Winter Happenings

We're going on a 5 day weekend here in Maryland and instead of working on report cards from home, I decided to updated the blog on things that have been happening at school and in life.  We had MLK day off, a PD day and now 2 snow days.  Where to begin...

In school, my second year of teaching is in full swing.  I have a wonderful group of firsties who just LOVE to chat.  They are good kids though and I strive to make learning fun for them.  They are really into "brain breaks" and I often use them as class rewards to get their wiggles out.  I created a pin board on Pinterest with lots of fun dances and songs they love.  I will admit, even I need a brain break to get through the day.  Click here to go to my pin board for fun brain breaks.

I am also excited because my very first Donors Choose project got funded right around the holidays.  I really wanted more leveled guided reading books for the students.  It really amazes me how generous people can be.  Especially random people you may not even know and are willing to donate to support education.  I do not know how to thank them enough.   After we send our thank you packages out, I plan to organize another classroom project.  You can view my Donors Choose page HERE.

Our brand new books we received through Donors Choose.

Last, I am a huge Pinterest fan.  I have found soooo many ideas for my classroom and teaching.  I am so grateful to those teachers who create these ideas.  One project I did with my students this winter that I saw floating around Pinterest was the writing prompt "If I were trapped in a snow globe..." .  My students love it!  Here is a pic of me trapped in my  snow globe...

At home my husband and I are finally in our new townhouse and loving it!  We, or should I say my husband, did a lot of work to fix it up to where it is today.  One of my favorite projects we worked on, was again, influenced by a find on Pinterest.  I wanted a bench that we could also use as storage below and found this idea.  We got a bookshelf from Ikea and got to work.

Another project we worked on was fixing up the small pantry in our kitchen.  Half of it has the stacking washer and dryer and the other half is for storage.  After we got a new washer and dryer, we had to get creative with the doors since louver doors were unable to work with the way our washer opened.  Here are some before pics:

 So we decided to do one sliding door to keep the washer and dryer enclosed and have the pantry exposed. After my husband removed the old shelving from 1980 something he painted it a light shade of mint I picked out (gotta love him for letting me choose the color and him doing the work).  We were originally going to put new, nicer looking shelves and call it a day, but as a homeowner you should be aware that things are not easy.  The walls were not even for simple shelves and was becoming a pain to work with.  We thought about finding some shelving unit instead.  Who knew if we would be able to find something that would even fit.   Back to Ikea we went and we actually found something that fit!  I wish I had video of us installing this thing in that small space.  But here is our final result:

I LOVE it!  It holds my baking things, a wine rack and our glasses, and we even made a spot for Rocco's water and food bowl.  I can't wait to work on our bigger pantry area, but that will have to wait.

Last, as you may or may not know, I do love to bake.  I used to be an avid cake maker.  I still like it, but prefer to do it on special occasions for family and friends.  Here is a cake I worked on this past weekend for my good friends Svet and Eran.  It was their son's 1st birthday.

Caking is my artistic/creative outlet.  It is A LOT of hard work and dry hands, but worth it in the end.  Hope ya had a great 1st birthday Gefen!

And I guess that sums is up for now.  I just found out we have a two hour delay tomorrow and gotta get back in school mode.  Yay for a two day work week!  Haha...  ~Cara Lee

Classroom Reveal (I survived week 1!)

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged.  I don't know how these teacher bloggers are able to keep up!  Hence why they are my inspiration ;-)  Well the first week of school with the kiddos was a success and I think my body is finally adjusting back to school hours.  But I am so happy it's a 3 day weekend, I need it!  Now that I have had some R&R today, I have been so excited to reveal my new classroom for this year!  I have a much bigger room which is pretty awesome... but it is in a pod, which I am still getting used to (you know the whole open classroom thing).  Well lets take a tour of my new classroom digs!

Here is my lovely classroom when I walked in Monday during teacher week. #notimpressed

Took me the entire teacher week to complete, but I did it!  Welcome to my classroom.  I love this bistro board I purchased last year.  It has a whiteboard on the other side.  I am using it at the entrance of my room since I do not have a door this year. 

Sink area with supplies, student work display, and mini book nook area.

Following all these teacher blogs has given me "label OCD".  I will put a pretty label on anything if I can.  I used 3 small Sterelite drawers for my crayon organization.  I found the labels HERE.  I love keeping the crayon colors organized - no more complaining they cannot find a darn color.

