Long Time...No Blog!

Hello there! 

Remember me?

 If not...I totally understand.

 It's been quite some time since I shared anything here. I know I had been posting less and less over the past couple years and then last year I just stopped posting at all after June. In my defense, life was pretty busy. I went back to work at the very beginning of August and the first couple months of the school year are always extremely busy and challenging. Add a couple of students with some pretty bad behavior and this 49 year old (peri-menopausal...another story for another time) teacher was overwhelmed and exhausted. 

You might also remember that I was helping my daughter, Miranda plan her wedding. Throw in a bridal shower, all the holidays, my nephew's wedding, Miranda's wedding (February 2nd) and several other occasions between last June and today and my little old blog was totally forgotten about....until now.  Most of you are on Instagram and I love keeping in touch with you there but I miss those of you who aren't. And...I miss writing on this blog. I'm not promising anything, but I sure have missed showing up here. I really want to try to post here at least once per month. It will most likely be a recap of what I have been sharing on Instagram but I'm OK with that if you are. 

I was going to try to share some highlights from the past several months but I got overwhelmed when I started looking through all my photos. Trust me when I say life has been very good. I am still happily married...Joey and I celebrated our 30th Anniversary with an amazing trip to Walt Disney World. Miranda and Slade planned and paid for it all and went with us. It was a blast! Here's a picture from our trip of  Joey, Miranda, and I. 

You already know I am still teaching...this year I went with a dog theme in my classroom and love it so much that I am keeping it next year as well. Here are a couple pictures...of course I have rearranged a bit since these were taken but you get the idea. And as for the behavior students, it has improved significantly. I have worked really hard with them. I can hardly believe we're in our last quarter of the school year. I've been on spring break this week and have enjoyed it so much but now I am refreshed and renewed and ready to see my firsties. 

My son, Dakota has the sweetest and prettiest girlfriend now. Her name is Cheyanne. He is totally smitten and we really love her too. I'm happy that he is so happy. And of course, Miranda and Slade got married in February. The wedding was every bit as beautiful and wonderful and we had hoped it would be. It was such an amazing day. I will try to write a post about the day and share more pictures soon but for now...here's a photo of my family on wedding day....these people hold my heart.

And of course, I still have my Sadie and Rooster. They also hold a big portion of my heart. Here's Sadie keeping me company in my craft room and Rooster snuggling with me. He's such a big baby!

I also still love decorating and piddling around my home. I had put this love by the wayside for a while but have recently begun to take more interest in it again. I dearly love my home on Willie Mae Lane. Here's one of my recent projects...my mug racks Joey helped me build. I plan to display my seasonal mugs on them.

And that's about all I am going to share for now. I sincerely hope to post here more often. I'm feeling more like myself again most days. I mentioned peri-menopause earlier and goodness did it wreak havoc on me. I'm sure it's not over but I really hope the worst of it is behind me. I am so happy to be back. I hope to visit you soon as well. 

Until next time.....

 

 

June Happenings

Hello friends! Seems like once a month is about all I can give you this year. I just don't have a lot to share that I haven't already shared on Instagram. I know a couple of you are not on Instagram though so I hope you enjoy catching up. Here are a few June highlights.

June started out with my nephew Jacob's high school graduation. He will be playing lacrosse in Maryland and we are all very proud of him.

Miranda and I went to a bridal tea hosted by our wedding coordinator. She had lots of decorations for us to look at and decide if we want to use for the wedding. She had several things that we will be using. Here is just a few of the things she has. We will be using the 3-tiered table to hold the mismatched glassware we are using.

I cleaned my craft room up really well. It had been neglected at the end of the school year.

I celebrated my 49th birthday a few times with different friends and family. My friend Jeana made my favorite cake...she makes it for me every year! And yes, it tastes every bit as good as it looks! We also celebrated my son's 23rd birthday, my mama's birthday, and my husband Joey's birthday this month too. Juse is a busy month for our family.

I treated myself to a new crossbody purse for my birthday. I have been trying to be more mindful of purchasing fair trade items when I can. I don't purchase leather if I can help it either which also limits my options. I found this bag on Amazon by a company called Sherpani and I love it. It is made in the US so it is fair trade and an added bonus is the fact that it is made from recycled water bottles. 

Win! Win! 

I also bought an air fryer. I haven't used it too much yet, but I am hoping to use it more in July.

We celebrated my nephew Jacob's graduation a week after the ceremony at his favorite Japanese Steakhouse. It was a nice lunch out with family and the food was delish!

I have enjoyed catching up on some things around the house. I changed the saying on my chalkboard since it still had a spring saying on it. 

I'm enjoying my bohemian redo in the kitchen as well. 

I went to see Miranda again and of course since she's so close to so many beautiful beaches, we had to visit another one. This time we went to Grayton Beach and it did not disappoint. It was overcast and we both got sunburned though! Ouch!

Here's my beautiful Miranda...:)

After the beach, we walked around the quaint little town. Such a pretty place. 

This little bakery was adorable and so good! I definitely want to go back someday!

I have been reading more. I ordered this book and have been really loving it. It is so interesting to learn more about the toxins & chemicals in our environment, the products we use, and foods we eat that build up inside our bodies and cause so much sickness and damage to our systems. 

We celebrated Father's Day with a nice supper at my parent's house and I got to see my cousin's baby, Clarissa...she's a doll! 

Here she is with my sister.

I attended a couple different trainings for school. They were both really good.

