silence for Sandy Hook

OCT Currently....hooray for pumpkin time....

Well, my seven year old son decorated the house with all the halloween art and pumpkins, my job share partner made multiplication haunted houses with our class, and I have purchased my littles their halloween costumes.....I guess OCT is truly here!!

Link up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for some currently fun!  I am going to purchase the Currently pack for my class....too much fun!!!

First 6 weeks of school=Newborn Stage

I finally figured it out......the first six weeks of school are the SAME adjustment as having a newborn baby.....

Here we are on our first friday of our first week of school...



You might know what I am talking about.....that part where the only thing you do is take care of the baby!  That is what I have been doing....only taking care of my 26 students/classroom/lesson plans etc!!

Here are just a few things that I have obsessed about over the last 4 weeks:

~ Daily 5
~ Creating a perfect schedule
~teaching about COWS and ipads and trying to get wifi to work
~Read aloud read alouds read alouds
~Notebook management
~MATH
~Hiring someone to be my jobshare partner
~504's and SST's
~Teaching all those routines....bathroom, pencils, erasers, lunch counts, jobs


In the meantime....I have neglected quite a few things!  


So this weekend I set out to be a bit more balanced.....
and what would you know.....I am writing a blog 
entry for the first time in almost 2 months!  
I went on a date with my hubby, 
left my lesson plan book at school, 
and have watched about 10 episodes of
my new favorite show....REVENGE!!

I met up with a firend who is also a teacher and mother of three 
children.  She said something that made me think....it's the first 6
weeks of school...this is how it always is!

This week I have got to start taking care of me, hit the trails...
and run, and find time to read my book too!

 Next weekend I get to go scrapbooking with friends, I guess I am 
taking my good pal Ryan's advice...lol!!


What do you do to stay balanced????

AUGUST CURRENTLY....Can't believe it is August :(

Hi everyone!!!


Can you believe it is AUGUST????  Oh man.....the only good thing about August is that we go to our family camp....LAIR OF THE BEAR!!!  


My husband has been going since he was 2 years old.  We started going as a family when my oldest was 18 months old....this year will be our 10th year!!!  The week is very special because you are outdoors enjoying nature and family.  The kids have age group activities they do with counselors and the mommies/daddies just CHILL!  I won't have to drive ANYWHERE or cook any meals!  


I just have to get all of our gear organized and then I can relax!!!

Here is a picture of us from last year....


Don't we all look so happy and relaxed??  these pics are from one of the fabulous cocktail parties...Tiki Tuesday!


This year is SUPER special because Mike's brothers and sisters are all coming up with their kids!!










I am thrilled to be able to have my favorite girls with me at the pool for water aerobics!!











I am linking up with Farley again....I love her Currently Linky Party!!!

NOW....on to the B2S must haves....


1.  I have an Erin Condren Teacher plan book which I am SUPER excited about, but even more so I NEED the Life Planner....this week starts everyone with their extra curricular activities and I am having a hard time keeping it all straight in my head....I ordered one and used my $20 off coupon I received with my teacher planner...it ships on Aug 17th!!


2.  Thank you to Farley and all you other peeps out there with your personal laminator....I had to get one....did you know that they are $50 off at Amazon right now??  When I get that I will really be jamming with preparing my Words Galore Centers from Amanda Nickerson as well as some other goodies in my TPT account!   My husband will be thrilled, NOT!


3.  This summer I have been cooking up a storm and have added two new meals to my menu that my family love!  I also purchased a rice steamer and we made chipotle lime/cilantro rice the other night....wahoo burrito bowls in my own home!  I want to plan out a month of meals so that we know what is going on....especially with the afternoon/evenings that my oldest has dance!  Our favorite meals include:  Spaghetti with meatballs, Chicken Bryan, Chicken Picatta, Pizza (from scratch of course), Tacos (burrito bowls), Breakfast for dinner (egg/bacon/cheese sammies).  Once I have that all organized I will be golden since I eat the same thing for Breakfast and Lunch everyday!  I love organization!!!


