Time is running short

Starting to feel the pressure of getting everything done in my room.  I am loving my outside bulletin board.  I attempted to cut out the letters on my cricut but I have a new mat and it was too sticky!  The paper got stuck and kept ripping.  What a bummer.  I had to cut the letters out by hand.  Pain in the butt, but they don't look too bad!  

We are going to try on line homework this year using Scootpad.  Our budget has been cut (thanks McCrory!)  and we are only going to get one box of paper to use until Christmas.  YIKES!  This will save about 100 pieces of paper per class per week.  Of course we will have to print paper homework for the students who do not have internet access.  We also did away with Accelerated Reader.  I am going to use reader's response journals this year to keep my students accountable for what they read.  Once a week they will turn their journal in to me and I will respond to their book response.  I have assigned different children different days so that I won't be responding to 20 journals every night.  I also used fabric on my inside bulletin boards this year.  I'm trying all kinds of new things, y'all!

Final Countdown

83 days until my wedding.
15 days until school starts.
8 days until I start teaching at the college.

Boy, oh boy.  Where has the summer gone?  My bridal shower was yesterday and it was so beautiful!  So many friends and family came to show their support and dig in to some yummy brunch.  We got so many amazing gifts.  I can't wait to use the blender and margarita glasses.  My friend Kazie and I ordered my garters, cake topper, and favors this morning.  Every thing is starting to seem so real!  For right now I am going to enjoy the smell of the chocolate pie in the oven and the blissful quiet that has fallen over this house...minus the snoring I hear coming from the bedroom.

I mustache you a question

So obsessed.  I got black and white striped straws and mustaches that attach to the top. I also got some erasers, pencils, and pixie sticks to put into their back to school goody bag.

My school supply addiction...

One of these days I will compare the amount of money that I spend on myself to the amount of money that I spend on things for my classroom.  This weekend is tax free weekend in NC and I have taken full advantage of the savings.  I got a new storage unit from Walmart to hold all of my work with words materials.

Thanks for the idea, Ashley!  One of my goals is to be more organized this year, and this is definitely going to help. I also stocked up on pencils, erasers, colored pencils, markers, ect.  Spiral notebooks were only 17 cents, so of course I bought 60 of them!  I am so anxious to get in to my classroom on Monday.  I want to get it all set up before our work days so that I can spend that time planning with my team.  For now I am going to continue relaxing in this recliner.

Liebster Award!

Thank you Julie for nominating my blog for the Liebster Award!  

The Liebster Award is for blogs with less than 200 followers in order to promote that blog, show appreciation, and hopefully draw more followers. To accept this nomination, you need to do a few things first:

1. Link to the person who nominated you. 

2. Answer questions from your nominator. 

3. Share 11 random facts about yourself. 

4. Nominate five or more blogs with less than 200 followers. 

5. Pose questions to your nominees. 

Julie didn't leave me any questions so I am going to borrow some from Heather!

1. What's your favorite school supply? I would have to say that I get really giddy when I open a new pack of Sharpies.

2. What animal describes your teaching style?  A monkey because I am all over the place and love to entertain!

3. How many years have you been teaching? 2- both in 2nd grade

4. What's your favorite restaurant?  Arturos- New Bern ,NC. Most delicious Mexican food on Earth.  I dream about their shrimp chimichangas on the reg.

5. Which season do you like best?  Fall.  I was fortunate enough to spend four years in Boone, NC, and I enjoyed every minute of the changing leaves, crisp fall mountain air, and beautiful sunshine.  

6. Do you have a TPT store?  Yes!  There is a link on my blog! :)

7. What subject do you most like to teach?  Science.  I am obsessed.  Weather, matter, life cycles, sound, you name it.  I want to get in there and get my hands messy.

8. Do you have a class pet?  You mean other than my kids? ;)  No, but I have thought about getting a hermit crab.  

9. What's your favorite part of your classroom?  I would have to say my rocking chair on the carpet.  It is a very relaxed atmosphere and the kids love sitting in it during read to self.

10. If you could hire anyone in the world to teach your class, who would it be?  Michael Jordan. Come on, how cool would that be?

