Orange Ya Glad It's Summer?!?!

First things first...I realize it's been forever plus a few days since I've last entered into the land of blogging. Hundreds of reasons (too tired, lack of motivation, major writer's block), but the biggest of all...I have a little guy baking inside of me. Nothing that I could have ever read would have prepared me for the brutal existence of the first trimester. Morning sickness is a cruel joke...it doesn't come and go with the rising of the sun or the ending of the morning talk shows. It stayed around all.day.long and it by far one upped the worst hangover that I've ever had. Think back to college days when you were young, dumb && ate the fruit from the PJ like it was a fruit bowl from Publix. What??? That didn't happen to you? Me either...((hanging my head in shame)). Awful, pure awful. I'm certain that I'll never drink ginger ale or eat saltines willingly ever again. I'm also certain that I'll never again feed into the Old Wives Tales floating around out there && that my "mommy intuition" is seriously busted because I was 100% sure that I had a little girl on the way...wrong...couldn't have been more wrong. He's a boy and made it very obvious throughout our entire gender reveal ultrasound.

With summer finally arriving and the sickness of the first trimester being an almost distant memory, I have my fingers crossed that I'll have a little more time on my hands to share what's been going on in this brain (and classroom) of mine. Looking through my post history I've been M.I.A. for everything since Valentine's day. Eventually I'll get caught up...I did take pictures and I did manage to struggle through the bouts of nausea to make a portion of my OCD plans happen. For today I'm focusing on the end of the year fun that every teacher is counting down to (or relishing in it's arrival). I had my last work day of the year yesterday && I made it through. The reality hit that my kids  left the nest as I sat in a quiet classroom void of my noisy, pencil destroying, we put glue on every surface 7 year old crew. While I'm stoked out of my mind to have summer at my doorstep, it's such a bittersweet time of the year. As close as my bus came to breaking down permanently in crazy town I adore each and every one of the 17 little billy goats that I shared 18o days (give or take) with. My talkers, my drama queens/kings, my wiggle worms, my sneaky sneakies...they're all moving on to a new teacher and it has me feeling some kind of way. I know that it's part of the "circle of a teacher's life," and after 7 years I so should be used to this, but it's always the same. They leave pumped up on the dreams of summer, I'm beyond excited too, and then when I'm laying in bed the night after the storm (or sitting in my eerily silent classroom) it hits me...my babies that I know everything about, the voices that I have memorized, the I know who's doing what without even looking up from the paper on my desk have left me. I'm on vacation from the days of yelling from the classroom bathroom that I need 2 seconds, yes I can hear you the walls aren't sound proof, and have I mentioned that I have a peep hole and can see everything that you're doing?!?! (I don't really have a peep hole for anybody out there that might be thinking ermergerd this chick needs to be reported). I'm on vacation from having to sharpen gnawed up pencils that had brand new erasers yesterday and are now eraser-less. I'm on vacation from watching kids attempt to glue their hands together with glue sticks during spelling...wait you don't need a glue stick during spelling??? As cheesy as this sounds...every year a piece of my heart leaves when my crew packs up all of their things and walks out of my door for the last time. Teachers must certainly be born with extra large hearts right?!?! As if that weren't enough to get the tears flowing, perhaps watching some amazing friends pack up their classrooms to move on to new chapters in their lives will open the flood gates. I'm in denial about this last part...if I don't speak it, it won't really happen and we'll still be the well oiled, fun loving, woohooing COMPLETE grade level that we are. #MustStopNow #TearsAreNotGoodCoffeeAdditions

Sooo let's talk end of the year greatness. There's always so much that I want to pack into the last few days and I never get to everything on my list. Surely I can't be the only one with this problem? Prego or not, there just isn't enough time in the day (or energy in the body) to make all of our end of the year dreams come true...right?!?!

Last year the first grade ladies decided to celebrate the end of the year using a Pinterest idea that one of us found. I don't know the original source to give credit where credit is due, but whoever thought of it first--- you're brilliant! The original pin had a 20 day balloon pop count down. Each day you pop a balloon and a piece of paper with a "special treat" falls out. The 20th day count down snuck up on me last year && it snuck up on me again this year, so I opted to do a 10 day count down. Much easier on my sanity and my bank account. The best thing about it, you can fill the balloon with any treat you want...it doesn't have to cost you a single penny and the kids are just as stoked about it. For my 10 day count down I filled my balloons with these treats (they aren't in order because I can't for the life of me remember which treat came on which day of the count down):
-Lunch in the Classroom
-Shoes Off to Learn (with the expectation that if there was a fire drill they better grab their shoes and run barefoot down the hallway if need be)
-Write with Markers
-Sit Wherever You Want
-Bring a Stuffed Friend to School
-Popsicles
-Make Ice Cream in a Bag (amazing idea...didn't happen because of time and they never knew I swapped it for Fudgesicles)
-Extra Recess
-Special Treat (Cupcakes)
-Pizza Party

