Saturday, March 30, 2013

Spring Sale

I am in North Carolina visiting #2 Child. He moved here in November, and phone calls aren't enough when he is so far away. To celebrate seeing him, I have put my entire store on sale at Teachers pay Teachers. Today and tomorrow you can save 20%. Fill your cart.

There are so many great sales going on with Spring Cleaning Sales and such. Have a great weekend! I know I will.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Noun Game

Today was the last day of school for the week. Vacation began at 2:53 pm! Yipee! It has been a long time coming.

As I get ready to take a break from this hectic schedule, I am joining up with Latoya from Flying into First's Let's Get Acquainted Linky. This week's focus is on Nouns, specifically naming your favorite person, place, thing, and animal.

Person
My favorite person without any doubt is my husband. Hoj, as everyone calls him, is the most loving and supportive husband I could ask for. He does dishes and laundry! His mama taught him well, and his dad was the role model for the wonderful father he has become. 
Place
My favorite place is my home. I cannot wait to spend some quality time there next week. I have big plans for spring cleaning, blogging, and painting. (Probably not in that order.) It is a well-loved, lived in home. Right now, it is looking unloved, and lived in a little too much.
Thing
My iPad is my favorite thing. I am seldom without it. It is on my bedside table while I sleep, in my purse when I shop, and on my lap all evening. I discover more things I can do with it daily.
Animal
My favorite animal? My dogs. Pennington and Wrigley are my grading companions. One sits with her head on my lap, while the other sits on my feet. Penny, the chocolate lab thinks she is a lap dog. The Jack Russell, Wrigley, is content to sit close by, but not too close.  I worry as they get older, what we will do when we lose one. They are miserable without the other. When #3 child goes off to school after next year, she will have to take them with her. They are by all rights her dogs. They get very depressed when she is away overnight. I cannot image how they will be when she is away at school.

If you haven't linked up, please do. Join the fun.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

The Truth Be Told

Last weekend I linked up with Latoya Reed's Let's Get Acquainted linky party. I had so much fun reading about so many interesting lives.

My three choices for the lie were:
#1 Voted most likely to succeed in my graduating class.
#2 I rode a unicycle around my neighborhood, after being paid for learning how.
#3 I met my husband at a running race between my sister's wedding and reception.

The truth is I did get paid for learning to ride the unicycle. My father bought one at an auction and said he would give ten dollars to the first one of us that learned to ride it. My sister climbed on and took off. Not to be outdone, I practiced while he was at work the next day. When I knew he would be pulling in the drive, I hopped on and took off down the road. He gave me $5! He almost broke a collarbone trying to learn late at night. Our neighbor got to witness, and spilled the beans. That same sister and I made quite the pair. She later rode a high-wheel bicycle along side of the unicycle as I rode. (I was too short to reach the pedals on the high-wheel!)

My other truth....
My sister really did have a running race between the wedding and reception. She was secretary for a Roadrunner's Club and her fiance was vice president. They met at a race. All of the wedding party was a runner at one point. My husband's brother was invited to the wedding, and his date backed out. Mr. Wonderful became the + 1 after the race. Coincidentally, my biking sister and hubby's sister had been teammates on an AAU track team a few years earlier. Running has played a part of my life since childhood. Although my speed has slowed to a walk, I have helped hubby coach varsity cross country for eleven years.

The lie of course was that I wasn't voted most likely to succeed. I was voted best informed and most serious. That most likely to succeed class president? She dropped out of college and became a volleyball official.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Monday's Project

I am a week late with my project for Tara's March Monday Made It. I didn't have access to post my project while at camp, and I have been crazy busy since returning. I finished laminating my banner while students hovered during an inside recess. Yuck! When will this winter ever end???

In an effort to be more positive, and to brighten my classroom, I made a new banner. It is available in my TpT store, and is on sale today. I will give a copy to the first three people to comment on this post.

Here's hoping this banner brings Spring my way! I have this week and next before my break begins.

Two Truths and a Lie


I am joining Flying into First for her Let's Get Acquainted Linky. With the forecast for winter continuing into Spring later this week, I need some fun. I still have this week and next week before my Spring Break begins.



How it Works:
I have to think of 3 things about myself or my life. I need to make 2 of them truths and 1 of them a lie. You need to try to guess my lie in the comments of this post. At the end of the week I will share the answer. Here goes:


1. I was voted most likely to succeed for my high school graduation class.
2. I used to ride a unicycle around my neighborhood, after earning money for learning how.
3. I met my husband at a running race that was held between my sister's wedding and her reception.



Saturday, March 16, 2013

The bunny with a basket


I don't know how many of you are in a school where the four-legged bunny with a basket comes for a visit. Although I teach in a public school, it is a rural school in a religious community. The bunny with the basket visits our early grades, compliments of the older students. I am also making some fun activities for our group of buddies that have a bunny and basket theme. To go with these activities, I have made some jelly bean graphics. I am obsessed with my iDraw app! I wouldn't say I am an artist by any sense of the word, but I do like to draw and doodle.

