*Insta* Friday

Blogging lull deluxe due to school starting!  More on that later...

 

Linking up with:

 

 

 

Darth Vader, the slumber buddy

 

 

The Lorax finally came out on DVD!

 

 

 

9 years of marriage to my best friend!  How am I so lucky???

 

 

 

Rick already makes the best margaritas on the planet and then we add more fabulousness to it??  YUMMMMMM!!

 

 

 

One of my favorite pictures E.V.E.R. of this sweet boy!

 

 

 

Absolute peace

 

 

 

Look who got to scan EVERY bit of groceries in our basket!  Made his day!

 

 

 

Love him!

 

 

 

Pedicure & Kendra love!

 

 

 

Rambo

(Doesn't the neck tie and the sweet smile make him look so tough??)

 

 

On a side note...do any of you know how to make photo strips of your pictures not using Photoshop?  I have Photoshop, but it seems there would be something out there that would be faster.

  

 

Swimming

I have no idea why I haven't blogged about our swimming this summer.  This year is the first year Spencer took lessons.  We have a swim school here (the Seahorse) that has been open since 1958.  My dad learned to swim there and so did I.  It's not fancy, but they get the job done.  They kind of follow a sink or swim approach and definitely don't let tears and crying affect their teaching.

We started off with two private lessons to get Spencer used to it and then we went to group lessons.  This is another thing I love about the Seahorse, his classes were never more than 3 kids at a time.  What else I love about it there is that they offer classes about 7 times a day and you can pick whenever you want to go.  We actually have 4 lessons left, but probably wont go back this summer just because school is starting. 

This was our first private lesson...

Spencer with his teacher after his first lesson and she was a former student of mine!  Spencer developed a crush on Miss Mantha (Samantha) real quick!!  He would tell her during their lessons, "You so pretty!"  They always get a ribbon after every class (one of my favorite things as a kid).

Spencer did well and we had some tears, but they trucked on with him.  This is just a progression of pictures through out the summer. 

Going off the diving board into 9 ft. water for the first time. 

Going off the diving board all by himself!



He kept begging her to do it again and again, but there were others in his class that had to go too! ;)

I wish we would've finished all the lessons, but time got away from us.  Next year, we'll be back at it again.  I'm so proud of him for hanging in there through the tears and really getting to love the water!

No Name Board

*~*~*~*Featured at The Classroom Creative*~*~*~*



I'm so proud of this project.  I spend WAAAAAY too much time trying to figure out whose paper I have at my desk with no name on it.  After 12 years, it still blows my mind that you turn something in without a name! 

So, I'm not spending that time anymore.  The no namers will be clipped to this board and they will have to figure it out from there.  I first saw this idea here on Pinterest.  I wanted mine to look different, but the same concept.

I had a board in the garage that was leftover from when I made  these this past Christmas.  So, really all I had to buy was the was the can of spray paint (used 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby), package of clothespins and the scrapbook paper for the letters and the clothespins.  Less than $10!!

I spray painted the board pink and cut the letters using my silhouette cameo.  The font I used was Cheri.  I modge podged the letters onto the wood.  I am AWFUL trying to get letters on things straight.  But, once I lay them out, I get it pretty straight.  ;)

Once I modge podged the letters on, I modge podged over the letters.  I did not modge podge the entire board because the spray paint I used was a gloss and it all looked the same.  I used scrapbook paper to "cover" the clothespins.  I modge podged the paper to the clothespin & then modge podged over the paper.  I used gorilla glue to glue them to the board.  The board is extremely heavy, so super husband did the wire and the screws on the back.  Such technical terms, huh? 

I love how it turned out!

Linking up with:

Momnivore's Dilemma
LambAround
Whipperberry
Scissors and Spatulas
Polkadot Pretties
Be Different...Act Normal
Craft Envy
A Vision to Remember
The Foley Fam
Flamingo Toes
Petite Hermine
I {Heart} Nap Time
Keeping it Simple
C.R.A.F.T.
Skip to my Lou
Pinkapotamus
Brassy Apple
Lil' Luna

That time...

It's that time again...school is about to start!  Some days I'm ready, some I'm not.  Today, I'm not.  Yesterday, Spencer and I went to school from 10-4 cleaning and purging.  Why do I keep so much stuff that I haven't used in years??  Well, we got rid of that yesterday.  I still have lots to do and am going back today.  I'm hoping to do a classroom post with some of the changes I'm making and some of the things I'm keeping that I've used in the past. 

I literally had to sit down at the laptop with a legal pad and go through my Pinterest 'classroom' board and really decide what I'm going to do.  Here's what I had on my list...

Hope to find them at the dollar store

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Kara on Pinterest

Dollar store frame and spray paint

Source: mrspicassosartroom.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Spray paint frames with sayings for the front of the room.  Heading to Hobby Lobby this morning...

Source: shenanigansinsecond.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Garbage bowls for each lab group...found them yesterday in the dollar bin at Target and they're super cute.  Why haven't I thought of this before???

Source: peaceloveandfirstgrade.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Self explanatory

Source: mrsbrowndotcom.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

Mine won't be this big because I don't have the space, but something similar to use for exit slips and/or warm-ups

Source: google.com via Kara on Pinterest

Paper lanterns to hang above my lab tables with the group number attached to the bottom.  Just spices up the plain ole number hanging from the ceiling.  Hopefully getting these at Hobby Lobby today as well!

Source: weddingshop.theknot.com via Kara on Pinterest

So excited about this one and using QR codes all year!

Source: pencilspaperandpd.blogspot.com via Kara on Pinterest

There is so much more I want to do from Pinterest and a lot of it is strategies, so I'll try to post on that as the year progresses.  Be looking for a post where I take you into my classroom...

...time to start year 12!


And I leave you with one of my BIGGEST pet peeves in the classroom...

...wears me smooth out, but this was too funny not to share!!

*Insta* Friday

The last two weeks via Instagram (no time to link up on vacation)!

Linking up with:

Spencer with his posse on our road trip

Ummm...yes, please!

Fabulous Mexican food and margaritas in San Antonio

My love

Love this place in Austin!

Couldn't get any better!

The best thing I found at Sam Moon. :((

 

Melts my heart!!

 

Decided he would stay up until 11:30 the night before. 

At the zoo in Tyler

Chocolate fried pie for dessert at MaMaw's Pies in Whitehouse

 

These were everywhere we ate on this vacation.  Get with the program Lubbock!  Genius anti-roll crayons!

 

The GIANT fire ant bed I was stepping into every night when we got home.  I have bites like crazy and figured it all out when we left one morning and I saw this!

 

iPad = road trip lifesaver

 

Literally in the middle of no where on the way home & saw this on our GPS screen.  Only 'sand'...and that wasn't a lie! Ha!

 

Decided to make try a green smoothie for breakfast.  It did not disappoint!  Tons of spinach & you can't taste a bit of it!  Recipe here.

 

Pool days...my favorite and to think they are coming to an end soon. :(

This kid and his sneaky ways with my coffee!

Spencer & Emie...it was love at first sight when they first met as babies!

Finally!  Love all things Skinnygirl...really, it's all about Bethenny!