Blog - Pencils to Pigtails

The 3 Words that Changed Everything

August 7, 2017

So… now that you are wondering what those three words are, I need to give you a bit of background information.

I am a kindergarten teacher at Westwood Elementary and we are officially an Energy Bus School. My principal is very big on creating a positive environment for staff and students. According to their website, “The Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey (EBSLJ) is a transformational, multiyear approach for schools to create and sustain a positive school culture and develop positive school leaders.” It was started by Jon Gordan. The principles are based off of his best-selling book, The Energy Bus. I usually have a positive attitude when it comes to school. I know it sounds cheesy, but I really do love my job and my students. However, there are always ways to improve your outlook and attitude.

(You can click on the picture below if you are interested in grabbing a copy of The Energy Bus.)

Last week Chief Energy Officer & Co-founder of The Energy Bus for Schools Leadership Journey, Niki Spears, led a day of inservice training for our district. She is a fabulous speaker. Sometimes I have a difficult time sitting still for hours (don’t we all?) but I didn’t feel that way listening to her.

One thing she had us do is take something we are not looking forward to and say “I get to…”

She picked several people from the audience and it was pretty hilarious hearing people scream with excitement, “I GET to potty-train my child this week!” or “I GET to teach math to 8th-graders!” It made everyone laugh to hear others be so enthusiastic about things they typically dread doing.

It made me think of how I have been dreading between 7 and 9 PM…

Dustin has been working nights lately and I was gearing up for another 1-2 hour session of “Let’s try to get Baby Heidi to bed.”

Don’t let that sweet smile fool you!:)”

My sweet baby who used to lay down awake after a bottle and sleep from 7 to 7 abruptly decided at the beginning of the summer that she HATED sleep. Of course, bedtime is at the end of the day and both of us felt exhausted and frustrated. I had tried every possible method or suggestion. She wanted to be pushed in the stroller… until she didn’t. Then she wanted to be held… until she didn’t. I tried to let her cry it out and it was an awful experience for the both of us. I had really started to dread putting her to sleep every night.

I am constantly busy with school, my kids, and then after I put them to bed or very early in the morning, I work on TPT and my blog. It had become frustrating that I wasn’t able to get as much done as I wanted.

Then, you add in my 3 year old Aniston… she wanted Mommy to put her to sleep, but I just couldn’t do it all at one time. I had to call in back-ups like my mother-in-law or sister to tuck her in. I missed reading books with her and saying prayers together.

I’ve even been stuck in this predicament – my almost 40 pound toddler in the TULA asleep while I pushed Baby Heidi around the woods!”

On the night of the training, I started to push Heidi around the woods behind our house. I giggled and said to myself, “I GET to put Heidi to sleep. I GET to put Heidi to sleep.” Although I was half-joking, the words started to really ring true -it’s not that I have to… I get to. Suddenly I realized how precious and fleeting these moments are. I started to tear up thinking about what a privilege it is to have the two daughters I always dreamed of. Before I put her in bed that night I just let her lay on my chest as I swayed back and forth beside her crib praying and thanking God for this precious life.

It truly changed the entire night. Suddenly everything else could wait because, “I GET to put Heidi to bed.”

Do you have those moments when you feel like you’ve accomplished nothing that day? I always try to stop and remind myself, “No. I was a good mom today and that’s what I needed to accomplish.” My favorite quote about parenthood is, “The days are long but the years are short.” How true it is. Some of those days – especially the ones with sleep issues feel SO LONG. But then I feel like I blinked and Aniston is 3 and 1/2 and Heidi is 16 months. How did that happen???

Last week I started changing all of my “have to’s” into “get to’s”.

For example, instead of “I have to do early duty at work this week.” I said to myself, “I GET to do early duty at work.” I was thinking about how thankful I was to have a job that I love.

When I went to pick up Dustin’s laundry thrown around the room, I reminded myself, “I GET to pick up Dustin’s laundry.” I’ve been laughing about it all week but it is so true and will change your whole thought process. Instead of “I have to…” I think of what a blessing it is to have a husband who leaves laundry on the floor. Okay, okay – stay with me. I GET to help him just like the way he searches for ways to help me. I have a husband who drops everything when he comes in the door to help me with the kids and who just surprised me with the concert tickets I’ve been dying for. I have a husband who runs to get me dinner if I’m looking tired and who is the BEST possible Dad to our children. I GET to pick up his laundry.

