Apple Dumplings for the Cure!

I just had to share the yummy apple dumplings I made this morning! We are getting an early start to fundraising for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life that we will participate in next spring. To celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday, we had an apple theme smorgasbord today. Everyone who wanted to participate brought in an apple dish of some sort. There were yummy chicken salads with apples in them, several desserts, ambrosia, and pulled pork that was cooked in apple juice....I think. Everything was very tasty! I made my apple dumplings....they are always a hit when I make them. They are best hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! No ice cream today, but they were still good! Here they are...:)

If you would like to have the recipe, leave me a comment!  So, does your school participate in the ACS Relay? If so, I would love to hear some of your fundraising ideas....:) This is such a worthy cause....cancer has taken so many lives. Last year at this time, my father-in-law was battling lung cancer that had metastasized to his brain. Unfortunately he lost the battle exactly four months after he got the diagnosis. He passed away on December 1st.....my heart still aches over the loss my family suffered. I know many, if not all, of you have probably lost someone to cancer or know someone who is currently battling it. The Relay for Life is such a fun way to raise money for the cure. If your school has never participated, you should check into it....:) I can't wait to find out the theme for out October smorgasbord! Too fun...:)

Thanks for stopping by!

Be Blessed!

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Randomness!

Well, it finally happened....my allergies hit me full force yesterday! That's what I get for being productive and cleaning out and organizing the shed! I needed to get to my fall decor though and decided to clean and organize while I was at it. I have yet to put the fall decor up....I have felt too bad! Anywho.....I had to stay home today and have been miserable all day! I have been taking Zyrtec and Benadryl in hopes of this mess improving before tomorrow! I have been doing a lot of this.....

and this......

Hopefully I will feel better for tomorrow! I do not like to miss work....too much to teach and not enough days to do it!

I am a little disappointed that nobody has linked up and shared their teacher bag yet. I was so looking forward to seeing some of the bags other teachers carry. I need to come up with something lots of people can link up with I guess. It was my first one so I wasn't expecting too much...:) It's not too late though, so if you didn't see it, go check it out and link up! You can read about it here!

I titled this post randomness because I really didn't have a definite plan when I started it so it is truly random! I wanted to share a cute pic of my daughter Miranda at the FSU/Clemson game Saturday night. She is the one in the FSU shirt! She is with a couple of friends and FSU's own Garnet & Gold glitter guys. 

These two guys paint themselves garnet and gold and cover themselves in glitter for the games. They do a great job getting the crowd excited! They are too cute....they must have developed a love for glitter in elementary school! I don't know where they get all that glitter but they must pay a fortune for it every year. I read that it takes about 3 pounds of glitter each per guy each game! I recently found out that these guys always come from the Baptist Collegiate Ministries organization which makes me love them all the more...:) You can read about how they are selected here. 

Here's a better picture of them.....

Anywho....I know this was a totally random post! I was just in a random kind of mood I guess...:) I'm off to go cook some supper.....mushroom swiss muenster burgers and fries! I am so hungry since I haven't really eaten today. My sweet hubby ran by the grocery store after work and picked up stuff for me! Have a wonderful week!

Be Blessed....:)

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Teacher Bag Linky Party!

I'm hosting my first ever linky party! I was sitting here watching the Florida State/Clemson game.....Go FSU!!!...wishing I was at the game! Both my kids are there and I'm just a tad bit jealous...lol! Anywho, I was trying to decide what to blog about tonight when it hit me! I just finished grading papers and cleaning out my school bag so I thought, what about my bag! I love, love, love my bag. It is from Thirty-One and the style is organizing utility tote. I have had mine for a few years. I don't think the black & white stripe is available anymore, but there are lots of gorgeous prints/patterns to choose from! It is extremely durable, and washable as well! I carry it every day and it is filled to the brim with a file box of stuff, papers to grade, professional development books I'm reading, etc as well as my school laptop. I also have stuff in all the pockets! Here are a few pictures.....

