18 days...

I've significantly caught up on my Google Reader from 500+ down to 200+ so much that I feel that I can breathe, update, and return to my teacher blog-hopping again soon. It's addicting and so fabulous. I've found so many amazing freebies, units, printables, it's hard to keep the excitement to myself. (Promise I'll share some of my favorites in the next post!)

The last few weeks have consisted of a whole lot of tweeting, crafting, and baking! (That about sums it up!)

 chocolate decadence Take 1

 

 chocolate decadence Take2

 Marathon Monday cupcakes

 lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

 purple cow cupcakes

s'more cupcakes

We've done more housework in the past two weeks than we have in quite some time, and it's a good feeling. We re-painted the two bedrooms upstairs and I came home from work today to new light fixtures in our bedroom and a new ceiling! Big things!

We have another jam-packed weekend that kicks off in a few hours...

Tonight we have a double date at a hibachi grill in Marshfield. Tomorrow morning we're running the Abington Police Department's 5K. Heather comes over post-race to experiment with a few cocktail recipes and some baking...before Paint Bar with the ladies at work at night.

Sunday is my Stella and Dot party and then Leah and I are baking 150 mini cupcakes for Cupcake Camp!

Phew!

Picture overload in the next post!

Excitements and Accomplishments

• Hosted our first Easter dinner with Meme and Lynn

• Experimented with a new cupcake frosting technique

• Enjoyed a nice April date day--iMax show, lunch at the Barking Crab, and dessert in the North End...followed by yard work in the evening..so grown up
  

• Biked the marathon route (!)
  

• Considering a 10k and then 1/2 marathon!?

Plymouth's Run to the Rock 10K....??

• A new classroom layout--bye bye desks, hello tables!
  
• MassCue presentation with Coaks next fall at Gillette?
• A cupcake gig for a bridal shower
• a wedding-filled Summer 2013

• Biggest Loser progress..8 pounds to go...

• Painting the bedrooms upstairs...
• lawn makeover

some day, right? :)

• Everyday with the hubs. so. lucky.
  

A Digital Native at Heart

I'm clearly having a difficult time balancing my time between this blog, the kajillion teacher blogs I'm following on Google Reader, my photoblog for my 365 project and now....

my class Twitter account!

Fortunately, between my 365 blog and Twitter I will be forced to focus my blog more on third grade! :)

For a month that is often dreaded for being the only month without days off, my goodness it flew by! Here's a March recap:

• had a girls night in Northboro, complete with dinner out and bottles of wine
• wedding dress shopping with Sarah

• lunch with the Flower Girls before spending the night on report cards
• a technology class on math games for the SmartBoard
• Wahlburgers and The Vow with some teacher friends
• National Read Aloud Day at school

• many a dodgeball game at SkyZone

• a Lia Sophia party in Scituate and made strawberry nachos
  

• March date night at Four Burgers on Boylston

• enjoyed a Ladies Day at the range

• a Stella and Dot party in Newton and purchased these gems

• made margarita cupcakes for the party

• booked my very own Stella and Dot party in May
• tried some amazing new recipes courtesy of Pinterest including a new favorite around our house--baked angel hair or slow cooker honey sesame chicken

• ran my personal best at Marshfield's St. Patrick's Day 5K

• baked some St. Paddy's Day sweets
  

• enjoyed dinner at Lolita's after Shecky's Girls Night Out

• dined at Marliave for Boston's Restaurant Week--finally no rain!

• spent a weekend in New York City for a free conference at Columbia with some teacher friends

• got word that a bestie is engaged! So happy for Kerri and Steve!
• worked our first craft fair at MP

phew! What a month!

I've been seeing other blogs...

Much of February has been spent on my favorite teacher blogs. I have been falling in love with classroomfreebies.com and classroomfreebiestoo.com!

I just lack the time to sit down and punch out the cutting, gluing, and laminating of some amazingly cute centers. But it will come. I promise.

Pinterest yielding oodles of cute and creative Valentine ideas.

For the kiddos...

For the aides...

For the hubs...

February vacation allowed me to

- sleep in multiple mornings
- see Hasty Pudding with the family and dine at The Stockyard--yum!
- celebrate Valentine's Day with brunch at Atlantica
- create firehouse cupcakes for Z and W's boy scout spaghetti dinner



- begin our monthly date night tradition at Fox and Hound


- tackle a massive pile of correcting
- finally get an updated prescription for my contact lenses
- have a puppy date with Erica and Buck


- stay up late
- enjoy a Yankee Swap-style As Seen on TV party with teacher friends and try a new Pinterest recipe



Vacations are glorious times...

A Fine Start to 2012

It was hard to believe that January had arrived so quickly, and before I knew it, it was gone again. Given that February is such a short month as is, I can only imagine how quickly this month will go!

What a month it had been!

I started project 365 documenting each day with one or two pictures--some more exciting than others. Publishing those pictures have been a neat way to reflect on the year and keep the memories of each day...

January was exceptionally busy with...

- beginning the Dexter series from the beginning with the hubs
- a fondant decorating class with Leah


- Steve and Steph's housewarming/Pats game party

- bridal expo with the Yoffe girls


- baking for a fellow teacher's birthday


- a Stella and Dot party and the purchase of a very pretty necklace
- presenting at the School Committee's Curriculum Corner
- co-presenting a technology course on Smartboard tools and activities
- Kerri and Steve's housewarming with the girls and a few of the boys
- brunch with Katie who was home from South America
- a Lia Sophia party with teacher friends (bacon and eggs cupcakes were my brunch contribution)



I have pinned so many fabulous activities for reading, math, science, social studies, holidays like Martin Luther King Day, Groundhog Day, this week's celebration of the 100th day, Valentine's Day... not to mention DIY gift ideas, decorating ideas, recipes... I get so excited thinking of the possibilities. I have been able to try so many new, engaging activities thanks to pinterest and teacherspayteachers.com. And what could be better than giving business to fabulous teachers! (I very well may ask for a teacherspayteachers gift card for upcoming holidays to start to purchase a few of the 89 items on my "wish list."

