Bloglovin' Wednesday!

As most of you know, I'm pretty new to blogging. I'm proud to say though, that at last glance I have 5 followers!! I've found some really great blogs the past few weeks and have linked up to some really fun linky parties! Hopefully I'll be posting and sharing the same kind of great resources that I've been finding. Until then, I'm linking up with Tori over at Tori's Teacher Tips for her Bloglovin' Blog Hop linky.  She wrote a great tutorial for all of us who are moving over to Bloglovin'. AND there are over 150 other blogs that have linked up, so you are sure to find a blog or two to follow, maybe even mine. :)  Scroll down to find my bloglovin' button!

I can't think of a better way to spend my Wednesday! Happy blog hoppin'!

Must Have Monday...Ballpark Style

My first Must Have Monday post is nothing glorious. Nothing you are going to want to run out and purchase or get the crafts out to make. In fact, it's probably nothing you would have guessed or thought of when clicking a "teaching" blog post. Well, maybe you did guess it after seeing the title of my blog post, which would give you an "A" for inferring. (There, there's my teaching moment to go along with my teaching blog.)

No, my must have for this Monday is my large bag of sunflower seeds.

Let me explain. I have four boys. Yes four and no, we're not trying for that girl. Anyways, I have three playing baseball. My oldest just had his state tournament where his team began play on Friday and finished Sunday falling in the championship game! They played so hard and it was a real heart breaker, but this was the first time we've ever made it to bracket play. And up to that game, we had only allowed 6 runs in 5 games, so there was a lot to be proud of. IMMEDIATELY after that game, we hopped in the car and drove the 2 hours home to quickly reload the cooler and head to my 2nd's double header.

Right now, I have 30 minutes for the dryer to finish so that my oldest can go play another double header and my 2nd can play in between. We have 3 games tonight, 1 game tomorrow, 2 games on Wednesday, and then (fingers crossed) 1 game on Thursday and a championship game on Friday.

My seeds are sometimes my lunch and my dinner. A few times this summer they've even been my breakfast. They are my distraction when one of my boys is up with bases loaded and 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th, or if they are brought in to pitch with bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th.  Moms of baseball players, you know what I'm saying. :) Yes, some nights I go home not feeling my tongue, and most of the time I'm cleaning out a dryer full of seeds because someone forgot to take them out of their baseball pants, but my seeds are my must have at the ballparks, and for two more weeks I'll be stocking up!


Be sure to link up at Teaching with a Touch of Twang and share your Must Have!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and an even better week! You know where I'll be. :)

Play Ball!
Megan

Five For Friday - June 21st!

Is it really Friday?? I guess the better question is, is it really June 21st already? Towards the end of the school year I had this great plan to get so much accomplished both at school and at home and I don't feel like I've done either. Oh well, with baseball winding down, I will hopefully have some more time on my hands. Tonight I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for her Five For Friday linky.

1. A few weeks ago our dryer of 13 years went out. I was kinda happy about this because our dryer took FOREVER to dry! And while I really wanted a washer to go along with the new dryer, I was okay with just having the dryer. Well, my husband ordered it and ordered BOTH the washer and the dryer!!! Thank goodness he did because I'm a little OCD and it would have driven me crazy having different looking machines. Well, I LOVE both my machines almost enough to make me really want to do laundry. (almost)

2. This year I am making the move from 3rd to 5th. I'm taking the place of a teacher who taught me and who I taught with when I began my teaching career 12 years ago. She was so kind to leave me things, but I have A LOT to look through. So I went up to school and began cleaning out shelves, closets, and file cabinets. The room is a mess and it's driving me crazy, but it has to look ugly before it looks organized!

3. When it rains, it pours. So far this has been my summer break:
- basement floods (flooring ruined...again)   - dryer goes out (spending money on new dryer)   - will need a new front porch to fix the flooding problem  - found out I need a root canal/crown  -had my root canal  - I was in a small fender bender while I was sitting at a red light. REALLY??? Surely I'm going to win the lottery soon! I think sometimes He gives me too much credit.