There are thousands of ideas floating around out there in Pinterest land to make this work for you. It's been an amazing way to encourage positive behavior (no behaving=no surprise) and oohhhh the excitement that fills the room right before the popping of the balloon. The favorite of the line up was Stuffed Animal Day...I've never had a quieter and more focused Read to Self block...for serious how cute are they?!?
 


Another must do on my end of the year list is tie dye. We have a love/hate relationship, but the end product is way too cute to pass up on. I've done tie dyed t-shirts with my kids for 6 out of the 7 years that I've been teaching and I curse the process every year when I'm hunched over my tub cutting the rubber bands, rinsing the extra dye out && then scrubbing my once white/now multi colored tub with a magic eraser, but every May I find myself buying a kit and going through the steps. Word to the wise: double up on gloves...somehow the die ate/leaked through my first pair and my fingers looked like I had been digging in some seriously nasty places....and I forget this every year...which adds to the cursing of the process. BUT it's so worth it! See what I mean?? The cuteness far surpasses the tedious, pain in the butt process!

Also mixed in with the end of the year nutiness: awards, memory books and gifts. We have a huge award ceremony to recognize the academic achievements of our kids, but with only 5 awards to pass out, it leaves a lot of friends high and dry...well not so high or dry because there are usually a lot of tears and hurt feelings...even after a talk about being happy for our friends and to remember that everyone got an award at some point throughout the year. In my world, academic achievements are only part of the kids that I teach. They each have unique personalities and qualities that should also be celebrated. Honestly my warm & fuzzy awards are my favorites to give. I blogged about them last year {{here}}. If you like what you read, you can grab your own copy at my TPT store {{here}}. As always, if something's not in there that you need, let me know and I'll customize the file for you because after hours of googling I still can't crack the treasure chest of creating editable PDF files...and I'm tired.

Moving right along ...taking a walk down memory lane. Ahhh the end of the year memories...all placed into one neat little memory book. My kids are typically the can't wait to be finished so I can just sit there and stare at my neighbor type of kids, but they really, really took their time filling in their sweet little memory books. I can't for the life of me find the picture on my laptop (and again I'm tired of searching) so if you're in need of something to get your little ones reflecting on their year head over to my TPT store and check it out {{here}}. If you like what you see snag yourself a copy.

Last, but certainly not least, end of the year gifts. I went with my kid tested && kid approved gift from last year because lets be honest...Baby stuff is crazy expensive yo, and baby brain doesn't allow for too much extra creative juices to flow when you've had a few 12 hour work days thrown into the mix. I'm in the process of putting together a mega pack of gift tags for gift giving throughout the year to add to my TPT line up. Be on the look out for that new product within the next week or so! I'm beyond excited to get started creating all kinds of tags and treat combos!

&&& just like that I've officially spent waaaaaaay too much time attempting to catch up. In the words of Arnold...I'll be back! Buuuut until then, live, love &&& enjoy the start of your summer break because YOU'VE EARNED IT!

What the Teacher Wore {{Week 25}}

 If there ever was a week that I considered the busiest week of my life, I was wrong...Week 25 puts all previously declared "busy weeks" to shame. Ayiyiyi I'm lucky I escaped alive. I have a feeling Week 26 is going to be just as crazy because it's time for a Seussical celebration!! While I'm dreading the first full work week since forever ago, I'm really pumped about Seuss Week 2014. Dress up days all.week.long?!?! This is what dreams are made of. And with my journey into the land of no coffee {{my addiction is out of control and I'm detoxing}} I'm praying that these dress up days give me the boost that I need to get up and moving in the morning without my tumbler of caffeinated greatness. The biggest problem of no coffee so far...zero concentration. This little blurb has taken me almost an hour to get through. I have the attention span of a goldfish...which doesn't exist. Before distraction hits again, here's my fashion line up for Week 25.

 

Simplicity was the name of the game on Tuesday morning. Waking up after a week off of work (thank you Jack Frost) was rough to say the least. My hair didn't get the memo that it needed to snap back into "we're going to be in public" mode so it got pulled up. When waves go wrong it's a mess...a HOT mess.  