This week I challenge you to change your “Have to’s” into “GET TO’S”.

Let me know in the comments if this impacts your life in any way.

This week I will be saying, “I GET to help these sweet kindergarten students develop a love for learning.”

Happy teaching & mommy-ing this week!

Interactive Writing Center – Newsletter, New Resource and a Freebie!!!

August 3, 2017

This has been the craziest most exciting week for me! Besides the fact that school is back in session – which is always an exciting time, my video was featured in the TPT newsletter! It is easy for your resources to get lost in all of the amazing resources in TPT so the newsletter gives your product a chance to shine. This has been a goal of mine since I started and I was completely shocked to see it in there. The newsletter is emailed world-wide with the subject “10 Free Downloads”.

In the video, I talk about my top organization tips and my interactive writing center. You can view it here:

(Skip to 4:15 if you only want to hear about the interactive writing center.)

Organizing the Interactive Writing Center & More!

I am thrilled to finally have this center set up in my classroom. This is seriously going to be a game changer for me and my students. You can click on the picture below to find it in my TPT store. I strongly recommend buying it now before the price goes way up as it is a growing bundle!

I have always struggled with bulletin boards. I’ve never been good about changing them. Who has time for that??? I had tried various ideas and nothing seemed to work well. So this summer I tackled all three of mine.

The one by my table (used to be desk) was full of sentimental pictures and cards but it was so messy that I never could concentrate on them.

I took all of that down and stored the sentimental photos and notes in a drawer in my classroom. I replaced it with the sweetest large 16×20 photo of my students’ hands in the shape of a heart. I LOVE this picture! You can find great deals periodically on Shutterfly to have such a large picture printed up. Then I typed up a “love letter” to my students. I want all of my students to know this and feel this way when they enter and leave my classroom.

This is a FREEBIE in my TPT store! I hope you can use them in your classroom. If you do, please post pictures or email them to me! I would love to see if this resource helped you. Even better – as a thank you for the freebie – please take a few seconds to leave feedback on TPT and click the star by my name to add me to your favorite sellers. I had NO IDEA how important feedback was or that people “favorite” your store until I started selling. Basically it will keep my store from being lost amongst the thousands of other stores!

Bulletin Board Love Letter FREEBIE!!!

Okay – back to the interactive writing center! I cleared out some space under each of my bulletin boards in the front of my room and added a table in front.

I put two chairs at each table. My mom had given me these years ago. They are adorably red and have the sweetest cushion.

Then I added supplies that the students may need. For my board, I put the banner across the top and placed 6 plastic sleeves underneath. I wanted to make sure I left room for a ribbon to drape across the bottom where I could clothespin on the supplies that students may need this week. The easier it is t0 change the better!

I love the way it turned out. I’m thrilled that this one resource has enough activities to keep my students writing all year long! This center is all about motivating reluctant writers and building excitement for all of your students when it comes to writing. This resource is perfect for preschool age through 2nd grade. You will find some differentiated prompts in there.

To see a video explanation of these centers, go here!
(Skip to 4:15 if you only want to hear about the interactive writing center!)

Organizing the Interactive Writing Center & More!

If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can read through this blog post about organizing my centers with these black and white labels by clicking on the picture below!

How about you? I would love to hear how you are getting your classrooms organized or making your bulletin boards more functional. If you’ve used a product, let me know how it’s working for you and feel free to send me a picture. I would love to see these products in use!

Happy Organizing!

Baby Land – Our Trip to the Cabbage Patch Hospital

July 25, 2017

Oh my heart! I have always dreamed of having daughters (SISTERS!!!) and a trip to the Cabbage Patch Babyland General Hospital in Cleveland, GA can make me want to weep at the fact that I have my little girls. 🙂

It really is a fun little outing for your kids and would be a “must-see” for our family so I wanted to share my experience with you in case you are considering the same!

It was a rainy day when we pulled up, but such a beautiful location!

First of all, be prepared to spend some money. Admission is FREE… but and it’s a big BUT… your kids will be walking amongst beautiful dolls and all of the accessories you could ever possibly dream up and chances are that you will be guilted into buying something. The dolls are pretty expensive. My mom had bought Baby Heidi one for her first birthday complete with a birth certificate, bottle, and blankets so I didn’t feel the need to buy my 15 month old another one.