4.Another thing I said I was going to do this summer on top of the organizing, cleaning, trying new recipes, lesson planning, and relaxing (hahaha on that last one). I was also going to begin working out. I need to! So, I started on Monday. I'm one of those people that has to begin everything on Monday. Well, it's Friday and I'm still a little sore from that Monday-only work out. I'm embarrassed to say, I found excuses for not getting around to it the rest of the week.  BUT, starting Monday (wink) I'm going to really get after it. My husband and I have a bet going, and since I'm a super competitive person, I may just stick with it. Plus I want to buy some really cute teacher clothes.  One of my teacher friends is trying to talk me in to doing Insanity. I heard it's pretty insane, so maybe I'll give it a try.

5. Lastly...it's baseball season at our house. It's been baseball season since March! I LOVE baseball season, minus washing the red clay dirt out of the white pants. Since Monday, I have been at a  baseball diamond for either games or practices every day and will continue to be at the ballparks every day until June 28th. My oldest is playing in the State Tournament in Kansas City and went 2-0 today! My 3rd has a t-ball game at 9 back home, so we drove home 2 hours so he could be at his game. (Because his game is JUST as important!) After his game we'll drive back up 2 hours to watch my oldest. Then my 2nd child has a double header on Sunday. Then it begins again on Monday with Cade having a double header and Cooper playing as well. When I went to put Carston to bed Thursday night this is what I saw:

I mentioned he plays tomorrow...Saturday, right? And now you know why I just had to drive home 2 hours so we can make his 9am game tomorrow! We are actually going to visit family next weekend and will miss his game, so we've told him he has a BYE so he won't get upset. :)

I hope you all have had a wonderful week, and wish you a wonderful and productive (or not) weekend!

Megan

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A Big 'ol Mess!

I don't know about you, but I am one of those people that when I clean or get the itch to organize, I have to take everything (and I mean everything) out of the drawer/closet/pantry, wipe it all down, and then slowly decide what to put back in an orderly fashion. It drives my husband crazy because I usually decide to clean out the kitchen cabinets around dinner time, or my bedroom closet when he wants to go to bed.

Today, I ran up to school because my kiddos were all at different activities and the school has already waxed all of the floors! Woohoo!!!  Last year I taught 3rd grade, but this year I'm moving up to 5th after taking the place of a retired teacher. (A teacher that taught me and then I taught with before I stayed home with my kids.) I am so excited about the move, but have so many things to do to prepare. The first thing on my list is to get my room organized. You should see that list. But we'll talk about lists another time, I'm sure.  For now, I give you exhibits A and B:

 

All of the back cabinets have been emptied out on to the desks. The shelving that runs the length of the window wall in Exhibit A has also been cleared. Exhibit B is the shelving behind my teachers desk area and will be the last shelving I go through. I plan on keeping one set of shelves for every subject I teach back there, which is basically how the teacher I am replacing did it. I am OCD in the fact that everything must have a place. Right now I'm a little stressed walking in to this room.  Let's face it, who wouldn't be? But, I'm taking my deep breaths, I'm feeling good about the fact the floors are already waxed and done, and I know that it always has to be messy before it can be organized. I think it's safe to say I've got me a BIG 'ol mess!

I can't wait to share with you all the "After" pictures! Until then, happy organizing!

Megan

Where to begin??

We have been on summer break for 20 days now and it feels as if school is going to start tomorrow!  With 64 days left of this treasured time of year, I find myself already feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to begin.

A little bit of a back story:  I returned to the classroom last year after staying home for 12 years raising our family of four boys! With most of them in school full time, I thought I might get back in the game. (Heck, I was at school all the time anyways, I thought I might as well get paid for it.) Anyways, I taught 3rd grade last year and really enjoyed it, but while staying home I coached high school basketball and had taught upper elementary/high school before staying home, so third grade wasn't exactly my comfort zone. This year I made the move to 5th! I am super excited although I'm really going to miss the other 3rd grade teacher.

