Monday, July 30, 2012

Home Sweet Home...with Pictures!

There is no place like home!


I am finally back home from vacation.  It was so fun, but it's good to be home.  


We flew out of Portland at 5:30 am Saturday morning, but didn't get home until after midnight Saturday night because of layovers, delays and the time difference.  


Since we had to be at the airport so early on Saturday, we didn't get a hotel room Friday night.  Instead we stayed out sightseeing as long as we could and then went to the airport and spent the night.  Just to let you know, you don't get much sleep in an airport!  :)


Needless to say, I was beyond exhausted Saturday night when I got home.  


I think I'm still suffering from jet lag.  Yesterday was a blur.  


Tomorrow, I'm back in the school groove!  I have so much to do, I'm starting to get nervous!!  :)


Before I go, I wanted to share some pictures with you.  I absolutely LOVE the west.  I'm very jealous of those of you who live in the Rockies.  They are amazing!


I've only posted a few so I'm doing you all a big favor because I took A TON of pictures....like over a couple thousand!!  I go crazy with my digital photos.  I think I'm a digital photo hoarder!  :)
This is Crater Lake in Oregon.  The water is sooo blue.  It's just beautiful.  And, yes that white stuff is snow!

Crater Lake Lodge where we stayed.  Our room was the manager's suite and was very nice.  

The only picture I got of the Washington state sign, my 48th state. 

Near Mount Baker in Washington.  This was taken July 23 and they were still plowing the roads.  The summit of Mount Baker got 6 inches of snow the night before this.  

San Juan Islands in Washington.  I LOVE the rocky coast.  

This is off Cape Flattery, the most northwestern point in the US.  Again, I LOVE the rocky coast.  

And these beautiful caves.  We never saw them, but could hear lots of bats inside.  

This is Rialto Beach.  I've not read the Twilight books, but there were all kinds of stores and signs advertising  the Twilight Series.  

Here is a tour bus at the beach.  We also went to Forks, Washington.  They were proud of their fame!  :)

Well, I'm off to finish my laundry and maybe take a nap.  I'm still so tired!  We drove thousands of miles around Oregon and Washington trying to do and see as much as we could in a week.  

I need to rest up for all the back to school fun I have to get ready for!!  

Monday, July 23, 2012

48 STATE Giveaway and 48 Hour Sale

As of today, I have officially been in all 48 continental United States!  I absolutely LOVE to travel so I am very excited about this!!  :)

I always try to take a picture of each state sign when I visit and I would love to share a picture of my 48th state, but unfortunately I didn't get one.  The highway was too busy.  :(

Are there any guesses as to which state it was??? 

I'll give you a hint....I live in Ohio and I traveled really far west!  

Oh, I know.  Let's make it a game!  You can guess one state and if you guess correctly and leave your email address I'll send you one free item of your choice from my TpT store!  

To celebrate my visit here I'm also having a 48 hour sale at my TpT store.  You can get there by clicking on the following picture.  
Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd - Reading, Basic Operations, Writing - TeachersPayTeachers.com
I won't be back home until next weekend so have a great week!  

Out here I have limited cell phone service and internet access, but I'll be back to share my 48th state!  

Monday, July 16, 2012

Picture Perfect Work....Clips on Sale!

My hubby and I celebrated our fourth anniversary this past weekend.  We've made it a tradition to go away somewhere for a weekend every year.  It's only been four years, but we're four for four so far!  :)


While we were gone, we did some shopping of course!  We went to one of my favorite stores, The Container Store!  If you enjoy organization, this is the place for you.  They have anything and everything.  


We were just walking around dreaming about this wonderful closet they can build for you when we came across the clearance items.  I found these picture hooks on sale.  

 I only bought two packages because I wasn't sure how I could use them. After we left I thought about a place in my classroom where they would be perfect.  I have put something different up each year in this spot but I've never been really happy with it.  I think this year I'll use that wall space to hang up my Kiddo's Rockin Work!  


Once I realized how I could use them, I sweetly asked my hubby if we could go back the next day so I could get some more.  They only had two packages left.  So now I have 24 hooks, but I'm going to have 27 kiddos.  I'm thinking I may use half of them and tell my kiddos that those who finish neatly and on time can hang up their best work.  Maybe this will be enough incentive to inspire neater work that doesn't take days to finish.  We'll see I guess....


