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!

March on By...

I figure it's only fitting to recap the past few (quite eventful) months before jumping into our current state of affairs.

March began with happy hour froyo at Pinkberry with a teacher friend and a Celtics game with the hubs and parents.

The next day we learned breathing techniques and the stages of labor during childbirth class. The most valuable piece of information learned was that while a birth plan is wise to have, be ready for anything--something that rang especially true when welcoming Baby Mack.

Leah and I also explored Ames Nowell Park for a walk and picnic with the puppies that weekend.

Dr. Seuss's birthday and National Read Aloud Day brought a sweet reason to bake. I was also in charge or decorating reading salons throughout the school. Classes were assigned times through out the day to read aloud to their peers. What fun!

I was fortunate enough to have two baking gigs in March-- a teddy-bear themed baby shower and a St. Patrick's Day themed 40th birthday.

 

I also took full advantage of a snow day to whip up yet another batch...

 

A few teacher friends and I participated in Marshfield's St. Patrick's Day race. This girl walked and only sprinted across the finish line.

I was awfully proud of these Mardi Gras cupcakes I was asked to bake with only a few days notice.

March also brought my most fabulous "Milk and Bookies" baby shower. From decor to food to guests and favors--it was amazing. My husband and I felt an overwhelming amount of love in the form of sweet cards, wishes, onesies, strollers, blankets, and handmade goodies. Baby Mack's bookcase is fully stocked with so many classics and some titles I have never heard of! (That's saying a lot from a teacher!)

 

The following day was the first of six bridal showers this spring/summer. This shower was for a sweet friend I taught with last year and who I have been fortunate enough to stay in touch with. The shower was nautical themed and perfectly set in Marina Bay. So pretty.

March brought the beginning of standardized testing in the classroom. To get the kids excited and ease any anxiety and nervousness, (this was their first experience with MCAS), I created a balloon countdown. (A special shout-out goes to the hubs for blowing them up!)

 

Boy were they excited to pop each balloon and hear the day's special activity! We had a Beach Day, a dance party, lunch in the classroom...They LOVED it!

 

Beach Day: 

Reading and working in our every day beach chairs. Notice the added towels and shades!

To review important reading and ELA topics and phrases, students chose a term from a list to write on their raindrop. On the umbrella, they defined it, gave an example, and decorated it for our "Cloudy with a Chance of MCAS" hallway display.

The day before the test, the kiddos signed these letters to give to parents to remind them that the following day was a testing day. These letters and the "Smart Cookie" tags I used for treats the next morning are from the amazing Teacher Wife. Love her!

I offered an after-school MCAS cram session the day before testing and I focused on contractions (something we hadn't yet covered in Grammar.) We transformed into "surgeons" for this Contraction Surgery activity courtesy of First Grade Fever. The kids had a blast creating contractions using band-aids.

How excited was I to learn that contractions appeared on the test! Yay!

Here was a testing goody for the other day of testing. This testing tag (and a million other amazing printables) are at Technology Rocks Seriously!

In the spirit of Easter, we were "egged" as part of a Fraction Match Egg Hunt. After finding an egg hidden somewhere in the room, students had to find a peer that had their fraction's match. (One fraction was written numerically while the other was represented pictorially.) This idea can be used to with multiplication facts and products, common nouns and proper nouns, geometric terms and examples...the options are endless!

 

March wrapped up perfectly with a babymoon to Newport. (It was then that I understood why expectant moms enjoy babymoons earlier in their pregnancies. I. was. big.) While Dad-to-be snoozed, I snuck out of the hotel room to snag us breakfast. Talk about a view.

We ventured downtown for a walk and lunch. Newport will never get old.

A holiday wouldn't be the same without a little baking. I baked Easter egg cupcakes for the teachers and staff at work.  

Pinterest and a few of my favorite blogs (one being Eighteen25) inspired these Easter treats for the teachers too!

And after three days and numerous naptimes spent completing this post...


The end.

Dusting Off the Blog

How do I dust off this blog and start anew after a busy four and half months have passed?

The thought of that alone is daunting.

But I am up for the challenge. Soon. 

Tonight I am enjoying my first Mother's Day with our sweet baby, Kensington Elena who joined us Sunday, May 5, 2013 at 11:47 am after a whirlwind 15 hours of discomfort, surprise, and life-changing bliss.



