My Community

If I haven't said it before, I'll say it now, I love my community! There are so many great groups in town that you can belong to or help. With my dad being a cop (now retired) he made so many connections. And thanks to that, I've made many new friends.

Today is just one example. I'm friends with some business owners in town and one lady works at a lumber store. Her family runs the business and I help them teach a class one Saturday a month where we build stuff with kiddos. She called me a week ago asking if I could help at a booth at the Saturday Market.

First off, I love her to death, so I said yes. Second, the Saturday Market is pretty awesome for it being it's second year. It's at a building that is very health concientous. They had a dancing lessing today and a BBQ contest.

I was at a booth from 9-2, sandwiched between a man selling salmon and a lovely woman selling her baked stuff (I bought a scone and it was yummy!) She said business was slow but I thought it was pretty decent. And a lot of people, when stopping to pick up free stuff at my booth, told me they enjoyed shopping at the lumber store because of the service and the staff.  Isn't that nice and refreshing to hear?

Well tonight I'm going to the same friend's house as she is hosting a wine/cheese event that she auctioned off at her nonprofit groups' first auction. I tell you , she is the right person to have as a friend :) I volunteered my time to serve cheese/wine to the local business people that bought tickets. So I get to help my community twice in one day and I love it! I enjoy it! My community has a lot more than just this, but I had to share this little bit :) You'll hear more next month!

Do you have an awesome community?

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Woohoo!

So I finally figured out how to make a blog button and I'm so excited!  I think it's pretty cute :D Go ahead and grab it! All 3 followers I have lol. Hey that makes me excited! But I know there are people that read it too that don't follow, so you can grab it too!

I've got it on my sidebar of the blog at the Grab my button, right above my blog button boulevard :D

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I bought a ...

Cricut Expression! I'm so excited. It's my birthday present to myself since I didn't find anything I liked last month (my birthday). I tested it out already and I see SO many possibilities.

It's first major use will be making stars and cut outs for my dad's retirement party.  I stopped at the Dollar Tree for some shopping.I bought square candle holders and deep blue sea glass. I also bought some thick sticks that I may stick in the containers too. They only had 1 candle mirror (to go under) and I didn't buy it. I'll probably head to Michaels' tomorrow and see what they have and see if they have stuff for my Cricut.


I know that when I have my own class I'll use it alot too. In the mean time, I plant to make cards and do some other crafty stuff. I bought a mason jar with a wire lid and think I'll buy some vellum and put my name on it. Oh the possibilities are endless.

I'm so excited :D

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Planning on decorations

Wow, so now my dad is going to have a big party with 100 plus people. I just went and saw the venue today and I fell in love. It's in the heart of downtown and in a brick building. It's called the Corner Brick Loft. Cute right?

There is a beautiful plant outside the doorsteps and you open the heavy wood door and go up a flight of stairs. You can go straight to the main room or hang a right and go to the kitchen, bathrooms, and storage room.

The place is beautiful! Hardwood floors, brick walls, brown paint, nice lights you can dim for ambiance. It can hold at least 6 tables, has surround sound and a projector screen. The kitchen is amazing with granite counters, see through fridge and nice area for cooking.

I'm in charge of decor and am planning on getting small quare glass vases and filling them with blue glass pieces from the dollar tree and figure something to stick in it.

The police department is providing flowers for the guest check in table. The caterer is taking care of all the food and linens. We are in the midst of dealing with a beverage company but I think we may be buying stuff instead as it would be cheaper .

Oh it so cozy.  I'll try to remember to take pics after I decorate. Party is at the end of August.

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Safety Camp

So last week I finished with helping with Safety Camp. We ended up being shorthanded and intsead of me being just the assistant and making sure stuff went smoothly and also in charge of the teen counselors, I also had to be a counselor and take 2 kids. Kind of funny being 26 and a counselor and the other counselors are ages 13-18 lol.

I had 2 sweet girls so it was no problem. I still had to help with stuff running in the camp. We had horrid  attention getting neon yellow shirts that counselors and campers wore. Blinding when we are all together lol.