It was really fun to let Aniston find a doll. When you walk in, you are greeted at the “nurse’s station”. They have a lot of cute little puns. In the front room you can walk around and look at the glass cases full of original Cabbage Patch dolls that are worth $15,000. It was fun to look at those.

Then you can have your picture made on a giant cabbage leaf – because… well…. because who doesn’t want a family photo made on a giant cabbage leaf???

Aniston LOVES her cousins “Mimi and Wiwi” (AKA Emily and Lily :))

Next you walk through a few special rooms where you will see babies in their cribs and set up in a hospital like setting. We were a little disappointed that this part didn’t last longer. From what we recalled this part of the the hospital had been downsized and they had made their store much bigger.

The store area is interactive which really adds to the experience.

It is really fun to walk around and just take everything in. You can see babies coming in and out of the cabbages and your child can actually pull out the doll they want if they see one. Of course, Aniston wanted to get her doll glasses, a diaper, and a bottle set.

Baby Heidi was way too excited to hold still for pictures! 🙂

This was the previous location and as you can tell, they have really improved the place!

I had been to Baby Land at its previous location and both times everyone was invited to witness a “live birth”. It’s pretty adorable. A nurse comes out and informs the crowd about what is going to happen. (Mother Cabbage is about to have a baby!!!) She asks everyone to take deep breaths and count before pulling the baby out. That is one of the more memorable parts of the day. After the birth, you can head over to the window to see her check the baby – just like you would if you were at a real hospital. There must be some way to pay for this extra experience or perhaps they select a lucky person. I’m not sure how the “mother” of the live birth is decided.

After Aniston had picked out a baby and all the accessories it was time to check out. I think we paid around $75. Again, if you are worried about money, it is fine to go in, look around, play with the dolls for a bit and leave.. but you may have a whiny child on your hands! Plus, it was such a special occasion that it was worth it to us.

After the purchase you head to another counter where you officially “adopt” your baby. At first Aniston wanted to name her baby “Turtle” or “Monkey”. I think she even mentioned “Ham”?!?

I rattled off a list of possible names and she chose “Whitney” after her cousin.

You can even select a special birthday for your baby. Whitney Kay (my mom, myself, and Aniston also have Kay as a middle name) was born on June 30, 2017. We stuck with that date since it happened to be Dustin and I’s 5 year anniversary!

The girls had so much fun playing together with their new dolls!

What do you think? Would you want to visit Babyland General Hospital???

Great American Solar Eclipse 2017 – Activities, Viewers, Writing Prompts, Party Ideas, & MORE!

July 21, 2017

Hands up if you’re excited about the Great American Solar Eclipse – set to hit us August 2017??? I can’t wait! I realized that the eclipse would take place during the school day so after some good advice from a friend, I started working on a new TPT resource. It is JAM-PACKED with fun things including activities for your kids, 2 different types of viewer instructions, class books, writing prompts and so much more!

You can find it by clicking on the picture below! Aren’t my nieces the cutest models ever???

I even made a video that explains a lot of the activities included and gives you a close up idea of everything you will find in the product – you can go here if you would rather watch a video than read through blah, blah, blah! 🙂

Solar Eclipse Activities Video by Pencils to Pigtails

*****UPDATE!!! Due to requests, I just added a resource for 3rd – 6th grade which you can find by clicking the picture below! Some of the activities/crafts that I talk about in the video are included, as well as a research guide and opinion writing prompts!

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I’ve been busy getting ready for the party we will have. There are lots of party ideas included in the resource… think snacks, activities, and costumes! My amazing principal just purchased enough glasses for every student to have a pair on the day of the eclipse. It is DANGEROUS to look directly at the eclipse. We are not in the path of totality but we are very close so I think it will be a great experience for everybody.

Don’t worry! – if you don’t have access to the special glasses- I’ve included 2 different versions of DIY viewers with instructions and letters to parents if you need help collecting the supplies. It’s so exciting to build your viewer and then find the sun in it!

I’ve been doing some research and eclipses aren’t as rare as some people think. In fact, somewhere on the earth you could witness an eclipse every 18 months or so… notice I said SOMEWHERE. The actual chance of your city being in the path of totality happens about once every 360 years. So… you don’t want to miss it! I live close to Nashville which is the only major city in the path of the eclipse and I’ve heard that hotel rooms have been booked forever!

