Five for Friday//February 13, 2015

It's Friday! It's the day before Valentine's Day! I'm participating in 5 for Friday for the first time in a loooooong time! It's a good day!

This little lady is 5 months old today! I would like to reinforce every single cliche that is out there: time is flying, babies don't keep, I'm exhausted but it's worth it, being a mom is a really super-amazing blessing.

Ella is sitting up {when I put her in a sitting position...she's not that advanced ;)}, reaching for things {especially the cat's tail}, and putting every.single.thing in her mouth! Things she is not doing: napping for more than 40 minutes and being predictable. Sigh.

My beautiful, amazing, wonderful mom turned 60 this past weekend!

We surprised her with a trip to the Poconos for the weekend. We had such a fun time playing games, snow tubing, eating, and hanging out in the local bar. With a baby.

My mom is seriously one of the most amazing people I know. I found this quote by Jodi Picoult, who is a favorite author of both of ours, and it sums up how I feel about my mom, PERFECTLY. I am so lucky to have her.

I am hard at work on my March Sentence Scrambles and Main Idea unit. Creating a monthly resource can be a bit of a bear at times but I have heard so much positive feedback about how they're working in your classrooms...it keeps me motivated!

You can purchase the February editions by clicking the pictures below:

How big do you do Valentine's Day? My husband and I don't do too much {read: I prefer small gestures from time to time as opposed to big holiday hoopla}, but now that we have Ella, holidays mean something entirely different!

My dad always got my sister and I something for Valentine's Day. My mom did too but Valentine's Day was the only holiday when my Dad did something specifically from him only. Dave is going to start this tradition with Ella as well. I hope she'll look back on this Daddy/Daughter tradition as fondly as I do.

I started a tradition of getting her a book every holiday. I am in love with these two books that I am giving her for Valentine's Day.

Also pictured: The Biggest Kiss

"Hug Time" is literally the sweetest book I have ever come across. And the illustrations... I melt!

PS: I will be giving Dave one of these cards ;)

I am so excited to share that I am heading to Atlanta next weekend to participate in the EdMarket Expo. I get to walk around the expo with tons of other fabulous bloggers and play around with manipulatives, games, teacher supplies, etc. and choose my favorite items for your classroom . Then, I get to blog all about it so you can go grab my favorite fabulous items {or tell your principal to buy them for you}! I am really looking forward to it!!

Now it's your turn to go link up with Doodlebugs! Happy Friday!

A Little Valentine’s Day Love <3

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I am so pooped.  I feel like I blinked and today went by…it was so packed with fun.
To be honest, I think I’m still recovering from our 100th Day, which was the day before yesterday.  That was exhausting!

February is kicking my butt, you guys!

I’ve been a little M.I.A lately, so I wanted to make sure I popped in to share some Valentine’s Day fun!

We started the day with some fun Valentine’s math games:

{Scoot game whipped up by me on Valentine’s Eve}

{Forget Me Not Five in a Row by the wonderful Aimee…she offers up a FREE one every month!}

Do to our stinky unusual schedule, our morning flew by…math games plus our special plus lunch = one long afternoon.  We filled it by decorating our Valentine bags.  {Nothing fancy…just decorating white lunch bags}

After a few read-alouds {Mr. Hatch being the runaway favorite}, it was PARTY TIME!

My valentine for the kiddos was pretty “Bubblicious”

My student teacher got in on the fun too!

Too cute!

When it came time for party food, my head room mom hit it out of the park!  She organized everything  and my other room moms really came through.  We were so lucky!  Everything was so cute and so delicious!







I forgot to snap a picture of our heart-shaped soft pretzels.  Yum!

Our room moms also provided us with a fun and delicious activity: Rice Crispy Conversation Hearts

{I told them they had to be creative if they couldn’t find a letter they needed}

{Elijah LL stands for Elijah loves lizards…duh!}

{I’m obviously partial to this one…”I Love My Teacher”

We had such a fun {and super-tiring} Valentine’s Day!

My true valentine {the Mr.} and I made a delicious dinner, and are working on our second glass of wine.  Tomorrow he’s surprising me with a night in the city!  Can’t wait!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Halle

You May Have Heard There’s Gonna Be a SALE!!!

So it’s no secret there’s a sale a comin’ tomorrow.  A SUPER SALE!!

I managed to finish a few units just in time for you to grab them for a cool 28% off…

Wanna see?  Of course you do!

