Teacher Week '13: Let's Talk About Me Monday

I'm linking up with Blog Hopin' for Teacher Week '13 today...  and today is Meet the Teacher Day... yippee!  So... 10 things you don't know about me?  This could get interesting! :)  In no certain order... and I'm diggin' deep to try to come up with stuff y'all might not already know!

1)  I went into labor with my 2nd kidlet {M2} at school.  Yep, water broke AT school.  I was teaching a lesson on graphing.  I would go by and tap one of my 4th graders every time I had a contraction and she would write down the time.  When they went to specials (I still have this list of times) @845, I called the dr office... our bookkeeper had to drive me... and I was almost 8cm when I got there!

2)  During my hospital stay mentioned above I contracted MRSA and without being too dramatic... I kinda almost died.  There... I said it.  I had to have emergency surgery and a very lengthy hospital stay.  I had M2 on February 1st... I came home for good from the hospital on February 15th (my bday).   Here's a picture of the 2 of us a few weeks after I got to come home!  (his rolls had rolls...  man, I love chunky babies!)

3)  I love almost any and all rap and r&b music from the 90s.  I can sing along almost instantly when the music comes on.  I like to go on solo grocery trips after my boys are in the bed so that I can blast my old school music.  LOVE: Boyz II Men, Jodeci, LL Cool J, Will Smith, Mary J. Blige, Vanilla Ice, Beastie Boys... I could go on and on FOREVER!!!

4)I managed an ice cream/sandwich shop in college which is where I met the hubs.  I had worked there since high school.  He was going to be our new food service guy.  He walked in and I thought he was cute... but thought he was old.  He thought I was cute, but too young.  Two of the ladies at worked hooked us up on a date and told each of us that the other person was very interested.... So... we sat on our first date thinking that the other person was smitten...bwahaha!  We ate Mexican... and it was the first time I had ever had Mexican food!  Can you believe it?  This picture was taken not long after we got married... and that was a LONG time ago.  Man... I wish I could look like that again!  This was at Joe's Stone Crab in Miami (nom nom nom)

5)  I don't really like chocolate.  Every once in awhile I will grab a Hershey's kiss... but as a general rule... I could have jars of chocolate in my classroom and it would go untouched by me.  

6)  I have 2 pecan trees in my backyard... and I am obsessed with them.  In fact... come October/November... I come home from school and head straight outside to start picking up the pecans that have fallen that day.  I am always in charge of the sweet potato souffle @ Thanksgiving dinner... and it makes me stupidly giddy to know that I am using my OWN pecans.  I don't know why... don't judge me!  

7)  I love anything with anchors.  It is a reminder of my faith.  This year REALLY rocked my life.  When I delivered Frances... I went through a hard time dealing with uncontrollable anger at God.  In fact... I would say that the anger was actually directed at everything and anything.  It all still doesn't make sense, but I am happy to say that the uncontrollable anger is gone... I don't know what God's plan is for our family's future.  I don't know if we'll have more children.... but I do feel more equipped to help other women who are experiencing the same loss/grief!

8)  I was born in east TN to VERY young teenage parents *my mom was 15 when she got pregnant.  My parents got married a few months before I was born.  My dad joined the army and was at basic training when I was born.  I grew up as an army brat... I lived in Germany for 8 years.  I also lived in Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Colorado, and South Carolina!  Here's a picture I snapped on a recent trip to visit family.

9)  So... if you've been a reader for awhile... you know that I am allergic to guinea pigs {poor Lulu} and you saw THOSE pictures... so tragic!!!  BUT... I am also allergic to: grass, weeds, mold, pollen, trees, citric acid, shrimp, pork, soy... and countless other things.  I like to think I'm offering entertainment for my family!  Well, I love the taste of watermelon, but of course... ALLERGIC.  Every summer I try some... just in the hopes that maybe I've outgrown the allergy.  This was after my last try... whatcha think?

10)  I love BINGO... not even gonna lie.  They have bingo here in our town on Tuesday nights.... I haven't gotten to go in quite some time.... BUT I LOVE IT!!!  Again, don't judge me!

I can't wait to hear more about you... if you're a blogger be sure to link up!  Did I include anything that surprised you?  Hope y'all had an awesome Monday... how much longer until the weekend?  Talk to y'all soon!

Home Sweet Home (errrr....Classroom)

Captain's log: the teachers here have survived 7 days of school.  There are 173 days of school left until summer break 2014 {that's approx 1,384 work hours).  There may be secret countdown calendars strategically placed around school to keep the teachers motivated!

