Mad Dash to the Finish Line

So we're out June 11th.  A-L-M-O-S-T there!!  I've had a few moments of bliss this week.

First up, DQ.  As I sat there eating my M&M Blizzard the world around me seemed to fade out (just for a moment) while I enjoyed my delicious treat.

One boy decided to tip his Blizzard upside down just like the ladies at the counter only it didn't work in his favor!  He was showing his friends how to do it.  Luckily, he managed to save some in his cup.

When I asked him what lesson he learned he grinned and said, "Only let the workers tip the ice cream upside down!" Maybe this is a special skill or there's special training involved!

Here's a pic of us outside.

Next up, Lily's mom came in today and let me say she's SIMPLY amazing.  She told me she was going to paint the kiddos faces so I thought simple images on their cheeks.  

Well, take a look at what she did!!  She is looking into making this a business and I think she's got a great idea. The kids were SO excited and the compliments were endless. 

We had ladybugs, Mario, a dog, tigers, zombies (which seems to be the new rave), a princess, dragon, butterfly, vampires, and the Hulk.

Fierce looking.

She suggested a palm tree for me and I couldn't resist.  The warm ocean breeze, beautiful sunset, and birds in the sky. Oh, the memories of Hawaii...snap back to reality!

Artsy Fartsy...Who Came Up With that Saying?

I LOVE having time to paint and be crafty!  Here are a few small paintings I'll be adding outside my room.

I have to do some touching up but I think they're quite cute!

I'll be taking more pictures of posters I've made this week but I left my camera at home when I dropped them off at school.

Plus...I made new curtains for my room!!  My grandmother gave me a sewing lesson and it was quite comical.  I think we could've been on a tv show.  We were laughing the entire time and of course she continued to make sure I had a straight line.

To be continued...

Mother's Day Crafts

OH MY!!  I feel like my head is spinning around and around.  Assessments, grading, crafts...AND OH the rain this week hasn't helped.  The kiddos are restless and so am I!

Now, if you have a student in my room and you don't want to know what we did for Mother's Day this is your time to look away!!  This is a sneak peek into what we're making.

I decided to make the tins again.  I came up with this idea last year and the kids loved it.  If you go to crafts you can get a more detailed post of what I did.  They wrote The Top 5 Reasons they Loved Mom.  Students added the sentences to their tins and decorated the top with a pic and gems.

We also made bookmarks, which I found from another blog.

I decided to do thumbprints too.  I baked them and they painted them a metallic silver today.  I think they came out pretty cute.

Here are a few examples of their work.

They'll be wrapped up and sent home on Friday!!  HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Mother's Day Crafts (READ NO MORE if you're a MOTHER and you have a CHILD in MY class)

Haha, I hope that title doesn't scare too many away but I've been thinking today about what I'm going to have my kiddos do for Mother's Day other then the typical card.  Here are a few crafts I plan on doing next week with them.

The FIRST one is a tin can craft I came up with.  At the bottom of the can I placed a laminated piece of scrapbook paper that has mother written in different languages.  The kids will decorate the top with gems and will write the Top 5 Reasons they LOVE their mom.  They'll write them on strips of paper.  I think I'm going to have them coil each one around their pencil to make it fit in the tin.  I'll be taking a black and white photo of each student to put on the top of the lid.  I thought it might even be cute if they're making a heart with their hands.  A pic will be posted once they're made!!

Tin containers found at Joann Fabric

The SECOND craft I plan on doing is a coupon book.  I've seen a couple of examples at Martha Stewart with templates you can download.  The kids always LOVE filling these in.

The THIRD craft I've done in the past are the hand cutout flowers.  Simple but cute.

I also saw a World's Best Mom Newspaper at Martha Stewart that had a template for kids to fill in.

I'll have the kids decorate a lunch bag and place their items in the bag to take home.

Let me know what crafts you do.  I just might want to try them too!!

Valentine's Day Holders Complete

Last Friday we made our Valentine's Day Holders.  Students did a great job of following directions to create this heart shape holder.  When your child has finished making his/her cards sent them in and he/she can begin passing them out.