Hello Monday!!!


This has been another amazing week of summer vacation!  We've played pirates, had play dates, gone swimming and just enjoyed each other. This weekend our neighbors are moved. :( My daughter is heart broken. We are tried to ease the transition by trying to talk to her about it a lot, because she's not quite three yet and doesn't understand. So... we threw a "Pupcake Party"!

We had pirate costumes, mustaches and of course cupcakes! (Which my daughter calls pup cakes)

So for my first link up with Tara over at Monday Made It, I'd like to show you my cupcake toppers!

Here they are...

I order my pictures from shutterfly.com I super love the website. If you haven't checked it out you are really missing out. I order books for my kids all the time. Anyway, when you order regular pictures they come with these tiny prints of all the pictures you order.  I love this idea and plan to jazz up the sticks (toothpicks) for my daughter's birthday party. I think with some ribbon and card stock I can make them totally cute! I'll post pictures after her party (in a couple of months) to let you know how they turned out! 

This week I also tried another clipboard. I just can't seem to get them right. It's super cute don't get me wrong, but the edges are sloppy. Ugh! Anyway, for this one I decided to use pictures of my family and wrapping paper. I loved both of these. It would just help if I could actually have the time to go slow instead of rush during nap time. LOL! However, I really liked the way the wrapping paper worked. It's pretty good paper to begin with (day after Christmas sale at Hobby Lobby)! I'll do that again!! I told my sister I'd make her a picture one as well but I need advice. How do you do the sides of the clip board? Do I just avoid them? Wrap the paper around them? What's the best technique? 

Well here it is...

Front side! 

Back side!

My final made it this week was a potato hash with sausage. We live near Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. Our favorite food to get is potato hash. They use a cast iron skillet, and I know mine could have been better if I'd had one, but all in all it was pretty darn good.  I just used two large sweet potatoes, one large Russet potato, four red potatoes, one onion and one red pepper.  I just added a TON of butter, some salt and some pepper. It wasn't as AMAZING as Silver Dollar Cities, but I think the next time I make it I will do even better! 

Well I hope you all had as good of a weekend as I did! I can't wait to see what you have all been up to! 

Have a blessed Monday! 

My First Made it of the Summer!

I had a fantastic weekend, and was sad to see it end. We did a little of everything! We played hard, but I seem to be the only one really feeling it. LOL! My kids have some friends over right now so that means I have about five minutes to myself to show you my Made Its! Ha! I am having a hard time getting much done, but I just keep telling myself that my babies will only be babies for a little while, so I just need to enjoy them while they are little. This week I only have home made its, no school related ones yet, but I have some in the back of my mind in case I ever have time to work on them. :) 

Okay here goes my first link up with Fourth Grade Frolics 

Number 1: Cleaning up our backyard!

So we've been working this past week on our backyard. We are having to mow constantly, and moving all the toys around is a pain! So... a little rock and VOILA! 

We now have two designated areas for toys! It makes it so much easier to mow, and it was super cheap. Just some rocks we got from my father in law and some cheap filler rock. We had to invest in some water shoes so the kids could walk on the rocks but I actually really like it! When our kids are grown we are going to make it into a relaxing area with a fire pit. LOVE IT!!

Next..

I can really count it as a "Made It", but I redid a small outdoor table for my kids. We bought this table last year at a garage sale, and the top was pretty beaten up. So... a little chalk board spray paint and TA-DAH! 

I love it! I do suggest to make sure it is a smooth surface though because this side is pretty hard to erase, so I might be redoing the back side. I must admit that I might have found a new addiction by using the chalkboard paint. I loved it! 

Last but not least...

My breakfast "Made It"! I made mini apple pies and they are AMAZING! All I used was one golden delicious apple, cinnamon, sugar and croissants. They taste wonderful. I just wish I had some vanilla ice cream to go with them! Yes I realize I said this was my breakfast. It is summer after all, isn't that when we indulge ourselves?! 

Well I can't wait to see all the other Monday Made Its! Hope you enjoyed mine!

Emalie http://4thgradefrolics.blogspot.com/

A little of this and a little of that...

     This summer is off to an amazing start! So far we've been to the Zoo, multiple times, the park for picnics, redid our backyard, played with family and went to Silver Dollar City twice! We've also been trying lots of Pinterest ideas. Needless to say, we've been busy, and I am loving every minute of it. I am loving staying up late, sleeping in late (as late as children three and under sleep), and spending every day just playing. It's amazing how much I'm learning about my children since I get to spend all day with them. I am even more in love with them! My daughter, Rylee, is almost three. She has the most amazing personality. She's so creative and witty, although I'm really getting tired of hearing, "You don't say me what to do!" It's good that she's super cute, or she'd be in big trouble. LOL! My son, Kannon, is amazing me too. He just turned one. He's all boy! I have to admit that I am totally jealous of my babysitter! She gets to see my kids so much more than me during the school year, and I feel very blessed to have this summer with them. I plan to make every second count!

     I'm planning on linking up with Make it Monday over at Fourth Grade Frolics. I just haven't been as motivated as some others out there! I have some home made-its I can post, but I need to take pictures tomorrow. My main goal for the summer is to learn how to customize my blog! It's our district's goal for all teachers to have updated websites next year, so I'm hoping to have a head start! I also want to make journals for all my subjects next year to use a templates. I also attended a Linda Dorn workshop the other day, and have lots of new things to try to implement from that. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around it all. I keep telling my sister (who is also a fourth grade teacher) that you don't have to do any school work in June! That is what July is for. LOL! I just can't seem to follow that advice myself.
     So...if any of you have advice for Math Journals, Writer's Workshop, Reader's Workshop,  or Science Journals, I'd love some advice! After attending the Linda Dorn workshop, I know that I want to do a lot more focusing on vocabulary and word work this year. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Back Again...

It's been a while since I posted on here, and I debated whether I was going to keep up with this site. However, motivation comes in all forms, and my motivation comes from my co-worker Cheryl Dick over at Cheryl's Classroom Tips. She amazes me and I aspire to be the kind of teacher she is, so here we are. I definitely plan to be a part of the "Monday Make It" this summer, but until then I'm going to be working on re-doing this blog to get ready for next fall. I'm still a "blogger in the making" so any tips that you have are greatly appreciated!