Making our way around the room, is my desk area.  I have since added my student's Bucket Filler pockets to the front of my desk which I'll blog about later.  Eventually the carpet area will be for "listen to reading" when we start the D5.  I also updated my desk caddy from last year by spray painting it turquoise.

The board area took me awhile to decide how I wanted to set up.  I decided to put the word wall below it for easier student access.  The animal print letters I found HERE.  My calendar kinda annoys me because it does not match my colors this year, but I will manage.  My white board area in the middle there is an adhesive white board I purchased from Whiteyboard.  I LOVE it.  So happy I purchased the Groupon this summer - totally worth it.

My math wall area with a math word wall below.  I found the math focus wall HERE.  I used it last year and it was great to review concepts with my firsties all year long.  Oh and there is my whiteboard easel I made over this summer :)  Love it!  The wall behind my rocking chair is blank for now as I will be making a ton of anchor charts throughout the year to display there.

Teacher time area.  I really wish I had a kidney table but I will make due with this.  Last year I had to teach on the carpet for my small groups so I am pumped to have a table this year!  I will have to make more crates for my students to sit on though.  Oh yea, there is another WhiteyBoard on the wall there too :)

My language arts wall with reading strategies from A Cupcake for Teacher and Growing Firsties.

Classroom library area.  I spent a whole morning organizing my books into categories.  Then another day assembling 4 black shelves.  You would think a school would provide bookshelves somewhere in the classroom - nope!  The shelf in the middle has the book bins I purchased for my students from Big Lots.  They will get their assigned bin when we start D5.

D5 area is still a work in progress, but I set up the basic pocket charts that the students will use to choose their D5 activities each morning.  The writing wall is also from A Cupcake for Teacher (LOVE her stuff!).

View from my desk area.

And there you have it folks!  My room for this year.  Now I am enjoying the 3 day weekend.  I feel so accomplished today already:

Not only did I catch up on my blog but, I ran a over 3 miles this morning, went to the gym, made a healthy brunch, and relaxed at the in-law's pool for a little while.  Ahhhh.... now to figure out what to do with the husband this evening.  We are just hanging around for the holiday weekend.  Until next time ~Cara Lee

Last Days of Summer & a Recipe

I have been a little MIA the past few days trying to enjoy my last days of summer before teachers report back to school on Monday.  After a few last minute doctors appointments early this week (you know us teachers try to fit all that stuff over the summer) I enjoyed a beautiful morning yesterday picking berries at a local farm with my friend Nicole, as well as her little cutie ;-) 

 Afterwards we hit up their little farmers market.  Gotta love fresh and local produce!  In my last blog post I was determined to get some food up on this blog!  I love to cook, especially bake, and I have not really done much this summer.  So I whipped up a few things with my purchases.  First I made zucchini bread with my local zucchini's I bought.  I did not have a recipe so I googled around and found this one from All Recipes.  I'm always modifying recipes to try and make them a little "healthier" or kick them up a notch so I substituted and added a few things.  After a few mis-haps trying to make this bread (ie: forgetting to put the sugar and forgetting to turn the oven on, oh AND me over filling the loaf pans) it came great!!  Below is my version of the recipe...

Chocolate Chip Pecan Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup plus 2 tbls plain Greek yogurt 2 1/4 cups white sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups grated zucchini (1 medium zucchini should be enough) 3/4 cup chopped pecans 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans.  Line bottom with parchment paper if available. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).   Sift flours, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Beat eggs, oil,yogurt, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.  Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

This is definitely one of my new go to recipes!  My husband and I (well, mostly me) have been eating the one loaf at home and I cut up the rest to give to friends.  I love packaging baked goods and had extra pink baker's twine, so after I cut the bread I wrapped up each slice individually and tied it off with a cute bow.  Not pictured or in this recipe I posted, I made cream cheese frosting to put on top as well.  Yum-O!!  I plan to make more and freeze in slices for the school year if I need a quick breakfast.