I am offering a complimentary copy of my 31 jelly bean graphics to the first three people to comment on my jelly beans. You can see them in my Tpt store. As a matter of fact, they are on sale with the rest of my store through tomorrow.


Friday, March 15, 2013

Home and a Sale

We survived our stay at camp. We had heavy rain Monday and then two very cold and blustery days. We also had some homesickness, and some flu.  We had a great time in spite of all of that.

We divide students into cabins based on teachers, but with two mixed cabins for overflow. We use bandannas to keep track of cabins. Cabin leaders  carry matching flags. This makes it easy to know where students are at all times. My students were in blue group, with just a few mixing in with yellow.


We returned to a big breakfast yesterday and a special pajama day. Our wonderful fifth grade parents cooked a huge breakfast for the students and my team. Pancakes, sausage, and eggs along with juice were served to all of us in pajamas. What a way to be welcomed home!




With St. Patrick's day this weekend, I am having my first sale on my TpT store, in honor of Mickey, my m-i-l, a second generation Irish-American.

Have a great weekend.

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Off to Camp We Go!

We leave for fifth grade "camp" or outdoor education in the morning. It is supposed to be very rainy. We may even have snow flurries Tuesday and Wednesday. This is sharp contrast to our gorgeous 67 degrees and sun today. It was in the sixties last year!

I don't mind the flurries and cold, I do mind the heavy rain they have predicted. Students don't mind being outside, but wet clothes and feet could make for some very unhappy campers. Hopefully the rain will be done early, with the Underground Railroad being planned for tomorrow night. Camp Storer has added some authenticity to the event by using horses and a slave auction. We use the book "Pink and Say" as a wrap up to this activity. This will be the culmination of our Civil War studies and provides an opportunity to share a reading activity. It settles students down after we discuss the events of the evening. Students get sleepy and can't wait to hit the bed! It makes for an easy first night at camp.

I have said repeatedly this year, that I love my class. My students all get along great. They were making plans of Friday to make sure each one has a buddy. They will be excited to see their cabin groups. We keep students grouped by class as much as possible to avoid problematic situations. My last two hold outs brought in paperwork on Friday. Neither one has ever been away from mom! It could make for some extra work on my part to keep them at camp. They were placed with best friends, so that should help.

Say a prayer that we keep the rain, flu, homesickness, and other annoyances at bay! I will be back later in the week for some news.


Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Doodling

I have found myself sitting for hours talking with my dad as he recoups from his fall. He doesn't sleep well at night, so he often will doze off while I visit. I keep my iPad nearby to pass the time as he snoozes. I have used that time to make some new fonts, and to explore other apps on my iPad. I wrote about loving iFont here.

The art app I am loving is iDraw. It is a little pricey, but I bought it on sale. Even at $8.99, I think I would have gotten my money's worth in a couple of projects.

I have always been a doodler, so I love that I can doodle digitally now. I love the layers that you can add to create some awesome clipart. I make a frame and then change the colors. You can save your artwork and  as a jpg or a png file. I email the files to myself. Best of all, you can save with or without the background. Goodbye pesky white or black backgrounds!  Here are some of my "doodles".







I know there are many other drawing apps out there. Which do you like to use in your drawing, doodling or designing?

I will give a copy of one of my frames to the first three people to comment on my clipart. Each of these sets are available in my TpT store. Just leave your name and which one you would like. It you like these, I would love to have you follow my store!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

My life is "March"ing along

Although the snowflakes outside today made me think winter, it is March. That means Spring is just around the corner, and it is time for Farley's next installment of Currently.


If it is March, that means marathons of basketball at my house! My husband loves every sport, and basketball is near the top of the list. It doesn't matter which team is playing, just as long as it involves a round orange ball and a net! 

I am loving the time I have had using my iPad to be creative. More on that on Monday.

I am thinking we leave for Fifth Grade Camp on March 11th. We haven't decided cabin groups yet! Ugh!

I am wanting a new pair of shoes. I need something casual, comfortable, and cute! I see a trip to DSW in my future.

I need to make some long range plans. I have a student going "home" to the middle east for six weeks. The P said I don't need to send the work for the full time, but my kiddo is struggling a little already. I might as well gather things for all my plans while I do her plans.

I like markers, especially smelly ones. Need to get me some more!

I love March because of the warming temperatures in Michigan, and Spring! 

I hate messes. Right now I feel like my life is nothing but little messy piles. I haven't had time to clean my classroom to my liking, or my house for that matter. Family is more important than the piles right now.

Spring Break hurry, before I disappear under a pile.

Pin It button on image hover