I can always use painter's tape for the rest....however, there's always a few kiddos who would rather take their work home so I think it will work out!   :)  


I went to school today to work for a few hours in my room.  Oh my goodness did I leave it in a mess?!  I'm reorganizing my books again this year and right now I literally have piles of books around my room with post-it notes on them.  


I have a lot to do this week before I leave on vacation this Friday!  

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Updated Lit Pack

I'm trying to go back over all of my TpT items and revise them for next year.  It doesn't seem like I'm getting my revisions done fast enough though! 


I have updated my Chapter and Picture Book Lit Pack though for those of you who have purchased it.  Click the picture to visit my TpT store or check your downloads to update to the newest version.
I mainly added more spaces for my kiddos to write.  They really need the room at the beginning of the year.  I have also added my Reading Journal pages that I use as homework.  


I use this pack with my guided reading groups.  There are 6 jobs that we rotate through: Questioning Quinn, Retelling Rhonda, Wordy Wyatt, Connecting Charlie, Predicting Pals, and Artsy Arnold.  


I'm working on the Chapter Book Lit Pack and the Picture Book Lit Pack too.  I'm almost done with those! 


This is going to be a quick post!  I'm headed to tutor my kiddo from this past school year in a little bit.  Then, I'm headed over to my friend Christina's from Sugar and Spice.  She's moving to first grade this year so we're going to get together and work on some ideas!  


It will be a fun, teachery kind of day!  


I'm still in the process of working on my Rock Star theme.  I did talk to my mother-in-law last night about updating some of the things in my room to match my new theme.  


I can't wait to post about those and show you pictures!  

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

My Deep Love for Pinterest and a Fourth of July Freebie

Wow, was I motivated today!  Woohoo!  I love days like this when I get soooo much done.  Mind you I didn't do any school work, but I sure got my house clean!  :)


In all honesty, I spent an exceptional amount of time on Pinterest today.  I have a deep love for all things Pinterest.  For real....I may need counseling.  


I really was looking for quick and easy ways to clean my washing machine because it REALLY needed it, but I also found these wonderful ideas:
First day project: Friend Tree. Everyone puts their thumb print on the tree then teacher later frames it and hangs it as a reminder that we are all friends.
I so want to do this during the first week of school.  So sweet.  Every student puts their thumb print on the friendship tree.  Hang it up in the room and it can be a great reminder of the friends we have. 

My adaptation of a great idea found on Pinterest-Making Memories in __ Grade. "Write down anything you want the class to remember this school year. We will read the papers throughout the last week of school. (Started the first week of school. This jar is jam-packed full and we still have a few more weeks left!)
I ask my kiddos at the end of the year what they liked the most about first grade and this would be a great reminder of all the fun activities we do! 

Subtraction Mat: I am going to do this next year. Great idea..
This will be a great way to help my struggling kiddos with math facts. 

Already have a bunch of water bottle lids!! Great idea for a math center!
This is my idea of a Pinterest 'craft'!  I'm already saving my water bottle lids.  I think I can make this one...I'm keeping my fingers crossed though.  :)

Probably one of the coolest Ideas I've seen so far!! **Engineer prints at staples for 5 bucks!!! Who knew?!?!
This one was for the home.  I just LOVED this picture idea.  So cute and so cheap!  Now, I just need the two kids....

How to Clean your Washing Machine - Somewhat Simple
And, here is my washing machine cleaning tip of the day.  THANK YOU Pinterest!  I had way too much detergent built up in mine, but it's all good now!  

These are just a few of the pins I have pinned lately.  I'm seriously getting my Pinterest on this summer and I LOVE it!  

Here is my link if you're really interested in what I have done the last few days...My Pinterest Boards.  :)

Now, if I could just find the creativity to actually complete some of these wonderful ideas!  

I want to leave  you with a Fourth of July Freebie before I go!  This is from my Memorial Day and Fourth of July Pack.  I'm going to be adding more patriotic holidays this summer...it's on my to-do list.  

I was just too busy today to get it done though.  Pinteresting was at the top of my list!  I love that word by the way...Pinteresting.  Yep.  That perfectly describes my day.  :)

*Happy Birthday*, America!  THANK YOU to all of those who have served, are serving, or will serve our country.  It's the best place to live!  :)