In addition to the bread, I made a raspberry and blackberry jam with the berries I picked.  I still have a lot left over and not sure if I should freeze them or make something else with them since my husband doesn't really care for them :-/

Later that evening we headed to the county fair.  We only ever go every other year or so.  It's kinda of the same thing each year.  Sometimes I enter my baked goods, but did not this year.  My husband loves the water gun game.  Too bad he lost lol. Oh, and the fair makes for GREAT people watching too ;-)

So now I only have 3 more days of summer left!  I've packed the weekend with stuff to do and catch up with friends.  Although I am sad the summer is coming to a close, I am ready to get into my new classroom to decorate with all the fun stuff I've bought and made this summer, and of course meet my new firsties!  ~Cara Lee

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I've been slackin' on the blog this week...oops!  But I've kept busy with some projects for my classroom as well as prepping materials and researching more Daily 5 stuff.  Can't believe I go back to school in 2 weeks and I'm trying to make the most of the time I have left.  This includes, officially changing my last name and house hunting!  I don't want to get my hopes up yet... but I think my husband and I found a house we love!  If we end up with this one or another one in the future, I can't wait to update the blog with all the fun house projects!!  Watch out Pinterest! haha...

Well since I do not have a house, I use my classroom for fun decor projects.  Recently I found some more cute and affordable things for my classroom which will match my theme of black, lime green, turquoise, and pink.  I also have hints of animal print.  I already know people are going to think "Jersey Shore" ugh...

Found a book shelf and lots of storage bins!

The bins and baskets were from Big Lots.  The bookshelf is from a thirft store as well as the pink stackable storage baskets.  I got the 3 pink baskets for $5!  They retail at the container store for $7 a piece.  I also stopped by the Dollar Tree and saw this:

This made me LOL... koozies in the teacher section of Dollar Tree.

So, this weekend I painted the hideous looking bookshelf I got at the thrift store. I wish I could go to my classroom and pick up my other shelves to paint but our school is under construction.  We can't go in until the day teachers officially go back which is the 19th. Boo.

Just painting them all black so my brightly colored storage bins will really "pop" off the shelves.  This shelf I plan to use for my students' read to self book bins for D5.  Don't they look so cute on the new black shelf?

In other non-related teacher news, I made a really cute mini diaper cake for my friend's baby shower.  I was giving a gift card and wanted something to accompany it. I love making diaper cakes.  I like to keep them sweet and simple.  My friend's husband loves golf, so I decided to go with a golf theme for their future son :)  Once again, inspired by Pinterest.

I love this style rather than rolling up each individual diaper.  It also makes use of the cake pans I have not been using lately.  Which reminds me... my blog is supposed to be "everything from the classroom to cupcakes" and I have not posted any cupcake/cake creations or recipes.  So that is my goal this week.  Get some food on this blog!  Until next time ~Cara Lee

Honeymoon Re-Cap

Arrived back on the mainland from our honeymoon late Thursday night and have been busy catching up with friends and family this past weekend.  My husband and I had had such a great time relaxing in the Virgin Islands for our honeymoon.  When we were deciding where to go for our honeymoon we were torn.  We love to travel (we have traveled all around Asia in the past and a little bit of Europe) and I have been yearning to go to another country.  We were set on Europe, but monetarily it just was not in the budget this year after paying for most of our wedding.  Hawaii maybe?  But again, it was adding up to be super expensive and just as much as Europe.  Both places we would be zipping around wanting to see everything.  So we decided to go somewhere we knew we could relax and have a good time.  We have been going to the Virgin Islands just about every few years or so and we love it.  We have been to many places there so we wouldn't feel like we would have to rush around here and there.  They also have snorkeling right from the beaches.  It also fit in our budget!  We stayed half the trip in St. John (I posted a little about it in my previous post) and the last half in St. Thomas.   Here is a little picture re-cap from our honeymoon :)

We stayed at a little B&B called "Two Sandals by the Sea Inn"  while on St.Thomas.  The owner, Helen, made delicious baked goods each morning served with fresh yogurt and a hard boiled egg.  Fresh coffee and juices as well :)

Entrance to our B&B.  We love the rustic feel!

Hanging at the beach for the day.  Playing with my iPhone camera apps hehe.

More fun with my iPhone camera on the beach.

We took a boat charter tour to the BVI one day.  It was one of my favorite days while in the islands!  We visited the "Baths" in Virgin Gorda, Marina Cay for lunch, Diamond Reef for snorkeling, and Jost Van Dyke for fun and relaxation.  If you're ever in the Virgin Islands, I recommend this tour for sure!

In the end we had a great time!  Made new friends while we were there and came back with a nice tan :)  I also made a really cute and easy memory jar to remember our honeymoon.

