Monday Made it - Sunday School Style

I said last week that my blog might take a turn towards the more personal and not as much school related material since it was summer and my brain was elsewhere. During the summer, I also find myself more involved with church and the activities we have going on there.  My husband and I are very involved at our church. It was definitely one of the things that drew us to each other when we first started dating. I was involved with the youth and had a girls ministry at the church I attended and he was involved in the youth and so much more at his church. God really works in amazing ways. When I met Chris, I was in need of a change and started going to his church. I loved the youth that I worked with at my church but they were graduating when I made the change. I feel so honored to get to see the things that God can do in the lives of the youth at both churches. I have been lucky enough to work with some fantastic kids and God continually challenges me to do more. One of the areas that he has been challenging me in is writing my own curriculum for our children's church. I have been helping once every other month with children's church. Our Children's church is during the regular service and for grades K-2. The curriculum we use is not bad but the teacher in me sees where it could be improved. I would love for our kids to get a firm foundation in the stories of the Bible and then move on to some of the deeper things. I'm not sure that what we use now builds on each week. Well, I was presented with the opportunity to create some activities to go with the lessons. So I thought I might share them once a week on my blog. I created another blog last summer to write about my faith but it just too hard to keep up with it. I am sure that I'm not the only teacher out there who finds themselves teaching in their church as well. So hopefully, you will find these posts helpful. I feel like it is something I'm being nudged to do.
So a couple of weeks ago, the focus of the lesson was about the Holy Spirit. The passage to focus on was from John chapter 14. In this passage, Jesus talks with the disciples about how he is leaving but the Father is sending  a gift. The gift is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is there to guide us and to teach us. In this passage, Jesus also talks about how he lives in the Father and the Father lives in him. This passage helps give us the Holy Trinity. So I created a craft to go with the idea of the Trinity.
There are three hearts and each heart represents a different part of the Trinity. Have the students write or draw a picture of each part. Then they cut out the hearts and put them together to make a clover. There are direction included in the file. Check it out here.  Here's a screenshot of the file.

So I'm linking up with Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics for Monday Made it. Hopefully I'll be back next Monday with a craft I've completed. Since I've only been home for about 2 days, I haven't gotten any crafts completed yet. Be sure to head over to Tara's blog and check out the other what everyone else has going on this Monday.

I would love to hear if this kind of post is something you might be interested in and if you use it. I guess if you aren't interested, you could leave a comment but I'm pregnant and it doesn't take much to make me start crying.

Five for Friday: Beach Addition

I hadn't planned on linking up this week since I'm on vacation. But I'm awake and Chris is not so here I am. 

If I am being real honest, this summer you will probably see more personal stuff than teachery stuff. At least for a little bit, this is just where I'm at. This week marks my twelfth week of pregnancy and the end of my first trimester. So my brain is really on home mode and baby mode and just relaxing. Hopefully that will be ok with you guys! If not, well don't read. Anyway, so here are  some pictures from the week.

1. This has been my view all week. I am not sleeping great so usually I get up and sit on the porch for a little bit and check things out on the iPad before Chris gets up. Today is our last day.

2. We celebrated our 2 year anniversary. There is this restaurant we like here called The Bistro. They have great food, great drinks(not for me). And delicious dessert. But they were closed Monday so we went Tuesday! Here is my present from Chris. I have been wanting a bracelet like this for a while but he did a great job picking out the beads. The pearly one is for my birthstone and the turquoise one is for the baby's and his. 

3. I posted Tuesday about the books I had read so far. I think my total for this trip is 8 books and I'm working on the 9th. Here are a couple more I read and enjoyed. 

This is part of the Stephanie Plum series. I love this series. Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter who has 2 love interest who are equally appealing, a side kick who used to be a prostitute, and a hilarious grandmother. She lives in New Jersey and has a knack for getting in trouble. Love these. I read this one in a morning. 

This one is a young adult book I read about on someone's blog. I enjoyed it greatly. The main character Georges is easy to love as he navigates some big changes to his life. 

I have been wanting to read this one for a while but didn't really want to buy it. No idea why not, but Chris finished his books he brought and we had to take a trip to Barnes and Noble to get him something else to read. So I picked it up and started it last night. So far I'm intrigued.

4. While we've been on vacation we've been discussing the nursery and what to do with all our stuff. Here are a couple of things I pinned for some inspiration.

We're going with a Hawaiian Beach theme. I'm in love with this mobile and hopefully will be able to recreate it.

5. This picture is technically from last week of my baby bump. I think it has gotten bigger this week. So weird how it pops out. I haven't taken a new picture yet.

So that's my Five For Friday. Be sure to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and check the party out! 

What I have been reading (Books for fun!)

I have been on summer break for almost 2 weeks now and I think I've only spent 3 nights at home. I'm currently not home but at the beach. So this post is going to be kind of quick. I have been reading a ton in the past 2 weeks and I thought I'd share what I've been reading. I'm linking up with Deanna Jump's linky. 