Well....back to reading for me....I am currently reading Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan.  It is a great summer read....lots of drama and takes place at a beach house!!  The hubs is working late tonight and Monday night so I have LOTs of time.  I do have to make a reading plan though because I also have a book club book to read by Thursday....wish me luck!


What are you reading this summer?  Any recommendations for my camp trip???

Classroom Organizing Underway

I am linking up with Amanda from One Extra Degree.....my most favorite blog to follow!

On Sunday I gathered up my crafty items and headed into my classroom to get organized and put up bulletin boards with my youngest two in tow.....they were so great and actually helpful considering we were there for 5 hours.

This is really the only Sunday I have left to get in and get things done before we head out of town for our last vacation....so I knew I had to get it all done!

Here are some pictures of my behind the scenes look.....

This is right outside my classroom on the inside hallway....

As you enter from inside the school, this is what you will see...

Close-up of the table top decor and organizing baskets....I plan to stock them with tissues, glue, markers, and post-it's...you know all the things that seem to get lost or eaten by children!

Here is part of my library and our books in spotlight board!

Other part of my library....taking CAFE and daiy 5 and making it work for me....this will be our reading and writing 

strategy board.....you can get the free printables from Ladybugs Teacher Files....another awesome blog!

Star OWL of the week and birthdays board.....

Plus math and supply buckets as well as finished work and homework bins!

View from the outside door entrance.....I love my work area with stools!

Here is my littlest posing near my teacher table....I really want to get rid of the teacher desk but not sure I am allowed to....I might use it for my OWL of the week to use as a priveledge or for assessments....

I love My new mailbox!  And I am going to put the cute numbers and I am here/not here magnets on this file cabinet for quick attendance as they enter.....you can pick these up from Cupcake for the Teacher...

Behind the file cabinet I have the CUTEST reading nook....

Now I need to get the nitty gritty stuff figured out!

Make sure you link up too!

Stella & Dot fall launch success

Woohoo!  Tonight I hosted my fall launch trunkshow and it was so awesome!

I went into tonight without any goal except to enjoy the special group of women

I knew were coming over....in the end, since I was hosting and the stylist, I came

away with great rewards!

This was the first show I did without borrowing jewels for my display and I think

I did really well with laying out everything....

I tried out a new dish.....a yummy s'more bite treat....

The new fall line and lookbook help to sell themselves....here is my favorite piece...The Tempest Bracelet!

I have three friends who would like to host a show....so exciting!  Now I get to shop for free since I was a host and use the commission on our family vacation which is just two weeks away!  I am also going to reward myself with an Erin Condren Life Planner....I have a $20 off coupon so why not!  

Best part was I was hanging out with some great girlfriends from all different parts of my life....what a great night!

monday made it: crate seats and teacher toolbox

Hi bloggy pals!  Hope you all had a great weekend!

My weekend was super productive for school!  

We are halfway through summer but I would rather get some 

of my classroom together a little at a time than scramble at the end!

I made two things that I have been dying to make after seeing

all of the awesome bloggers out there getting crafty....

First up....crate seats for my meeting area.  I plan to let the kids earn

a chance to sit in these seats each day....

I started with crates from Target, a fun owl fabric, quilt batting, and plywood.

At home depot a sweet older guy cut the wood for me and I was on my way!

I sanded the corners with just regular old sand paper and some elbow grease :)

Then I laid the fabric right side down then the batting and then the wood....using

my newest fun tool (staple gun) I secured the fabric to the board and then popped 

It in the crate....voila....a seat and a great secret storage place!

All three of my kiddos are now requesting a crate seat for their own bedrooms!

Next up, I made that super fun teacher tool box....

Bought the box on amazon.....free shipping and no tax:)

Hope you all link up too....just click on the button below....

fabulous finds

I am linking up with Fun in 4B for her fabulous finds links party!

I have finally caught the new school year bug from my teaching partner and pal!

