August Currently

August already! I can't believe it. This summer has flown by. Well, you know what time it is. It's that time of the month where many people link up and get to know what others are thinking about and doing. I LOVE completing a "Currently" each month with Farley at "Oh Boy Fourth Grade".

Listening: Whenever I am cleaning, cooking, creating, blogging or if there isn't anything on TV, I tend to have the Food Network on for background noise. I'm not even sure what is on right now. LOL

Loving: Tax Free Weekend Baby! Each year my state has a weekend (it use to be a week), where clothes, shoes, and school supplies are tax free. Of course that means, getting those needed supplies for the classroom, as well as, getting new pieces for my wardrobe. Today, I got a new pair of shoes, a dress, and 2 lightweight cardigans.

Thinking: I'm making a list of any other items I need for my classroom. I want to try and get them this weekend.

Wanting: Of course, I am wanting to get into my classroom to setup. That won't be happening anytime soon. My classroom and several others were used for Summer Camp and today was the last day. Next week, they will be cleaning, painting, and waxing our classrooms, which means I won't be able to actually get into my classroom until August 11th. I'm majorly stressing out, because I will only have 4 days to put my classroom together before Meet N Greet. Ahhhhh!

Needing: I seriously need to finish organizing my house. I'm going to use the next few days to finish going through closets, dressers, and toys and donating things that we no longer need. 

1st day for my is August 6th. I will be attending PD from the 6th-8th. Then, I will be heading into my classroom on August 11th to finally start setting up. I'm sure we will be interrupted with meetings and such. Meet N Greet is on August 15th and the kids start back on August 18th.

Make sure to stop by Farley's site to check out other "Currently"s. 

Flashy Fireflies

Good Morning! Man, can you believe that it is already August? I can't! I go back next week for PD and then I will be at my school the following week to setup my classroom. My brain hasn't fully accepted the fact that I will be back so soon. I guess I need to get my little self into gear.

Anywho, I have been home with my daughter for most of the summer. My husband and I sent her to camp at her school a few days during the week. I still worked with her throughout the summer on letter recognition and sounds. One night when I was volunteering at her VBS, they were doing an activity with flashlights. The kids absolutely LOVED it! We put pictures of farm animals up all of the hallways, turned off the lights, and the kids had to go around shining their flashlights onto the pictures. This got me thinking and I came up with this.

(Click on the picture to go to my store.)

I tested it out with my daughter. I hung up the picture card fireflies in the hallway, turned out the lights, and then had her come in with a flashlight. I would say a sound and she had to find the firefly with the picture that begins with the sound I said. 

She really enjoyed using the flashlight and finding the fireflies. I can definitely see this being a hit with my Kindergarten students. I made 2 versions of this activity for you. One is picture cards for identifying beginning sounds and the other set is an alphabet version for letter recognition.

Check out these beauties that I found in the Dollar Section at my local Target.

They are perfect for $1 each. I got 10 of them all in silver. They had green, blue, red, and silver. I decided to get all the same color so that I didn't have anyone complaining about not having a certain color. 

So, what do you think? I can't wait to use it with my students. 

Stitch Fix

Some of you may have heard of Stitch Fix before and some of you have not. I came across this company through several other teaching blogs. At first I was hesitant to try it out, but I decided to take the plunge last month and do it. I didn't post about my first fix, but have decided to start posting about them from now on. 

Before I get started, let me explain to you about what Stitch Fix is and how it works.

Stitch Fix is a personal shopping/styling service. You fill out a personal style profile, answer some questions, and then for $20.00 a personal stylist picks 5 items for each fix and sends them to the comfort of your home. The stylist looks at your style preferences, size, and any recommendations into consideration. You can make recommendations for special events, such as, a wedding, vacation, etc. on upcoming fixes. With each fix, they send you styling guides to help you pair the items sent up with things that you might already have. After you try on the items that they sent, you log into your account and decide whether or not you are going to keep them or send them back at check out. If you decide to keep anything, the $20 styling fee will be credited towards your purchase. If you choose to keep all of the items, a 25% discount will be applied to your purchase. Any items that you decide not to keep, just simply place them into the prepaid envelope and mail out. It's that simple! 

I really look forward to getting my Stitch Fix. I'm not much of a shopper. Majority of the times when I go into a store, I see something and would never even try it on. This program makes me try on things that I would just skip right over in the stores. With my first fix, I bought a beautiful statement necklace and a adorable dress. With that fix, I was also sent a pair of cobalt blue pants that I adored, but didn't want to spend that much money on, and two tops that I had to part with. One, the area around the armpits was really tight and the other one was to short. Enough about my last fix, let's see what was in my box this fix.

I opened my box and took out the carefully wrapped items. This is what was in my box.

I see some potential items. One item, I wasn't very fond of the pattern just looking at the stack. I then took out the sheet with the styling cards and tore them apart. I do this with each fix and try and pair them up with things that I have in my closet. Here is the personalized note from my stylist.

