Great Ambitions and New Loves!

I have been thinking about how ambitious I have been in my life recently. I have started teaching myself how to play the piano (with a little help from my visiting teacher Kim who has the piano, I just have a small keyboard), wanting to go back to school to become a teacher (which I plan on doing in August), moving again (for cheaper rent) and running that 5k (which I do this weekend.

I guess I am proud of myself. Some of those things might not be ambitious but it my life they really are. It surprises me how much I am changing each and every day.

This blog won't be much longer but I just wanted to let you all know that I have fallen in love. I know nothing will come of it because he is a superstar but I love him anyways. This past weekend, while I was home alone, I was flipping through channels and was blessed to pass the PBS channel right as Josh Groban's concert special started. An hour and a half of heaven is what I got to enjoy next. It was wonderful. Now I have always liked him because I listen to him AT LEAST once a week during naptime at school and every morning when my alarm goes off BUT he was chatting with the PBS person and he was so real. I know, weird to say but sometimes famous people just don't seem real to me. If I have a chance to choose who I want to marry he would be my top pick. And because I'm learning the piano I am all about learning his songs now to impress him when I meet him. Don't you think my plan will work? How can you resist me?

Hope everyone is good!

Seahorse class projects with a wonderful co-teacher!

I had a fabulous day at work today. My co-teacher, Erica, and I finished our beach scene on our big bulletin board in our classroom. It looks fantastic. When I first started working with her we had a mountain scene with houses and such. The kids in our class do the art and then we cut it into the shape that we want it to be. Well since it is summer we decided to do a beach scene. Everything on there including the clouds are all the kids art work (except the buckets). Erica told me that a child in our class noticed that Mr. Sun was on both boards. She said he was saying "Mr. Sun over there and Mr. Sun over there." Super cute! I love my kids!!!!

Another project that we did a while back was our smaller board. The kids did butterfly paintings where you put the paint on one side of the paper, fold it over and spread it out. Erica decided to do butterfly paintings where the kids got to step on the paper to spread the paint around. She made it in the shape of a butterfly as well. When that was finished I decided to make a garden with flowers. It is wonderful. The kids love it!

My last project but really the first of the three to be finished was my tree. My kids were learning about leaves or trees one day and they colored a big piece of butcher paper brown. Then we had them color papers green so we could cut out leaves. I saw a co-worker doing a 3D bush and had the idea to make a tall tree. So my tree top is 3D and the leaves and trunk are made by the kids.

I love working with an amazing co-teacher. She keeps me positive and upbeat all day long. We think the same and if one person doesn't do something the other one will. She was so sweet and got me fingernail clippers for Teacher Appreciation Week the other day. When my purse was stolen out of my car so were my fingernail clippers that were in my purse. I mentioned it once or twice that I was sad about losing them and she remembered and got some for me. She is awesome and I love working with her!!!

Play-Doh or Dough

I love Play-Doh and Play-Dough. The brand Play-Doh smells really good. I know that is weird but one summer a friend and I found a lotion that smelt like it. Sad to say it was discontinued but it was great while it lasted. I have always loved playing with play-dough ever since I was a small child. Mushing it around in my hands and seeing what I can make have always been the best parts of it.

Here are some recent experiences with Play-Doh and Play-Dough:


As a toddler teacher, I have the opportunity to play with a fun concauction called play-dough. It is a great sensorial activity. I find that is can be a stress reliever or a way to let my imagination go wild. One friday for the art project my kids and I actually made play-dough. It was so fun. They each got to pour the ingredients into the bowl and stir it. They even got to pick the color. I finished it and now it is something that they love to do. A parent told me a while back that her daughter asks to "play play-dough" at home. This parent repsonded to her child "at school you get to play with play-dough." This happened not long after that child had helped us make the play-dough. It was great to see that such a fun activity for myself to do was also such a hit with the children I work with!

I was given a very tiny container of play-doh for valentine's day from one of my kids. It was sitting on my very messy table in my room for a long time before I even played with it. Now I open it and play with it almost everytime I am at the computer. I play with it while the computer is turning on, while I am reading something or even when I am wasting time just sitting here thinking. It passes time when I am watching shows online or just to keep me occupied! I love it!!

When I was home for Easter I was over at my best friend's house. She and her husband had taken their toddler to an easter egg hunt. The best thing that she found was a container of play-doh. While I was over there she was making different things with the play-doh and then having her husband "pretend eat or play" with them. She gave me some of it and we made a hamburger, fries and a drink all on a plate. It took us about 15 minutes or more to finish and make it look wonderful. We showed her husband and then we smashed it. It was funny to me that we had spent all this time working on something and in 2 seconds it was ruined. It makes me think of how important being in the moment is.

I encourage all of my blogger stalkers to express your inner child with play-doh or play-dough. Go and buy a container of it and you will be entertained for hours. There are many different things that can come from one container. It will be well worth your time.


PS. If you are looking for ideas of what to do with your play-doh. I went to the Play-Doh website and found this link. Check it out for fun ideas to try! http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/en_US/FreshIdeas.cfm


My latest and greatest with the Play-Doh!

Let the countdown begin...

Today I was changing my dry erase calendar in the kitchen from April to May. I decided to count down the days until Janora, my roommate, and I run the Utah Valley 5K in Provo. It is is 40 days!!! I am super excited. I think it is a big accomplishment in my life to actually be doing something like this. I know that we will be able to do a great job and I look forward to running more. I will post pics of me in my official t-shirt and number after the race June 13.

I am a BLOGGER!

Hello Blogger Stalkers! I have decided to get a blog. The only real reason that I have been putting this off is that I couldn't think of a title. At first I wanted to put AA - Amanda's Adventures, but then I was thinking people might think of AA - Alcoholics Anonymous and I didn't want that.

The story behind my title is this. My first year at BYU-Idaho I had some pretty awesome roommates. One always called my AY Buttafeed and the other would call me Man. Those two names were the more original nicknames I have been given. I couldn't very well put the Butterfield family or anything like that because I am a not married, so I had to come up with something. I hope you like my title as much as I do because it took a lot of hard work and concentration to come up with it!

PS. I hope you enjoy blogger stalking me as much as I enjoy blogger stalking you!