Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Wednesday Made it? Yeah, I'm a Little Late

Oops! I had every intention of getting this post up yesterday Monday but life kinda happened! I am really trying to soak up every last bit of summer before school starts back up! So that's exactly what I have been doing :)

 But that didn't stop me from getting my craft on this past weekend! I am so excited to finally be linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my first real (of hopefully many) Monday Made Its


I have been working hard on getting my classroom put together! I figured new school, new decor! I may have bit off more than I could chew but I am having fun with all of these crafts! I am excited to see it all come together in my new room next week!
I have had these table caddies for 3 years now. While I will say they are durable as all get out, the colors were driving me crazy and do not fit with my new decor! So I decided to paint them! 


As you can tell these babies have seen some wear and they look nasty! So I had to do some cleaning first! I bought some magic erasers and scrubbed away! I was so impressed with how clean they got! 

Just look at that!

Almost squeaky clean! Almost. Those dang corners are still driving me crazy! But I am still pretty impressed!


My new classroom has a chalkboard so I wanted to play on that with my new decor. I'm using a lot of black/chalkboard prints with bright colors! I think they compliment each other well! Here's how the caddies look now!

Purple, pink, turquoise and lime, oh my! 




I found this really really cute chalkboard sign at Michael's the other day and thought "Hey, I could make that!" 

I found a wooden placard and some chalkboard paint and was ready to go.



I had some left over ribbon from the table caddies but it was too much black to go on the sign so I decided to make my own ribbon! I found some thinner, purple ribbon and layered it onto the black. It helps, but I think I should still prefer some sort of twine! 









Well, that's it! What kinds of crafts have you been working on!? 



Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Wordless Wednesday!

Well, I suppose I should start thinking about back to school. So I'm linking up with the lovely Christina Decarbo over at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wedsneday! I've missed these! 

So my question for you is: How do you organize all those supplies students bring in on the first day of school? Do you make it an activity? Do you just have them put them in bins? That's how I've done it in the past but I want something a little more exciting! 


I can't wait to hear all of your fabulous ideas!


Friday, August 1, 2014

August Currently!

No no no no no no no no no no no.

That's all I've got to say about that! How is it August!? Like seriously. No.

To make me less sad about the fact that summer is almost over *tear* I am liking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for August Currently. The highlights of my month!  



Listening: If you know me at all you know how not surprising this is. I love me some Friends. It never gets old!

Loving: I participated in my first SLANT Box ever this past month and Oh. My. Gosh. Best decision of my life. I had so much fun "meeting" another teacher blogger. We had so much in common! Love her! 

To read more about my new teacher blogger friend and to get a peak at the goods that I received, check out that post {here}!

Thinking: I'm not really thinking, it's more that I'm in denial. How is it August!? Where did summer go!? I haven't accomplished much on my to-do list yet. Oops. 

Wanting: Pretty much the same thing I've been wanting for almost 2 years now! This past month we finally had success with hormone therapy so this is the first time theres actually been a chance. Ugh. Waiting sucks. Fingers crossed please! 

Needing: Aside from needing more summer, I really need a burger. A big juicy greasy burger! Notice how this is under needing and not wanting. I. Neeeeeed. It.

1st Day: My first official day back is August 25th, but I am going in starting next week to begin moving my stuff over to my new school/classroom! I am excited to get in there! 

The kids first day is Sept. 2nd. So I still have some time to tackle that to-do list…Or at least to pretend I'm going to as I procrastinate more. :)

Five for Friday!

Is it really August!? I refuse to believe it. No no no no no no no no no.  

It has been awhile since I linked up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! So now that I am done pouting about it being August already, I am excited to share about my week!

BTW, Kacey's blog just got a makeover, and holy jealous. It's SO cute!



The last 2 weeks have been a little rough. I am in my 2 week waiting period to see if this round of treatment worked. And I have to be honest, this last round of hormones really kicked my butt. Because of that, my work out routine has really slipped.

Most days I will have limited time periods where I feel okay enough to work out. But by the time I get dressed for the gym, the moment has passed.  So I've decided to cancel my gym membership and purchase a treadmill. 



I am hoping that having it in my house will help me get my work outs in when I can without pushing myself! I am pretty excited! It is getting delivered on Monday! 


Since it's August, I guess it's time for me to start thinking about my classroom. Not that I haven't been in teacher mode all summer. Let's be honest, do our teacher brains ever really turn off!? But I really haven't gone back to school shopping or really envisioned what I wanted my brand new room to look like! 

This week I started some shopping and I am now getting excited to get back into my room! I am kind of going on a spray painting rampage. I am painting everything to make it feel more cohesive. My theme last year was rainbow polka dots, but this year I am going for more of a simple vibe. 

