June Currently

Good evening!  It's June... Just in case you hadn't noticed.  And June means the end is in sight!  Summer vacation is on the horizon!  Therefore, on to this month's Currently.

I {heart} jazz music.  Enough said.

I love that I can eat ice cream without freezing once more.  I hate the hot weather that summer brings, but I do enjoy me a good bowl of almond milk ice cream after a long, hot day!

8 day. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.  

Maybe the report card fairy lives with the laminator-cutter-outer fairy?  I really need to find them.  Do you suppose the parents will notice if I just use the same comments/names on every report card?!

Needing to place future plans and dreams into God's hands.  I'm trying to make some rather big changes in my life for next school year and it's hard to remain patient and wait for God's perfect timing.  I know that the most I can do is continue to pray and seek guidance, but the planner in me wants to know NOW! 

Summer is my travelling season, and though I am not travelling on a big international trip, I am planning on visiting a bunch of friends and family.  A trip home to the mountains for a few weeks is always in order!

My mom gave me a whole canning system this last Christmas and I am so ready to hit the farmers markets and get canning!  I've got a great "how-to" book to work my way through and visions of yummy canned goods filling my shelves in the near future!

I have only about 64.5 books on my "to be read" shelf.  I am most definitely looking forward to working my way through a whole bunch of these!  I cherish time to sit in a comfy setting and curl up and get lost in a good book for a few hours. :)

Now to pick out which one to read first!

Thanks for stopping by!

Five for Friday

TGIF!

So glad it's Friday, but kind of stressing already about all of the work I have to do this weekend. Only 12 more days to Open House!

1. Classroom creatures update!  Our ladybug larvae have officially entered their third stage of life and are happily all curled in their pupae.  I'm expecting to come back and find them all as ladybugs on Monday... Wonder if they'll survive until Open House on the 22nd?  Our two tadpoles are doing wonderfully.  My little three-legged friend sprouted his fourth leg and is quickly looking a whole lot more like a frog than a tadpole.  Tadpole #2, well, he's taking his sweet, precious time.  Mr. Froglet even climbed out of the water for the first time today... AFTER the kids had gone home, of course.  All caterpillars are in their chrysalises. And not a praying mantis nymph to be seen yet...  One of these days it's going to burst open with hundreds of them, I just know it...

2. We finished up our Mother's Day gifts! We made MissKindergarten's adorable purses and they turned out great! My favorite page is always when they have to compare their mom's height to an object, and then guess her weight! "My mom weighs 49 pounds."  What mom wouldn't love that?!

3.  Open House is in 12 days and this is what my walls currently look like! Stress and panic!!!  I spent some serious time working on walls and assembling books after school ended today.

4. My license plates came for my new car in the mail this week. Sad day. The new car doesn't feel so new anymore.  At least it still SMELLS new!

5. We studied antonyms this week in class and had a blast!  We took off our shoes to trace some "an-toe-nyms," read a few stories, and I even whipped up a quick bingo game.  I called a word and the students had to mark the antonym. Hope you can use it, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Five for Friday

Praise the Lord for Fridays!  I think my kids were determined to give me gray hair this week.  Hello, spring fever.

We've only got to hang on for 27 more days, guys!  27!!!

1. My classroom is absolutely crawling with critters right now.  In addition to our tadpoles (see post #2), our caterpillars, ladybug larvae, and praying mantis egg all arrived over the weekend.  The caterpillars are growing like weeds, as usual. I have an awful feeling that they are going to be butterflies WAY before Open House. I'm hoping I can steal one of my teammate's butterflies since we'll likely have to let ours go before the 22nd. 

2.  Tadpoles! These guys have been in our room for a few weeks now, but this little guy decided to sprout his first front leg yesterday afternoon! Of course, as luck would have it, he waited until AFTER the kids had gone home to do so.  I happened to be around still and snapped a picture of our three-legged frog to show the kids.  And then, sure enough, his other one had sprouted sometime over night.  He is officially a froglet!

Right side.

New leg on the left side!

3. It's hot. I'm grumpy. I want winter/spring cool weather back. Teaching PE in this ridiculous heat is the pits.  "They" say it's only supposed to be like this for one more day, though.  We'll see if "they" are right...

4.  This is my best friend's new little girl.  I am absolutely DYING to meet her and am working on booking some plane tickets to fly up to see her later this month. Yay!

5. My mom is here for the weekend, and we're off to get thoroughly pampered tomorrow. Hair cuts, a little shopping, dining out... And then my cousin's baby shower on Sunday! So excited to spend some time with my mom!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Currently

May.

Yeah, that happened.

I'm so excited that it's May! I love our science unit this month, I'm one of those crazy people that love gearing up for Open House, and I love that all of my summer plans are just around the corner!