We left for the beach a little early and got to spend some time with Chris's sister and niece. It was a nice treat. So I got an extra day of reading in. So far, I've read 3 books and I'm working on my fourth. 

First up is The Husband's Secret.

It was pretty good and an easy read. It is about several women in Australia and how their stories intertwine. One of the women's husband writes her a letter and in it is a big secret. When I told Chris the title he thought it sounded kind of sketchy but it is a good read. It was a best selling book this year which is how I stumbled on it. 

The second book is Death in the clouds by Agatha Christie.

I love mysteries and there are no better mysteries than Agatha Christies. Seriously if you like a good mystery get one of her books. They are good stories with intrigue, love, and very little gore. I love her detectives and this one stars Hercule Poriot. I have read a lot of her books but I was inspired to get this one because of an episode of Doctor Who. Her first book was The Mysterios Affair at Styles. If you're looking for one to start with, I'd start there. 

The book I just finished up is Dragonfly in Amber. 

This is the second in the Outlander Series. I had read probably 4 or 5 of this series a while ago but I read so much I really don't remember what I read. (Good thing in real life you don't take a comprehension quiz)so 2 years ago on my honeymoon. I retread the first one. It is a story set in Scotland right after WWII. The main character, Claire, goes back in time to the 1700s and meets a group of highlander men. Including Jamie Fraser who she falls in love with. Apparently Starz is making a tv show out of the series so I've been seeing it everywhere. I decided to work on rereading the series, and got the second one for my kindle. It continues the story of Claire and Jamie. I would tell more but I don't want to ruin the first one. It is a long book but a pretty fast read. 

Today the new Stephanie Plum came out, Top Secret Twenty One so that's the book of the day! 

Be sure to head over to Deanna Jump's blog and check out the party. I think I'm the oddball not posting about children's book. 

Five for Friday

It is my first Friday of the summer and there is no better way to celebrate than linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday. It has been a while since I linked up. End of school and first trimester exhaustion has just been too much. 

1.  I tried out Jamberry nails for the first time this week and loved them. I just bought one set to see if I liked them. But I didn't really want my toes and my nails to match. I definitely need some practice with application.

2.  Technically I have only been on summer break two days but the last day with kids was a week ago. My favorite thing to do in the summer is read. I've read these three books in the past week and a half. Loved them all. I'm working my way through the In Death Series by JD Robb. I'm trying to read them in order so it is slow going. 

3.  Chris and I are dog sitting for my parents for a few days. Ellie Mae has been sulking since my parents left but this sweet girl cheered her up with some head scratching. I spent my first day of Summer with one of nieces and had a blast. She is one funny, smart, sweet girl!

4. I posted this picture on Instagram this week. One of my teaching friends gave us our first baby present and then we bought the rocking chair at a fundraiser.

5. I don't have a fifth picture from this week, so I looked back through some pictures and found this. Soph drew it a while back and it was the first time I had seen her draw something more than scribbles. When she drew it she said it was Chris but then when she saw it again it was her mom. I'm do amazed all the time with her development and how much she has learned. 

So that's my five for Friday! Be sure to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and check out everyone else's. 

Summertime!

So it has been forever since I've really blogged. This end of the year stuff was killing me. Yesterday was our last day with kids. Monday is a work day but I'm trading it out with a day I worked back in the summer, Tuesday is a half day where kids can pick up report cards, then Wednesday is an inservice day. I'm not excited about the day weds. The county tacked on an extra day for us teachers and I'm none too happy about it. We used all our snow days and then they took away a couple of vacation days and I still think we had a day left. But oh well. What can I do. I think the worst part is they are making us all meet for a training and the training is soooo far from my house. So summer is pretty much here. I've been wanting to link up with Mrs. Jump's Class for her linky party. I'm only a week late to the party.

1. First up is doing some shopping for my classroom from Creative Teaching Press. I was lucky enough to be part of a group of exclusive bloggers to check out their new back to school stuff. Well all that stuff went live a week or so ago. I am late to that party too. These past few weeks have been crazy and I'll explain a little more about it later in this post. But I'm planning on updating somethings using their chevron line.

I love these stickers and I think they'll be perfect for some back to school creating. Be sure to head over to CTP and find some great new things for your classroom.

2. Read! Read! Read! I've been stocking my kindle and my kindle wish list with new books this week in anticipation of the summer. Summer reading is one of my favorite things to do.
I recently purchased these books.

And pre-ordered these two.

The newest Stephanie Plum will be here just in time for my beach trip.

3. Enjoy some quality time with Chris at the beach.  Last year we went to North Topsail Island in North Carolina and we are headed back again this year. We plan our vacation around our anniversary. So we'll be spending our 2nd anniversary at the beach again.

