Sandy Hook, Secret Santa, & Scoot

I'm sure all of you are feeling the same way I am tonight....full of sorrow for the lives lost this morning at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. I didn't hear about it until just after I sent all my kiddos off after school. Heart wrenching.....:( I am so sad for the families of the children and the staff members, but also for the school "family".....as they lost 26 members of their family today. I can't imagine how life goes on after such a tragedy. Each person affected by this senseless act is in my thoughts and prayers. May God provide the peace and comfort they need.

Anyway, I had a really good day up until that point....

Secret Santa started today and I got the sweetest...no pun intended...gift! A gingerbread house kit! I can't wait to make it...:) I love Secret Santa....it is so fun picking out special little gifts for someone and also to get special little gifts every day for 5 days! My kiddos were so excited when Mr. Johnny (one of our custodians) delivered the package to me. They couldn't wait for me to open it! Isn't it adorable..:) I will post pics when I finish it!

I also had this sweet surprise in my mailbox today! One of our school board members always gives ever employee (admin, teachers, aides, lunchroom staff, custodians, and bus drivers) in the district a small gift....this was a nice metal tin full of yummy chocolates! 

 I know why it's called a sampled now! As you can see, I sampled several pieces! LOL!

After work, I had to run to Wal Mart and pick up some quick foods for my hubby and son to have over the weekend while I'm gone to Tallahassee to visit my daughter Miranda! While I was there, I spotted a pack of these.....

I have been looking for some so I can make some of these.....

Aren't they just adorable? I saw them on Pinterest! I'm hoping to find some things to put in them this weekend at one of my favorite stores.....

And....to finish up this post, my kids got to play SCOOT today. Mine really love it and it gets them up and moving! You can find the document and directions to play here. You can use it in so many ways...today we used it to review physical science vocabulary. I typed up the definitions and placed one on each desk and the kids had to write the words for each definition in the boxes. Sometimes I type up questions....either multiple choice or true/false and they write the answer in the box. Have you ever done this with your class? If so, please share how you use it...:) 

Well, I better head to bed....it's 11:30 and I need to be up around 6 in the morning! 

Count your blessings tonight and please remember Sandy Hook students and workers in your thoughts and prayers! 

Be Blessed,

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I'm Beginning to Think a LOT about Christmas....

Don't ask me why....and I'm certainly not rushing it (although I do LOVE Christmas), but I have been thinking about Christmas a lot today! It started earlier when I was eating dinner at my mom and dad's house. I was talking to her and telling her I wanted to come up with something to give all my students this year. I always bought my firsties something....sometimes a Christmas book from Scholastic, sometimes a small toy. This year though, I have over 60 kiddos! I am trying to think of something inexpensive, simple, & cute that I can make or put together. I found some cute ideas on Pinterest......but none of them are quite what I'm looking for! Any ideas? 

So.....anywho, after a delicious bowl of chili, I came home and found this awesome deal for a free Elf On the Shelf and the book for the first 5,000 teachers who enter! It is from this site.....The North Pole Playground. I rushed right over there and joined up so I could enter! Too cool....I hope I get one...:) Do 5th graders still believe in Santa? It's been a while since I had a 5th grader of my own!

This is a pretty cool site....go check it out, join, and enter to receive your own Elf! 

I was also trying to think of a way to incorporate science with Christmas and I came across some awesome ideas! I will definitely be doing the Christmas Chromatography (see pic below) activity with my kiddos, as well as the Case of the Christmas Cookie! They will love it....and so will I! I'm hoping to think of a small gift that is Christmasy (is that even a real word?)....and scientific! 

Christmas Chromatography!

And....since I am on the topic of Christmas......don't you just love these commercials?

And these movies?

Christmas is going to be here before we know it folks! What are you planning for your kiddos.....or for your families? Please share your ideas...:)

Be Blessed!

3-Day Weekend, Monday Made It, September Currently!

Let me just begin by saying, I have thoroughly enjoyed this 3-day weekend! After being in school for two weeks, it was much needed to do some "catching up" on everything....house cleaning, laundry, blog stalking, resting, grocery shopping, lesson planning, and the list goes on! But now, on to the fun stuff!