Aside from the amazing freebies teachers have so generously posted--mainly found at



a few of my favorite teacher bloggers continue to be Hope at



Dana at



Ginger at



Mary at

February has only been with us for 5 days and it has already brought fabulous events--not to mention the promise of more! This month we began Fit4February at school. I've really begun to enjoy running both for the exercise as well as for the opportunity to singularly think, reflect, and plan. Each team records their workouts and mileage and there will be prizes for weight loss and the first team to reach 100 miles. It is a huge incentive each day to get up and move!

A few teachers and I began ELL training this week. It's a nice break from the classroom and a chance to acquire new material and instruction while spending the day with two fabulous girls!

This weekend was fairly low-key with an impromptu game night at Skyview, a gun show Saturday in East Bridgewater, running with the hubs and Joe yesterday afternoon, and Dexter last night. Next up is tonight's Super Bowl party in Freetown-- so excited! (And I'm finally feeling better--the pesky cough that lingered through much of January is almost gone!)

This week is School Council, my eighth of ten technology classes, the 100th day (I vow to take more pictures in the classroom this year.), and ELL training. Next weekend is jam-packed with a hair appointment (yay!), a family get together, Becca's birthday downtown, and our Favorite Things party Sunday! :)

Then it's happy hearts and Valentine's Day. I consider myself exceptionally lucky that the hubs and I have found each other, continue to be uuber happy and don't wait until Valentine's Day to tell each other how much we love each other. That's not to say that I am not super excited for it...

December wrap up in photos

MP holiday party: A cookie swap at the Ale House proudly co-hosted by yours truly

a Pinterest DIY favor

Oreo-stuffed chocolate-chip cookies

batch number 2 baked with Becca for her work's cookie swap--view of the outside

view of the inside of the heavenly cookie

My 26th birthday: NYAJ and the Treat Cupcake Bar in Needham with a few of my favorite girls

Radio City Rockettes: The next morning, Momma, Sarah, and I ventured into the theater district for what has started to become a December tradition. My favorite scene by far is the toy soldiers routine.

Road trip: the Ugly American in Providence with Lynn and the boys


Ornament/Beer Yankee Swap party: North Pole cupcakes for the occasion

another Pinterest find

A festive "thank you": for the aides--from Pinterest of course.

Holidays Around the World unit: condensed into 3 days. Thank you teacher blogs and teacherspayteachers.com! We "traveled" to England and made greeting cards, Germany and decorated gingerbread men, Mexico and made poinsettias, Israel and enjoyed gelt and learned the traditions and foods of Hanukkah, France and made buche de Noel from Swiss Cake Rolls while awaiting Pere Noel's arrival and the gifts he left in our shoes, Italy and read about La Befana and learned the names of the many gift givers around the world. I'm excited to do more with this unit next year.





Treats for my kiddos:

reindeer food from Pinterest

Festive cupcakes for the MP staff on Spirit Day/Tacky Sweater Day


Holiday break: a jam-packed vacation that included but was not limited to....

Friday: RO and her husband visited while they were in town. That night we went to Randolph for a Hanukkah/Christmas gift exchange where I was generously gifted slippers, gloves, a fabulous red mixing bowl, Birchbox voucher, cupcake ornaments, socks, a gift card for dinner....

Saturday: For Christmas Eve we brought Chinese take out to Freetown and opened a turkey fryer--we can't wait to use it. [Dan popped the question, and Sarah said yes! Wedding planning here we come!]

Sunday: We opened each other's gifts here before heading out for the day.

I got cute undies and a heating blanket--delightful! One of the gifts for the hubs was a Pinterest DIY gift-noticing a theme here? 52 Things I Love About You




We then returned to Freetown for a feast with the Wedge clan and we opened a tailgating tent, clothes, earrings...

fried turkey in Freetown

Monday: We double dated to see Mission Impossible 4 whilst suffering a nasty stomach bug that I generously passed on to the hubs.

Tuesday: Picked up Leslie and her boyfriend at Logan, lunched, relaxed, and dined at the Fours with a few of the girls.

Wednesday: We started the day in Stoughton visiting an old roommate of ours from BC. We had lunch and played with her sweet baby Grace. Next we hit the city--starting at BC before heading to Fenway and Kenmore Square. We ventured to North Station to see Leslie's brother's new place, and then met Sarah at Sullivan Square to see her rock. We took Leslie and her boyfriend to Treat Cupcake Bar for dessert that night which proved all the more crucial as flank steak for dinner turned out to be a bust.

visiting Jen and her sweet baby

Linden Lane--one of my favorite places on BC's campus

Thursday: Relaxed around the house, picked up Mom and Leah from the T as they returned from Chicago, brought Leslie and her boyfriend to Logan for their departing flight after a less than thrilling experience in Logan's HOV lane. That night I met the hubs and friends of ours at the shooting range just in time for them to wrap up. Dinner and margs at Chilis!

Friday: Christmas Tree Shop with Mom--what's break without a stop there! Picked up goodies for our Favorite Things party in February. Excited!



Big things in 2012...I can feel it!