a dream about writing about an oil pump in his journal?
Classic.

Manda

Weeding

Last year my kids planted tons and tons of vegetables to grow out in our garden. It was great because this year I have the exact same kids, plus two. This is amazing since they know me and I know they aren't afraid to get dirty.

We hadn't of been out since June and went to go weed the garden. I was pulling up what I thought was a weed until I heard kids screaming, "carrots! carrots!" They them swarmed around me and pulled up like 50 of them. They were no super tiny, but we did it! We grew carrots!

We were able to eat all of the salad and peas this summer in summer school, but it was great for the kids to see some of their hard work. We also have some tomatoes coming in!

                                                    Manda

More Christmas Cards!

We made more cards this week and I just love them to death!

This first one is my favorite.



This one was as frustrating as I'll ever get out. The bells took forever! If you end up getting this card you are pretty special. :)



This was supposed to be a hard one but was really simple and super cute! We made it in two colors!



This we chalked in the dove and flowers. Really allowed for creative juices to flow!



I love the polka dot paper in the background and the embossing we did. Really cute card.



Manda

Finished up classroom

Finished my classroom projects today. Here is the finished wall. Turned out cute. Very authentic. :)
"Just Keep Swimming."



Saw another teacher do this and loved it. Put this one the outside door.
"Welcome. May all who enter as guests, leave as friends. "



Decided to put one on the window too!
"Be the change you wish to see in this world."



Love reading this book to students the first and last day of the year. Thought this might inspire.
"Oh, the places you'll go!"



This is on the side of my desk with pictures of my kids.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams."



Another window decor. I love the saying and the bubbles. Although they are hard to see they are really cute in person.
"Wish it. Dream it. Do it."



Manda

Made the papers!

Millennial shoppers: 1 of 5 household dollars — $170 billion a year — is spent on or by them

By lois m. collins

Deseret News

Published: Monday, Aug. 15, 2011 6:26 p.m. MDT

SALT LAKE CITY — This is Amanda McKnight at 27: She has a smartphone that she uses "all the time," and she prefers texting to talking. She checks Facebook and Twitter on her phone and recounts snippets of her day via them, delivered randomly as the urge strikes. She downloads coupons to her phone, sometimes while she's staring at the product on the store shelf. She also loves her computer.

McKnight, a sixth-grade teacher, could be a poster child for her generation, the Millennials. They are not just tech savvy; technology is their native tongue, and those who would sell to them should keep that truth in mind, experts say. They ask friends and family for recommendations. They zip online to get instant product reviews. And they take seriously stories of bad products or work practices, mingling social conscience with hunger for a bargain.

"I'm constantly surrounded by various technology outlets and have the overwhelming urge to participate in each one — social media, smart phones, TV gadgets, car gadgets, you name it," Jamie Kloss, 21, of Newtown, Penn., says.

"They communicate on networks nobody owns," says Jeff Fromm, senior vice president of Barkley, a Kansas City-based consulting firm that will soon release an in-depth study of marketing for Millennials.

"We have to learn how to market with them, not to them. We used to be in control of our brand and communicate that to our audience. Now we don't have that much control."

He believes "a Millennial isn't defined as much by age as by habits and practices."

AdvertisingAge found that 68 percent of Millennials ask friends before they choose a restaurant. "How do you begin to understand shopping habits of a generation that can't make up its own mind? it asked recently.

Millennials buy based on Twitter and blog posts, customer ratings on the Internet and word of mouth from friends, delivered in person, by text, or on social networks.

When Applebee's writes on its Facebook page: "Tell your friends about our new entrees now," it means it. The restaurant chain has 1.28 million "likes" and uses social networking to promote products. Joe's Crab Shack touts the free app SCVNGR, with instructions to download it to a smartphone, find the restaurant in "places" and take challenges for a free appetizer.

Companies such as Cafe Rio have a YouTube channel and Twitter feeds that are more "chatty" than hard-sell. And companies exchange samples for a "like" that will show up on Facebook newsfeeds as a positive recommendation.

That's the other thing experts say Millennials love: special deals. This most loved, hovered-over generation, as experts describe it, thrives on the sense they're being rewarded, from rewards cards and samples to insider deals.

Blaine Becker, senior director at Hartman Group, gave Deseret News a sneak peek at highlights of its upcoming "Culture of Millennials" report. It says they are more than a fourth of the U.S. population and influence more than $170 billion in spending, with one-fifth of all household dollars spent by or on them. They get their information "online and through their social networks/friends." And while older consumers shop online more, Millennials use smartphones much more to gather information and make purchases.