Looking at the styling cards, I saw a few things that I could pair together. Remember, I'm just starting out so I don't have to much in my wardrobe right now. Also, I have been working very hard on losing weight. It is a goal of mine. So far, I have lost 15 pounds. I asked for items that are loose fitting and items that I can wear in the extreme South Florida heat. As I began unpacking the items and hanging them up to take pictures for you all, I noticed that my stylist really didn't pay to much attention this time to my request. Here are the items I got this fix.

First up was the Mixed Dot  Blouse. When I first picked it up, I liked that the material was sheer which means that it will be fine with the South Florida weather. 

The styling card suggested that I pair it with a light pair of denim jeans or a navy pencil skirt. I had neither so I choose a dark pair of jeans.

I'm not 100% sold on this shirt. It looks a lot better on the hanger than it does on me. I'm not to sure about the dots.

My next fix was the Print Blouse. This is the one item in the fix that I did not like from the start. It reminded me of something I would have seen in my Grandma's house.

Let me tell you that my gut must have been telling me something because this shirt didn't even fit over my chest. So it was definitely out. 

So onto the next item, let me tell you I absolutely loved this next shirt when I saw it packaged up and when I saw the styling card. I tried on the Dash Button-Front Chambray Shirt. This shirt looks just like a denim shirt, however it was super soft and very light weight. Well, I quickly became very disappointed as I put it on the hanger to take a picture. It was completely the wrong size. The tag on the sleeve said the correct size, however, the actual tag on the shirt was 2 sizes smaller. So, I knew I wouldn't be trying this one on and would be sending it back.

The final 2 items I tried on together. I tried on a pair of black polka dot pants and teal knit top. The pants were the same pants as the pants in my first fix except that they were a different color. I like the fit of them, but am not a huge fan of the polka dots. (Secretly, I was wishing that it was the original pants from the first fix.) The teal shirt surprised me. It was long sleeve. I didn't want long sleeve and I specifically asked for items that I could wear in the Florida heat. 

Well, I was surprised because it you could actually roll up the sleeves to make them shorter. 

I tried it on and knew that the sleeves would definitely need to be rolled up. For the picture above, I changed out of the polka dot pants and paired it with a pair of dark jeans. I think this shirt would also be good with a pair of khaki pants or capris. 

What do you think about my fix? I was a little disappointed by some of the items I got in this fix, but will be letting them know. I'm going to keep the teal shirt, but send all the others back. I liked the pants, but really wasn't a fan of the polka dots. I hope you liked finding out about Stitch Fix as much as I liked sharing it with you.

If you are interested in getting your own Stitch Fix of your own please click below for my referral. Check it out! It's a lot of fun. I can't wait for my next one.

Hitting the Dollar Spot

Can you believe that it is July already? I can't. In exactly 1 month, I will be headed back to begin prepping for the new school year. I've started marking things for my classroom, but am very hesitant about it. My school was looking for a new principal at the end of the school year and one was appointed last week. We had a Staff Meet N Greet last week and briefly met her. This week, she asked everyone to come in for one on one meetings. My meeting was yesterday. We discussed possible grade levels and leadership team opportunities. We are suppose to find out what grade level and team member assignments by this weekend. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will remain in Kindergarten. Last year was a rough year for me and I am looking forward to this year being better. In fact, I am determined to make it better no matter the circumstances.

I have begun thinking about my classroom for the upcoming year. Not knowing which classroom I will be in has been nerve racking. So I've started planning and marking things that I could use in any Primary grade level. Of course, I needed to pick up a few things for my classroom. You know what that means! Shopping!!! Of course, I hit up the Dollar Spot at my local Target. I have 5 Target stores near me within 25 miles. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Haha! Well, I went to the one closest to where I live and they had only unpacked flashcards. I didn't need flashcards. Grrrr! I was on a mission for supply caddies. (See my old ones have become so dirty and grimy that no matter how much I scrubbed and cleaned them it didn't help. I tossed them and was determined to get new ones this year.) Well at this store, I turned and saw the huge carts with unopened boxes. Not one employee was insight. It took everything in my not to start opening up those boxes. Plus, my husband was there and holding me back. Ha! I decided to hit up another Target 3 miles away from this one. 

I walked in and started to go down the first aisle. Nope, nothing, nada! My husband left me and started in a different aisle. Then, I hear him say "I found them." I, of course, rush over and he found the supply caddies. I was looking for green, but they didn't have any. Bummer! They did have black, white, bright pink, and bright blue. Those seem to be the colors this year, as I saw several other bins in those colors. I quickly regrouped and decided on the bright pink and black caddies. I bought all that they had at this store. I got 2 bright pink and 2 black. I continued to look around and found some sparkly pencils that my students loved last year and some apple erasers. Here are my finds:

I did end up heading to another Target and scored 2 more black caddies. Even though, they weren't the color I originally wanted, I am SUPER excited with what I got. They will definitely fit into my classroom theme this year. I have to add some ribbon and labels to the caddies. 

Have you begun preparing and buying things for your classroom? I would love to hear what you have bought. 

Vacation and a Giveaway

Hi ya'll! What are you all up to? Well, we are currently on vacation. I'm sitting here in our hotel room waiting for everyone else to arise. Yup, I'm an early bird so, why not blog a little bit while I wait. 