{Click the picture to grab it}

I’ve been a fan of “The Day It Rained Hearts” for a while now.  It is such a sweet, sweet book.  Super simple concept, super loving message.  I got the itch to make a little something to go with it last year, but I just finally got around to it just now.





I came up with an umbrella raining hearts…I know, how on earth did I come up with that?!!  What I love about this craft is that I can use it now with the book, and again in the spring because it has a definite spring vibe going on.  We’ll be using our umbrellas to cover parts of speech next week, but the possibilities are endless!  You could do spelling words, rhyming words, hearts for family members…whatever your little heart desires :)

This little unit is also loaded with comprehension sheets and writing papers.  It goes perfectly with the book, but it definitely works independently of it as well!

I also finished up my “Plant a Kiss” unit.  Just like “The Day It Rained Hearts” this unit goes really well with the adorable book, but it also works out all by itself.
Would you like to plant a kiss with your class?  I know I can’t wait to get this started with my little guys and gals.

{Click the picture to grab it}

Here’s a little kiss pot:





So cute, right?

Of course, to plant a kiss, you need some seeds.





We’ll be giving our seeds to our mommies and daddies for Valentine’s Day.  Mom and Dad can exchange them for a kiss or an act of kindness, or both!

This unit is also loaded with writing papers and activity sheets too.  I couldn’t help myself!
I’ve bundled both of these guys with my Mr. Hatch mini-unit, so if you’re looking to have your Valentine’s reading block covered….here you go!!!

{Click the picture to grab it from TpT}

This unit’s been floating around my store for a little while, but I finally get to break it out with my class next week when we get to similes.  We’ll be writing about love using similes.

{Click the picture above to grab it}

I can’t wait to read their answers!

I hope you’ll check out my store when you’re shoppin’ tomorrow!  I’ve got lots of goodies :)

Have a good night!

Halle

What I’m Loving {Linking Up}

Now this is a fun linky.

Tessa, from Tales of Outside the Classroom has such a cute idea for a Linky Party.  I get to talk about all the people and things that make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
Without further ado…

WHO I Love:

{Swoon Over It Photography}

Are you sick of my wedding photos yet?  Because I’m not!!!  I love my husband.  I wrote all sorts of braggy stuff about him here, if you’re interested :)


                                               {Swoon Over It Photography}

This cutie.  Georgie makes every day better.


And in BLOG-RELATED news, I love these gals:



Reagan is hands-down the sweetest blogger out there.  {And I love Amy & Cara too…must be a Texas thing}.  She was so, so, so helpful and generous when we hosted our first giveaway, even though we were just this teeny tiny {and we still are, relatively} little blog.  I love all of her stuff, and I try to snag up everything she makes that is even semi grade-level appropriate for my classroom.  Her classroom library labels saved my sanity in August, and we gobbled up her spider unit in October.  Plus, she’s funny and SUPER CREATIVE! 



Maria is the ESL teacher at our school and she is so creative and wonderful.  She is so patient with her students {and clearly loves and cares very much for them}, and every time I have a question about anything really, she always offers sound advice.  Plus, she bakes treats and donates them to the Teacher’s Lunge on a regular basis ;)…she just started a blog and a TpT shop.  Make sure to check them both out!


THINGS I Love:

It’s Girl Scout Cookie Season!!!  I’m all about the Caramel Delights, and lucky me, I have a girl scout in my class.  {PS: You totally have to click the cookie above, and read up on all the fascinating Girl Scout Cookie Statistics…lots of infographics…I love infographics!}



My husband does NOT love that I love these yummy oatmeals.  At $1.50 or so a pop, they’re a lot more expensive than a packet of oatmeal, but they have me eating breakfast on a daily basis, and they’re much more filling than a packet is.  Love the Apple Cinnamon flavor with cranberries and walnuts.

{Source}

I love Intuition razors because I’m lazy when it comes to shaving.  It really is that simple.  I don’t know if I could ever go back to shaving gel.  Ever!



Apparently, I REALLY LOVE making Valentine’s Day products!!  You can grab the top 3 by clicking their pictures.  “Plant a Kiss” and “The Day It Rained Hearts” are almost done!!

{Source}

I’m also LOVING my new camera!!!  It’s a Canon Rebel T3i

{Source}

I LOVE Philly.  I love that I’m a 5 minute drive from some of the most amazingly fun bars, yummiest restaurants, and quirky shops and people.  Philly rocks.

There are a TON more people I love, and a MILLION more things I love, but that’s for another time {next year, maybe?}

Thanks for reading!  Please go link up with Tessa so I can get some new ideas for things and people to love!


Have a good night :)

~Halle