Guess What? (Freebie!)

I totally forgot to tell you what my youngest got to do on Sunday! Can you guess? Here's a hint:

Yep! A Watermelon Eating Contest for 5-6 year olds at the Commissary on post. 

 
I thought for sure he'd win, because he's a good eater and loves watermelon. However, a few moments into the contest he started dripping juice down his chin onto the table. My little man got a startled look on his face, and I could see he was worried about making a mess. Then he put down his watermelon and tried to drag the little tray closer to him to catch the drips! Of course I told him not to worry about the mess and we'd  clean it up after the contest, but those few moments cost him lol. Here's the moment where he's starting to drip:

 A sweet little girl won first prize which was some sort of gift card. But Joshua got a great consolation prize that he was thrilled with!

Yes, that's watermelon juice all down the front of his shirt!

So of course I had to read it right away with him. The story is about a penguin who wakes up pink, for reasons unknown. He feels like he doesn't fit in and gets teased by his classmates. He ends up going to Africa to live with flamingos but discovers he doesn't fit in there either. Eventually he makes his way home, where everyone is happy to see him and impressed with his knowledge of flamingos and Africa! It's a cute little book, and Joshua was satisfied for the most part - at first he wondered why they couldn't fix the penguin but eventually came to understand that the point was to accept yourself without trying to change to fit in. I think I'll definitely be using it in my classroom next year! I'll be working on some goodies to go with the book, but since I do penguins in January, it's a bit far down on my list :)

The watermelon contest did get me thinking though, so I whipped up some alphabet match up cards, then I thought why stop there so I made some number/counting cards as well! If you'd like to grab it for free, just click the picture to go to my TPT store!

Time to start dinner, have a great night! Remember, Rustle Up a Comment below - I love to read your sweet notes!

Made It Manic Monday

First up - look what my neighbors (who are moving to Kentucky) put on the curb last night:

As soon as I saw it my mind started racing and I begged my husband to run and grab it for me.

He insisted on waiting until the neighbor was out in his yard so he could go talk to him before he took it (some weird thing about not going through someone's trash without their permission). So I took up a spot by the window, watching through the blinds as the pile was whittled away by every passer by!

Luckily no one took my sign ~ how strange that no one else wanted this diamond in the rough!

After a few hours, in the middle of eating dinner (with guests over!) I suddenly saw the neighbor outside. Husband was gently reminded of his promise to go over (guests not withstanding, and no he couldn't finish his plate first because neighbor might go back inside! Run Forest, run!)

Turns out, neighbor had brought the sign home for his wife because she wanted to redecorate it. It had been in their garage untouched for 6 months so they decided not to take it to Kentucky with them. My husband  has now declared the 6 month rule - anything in his garage for more than 6 months is going to the curb too.

Little does he know that with Made It Mondays I have a built in motivator for getting this baby done! I can't wait to show you how it turns out - my plan is to have it done by the end of the month, so watch for it soon!

Just to show you what being motivated can do (and to justify linking this up with Made it Monday over at 4th Grade Frolics):

Isn't it adorable?! I got the bucket template from imagestuff's blog here. They posted it yesterday and I immediately knew I had to make one for my class! A quick trip to Hobby Lobby for the bucket (on sale 66% off!) and ribbon (on sale 50% off) and I have a lovely classroom management tool for a song! I'd show you pictures, but really it was just cutting and tying ribbon ~ I don't think pics are truly necessary in this case :) By the way, if you haven't read the book, it is a must have! My kiddos always love it and it really helps them to become more aware of how their actions affect others.

 Next up, I found about about a great little book that needs some help to be published!

The amazing thing about this book is that the author created each page as a fabric quilt collage. I love the message of staying true to yourself and being happy with who you are! The author needs to raise about $9400 in the next 9 days in order to publish this book. If you donate at least $25 you will received a signed copy of the book once it's published!

Boy, this is getting to be a long post, isn't it? Aa reward for patiently reading (and to go along with the bucket filling idea!), here's a freebie for Manic Monday:

Just click the picture to grab it in my TPT store!

I linked this up at Classroom Freebies - click the button to see lots more freebies too!

I am off to enjoy my birthday - well as much as possible since husband has to work until 8pm tonight! Have a great Monday!

Currently ~ July!

Okay, I may have squealed a bit when I realized that I had actually managed to catch the Currently early in the month! I absolutely love linking up with Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade but somehow I'm always a few days late to the party! Then I realized that, even though I'm linking up on July 1st, somehow I'm still #100+ (currently there are 103 linked up so I'd be #104 but I just know someone will beat me to the punch by the time I put this little post to bed, so I'm just going to cross my fingers and hope that I get into the top 125) Not that it really matters what number I am, but I can't help but want to be close to the top lol!

Anyways, here's mine:

My husband is playing the latest video game with friends in Texas and Hawaii right now. Using Ventrillo helps them to stay connected and enjoy their gaming together. We only pay $4 a month for a "space" large enough for 10 - so we can talk to all of our friends online while we play. Saves a ton on phone bills, plus makes gaming more fun. Since we're military, friends move all over the world, but this way we can still keep in touch :)

Just finished watching The Next Food Network Star and am loving Justin even more. It could be because he's on Alton's team and there's just something about Alton that gets to me :)  The big joke in my house is that Alton Brown is my "boyfriend". Regardless, I think I could actually watch a whole show of Justin cooking and talking so I'm crossing my fingers for him!

It's my birthday tomorrow (well in 23 minutes!). I try to remain unaware of exactly how old I'm turning - I wouldn't lie about it, I just try not to think of it :) I'm not really big on presents, I'm just thrilled my husband actually seems to be on top of it this year - he's mentioned it several times. Which contrasts with the year when he forgot entirely and only remembered when we went to a friend's house for dinner and she put candles on the cake for me. He was totally confused ~ "What's with the candles?" he said. It's been 5 years and he still hasn't lived that one down lol!

I am wanting a new computer since my laptop keeps turning itself off. I need to take it in to be checked but I'm afraid of what they might say. It is old and slow and I really want a desktop again ~ however I would be satisfied if they could just figure out how to keep it on while I'm working!

Do you know how many cups 4 children use in one day? It's approximately 189,532. I know, because I've been washing dishes by hand (gasp!) for 2 weeks since my dishwasher broke. Somehow I keep forgetting to make the call to the serviceman until after 5pm! Tomorrow my one goal is to get that phone call made!

My all time favorite read aloud, as I've shared before is Mo Willem's "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive the Bus!" I read it (and the other Pigeon books) every year and we adapt it into different class books. It is so fun to hear the kids interact with the book and then they really get into the illustrations too!

Last year I read "The End of Molasses classes" by Ron Clark and loved it! So much inspiration packed into one book! I think it should be a must-read for every new teacher (and some old ones too!) If I had a choice between visiting his school and an all-expense paid trip to Vegas or somewhere I really think I would choose his school instead :)

 

Woot! Finished before midnight! Wouldn't it have been funny if I had actually aged a year while writing this post?! I'm off to follow the Rule of 3 (love that idea!). Be sure to link up too!