My new classroom has a chalkboard (WHAAAAT!?) and not a whiteboard, so I am going to play off of that and use chalkboard in my new theme along with this lovely bright fun colors!


I think the project I am most excited for I saw on Instagram thanks to ms.hollands_happenings! Individual white boards!



You just go to Home Depot and get a giant (4'x8') piece of tile board. Have them cut it down into 12x12 squares (fo' freezies) add some tape around the edges (they tend to get kind of rough post-cutting) and Voila!


Awhile back I saw someone post about the Dr. Seuss exhibit on Instagram (seriously, what would I do without Instagram!?). So my friend Sarah and I decided to go and check it out! It was really cool! If you are going to be around the Portland, OR area, I definitely recommend checking it out! 


The best part was getting to see the progression of his artwork. Did you know that he went through and expressionist period? 



I loved this one! I really loved that you can still tell it is Dr. Seuss! He still has his characters just with an expressionist twist! LOVE!


Did you know that he did a lot of political pieces during WWII? 

In this photo it shows him as the puppet master. He is controlling General MacArthur. MacArthur is controlling Emperor Hiro Hito and Hiro Hito is controlling the white horse! So interesting!


During WII he also wrote and illustrated and informational booklet that was passed out to soldiers warning them of the dangers of malaria! This was by far my favorite! I wish I had taken a picture of the whole pamphlet! I did get a picture of my favorite piece though ;) 


 Words of wisdom from Dr. Seuess: Don't run around like a strip teaser.


 I will say the exhibit was a little smaller than I was hoping for. I didn't want it to end! But I did learn a lot!


Look, Look! I grew something! I have never had a garden before and today I got my first zucchini! And it is massive. I am hooked! I can't wait to have a big garden next year!


 I know what I'll be making for dinner ;)


Okay, okay, I think I died and went to heaven! Apparently, there's a food cart in downtown Portland that makes grilled PB&J sandwiches. Talk about the ultimate comfort food! 

I met a friend of mine downtown for lunch today. We had both heard such great things about this place so we decided to give it a go! I am so glad we did. I want to live there. And I might have to because these things definitely add 1870924572 lbs just looking at them. Worth it.


I got The Joy. It was peanut butter, chocolate ganache, coconut and almond butter! It tasted exactly like an Almond Joy! To. Die. For.

Messy, but oh so worth it!


I also got my husband the Cynthia. It was more basic (he wasn't quite as adventurous). His had peanut butter, raspberry jelly and nutella! I didn't try it, but he appeared to love it!


Well that was my week! I kept pretty busy if I do say so myself! I can't wait to link up and see how all of your weeks went!







June/July Slant Box Reveal!!

I am so so so excited to share my experience participating in Jameson from Lessons with Coffee's SLANT Box for the first time! 

I have to be honest, I was a little intimidated by the whole thing (there are a lot of rules/details) but I decided to just dive in and do it! And I couldn't be more happy! It was such an amazing experience and I will definitely be signing up again in the future! 

Since it was my first time, Jameson made it especially easy by only giving me {one} person to trade with!

I was randomly paired up with who I can only assume is my personality twin, Jen from Sparking in Second! I had so much fun getting to know Jen! We had SO much in common! We both liked to bake, looooooved giraffes, were self identified gym rats and we both are teaching 1st grade!

The theme of this month's SLANT Box was sunshine! I love me a good theme so of course I took it SUPER literally. Jen on the other hand was much more creative! She focused on things that can be used during summer fun activities! 

Take a peek! 


 Look at her fancy handwriting! I have man writing…I think I need to take lessons from her!


Here's a look at everything she sent! I love that she labeled each item! Such a teacher ;)


My favorite was by far the popcorn, which by the way, I ate within 10 minutes of opening the box. No joke. I have a problem. 

I also really loved the personal sign she made me! It was so me. I can't wait to put it up in my classroom! Look how cute that little G is!? Jen totally knew the way to my heart!


I can't wait to use every single thing in this box! Especially the Rag Mag! Can you believe I've never read People magazine!? I've been in a pretty seriously exclusive relationship with Cosmo for the last 10 years.

And with this cute new tumbler (and my People magazine), I have no excuse but to go lay out by the pool and get my color on. Literally. I have no color right now. It's embarrassing. 

Head on over to Jen's blog to see what I got her! And if you aren't already following her, you totally should be. She is so adorably talented and fun! And besides, all the cool kids are doing it ;)

Sparkling in Second

Thank you so much Jen! You are fabulous and I can't wait to talk more with you!

And if you want to join in on the next SLANT Box exchange, check out the dirty deets here!

The SLANT Box Exchange