Hello Summer!

I've had blogging on my daily to do list for days now, and on my mind for weeks.

Particularly with the recent gorgeous weather (with the exception of Arthur), I find it harder and harder to bring myself over to the computer to sit and blog. (Not to mention the comfy, cozy, relatively-new leather couch we have that I tend to pass out on after a long day of third grade and mommy duties or more recently summer camp, errands, mommy duties, house chores, daily excursions to the splash pad, local Y, play date, lunch date, playground--you name it! By 6:30/7 when Lady K is off in Dreamland, or adorably babbling to Mrs. Owl, Puppet, Lola, or Hippity, I am EXHAUSTED.

My "me" time is spent catching up on blogs, updating my third grade classroom blog for parents and families-- mrsmacksbatchofthirdgraders.blogspot.com,  finding new places to explore courtesy of mommy friends and 365ThingstoDoontheSouthShore.com, running when I muster up the energy, and chronicling our days on instagram @thirdgradecupcakes. Oh, and baking for my up-and-coming bakery Sweet Mack Bakery. (Shameless plug: Like us on Facebook and follow our sweet treats on Instagram @SweetMackBakery.)

Here's a snippet from the start to our summer...

• I run my first half marathon with Kelsey, a teacher friend of mine who is getting married next weekend.

• Mr. Lovie and I FINALLY enjoyed a movie date night. (It had been our third attempt, and well worth it.)

•  We enjoyed a neighborhood stroll with Memere and Grammy.

• Kensington had a play date with sweet Kaelyn in Hingham. 

 

• This little girl was sickie and enjoyed a Mommy/ Daughter day at the outlets.

  

• In the world of third grade we began our balloon surprise countdown to summer. Oh boy, did we have some fun!

•  Never a dull moment during mornings with Momma...

•  Playtime with our little family.

• Enjoyed Kelsey's "I Do" BBQ and baked for the occasion. 

And that's only a wrap-up of the end of May!
 

Teacher blogger mommas, how do you do it all--they're all 25 hour/day jobs--teaching, blogging, babies! Any advice is welcome!!

Two new year's summer resolutions are to blog more consistently and make more time for me and Mr. Lovie. The school year is too often consumed by planning, grading, creating, laminating, and prepping, that I want to take full advantage of these summer months for family and Mr. Lovie. I couldn't do this ride without him.

Monday Made It: Record Bowls and a Record "Guestbook"--Cheap AND Easy!

I'm squeezing in a few blogging minutes (before tackling lamination and bedtime) to link up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics again for  

Monday Made It. 

 

While they're not classroom-related, I'm sure you could easily incorporate them into your classroom--though the kids may not have the slightest clue what they are! 

These were made for a 50s themed bridal shower yesterday. (The bride LOVES Elvis, and we carried the theme throughout!)

The record bowl idea was a Pinterest find, and my sister Leah made them last year for a craft fair at my school and they came out beautifully! Click on the first photograph to go to the original source-- Stars for Streetlights.

I inquired about records or LPs through Freecycle a few weeks back, and one woman did offer a few. It wasn't until I picked them up that I realized that they were small--maybe 6 inches across. My father generously gifted me 20 or so records that he and my mom could part with/probably didn't know they still owned. These measured about 12 inches across and they were a good size. (Do larger records exist? I'd be interested to try with larger ones...)

The directions are super simple. 

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Once it is heated, place a record on an oven-safe dish. 

(My Corningware worked perfectly.)

 3. Keep it in long enough to warp...only a few minutes. If you notice the record begin to warp and take the shape of the rounded rim of the dish, it's been in too long.

4. After you take it out, carefully transfer the warm record to a bowl with the desired shape. I used a round metal bowl and the shape and depth worked beautifully. Gently press the center of the record down into the bowl. (I pressed it down gradually, allowing it to take shape with every press.) Once the record is completely in the bowl, leave it there for a few minutes to harden.

5. Voila! They really are that easy!

 We filled the record bowls with a few of the bride's favorite things, and they served as prizes for gift bingo, a "How Well Do You Know the Bride?" quiz, 

and an Elvis song title quiz--duh! :)

The record "guestbook" was even simpler. I covered the actual record label with a graphic that matched the shower invitation, matted it with scrapbooking paper from Michaels, and after the bridal party and bride's mom signed the record, I framed it! The frame came in a 3 pack and is meant for records and measured 12 1/2 inches square I believe. The 3 pack only cost $9.99, and of course I had a 40% off coupon to offset the expense. :)

 

 Metallic silver Sharpies worked well.

And that's my Monday Made It! 

My Monday Made It! bucket list includes...

 

 (Click on the photos for links to the original creators!)

But with August only days away...we'll see!

 

Five on Friday

Two posts in one week!? Alert the presses! This is unheard of.

I'm doing a little experimenting as I dust off and freshen up this blog. I'm linking up with Five on Friday courtesy of Darci at The Good Life and after getting hooked after spotting Mel's at Larson Lingo--by far my favorite non-teaching blog.