There are templates for masks or headbands included along with a really cute “Little Moon” activity to give students a strong understanding of how the eclipse works.

Don’t you just love a cute and SIMPLE craft! Students will adore this one where they will understand the alignment of the sun, earth, and moon during an eclipse.

I hope you find lots of good ideas and enjoy this resource! I created it with preK-2nd or 3rd grade in mind but there are things in there that you could also do with older students. Happy Eclipsing!!!

A Patching Tea Party – Patching for Amblyopia

June 23, 2017

So… we’ve been busy this summer sorting out Aniston’s eye issues. My mom asked me one day if I had noticed one of Aniston’s eyes turning in and that she often stood very close to the tv. Major mom guilt moment: I had NOT noticed that! I will say that we hardly ever turn on the tv while the kids are awake so I will use that as my excuse and my mom is a nurse which may be why she was the first to realize… BUT once my mom pointed out how her eye turned in, I could see nothing else. I was watching it constantly and losing some sleep over it so I made an appointment with an ophthalmologist at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital.

Dustin and I both have perfect vision so this was all new to me. I remember sitting in the waiting room when I noticed that every child in there was wearing glasses. I realized I was probably in denial. Until that moment I thought that Aniston may have to patch or something but I was not expecting her to have to wear glasses.

Aniston did great and was so proud of herself quickly naming off every picture… until they covered up her right eye. Suddenly she could not see anything. She became really sad and started to tear up. I was devastated realizing that my 2 year old could not see anything that I could see so easily.

I was informed that Aniston would need glasses.

“Like all the time?!? She needs to wear them all the time except when she is sleeping???” He laughed, but I was still pretty shocked. We talked about if/when she may be able to wean herself from glasses and when she could start using contacts.

I remember the doctor saying, “I think you need to just get used to the idea that she will be wearing glasses. You will be surprised. Glasses are the in thing right now.”

I was wondering how I could convince Aniston that she needed to keep glasses on, but it turns out that they helped her so much it wasn’t too hard to get her to wear them. I told her she could pick out any pair she liked and this is what she came up with.

I really can’t get over how adorable she is in them. She is so self confident and loves showing people her purple glasses with hearts on the side.

Doesn’t she look so smart for a 2 (now 3) year old?

Fast-forward 4 months and we had to return to the ophthalmologist so he could see if her vision was improving in her “bad” eye. Unfortunately it wasn’t and our doctor informed us that she would need to “patch” for 4-6 hours per day and that we would need to return in 4 months to see if the patching is helping before moving to the next step (surgery? full time patching?).

I wasn’t really surprised to hear that we would patch. He showed us how to put her patch on and how to slip her glasses on top. Basically you are patching the good eye to force her “bad” eye to improve.

It is hard at first. Aniston can barely see with her patch on. She had a couple of bad falls when she was wearing it and cried quite a bit for a couple days about how she couldn’t see. I have a good friend who had to patch and she had told me that her daughter only patched at home. For Aniston, I knew the opposite would be better. We always try to have at least 1 outing in the morning and we patched first thing to get it over with. I knew it would help her forget about patching if she was wearing it while we were out and about.

I could only find plain skin-colored patches at Walmart at first so I let her decorate them with stickers.

My sister suggested that we have a patching tea party and that everybody who attended be required to wear a patch. I knew Aniston would love that and she did. It was a memorable experience for us all and meant so much to Aniston. I wanted it to be very simple so I just made some scones from a boxed mix and served hot and cold tea, fresh fruit, and cheese and crackers. We had the patches laid out as well as some stickers so people could decorate them. Aniston loved showing everybody how to put on their patch.

The best part was that it gave us all a new appreciation for what she was dealing with. It was EXTREMELY annoying to wear. You found yourself constantly wanting to pull it off. It really made me feel even more proud of how well Aniston has handled the whole situation.

Aniston was so happy that her cousins were wearing them too!

“The family that patches together stays together!” 🙂

One of Aniston’s friends brought her the prettiest yellow sunflowers. She was thrilled!

Aniston was so happy that everyone looked just like her!

As the party was winding down, we realized that Aniston’s 6 hours were up so we let everyone take them off. We were all so relieved. Can you tell who her crush is??? 🙂

Since then, I’ve found some patches that fit her so much better and she loves all of the designs. You can grab them here if you are dealing with the same issues!