I've also been working out as often as possible. Sadie has too....lol!

I needed to get this ready to post because I leave in the morning for a girl's weekend with my sister and friends. I am so looking forward to it. 

I hope this finds you doing well. I am hoping to blog about my weekend and another trip I have coming up next week with Joey. 

Thanks for stopping by and as always...take care.

Back to School...First Grade Classroom Tour!

Hello there! 

I'm so happy you stopped by for a visit. I have been absent for quite some time and I am truly sorry. I have been meaning to blog but it seems like life has been getting in the way. I had good intentions to blog over the summer when I was off work but I worked a lot over the summer getting lots of little things accomplished as well as preparing for a new grade level this year. Of course, over the past month I have been preparing my classroom and now I am going into my third week of school with my firsties so life is still busy. Add the beginning of our bathroom remodel to that and oh my! Life is great though and I am so blessed. Now...hopefully I will be sharing a new bathroom with you before too long and then a new bedroom after that, but for now, I am sharing my new classroom.

Welcome to Mrs. Vicky's First Grade Class.....

Here is my desk and little office space in my room. I love the setup and especially love the ribbon garland and faux chalkboard look I created on the front. 

All of our classrooms have a full size stove in case we want to do any lessons involving cooking or for party days and so on. I rarely use mine and would rather not have it, but I just decorate around it.  I loathe the mauve color of the cabinets...our school was built nearly 20 years ago and it was popular then.

Here are a few close ups of this area....

My mini fridge and microwave are in the far corner near the back door leading outside. I decorated the top of the cabinets with a few new things as well as things students have given me over the years. The back of the stove also holds things students have given me. I made labels to put on the outside of the cabinets telling what is inside. This will be helpful for substitute teachers and students as well.

My reward system and some student supplies.

I added the monsters after the first picture was taken.

Above the water fountain area. 

Here are some random views of the room. I won't explain everything but if you have questions about anything, be sure to ask. This is standing near my desk from left to right around the room.

The door below is to my HUGE closet. It is amazing...I need to take pictures. I have two closets...the other one is used to house extra first grade curriculum and supplies.

Here is the door to the other closet.

My small group area...still tweaking!

The student library...which they love! The rug came from Ikea. I have wanted it forever and finally bought it this summer.

The hubby helped me make this little bench. It took two file crates and a piece of plywood...all of which I already had. I just bought a new piece of colorful fabric to cover it and he attached it to the crates for me. The pencil pillow also came from Ikea. This is a favorite thing in the room!

I made the button banner to go with the rug.

My schedule which changed slightly so I am redoing it tonight.

My chair in our whole group floor area where we learn reading skills.

This board is to the left of the chair so students can easily turn to see it.

My behavior chart which goes along with an online program I use called Class Dojo.  They get rewarded for positive behaviors which encourages them to try hard to display good behavior. They each have a clothes pin with their name on it and clip up or down on the chart. They get to draw a number to one of the drawers you saw earlier when they get 25 points. The drawers hold a variety of things...candy, toys, fancy pencils and erasers, coupons for things like sit at the teacher's desk for the day or eat lunch with the teacher, etc. The students love it so much!

Our class motto.....

My writing board which will eventually have some things on it...lol!

I am using flexible seating this year and students can choose an alternative "seat" and choose where they want to sit.

Here are some more options. The counter holds our chrome books. Every child in our district has one this year to use at school. High schoolers get to take theirs home. 

My para pro's (teacher's aide) table. She is with me for half an hour a day and works with two groups of students during centers.

The birthday cupcakes now hold student  birth dates.

Another view of my small group area.

This was taken on Meet the Teacher day. I had paperwork in the folders for parents and a treat for the kids.

One of my Ikea carts holds math manipulative's.

Another favorite of the students...lol!

This area is to the right when you walk in from the hall. I have work posted there now. The student cubbies are to the right and left when you walk in from the hall.

I used paint chip cards from Lowe's for labeling the student cubbies this year. I love it! They each have a book bin that matches in their cubbies now. I should have taken a new picture. They store backpacks and lunches in their cubbies as well as a few books in their box.

The cubbies to the left of the door and the student mailboxes where I put their graded work and notes to go home.

Tissues and hand sanitizer are essentials in a classroom! I bought this colorful place mat at Ikea and it houses these things nicely.

A few close up shots of the area behind my desk. A parent made me the burlap painted pencil a few years ago. Another parent made the straw dispenser full of pencils last year. It has a teacher quote on it.

I have tons of necessities in my teacher toolbox...paper clips, binder clips, band aids, and so on. It is so handy...I use it all the time! The colorful words like teach came from the Target Dollar spot over the summer. They had the cutest stuff this year. 

One of my favorite things this year is my organizer my amazing hubby built for me. I labeled it using vinyl letters I cut with my Cricut (which by the way has been so handy). I have one slot for each day of the week and one for extras. I put my curriculum for each day in the slots. I have laminated some bright colored paper to divide them if I have two weeks worth inside. The middle holds my most used binders. This piece has been a lifesaver. I am all about organization as most of you already know. :)

So, I know that was super long...but I hope you enjoyed visiting first grade for a bit. My classroom is my home away from home and it is very special to me so I wanted to share it with you. I am sorry I haven't been around much lately. I actually visited everyone a week or so ago but didn't get to leave comments. I am trying to catch up today between helping the hubby with the bathroom demo. It's a mess but it is going to be so worth it! Have a beautiful week my friends and until next time....