And I love that it's time for another Currently!

Ah, Mr. Buble.  What you do to me with that perfect-pitch voice of yours.  And the new album is no exception. It's currently on constant repeat in my car.

I am such a girly-girl. I have always loved dresses and skirts, and am completely in LOVE with the fact that dresses are coming back around.  And they're cuter than ever!  I love the "no-brainer" quality of a good dress. What to wear? Dress!  No need to match shirt and skirts. They're an all-in-one deal.  They make me happy. :)

Singing. In front of the whole school. Kiddos. Parents. Staff. District personnel.  Yup, it's going down in about one hour.  From now. Today.  It's "Pajama Story Hour" at school tonight, and somehow I nominated myself to sing as one of the acts.  Rethinking that decision now...  It'll be fun.  And my kids are just a teeny bit excited.

It's in the 90s outside right now. And I think we're supposed to hit 100 tomorrow.  I'm going to start a protest.  This is wrong.  I'm not ready for summer weather yet. Though, I do love wearing dresses... 

My cousin's baby shower is this Sunday, and being the queen of last-minute shopping, I have no gift. Yet.  I'll get one. Maybe on Saturday. Or on Sunday on my way to the shower.

As to my summer bucket list, have I mentioned yet that I'M GOING TO ENGLAND? Ok.  Now that I have that out of my system (46 days!) some of my other plans are to take in the Mammoth Jazz Jubilee 'cause I love me some good 'ole jazz and all the great friends that congregate there each summer.  I'm also in the works to plan a tour of the Pacific Northwest this summer. I have a sister in Portland, a best friend in Bend, an amazing friend in Seattle, and a stamping buddy in BC.  I've gotta make this happen. Just figuring out the logistics and timing is going to keep things interesting.

Phew!  Now to eat some dinner before running back to school.

To sing.

In front of everyone.

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketch & A Cocktail Party

Good afternoon!

I loved this week's Retro Sketch and immediately thought it would make a great monochromatic card with a single pop of color.  I sat down with my Smokey Shadow pattern pack and got to work mixing dps.

I used the gorgeous flower from Natural Beauties to create the pop of color.  This could quickly become my new favorite stamp. I love the dimension that is created with the multi-step stamping!  So fun!  A little bow, button, twine combo finished up the pop of color.  Sweet, simple, and done in under 30 minutes. Yay!

My day of nothingness yesterday was wonderful.  After lunch, the roomie and I decided to venture over to the movie theater to catch a showing of "Oblivion."  I love me a good sci-fi movie, but this one was extra special because it was partially filmed in my hometown; across the street from my house!  And I was there when they filmed last July.  My mom and I even took a little walk down to the set.  Remember this photo? That big tent on the left is blocking the cabin set and the pond.

I may have let out a few cheers and squeals and claps every time my mountains came onto the big screen. And I pointed out to the roomie exactly where my house was. So, so fun! I attempted to snap a picture of the film crew with our town's name, but I forgot to turn the flash off and got a great picture of the back of the row of seats in front of me... Grrr... But I did manage to get the camera squared away by the time the thank yous came round. Go Double Eagle Resort and Mono County!

The moment we stepped out of the theater a text came from my sister,  whom happens to be in town for the weekend, inviting me to a formal cocktail party fundraiser for leukemia research being held at my brother-in-law's new studio.  Cocktail parties, open bars, dancing... Not really my scene.  A last minute cocktail dress? Now, that I have. :)

I'm so glad that I went!  We were so lucky to spend a big chunk of the night visiting with each other around introductions to various producers and friends.  It made for a late night, but I whole-heartedly am glad that I went a little out of my comfort zone to support a great cause, and more importantly, support and visit with my amazing sister.

 We grabbed some lunch together this afternoon, which was also wonderful. I'm feeling truly spoiled that I got to visit with her for so long on this "business trip" to So Cal.  Next, to plan a trip north to Oregon (sister and bf), Seattle (Beth), and BC (hi, Marisa!) for this July/August.  I'm so blessed!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Natural Beauties, Inside & Out: Thank You
Ink- Cameo Coral, Rose Red, Ruby Red, Basic Gray
Paper- Smokey Shadow Pattern Pack, Soft Stone, Smokey Shadow
Accessories- button, twine, flag die, dimensionals

Five For Friday

TGIF!  This week flew by, and yet it felt absolutely insane. I am most definitely one tired teacher.  We're in that insane wonderful run to Open House (T-minus 26 days and counting!) where I work the kids like a slave driver crazy person.  We're writing, crafting, creating, studying, observing.... It's crazy in my room right now!