I also ordered these posters which have REALLY encouraged Aniston. She loves putting her patch on the butterfly after her time is up. It’s the first thing she wants to do and she loves to show others the design she has created.

I’ve been so proud of Aniston. So many kids have asked her why she has that thing on her eye. I heard her say, “My mommy says… the doctor says… I have wear it 3 hours… then I take it off!” I think she is pretty articulate for a young 3 year old!

Did you ever have to patch with your kids? I’ve realized it is more common than I once thought. Let me know in the comments!

Wild One – One Year Old Theme and Decoration Ideas

June 5, 2017

Baby Heidi is one! Just the sentence makes my heart skip a beat. I can’t believe it. Ya’ll- the one year old age is tough but it is so bittersweet seeing them grow up! I can be at my wit’s end one minute and ready for a much-needed break and the next minute feel like sobbing because she is growing up so fast and I want to keep her little forever! Do you feel me?!? 🙂

I always look around for party inspiration on pinterest and found so many cute ideas for a “Wild One” Birthday party that I had to use that theme. I have since heard from the party guests that the theme was not appropriate as she is a pretty laid back baby. BUT, she can be wild when she wants to be so I’m okay with it. When you are thinking of this theme think of arrows and tee-pees. I loved using turquoise, coral, and silver as the main colors.

I also decided to do a “Young, Wild, & Three” party for Aniston’s third birthday which was about 3 weeks before we had Heidi’s. I wanted to be able to use some of the same decorations so this worked well.

You can click here to see that party!

Aniston’s Young Wild & Three Party, Decor, & Family Pics

I took the girls searching for party supplies. I bought a few things here and there like cupcake liners or a #1 ballon, but was thrilled when I found a whole “Wild One” section at Hobby Lobby. I went a little crazy buying matching supplies there and ended up taking back most of it because I didn’t need as much as I thought. BUT, they have the cutest party supplies there if you want to go the quick route and purchase them.

This was the finished mantle. I used the banner from Hobby Lobby as well as the high chair banner with the “Wild One” on the front. I had made a fabric high chair skirt for Aniston’s 1st birthday and just pulled it out to use with this party. It is basically a long piece of ribbon with long strips of torn fabric tied around it.

If you want to see the “Some Bunny is One” birthday party you can click here:

Some Bunny is One – Aniston’s First Birthday Party Decor and Easter Craft Ideas

I used our antique high chair, a canvas from our recent family photos, a framed picture of Aniston announcing our pregnancy with Heidi (Big Sister’s Training Camp photo), and her invite. I also tied a #1 silver balloon on one of my torn wreaths. I really liked the way the fireplace turned out. Simple but birthday-ish… 🙂

I had researched quite a bit and purchased a teepee, lights, feathered garland, and dreamcatcher on Amazon, which you can find by clicking on the photos below. I was really happy with all of the items I ordered.

I tied ribbons around the white dreamcatcher to give it some color. I’m so happy about these purchases because they served several purposes.

Party decor
Family photo props
Birthday Present for the girls!

We had family photos taken about a month before the girls’ birthdays since they were turning 1 and 3 and I wanted to use the pictures on their invitations. Here are a few of my favorites.

Heidi still has her milk and egg allergy so I made a vegan cake with vegan icing and arranged some fruit on top for her smash cake. She was way more into the fruit then she was that cake!

I had an ETSY designer make the front of the invitations and used Walgreens photo to add some photos on the back and print them quickly.

I thought they turned out really cute for a last minute effort on the design. As you’ve seen before, I like to build the birthday girl’s magic number on our pantry door using pictures. The “1” was pretty easy to configure. I try to include pictures of people who will be at the party. Any extras are scattered or hung up throughout the party space. I think this is the perfect way to celebrate that special birthday girl and reflect on the past year.

I created a “Stats” picture for Heidi using the family pictures we had taken and powerpoint. It was super easy and fun!

I also had a coupon to make a free collage print on Shutterfly so I came up with this one:

Both of these pictures were put in frames and set out for guests to see.

My mom made a chocolate vegan cake because of Heidi’s allergies and I made non-vegan cupcakes.

The cake topper and cupcake toppers were from Hobby Lobby.

I think its cute to put an invite in a frame on the table. We had picked some flowers that morning so added those in some of my white china.