We many visitors that week that helped us with the safety lessons. Our local police, firefighters, ambulance crew, 911 dispatchers, and  pool lifeguards came to visit. The lessons we teach are water safety, street/motor safety, animal safety, stranger danger, and fire safety. They learn when to use 911 and when not to use it. And they do all sorts of cute crafts.

I'm the 'artsy teacher' they say and often am in charge of posters and bulletin boards. I had some cute creations if I do say so myself!

My cute frog and vest for water safety. We do a song with frog puppets (they actually croak!)

Mr. Yuk for poison lesson

And something big that I have to think about for next year. I've been asked to consider running it. They said I have fresh new ideas and that I have a real connection with kids. And that they'd still help me but I'd be the main person. So much to think about as this is a lot of work for a week and getting ready and I don't get paid. And hard for me to say yes when I don't know what next year holds for me, but I told them I'd think about it!

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"Pastabilities"

I got this super adorable activity today from the Mailbox in my e-mail today.  It's in regards to sequencing skills and is adorable.

What's cooking at this center? Sequencing skills! Each week, select or write a paragraph or short story for sequencing practice. Copy each sentence on a tagboard lasagna noodle cutout. Number the backs of the cutouts for self-checking and then store the noodles in an empty lasagna noodle box. Place the box, writing paper, and pencils at a center. A student arranges the sentences in sequential order. Next, she flips the cutouts to check her work. She then copies the sequenced writing on paper and titles it appropriately.

I got this super adorable activity today from the Mailbox in my e-mail today.  It's in regards to sequencing skills and is adorable! You create sentence strips that look like the wavy lasagna noodles (kind of like a puzzle if they fit perfect) and store them in a lasagna noodle box! Soooo cute.  I'll be sharing this with my teacher friends. They look for stuff like this. I signed up for e-mails from The Mailbox and I like it.

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Linky party... Out of the Mouths of Babes

Mrs. Dillard is having a linky party! Out of the mouth of babes is the theme.


As a substitute, I hear all sorts of things but darn it, I don't write them all down. There are some of course that I am happy I wrote down.

This was in a 3rd grade class:

Me: What's a synonym for big?
S1: Ginormous!
S2: Ginormous isn't a word.
Me: Actually, I just read an article in the paper that they just added it to the dictionary.
S1: How do you know?
S2: She's a teacher, she knows everything!   (don't I wish! Lol).

Here's another one, fifth grade.

S: Where's the 'r' in 'Mrs.?"
Me: I don't have one, I'm not married.
S: Oh. When are you getting married?
Me (under my breath I muttered): When I find the right guy.
S (super hearing heard it): When will that be?
Me: I would like to know that too!

3rd grade class learning celebrations of the world in December. On a KWL chart, under W: " Why does Santa bring presents at night, not in the morning?"    I thought that was precious.

And same chart, different kid, under W. "What is in my box under the tree?

Thought those two were appropriate as today is Christmas in July :) So cute!

Don't forget to check out her linky party!

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Singing songs

Yay! My first linky party :D I'm excited!


Miss Kindergarten is having a linky party about songs you sing in the class.

I know as a substitute, I don't know all the songs the kiddos sing. I know by heart now "Number Rock", "Days of the Week", and "Months of the year".  I know other little songs the kids like to sing, just little songs. But one universal song has saved my hiney when it comes time to clean up because it seems like every kid that I've subbed for knows it though there are variations:

Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere.
Clean up, clean up, everybody does their share!

Or this version:

Everybody clean up, clean up, clean up.
Everybody clean up, everywhere.
Everybody clean up, clean up, clean up.
Everybody clean up, do your share!


Share your songs at Miss Kindergarten!

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Auf Weidersehen Oma

So my Oma left this morning to go back to Germany and it's sad knowing I won't see her for at least 2-3 years.  It's been 6 years since I've last seen her. We take turns on who goes where.

Had fun in Vegas with her and I had great times with her, despite a bit of a language barrier. I speak enough German but she speaks no English. Mix that with beverages and it gets funny lol. Take last night for example. We (parents, me , Oma and her friend) are all the table, playing German music and having a good time.