11 Random Facts

11. I am obsessed with my Dyson vacuum.

10. I have a 3 year old black lab named Jet.

9.  I am getting married in November and going to Cancun!

8.  I have an unhealthy addiction to anything chevron.

7.  I may be getting married but if Luke Bryan asked me out I couldn't say no. 

6.  I am an Alpha Omicron Pi.

5.  I love hydrangeas.

4. I love to fish.

3.  I just bought a new chevron lampshade at the Dollar General.

2.  My new last name will be Joyner.

1.  I just finished Firefly Lane.  Huge cry session ensued. 

My turn to nominate!

Fourth Grade Lemonade

If You Give a Teacher a Treat

Lights Camera Teach

Answer these questions and link back! :)

1.  What is your guilty pleasure?

2.  How many years have you been teaching?

3.  Do you have a TPT store?

4.  What is your favorite funny teaching story?

5.  Is there a blog that you follow religiously?

6.  What type of behavior management do you use?

7.  Favorite dessert?

8.  If you could only choose to teach one subject this year, what would it be?

9.  Advice for a beginning teacher?

10.  Favorite song?

Blog Lovin!

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Currently in August...

I cannot believe that it is August already!  As much as I have tried to savor every single second of this summer, somehow it has flown by.  What was in actuality hours watching HGTV seems like minutes in hindsight. Linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade for this little bit of fun!

Listening:  

I love Pandora.  I mean seriously.  I listen to it while I am cooking, at the gym, lounging in the yard.  We even break out the kids bop Pandora at school!  The soundtrack to my summer has consisted of Luke Bryan, Eric Church, and Jason Aldean.  PS Luke, if you're reading this, you can crash my party anytime.

Loving:

I love tax free weekend! Unfortunately, word is that this is the last one our state will see.  Along with all of the other moments in NC government lately that have made me super proud, this is one of the worst.  I get most of my school supplies when they are on sale and this weekend is a great time to buy!  Also, tons of parents take advantage of saving on their kids supplies.  I will be visiting my faaaav teacher store today, Teachers Pet!

Thinking:

That sun is mighty bright this morning!  Apparently, yesterday I thought it was a good idea to crack the blinds and let a little light into my room.  Instant regret at 6:00 this morning.

Wanting:

To see my room!  I haven't visited that love-hate relationship since I had to pack everything away at the end of the year.  This lady has lots to do!  Bulletin boards, name tags, and gobs and gobs of other things.  Luckily I love organizing. (Mostly because I get to see all of my school supplies.  Teacher probs.)

Needing:

In hindsight, with my dress fitting being 6 days away, I probably shouldn't have eaten the three peanut butter cookies last night. Or the other two.  Hey, I had to celebrate the Braves win somehow!  And when your fiance says "I could go for a snack," you certainly don't whip out some celery.

Must Haves:

I haven't had much caffeine this summer and I intend to give my system the shock of its life that first week of school.  I won't go as far to say that I will wheeling around a coffee IV but I have to stay energized some how.  After the first day of school last year, I went to sleep at 6 pm. I have never been so exhausted in my life.



I should own stock in Jack Rogers and the people who make the knock-offs at Payless that last about 2 weeks.  Thank God it doesn't really get cold here that often. My toes don't like to be confined in shoe jail.


LOVE LOVE LOVE this teacher binder on TPT.  I have about 97 binders around my room and it would be so nice to have everything in one place!  (Not to mention the plethora of papers stuck to the white board and taped to my desk.)

(http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-ULTIMATE-Teaching-Survival-Binder-Black-and-White-With-Pops-of-Color-Theme-728247) Just in case the link doesn't work.

Staying positive

What better to way to send summer out with bang than at the dentist's office?  I can't say that I have ever looked forward to what feels like days of having my gums stabbed, prodded, and pierced.

On the bright side, I think I am finally getting the hand of this whole blogging thing!  My TPT store is up and running.  I got so excited that I made 90 cents yesterday until I found out that it was my fiance!  I should have known when the username had something to do with the Braves.  Oh well, these things take time.  Until my ship comes in, I will fill my time with Food Network and Hobby Lobby.

Check out this freebie in my TPT store!