For this week's Monday Made It, I finally finished my No Names plaque. I started it a month ago and it just kept getting pushed to the side since I didn't really need it as much as other things I was trying to finish up! I found the large clothespins at Michael's over the summer. At the time I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I just had to have them! They were too cute to pass up....you know the feeling, right? They were all pink, but I spray painted two of them. They are  attached to a wooden plaque that I already had. I mod-podged turquoise blue scrapbook paper on it and attached the clothespins with a little Gorilla Glue. I wrote No Names with Elmer's glue and sprinkled white glitter on and added some rhinestones to bling it up a little!  I like the way it turned out! Be sure to head on over and visit Tara at 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone is making! I'm glad it's down to once a month now....maybe I can keep up with that now that school in session!

Another thing I am sharing is the birthday postcards that I designed on Vista Print for my students. I used these last year at the high school and I had lots of them left so I am using them for my 5th graders too! On one of their get to know you papers, I ask them to tell me their favorite candy and that's what I give them for their birthday. My high schoolers loved it and couldn't wait for their turn! They were always excited to see what candy they had written down at the beginning of the year too! My 5th graders are just as excited....we've already celebrated three birthdays and are just starting our third week of school tomorrow!

 Speaking of birthdays, I finally got around to writing all their birthdays down on my giant cupcakes (see pic below....before I added names) and discovered that not only do I have a student with a Halloween birthday, but I have students with a Christmas and a New Year's birthday  as well...:) Too cool!

And last but certainly not least, I'm linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for September Currently! I just puffy heart love Currently and reading what everyone is doing!

Be Blessed....and enjoy your Labor Day! Best of luck to those of you just heading back to school tomorrow! I hope you have a fantabulous week!

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My 3rd Monday Made It!!! (And a sweet giveaway!)

I don't know about you all, but I've been busy making stuff! Monday Made It is my absolute favorite linky because I love making stuff! Be sure to link up with Tara over at 4th grade Frolics and show us all what you made! Here are the things I made this week...

~1~

These are my pencil cans...I bought the little buckets in the Target $ spot and made the dots and letters with my Cricut! Another project was the duct tape pencil flags for my pencils that I let the students borrow. Cupcakes for the girls and flames for the boys!

~2~

This is my EZ grader stand. One of the dear (now retired) teacher friends made this for me a few years ago. She was so handy with wood and saws! I stuck a small piece of scrapbook paper in it so you can see how it works. I repainted it and added some cute lettering to it for this year!

~3~ 

This is my teacher toolbox! Pinterest inspired of course from this awesome teacher blog! I used a slightly different box than most but this one was bigger and only a few dollars more. I added a few rhinestones to mine too which you can see in the close-up pic!

~4~

This one was super easy and I''m not in love with it, but it will do! I used scrapbook stickers for this one. It's my  hi-liter bucket (Target $ spot again) that I will put next to my turn-in basket for the kids to highlight their names before they turn in their papers. I used the hi-liter spelling from the Avery brand markers and it looks wrong to me, but it was shorter and fit the can better. 

~5~

Next up is my hall pass sign. I took a board I already had that I didn't like and decoupaged squares of scrapbook paper on it. The lettering was written with glue and covered in black glitter (do yourself a favor and be patient enough for the mod podge to COMPLETELY dry before you sprinkle glitter over it! I made a mess and there are still flecks of black glitter all over it, but you can only see it close up!) I haven't decided if I am going to use these glittered clothespins or plain painted ones yet. 

~6~

Last up is a home made it.....The four small frames you see were all yard sale finds....well actually everything on the wall was found at a yard sale or thrift store! The larger two matching frames were a quarter each and the other two were about the same (I've had them for a while and don't remember). For the two biggest ones, I took a cute card and a chevron print zipper bag from the Target $ spot and cut them to fit. The other two were made from a cupcake box and cupcake liners that I had on hand. I loved the graphic designs and knew they would be cool in the frames. What do you think? I have a couple more things to add to this wall so next week it will probably look a little different...:)

And before I go.....