I am a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a wife. I'm a niece, cousin, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. I'm a student, and a teacher, a colleague, crafter, and baker. But until the end of time I will forever be Kensington's mom, and that is the most esteemed and humbling title I will ever have.

 

Blogs, Books, and Baby

How do fabulous teacher bloggers stay up-to-date reading teacher blogs, create such fabulous lessons and units, and blog so regularly?


I recently started a new technology course, have been working tirelessly with our state's DESE in my application for my professional license (I've met all the requirements, but they want specific paperwork that has been a guessing game until this week.), co-presenting at our district's School Committee meeting for Curriculum Corner next week (on using Twitter in the classroom), and have been spending uber amounts of time in the classroom organizing files and rearranging centers and supplies to make room for our three new classroom computers (!), work on a ReadBox display for our school's library (Pinterest-inspired and shown below) and working on printing, cutting, matting, laminating, and re-cutting stacks of centers and activities from some of my favorite bloggers-- including Pitner's Potpourri, Classroom Game Nook, and the Polka-Dotted Teacher...

and get ready for baby!!

Our third grade is celebrating Pajama Day tomorrow with a jam-packed day of read alouds and literacy fun! My cupcake pajamas are ironed and ready!

I've got a few new spelling and science activities in the works for TPT...

But for now, it's time to get ready for a bridesmaid's weekend in DC that kicks off tomorrow night! 

A long-awaited post with BIG NEWS

I'm embarrassed that it's been this long since a post. But it's worth it. I promise.

Between launching Reader's Workshop, launching Writer's Workshop, understanding the new Common Core standards, meeting the requirements for the new teacher evaluation system, presenting Web 2.0 tools to a packed crowd at the Massachusetts Computer Using Educators conference at Gillette in October, staying on top of my growing Google Reader count, and incorporating many new TPT activities and goodies into my class, life in Room 16 has been NON-STOP.

Not to mention, we're having a baby! :)

Amid the baby excitement, there has been much to celebrate.

 Last weekend included a delicious dinner at Hooters with the hubs, Sarah, Dan, and some best girl friends, a day in the city with my mother-in-law to celebrate her November birthday with handbag-designing, lunch and cupcakes on Newbury Street, some quality time with Leah (and a sleepover), a birthday brunch with favorites at Cheesecake Factory, and a family birthday celebration with homemade cake and ice cream. Yum!

No rest for the weary-- family dinner last night, a birthday dinner for a friend at Lolita's (tapas, pop-rocks covered cotton candy...) tonight, the Jingle Bell 5K tomorrow morning, a girl friend's ornament/beer Yankee Swap party tomorrow!

Excited for this week in third grade. I've got Holidays Around the World and some creative ways to meet the standards all while promoting the holiday spirit! (Composing tweets from Santa Claus and Dan the Dreidel's point of view? You bet!) 

4 days until our school's holiday party...
5 days until we see our sweet babe again in an ultrasound...
6 days until our family holiday extravaganza...
and 6 days until school vacation and time for wrapping, gifting, and a whole lot of nesting!

Time to hit the gym-- we've got 6 weddings and I have a whole lot of dresses to fit into in 2013!

We're Back to School and Busy is an Understatement!

It sure is easier to create/ post/ sell/ blog in the summer months.

School (and a whole lot of changes) make for a busy September!

We're launching Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop and teaching ourselves along the way.

We're teaching an updated Common Core version of enVision math--less a textbook. [Another challenge...] But we're keeping our heads above water and doing our best!

I hope to create more TPT and Teacher's Notebook items aligned to the Common Core in the coming weeks. I admire my fellow teacher bloggers who maintain, manage, and update their blogs and stores daily! Pipe dreams! :)

Beyond the walls of Room 16 I've...

+ climbed stadium stairs with the November project [a free fitness program in Boston]

+ attended a friend's wedding in Rhode Island Labor Day weekend

+ explored Wompatuck State Park in Hingham on bikes

+ registered for a 10K in October, a 5K on Thanksgiving, and a 5K in December 

+ admired the handiwork of the hubs and dad as they transformed our bathroom from this...

to this...

+ went apple picking in Stow

+ biked 44 miles in Northhampton with the hubs, a few good friends, and my younger sister 

A birthday cake is in the oven, and it's time to prep dinner...

Be back soon!

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!