Currently October!

It's October!  Wow!  I am linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for the Currently October linky.

Currently...September

It's that time again...

It's hard to believe we've already been in school a month, and that September is already here!

Listening... My little man's favorite thing to do lately is play the drums (with wooden spoons, of course) and sing his favorite worship song. Even though I've heard it a zillion times now, I love it! I love that he's so musical and that he chooses to sing worship music.

Loving... At the urging of my dear friend, Juliet, I decided to dip my toes into blog designing. I have to say, I am loving it! I've completed three blogs so far (Chalk & Apples, Tech Crazy Teacher, and The Watering Hole). I am working on two more right now, including a major facelift for the Teaching Trio! If you look for it, you can find a sneak peek of the new Teaching Trio look over at Chalk & Apples or Tech Crazy Teacher (check the sidebar!).

Thinking... I am feeling very blessed these days. Hubby had to be away for a month, and he came home Saturday! I somehow made it through the first month of school while he was away. We had our fourth anniversary last month, and I have a birthday coming up this week. Since we were apart on our anniversary, we will have a dual celebration this coming weekend. Life is good!

Wanting... Little man and I got to visit my family this summer, and I went to the fabulous TPT conference in Vegas, but Hubby wasn't able to get any time off, so we haven't had a family vacay at all this year. I'm hoping he can take some leave during our Fall Break and we can do a little family getaway!

Needing... I feel like this is always the thing I need to do on weekends. One day I will get ahead on my lesson planning... but not today!

3 Trips... I have always wanted to take a trip all over Europe. I'm gonna need to take the entire summer to do everything I want to, though! Islands - all of them. I've been to Jamaica 4 times, but there are so many other wonderful island destinations I want to try. Grand Canyon - I've never been, and I really want to. Maybe next year around the TPT conference assuming it's in Vegas again!

That's me this month... to see what everyone else is up to, check out Farley's fabulous Currently linky!

August Currently and Back to School Sale

Today I am linking up with Farley at 'Oh Boy 4th Grade for her fantastic Currently. Here is what is going on in my life...

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard that TPT's huge annual Back to School sale is coming soon!

Tons of sellers, including Kristen and I will be putting our stores on sale up to 20% off Monday and Tuesday. Plus, you can use promo code BTS14 to get an additional 10% off from TPT on all of your purchases for a total of up to 28% off!

I don't know about you, but I wait for this sale every year, and my wish list is full of great items that I can't wait to use in my classroom! Want to know who's participating in the sale? Check out the fabulous stores in the linky below! Special thanks to Katie from Teacher to the Core for putting this hop together!

Happy shopping! I'm off to fill up my cart with all those wish-listed items I've been waiting for!

July Currently

It is so hard to believe it is July already! Where has the summer gone!? Today I am linking up with Farley at 'Oh Boy 4th Grade for her fantastic Currently. Here is what is going on in my life...

Listening: Trying to keep Halen quiet while his sister is sleeping is easier said than done. We are staying at my parent's house while we are in Iowa and their house isn't very big. Elle is a very light sleeper. This combination can make nap time a little rough and hard to come by. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Loving: I am from a really small town in Iowa. One of the big events of the year is the Farmer's Merchant Picnic. It is three fun-filled days of activities, with the most exciting part being the carnival. My son is old enough now that he loves riding all of the rides...I mean all.  Thank goodness my sister-in-law likes rides that spin and can take him on those...I can't do anything that spins...even a little bit. 

Halen with his cousin Kimber on the left. 

Thinking: I hate that my husband is deployed, but I am so happy that he has a cell phone that he can use to text me. We are using the app WhatsApp and it is great! If you are going to be traveling abroad or someone you know is, this is the app that you NEED to get. It is free (for the first year and then $0.99 per year after that) and it uses your data, so it doesn't cut into your monthly text allotment. I am able to send/receive pictures and videos and it is just like texting. Even though he is thousands of miles away and deployed, I can reach him at a moments notice. It is pretty cool.

Wanting: I am patiently waiting for my Stitch Fix package to arrive. If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out the website and you can thank me later. I love, love, love it!

Needing: The end of summer is fast approaching and I need to laminate a ton of decorations for my room. 

4th Plans: I am going to go camping with my family and I am so excited about it. I typically am not a camper, but I am making an exception for this weekend. My family owns some land in the middle of nowhere (Iowa, remember?) and on the land there is an old bus that has been converted into a camper. There is a pond for fishing and tons of room for running and playing. 

Currently...June!!!

Normally, Farley's Currently sneaks up on me, but not June...I've been looking forward to June for a while!

Listening... Is there any sweeter sound than little ones singing? I could listen to that all day!

Loving... There is now only one in-service day...report cards to finish and cleaning to do...between me and sweet freedom! (for 2 months, anyway!)

Thinking... You know how we don't have favorites, right? Well, this year's class has definitely been my favorite! I'm really going to miss them, especially since I teach 5th and they are headed to middle school now.