I ran across this cute blog The Applicious Teacher and saw she was doing a linky party ALL summer! I love getting ideas from all of you wonderful teachers, so I thought I'd link up as well.

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of my room last year, but I went with a sports theme. (4 boys, a husband that played college football, and me who played 3 sports AND coached basketball, it seemed only fitting.) I want to keep that theme, but our school is going with a Super Hero theme as well. Somehow I want to figure out how to mesh them both together. All I have to show right now are the "BEFORE" shots, but continue to check back regularly as I am going to begin going up to the room to decorate and organize beginning next week.

After scouring the different blogs and of course Pinterest, I know I want to include the following in my design.

 I am LOVING the SuperHero poms, and I think the Homeworkopoly will be a wonderful motivator. I also want to do something to my ugly teacher desk. I'm just wondering what would be the best way to attach the fabric. I was thinking velcro strips. What do you guys think?

One thing is for sure...I have A LOT to do! By the end of summer I'm definitely going to feel like Superwoman if I get it all done. Until then, Happy Decorating and don't forget to check back with The Applicious Teacher for more great topics through out the summer!

My First Five For Friday post!!

So I'm trying to get this blogging thing down and as I was reading all the blogs I follow, I noticed their Five For Friday posts. I have no clue what to tell you that would be remotely interesting or fun, but we'll try!

 

1. Baseball is in "Full Swing" at our house! I have four boys whose names all begin with C. 3 of those boys are playing and we told C4 that we signed him up but they just haven't given us a schedule. :) I know, it's mean, but you smart teachers can do the math. (3 boys that play baseball and only 2 parents.) The thought of having C1, C2, and C4 all playing on the same night, at the same time, at different fields caused me to not be completely honest with the 4 year old. **C3 actually plays on weekends. As does C1 and C2!**

2. The other day I drove a few hours to go to a BIG book sale. Unfortunately I am walking in to an empty classroom library, so I went searching for some books at a reasonable rate to begin my own. Now I will be scouring blogland and Pinterest to figure out just how to organize it all.  I managed to buy 50-60 books, which I thought was a pretty good start. I also stopped by Mardells and picked up some boarder and posters. Now I just need to get in to my classroom and start the cleaning and organizing process.

3. I've been stalking the USPS to see when my Erin Condren planner will come in.  A few of my friends also ordered one, like we all hit the submit button at the same time! Yes, we are weird like that. Well, it shipped on June 1st and we still haven't gotten it, but I'm holding out hope we'll get it tomorrow. I can't start my planning until I get it. Is it sad I am THAT excited for a lesson plan book? 

4. I am not much of a cook. In fact, I really don't like cooking. Baking on the other hand...sign me up! I made banana bread today for breakfast tomorrow. I LOVE the smell of banana bread baking in the oven! Makes me want to go to sleep so I can wake up and have a piece to start my weekend. The boys are so excited and the two huge loaves I made will probably only last a few hours.

5. You know how they say things happen in 3s? Well, it's happened here. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but when we got our 12 inches of rain to begin the week, our basement flooded...AGAIN! So again we will have to replace flooring out of pocket. The upside, if there is one, is I get a new front porch and sidewalk. The downside, we'll be forking over some money. ONE

When walking down to the concrete floor basement to switch over laundry I noticed the clothes in the dryer were still wet. Hoping the door wasn't shut or that clothes may have hit it open, I hit the button to restart it only to hear a buzzing sound and then nothing. So, I've spent all day looking up dryers. TWO

And after I spent my morning looking at dryers, I headed to the dentist because my teeth are killing me. Come to find out, I clinch me teeth when I'm stressed. Hmmmm...so now I am on drugs and may have to have a root canal and crown. THREE

I am really praying that my Monday will kick off a lot better than last Monday! The sun is supposed to be shining this weekend, so I'm just going to enjoy it with a piece of banana bread, take in a tball and baseball game, and continue checking the mail for my planner! Be sure to link up to Doodle Bugs and include your Five For Friday!


