Muldoon Memos

I mentioned I landed a new job and now I can share the details! Next year I will be teaching Reading at Elkhorn Middle School! I will have one section of 8th grade and five sections of 7th. Though nervous as change is always a bit unsettling.. I am so excited :) https://www.elkhornweb.org/ems/ Books I've read/am reading: Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult = *****        Fascinating views on racism-- I've found myself more and more intrigued by this topic and finding books that investigate it more. Thunderhead by Shusterman = *****         The second book in the Scythe series. Maybe the first time the second book was better than the first!! Fantastic dystopian YA read. A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle = ***        I'm listening to it because it's a book I may be able to teach next year to my new 7th graders. I read it in elementary school but didn't remember it that well. It's ... okay. I despise the audio book's narrator, but some of the langua

I'm on Spring Break ALL WEEK, and it's glorious. I celebrated my birthday for three straight days with a date night, a party with my friends, a celebration with my family, and another in-law celebration to come. (Can you tell I love my birthday...??) Today I took my kiddos to daycare so I could get a cavity filled (bleh) and spend the rest of the day grading (also bleh), but it was nice to focus and get a nice chunk of that done. That way... I can spend the other parts of my spring break reading, cleaning, and catching up on This is Us.  ONE. Note to self socks. I was gifted with a pair from my godson that say "I am blessed." They're comfy and a great reminder throughout the day! TWO. The Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. I mean... I maybe can't say it's my favorite yet since I'm only on page 80. But I did just pick it up from the library at 2pm. So far it is just as great as Scythe.  THREE. Yogi Calming Tea (usually found in the "he

ONE. A few days ago, Luke and I were saying his prayers at night. Following our typical routine, he ZOOMED through the Angel of God prayer so he "could win me." Then he said, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for nails, screwdrivers, boards, walls, poop, wheels, fire trucks, and butts." And he said all of that in a Darth Vader voice. I hope Jesus found it as humorous as I did! Toddlers are hilarious. TWO. However, he also cut open my forehead with a microwave door at Lowe's! Holding him since he refused to stay in the cart, I was leaning in to look at the oven specs when he reached up, opened the metal microwave door right into my face! It bled and everything. BUT we did leave with a new oven  + microwave combo! Wooooo! (Our dishwasher and fridge are black, but we went with this combo. They are more muted looking in person-- not as bright and shiny as they appear in these pics. I'm hoping it's not a huge deal when reselling... ) THREE. Instead of payi

1. My phone's screen has been cracked for the last ... 8 months? WRONG! I had a freaking screen protector on it and forgot. Ha. It actually still looks brand-spanking-new. (Fingers crossed I don't drop it before a new screen protector arrives on Saturday.) I also impulsively bought a new phone cover ... I needed a change. 2. Speaking of change... I landed a new job! Details to come later once things are 100% official. I'm nervous (since it's a big change!) but so excited -- for new challenges, meeting new people, new curriculum to learn. Honestly, I enjoy my job now, but the commute is 30 minutes in the morning and 50 minutes after school including getting the kids from daycare -- and that's in perfect traffic/weather. Now my commute will be 9 minutes, with no rush hour traffic.  3. I also just signed up to be an Usborne Book Consultant ! Reading is totally my jam. I read all the time, so obviously I love having all sorts of books around for my kids too.

In the past, I have not done well "giving things up" for Lent. I always fail in the first week and then it just causes a weird loop of emotions, so I have lately attempted to "add" something instead: going to daily mass, listening to Christian/Catholic radio only, praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet every car ride, etc. This year, I was hazily pondering something about my marriage (maybe praying for him, reading a devotional together...), but hadn't settled on anything specific. However, every time I started to think about this, one of my friends kept popping into my head and my heart felt the need to pray for her. So, in what I think is a nudge by the Holy Spirit, I'm committing to praying for my friend every day. I plan on doing a doodle prayer  so there is a visual representation of my prayers and then gifting her that image at Easter. If you like Fixer Upper, you'll love this book. The audio book is even better because Chip reads it himself. It

How do you keep track of important family moments? Do you print your photos? Store them in files on the computer? Make scrapbooks? Did you fill out baby books? I've tried to do a few things over the years... For about 5 years I've used SMASH books as an informal place to store receipts, cards, ticket stubs, actual printed photos, etc. smattered among some journaling. I like this format because the pages are fun and colorful. I don't feel like it has to look "perfect." Plus it's a great place to store all of the random momentos for a super affordable price (anywhere from $8-18 on Amazon, depending on the style you want). Charlie's grooming report card... Hahaha. (He was our Goldendoodle that we had for less than a year.) I'll put invitations, pictures, journal little stories.  Here I included cards form our anniversary and even the monkey art Scott drew on my card.  Somewhere I read about keeping an "Anniversary Book"

7 = # of books read 3 = # of books I started and stopped (Calling my Name by Liara Tamani, The Inexplicable Logic of my Life by Benjamin Saenz, The Memory of Light by Francisco Stork). If I'm not into a book in the first 50 pages, I just stop... ! Do you stick it out till the end? Or do you stop like me? 3 = # of snow days! 21 = # of Jazzercise classes attended Too Many = # of half eaten snacks by toddlers 6 = # of new recipes I tried! Some from this cookbook  (Microwave Apple Crumble for One and Cumin & Lime Sweet Potato fries) and this one  (Lasagna'd Hasselback Potatoes & Buffalo Chicken with Broiled Romaine), plus these chocolate zucchini muffins  and these fish tacos 3 = # of family birthdays celebrated! My grandma turned 94, my sister is now 35, and my nephew is 6! Overall, January was a pretty chill month. February is my least favorite month of the year.... so I'm hoping it goes quickly =)

My second three-day work week (in a row!) is coming to a close -- thanks to a snow day and a cold day. Weeks like this are nice, but also .. harder somehow. 1. So far this year I have read: Something Other Than God  by Jennifer Fulwiler = Non-fiction about how she found faith and eventually joined the Catholic Church. I read this really quickly, was intrigued with her story, but felt more explanation was needed at times-- like she mentioned having a hang up on birth control but then one event changed her mind completely, which felt a bit inauthentic to me but may have really been the case! God works is mysterious ways. (B+) Dear Martin by Nic Stone = YA novel about an African-American boy who is navigating the world while encountering racism (B-) The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord = YA novel about a girl who experiences a crisis of faith when her mom is diagnosed with cancer for the second time; I think faith is often missing from YA novels, so it was refreshing to read a re

Every school in the area received a SNOW DAY today due to the chance of freezing rain, ice, and snow in the middle of the night. Of course, nothing really happened until about 8am today when it did start snowing and blowing. But, I'm not complaining =)  I just scored all of this for my nephew's 1st birthday present for $20.03 -- which includes tax and free shipping ! Once a month (usually around now) Kohl's has it's typical 15%, 20%, or 30% off sale (the coupon code for 30% is a quick Google search away. This time it's SNOWY30), plus they offer free shipping to Kohls charge card holders (JAN4FREE). AND this time, they had a $10 off $30 baby purchase (BABYSALE10). Plus, as always, everything was on sale to begin with. So if you need any 0-24mo baby stuff-- check this out! Also-- I attempted to make an entire pot of coffee instead of drinking 3 kcups throughout the day... and I just cannot make coffee! Seriously. The first time it was way too weak, so I