1. Firstly, to go along with the new car, I treated myself to a new iPod nano.  I haven't purchased an iPod since my first generation way back in 2002!  My, how times have changed. This thing is TINY! And it's Bluetooth capable... Which means I literally just set it in my car and it starts playing through my sound system. No wires or connections need. Not to mention that is has more memory that my much larger iPod. Technology is tripping me out!

2. We are celebrating Teach Appreciation Day a wee bit early at my school. The 2nd-5th graders have state testing for the next two weeks, so as not to disturb their learning environment, we had the festivities this week!  We were spoiled rotten with treats in the lounge (mostly breakfast items, fruit, and drinks) each morning, treated to a PTA lunch on Thursday, and the kids all brought in flowers on Tuesday! So much fun!  Every time I walk by my desk it smells INCREDIBLE!

3. I may or may not have read a book in one day.  And that may or may not have involved staying up  until 1 a.m. on a school night... I may be paying for it today. I have a problem.  Hi. My name is Kristina and I am addicted to books. I love, love, love to read.  My book club is currently re-reading "The Great Gatsby" in preparation for the movie's release next month.  I snuck in a tiny little break to read the sequel to a fun young adult novel that I read about a year ago. I'm a sucker for a princess love story. :)

4. I survived our first field trip of the year to the LA Zoo.  And I only wanted to kill, physically harm, end one student's field trip. Not a bad day!  I most definitely crashed afterward immediately upon sitting on my couch.  Why is it that field trips just suck all the energy out of us?

 5. The details for my June trip to England are nearly complete! Everything is booked, reserved, tickets are purchased, itinerary is getting locked into place. So excited!  51 days until takeoff!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great weekend!

Five For Friday

Good evening! It's finally Friday and I am finally linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday linky. It's been quite a week at home and at work!

1.  My friend Beth came back down to So Cal AGAIN for a long visit. I'm feeling awful spoiled getting to have her around all the time. I may go through withdrawals when she leaves this afternoon.  But, as one last hurrah, she and my roommate brought me lunch at work today.  And not just any lunch.... Yum!!

2.  We're in the thick of studying about animals, life cycles, teeth, habitats, etc in science right now.  Therefore, these little guys finally made their grand appearance in our classroom. Meet Kris and Lesa (named by the kiddos).  We always do a raffle-type selection for names. Each student gets to pick one name, writes it down, and puts it in my "magic bag." I then draw two names.  I have to admit that I sometimes rig it...  I know. Shame on me.  But "Golden Ninja Lego?"  You would rig it, too.  (Though, I was really cheering for Lloyd this year. I had about four kids write that one down, and gosh darn it, I didn't draw it!).

3.  We also had our room decked out with caution tape all week long in honor of Robber Y.  I saw the idea year or two ago for this poster and made one up for myself last year. It was so fun to pull it out again this year and see all of the excitement on my kiddos' faces for the letter y. Who knew phonics could be so fun?!
We sorted, wrote words, read words, graphed which we found more throughout the week, tree mapped...  Beth and my roomie absolutely plastered my room with caution tape late last week and the kids were in awe all week long of our crime scene... And the little easter egg pieces of caution tape hidden all over the room. Notice the subtle little bow on our clay frogs?

 4.  I am not usually one to watch the dating shows that always flood the TV. But I have been watching this one!  One of my friends from high school is on the show as one of Tim's girls (from the Plain White T's). Go Sara! I'm pretty sure that's her third from the right. :)

5. Last, but my favorite event of the week, by far, my new car FINALLY arrived! Yay!  I got myself this gorgeous little ride back in February, but had to wait for her to be built. Meet Lunar 1, as she has affectionately been named.  She's so much fun to drive!

Hope your weekend is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by!

Currently

Holy smokes, it's April!  I swear it was just January.  Every year I claim the year is flying by, but this year, it really is!

On to this month's Currently!

Thank you Broadway station on Pandora for granting me hours of singing out loud entertainment. :)

IT'S SPRING BREAK!!!  Sleeping in on a Monday morning may have been a slight taste of Heaven.  Though, my body still woke itself up at 6:30, I yelled at it and forced it to obey and slept for another couple hours.

I'm heading to Seattle tomorrow to visit an amazing friend of mine. She's an army nurse and is currently station in Olympia.  We're going to hang out for a few days and then drive back down to So Cal together over the weekend.  My boarding pass is officially printed. Now to go pack... Good times!

We actually had a gloomy, rainy Easter Sunday and the clouds decided to stick around for an extra day. This girl is in HEAVEN!  Spring allergy relief!  Slippers!  Electric blanket!  I wish the weather was like this all spring and summer long. I live in the wrong part of the state.