Today I hit up Joann Fabrics.....I worked my coupons and saved $75.00!  I had Caroline with me and she was such the helpful shopper....look mom OWLS!  I am trying to not have too much owls in my classroom but the other day at IKEA I couldn't pass up this....

It was just $9.99!

So Back to Joann Fabrics....the baskets and scrap pads were 40% off, I used a 40% off coupon for the ribbon which i plan to tie on the ends of the baskets for each table group, and then I got 20% more off for the teacher discount!  Using the scrap pad to make my teacher tool box super fancy.....you know what I am talking about.....and if not I will post that later!

The other ribbons will be tied on different buckets etc around the room....for a pop of color!

Next up....can you tell that I am all ready to make crate seats?  I just love this flannel fabric with owls on it!  Great excuse to buy that staple gun I have been wanting for my classroom too!  Woohoo!

Finally.....these last two fabrics.....the cute seer sucker polkadot will be the background for the student work board in my room...got it for 50% off with my coupon....giddy up!  The chocolate brown will be the background for a couple other boards.  I am going to start my backgrounds tomorrow and drop off all my new goodies I found this week.  Hoping the carpets and floors have been cleaned so I can play around with my layout...

Make sure you link up too!

what is my purpose?

So I woke up this morning wondering.....what is my purpose? 

I spend tons of my day planning the next lesson, stalking the next blog, 

and creating my next blog post to go with all of it.  

Being on summer vacation....is AWESOME....don't get me wrong....

but sometimes it is hard to divide my teacher self from my personal self.

I spent part of Sunday with my favorite teaching pal and friend....she has

so many cool and cute plans for her room and lots of ideas about our 

curriculum for next year!  I am so glad that she is on this train because

it is helping me to stay somewhat focused on it.

Found these great ideas....

 

After seeing these....I came up with my true color scheme for my new room....owls with

chocolate brown, Tiffany blue, hot pink, and lime green!  So excited!

This morning I woke up from a lovely first day of school nightmare complete with 

a new principal, me not wearing pants, and some other crazy stuff!  Yikes!  Then I took 

my littles to Big Lots and found some great items for my library.....

Now if I can just get working on all those Monday Made It projects you boggy peeps

are working on.....

Guess they will have to be put on hold while I head to Santa Barbara for a beach getaway 

with my sweet family!  We still have lots of time before school starts.....right?

What are you working on this summer?

Do you wait until the last week of summer to get it done, or do you do a little at a time?

what i'm loving about wednesday

So I finally am feeling the true summer vibe!  Now that I am back from a wonderful vacation at my parents we are in full summer swing.....kids going to camps, random daily playdates, lack of schedule, and lots of relaxation/reading time for me!  I just can't quite bring myself to blog about school.....but here is what I am loving about this Wednesday!

I started out my day with a bike ride to Denica's for a yummy breakfast with my favorite teacher partner and bestie!  She has the cutest teal cruiser bike and I have bike envy for sure!  Some day I will pass my road bike to my oldest daughter and ask for a cruiser.....we went to a favorite breakfast place....oh my yumminess!  We had fabulous conversation....lots of school talk....and made plans to work on our classroom walls a bit at a time over summer so it isn't too overwhelming at the end.  She is so fun and creative!

Saw these Tiffany blue converse on pinterest and could not stop thinking about them!  Purchased today.....figured I deserve a treat for being solo parent until Sunday....lol!

I am also loving my book challenge....my hubby has been working since we returned from Texas and today he leaves on a father son golfing trip for 5 days so I decided I would challenge myself to read a book a day!  I started out with my book club book on Monday.....yesterday I read two shorter books that have me all pumped for the new books these authors have coming out, and today I am reading The Next Best Thing.  It is lovely so far.....

Tonight I am hitting the movies to see Magic Mike with one of my girlfriends....I told her I would bring wine, chocolate, and solo cups....found these cute mini wine bottles for easy sneaking.....shhhhhhhhhh!

What are you loving this Wednesday?