Sweet Summertime

I still have a month until my school starts- we start on September 2 this year due to school construction. I am so excited to have the next few weeks to stay home and love on this cutie patootie. I see lots of cuddling, smiling, laughing, stroller rides, visits to Grandma's and playing with cousins in our near future! It is soooo wonderful to wake up to this sweet face everyday!!

But in between all of the fun stuff, next week I'm set to start getting my classroom ready. Believe it or not, it will be the earliest that I have went into my classroom to work, and we usually start a lot sooner. My hubby took a week of vacation with the intent that I would work in my classroom throughout that week so we didn't have to hire a babysitter and could soak up every last second of summer with our sweet babe. Once my classroom is up and running I'll share the set up! 

Back to School Savings

I wanted to share an article that I read this morning regarding Back to School savings at Wal Mart from July 25-July 31. Take advantage of the 10% savings and gift card!! **It can only be used on stationary and craft items!! Read the fine print at WalMart.com!***

Read All About it Here!

Do you know of any other retailers that provide savings or rebates for teachers? If so, share in the comments!! Would love to hear from you!

Linky Party

I'm linking up to Kickin' It In Kindergarten's link party about shopping! So far, I have lots of TPT products purchased! As I discussed in my prior posts, I'm ready for some new activities and themes this year. Thanks to TPT I've hit the mother load!

Make Your Own Font

School Tour

The Great Apple Investigation

Hide and Go Highlight

Interactive Alphabet Notebook

Reward Coupons

I told ya I hit the mother load, didn't I?! :) I CANNOT wait to use these products in my classroom!! 

I've also restocked my classroom supply of desk name tags, cubby name tags, and bulletin board decorations. I started a cute owl theme in my classroom last year, and plan to continue it this year. I've found the cutest looking owls at Trend Enterprise. 

Love! 

I've used soap boxes from Wal Mart as crayon boxes for the past 3 years. This year the boxes took a beating and many of them ended up broken by the end of the year. I bought all brand new boxes for my students to store their crayons this coming year. I have 5 different colored tables in my room, and it just so happens Wal Mart has the colors to match (except for red- we substitute the pink instead). If you are looking for a way to easily store crayons I recommend this! They are fairly cheap considering they last a few years if your students know how to care for them. I could not find a link for them, but they can be found in the travel section of the cosmetic isle at many large retailers. 

I'm sure there will be more to add to this list in the next few weeks. I'm trying to slowly prepare for school and enjoy the end of the summer at the same time! :) What are you shopping for?! 

Social Media

Thank you social media! Without you, I wouldn't be planning and preparing for the school year already. We do not start until after Labor Day this year, and with my 7 week old bundle of joy, preparing for the upcoming year hasn't been on my "to-do list" yet this summer (snuggling and lots of QT top that list) ;) . However, since I can sit in the comfort of my own air conditioned home while baby sleeps, instead of a sweltering classroom, and shop TPT via Facebook updates and blog posts I am getting pretty excited for the upcoming year. Thank you Christmas in July!! My TPT wish list is being added to weekly as I'm excited to start with new activities, themes, and ideas this year! I felt burnt out early in the year last year (maybe it was pregnancy?), so this year I want to change my weekly themes up and introduce some new things in the classroom. I also have a student teacher coming this year, something my husband suggested to help change it up a bit. I'm really looking forward to seeing my new kiddos too, as I work on my calendar for next year. I am starting with Pete the Cat this year. I was so excited to find this cute and creative packet on TPT to start off the first day of school. It is editable too, so I can customize it to fit my building! Thank you Keepin' it Kool in Kinderland! Now head on over to Keepin' it Kool in Kinderland's blog and enter to win the font giveaway. Ohmiword, she is brilliant! She has created a product where you can turn your handwriting into a font! I'm so excited, if I don't win, I'm going to buy it anyways!! You can enter to win a packet with over 100 of her fonts or the "Make My Own Font" packet. Hurry, you don't want to miss it!!!


Back to the beginning of the year. ;)

I love this idea from Sunny Days in Second Grade for Ready Confetti to give away at Open House.

I would like to prepare something for parents to take home at Open House too- I'm thinking little favor bags with flavored popcorn with the "Thanks for Popping In" message using these labels from Classroom Freebies.

I also plan to have envelopes at our Orientation for parents to address- then throughout the year I will send a positive message home in the envelope about their child. I always try to make 2-3 positive phone calls per week, but haven't sent anything thru the mail, so that is one of my many small goals for this year. 

If you're still with me.... thank you! I realized I've been rambling and all over the place in this blog post... it's been a few years since I've done this so bear with me as I get back into "writing mode"... especially during the summer! ;) I want to close with sharing  a freebie that Abby, from The Inspired Apple (One of my FAV's! ),  so graciously posted this past week. I downloaded it and actually plan to frame it and put it on our fire place mantel as a daily reminder for my family. Thanks Abby for inspiring me everyday not only as a teacher, but also as a new mommy too! :) Get over to her blog and get yourself a copy too!!!

What happens in Vegas...

I'm so glad that what happens in Vegas, doesn't always stay in Vegas!! I am so inspired through Instagram by all of the teachers at the conference in Vegas this weekend! In the past couple of weeks, during late night feedings I have been catching up on blogs, putting items in my TpT cart (just waiting for a sale before I buy, because let me tell you I've stocked up!), and actually created an Instagram account for my class. I haven't yet decided if it's going to be for parents to follow with pics of class happenings, or of it's going to be for me to showcase what's going on in my class. To be honest, it probably won't be the latter, as I get most of my classroom inspiration from all of you! I created it with intentions of it being a little scrapbook for parents to  check in on. I am going to poll parents at orientation to determine if I would have any of them following our class account and get their feedback before I make my final decision. What do you think?! I used Remind101 in the classroom last year and loved it! I had a large number of parents sign up for the text alerts and loved that I could manage it from the app. So back to the point of my post and coming out of this long hiatus- I'm going to try to get back into blogging, and maybe actually use that Instagram account when school starts. I'm trying to enjoy every minute of summer with my sweet baby, but have started to think about the coming year, even if physically I haven't done a thing to prepare (like clean out my classroom from last year... That's what happens she you have a baby two days before schools out. :))