June. Not only summer break, but I'm going to England for 15 days! YAY!  My mom and I are heading across the pond to explore Bath, Cornwall, Stratford-Upon-Avon, York, London, and riding the tube through the English Channel for a day-trip to Paris. So excited! 77 days to go!

I got a call from the dealer this morning with an update on my new car (2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid).  He couldn't give me an exact delivery date, but said it would be soon!  Definitely this month. But I could have told him that, lol.  It's been 6 weeks since it was ordered!

As for blogging, I've been doing that for a while (though the last month earns me the worst blogger in the world award), my best advice is to just jump in.  It's definitely a learn-as-you-go job.  But it's easy to do. And fun! And the friends made are incredible.

All right. Off to go attempt to pack.  Yeah, right. It's vacation. I'll pack tonight, lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

March Currently

It's a new month, and that means it's time for another Currently!

It seems that Mr. Groundhog was correct in his prediction that spring would be coming early.  At least to California!  While the Midwest and east coast have been hit with record-breaking snowstorms, we're basking in the 85F weather. Really.  Quite frankly, I'm disgusted. I want winter back!  Summer always comes before I'm ready.

We're reading "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" this week in our core reading materials. I think this may be my favorite week EVER!  We make pancakes in class, write our own circle stories, read lots of Laura Numeroff books... So fun!

My passport is off for renewal, I have read, reread, dogeared, and flagged my Rick Steves books on England and Scotland. Time to get this vacation booked!

Ah, my new car. So stinkin' excited!!!  Of course, once I could only find the car I wanted in the super tripped out, fancy bells-and-whistles, very expensive version, or the stripped-down, nothing in it at all version. Darn it!  Well, at least by ordering my car, I'll get exactly what I want.  Four more weeks to go! :)

I. Loathe. Spring. Passionately.  For one with crazy-ridiculous allergies, spring is the most dreaded time of the year. Antihistamines don't do squat for me this time of year. It's time to bring out the big guns... Which can only be attained by my allergist.  I just LOVE feeling like I have the flu for months on end.

3 words that start with K? REALLY?!  This was a hard one. And I wasn't prepared to think too hard today. It is Sunday, after all.

So, kale.  I am in a bit of  love affair with kale at the moment. Kale and potatoes. Kale, zucchini, tomato, and white bean ragout, kale in my salad. Who knew kale was so yummy?!

My kitchen, though nothing to brag about, was a round-about way of saying how much I love to cook and bake.  There is something so rewarding about putting something on the table made from scratch.  And so much yummier, too!

Kaput.  Yeah, my printer at work did that this week.  Went kaput.  And I wasn't planning on buying a new printer for my classroom this year. Ah, technology. Can't live with it, but can't live without it.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Currently

February.

Really?

Not to mention that we are most definitely over half way through the school year. In the second month of the calendar year. And there are WAY too many holidays in this month.

But, alas, here is my February Currently. :)

I am a child of the 80s.  Aka- The Disney Era.  I have this love of all things Disney music.  But not the modern stuff. We're talking about the classic animated movies.  Thank goodness for Pandora!

Apple crisp.  Homemade. Enough said.

6 days. I am going to be out from my room for 6 days this month.  I think I may be suicidal.  Our district is sending a few representatives to a few multi-day Common Core training conferences and I have been nominated/volunteered as the 1st Grade leader. Yay me?

I have to admit that I am a little bit excited. I always come back so rejuvenated and energetic after conferences.  I'm hoping this one will be the same.  

This weekend is going to solely consist of typing sub plans, and maybe working on some sub plans.  Let's put it this way.... I am going to be out of my classroom for the next 5 out of 9 days. Yeah. Poor sub. ;)

On to the Superbowl.

I was raised a die-hard Packers fan.  I was also raised to be a die-hard anti-49ers fan. Thus, I will be cheering for the Ravens.

Fun fact time!

Did you know that the Baltimore Ravens are the only NFL team named after a literary work?  Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven."

Extra bonus points for the Ravens, in my opinion.

Yeah. That should say "washing the dishes." Your eyes didn't deceive you. but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. 

I'm supposed to be doing the dishes right now.  Obviously that's not happening. :)

Lastly, pet peeves. Oh goodness. Stepping on my soapbox now, lol.

DON'T BE LATE! If you say you are going to be someplace at a certain time... Be there!  Habitual late people really push my buttons...

Disorganization is another one. I'm a crazy organized person.  Therefore you should be, too. Simple, right?!

Ah, poking. Yeah, this one stems back to my first year or two of teaching when I was still working on my classroom management.  I used to have kids that would stand by me to ask a question and use their finger to repeatedly poke me in the arm to get my attention. HATE!  Thank goodness after eight years, I've got that one under control, lol!

Thanks so much for stopping by!