New Life Abounds

Spring is such a special time of year....it's the time when new life abounds. My kindergarten class had two caterpillars given to us by the pre-k department at our school. They were delivered in two tiny clear plastic cups with lids. After just a couple days, the caterpillars had attached themselves to the underside of the lid and turned into a chrysalis. Of course the kiddos thought this was amazing, and truly...it is! I didn't have a butterfly habitat so I brought a mesh pop-up hamper I had at home and attached the lids to the top so we could keep an eye on them. Well, just a few days later, one of my little girls ran up to me all excited because the butterfly had "hatched"....lol! Here is the sweet little butterfly. Unfortunately, our other one never emerged from it's chrysalis. I don't know why.....it looked like it was going to but never did. 

We took this one out today and opened up the bag and it flew out and away. 

The kids were so excited as we watched it flutter away into the beautiful blue sky...:)

Yesterday, while visiting my mother-in-law, she pointed out a robin's nest in one of her small citrus trees. I had my phone in my pocket, so I took it out to snap a few pictures. This little mama was not too frightened by my presence. See her there...

This one is better. She let me get closer but after I got about 18 inches away, she flew out of the nest. 

 I was very careful not to touch anything near the nest. I didn't want to risk her not returning. Look...how sweet are these little eggs.....each of them holding a new little life. Hopefully nothing will harm them before they can hatch.

There's something so precious about a nest full of tiny eggs. Love the brown specks on the pale blue. So pretty...:)

I wanted to share a picture of my Yesterday Today and Tomorrow plant that I showed you Saturday. I just love these two shades of purple. 

I hope your Monday was a good one! Mine was....we started our standardized testing today and my kids did great. I am so proud of them. Some of them have come so far this year. I have several kinders already reading...and doing a great job of it! We got to leave just after the kids today, so I got home early and had a little happy mail waiting for me. Check it out.....

Some of you may remember that I received some note cards from Cecilia in the ornament exchange I hosted last year. She's a very talented artist and has an awesome blog, The B Farm as well! You should check it out! Anywho, she knew I fell in love with this painting that was on one of the note cards. She ran across this one when she was moving some things and sent it to me. So sweet! Thanks so much Cecilia! I am so blessed to have so many awesome blog friends who leave me such sweet comments, offer up prayers when I ask for them, and are just great friends! Thanks to each and every one of you....I appreciate you ALL! 

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the simple things life has to offer!

Tomato Pie & 74 Years Old!!!

 Hello and happy hump day everyone! Have you seen this commercial yet? My kiddos at school love to imitate the camel...:) Anywho, I'm just popping in for a bit to share a recipe that I made over the weekend. It's an altered Paula Deen recipe called Tomato Pie. Hers is baked in a pie shell, but I prefer mine as a pizza pie! The only ingredients in mine are fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, grated cheese, mayonnaise, and pizza crust.

As I've said before, I don't really measure most things I have been making forever. I just know about how much to add. For two pizza crusts I used approximately 1 cup of mayonnaise, 10-15 chopped, fresh basil leaves, 2 cups of cheese, and 3 tomatoes. 

Here is my fresh from mama's herb garden basil! I love basil! I couldn't live without basil or cilantro...they are my two favorites! Maybe because Mexican and Italian foods are my favorites...:)

Here is the mayo, chopped basil, and cheese mixed together. You may be thinking mayo on a pizza sounds gross, but I assure you it isn't! It is so tasty mixed with the basil and cheese. I do NOT eat mayo on sandwiches or anything unless it is mixed with something, so you can trust me on this. Another tip...for the tastiest, creamiest mashed potatoes, add a big dollop of mayo in when you are making them....YUM! It gives them the best flavor.

OK....back on topic! Here is the topping and tomatoes on the crust. I used pre-made pizza crust similar to Boboli's...it was called Mama Mary's. I usually use Boboli's but they were sold out and so I went with this brand. It was very good and I will be buying this brand from now on!

Fresh from the oven! Yummm! 

I prefer my pizza with no meat but if you are a meat lover, you may want to try this with Italian sausage or maybe Canadian bacon....I am just not a big meat eater. My other favorite pizza has white alfredo type sauce, fresh mushrooms, spinach, and tomatoes....:)

I finished off the last of this pie today for my lunch at school.

I had to have a piece fresh out of the oven when I made it!