This is the front of the bag. Of course I have my ~V~ for Vicky on there. I keep grading pens and highlighters in the front pockets. I also have a pair of sunglasses in one and post-its in the other.

This is the back of the bag. I have an umbrella in one of the pockets and a bag containing a nail file, dental floss, etc. The other pocket holds random things....sometimes a water bottle, snack,  or just whatever I need to stash in there.

Here is one end.....it holds a small bottle of lotion and lens wipes to clean my glasses. I usually have a small bottle of antibacterial gel in here, but I'm out and need to pick one up!

Here's the other end....it holds a compact, lip gloss, and Blistex. I have pretty much anything I need !

Last up is the inside. It holds a file box with various papers to grade, my school plan book, professional development books I'm currently reading, my E-Z grader, stickers, etc. I also have room to the side for my school laptop, and on the end for the charger. Everything fits perfectly!

Well, that's all I have to share, but I'm so excited about seeing your bags and hear what you carry back and forth to school every day, so be sure to link up and share! BTW.....this is my first time doing this, so I hope it works right!!!'

Be Blessed!

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Finally Friday & Birthday Display Linky!

Hello everyone! I am so excited....it's Thursday night, which means tomorrow is Friday! 
Woo! Hoo! Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I am so tired and can't wait to sleep in Saturday morning! Sleeping in for me means I lay in the bed until 7:30 or 8:00 and then get up and laze around for a while before being productive. The last two Saturdays I have been at workshops that started at 7:30 a.m.! I thought this Pooh Bear was too cute...:) Don't you just love him? Who couldn't love Pooh...:) Thinking of Pooh makes me think of my daughter Miranda.....I've always called her Randa Pooh. My precious girl is turning 23 next week! Where oh where did the time go? This seems like a good segue to lead me into my next topic which is the birthday display linky I'm joining! 

I'm linking up with Erica over at Blog Hoppin' for her Birthday Display Linky. I've shared my birthday board before, but I'm sharing again for this linky! The board on the left is my Sweet Rewards board. I didn't have a picture of the B-day board by itself. 

I made the banner myself....the fabric has sprinkles all over it in my colors....Turquoise, green, orange, & pink! It is too cute...:) I made the letters on MS Word and laminated them. They are just taped to the banner.

I give my kiddos their favorite candy for their birthday along with this card (below) I designed on Vista Print. I actually had a student with a birthday today. She bought me the cutest little owl candle votive cup. I wish I had taken a picture of it....I was going to but totally forgot! Maybe tomorrow....anywho, I told her that was a first for me....a student bringing me a present on their birthday!  She is such a sweetie! I have another student birthday tomorrow and Saturday! I have their goodies waiting on them...:)

I hope you enjoyed....be sure to stop by anytime!

Be Blessed!

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Making Moon Craters!

Just wanted to share a fun, and simple activity my kiddos did in class today after their Solar System test. They made moon craters! They had such a fun time with this activity. They used a pan of flour....oops, I mean moon dust, a large marble......meteor, a yard stick, a ruler, and a recording sheet for this simple activity. Oops...I almost forgot, they also used goggles....didn't want to get any flour dust in their eyes. They were so excited to have a chance to wear them! It's the simple things...:) 

Anywho, the purpose of the activity was to see how a crater forms when a random space object crashes into the moon. They dropped the marble from 12 inches for 3 trials, and then from 24 inches for 3 trials. They had to measure each crater in millimeters or centimeters and record their data on the table I created for them. They worked in small groups and did a great job....except for 2 or 3 who thought they needed to play in the flour....LOL! Kids....gotta love 'em! They thought it was cool that craters and even footprints can stay on the moon for millions of years since their is no weather there to wash or blow them away! Here are a couple pictures of the activity. 

Measuring a crater!

This one went deep in the moon dust...:)

Close-up of a crater.

Bombs....or should I say Meteors Away!