4. Spending time with nieces. For the past 2 summers I've kept my niece Sophie one day a week but now that my sister is working part time, I won't be keeping her officially. But I still plan to hang out as much as I can with my girls.

5. Finish catching up on Downton Abbey. I think I'm on Season 3. I want to have it all watched so I'll be ready for the new season when it comes out.

 I also want to start watching this show on netflix. I've heard good things about it and mindless fun is what summer is all about.

6. Reading Outreach with our public library. Last summer my BFF Cassie and I started a reading program with our library that brought books out into our community. We plan on continuing that fun this summer and hopefully adding the component of checking books out. Bookmobile here we come!

7. Getting materials ready for a new year. I haven't created anything new for TPT in quite a while. I have some projects I've started on but I haven't finished. Then because I loop, I'll be moving up to First grade. So I'll need to get on making some materials to go with our Journeys series in first grade. My fluency homework for kindergarten has been my best seller. I hope to do something similar for First grade. You can check out my kindergarten one here. 

8. Just relaxing and doing not much of anything. I live in the most beautiful place so I plan to take walks and bike rides around my house.

9. Get my craft on. I have pinned all kinds of crafty things and I can't remember the last time I did a craft project. I have been working on a blanket for a while and I'd like to get it finished. I'd also like to get to my sewing machine back out.
You can check out my craft board here and my sewing board here.

10. Lastly and definitely not least, my biggest project this summer is going to be take our guest room and get it ready to be turned into a nursery! Chris and I are expecting our first baby in December. Currently our guest room is full of all kinds of stuff. I had to clean it way out when Chris and I got married and it's time to clean it out even more. I don't know what I'm going to do with all my books. We are thinking of a Hawaiian theme for the nursery. It would work for both a girl or a boy. We have some pictures and a Hawaiian quilt we can hang in there from our Honeymoon. We couldn't be more excited about our news. I have felt pretty yucky the past few weeks and so exhausted which is why I haven't been blogging and have been late to all the parties.

So that's my plan for the summer. We'll see how it goes. I loved my class this year and I'll have them again next year but I'm so ready for this break!
Be sure to head over to Deanna's blog and check out what everyone else is up to.

Five for Friday on Sunday

So Friday we got out of school an hour early because of a parade. I had ever intention of posting this then. But I ran an errand for my mom and then came home and tried to take a nap and it just didn't happen. Then yesterday I really wanted a day to just spend at home getting somethings done. But that didn't happen either. Chris wanted to get the oil changed in one of the cars so off to we both went. By the time I went to get him, it was about a 20 minute drive. So we didn't really want to drive home only to turn around and drive back again. Anyway, I didn't get anything done yesterday but the kitchen cleaned up a bit and to see the new Spiderman. I liked it. But we're kind of comic book geeks in my house. So here I am Sunday morning trying to do too many things including post to my blog.

1. This week was all about the letter u. Which means it was all about underwear. This is our circle map we write every week about our letter. We also read several books about underpants. Like Pirates Like Underpants and Aliens in Underpants.

2. We started our state testing this week. I made treats for the first two days. If you check back later today, I should have a freebie linked up with all the testing treat cards. I've been making them as I go but I hope to finish up the last two this evening. I know there are lots of these as freebies on TPT, but I wanted to be able to fit 6 on the page and to be kind of simple. Plus I have some food allergies so my treats were a little different. I used smarties, starburst, fruit roll ups, and blow pops. Here's a link to the freebie on my TPT Store. 

3. Because it is state testing, we have to cover everything. It is so depressing when everything is covered. Last year, the only available paper was black. This year it is purple. Here's our word wall covered. I keep looking at it to try to remember if a word kids are spelling on their papers is a word wall word, so I can imagine my kids are having trouble. 

4. We have started a 20 days of school countdown. I love all the abc countdowns but with the way our spring break fell we didn't have enough days when we got back. So starting May 1 along with our testing window, we started the countdown. Thursday was bubble day and Friday was game day. We had a blast playing board games. I think it is really important for kids to play games with each other where they have to interact, so I don't let them bring electronic games or get out my iPad and iPods. They had a blast. I helped put a 100 piece puzzle together, played don't break the ice, uno, jenga, candy land, chutes and ladders and more. 

If you would like to see what our countdown looks like, you can click here to see the pdf.  Monday is going to be ice cream day. 

5.  I don't have a last picture. I realized this as I'm finishing the post. I'm a little annoyed with my computer right now because I was trying to edit a screenshot and it never would cooperate. So I'm doing a little shameless self promoting which I usually don't do. I have a giveaway going on right now for Sharing Kindergarten's Math Computer sheets. Be sure to head to this post and enter. They are awesome!

So that's my five for Friday this week. Due to testing, I really didn't do much this week worth documenting. We have testing Monday and Wednesday and then an inservice day Tuesday. So maybe I'll have more to share next week. At least of our fun countdown days. Be sure to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and check out the party.