On Monday (Labor Day) I went to my classroom to work for a few hours. While I was there, I went through all the books I inherited when I moved in the room. I really like sorting and categorizing my books by genre, topic, level, etc and placing them in baskets labeled for the kids to easily find and return them. I started this daunting task Monday and was able to get them all sorted and some in baskets, but the labeling will have to wait for another day! Here is what my little library area looks like now...

My cute little chairs I found at Wal Mart.

The other shelf....:)

Anywho, I said all that to say this! I found a couple old books when I was cleaning out. This one is in ratty condition, but it is so cool. 

I love the illustrations....:)

Check out the copyright date....74 years old! So cool!

I also rescued this little paperback book. It was beginning to come apart and the pages are very brittle. It's only from the seventies, but wasn't a high quality book to begin with. I do love the illustrations though and thought I may use them for something over the years.

Aren't they awesome? I love books of all ages, shapes, and sizes! I love the variety of illustrations found in children's books too. Do you have a favorite children's book or author? Leave me a comment and let me know if you do! I would love to hear about your favorite and why it is your favorite! 

Well folks....that's all I got! Have a blessed week my friends.

Until next time.....

I'm Back!!!

Hi everyone! I am back and happy to have a few minutes to post a few photos of my kindergarten classroom. Several of you wanted to see it so, here you go!

Here is the whiteboard in the front of my room. The big blue pocket charts are used during calendar and math time. The little colorful pocket charts under the ledge will be used for a word wall to display the words the students are learning each week.

Another view with one of my buntings above the screen. Excuse the phone on the floor....I hadn't hooked it up yet.

This is my behavior system. The students will have a clothespin with their name on it and will all begin each day with their clip on Ready to Learn. They can move up or down on the chart depending on their behavior. If the students move all the way to the top, they get a special jewel on their clip and when they have earned 5 jewels, they will move their clip to the hall of fame and earn a new clip. If nobody moves down each day, the students will earn a cupcake to place on the tray. When they have earned 12 cupcakes, I will bake them cupcakes to reward them for their great behavior...thus the name Sweet Rewards.

 

Here is a close up view of the book jacket banner and cupcake liner twinkle lights I made hanging in my windows.

Here are a few puppets that will be used when we work on learning how to read...:)

This is my birthday board. All the students names and birthdays will be placed on the cupcakes soon! I made this banner last year. The fabric has sprinkles on it...:)

This is my Helper of the Day area. The students names will be written on the birds and when it is their day to be the helper, their bird will leave the nest and "fly" up to the limb above. 

After their turn is over, the bird will move to the green pocket chart next to it.

The small bulletin board will hold my rules signs. And , here's another bunting!

This area still needs a lot of work. Student work will be displayed in the polka dot area. I will be adding a few things to this wall. The two tables on this wall will be used during center time.

Here is the rainbow I made for my dolch word display. Student names will be written on the clouds and each time they master a color level, they will earn a raindrop of the same color under their cloud...:)

I love the glitter on the rainbow!

This is a pocket chart I made last year to hold a variety of things in my little office area. You'll never guess what it's made with!

Home Depot nail aprons!!! They are less that $1 each and made from very sturdy canvas. Only problem is the logo on the front as you can see below. I simply made labels to put over mine, but you could also sew patches on it or hot glue something over it. It would be great in a craft room or home office as well...:)

I was tickled yesterday when the local Rotary Club brought us all teacher goodie bags! 

Here are all the germ busting products and school supplies that were in the bag!

They even included these sweet signs to place in the restroom after we teach the kinders the importance of hand washing.

Here are the sweet little treat bags I gave my sweet students earlier when they came in for Meet Your Teacher night!

Here is the view from the hall door. The area in the corner is my office and storage area. Unfortunately this room doesn't have a closet.

This is the cubby area at the entrance to the room. The grey cubbies are for backpacks and the black ones are their mailboxes. I have two more grey ones to the left in this photo.

A different view of the front of the room.

My library area and reading instruction area and easel.

I still have to sort through books and place them in baskets according to the reading level, author, picture books, etc.

This is my D.O.T. folder....the kiddos will take this home each night. I put a mustache over the student name on this one for confidentiality. 

This is the area outside my door to welcome the kids. Again, I have blacked out last names...:)

Well, I hope you enjoyed your little tour of my room! I will share again after we have "lived" in it for a while! I love to display student work and artwork and hope to have lots of cute things to hang up soon! Have a blessed Friday....I know I am glad the weekend is almost here...:) I desperately need some rest!

Until next time.....