Well, that's all I have to share for today! I hope you all are finding time to squeeze some science in your day! I know it's hard to find the time when you are responsible for all subjects, but science is so fun and the kids love it.....so have fun!

Be Blessed...:)

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Oreo Moon Phases, a Moon Viewer, & Discovery Education!

Hello all my blog peeps...:) Hope you all are having a fantabulous year! I know I am! I am absolutely loving 5th grade and teaching only one subject....science! We have been learning all about our Solar System for the past couple weeks and today we got to have some fun....not that we haven't had fun on the other days, but today involved food! 

The kids made Oreo Moon phases. Have you ever done this? Here is a picture....from the Internet, because we were so busy I totally forgot to snap some pics! 

 Since I have three blocks....60 students...I had them work in groups of four and assigned two different phases to each student. I didn't want to spend $50 on Oreos and that's about what it would have been to give them each 8 cookies! Not to mention....they don't need 8 cookies each! Anywho, they each made their two phases and then had to assemble them to show the phases in order.....similar to the picture above. They had a blast doing this and they couldn't wait for me to check their work so they could eat them! 

After they finished this project, we started making one of these....see picture below. Again, this is one from the Internet since I forgot to snap pics while we were working!

It's a moon viewer. They are making one to take home with a moon phase calendar so they can track the phases of the moon for a month from home. They are having fun with this project too!

And before we did any of this, we watched this video on Discovery Education. 

www.discoveryeducation.com

Does your school have access to this site? Oh my goodness.....it is AMAZING! They have so many resources...for every subject and/or topic you can imagine! My students took the Discovery Ed science assessment. It is set up similar to the FCAT science test that Florida students have to take in 5th grade. The data can be viewed in so many different ways and everything is color-coded which is great for visual people like me! I love, love, love Discovery Ed! I am new to it and would love for you to share your favorite parts of it if you are a DE user. Please leave me a comment and share!

Be Blessed!

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Science Songs, 2 Cool Websites, & a BTS Package!!!

Do any of you use songs to teach? 

I have discovered some awesome science songs over the past year. My 5th graders love them and want to listen to them over and over. The Solar System song is their current favorite! The picture below is from the video.

 Aren't they cute...:)

It's the most soothing song....and it runs through my head ALL the time! I will never, ever forget planet order...LOL!

Another one I love is the Photosynthesis rap. My sophomores loved this one last year. It is really catchy! I plan to use it this year as well. 

Today I found this one about the phases of the moon. I think the kiddos will really like this one! 

It is a tune they will recognize too!

Ok...on to a couple of awesome websites! Are any of you using Class Dojo? I just started today even though I discovered it over the summer. I had too much on my plate to start something new at the beginning of the school year but since we are finishing week 4 tomorrow and I needed a different behavior plan for my 3rd block, I decided to try it. Let me just tell you.....they LOVED it! I am using it with all 3 of my blocks and they all thought it was too cool! Each student is assigned a monster avatar and they can earn positive points or negative and have points taken away or even go in the red. You can assign the different things you want to award or take points for. The computer keeps up with the points and will show you a class average of positive and negative behaviors as well as keep up with students individually. You can print reports or e-mail them to parents. You can reset it to start over every week, every 6 or 9 weeks or however long you want it set for. It is pretty awesome. I am going to come up with a plan over the weekend for rewards for positives and consequences for negatives. You can check it out here.

Here is a picture of the cute little monsters you assign the kids. There are also other avatars, but they aren't nearly as cute to me and the kids didn't like them as much either. I let them choose which avatars they wanted. 

Another awesome website I found out about today is called Ninite. It is amazing....you can install and update software from this one site. Anything you can think of....from messaging sites to media. They are all there! My cousin, who is a tech junkie and who happens to be one of our school tech specialists, showed it to me today. She was in my room working on my student stations...:) Anywho....it is totally awesome! Go check it out!

