Seuss-tastic!

Friday was Dr. Seuss Day and the students had a blast! Third graders got to wear silly hats and each classroom had guest readers come to read to them.

Someone from central office came and read my students Horton Hears a Who. They were so polite, they listened carefully and when it was over they told her "thank you" and gave her a hug. I have the absolute best class ever! Which is why didn't mind splurging on gifts for all of them.

They each got a Seuss Tote (I purchase them in the summers from Target $ Spot), a bookmark, 4 dollar books from Scholastic and a Seuss cookie from Sugar Nirvana (they were cute and tasted good too!)

 

 

 

I also ordered some Mini Seuss Cookies from A Cookie Jar for some of my coworkers, they loved those too. It's the same place ordered the Owl Valentine Cookies. They were beautiful and delicious as always. Then I made a lil tote on my Cricut to put them in.

 



Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe it's been a year since I got engaged... and now I'm married! Time sure flies when you're planning a wedding, LOL.

Last year I used my Cricut and made my students cards. This year I got lazy! I found some cute Valentine's Day Seuss Scrapbook Paper and just cut it to fit a blank card and then I printed out a Seuss quote put it on the inside of the card. Then I found these cute bubble gum tube favors from Sam's Club.

One of my resolutions was to show my colleagues that I appreciate them... you know, be a "bucket filler."

I found this wonderful cookie shop on Etsy, A Cookie Jar, unfortunately she just put her shop on vacation so you can't browse her items, but when she returns it's worth a look! She has mini cookies for all types of themes (Apples, Owls, Birthday, Butterflies, Frogs, Princess, Bowling, Pirates) and they are DELICIOUS too. Definitely worth the money. She books up fast though. You can take a peek at her feedback to see her work.

I ordered some pink and red owl mini cookies for Valentine's Day. Then I ordered some cute owl Valentine Cards from Tiny Prints. I used my Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge to make treat boxes. I can't wait to surprise my coworkers tomorrow!

Did you do anything special for your colleagues for Valentine's Day?

Wedding Pictures

More pictures of my December 1st wedding...

My mother and I before the ceremony.

 

 The handsome groomsmen. My two nephews are in front along with my lil cousin the Ring Bearer, he stole the show!

 

 

 

 My Goddaughter and Cousin. I found a shop on Etsy, Songs from the Garden, and she did my bridal flowers, boutonnieres, flower girl basket and ring bearer pillow. I loved working with her and they turned out wonderful! 

 

My sister and I. She hated the orange dress, but oh well, it wasn't her wedding! I put a picture of my late father on my bouquet. I got that idea off of Pinterest!

 

The bridesmaids. My two Goddaughters are in the front on the left and my new niece is on the right.

 

 The entire bridal party. I always wanted to pair some "color" with gray for my wedding. I wanted pink but my husband to be wasn't thrilled with that, but orange is another favorite color of mine so we went with that and everyone loved it!

 

 

 One of my best friends got us an antique car for the wedding. It was a nice touch.

 

Gotta love Virginia weather... December 1st... 65 degrees!

 

 A parent at my school, Cakes by Gabrielle, made our wedding cake. It was carrot cake with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes. Very tasty!

 

 

 

 

 Our first dance. You can't tell here, but I had a fever and apparently bronchitis that wasn't diagnosed until winter break! Teachers... we just keep going and going and going.

Mustered up enough energy to smile one last time at the reception. I really just wanted to take some Nyquil and go to sleep. I also gotta give a shout out to my hair stylist and make up artist Karen Wilson. If you're familiar at all with black hair you know that many black women straighten their hair but two years ago I made the decision to wear my hair in it's natural state... kinky curly, and Karen makes look fabulous every time I see her!

Merry Christmas

Well I don't know when you get out for Winter Vacation but my last day is Thursday December 20th. Then we return January 2nd. We got jipped out of two vacation days this year and they were reallocated to the day before Thanksgiving and President's Day.

Last year I blogged about the Christmas Ornaments I do every year. I just finished shopping for the paint at Wal-mart and I can't wait to do these tomorrow with the children. I'll send them home on Wednesday of next week.