Wanting... I'd love a pool, but I would hate the maintenance! Maybe it's the end-of-the-year-teacher-tired talking, but I would love to just lay on a float for a while :) Maybe when we win the lottery...

Needing... After 6 weeks off, I'm back in grad school starting today. I should really get started on it, but I can't motivate myself just yet.

Summer bucket list... 1 - Always wanting to visit family back home. Looks like we'll be able to head down for the Fourth this year! 2 - First trip to Vegas... Seeing a good friend for the first time in 5 years (6?)... TPT Conference...YES to all of the above! It's gonna be a great week! If you're going too, I'd love to meet up. Leave a comment or shoot me an email!

Head over to Oh Boy Fourth Grade to link up and see what everyone else is up to this month!

March Currently

I can't believe it's already March! This is our short month - three weeks of school, and then Spring Break! I'm linking up for one of my favorite linkys, Farley's Currently!

Listening... My little man surprised his daddy and I today by singing his ABC's! He's still missing a lot of letters, but he's doing pretty well considering we hardly ever sing it to him. I'm a proud mama for sure!

Loving...that I figured out how to put fan freebies on my Facebook page, AND that I had extra time to work on it tonight.

Thinking...no explanation needed here, I'm sure. Testing so early is stressful, but once it's over, I'm so happy!

Wanting...I am SO over this cold weather. Tonight, we are down to the low teens with freezing rain/ice until 3am, then snow on top of it. UGH! I am ready for spring!

Needing...Just one more day of the weekend. Our students are off tomorrow due to the weather, but teachers still have to report on a two-hour delay. Fingers are crossed for work time in our rooms! I totally need it!

?????...Brookies. You have to guess the question. Leave your guesses in the comments, and there just might be a reward for you if you're right!

When you're finished guessing and downloading your freebie, head over to Farley's blog to see what everyone else is up to in March!

February Currently...a little late as usual!

I'm linking up with Farley for her February Currently - and I'm late to the party as usual. (I don't know how you all manage to get things posted right on time!) I really do look forward to Currently every month and seeing what all of you are up to. Here's what's going on in my world:

Listening - I ran across The Piano guys over Christmas when this YouTube video of "Angels We Have Heard on High" was all over Facebook, and I *big puffy heart* them. They are amazingly talented, and their music makes great work/grad school music. What they do with one piano amazes me! Since it's not Christmas anymore, I'll share their version of "What Makes You Beautiful" in case you've never seen one of their videos:


Loving - Even though I am seriously feeling the testing pressure (ours is the last week of this month), I was thrilled to get the call this morning that we have a *very* rare snow day today. First - I live in the south, so snow just doesn't happen all that often. Second - I teach on an Army post, so cancelling school would "interfere with the mission," which means it hardly ever happens. Anyway, we didn't get that much snow last night, but apparently it's really icy on post, so I'm at home enjoying a day off!

Thinking - I've shared before that my teammate and I decided to dive headfirst into the flipped classroom concept for Math this year, and we both love it more than I can express! I'm thinking of doing a series in the near future. If you have questions you'd like answered, lay them on me, and I'll do my best!

Wanting - It's cold outside and there's a fire going...what more can I say?

Needing - Yeah. I admitted it. It's Monday, and I was supposed to be working today, but I went to bed last night without completed lesson plans. See...what had happened was... I decided to finish up my plans during the Super Bowl last night, since we were staying home to watch it. Right as the halftime show started, our power went out. And stayed out. Until about 2 am. My plans are all there in my head, I just need to spend a little time on Planbook.com getting them together. That's what I'm supposed to be doing right now...oops!

2 Truths & a Lie -
1. What can I say, I grew up on the water. My mom and dad had me in the edge of the lake on trainer skis at the beginning of the summer before I turned 3, and behind the boat by the end. Here's a picture to prove it:

2. Not even close. But I did pass the 100 follower mark this past week! Keep an eye out for a giveaway this coming weekend to celebrate!
3. I really do LOVE cooking, when it's for something special or when I have tons of time. But when it comes to the everyday routine of getting home and throwing something together before Little Man gets cranky because he hasn't eaten, my motivation flies right out the window! I really need to look into freezer meals or something that might make it easier to get done after work.

That's it for now. Head over to Farley's linky to see what everyone else is up to this month!

January Currently

I really didn't mean to take a 6 week hiatus from blog world, but it happened. Not only did I neglect my own blog, I didn't read any of your blogs either. My Bloglovin' feed had a bazillion new posts in it when I finally checked yesterday. But thanks to a relaxing Winter Break, here I am again, fashionably late for Farley's January Currently.

Listening - to the sweet, sweet sound of silence! My little man has been stuffy and not eating well, which has resulted in rough nights for everyone. This morning, he decided to wake up at 4am, and didn't fall back asleep until 6. So here I am, at 7am awake, dressed, and writing a blog post. (Get things done while they sleep, right?)

