Let's Talk about Books! Linky

We have linked up with Mrs. Jump's Class :

Let's Talk about Books! Linky

I love reading different books to kids!  I think they can teach them so many different things.  Here is one of my new favorite books:

In this book, Lucy wants to make and be friends with everyone.  Unfortunately she goes about it the wrong way by yelling and saying things such as — “Come back here and have fun with me.” and “You WILL be my friend.” Not the best way to make a friend.

This book really helps to teach kids the right way to make and keep friends and it is very cute!

Make sure you link up and share your favorite book (just click the link below)!  I'm always on the lookout for a new book to read throughout the year.

Have a great day!

Wisdom for Wednesday-Summers for Teachers

Well, I don't really have much wisdom this Wednesday  :-).  Instead I thought I'd put in some cute things I found about teachers in the summertime since many are starting their summer or getting close to starting their summer break.  

Found here

I feel like my mind always wonders back to school stuff.......

Found here

Found here

So true!

Found here

Oh, how I wish you could use pinterest to recertify.  :-)

Found here

I hope you are able to do this during your summer vacation!

Have a great day!

Completely Random Without (I mean with) Apology :)

As the title suggests, this post is completely random. 

You see, it is quite difficult to think of a blogging topic relevant to education when I am trying so desperately to not think about school. 

Please forgive me...and don't stop following us. 

Please.

I promise I will be inspired to share a useful post soon...probably. ;-)

Random Thought #1:

Did you know you can get burnt on your ice maker?

You can. 

And here is proof...two weeks later... Still OUCH!

Random Thought #2:

Planning a Pinterest party is a lot of work! 

Kristi and I (and her new coteacher, since it is not me anymore, and she also happens to be a good friend of mine, and yes, I still miss working with those girls even though my new coworkers are fun too--excuse the run-on sentence) are having a Pinterest party at my place on Thursday. I'm quite certain it is going to be a blast. We are making seasoning mixes, some cool crafts picked out by that crafty coteacher and friend, and trying some new recipes. We invited all our school friends to celebrate summer. 

Random Thought #3:

The volleyball skill that declines the fastest without practice is the one that seems the simplest...the toss.

I went with my daughter to volleyball practice today and jumped right in to play with the middle school and high school girls. If I haven't told you, I played in college and have coached many times since then. 

I was quite frustrated to find that my tossing is very inconsistent, which makes my serve very inconsistent. And that along with the throbbing pain in my shoulder makes me feel old.

Random Thought #4:

I'm going to camp again with the youth group from our church. It is in Colorado and quickly approaching... Last year, as I tried to sleep on the extremely hard bunk bed, I realized that I am old. I have made preparations to make my bed more comfortable this time. I bought an egg crate thingy and a twin mattress pad. Now if I can just claim a bottom bunk, I should be all set! 

Okay, enough.

If you're still with me, bless you.

I hope you're enjoying your summer--or winding down your school year.

Have a great week!

June Currently

We have linked up with the June Currently at  Oh Boy Fourth Grade:

Listening:  To our 3 fans in the windows blowing.  We are trying not to turn on our AC yet.  It is about 78 degrees in our house right now with the fans blowing.  Not bad considering it is about 85 degrees outside.  We have a huge tree outside our house that shades a lot of our house, which helps keep it cooler. 

Loving:  The down time.  Since school is out, I'm going at my own pace (SLOW).  Instead of constantly rushing around trying to get things done.  

Thinking:  I have several things I want to accomplish this summer.  

Wanting:  I would like to go to the pool sometime this summer and just cool off and relax in the sun.  (I burn so I don't go there often).

Needing:  I just finished with my garage sale and need to take the leftovers to Goodwill before I decide to stash them somewhere in the house.  :-)

Summer bucket list: 

1.  I plan to visit friends and family

2.  I want to strip our hardwood floors and make them lighter.

3.  I need to do some landscaping in our backyard (2 Siberian husky dogs have been hard on it).

Make sure you connect with Farley and do your June Currently.  

Have a great day!

Wisdom for Wednesday - Holiness

Hi there! I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday.

 I have to admit I have been doing pretty good not thinking school. I am still reading blogs and pinning ideas I find (of course), but I haven't done anything school related since May 16th. 

Except if you count that parent phone call I had to make this morning...Oh and the curriculum I had to order so my building will be ready to implement Pathways to Reading next year. Oh and...

And they say teachers don't work over the summer...