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: The Limited

Skinnies: Jessica Simpson

Flats: Target

Stripes were everywhere when I went for a little retail therapy a few weeks ago. Of course I picked up a few things from my beloved GAP...this shirt was one of them. I really, really wanted to wear the dress I got, but my legs were (they still are) blindingly white and nobody needed to see that. Plan B swooped in and my legs stayed in hibernation mode.

Cardigan: GAP

Shirt: GAP

Pants: The Limited

 

Our amazing weather (temperatures in the 70s) had me dying for a pop of spring color. Enter the neons please {{it's more green than yellow in person}}. Of course my denim jacket got some love because it's made for early spring weather and it's just so darn perfect with everything.

Jacket: GAP

Sweater: GAP

Skinnies: Jessica Simpson

Flats: Target

 

Day 115 was a tired teacher t-shirt kinda day so as always, no Pinspiration required. I literally have a gazillion things to do to get ready for this week...if people only knew how much time teachers spend on teaching related stuff outside of the contracted work day. Sooooo until next time, live, love, && buy some Girl Scout cookies ((it's that time of year again...and it's glorious!))

What the Teacher Wore {{Week 24}}

There are few things in the world that top the feeling of a hot cup of coffee && a bowl of cheese grits. Another 2 day school week {{thanks Icepocalypse 2014 Part Doe}} would be a top contender, but I'll be honest here...the make up days at the end of the school year are kinda spoiling my keep calm and lounge on mentality. It looks like when I should be getting my beach on I'm still going to be getting my teach on...&& that's nothin' to preach about. I'm not complaining though...people were without power (some still are) && all the Valentine's Day fun I had planned will be happening on Tuesday (Cupid you better remember to show up). You would think that only having to get "dressed" for 2 days would have kept the chaos in my closet to a minimum. However, that would be a bet that would make you a losing woman {{or man}}. I'm convinced there's a little troll that lives in there who wears an Anarchy shirt and tears stuff up while I'm not looking. It's a mess...a hot mess...and it's a mess that never stops. Before I tackle the closet mess once again, let me throw Week 24 (all 2 days of it) your way.

 

 

The week started off as a typical Charleston "winter"...temperatures in the 60s. I turned away from my boot collection and went straight for my beloved TOMS flats and my even more beloved jean jacket. They're seriously two of the best pieces that I've invested in...ever. The neutral color of the flats goes with just about any color combination and the jacket is a layering life saver. Black, white and denim is a pretty classic color combo...it's nearly impossible screw it up. . .I say nearly because I'm sure that somewhere in the world it has been a flop once or twice. I thought my scarf had more blue in it when I pinned the pinspiration version, but regardless of the subtle appearance of the blue in my version, the lightweight scarf element was there making it an easy, breezy outfit option for a teacher rushing out the door. Monday, Monday, Monday...you always seem to catch me off guard.

Jacket: GAP

Shirt: Target

Pants: The Limited

Shoes: TOMS Ballet Flats

Scarf: Gift from My Mini Fashionista Aubrey

 

 

On Tuesday Mother Nature left the freezer door open and the cold air started seeping into the Lowcountry. You know it's bad when it's warmer in the morning than it is when you leave work at 2:30. Yikes! A few weeks ago my husband got a wild hair up his booty and ordered this flannel shirt for me. I say wild hair because he usually NEVER buys me clothes because I'm so picky. He went for it and I'm glad he did. Typically when you think of flannel (if you grew up in the 90's) you think of the "grunge" look. If you do a simple Pinterest search, you'll see that flannel has come a long way since 1990. It can be very fashion forward and so, so, so cute! My version isn't the most form fitting of shirts, but paired up with a cardigan it gives you the cinching that I felt like it needed.

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: Billa Bong

Skinnies: Jessica Simpson

Boots: Rampage

With Tuesday being exactly a week since I've had to report to B-104, this chick has had a lot of extra time on her hands. I tried to resist the urge to shop, but eventually I gave in (my Anarchy Closet Monster is rejoicing that there are more items coming to create chaos with). I got 2 new pairs of skinnies (black and dark wash denim), an olive green light weight jacket, a really cute new shift dress, and a nautical striped dress for spring. I had to stop myself before I put us in the poor house. There's seriously so much cute stuff out for spring that I can't stand it. Hopefully my sizes will still be there in a few weeks when paycheck time rolls around again (and maybe things start going on sale...a girl can hope). For now I need to log off of the Internet and get a few things done like...
1. Tame the closet chaos
2. Finish up my math plans/new unit
3. Drink more coffee
4. Finish laundry
5. Make a grocery list
6. Plan next week's fashion line up
7. Maybe drink more coffee?!?! (I kid, I kid)
8. Walk the furry children

Until next time, live, love & be fabulously fashionable!