Thank goodness one of my best friends showed up early and helped me assemble these cute arrows. Just 3 marshmallows, a skewer, and the arrowheads and ends were made with some leftover scrapbook paper. (Be careful when little kids grab these!!!)

Did you take monthly photos of your baby? These look great strung from a banner with twine and clothespins. I used precut scrapbook paper to back them. I loved that the paper came in coordinating colors and that I didn’t have to worry about the orientation of the photos.

We took Baby Heidi’s monthly photos with numbers spelled out with flowers and also laying on a bunny with her “Heidi” swaddle blanket and blocks. I will be blogging about those soon.

We had so much fun at the party and the most important thing is how much Heidi enjoyed herself!

Her birthday outfit with the word “One” on it was from the cutest children’s shop in Manchester, TN called Sprout’s.

The birthday song was a huge hit with Heidi!!

After the party I found these next pictures on my phone back to back and thought, “No wonder people get my sister and I confused!” 🙂

What do you think? Would a “Wild One” party work for your baby? Let me know in the comments!

Young, Wild, & Three Birthday Party Theme, Decoration Ideas, and Family Photos

June 3, 2017

My favorite picture from the day! The anticipation!!

Aniston turned 3 in March and I’ve been meaning to share her birthday details with you. I LOVE planning parties for my two girls. I had so much fun with her “Some Bunny is One” party which you can find by clicking here:

Some Bunny is One – Aniston’s First Birthday Party Decor and Easter Craft Ideas

Her 2nd birthday party was a “Tea for Two” theme which I will go back and blog about soon.

I was planning to have a “Wild One” party for Heidi so I decided to use a “Young, Wild & Three” party for Aniston so I could use some of the same decorations.

I bought the girls a teepee from Amazon. This was a fantastic decision. It served as a place for photos to be taken, a birthday present to both girls from us and decor for both of the parties. In fact, we liked it so much that we have left it set up in our living room and have no intentions of taking it down anytime soon. I researched forever before deciding on this one. You can click on the photo to head over to Amazon. It was around $80 and I was happy with the one I picked out.

I also purchased some lights… these were a little tricky the first time but then we had it down. They are so pretty! (Again, click the picture to see them!)

My friend Lindsey came over to take photos of the girls since Heidi was turning one and Aniston was turning 3 around the same time. And let me just tell you… it is next to impossible to take a picture of 2 children their age with both smiling. Luckily my husband was not afraid to act as goofy as needed to try to get the right picture. I wanted to use these on the birthday invitations so we took them about a month before the parties. Here are just a few of my favorites. 🙂

I ordered my invites from ETSY. Aren’t they cute???

I designed the back myself quickly on the Walgreens Photo website and was happy with the way they turned out. I was able to print about 20 invitations pretty inexpensively that way and pick them up in a few hours. I let Aniston tell me who she wanted to invite and she only named family members. We have a huge family so it took her a while just to name the immediate family members. I decided to roll with that and let her worry about a “friends” birthday party later in life! 🙂 I think at this age less is better for the child and not too overwhelming!

Loved how this summed up Aniston. 🙂

Okay, back to the party. You can find a ton of stuff to help you plan a party like this. Hobby Lobby had lots of cute stuff but I ended up returning quite a few things and using simple decorations.

If you are planning a party for a toddler I want to urge you to think about their nap time. For me it always works out best to plan the party to start right as they would normally be waking up from their nap. I love doing it this way because the child is in a good mood and you have all of that time to rush around getting ready while they are sleeping away!

Aniston has dropped her nap so the timing didn’t matter too much. I chose 4:30 so I knew that Heidi would be awake and I could serve Aniston’s choice of pizza, cake, and ice cream. I didn’t want to start too late and run into the girls’ bedtime routines.

One of the easiest things I always try to do is create their age on my pantry door using photos. The guests always love to look at pictures while they are mingling and I think it really helps celebrate how special the birthday girl/boy is. I try to incorporate pictures of the people who will be at the party.

Any pictures that don’t fit on the number are used to decorate the rest of the party area. I take TONS of photos of my girls so there are no shortages of pictures around here!

On the mantle, I placed a couple of framed pictures of Aniston and hung a feathered garland. (I got the feathered garland from Amazon and will link it below.) I thought it added a nice touch to the party.

