I'm back everyone! Hello 2013!!!

"Hey Stranger!" is probably what most of my blogger friends are saying (that's if you guys haven't forgot about me). I have been the worst blogger ever! As most of you know, I started my first year as a 5th grade teacher. I must say, the first semester WAS NOT, I REPEAT... WAS NOT  a cake walk! OMG!!! I never expected some of the things I've experienced in my new role as an educator. I have been completely overwhelmed with things to do. Luckily, I've survived and I looking forward to finishing the school year strong!Between educating students, being a cheerleading coach, and running a business, there has not been enough time in the day for me to blog or do anything else for that matter. 

With that being said, I've come to the conclusion that I need to slow down. Everybody knows that it's the time of the year for making resolutions and about two months into the new year, those resolutions have been thrown out the window. I promised myself that I would make reasonable resolutions that I would at least attempt to get accomplished. One of those was to not become a "summer blogger". True enough my life is extremely busy, but interacting with people, sharing ideas, and helping others are things that I truly enjoy. I have decided that I will make time in my busy week to do some things that I enjoy as opposed to working myself to death. 

So many things have taken place since the last time I've posted on my blog, so I feel the need to fill you in on a few of them. :) I'll share the two most exciting things. For starters, I'm one year older. I celebrated my 30th birthday in September. That's a huge milestone (I think!). Whoo hooo!!! GO ME!! I also became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority!!! SUPER EXCITING!!!! 

Many pics and more posts to follow! I'm glad to be back with my blogger friends. :) :) :) :) :)

Here's 30!!! :)

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.... & Monday Made It

Happy Monday Everyone! I almost missed it again this week, Monday Made It with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics. It seems like the closer it gets to the first day of school, the busier I become. I have been working frantically in my classroom trying to get everything in place and ready to go. I thought that I would have a couple of days of uninterrupted classroom decorating time, but that has not been the case. Faculty meeting here, professional development there, training everywhere! UGH!!! Will all the meetings ever end?!?!?!?! But anywho, I plan to create a page with pictures of my classroom. I was trying to wait until I was completely finished with it. I should be done by Wednesday afternoon. I have so many other things that I need to work on Thursday and Friday to prepare for my kiddos on the following Monday, so I better be done by Wednesday... thinking out loud.... sorry! Enough with all this chit-chat, here are my made-its for the week:

Here is a small table that I made to go between the desks of my groups. It was super easy and cheap to make. I went to Home Depot, purchased a large piece of particle board. I had them cut the wood for me. It was FREE to cut, but the wood was $18. I was able to make four of these with that one piece. I used zebra print wrapping paper and a plastic table skirt to make it look a little nicer. I forgot to take a picture of it before I added the paper and skirt. Sorry! I lifted the skirt on one of the photos. Hopefully you can get an idea of how the original "table" looked. I used wood glue to hold the pieces together and I was surprised at how well the pieces bonded together after letting them sit over night.

Here is how I will be utilizing this creation: 

I'm really happy with the end result! I still have to add a few things and organize the table a bit, but this is it for the most part.

I also made these bucket seats for my small group table. I thought the buckets would be a little taller than the crate seats for my fifth grade students. They are the perfect height for my table. YAY!!! :) I purchased the buckets and lids from Lowe's. I painted the buckets black and covered the lids with fabric. I added a cushion as well. I think they are really cute!

And here's my snack bucket. :) I just added the vinyl. Ha!

I hope everyone has had a productive Monday. Pictures of my classroom are coming soon! :) Stay tuned... Haha!! Check ya later!

Monday Made It (I've missed you!)

So I've missed Monday Made It with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for the past two weeks. I thought I would miss it again today, but I didn't think I would be able to rest not posting something tonight before I went to bed. I spent the majority of my day working in my classroom and I'm really proud of the progress I've made. I hope to have some pictures posted by the end of the week. But enough with the chatter. Here are a few things I've made of the last few weeks...

I created these on Vistaprint and got them for free! Yes, FREE! Well, I did have to pay for shipping. It was only a few bucks. I got 10 of the ice cream cards. I plan to purchase $5.00 gift cards to ice cream shops to give to my "Student of the Month." The classroom credit cards, will allow them to add bonus points to assignments. I think the kids will really enjoy these.

Boggle Board :)

Here is my "Common Core Caboose." I haven't finished it yet. I still have to add the students' names to the cars. For every standard mastered, they will earn a card to add to their car. I think it will be a great way to motivate the students (at least that's what I'm hoping.)

Lastly, I drew painted these animals for the halls in my school. We're doing a safari theme. I had originally made all of them for our 5th grade hall, but decided to share. :) I still have to laminate them so that I can add the googly eyes.  My husband said that all the animals looked dazed and confused. He's sooo crazy! I think they're cute especially when I add the eyes. :) Sorry some of the pics are sideways. :(

These two are for my room! Ha! They're so cute!

Of course, our hall gets the zebra! LOL!!!

Clipart is a product of Scrappin' Doodles. :)

Have a good night everyone!