What the Teacher Wore {{Week 23}}

After having an incredibly short week of teaching last week, I discovered that 5 day weeks are brutal in every sense of the word. No lie, I woke up every day this week confused about what day it was (not, it's not Friday...it's Tuesday...and that stinks). When Friday finally rolled around I could barely keep my eyes open despite my attempts at re-energizing via caffeine {{and lots of it}}. I say this and somehow I managed to keep my eyes open until 3 in the morning at an epic grown woman sleep over that night. I'm going on the record to say that ending the week with a happy hour/sleep over with your girls is what legends are made of. I'm pretty sure I laughed myself into a set of abs and ate enough junk food to make Richard Simmons cry for me. I learned that I'm too old to stay up until 3 in the morning and that junk food is not my friend. SERIOUS Disclaimer: I don't suggest eating pizza rolls, bagel bites, cheese sticks, and queso dip in the same night...you will NOT like how you feel at 4:00 in the morning. Now that I've slept for a full 24 hours in recovery mode it's time to start making a dent in my tremendously long weekend to do list. First stop: What the Teacher Wore {{Week 23}}.

 Army green skinnies have been on my list of things to find since forever ago. I finally found a pair at GAP and instantly knew that they were coming home with me. Although the color looks more brown in this picture, they're green...promise.

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: American Eagle

Skinnies: GAP

Flats: Target

 Mint green has long been a favorite color of mine so any chance I have to pull it into my life you better believe I'm making it happen. Typically I think of mint as a spring color, but paired up with some boots and a cardigan I think it holds its own in winter too.

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: Belk (Jessica Simpson)

Skinnies: GAP

 Half day staff development days are something that you reward yourself for surviving. When there's a to do list a mile long it's nearly impossible to sit through a 2.5 hour presentation. Camo seemed like the perfect pairing for my goal of surviving the day && the constant playing of I'm a Survivor (Destiny's Child) in my head.

Jacket: GAP

Shirt: Wet Seal

Skinnies: GAP

Flats: TOMS Ballet Flats

 By Thursday a scarf was due in the line up. Black on black, and a patterned scarf spoke to me and I was running too late to argue with it.

Cardigan: Target

Scarf: Big Buddha

Shirt: Wet Seal

Skinnies: Jessica Simpson (Belk)

Boots: Rampage

&&& then there was Friday. I ordered a new shirt from The Polkadot Alley that came in earlier in the week. I knew it was best suited for some jeans so I saved it for Friday...not wearing it earlier was tough, but it was so worth waiting for. Why we can't wear jeans every day of the week is beyond me...I don't think I look any less/more put together than the rest of the week. Jeans have somehow been labeled as too casual and I couldn't disagree more.

Cardigan: The LOFT

Shirt: The Polkadot Alley

Skinnies: GAP

 

Another thing that blows my mind...Valentine's day is this Friday. How is it already Valentine's day??? I just got the last pieces of 100th Day craziness packed away and the fun is about to explode again...with a full moon. Ayiyiyi! Being out of commission for a day and still feeling yuck isn't helping my motivation to make any other dents in my to do list, but the show must go on. Soooo, until next time...live, love && bring on the lovey dovey mushy gushy fun!

Currently {{February}}

Helloooooo February! As I sit here this morning with my first cup of coffee since Thursday {{blasted stomach bug...no bueno}} I'm stoked about the start of a new month. We're officially counting down until the end of the year and while it terrifies me that I'm going to have to trade in my sweat pants for bikinis pretty soon, I'm excited for all that is to come in the upcoming month/months. I could be alone in this, but I'm pretty sure that teachers have special DNA that turns them into holiday loving maniacs...at least I have that sparkle of DNA flowing through my veins! Any excuse to throw more pink into my classroom, decorate more than usual, && celebrate makes me happy, happy, happy! With that being said, is it any surprise that I'm a lover of Valentine's day?!?! Eeeeeks...be still my heart!

To get the February party started I'm linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly Currently Link Up && you should too!