You can click on the photo to go through my affiliate link. I was happy with this one and after the party I wrapped it around the teepee where it is still hanging!

Another thing I ordered from Amazon was a plain white dreamcatcher to hang on the teepee and added some ribbon I got from my mom. I wanted to order a white one so I could change out the colors as needed. It was really beautiful and inexpensive. It was around $10 when I purchased it. Just a tip… make sure to read the specifications about sizes first. You can get an idea for the size of mine from the pictures and I thought it was perfect. I found several other ones on Amazon that I almost purchased but later realized they were pretty tiny. You can click on this photo to see the one I decided on.

I know this picture is a little dark but you can get an idea of how the living room looked. We just twisted some streamers around the fan and I set Aniston’s baby albums on the console beneath the tv.

If you turned around backwards, you would see this view:

I hung a gold A I grabbed for a couple dollars from Hobby Lobby. Dustin and I laughed after filling it with helium. It wouldn’t stay up at all so we might as well have filled it with air. It was much smaller than I was imagining, but worked out fine hanging above the island.

I like to pick up some plain plates and napkins from the Dollar Tree or Walmart and mix them with one other set of decorative ones. I let Aniston use a gold Washi tape to decorate the cups. She loved doing that! I also like to stick the party invitation in a frame somewhere near the food table.

I forgot to say how excited Aniston was about this party. She talked about the big day for weeks and weeks. She had every little detail planned out in her mind. She is such a sweet girl and genuinely thrilled for anybody who has a birthday so she was especially excited about her own!

We have the cutest little children’s boutique in Manchester called Sprout’s Children Shop. I bought her birthday dress there along with the crown headband. (You’ll notice that Heidi had a matching crown headband that went along with her “one” outfit in the pictures above.) The sizing on Aniston’s dress says 12m – 5T. Sounds a little crazy but you can see that on a 1 year old it would be like a long/poofy gown and on a 5 year old it would be a short dress. I had to have it and will probably have each of the girls wear it a few times to make sure we get our use out of it!:)

These are some of my favorite pics from the day!

Let me know what you think in the comments! I would love to hear about your money saving and unique birthday party ideas!

Big Brown Bear – My First Leveled Reader & Tons of Activities

June 1, 2017

So… years ago I ~~had~~ (okay I STILL have) dreams of being a children’s author. I attended several conferences & workshops and wrote at least 10 manuscripts. At one of the conferences I went to, there was an editor looking for leveled readers. I wrote several and now, many years later, I’m dusting them off and finally seeing them in print with the help of Chirps Graphics. (SHE IS FABULOUS!)

I created a new resource for TPT that includes this leveled reader and tons of activities and wanted to share a little more about them here. If you want to check out the resource in my store, you can click on the product below.

See… I told you Chirps Graphics is amazing! I love her illustrations!

With my kindergarteners we started by looking over the words on our word wall which are of course included in this resource!

Ya’ll! I almost cried when I read the class book to my students and they started reading it by themselves. They were so excited that they were reading and even my struggling readers gained so much confidence with this text and it was so special to see a story that was just a thought in my head years ago go to a manuscript form and FINALLY a printed form for students to enjoy. If you don’t follow me on Instagram – please add me! You can see a video of my students reading this to me!

So… after reading students the class book, I gave them each an individual reader. There are colored and black & white printer-friendly versions included. I printed the large class book in color and laminated it to use every year. Then I printed the ones for my students in black and white.

The students I created this book for should already recognize some beginning and ending letter sounds, have print awareness, and may tell a story from memory. They may invent text, can detect rhymes, have some syllable awareness, and are aware of the relationship between letters and sounds.
This and the other leveled readers I have written have between 32-100 words, predictable sentence structure, predictable story and spelling patterns with simple vocabulary and mimic speech. The most important thing is that these stories have word repetion which helps students build fluency, comprehension and a love for reading. In order to ease frustration, I have avoided compound words and contractions.

My kids loved coloring “Big Brown Bear”.

The next day students worked on rearranging letters to complete the book with the words “like” and “me”.

Later we created these adorable headbands. I loved how creative my students were!

Isn’t she adorable???

Each day we revisited the text. My students were so proud that they could read it by themselves.

I overheard one of my struggling readers exclaim, “I CAN READ NOW BY MYSELF!!!”