Harris Interactive calls them the "arbiters of cool." They grew up in the nation's longest economic boom but are part of a devastating recession. It says they are more loyal to brands and stores than others, provided the store connects to them.

But when it comes to trust, they always head back to their own networks and sources of neutral advice, because Millennials are inherently skeptical, especially when it comes to big business, says Matthew Segal, president and co-founder of Our Time, a consumer group for Millennials based in Washington, D.C.

"We grew up in the age of corporate greed, too big to fail," he says. "And every young generation likes to support the underdog."

Our Time promotes "consumer engagement we believe will lead to civic engagement," such as a campaign that asks Millennials to buy from young businesses with a high capacity to grow and that challenge old models and assumptions and weave ethics and social responsibility into their business model.

Examples include companies that make clothes from recycled goods or that use materials made in America. Creating American jobs and improving quality are "a priority of this generation," he says.

He predicts Millennials will lead against mammoth corporations that outsource work and don't respect the worker.

"Those who think the cheapest thing will win are arguing economics over values. Values will win."

Julianne Hancock, 30, Salt Lake City, agrees. "I base all my decisions heavily on recommendations from friends and online reviews. I have a lot of friends, and I am conscious of types of brands. I shop at Costco not because I need 23 rolls of toilet paper at a time, but because it donates to progressive causes."

She has sometimes steered clear of certain businesses, she says, because favorite sites like Gawker reveal unsavory business practices. And "if friends say they had a horrible experience somewhere, that will resonate with me for a long time."

Her generation, she notes, expect that "especially through social networks and Google we are being marketed to subliminally."

When a restaurant shares a funny movie clip on Facebook without touting a specific product, it's probably sliding its name into a consumer's brain where it hopes it will resurface when hunger strikes.

Bad day, bad hair.

I made a HUGE mistake today. Today was the day to cut and trim Matt's hair. I have done it before no problem. I knew something bad was going to happen, it was a long day and I was completely worn out. Anyways, not thinking I went way to close to his head and took out a huge chunk. He wanted me to shave his head bald, I just couldn't do it so I tried to blend it all.






From the front.



Oh well. Such a great sport.



We agreed he will just wear hats til it comes back in. Such a stupid mistake. Hopefully, I will look back and laugh at this one day.

Sorry honey.

Manda

Classroom.

Today I went into school and started some long needed work on my classroom. Today I mainly focused on getting my wall up to date. I figured its been what 6 years? Might as well add a splash of color. (I didn't before, because I was always afraid I would have to move again.)

Here is a wall I've always wanted to add. The students add problems they are facing and solutions to others using chalk. I like the idea of chalk because like our problems chalk comes and goes.

Here is a close up.



This will be done the first day of school and left up as a reminder. I used paint this year for borders and words. Saved time and money and I think made it more unique.

.

Another attempt to save time and money and make it unique. My birthday board!

.

I love Spiderman! I finished this along time ago. Spiderman is a HUGE theme in my classroom.



This is my Wall of Fame. When kids write me letter of draw me pictures, I hang them up like I would on my fridge. I take stuff off after years and years have gone by and add more. I used pictures on the kids as a border! It is actually pretty cute.




My explorer wall, with post cards. The kids always bring in post cards or money from where they travel and we add to it throughout the year. It has really grown!



This wall will be finished tomorrow. It will say just keep swimming in the corner and have a fish border theme going around. Stay tuned....



Manda

Matthew's Baby Burrito

Took my sweet husband out to lunch today for being just a cute, sweet husband. We went to Texas Roadhouse first, it was closed. Then we went to Spaghetti Factory, not open til 5. Finally, we settled on Virg's. I don't know what he was thinking, well I do, he ordered a breakfast burrito thinking it was something entirely different.

Here it is.



Here is Matt getting ready to tackle it.



Here he is, I suppose, praying to get through this.



Here he is eating the monster. I swear, it was as big as his head.



Taking a break to breathe. Sorry lighting was horrible with my phone.



Needs a drink. Went through three just to down this.



Oh, did I mention he ordered a scone? He really had no idea what he was getting into.



Ready to barf, perhaps?



Or ready to cry?



Finally surrenders! (He wants me to mention, he DID finish the scone.)



Leftovers for breakfast tomorrow.



Needless to say a HILARIOUS lunch.

Manda