Seriously... I am done with the first 7 days.  This is my 12th time doing back to school... so I can say with confidence... there ain't NO kind of tired like BACK TO SCHOOL tired.  Well, maybe except 1st trimester preggers tired... that can also kick your patootie.  I didn't have to change classrooms this year and when I left in May I felt really cocky good about back to school.  When I went back on July 25th... I was wondering what the heck I had been thinking in May.  I had SO stinkin' much to do before school started!  {sigh}  Lucky for me the hubs knows the drill.  He came home early almost everyday so that I could stay late in my room or go over the weekend(s).  He brought dallies (sp?) from work to help move bookcases and helped me put some of my IKEA purchases together.  Isn't it weird that no matter how many hours you put in... it still doesn't ever feel "finished"?!?!?  I didn't decorate with a specific theme this year, but I did try to go with a certain color scheme of sorts.  I realized that I had a lot of tealish blue and lime green in my room... then I found this picture and my brain EXPLODED!!!

So... armed with a picture, Pinterest, and a penchant for drama {but Eddie... I HAVE to go to IKEA or my classroom will suck!!!!!)... I set out on my mission!  I would like to apologize in advance for the long post, but I tried to capture all my favorite pieces and parts.  Hope you enjoy!!!

Easy enough... this is the burlap anchor hanging on my classroom door!  A very sweet co-worker (my school mom of sorts) made this for me the week that Frances was supposed to be born.  We aren't allowed to have biblical verses, etc. in our rooms... but this cross is a visual representation of my favorite verse! {Hebrews 6:19}  I go in and out of that door so often... what a comfort!

Also outside of my classroom door is my No Peanuts sign.  I downloaded it from The First Grade Parade, laminated it, then bordered it with chevron to make it more noticeable to any peeps coming in!  One of my little dudes has a SEVERE peanut allergy and I should be wearing a cape... because I am vigilant here people!!!

As soon as you come in...  I have a bulletin board that spans the whole entire wall.  I broke it into three pieces visually by doing red, black in middle, and red on the right!  The first one is our What's Goin' On board...where I post a calendar, breakfast/lunch menus, study guides for each one of my reading groups, invitations to community events, etc.

My numbered book boxes sit on top of the shelf.  Underneath the shelf is where the kiddos hang their book bags.  I found that I needed to be in charge of that space... otherwise it because a catch all for my stuff and all their stuff, too!

Here are the hooks under the bookshelf.  I used my Silhouette to cut numbers out of polka dot contact paper to number the hooks.  The first day of school I had like 3 girls all bring pink Hello Kitty book bags.  You get where I'm going with this?!?!  Yes, HUGE tears... "She STOLE my book bag!!!"  Problem solved.  Voila!

Here's a pic before I numbered the hooks.  Their nametags were hanging there during open house.  I bought the clear nametags and lanyards from Office Max and use my leftover pieces of chevron border inside.  Whenever I put up bulletin boards I always end up with crazy size pieces left over... so this was a definite WIN!!!

I think I may have an issue with numbering things that I haven't noticed until typing this post!  Hmmmmmm, making a mental note...  stop numbering ALL the things!  OK...  their desks obviously have nameplates, but I also used the polka dot contact paper to stick their student numbers on, too!  I tried this with black first and it didn't look that great!

Here's my behavior chart system for this school year.  I am using my nifty numbered magnets from Tea and Coffee.

Everyone starts on purple and tries to move towards the top... and down is obviously not where they want to go.  I found it HERE for free if you are looking for something colorful and new in your room!  My firsties are LOVING it so far!!!

Here is my computer table.  I have 4 computers in the back.  There is a lamp and picture on top.  Their login cards are also stored in the base of the lamp for when the poor things forget their login info again and again {and again}.  I scored the sweet computer backgrounds from Reagan Tunstall and you can find them HERE in tons of nifty colors!

Different view of same area...  our daily schedule hangs on left.  Spelling words are usually in the red pocket chart.  Our clock {obviously) and nifty punctuation posters.

Area back by sinks and back door.  I have always had this vinyl poster hanging, but this year I bordered it with chevron and I'm in LOVE!  Also the My First Day of 1st Grade frame that I made last year hanging/waiting patiently for the first day!!!

Front of classroom.  I have a giant whiteboard that stretches almost the length of my classroom.  The SMART Board is in the middle and then I have a right board and a left board to write on.  This side is where I sit for whole group on carpet, etc.  I post my I Can statements onto the laminated scrapbook paper.  My 2 large galvanized tubs hold pillows and clipboards.  This is also where my behavior system (the superheros from above) is housed... I just took this picture before I had it laminated and attached!

 Close up of the galvanized tub.  I had thought about spray painting them, but I ran out of summer!  Who do I need to talk to about making summer longer?

Bought 2 area rugs from Lowe's.  We have always had carpet, but they replaced it with tile this summer.  The thought of not having a soft surface somewhere made my skin CRAWL!  This was an inexpensive way to warm the room up some... and I can vouch for it's comfy-ness!  I may have taken a nap on this carpet {ahem}.

