Getting back to it!

There are so many emotions that run through me in August.  There is a hint of sadness.  I love being able to spend my summers playing in the pool with my children, staying up late, playing games, visiting friends... The list goes on and on!  But there is a feeling of excitement!  We just finished buying all of the fun things on my children's supply list! (I realize I might be the only parent excited to do this!)  The closets have been cleaned, the cupboards reorganized, and the projects checked off one by one!  Now that my home is getting close to ready, I have a little time for a classroom project: File Cabinets!

My classroom is in a building built in the 1950's and some of my classroom furniture is probably original!  For the past ten years I have collected several mismatched filing cabinets.  This year, I finally had enough and decided that updating them a bit was my summer goal!

The hardest part? Emptying 8 file cabinet drawers!  Stuff was everywhere! #keepingitreal

Next, I took out the drawers and lined them up on a large tarp. Helpful hint: don't pick the hottest day of the summer! #lessonlearned. 

Notice the three colors of drawers!  I scrubbed them up a bit with some wipes!  65 years of dirt I am sure!  

I taped the handles and hardware.  It took a while, but I did not have the right tool (nor would I have a clue what tool to find) and I only had a day that would work before they closed the school for waxing.  I should have used painters tape, the masking tape baked its way into a very sticky mess!  #2ndlessonlearned. 

I sprayed the drawers a teal that matches my room.  The cabinets were sprayed black.

It took about 3 thin coats for each.  I used 4 cans of black, one of blue. It took a little over 1 can of black for each of the short and the rest for the tall cabinet.  

The painting itself was simple, the prep work took the longest!  Here is my finished product!

I have gotten tons of compliments!  I love how they look like one piece of furniture when you put them together!   

An Exciting Announcement!

Friends.

I have a very exciting announcement to make! 

I have decided to team up with some of my very best first grade buddies to write for a collaborative blog! 

That means ONE blog with TONS of great ideas from several super awesome First Grade teachers!

One thing I L-O-V-E about this blog, is you will know exactly what to expect each day of the week.  For every day, there is a blogging theme.  Check them out! 

I'm SO excited to get started on this new adventure, and am thrilled to invite you along for the ride. 

There are some fun things that will be happening for Back To School!
 #notready

July already?

I can't believe that July is almost over!  The backpacks have been bought, the school supply list has a huge dent, and we have been practicing our math, reading, and writing skills so the kids are ready for school in the fall.  This is my little cutie practicing her writing skills!  LOVE!

I printed my nametags for the upcoming year!  It is the only school related task I have done!  I printed enough for each child to have 2 plus a couple of blank extras.  I hate when they are all ratty and nasty on their tables!  I hope that  when I get my finished class list I will only have a couple of changes.  #thepriceofdoingthingsearly  I printed mine this year 8.5 X11 so I can use my home laminator.  It is so much thicker and durable!

 

I also wanted my alphabet and word wall pictures to match the ones on the Desk Help Name tags, so included those in the files as well. 

 The file has so many choices, all for less than you would pay for one pack in the teacher's store!  There are directions to run it on 11X17 or 8.5 X 11. It is also editable, so the names can be typed right on and an editable file to type word wall words or labels that match the word wall headers.   You can find them all in my TpT store!

I guess we are off to the pool again today! We are finally getting some warm weather!  #lovesummer

 

 

Hope you have a great week!

Lovin' Summer

I am beginning week 3 summer break and I am squeezing every drop of fun I can get into it!  I decided this year, instead of signing my kids up for a ton of activities, I would take the money that we would have spent and spend it as my own "Mommy camp!"  So a couple of days a week we go on little field trips in the morning.  Here are some pics from our latest adventure.  It is from a place called "Anderson Japanese Gardens."  It has walking paths, Koi ponds, and the most beautiful scenery!

I will tell you "Mommy Camp" is the best summer job ever!  

Today, my kids are spending a little time with cousins and grandparents, so I had a few hours to work on some fun school stuff.  I like to come up with a fun (cheap) way to recognize my students on their birthdays.  This year I found some packages of bubbles at the dollar store.  They come 3 in a pack, so I bought 9.  This gives me enough in case I get up to our 25 limit and a couple extras.  Here is the finished product

1919

19

All you have to do is print, cut, and attach it with a small piece of clear tape.  The whole process took about about 45 min. You can print them for free {here} or you can click on the picture.  

I hope you are having a fabulous summer!  

DIY wannabe

My husband and I love DIY.  Unfortunately beyond putting together furniture from IKEA and painting walls, our talent does not match our enthusiasm,  :(  But we are learning and this past weekend we built a sandbox! We got the whole family in on the action!  Thank goodness for the Home Depot man that helped me measure and cut the boards to form the almost perfect square. and to my husband who helped me drill and assemble.  One thing we learned is that we need to move it much farther from our house!  I have swept up so much sand!!!

 

 

I also painted a dresser quick before we started the sandbox for my daughter's bedroom!  I am working on transitioning her room from "toddler" to "preteen" .  Here is the finished project.

 

I hope that I can keep up this momentum this summer for getting things done! 

 

 

 

 

Great books for the last days of school

Looking for some great books to read for the end of the school year?  Here are some of my favorites!

 

 

Here are links to them all!

 

 





Parent Volunteers

We have been so lucky this year with some awesome volunteers!  I am sure that without their help we would not have accomplished as much as we did.   They pulled students and played games, did flash cards, and listened to kids read.  I love how sweetly they work with my students and happily take just one more student even when their time is up for the day.  I want to show them how much I truly appreciate all that they do for us!  I found these reusable water bottles on clearance last year at JoAnn's and knew they would make great gifts!  I love that you can add ice to them!  Perfect for summer!  I added these gift tags! 

 

 

I am excited to have another important thing ready to go for the end of the year!

 I can't wait to give these cute gifts!

 

You can follow this and other Volunteer Gift ideas on my End of the School Year Pinterest Board!