While in the islands I saved some sand and shells to bring home.  I put them in an antique blue mason jar we had used at our wedding.  Then I put a picture from our honeymoon inside.  It's so cute and rustic.  The pic is our feet on a hammock while we were in St. John.  What I love is you can change out the pic whenever you want too.

So now I have been home for a few days and was able to use the time to catch up with friends and family.   I also realized over the weekend that I have only 3 more weeks before schools starts!!  Crazy how fast this summer goes.  Headed to the beach for a few days tomorrow, but will share some more school stuff I've been getting into later this week on the blog.  ~Cara Lee

Quick Hello and a Cool Product

Hello from the U.S. Virgin Islands! Still on my honeymoon for a few more days but, before you call me crazy for blogging, I finally have a good wi-fi connection and its rainy here today. So, I decided to check in and give a little update.

We started our honeymoon in St.John. Did some snorkeling and hung out on the  local beaches. One beach we visited was Maho Bay. Just a few yards in the water we were able to see sea turtles, sting rays, nurse sharks, and a barracuda!

Another day in St.John we visited Salt Pond bay. It had stormed the previous day so snorkeling was not great the day we went, but we hiked about a quarter mile to Drunk Bay. It's a beach covered with rocks and washed up coral. People make sculptures out of the coral and rock that is around.

Now we are in St.Thomas and I'llblog about the rest of our honeymoon when we get back :)

But before I go, I wanted to see if anyone has used this product before:

Apparently you can safely adhere a whiteboard surface to the wall and they have a variety of sizes. 

I found out about this product because LivingSocial has a deal right now. So I decided to buy it because I have a large chalkboard in my room. How cool would it be to turn part of it into a white board?! I'll definitely post a little review when I receive it and put it up in my classroom. If you think you may be interested check out the deal HERE.

Ok well I must go back to honeymooning. Enjoying our last few days here, trying to make the best out of a rainy day on an island. Maybe we will go to happy hour ;) Until Next time ~Cara Lee

Ps: I am using the blogger app on my phone to write this post so I apologize if my posts look funny. Also, I can't seem to comment or reply to posts from my phone so I'll have to do it when I get home.

Monday Made It

Been so excited to post about my Ikea whiteboard easel makeover.  Last week I found  it at a thrift store for only $6!!  Plus I got 20% off I just remembered :)

It retails for $15 brand new (hey every buck counts right?!).   It had quite a bit of marker stains on the wood making it not so pretty. The white board was fine with some small scratches you could hardly see. On the back is a chalkboard as well which I won't really use.  I couldn't wait to get home and fix it up.  Here is my basic tutorial...

That's my husband in pic #3 fixing up my tape job... He's a perfectionist!

 

I love this color I found at Home Depot.  Matches my new classroom accent colors :)

Isn't it soooo cute?! This would be a cute idea not only in the classroom, but for families with kids. I could totally imagine this whiteboard in their room or playroom to match the decor and use as a creative outlet.  I personally cannot wait to put it right next to my rocking chair in my classroom.

Linking up with 4th Grade Frolics 'Monday Made It'.  Hope everyone has a wonderful week... In less than 24 hrs I will be headed to the airport with my husband and we finally will be going on our honeymoon.  Won't be posting much this week but will be checking in :) Happy Monday!! ~Cara Lee

Weekend Re-cap

Here is a little peek into the highlights of my weekend.  It's been pretty busy and I've had a lot to get done before we head off to our belated honeymoon on Tuesday.  I managed to fit in some fun things though :)

Friday - celebrated our 11th anniversary of being together by going to sushi happy hour, then going to the Oriole's game and grabbing a crab mac 'n cheese dog.  As you get to know me... my husband (weird to say since we have only been officially married for less than 2 months) and I are foodies :)

Saturday - Celebrated my friend Nicole's birthday with her and her fam.  It was so nice of them to include us.  They said not to bring anything... but as you get to know me, I do LOVE to bake.  So I made a simple cookie cake.  Move over Mrs. Fields!!

Sunday - My husband and I ran a near by trail and we ran a new record for us!  I'm not a natural runner but have always been athletic.  I'm excited for my first color run in September for my birthday weekend!! 

Well that was pretty much my weekend.  I really do love summer!!  Can't wait to post my "Monday Made It" project tomorrow :)  ~Cara Lee

PS: I have to brag a little... I just created my own buttons (see left hand side) and linked them!!  WooHoo... it's the little things that make me happy ;-)  Please feel free to follow me on: BlogLovin, TpT, and Pinterest.