Get Ready!

I'm excited... you should be too!

Get those wish lists ready!

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving 2013!  I know I have a lot to be thankful for!!  Enjoy this time off with your friends and family!

Giveaway Winner AND a great reminder for us hard-working teachers...

Congratulations to Sandra!

Competition was pretty stiff with only 2 entries….woooooo hoooo people must really LOVE Gilly…hahah!  Oh well.. at least Sandra gets a great Literature Guide!

I wanted to share with you this article I found online called, "How to be a Teacher for More Than 5 Years Without Killing Yourself."

It sounds a little drab, but the advice is sound.  It really emphasizes taking care of yourself, and reminding yourself that you are a wife, a daughter, a sister, a husband, a mom, as well as a teacher.  We get so wrapped up in our careers that we need to remember to take time for ourselves! 

It's a great read for a lazy Sunday afternoon!

Five for Friday! {and a giveaway}

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for her 5 for Friday!

Honestly I didn't think I'd make it till today--this week just seemed to drag!  But on the bright side, we have Monday off, so I'm celebrating that little victory!  

So here it goes:

We are doggy sitting for my parents as they are vacationing somewhere exotic, lying on a beach drinking a fancy umbrella drink (jealous  much?).  This means that we have not 1, not 2, but 3 happy Golden Retrievers in the house.  And one's in heat.  bonus.   Here's a picture of their adorable faces:

Mind you, they are also the reason I am short on sleep this week, from their antics in the middle of the night to constant horse play in the house.  I love them dearly, but I am ready for the two to go back to their own house.

I was fortunate to see Sara Evans live recently in a small private venue...it was an amazing show and she's still got a great voice!  It was a VERY nice date night with the hubs.

I did a FABULOUS lesson today with my 5th graders in math.  We're practicing 5.NBT.7, which involves adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing decimals.  We did a real-life problem where they had to earn enough money to buy an X Box 1 while they were in charge of their family's finances.  They had to use a checkbook register to keep track of a family's spending for 2 weeks.  It was an excellent, real life activity and you can grab that here.  It's from the state of Georgia, and if you haven't checked them out, they have an amazing website of resources to use for math and language arts that align to the CCSS.

In reading, we started reading The Great Gilly Hopkins.  It's one of my favorites to read as a class because there is SO much good material to talk about.  It's cultural and the students never forget the character of Gilly.  I have a literature guide here that you can get from TpT if you're interested!  There's a giveaway for this at the bottom of my post for one lucky winner!  (Starts at midnight tonight!)

I made this in my crockpot this week.

It's tomato-basil parmesan soup and oooooooo I am telling you GO MAKE IT NOW! It's delish! It was easy to make it lasted me all week for lunches.  I followed the recipe perfectly, but you could substitute low calorie milk or cheese to make it slightly healthier.  So yummy with a grilled cheese!

And because I want to I'm adding a 6th thing to my 5 For Friday.... 

So this morning, I am greeting my students as they sign in and I am sitting in my directors chair.  You know, the classic director's chair that you can fold up and stow away.... here's a picture for all you visual learners:

All of the sudden, the wooden piece that holds the fabric below the arm piece SNAPS and I end up in a heap in the middle of the chair.  With 19 pairs of eyes on me.  And suddenly the room becomes eerily quiet...with whispers starting.....Well, I am usually one that laughs at things like this, so what do I do?  Despite the immediate bruising on my thighs happening, I smile and say (to all my students who don't know whether to laugh or ask me if I'm alright)  

"Well, I guess you can all go home tonight and tell your parents that your teacher fell out of her chair today!! You'll always remember this moment!!"

I mean, yes, it was funny, and it was also one of those moments when the students realize you're human, and you mess up sometimes!   My co-workers thought it was HILARIOUS, of course.  They're so supportive (not like the chair).     It's nice for the students to know that I'm not perfect, which I think I do EVERY day because I'm really clumsy... but this one takes the cake.  And I do have bruises on my thighs, but it was pretty funny!   

Have a great loooooong weekend!

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November Currently

Hello November!!!  

For me October was a rrreeeaaallllyyy long month so I am SO excited for November and my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving!

I'm linking up with Farley for her November currently....

The first two are non-exciting...so I'll skip those.  Who doesn't love fall weather!?  Crisp mornings, beautiful leaves, warm beverages..mmmm.

Thinking:  So I've got a lot on my mind.  I'm border-line overwhelmed with school and life events.  I mean, the hubs and I are taking on a huge adventure in our personal lives, and that is on the fore-front of our minds 24/7.  We just want everything to work out the way it's intended to.  We know He has a plan, we just have to trust.  Combine that 24/7 thinking about our "stuff" with school "stuff" like SLO's, PLC's, observations, figuring out what to teach and HOW to effectively teach the CCSS each day (the list goes on), it's overwhelming!  It takes a toll on the body, and we as teachers need to remember to take care of ourselves and carve out some much needed "us-time", even if it's just shutting the door during our planning time, or taking 5 minutes to visit the bathroom uninterrupted, or going on an impromptu shopping excursion...we just NEED to put ourselves first sometimes.  

ok I'm off my soap box.

Wanting: same idea, with a new purse thrown in.  Who doesn't love a new purse?

Needing:  With buying a new house comes needing some furniture.  The folding table in our dining room is sufficing just fine for now, but I've got my eye on a beautiful one from Gardener, MA.  If you're in the area, it's this huge warehouse of furniture that is amazing! We got our bedroom set there and it's amazing.  So, I will wait...patiently.  I could use a few rugs though... 

Yummy pin:

apple crisp!

This is super easy.. and it has quickly become a family favorite of ours.  We've made it about 3 times just in the month of October.  It comes from the food network, from the kitchen of the Neely's.  I made it as one big apple crisp and didn't include the nuts, and it was fantastic! I love the idea of serving it in individual sizes too. 

Happy November!