Listening: Super Bowl Madness has entered the Owen household. True, on any given Sunday you can find football games playing in our house, but Super Bowl is even something that I can get behind. The hubs is seriously obsessed with football which is completely fine...there are far worse things to be obsessed with. Side note, ESPN really knows how to make the water works flow with their feature stories...I'm one touching story away from an ugly cry and it's not even 2:00 yet. Pump the brakes ESPN...pump.the.brakes.

Loving: The stomach bug entered my life for the first time in years on Friday. Awful stuff...seriously stuff that nightmares are made of. Thankfully it was a 24 hour bug that's hit the road to some other unfortunate soul's house.

Thinking: We have a seriously delicious {{and super unhealthy}} line up of snacks for today's festivities. Buffalo chicken dip, guacamole, home fried chicken wings && fries, french onion dip....yummmmmm! I can't wait to grub out && I'm praying my stomach is ready for the food fiesta that's coming its way!

 Wanting: Friday I had some retail therapy enter my life...despite feeling yucky I made a stop at GAP on the way home and added a few new pieces to my wardrobe. Cut to today, && I'm really fighting the urge to go full on Shop-Zilla. I did manage to make it an entire month without buying 1 piece of clothing && for that effort I think I deserve some fabulous new pieces.

Needing: I need to find some workout mojo in the worst way. I know it's only a matter of getting myself back into the routine, but the gym is absolutely repulsive to me after I leave work (&& working out before work is NOT an option...5:30 is early enough). I got some fabulous new kicks for Christmas that have been laying around looking pretty off my feet for far too long. I hear that the Groundhog bought me some time (thanks Phil), but bikini season is rapidly approaching && this chick is not ready...at all...not even in the slightest. So, tomorrow it is...back to the sweat life. I'll get there one squat && one mile at a time.


2 Truths/1 Fib:
1 & 3 are true. 2 is clearly a fib.
1. I life guarded during high school && it was seriously the best job ever. I had the darkest tan of my life..funky tan lines, but I had a killer tan. Ohhh to be 16 again (without all the HS drama).

2. Clearly a lie...painting my own nails produces anything but "professional" looking results. My left hand looks pretty decent, but then when it's time to paint my right hand...HOT MESS.

3. My brother and I have matching freckles above our belly buttons. I wish I had a picture to prove it, but you'll just have to take my word for it. Granted his belly button freckle is much bigger than mine (he's a dude && it just wouldn't be right for me to have the biggest freckle), but they match. I also have matching freckles under each eyebrow. True story!

 I've been a laptop junkie for far too much of my day && I have super bowl munchies to grub out on so until next time, live, love && make February fabulous!

What the Teacher Wore {{Week 22}}

Let me just start by saying 2.5 day weeks are what dreams are made of...everything is just so much more zen like when you're caught up on sleep and well relaxed. So zen like that this chick made it through all of the assessments that she despises with all of her heart without wanting to utter one single curse word....well that's not entirely true. I did have at least 1 bad word pop up in my brain when some of my kids acted like they had never seen a vowel before {{seriously kids you KNOW THIS}}. Alas, with a heavy heart I have to admit that while 2.5 day weeks are great for a teacher's brain, they aren't so great for a kid's brain. They do make for some pretty awesome hugs...I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

With it being a 2.5 day week this week's line up is going to be short, sweet and to the point. Brace yourselves for a total of 2 {{that's right 2}} outfits. True, I had 3 wake up calls, but Friday was a school T-shirt and jeans kind of day...they're lucky I peeled myself out of my yoga pants && hoodie because dangit if those suckers aren't the most comfortable duo in the world.

 Monday was our 100th Day. I planned to make a 100th day t-shirt, but lounging on the couch while surfing Pinterest and sipping coffee won the battle...again. During  my surf session I came across this pin which I'm positive I've been pin-spired by before when the temperatures were warmer, but the boots && scarf "winter" version was just right for the days before Icepocalypse 2014. I have a navy polka dot shirt in my closest, but it was WAY too suited for spring time temperatures rather than the icy cold we were experiencing so I did some swapping. In my version I pulled the pattern in with a scarf and kept the top solid. Same color scheme with just a few minor switches && no shopping had to be done...SCORE.

Cardigan: Target

Shirt: American Eagle

Skinnies: GAP

Boots: Rampage (Belk)

Scarf: ALDO Outlet

 

 

Tuesday was a half day && it was gloriously freezing by the time we got to leave. On the way to work it was hard to believe we were expecting massive power outages due to snow and ice. BUT a few short hours later, Jack Frost was starting to work his magic && I was a believer of the weather forecasters' predictions. I'm also a believer in layering && that's exactly what I did for day 101.