Covered the back of those nasty bookcases with contact paper and border.  I have used that contact paper for so many things it's unbelievable.  At only $3ish... what a great purchase!!!  I found mine at Wal-Mart {boo...hiss} near the college kids stuff that they put out every August.

Full disclosure is OK, right?  Because even though the other areas were starting to take shape... this is what it looked like behind the bookcases on the day of Open House.  My friend Tara and I moved all this stuff to my car so that it wouldn't look like my room should be on an classroom episode of Hoarders!  Yep... sometimes it's nice to see what someone elses's mess looks like... am I right... or am I right?

OK... on to Open House and then I'm gonna call this post a WIN.  Our open house was on Tuesday evening and school started on Thursday... so it was nice to know that I still had some time to rearrange, fix, unpack all this junk from my car, etc.  Here's the last part of my post:

Message for parents... on my UBER cool easel from IKEA.  It was only like $10-$15ish!  I kinda love it!!!  I wonder if it would look weird if I had maybe like 10 more of them?

Every year I lay out EXACTLY what supplies they will need.  I also take a picture and include the picture on the supply list.  This year I had my open house go in stations... and it was much easier to deal with all the traffic. I bought THIS PACK from Tunstall's Tidbits.  It was a life saver fo' sho'!!!  I had 4 stations (1-check in and get folders, 2-supplies, 3-transportation, and 4-meet the teacher and get treats!)

So... last stop for parents and kiddos was the treat table.  I had bags of Goldfish for the kidlets and individual bags of popcorn for the grown ups!  I think the parents were more excited about treats {purely an observation}.   O-fish-ally in 1st grade printable by First Grade Blue Skies.  Thanks for popping in by Magill's Mathletes!
I always print business card magnets from Vistaprint.. but this year I actually had plenty leftover from previous years and I didn't have to order... woohoo!!!

Our grade also handed out first grade website cards with QR codes.  Our principal was impressed!  Open house ended at 6 that night... and I don't even remember the drive home!

I hope that you are enjoying your weekend and that it will go by SUPER slowly.  I'm off to a family cook-out for some R&R.  Talk to y'all soon!!!

Back to School Must Have eBook and a HUGE Giveaway

Hey, y'all... and happy Wednesday.  Is it Friday yet?  Great GOOGLY MOOGLY... this girl is needing a weekend.  Today was the 5th day of school and there was definitely a horizontal life pause after school.  Followed by a DiGiorno pizza {It's not delivery... It's DiGiorno!}.  I digress...  fairly short post today to tell you about some cool happenings going on right now!  Run ... don't walk and check out this super cool Back to School Must Have eBook sponsored by A Modern Teacher and Schoolgirl Style!!!  You can click on the links to items and find all kinds of nifty classroom things that you never knew you needed before!  Yours truly is featured in the eBook... can you find me?  :)

Also going on TODAY is a massive giveaway over at Growing Firsties.  I adore Lisa and chances are... you have stalked her blog, too!  I am part of her giveaway today... check out all of the amazing prizes!  Who doesn't love prizes... just sayin'!

5 days down... 175 to go.  I think I'm gonna go ahead and scope out a beach house rental for next summer.  Eyes on the prize, right?  I'll be back tomorrow or Friday with a BUNCH of classroom pictures!!!  Talk to y'all soon!

Pets In the Classroom

Ok... so if you read my last post about the vinyl obsession addiction love I have developed... then you saw the cage that I decorated for our new class guinea pig, Lulu.

Another teacher told me all about a grant that you could apply for which would help fund the habitat and 1/2 the cost of your new friend.  My grant application was approved and Pets In the Classroom mailed me my package of information and coupons within 2 weeks.  If you're thinking of a class pet... I highly recommend checking out their organization!

I went with Petco since they are the closest pet shop to me.  The animals that I had to choose from were:

Freshwater Fish                                                Mouse

Bearded Dragon                                               Gerbil

Crested Gecko                                                  Hamster

Leopard Gecko                                                 Guinea Pig 

Corn Snake                                                       Fire Belly Toad 

Ball Python                                                       White Tree Frogs

Scorpion                                                           Tarantula

OK... to the good part...  I tore open my packet and headed to Petco to pick up the cage.  I bought lots of extras to make it "homey"... then my boys and I went back to our house to get Lulu's home in order!  When we were satisfied that it could be on an episode of Guinea Pig Cribs... then we decided to head back to Petco to pick up our new friend!  {insert squeals of delight}.  

