Coop + Coop + HMB= FUN!!!

So my sweet, fun, and creative teaching buddy and I took a little trip to Half Moon Bay (HMB) which is a favorite place of hers and now mine too!  A few weeks back we planned a little getaway for the two of us and we have been counting down the days....I can't believe it is over!  It was such a great 24 hours!

We headed out on day 1 of spring break after I dropped off my cuties at the in-laws...headed to Trader Joe's for some food treats, and then made our way to Sam's Chowder House....I had the most amazing Lobster roll....YUM!

UMMMM....can you say TO DIE FOR?  We then had this crazy little olive oil, sea salt, vanilla ice cream concoction.....and of course we decided that walking it off would be a great idea!  We took a long walk along the water and on the beach....it was so beautiful and no rain....what a dream!  

Then we headed downtown to check out the shops....a few bookstores of course!  And finished off with some coffee and homemade cookies that Catherine made....very tasty!!

 After coffee we headed off to the Hostel at pigeon point....we were in the Dolphin house!  We made ourselves cozy...rested our sweet little eyes a bit, and then giggle the evening away as new guests arrived....there was a fun school nurse on spring break, a whirling tornado from Hawaii, and a sweet soul from Connecticut who had been traveling the US since January...

 Later in the evening we ventured out to the kitchen area for our big THINK TANK!  Lots of planning and thinking about what we will do over the last 9 weeks of school....


This morning we had some more think tanking at the local coffee shop in Pescadero followed by a tour of the cutest Goat Farm....and lots of yummy goat cheese to taste!  The local honey was to die for!  I brought a jar home....yum!

This was the greatest way to start out my Spring Break!  I am so lucky to work with such a sweet friend!! The last 24  hours were so wonderful....now it is time to put away my lesson books, stop the blog stalking, and enjoy my break.....I am off to play with my littles and do some reading!!  See you soon my bloggy friends!

Owl Love.....and 10 reasons I love TARGET!

OK....so the sweetest mom in my class handed me a bag on Friday and wished me a happy spring break....and wouldn't you know, the cutest owl was inside....

I meant to post that last night, but I forgot!  Isn't it so COOL!  I also have these darling owl cards that I plan to frame and add to my classroom too....every where I turn there are more owls in my room!  I love it!

So this is also a Multitasking Mom post....today was very busy....just always moving, Taxi Sue style!  We began the morning at an egg hunt out where my sister lives.  Then we grabbed my oldest (she was at my niece's birthday slumber party last night) and took her to dance.  While she was at dance we took our usual trip to the library followed by lunch and then picking up Kate again...by the time we arrived home I was beat and ready for a little "me time".  I knew Kate would come to the rescue...so I dashed over to Target to pick up a couple of items...and while I waited for my starbuck's coffee I thought to myself how cool it is that Target is so AWESOME for many reasons:

1. You can buy any thing you need for your classroom (notice my pens, sticky tabs, and various notebooks--see a later post about my obsession to make an exact reading, writing, and math notebook over break to match the lessons I teach).
2. There is always a magazine available for your latest recipes, exercise regimen/diet, and trash reading.
3. Along with magazines---you can pick up the latest book you read about and get it 20% off...this one was recommended by Jen Lancaster a favorite author of mine.
4. Groceries---can I say more?
5. Easter dress at the last minute, anyone?
6. Make-up, nail polish, and every lotion you desire!
7. My favorite Cupcake Chardonnay, always on sale!
8. Every plastic bin you can imagine for organizing...
9. A few extras for the kids Easter baskets...barbie, hair accessories, lipgloss, legos, books...oh my!
10. Last but not least...once you pay the bill...you can cruise on over to the Starbucks stand for a delicious treat!  Today while I waited for my coffee, I began reading White Girl Problems by Babe Walker....OMG...this book is hysterical, yes I stood there reading and cracking up.  Then I thought this is an oasis for me, a way to relax and get some things checked off the to do list at the same time.  

Happy Easter my bloggy friends!

spring break is here.....

I am all snuggled into bed reading...

Just because it makes me laugh....not because 

I am missing my 3rd graders....a week off will

be wonderful....then only 9 weeks left...

I know I will be sad to see our year end!

hey girl.....

Ok I can not stop cracking up over these hey girl pics....

Here are my latest finds!

April Currently

April....it's here!!  Oh My....April!! ...makes me think of my sweet, sweet mom since her birthday is this month.  I miss her soo much and can not wait to see her in June when we all fly to Texas....


I am linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade and you should too!  Here is my April Currently...

Spring Break is almost here...

My fabulous high school intern has been helping me with these super cute Spring Centers pack from Amy Lemons....

 We are almost finished cutting and gluing all the pieces, the student worksheets have copied, and I have created labels for the center boxes. These will be a great follow up to all the word work and grammar lessons we have been hitting hard the past couple weeks.

I am so excited to show the kids these centers and for them to try them when we get back from Spring Break....yes that is right....five more work days and then it is my turn!!  I feel like all my favoite bloggy friends have been on break for the last month!  I can't wait for some family time....we are planning a hike, picnics, and a trip to see the Oakland A's play!!  Oh yeah and a quick "run away" with my sweet friend to Half Moon Bay!  

Author's Purpose

In my last post I mentioned that we studied Author's purpose....this was a lot of fun!  We took a cute pack from Buzzing With Ms. B on Teachers Pay Teachers....and then we went all PEANUT BUTTER with it!


I am not even sure how my favorite fabulous third grade teacher pal and I came up with it all but it started as a small conversation that led to more and more.....here is a pic of us on PJ day...

Here is one of my most fabulous student's reader's notebook:

After checking out the pack and the resources we made posters and planned to read one book about Peanut Butter to go with each of the different purposes.  We made our usual fun stickers to go in their reading notebooks too! After we read each of the books, the kids would decide 
what the author's purpose was and would talk about the characteristics of each: entertain, inform, explain how, persuade.

Here is the poem we chose for the week too...

I always use this student's notebook and work to share here because she does such a great job...neat and includes everything asked for!

On Tuesday I was having a second rough day for the week and after I sent the kids off to Science at 2:20 I sat at my desk and found a cute blue envelope that said Top Secret, inside this is what I found...

 This totally made my day....I LOVE it!