 

Here are my five things.

 one.

One of my sweet friends is getting married in September and Sunday was her love bird-themed shower.

two. 

I visited my classroom Wednesday to introduce them to the baby Kensington and give them end-of-the-year memory photobooks I made using pictures I had taken throughout the year for our class Twitter account.

    

 three.

In true fashion, I baked a beachy batch for the teachers' end-of-year luncheon. I think we're ALL ready for summer.

 

four.

Thursday and today I spent quite a few hours cleaning, organizing, and packing up the classroom. Shelves, sills, and walls are bare, ready for a new group and a fresh start!

five.

 I spied many a smile this week from baby Kensington. Smiling is believed to be universal at 6 weeks, and what do you know? At six weeks, she was all smiles!

Next up, a third grade update--from April! Oy!

 Happy Weekend!

April Showers Bring May Babies

April kicked off with dinner at Wahlburgers and a $5 movie (Silver Linings Playbook) with two of my favorite people. The food, company, and movie were wonderful.

It was then that the extreme swelling of my feet and ankles began. Flip flops were all that fit and any other shoe either couldn't be laced or looked as though I were baking bread. Uuughh.

The first weekend in April marked my college roommate Leslie's bridal shower/bachelorette weekend. I drove to Connecticut to meet up with Katie, another bridesmaid, who was about 4 months pregnant. We road tripped down to Secacus, New Jersey to pick up yet another college roommate and bridesmaid Lora. Final stop: West Chester, Pennsylvania! Saturday was a Parisian-themed shower and a wonderful reunion with all of my senior year college roommates.

 

That night we enjoyed the bachelorette party at a wine bar. 

 

Back at her house, we had arranged a lingerie party. We had each picked out panties for the bride and she was challenged to guess who had picked them out for her. (It was during this party that Baby Mack hiccuped for the first time!)

 The next morning after breakfast and loading up the cars, it was back up north we drove!

That Thursday was a teacher friend's surprise bridal shower at school. It's hard to keep a surprise from someone you see and talk to every day. For the most part it remained a surprise. Her "guestbook" was in the form of thumbprint art courtesy of the Etsy shop InvitingMoments.

The next Saturday night led me to Newport (one of my favorite spots in the world) to celebrate another teacher friend's bachelorette party. I joined them for dinner downtown, and it was well worth the drive.

 

The next day was our Second Annual Favorite Things party. For details on hosting your own check out A Place for Us and A Bushel and a Peck. It's simple. Bring in five of your favorite items (lip gloss, beverage, fragrance, book, candle...). They could be five identical items or five different things. At the party you choose the names of five of the party's guests and you present them with your favorite things. It's amazing the variety and creativity of the guests and the gifts!

These perfect tags I purchased from Tags Ink on Etsy.

 a banner from Sweet Rose Studio decorated the mantle

my mother-in-law's favorite things

 

My favorite things were decorative plates and coordinating oven mitts from Food Network for my love of entertaining and cooking. 

As guests arrived they were invited to drop their name in the Swag Bag jar for a chance to win...the Swag Bag!

contents of the Swag Bag

the favorite things I walked away with

The following day started out like any other. I was on school vacation and packed up the car with goodies for spectating the Boston Marathon--bump and all. It had become a tradition of mine to cheer on runners with friends and family and enjoy the time-honored tradition unique to Boston. Fortunately, friends and I were miles from the finish line when the bombings went off, but its proximity and the tragic nature of the events left many of us numb. And still does. It leaves me to wonder what next year's marathon will be like, for runners, spectators, the BAA, and our city. We are Boston Strong, but for the families that have suffered, even that seems hardly enough.

 

group shot of the girls and me before our memory of the 

Boston Marathon changed forever 

On a happier note, the rest of school vacation was spent lunch with a sweet friend and bride-to-be and double-dating with another favorite bride-to-be and her fiance. Wednesday night, several teacher friends and girlfriends got together for a girls' night out at The Paint Bar.

Memorial Park teacher friends and I

Can you tell I'm hard at work? 

The baby bump doubled as a very convenient shelf for my canvas.

group shot of our finished products

Voila! 

The Washington Monument and surrounding cherry blossoms close up.

The last week of April was shower-filled. Saturday was Sarah's surprise bridal shower. (She had no idea! How did I know for sure? She asked to stop at a yard sale en route to the shower! :) ) Leah did a most fabulous job organizing and hosting the shower. It was a country rustic theme through and through.

 

centerpieces

the bridal party

Later that week was my surprise shower at work. The love, support, and excitement felt from my school family has been overwhelming. 

A very talented second grade teacher made her famous delectable cupcakes. 

The last weekend in April marked a good friend's baby shower. The purple/ butterfly-themed brunch shower was in Cranston, Rhode Island, and I was pleased to have been able to attend, swollen feet and all.

 baby shower favors with lip balm inside

The following day my talented sister, Leah, was sweet enough to do a maternity shoot for my husband and me. 

What a bump!

And that concludes April! Phew! 

Third grade updates will come next!