I wanted to tell you about an awesome giveaway too! Cassandra over at Adventures in Room 5 is giving away some sweet goodies to celebrate getting 100 followers! Click above & check it out!

Be blessed....:)

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Another Award & Projects Galore!

I am so honored to have been nominated for the

  

award  by Sarah over at Write On, Fourth Grade. Thanks so much Sarah.....:) Be sure to head over there and check out her new blog.....she's a newbie like me!

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award:

~ Link back to the person who gave it to you. (top of post)

~ Post the award to your blog.

~ Give the award to bloggers with less than 200 followers.

~Let the bloggers know they have won.

Here are the blogs I am nominating for this special award!

Annie at Tips & Tricks Teaching

Alyssa at Just a Primary Girl

Emily at The Science Life

Antonia at Forkin 4th

Jennifer at Teaching to Inspire in 5th

Be sure to check out these awesome blogs! Congratulations to all of you lovely ladies!

Today I have been busy creating some things for my new 5th grade classroom! I have been working 

on my teacher toolbox. I will be sharing this and more next week for

Monday Made It. I went with a different toolbox than most of the ones I have seen. 

Here is the one I purchased:

It will be much cuter than this one though...lol! I painted mine white and my colors for the drawers are 

black, hot pink, orange, turquoise, and apple green. I can't wait to finish it! I'm also working on a hall pass sign and clips, my EZ grader stand, pencil buckets, a no name sign with clips, and a wreath for my door. I'm sure I'll come up with some other things to make too! I have a long list of projects to make before school starts! What kinds of classroom projects are you working on? Be sure to link up with Tara for Monday Made It and share all your wonderful creations!

Be blessed...:)

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Monday Made It!

I have been looking forward to Monday Made It with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics to check out everyone's awesome creations! I had a busy week getting things ready for my daughter's new place so I didn't have a lot of time to work on school things, but I did redo one thing I made a couple years ago. Here it is.....

It's a paint can I bought and painted a couple of years ago. The dots and letters were cut out with my Cricut. It did have green, blue, red, and black fabric ties on the handle, but I removed the red and added some pink and orange to go with my color scheme for my new 5th grade class! Any suggestions as to what I could keep in it? I thought about candy for a rare treat. I always keep it on the corner of my desk because it has my name on it. 

Here's a close-up of the fabric colors. Another thing I did today was make a change in my craft room/office. I traded my daughter one of my wooden desks for her glass top one. I didn't like the metal frame it was on, so I bought 2 cheapie inexpensive bookcases from Wal Mart to put the glass top on. I put some pretty gift wrap on the back of the shelves. I have been wanting to do that to my big bookcases for a while, but it is too much work to unload them and remove the backs to cover them. Maybe some day! 

Anyway......I LOVE the way it turned out! 

Here's a few pictures.

I still need to put some things on one of the shelves, but I haven't decided exactly what I want on it yet. The one against the wall has my Cricut, laminator, and glue gun stored on it. They are easy to get to but pretty much out of sight. I am not crazy about the black desk chair, but it is comfy so I'll keep it for now! I have a chair on both sides so 2 people can sit at the desk if I have company over. 

This is one of my Pinterest projects from a few weeks ago before I started my blog. I just thought I would share since I just hung it up today! I love monograms! 

This is another project from a few weeks ago. I had an old nightstand that I was throwing out because it was falling apart. I did salvage the front of a drawer and the knobs to make a jewelry holder. I had the three green knobs in my stash and had been waiting for the perfect project for them. I love the way it turned out!

Last is the chair I refurbished for my daughter's desk chair. I bought it for a couple bucks and repainted it in Krylon's Global blue. I recovered the seat with a shirt I found at the thrift store. I loved the chocolate brown and white and the graphic design, so I cut it up and voila....from shirt to seat cover. What do you think?

I hope you enjoyed my Monday Made It's! I have enjoyed looking at a lot of yours...:)

Be blessed!

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