Anyway, thanks for popping in for:

This one comes to us from a new Bible study book I'm reading. It's called Holiness: The Heart God Purifies by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. It has been a great read so far...really opening my eyes up to some things that I need to work on!

The real thing? The real holiness. It isn't what may first come to mind. It is not about being "holier than thou" or being perfect. I think Nancy describes the real thing pretty well:

"True holiness is the pathway to fullness of life and joy. To be holy is to be wholly satisfied with Christ. Above all, it is to reflect the beauty and the splendor of our holy Lord in this dark world. In pursuing holiness, you will fulfill and experience all that God had in mind when He created you."

Holiness by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, page 22

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24

Something to think about...

Have a great rest of the week!

Summer Bucket List and A Day to Remember...

Well, since Kristi linked up her summer bucket list, I thought I should do it too. I decided to link up with fellow Kansas blogger, Katie over at Mind Sparks. So here it is:

Sorry the graphic is not very clear...does anyone else have that problem?

Anyway, here goes:

1. Finish the devotional book I've been writing! If you've followed our blog very long, you know that I have been writing this book for the last couple of summers! And yes, I will finish this summer...finally! I am on the home stretch...praise the Lord!

2. Make a middle school memory book for my son. When I stayed at home with my kiddos, I was big into scrapbooking. Then I went back to work and got way, way, way behind. So instead of try to 'catch up,' I'm going to focus on his middle school years before he goes into high school!

3. Clean out and organize my buffet. This kind of goes along with the memory book. Instead of a buffet with dishes in it, I have a buffet with pictures, grade cards, and other sentimental 'stuff.' I already started this project and have things more organized--woohoo!

4. Make up a curriculum map for 2nd grade. This is my only teaching goal this summer. I'm really trying to take some time off because I felt like I worked all summer last year to get ready for my new position. I have a draft of the curriculum map complete, but I need to finish it up and correlate the standards to it for my professional development goal this year.

5. Soak up the summer sun and enjoy time with friends and family. Does that even need an explanation? ;-) First up is a Pinterest party that Kristi and I are putting together for some teacher friends!

As for today, I saw this quote on Facebook and thought it was perfect for Memorial Day:

I hope you enjoy time with friends and family today--and also take time to remember...

Crystal

Top 10 things I want to do this summer!

We have linked up with Mrs. Jump's cool link of top 10 things to do this summer.

I am officially off for the summer now and I am ready to start doing my top ten things for the summer!  :-)

1.  I am planning on having a garage sale (not that I want to but because I need to).  I have decided that my husband and I have way too much stuff so I'm getting rid of a lot of things and organizing.  So, my first big task is to get ready for a garage sale.  I'm doing it soon because if I don't do it right away, then I probably won't do it.  

2.  Sleep-I have to admit that this morning I laid in bed sleeping and resting until 11:00 (I can't remember the last time I did that).  I guess I must have been tired.

3.  Go visit some friends that I haven't seen for a year.  

4.  Make some owl stuff for my new classroom next year.  I am lucky to get a brand new room next year and our new school theme is owls.  I've used frogs for years but I'm excited about making and using some new stuff in the new room.  :-)

5.  Redo our living room and office floors.  We have a house that is almost 100 years old and it has the original wood floors.  When we moved in we pulled out the carpet and stained the floors a dark color (which I regretted).  The dark floors are pretty but you see everything on them and I can't stand my house to be dirty.  So I want to strip the floors and have them light.  

6.  Get caught up on my Rehab Addict TV Show (I think I have 22 of them on the DVR)

7.  Do some landscaping in our backyard-we have landscaped our front yard, but have had a hard time with our backyard since we have 2 Siberian husky dogs.  One dog that is still a puppy (about a year old).  She pulled out the last few items that I planted back there.  :-(  So, I'm going to try and be creative and figure something out for our backyard-Any ideas?

Love this, but I'm sure it would be strung all around the yard within a day with our little pup.  

8.  Basement-Tackle cleaning up our basement after the garage sale.  It isn't finished but we have painted the walls and ceiling and it looks  looked clean until it became our storage area. But all of it should be gone after the garage sale and should be back to clean and organized. 

9.  Spend time with my family.

10.  Exercise and De Stress-I have started to do yoga and I plan to do it throughout the summer, but hopefully a little more and a little more frequent. 

I can't wait to here about your top 10.  Make sure you link up.  Have a great day!