And last,  but not least..... I got my Back to School package in the mail today from one of my sweet ProTeacher friends! Several of us signed up to send a package to a PT friend. It was so fun shopping for my friend as well as receiving my package today from another friend. You could choose to remain anonymous or reveal your PT identity if you chose to. I got lots of goodies from my PT friend....who did choose to reveal her identity! She sent me 3 purple pocket charts, 3 sets of science flashcards, a rubber band ball, a Chicken Soup for the Teacher's Soul book, and a container full of brightly colored binder clips, paper clips, and jolly ranchers! I was tickled 

PINK 

to open the mailbox and see my package in there! I love getting packages in the mail....especially when they are so cute.....see the turquoise padded envelope in the background!!! 

Well, I guess I should go.....if you're still reading this, I'm sure you are thinking I'm long-winded and are beyond ready for me to wrap things up.....;) Sorry if I rambled! I couldn't help myself!

Be Blessed!

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Who Doesn't Love a Fun Game!

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend....mine is going great but it has been super busy so far! It started with a Friday night football game....Go Bears! We won 48-8....it was an awesome game! Then, this morning I had to be up bright and early to attend a Learning Wheels workshop at 7:30. Well, I didn't have to be....I signed up for it. Anywho, it was a science workshop where they teach you these really fun games to play with the kids for review of all the concepts they are learning. It is a super fun workshop....and I made an easy $150.00 as well as getting around $200.00 worth of games for free!!! They are really fun games and the kids love them. Debrah Harman, one of the creators of the company, was our trainer. She is from Texas and is just the sweetest lady! You can read about her company here. They do math, reading, and science workshops and they are all lots of fun. Here are the games I got. You can read about them here if you are interested.

Well, anyway, I got home around 2:00 and decided to blog for a while before I get ready to head out to hang out with the hubs and some of our closest friends..) Not sure what we will do.....maybe game night....maybe just hang out and talk....who knows, but it will be a fun night. It's raining....AGAIN....in good old sunny Florida, so I do know we won't be outside. I would love a good game of redneck golf if it was nice out! If you've never played, you should! Here's a picture of the game. It is so much fun!

This is a picture I found online to show you! I wish this lawn belonged to me!

Maybe a game of Jamaican Rummy! That's a fun game...:) Anywho, we'll find something to do. I hope you all have a fun evening spent with the ones you love the most...:) 

Before I go, I wanted to share an exciting bit of news! I can feel a slight bit of fall in the air!!!
This is always a huge welcome in Florida....I am so tired of the heat and humidity!
I absolutely love the fall....minus the allergy problems that always flare up! I love the weather, the colors, the decor, the holidays, I just love it all!

Be Blessed!

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Teddy Turtle & a Beautiful Rainbow!

Today I want to share my classroom pet, Teddy Turtle. Teddy is red-eared slider and I have had him for about 8 years. I got him during my first year of first grade. We had a bear theme that year, thus the name Teddy! He has so much personality for a turtle and is very interactive with the students. Speaking of students, they LOVE Teddy every year! Even my sophomores at the high school loved him last year and I had to fix them a feeding schedule so they could have turns feeding him. They were too funny...:) In 5th grade, my Lab Assistant in each of my 3 blocks feeds him. They are only allowed to give him 3-4 reptile sticks since he gets fed three times each day. They sure do love him though and each of them are waiting patiently for their turn to feed him! He has had lots of artwork made especially for him this school year and you can see it displayed under and above his tank in the third picture. In the second picture, you can see him waving at my finger I tell the kids he is waving, but in reality, this is what they do when they "like" another turtle....lol! 

I just had to share the beautiful rainbow I saw on the way home yesterday. Luckily my hubby was driving and I was able to snap some pictures. It was just gorgeous! The pictures just don't do it justice...:) I hope it brings a smile to your face like it did mine! I watched it all the way home and was reminded of  God's promise to us....:)

Well, I'm off to the high school for some Friday Night Lights!

Be Blessed!

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