Can I just say... that Lulu was one snazzy guinea pig.  When we got home I snuggled her for a few minutes before showing her the new digs!  Into the cage she goes... a few minutes later my face starting feeling kinda itchy.  Then the back of my throat started to tingle and my tongue felt kinda fuzzy.  Lastly my eyes began to swell shut!  Y'all... I was a HOT mess!!!  

I tried REALLY hard that night to find Lulu another classroom home, but couldn't find any takers.  The next morning Lulu had to go back to her furry family/friends @ Petco.  I have now crushed the dreams of my children twice (I'm also allergic to cats).  The hubs thinks that I should go with some type of reptile... maybe Lulu the lizard?!!?  

Sorry for the crazy face shots... I'm all about full disclosure (the good, the bad, and the UGLY).  I hope that y'all have had a great week so far... only 3 more days til the weekend!!!  ..... and remember if you're thinking about a class friend... check out Pets In the Classroom ...  Talk to y'all soon!

Vinyl ALL the Things!!!

I did it!  I bought a Silhouette Portrait!  2 months ago.  It sat in the box for awhile... a standoff of sorts.  I finally had this machine that I had coveted for years.  I may have entered every.  damn.  giveaway in the hopes of winning one.  {ahem}...  They have an amazing teacher discount by the way... you just send them a copy of your teaching license and VOILA!  Ok... back to the story.  So... the machine sat in the box for awhile... I was very overwhelmed with all the magical things that it could do... that I didn't know where to even start!  I finally opened that baby up in July and practiced cutting out letters on some scrapbook paper.  I think that I squealed with delight the first time it started cutting!  Once I got into back-to-school mode... I decided to upgrade my status to VINYL!!!  ...and let me just say that acceptance of your problem is the first step...  I am loving me some vinyl.  I am secretly thinking of all the different surfaces in my classroom that could use some sprucing up!  Well, maybe that's not a secret anymore.  Check out what I've done so far:

I vinyled (?) the corner of my desk with my Melonhead... and I'm kinda in love with it!!!

I made vinyl letters for the white board... that way all I have to do is write the date everyday...  it looks so crisp on the white!!!

More black vinyl on my white board... this is the area where I hang my I Can statements.  The best part about the Silhouette machines is that you can cut out letters using ANY font that you have on your computer!!!  (and I have a lot of favorite fonts)

I bought polka dot contact paper at Wal-Mart to cover the back of my bookshelves... and I had some left over.  Hmmmm, wonder if I could use the contact paper like vinyl with the same results.  I tried it and it totally WORKS... and it's a LOT cheaper!  I have a galvanized tub for my pillows (thank you Goodwill for pillows) and a galvanized tub for my clipboards.

I was so excited to get our class pet.  I did a grant through Petco and went to pick up Lulu the guinea pig last week.  I decorated her cage using white vinyl and a uber-cute guinea pig pic by Melonheadz!!!  Within about 5 minutes of having Lulu at our house, I had a severe allergic reaction... so no class guinea pig for us!  Lulu is now back with her family at Petco!  I will blog more about that later! {I know you can't wait!!}.

I have taken a TON of pictures while I've been working in my classroom.... but it will have to wait for another blog post.  Tomorrow is our 3rd day of school... and I need to hit the hay soon!  I hope that you guys have had a great weekend... talk to y'all soon!

It's Currently August and I Am Late ;)

Oh.... it's August you say?  How the heck did that happen?  I am linking up with Farley super late.  August 1st was our first day of school with kidlets... and sheer exhaustion would be a good description for how I've been feeling!  I promise I haven't forgotten about my blog... just been crazy busy trying to enjoy those last few precious weeks of summer... and then countless hours in my classroom before pre-planning ever started.  The beginning of each school year always takes a toll... and it always takes me awhile to find my groove.  Have you started back yet?

 My Currently is pretty self explanatory...  I am super happy that it's Saturday for sure!  I do have a stressful week coming up...  the doctors have discovered another blood clotting disorder that I have.  I have to go in for even more blood work and sit down with the doctor.  My anxiety level is high... not even gonna lie.

I have 23 firsties on my roll... and man... they are needy!  I need an assistant {I'm needy, too!}.  Loving and teaching little people is hard business... ya feel me?  I'd also be down with having a personal assistant!  Maybe she could do my errands, clean my house, cook dinner?  That'd be FAB!!!

Finally... back to school must haves:  Excedrin {no explanation needed, right?}, a fab planner... I'm partial to my Erin Condren planner... but I've seen lots of cute ones floating around recently.  Lastly, a good alarm clock.  I set my normal alarm clock... and set 2 alarms on my phone... just to be safe!  There is NOTHING worse than doing the walk of shame into the school late!  I did it once last year... and BOY I felt horrible!

I hope y'all are having a great weekend.... I'll be back later this week with some classroom posts... gonna go find my groove...  talk to y'all soon!!