I included printable where students will finish the sentence to say what Big Brown Bear likes to do with each of them. They loved them!

There are lots of other activities like a labeling worksheet…

I also included activities to assess comprehension – like this sheet where students will color in the words or pictures that Big Brown Bear likes.

We did the cutest craftivity where students color in a picture of Brown Bear holding one of the writing templates… but of course, I forgot to take pictures!

I hope your students enjoy this as much as mine did. It was truly magical to see all of those struggling readers get so excited about reading! I created this resource as our year was coming to an end, but next year I plan to use this earlier… maybe in October. It could work for any month but I love the idea of giving my students confidence in their reading abilities early in the school year.

You can grab the resource by clicking on one of the pictures below! As always, I love to hear from you whether it be in feedback on my TPT store or in the comments below. Thank you for your support! Happy Teaching!

Home Depot Kids Workshops – An Unbiased Review

May 3, 2017

I know I called this an unbiased review, but I might should mention that I have a special place in my heart for Home Depot. We have a smaller Home Depot about a mile from our house and I absolutely adore it.

It all started back when I was single and living by myself in the house that formerly belonged to my grandparents. It needed some updating and over the course of a couple of years I visited that Home Depot a lot – A LOT – A LOT!

Everyone there was always friendly, knowledgeable and willing to help me. I’ll never forget the time I decided to install a tiled backsplash in my kitchen and they told me to take the wet-saw home with me to complete the project. Although they knew me from seeing me in the store, they didn’t even take down my name and number… just let me walk out of there with it!

Anyways, I had heard about the kids workshops and wanted to give it a try so we went to one in April. The kids were going to learn how to build a bunny basket. I signed Aniston up about a month earlier and had the time it started marked on my calendar. Totally unnecessary. At my Home Depot you could come anytime so you didn’t have to worry if you wouldn’t be there at the starting time. I was so happy when we walked in and they had all of the supplies ready for us and free snacks and drinks. Aniston was thrilled!

We brought along her cousin Whitney and they each worked on one. I loved that each of the products came with detailed instructions, stickers and everything you would possibly need.

Aniston wanted to use the hammer. I let her with very close supervision! 🙂

Once we had the pieces assembled, it was time to add the paint! Aniston LOVED this part!

As we were working, families were walking up and seeing the projects and joining in! It was a very laid-back event.

There was a pre-made sample if you wanted to follow their painting tips or you could paint it whatever colors you wanted. We went with our own unique creation! 🙂

We painted the inside of our basket too!

We were so pleased with the finished product! Aniston wanted to show it off to everybody! We will definitely be signing up for the Home Depot Kids Workshops in the future.

If you are interested, you can click here for more information!
Home Depot Kids & DIY Workshops

What about you? Have you ever attended the kids’ workshops? I would love to hear about your experience!

Organize Your Classroom – Easy Ideas and a Helpful Resource

April 26, 2017

I’m excited to introduce a new resource that I recently uploaded on TPT. These editable black and white labels are perfect for organizing your classroom. You can click the picture below to see them on TPT.

I have these glorious shelves above my cubbies. Don’t you love the word glorious? Ha ha. I really do love them though but they have always looked like a mess no matter how hard I tried to keep them organized.

Like this… ugh….

and this… yuck….

I had previously tried to organize them with monthly labels. I had centers and activities that went along with August placed above that label and so forth. The whole system just wasn’t working. I realized that the easiest way to fix this was to get some matching tubs from the Dollar Tree. Of course, they were just a dollar each.

I laid 33 tubs out on the floor and started removing all of my activities from their original boxes. (Unless they were super nice or wooden ones which I stored elsewhere.) I placed each activity in a plastic storage bag and labeled them appropriately. Then I put like bags together in each tub. This helped me figure out exactly what labels I would need and how many tubs I would need for each one. I spent a lot of time working on this during the kids’ indoor recess time and they loved to help me wipe out the old containers and sort.

I have always used primary colors in my classroom so I wanted some simple black and white labels to place on them. After a quick search, I couldn’t find what I was looking for so I made some using my favorite KG fonts. I think I’m a little addicted to her fonts! 🙂

I’m finished and so proud of the final look. It makes me smile every time I look in that corner of my classroom!

Anyways, I love how they turned out and think they will work in a variety of grade levels. I included every label I could think of for supplies and centers, but made them editable in case I forgot something you needed.