I transferred to my current school last year and they party a little differently than my previous school. Our winter celebration consisted of a craft, cupcake and movie. Needless to say I was disappointed. So I've reinstated my Winter Luncheons! Next Thursday my students will have a 45-60 minute lunch in the classroom with holiday music and a delicious spread! I've even contemplating having a Hot Chocolate Bar:)

The menu includes...
Hawaiian Meatballs (I personally make these for the students and they love them!)
Chicken Nuggets from Chickfila
Turkey Biscuits
Fruit Tray
Vegetable Tray
Snowflace Ritz Crackers and cubed Cheese
Holiday Pretzels
Holiday Marshmallows
Cupcakes

Here are a couple pictures from the past...

 

 

 

 

How are you celebrating the holidays with your students?

 

Presenting...Mr. & Mrs. Saunders

It's official... I was married on December 1st and it ended up being a beautiful day... like 64 degrees out! We honeymooned at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg Virginia and was able to visit Busch Gardens Christmas Town, Captain Georges Seafood Restaurant and the Premium Outlets. We return to work tomorrow and  I know I will be counting down the days until Winter Break!

3 Weeks=21 Days

 

 

I have not dropped off the face of the earth! These last couple of months have been super busy for me. Not only did school start but I'm preparing for my December 1st wedding. I had my bridal portrait session last week and I'm pretty sure it's safe to post this portrait on my blog... I don't think my fiancee spends alot of time reading it!

 

Javaid and I have finished premarital counseling however I'm trying to soak in as much Godly information about marriage as I can. We had the opportunity to attend the marriage conference that our church hosts each year and it was awesome! I learned about the natural and the spiritual side of marriage.

 

I've been reading a couple of books and they have been a wealth of Christian information on marriage. I highly recommend the following books...

 

5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman

This book talks about how we each have a love language: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time and it's important for us to understand our language and learn how to speak our spouses language. Mine is physical touch... which is probably why I'm quick to comfort my students with a hand on the back or shoulder and probably why I enjoy getting their hugs so much! His is receiving gifts... he feels loved when I buy him something special, it can be as little as a Snickers bar or when I take him out to eat or to the movies. We read this book in our Singles Ministry at church and I refer to it often.

 

The Purpose and Power of Love and Marriage by Myles Monroe

This is the most comprehensive book I've ever seen on marriage! If there were a class to take about it, this would definitely be the textbook. It encompasses so much information... from how marriage began and how the Lord intended it to how to love yourself and your spouse. I learned so much from this book that I would need several blog posts to tell you all about it.

 

Intimate Issues by Linda Dillow

I learned about this book at the marriage conference we attended. I'm almost through reading it and just in time too. It's about being a "sensuous" wife and denying yourself and "ministering" to your husband when he's in need. I would recommend this book to all wives! Again, I learned so much from this book and it discussed intimacy issues and questions that Christians just don't talk about.

 

With only 21 days to go I must say I'm getting nervous. I've always had my own room/space (besides that one year in college when I had a roommate), I've been on my own for the last 8 years and I've done whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and  I've purchased whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. So leaving my apartment to move into his house will be culture shock for me.

 

Going from 0 to 100 overnight will be such an adjustment for me. For the last two years Javaid and I have honored God in our relationship and we've made a conscious effort to not put ourselves in "tempting" situations. So we don't spend time alone at home together, we go out. We hold hands but won't embrace (hug) for more than 20 seconds and we've only "pecked"... we've never... shall we say... "made out." So on December 1st we have to give ourselves the green light to cross over the dating line and onto the marriage side and enjoy the gift of intimacy that God has ordained for us.

 

So it may be quiet on the blog front for awhile. I'll be focusing on becoming the wife God called me to be while balancing work, friends and family!



Favorite First Lady Cookie

During the 2008 Election my teammates and I decided to hold an election using the Presidential Cookie Recipes from Family Circle.

Here's a picture of the team election bulletin board.

2nd Grade Election Results

 

Cookie A Recipe- Michelle Obama

 

Cookie B Recipe- Cindy McCain

 

 

I had such a blast doing this that I had to do it with my 3rd graders in my new school. I've created a document with the recipes and ballots. Last time I had 4 parent volunteers make the cookies and send them in. Each student got one of each cookie and marked their choice on the ballot. They placed the ballots in a ballot box and the teachers tallied them over night. The teachers annouced the winners the next day. *Beware of food allergies!*

Presidential Cookies

 

 

Do you think you'll use this idea in your classroom? What other election activities are you doing?