Sweater: Express

Scarf: TJMaxx

Vest: Ralph Lauren (Belk)

Skinines: GAP

Boots: Belk

 

So there you have it...Week 22...the entirety of its 2 pinspiration filled days. Week 23 is a full 5 day week and I have laundry, lesson plans, and tons of super bowl snack prepping to do. Until next time, live, love && enjoy those Super Bowl commercials!

Currently Loving: Ice Days && Yoga Pants

This blog post brought to you by....Icepocalypse 2014 && a cup of delicious coffee! Honestly there are few things greater than days off of work to lounge in yoga pants and hoodies. I know that there will more than likely be make up days involved (crossing my fingers for them to be excused), but this doesn't happen often in South Carolina so I'm enjoying everything about the icy hot mess Charleston has become. {{No sense in being mad at something you can't control...so keep calm && lounge on.}} 

Our 2.5 day break from reality has given me time to make a dent in my forever expanding to do list (think: tame the chaos that erupted in my closet, lesson plans, grading papers, junk TV). It's also been a recovery period from the madness that the 100th day of school brought into my life. The kids were AMPED...I'm talking jacked up like sugar was being pumped into their veins via an IV, but hyper kids I can do. The computer blowing up...that I can't do. A clogged up toilet with its disgusting contents floating much too close to the top of the bowl threatening to find its way on the floor...CAN'T DO {{barf}}. After a lot of deep breathing I composed the panicked/frazzled/about to snap teacher trying to explode, put my 100th day tiara on && went into crisis management mode. I unplugged my printer from the now completely dead computer and set up shop in the back of the room at a student computer. I have no Smartboard, but I at least have access to email & printing capabilities. Added bonus: my kids think I'm a genius & the strongest teacher alive for moving & hooking up the printer.  HOT mess, but I'm attempting to make lemonade out of the sour puss mess one lemon at a time. 

After the Y2K14 beast was tamed our day of celebration began. For math each friend presented the 100th day project that they made at home and then we hung them up in our school's gallery. Talk about pumped? Our walk through the 100th day gallery turned my typical power walking maniacs into turtles trudging through peanut butter. The 100 pennies approach was definitely the most popular (I definitely made a few of them when I was responsible for making a project), but my favorites were the ones that showed off the personalities of their creators. It doesn't get much cuter than "I made 100 deers because I like deers." Love LOVE the projects that you can tell the kids helped to make.

For our writing block we wrote about life as a 100 year old. Let's just say that I have a lot of future grumpy old men and women in the works... "I will whack people with my cane", "I won't let anybody help me across the street." Despite their grumpy antics as old people, I was impressed with their writing. Opening sentences and closing sentences actually included without me wanting to poke my eyeballs out?? What!?! Our zen like writing block made a turn into the land of belly laughing and rolling on the floor when the "Aging Booth" app made its grand entrance. It might be the best 99 cents that I've ever spent. The app takes a picture of you and turns you into a member of the 100's club in a matter of seconds. Hilariously scary...mine has me saving pennies for the plastic surgery I'll need if I end up looking anything like my before and after. Eeeks!

Lunch, special area, and literacy centers sped by and before I could call the custodians AGAIN for the clogged toilet it was the end of the day. To end our celebration we took these sweet treats out to recess...for once they preferred "made from scratch" over the boxed stuff. Super simple recipe && absolutely delicious chocolate chip cupcakes that were kid tested and kid approved...yep this is reality. I whipped up the cupcake toppers using Publisher, my Slice machine, and chevron paper straws. Easy enough && the perfect treat for making it through 100 days of school.




Before they left each of my energetic loves got a picture underneath our door banner (major sparkle swag alert) && I propped my feet up on my desk and ate bon bons....wait...not right...I grabbed my binder and headed to PLC...barely awake.

Snap to last night and I finally had the motivation to get their "thank you for doing a project" reward pieced together. I found sparkly pencils at Wal-Mart that I intended to be sharpened and waiting to be used on Monday morning. Well traffic jams happened and my plan to get there early didn't happen. The pencils didn't make it onto their desks and I'm so thankful they didn't because how cute did this reward turn out?!?! The cupcake toppers and the reward tags will be up and available in my TPT store later today as a flash freebie.

Until next time, live, love & sparkle on!