This past weekend, we celebrated our daughter's 4th Birthday. Of course it was, Frozen themed. Here are a few photos from her party.

Decorating crowns

Birthday girl

Pin the nose on Olaf

The food (All Frozen themed of course)

Making Elsa's Ice Bracelets

Snowball Toss

The party was a lot of fun. It was hard finding Frozen items and/or winter themed decorations. 

Well, we are getting ready to head out to the Atlanta Zoo, before heading off tomorrow on our next stop of our Road Trip adventure. Would you like to here about our adventures on here? Just curious, some people like to hear about them and some not. Let me know.

Anywho before I go, how about a little Giveaway. I'm going to give away my new product "You Got the Write Stuff: Handwriting Practice" packet. This past year we used the Zaner Bloser Handwriting curriculum, but I found it needed more practice pages. I decided to create one to use with my kiddos. Sorry, I can't show them in action yet but enter below for a chance to win. Thanks. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

June Currently

Can you believe that it is already June? I can't! I am beginning the final week of school tomorrow. I have so much to do and not enough time. Well, it feels like not enough time. We all know the procedures. Pack up room, turn it student folders, paperwork, inventory, and the list goes on and on. Well, what better way to not think about those things than doing a Currently. So here it is.

Listening: "Chopped: Grill Masters" is on and I'm listening to it while I write this post. A little over 4 hours until the Season Premiere of "The Next Food Network Star". Can you tell I like to watch Food Network, however I wish I was as good of a cook as the people on here.

Loving: I'm loving the fact that tomorrow starts the last week of school. Woohoo! I'm in the home stretch! 

Thinking: I've been thinking a lot lately about what grade I will be teaching next year. It has been a year for me. Lots of ups and downs. A lot more downs that ups, but I'm keeping my head up and looking forward to next year being better. Our principal will not be returning next year and they will begin looking for a new one soon. With that being said, I don't know if I will remain teaching the grade I love or moving to a new grade. Time will tell.

Wanting: I really, really, really want my new dryer and microwave to come. Both of them stopped working last week within a day of each other and we have to wait for them to come in. Not being able to do laundry at home stinks.

Needing: I need to finish planning my daughter's 4th birthday. She wanted the theme to be......FROZEN! Yup, I live with a Frozen obsessed little girl. Trying to find things for the party has been crazy. The Party Store got a new shipment of supplies in and I was there when they were putting them out. You would have thought they were GOLD! One lady kept trying to take the plates I had out of my hands. She was buying everything. I have a feeling she was buying them to put on eBay, as I don't really think she needed the amount of items she had.

Summer Bucket List:

1. Vacation- We will be taking 2 trips this summer. One road trip to Georgia and Tennessee and then a trip to the beach.

2. Blog/Create more- I haven't been able to blog or create much this year and I really miss it. I need to get back into it and promote my blog more. Any advice from you all would be great?

3. Family- I want to spend more time with my family. I'm lucky that my husband is a teacher as well so we get to have the same time off. 

Well, that's it for now. I can't wait to read all of your comments, as well as, your own currently. Make sure you link up with Farley.

Go Noodle

Good Morning! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I'm home today with my little one who isn't feeling to good. So I thought I'd do a little update. I wanted to share with you something new that I have started using in my classroom. It's called "Go Noodle". It's a fun way for your students to get in brain breaks during the day. I love it because there are not just movement exercises, but some of them are educational review of math skills, reading, etc.

Here are my kids doing one of the activities where I was able to customize it to their spelling list for the week. They practiced spelling the words with movements. They absolutely loved it. 

My students also enjoy the "Freeze It" game. Your class gets a Champ assigned to them and as they complete activities, the Champ grows stronger. 

Check it out by going to GoNoodle.com. Best of all it's FREE!

March Currently

It's been awhile since I last posted. I really have to get back into the swing of things. So, I'm going to start by getting back into it with doing the Currently from Farley. Check it out here. 

I'm sitting on the couch catching up on my guilty pleasures from being hit by the stomach virus. This virus sweep through my whole house and even got my parents and in-laws. It all started with my daughter whose 3. Then, it hit my dad and me. Followed by my husband and father in law. Both grandmas' lucked out. Thank goodness.

After being affected by this virus for almost two weeks now, it's great to get some quality time with my hubby. I can't wait for tonight. Great company and great food. Yum!

I can't tell you all how much I am looking forward to Spring Break and our vacation to Disney World. We are going for a full week and I am ecstatic. I mainly just can't wait to get away.

Don't we all just wish we had one extra day added to the weekend to get things done. I know I sure do. They just seem to go by way to fast.

I really need to get up and finishing cleaning, as well as organizing. I feel so behind. I have to take advantage of the fact that the little one isn't here and I can get rid of some of her things that she doesn't play with anymore. It's so hard when she's here because she'll see me take something to pack up and she'll start saying that she needs it. Ugh!

So can you guess what the last three things have in common? Hmmm...what can it be? Take a wild guess and be sure to stop by Farley's site to check out other Currently's.