Loving - Little Man has grown up SO much over the last month. His language has practically exploded, and we are full on in the parrot phase. He will say just about anything we do, and has so many cute responses to things we say. His daycare teacher taught him to put his hands on his head when she says "hold that thought,"  and we've obviously watched a lot of football because he throws his hands up in the air and says "down" (touchdown) whenever he sees a game on. It's so much fun watching him learn and mimic things we say and do!

Thinking - This one's pretty self explanatory, but if you need an explanation see above...6 weeks, no blogging. It's time to be back!

Wanting - Just ONE more week would be perfect! We had family in the week of Christmas, and this week is just flying by. One more week, and I'd be ready to go back. Or I'd be asking for just one more week again (which is probably more likely)!

Needing - My lesson plans need some major work, or all I'll be teaching next week is math! Although I am technically off of grad school this week, I really want to get my paper done that is due next Saturday so that I can relax a little for the first week back to work and grad school. Don't know that it will happen though. I have appointments this morning and a date with my hubby this afternoon when he gets off work.

Tradition - Little Man is almost 2, and my husband is home from deployment, so this was actually our first year all together in our own house for Christmas. This has been the year to start our own family traditions for the holidays. Sometimes you consciously decide to make something a tradition, like Low Country Boil for New Year's (because...YUM!).

Often the best traditions are the ones that just happen naturally. One that snuck up and surprised me this year was Little Man's love of gingerbread cookies. Check out what happened when we tried to put out Santa's cookies and milk...

I love the look on his face. Poor Santa got gingerbread men with no legs, and one of them is missing part of his head, too. Little man even tried tipping up Santa's mug to get a little milk, but it wasn't quite full enough. It's safe to say we'll be baking gingerbread men every Christmas for a while!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and are rested and ready to get back to work!

CURRENTLY September

 

For more fabulous CURRENTLY fun, visit Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade!

Currently...running behind!

It's 2 days before school starts, and I spent the last two days prepping my room and meeting my students & parents. I'm super excited about the new year, and my new bunch. But seriously...how is it August already? And can someone tell me what happened to my summer? I swear it just started last week!

Anyway, here's my August Currently...

Listening...

Seriously, is there any better sound in the world than your husband reading to your child? Not in my book! Right now, I'm laid up in bed trying to keep from getting the two of them sick. Hubby is in the living room reading Llama Llama to little man, and I'm loving hearing the two of them play together :)

Loving...

This is the first year, in 6 years of teaching, that I haven't had to move classrooms. It has given me so much more time to catch up on my professional reading, and to make some significant changes to the HOW of my teaching instead of always needing to deal with the WHERE.

Last year, I went full-on with Dots on Turquoise. I even made a slew of signs and labels to match (They're in my TPT store if you're using the same theme). This year, I decided to keep most of it, and incorporate some new colors and patterns. I'm using mostly the things I've added to my TPT store this summer...birds, chalkboards, chevrons, & quatrefoils. I'm loving the way it's all come together. I can't wait to do my classroom tour post!

Thinking...

Not much to say here...I have more important things to do, but this is what makes me happy. I'll get to the Grad school eventually (like, before 11:59 PM tomorrow when it's due!). Lesson plans are taking priority since I'm starting school in just 2 days!

Wanting...

Summers are getting shorter and shorter, amiright? We've been busy travelling this year, which was great, but it makes the time just fly. Between 3 separate trips in June and grad school both months, I feel like I've been working all summer. On the plus side, those dreaded furlough days do mean a couple five more days off are in my future. Our first furlough day is during my week off of grad school, so I am officially going to relax all day!

Needing...

I don't know how it happened, but I caught some kind of cold the week before school starts. I've been dealing with it all week, but yesterday, after talking to parents for 2 hours at open house, my voice was gone. Seriously, I HAVE to be better before Monday.  I can't do the first week of school with no voice! Thoughts and prayers are much appreciated!

B2S Must-Haves...

1. New teacher bag - Last year, I used a Thirty-one tote with a file box inside, and LOVED it. Honestly, the plan for this year was to keep using the same bag. But then we went to Jamaica, and I saw a cute tote bag in the Harley shop in Negril. Seriously, if I have to bring work home, at least it's coming home in a bag that reminds me of two things that are NOTHING like work - riding on the back of Hubby's bike, and our amazing vacation in Jamaica! Added bonus - my file crate still fits inside :)
2. Purple Expo markers - It's the simple things. I don't even use them that much now that I rely more on my SmartBoard, but purple Expos make me smile!
3. Cherry Coke Zero - My school fridge is all stocked with my caffeine of choice for those bright and early mornings :)
4. (I know, there were only supposed to be 3) Flair pens! My go to pens for grading. They're nice and smooth, they don't bleed through, and they come in so many cute colors! I pick up a new pack every year for back to school.

So that's it for me this month. Head over to Oh' Boy 4th Grade to join in the linky fun! Don't skip over reading her explanation of her Currently. She has a great idea for how to use "Currently"s with your students!