Summer Fun and a Blog Hop

What a summer it's been! Here's a mere snippet of the fun we've had the past few weeks:

• baking for a teacher friend's boyfriend's birthday

• a visit from a teacher mentor I worked and learned from in college

 

•  my second Finish at the 50 race on July 3rd

 

 

• a rainy day July 4th play date

 

 

• a stroll along the Cape Cod Canal and a pool date

 

 

   

• numerous ice cream dates (which will continue Mr. Lovie!!) 

 

• kiddie pool fun at Memere and Grammy's

• a run-in with this cutie pie while leading the camp's Trailblazers group at the pond

 

• more cupcake baking for our school's art teacher

• a Trailblazing trip to the zoo

 

 

• a teacher-friend's fabulous wedding, lawn games, and cupcakes courtesy of Sweet Mack Bakery--that's me!

• Cupcake Club at summer camp

 

As you can see we have had one heck of a summer and it's not over yet!

But, I love back-to-school and I can't wait to tackle my ever-growing list of back-to-school tasks, set up my room, meet my newest kiddos....I just love it!

While I may not be doing much creating on the teacher front, (okay, none) I am happy and eager to share fabulous finds!

I recently finished prepping a few activities...

...like Hope King's place value Base Tents activity which she has as a Facebook fan freebie here.

3rd Grade Gridiron's Economics Vocabulary Mix Up (click on the picture to snag)

 
Baseball Multiplication freebie from Third Grade Doodles (click the picture to snag)

My future is so bright... QR Code and Regular Writing Prompts and Activity (click the picture to snag)

And just this morning I came across this SoCal blog hop....(click the image to surf away!)

  
and started following a few fabulous West Coast teacher bloggers like....

Teaching... The Art of Possibility

Sailing into Second Grade

A Grace-Filled Classroom

A Kindergarten Life for Me

A Teachable Teacher

 

Miss Kindergarten

Ramona Recommends

Fancy Free in 4th

 

...just to name a few!

Not to mention I spent an excessive amount of time gawking at Kristen's colorful organization tonight over at Ladybug Teacher Files and fell in love all over again with her fabulousness.

PTL for Teacher Pay Teachers' back to school sale this week!

It's August!?

We've been so busy crossing off items on our summer bucket list, it's left little time to blog! [ I hope to get better!]

July/August summer highlights

+ finally enjoyed our May date (better late than never right?) at MetroRock for a 2 hour ropes challenge course

+ celebrated Leah's birthday at KO Pies

+ attended a send-off barbeque in Northborough

 + saw trailer races and monster trucks at the Seekonk Motor Speedway

 + tried some new cupcakes ideas in Cupcake Club at camp

 

+ celebrated our second wedding anniversary with a Pinterest-inspired picture-in-a-picture-in-a-picture  (Isn't he a hunk!?)

 + took advantage of Massachusetts's tax-free weekend and bought bikes! We LOVE them.

+ celebrated the engagement of one of our favorite couples

 + officially opened my TeachersPayTeachers store for business--four purchases! Hey, you have to start somewhere right?

With only five days left of summer camp I am eager to finally enjoy vacation (a mini getaway perhaps???) and pump out more teacher goodies using the $25 I won in the Teachers Notebook sweepstakes!

Check out my newest product-- Currency in the Classroom--Bakery Bucks ($1, $5, $10, and $20 denominations) to use as a class incentive program. In my class of third graders, students earn money for homework completed on time, when they are "caught being kind," as secret walkers in the hallway (I secretly choose two students before we leave to go to the cafeteria, computer lab etc.. If they remain quiet and respectful in line while we walk to our destination, their names are revealed upon reaching our destination. If they were disruptive, their name is never revealed.) Classroom currency also serves as a great incentive for times you may be out of the room and a substitute is present. Pencil cases found at the dollar store serve as individual banks. At the end of the month, students have the opportunity to spend their earnings at a class auction where they may bid on items such as school supplies, homework passes, a day at the teacher's desk passes, etc. Click on the first picture to purchase! Interested in a different theme? Let me know, and I would love to customize a set for you!

The Freebies Keep Coming!

I'm pleased with the response I've had at my new TeachersPayTeachers shop.

As things start to die down later this month, I hope to explore more fonts and clip art to jazz up a few activities I have created.

For now, check out 8 days worth of freebies at my shop. 

We ran our first 10k Tuesday night and while it was a scorcher and awfully tough running after work, the fact that we got to finish at the 50 yard line of Gillette Stadium was pretty neat.

We spent the fourth on a Boston Harbor Cruise checking out the Tall Ships and bbqing. Thursday, as part of CWW's Cupcake Club, we made Cookie Monster cupcakes--one of my all-time favorites now. That night I met a great friend from BC in Plymouth for dinner and we had great dinner and great conversation catching up.  

Friday night I baked for a friend's luau-themed housewarming party.

Saturday we hosted a post-July 4th bbq. The pups had a ball--all five of them! 

Today we ran a few errands in the morning and Leah and I ventured to Houghton's Pond in the afternoon. Sun and sand...What a weekend! :)

Week 3 of camp starts tomorrow and with it comes a week consisting of a beach walk/puppy date, $5 movie with some teacher friends, girls dinner, qt with the hubs, dinner/drinks downtown, and the Food Truck Festival on Saturday. Yayy!