~Megan

Currently....

It's June 6th and I'm already feeling overwhelmed with things I want to do and things I need to do before the new school year begins. If the type of teacher you are was determined by your Pinterest boards, I would be Teacher of the Year! Alas, it's not and now I've pinned so many things, it will probably take me all summer just to go through them all. 

Right now I'm tired yet motivated. I think tomorrow I'm going to map out my summer, just like I plan on mapping out my school year. I function better with lists, so hopefully this will be the motivation I need.  Monday I go to a Common Core Workshop which I am excited about. One, because I'll learn a lot.  But two, because I'll be reunited with my partner-in-crime! Unfortunately me moving grades and hallways will limit our daily interaction more than I'd like, but we're teaming up in other ways to stay in touch!

What have you done with your summer vacation so far? Some of you may just be starting. While I would love to just stay home and lounge, I'm hoping I can get in to my classroom and get started on decorating. Be looking for those pages soon!!! I love a good before/after post! Until then, I'm linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for the June Currently! Before we know it, it will be July.

Here's to a productive Friday!
Megan

Back To Blogging

So, I created this blog thinking I was going to be able to use it during the school year. Unfortunately we have to use the school provided blog, which is not nearly as cute, but I think I'm going to use this as well.  Next year will already be different than last since I will be moving to a new wing of the school. At the end of last year I decided to put my name in for the 5th grade opening and I got it!

I am super excited to be moving to 5th grade because I'll have the opportunity to teach Social Studies and English/Reading. I am super sad though because I have to leave my amazing "team" teacher. I hate that our hallways are so far apart and that our schedules are so different, but we've promised to somehow make time for a lunch here and there.

For my first order of business or newest post, I am going to try to link up a June goals list, but I am NOT tech savvy. I admire all of those teachers who create amazing things and sell them on TPT or the teachers with the amazing blogs. I don't have the patience to figure things like that out, although I wish I did.  So here is my attempt. And I'll probably do it wrong, but I'm going to give it a try.  Here is to one of my goals...to blog more. Hopefully I'll do a better job of cataloging my new experiences in 5th grade!

***Update...see I'm so bad about this whole blogging thing, I didn't even tell you what page I was linking up to. And who knows if I can even create a link to send you back to the original blog. (I hope I can.) I linked up with Jess from  I {heart} Recess. (Fingers crossed you get there!)

Personal: Get my house organized and have a garage sale. Well, it rained and it rained and it rained. And once again we got water in our basement so now my house is a DISASTER. I have flooring from one room in another, and things that were going in the garage sale piled up in the playroom. I'm going to need every day of summer possible to accomplish my first goal.

Family: I really want to spend more time having FUN and not sweat the small stuff. While I like "schedule", part of me just wants to chill with them all summer!

Health: I need to start exercising. Especially since it's swimsuit season. So, I think I will start exercising and dieting...just not today. :) Maybe next Monday. I can't start mid-week.

School: With the move I really want to start mapping and preparing for next year NOW! I have a classroom I need to organize and go through, and LOTS of ideas I want to implement. We'll see how that goes.

Blogging: I definitely want to begin blogging again. (And maybe even get good at it.) I've been inspired by so many blogs out there, that I'd like to give back if I can.

Read: I definitely need to get back to reading. I started Killing Lincoln  but I haven't even gotten to the part where he's been shot. I also want to start reading some 5th grade books so I can talk with my students about different things.

Okay, now I think I did everything I'm supposed to do. Except maybe leave comments on other's blogs. I think I'm supposed to do that too. :) So off to comment! Thanks for stopping by my blog and hopefully it will be one you visit often! Have a wonderful Wednesday!