My brilliant  goofy father and I decide to show off our awesome okay dance skills. So to the music we are doing classics like the swimmer, the lightbulb, the sprinkler (you get the picture). My Oma starts laughing so hard she's crying and shouts out , "Oh my! It's like I'm in a bad film and can't get out." So this makes us burst out laughing and I'm laughing so hard I'm crying and my mom is too. And I say to my Oma, "This is a horror film now isn't it, with our dancing." And she nods her head lol! 

Good memories :) Here is a pic from Vegas when she burst out laughing when we had the waitress confirm what color top she was wearing. She was adamant it was green and said we were sticking together saying it was baby blue, but the waitress said it was baby blue and then laughed saying she was happy to help.

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Still loving summer vacation

Still loving summer vacation, even though today was another trip to the dentist. Not too bad, just a filling. But boy was my face numb! 

Sitting there in the chair, I had some time to think about what I've done this summer so far. I can say that I've done Relay for Life, went to Las Vegas, went to the Grand Canyon, helped out at my friend's work a few times, and starting next week I teach a Safety Camp for a week **hmmmm I think I can post stuff for that next week, new inspiration to blog about!**  That's a lot for July, though it's not over yet! I've also been to some BBQ's, graduation parties, and next month I get to go to the coast :) I love the coast!

Anyhoo....don't forget to have those kiddos write about the summer. Either as a parent at home or as a teacher back at school. Kinda cliche, but still, those memories need to be kept! 

Here's a quick and simple paper I whipped up  :)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BXB6hRXojxr-3pGUF-PCtQGld7Ubr7eA70fBvK0lcvA/edit?hl=en_US

Still need to learn how to get it so the pic of the item shows up and you can click it and go straight to Google docs!

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Treasure Hunts

As the days are now warmer and the nights stay light longer, I remember the great times as a kid in the summer.

Coloring with chalk, riding my bike, playing in the sprinkler, playing card games with my neighbor, and one of my favorites, treasure hunts.

My neighbor's mom would take the time to create a wonderful treasure hunt around the neighborhood for us. Alyssa and I could not wait for the first clue. We had to amuse ourselves as her mom was creating the clues. The clues were generally 1-3 sentences and made us think hard. Some of them made us downright burst into laughter :

"Go to the lair of the hairyback monster. The dragon's enemy holds your next clue."

Well this was funny as the 'hairyback monster' refers to one of the neighbors (now moved) who always went shirtless and had a very hairy back. The dragon's enemy would be water and a fire hydrant is located in their yard.

We had lots of clues and around the neighborhood, a great time for sure. The last clue would lead us to the 'treasure'. It was generally in box, and it would be either candy, little trinkets, or other little prizes.

We had fun, but what we didn't realize was that we were reading, thinking, and moving around outside. This is great for so many reasons. Even if you have little ones that can't read, you could do a picture treasure hunt or pair them up with an older buddy that can read. Happy hunting!

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Chalk days of summer

Ahhhh the summer weather has finally hit us, sort of lol. We had nice weather and it didn't happen until July! As the weather has warmed up, the kids are hitting the streets and staying out longer. I went to enter my car the other day and saw that our sidewalks and street had been graffitied artistically enhanced with chalk.

Now normally there are just pictures, but my neighbors (these kiddos are ages 6-10) decided to write. There were words, sentences, and stories lol. I was going to take a picture when I got back, but unfortunately they had a water fight and washed away their work.


So if your kiddos go outside and want to play with chalk, encourage them to write their name, write their favorite words...maybe even write a sentence and draw a picture to go along with it :) Even my college aged neighbor go into it!

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Vacation...had to get away!

I love that song! Anyway, I got back the other day from Viva Las Vegas! It was a wonderful and well needed vacation. It was hot but fun. Hottest day was 113!

Also went to Red Rock Canyon, Grand Canyon, and Hoover Dam. The Grand Canyon was a 4 1/2 hour drive from Vegas!  So beautiful though!

                                                                   Beautiful Grand Canyon

                                                                       Me at the Grand Canyon :)

And this was my 3rd time in Vegas and I finally got to go to the Vegas sign!

I saw lots of odd people, lots of costumed people, and drunk people lol. I guess it's true what they say..."What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

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