Sunday, September 11th, 2011

Later this afternoon, my favorite team in the world, the Washington Redskins, will kick off another season. :) I'm bummed that I won't be able to see the game in person (recovery from a procedure will keep me home-bound), but the rest of my family will be there to cheer in person.

It is a little odd that the football game happens to be on the same day as the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. I am glad that the NFL is arranging various memorial activities to honor the victims and their families. I know it will be a hard day for many people who lost loved ones, but I hope they know they have the country's love, support and prayers.

It is so weird to think that an entire decade has gone by--I can remember that day very well. I was in high school (in the Northern Virginia area) and we heard about the first planes hitting the World Trade Center towers when I was in my Champ class, which was basically like homeroom, and at first, many of us thought it was some sort of horrible accident until the TV anchors started talking about terrorists.
 
Soon after, we switched classes and I went to my drama class, and after the plane hit the Pentagon, the teachers turned on the TVs, and a lot of people were really upset. I had three friends in that class whose parents worked at the Pentagon, and they were obviously quite worried and upset. For a little bit, the news reporters on the TV talked about there possibly being another plane circling Dulles Airport, and the teachers made us all get away from the windows in case something else happened, since Dulles is very close to where we were. This turned out to not be true, but it was definitely a scary day for many Americans.

It was a very sad day and certainly one that I won't ever forget. I'm proud of our country for being able to come together to remember the victims, applaud the courage and resilience of the survivors, recognize the heroic efforts of the rescue workers, and honor the bravery of the men and women in our military who have fought to keep our country safe - it makes me very proud to be an American! :)

Take me out to the ball game! :)

On Sunday, I went with my sisters and cousins to the Nationals Ballpark in Washington D.C. for a fun afternoon of baseball! 

Molly, Me, Matthew! And two presidents, haha!

We usually go to at least one game every summer but hadn't gone to any games yet this year. When my sisters heard that we could get kids tickets for $1 for Sunday's game, we decided to go and take my two younger cousins.

Entering the stadium!

It was extremely HOT out that day, but thankfully our seats were in the shade--whew!

Great view from our seats!

We had fun watching our team score a few runs but unfortunately, it wasn't enough to win, but we still had a great time.... At one point, my cousin Matthew (almost 13 yrs old) said after someone struck out to end the inning, leaving the bases loaded,  "You know, I just don't understand why that guy didn't hit a grand slam!" Haha! You and me both! 

It was a fairly big crowd for Labor Day weekend--must have been those $1 tickets! ;) :)

Molly and I--fun day with family!

The President mascots race every game and Teddy Roosevelt has never won! Sad! He was in the lead for a bit and I thought we might get to be a part of history if he did win, but no luck! :(

All in all, it was a great way to spend our Labor Day Sunday! :)

Yay--it's the weekend!!!! :)

Well, this has been quite a crazy week between returning back to work, dealing with a surgical procedure (a definite non-favorite is stitches--yuck!), setting up my classroom, preparing for our Open House, and somewhere in there finding time to plan for the first week of school! 

My classroom came together very nicely with the help of family (thanks to my mom for helping me set up things in the classroom, sort through books, hang up posters, etc. and to my sisters for helping me create posters, make supply runs, etc.!) 

I will post pictures of it soon but it will probably be after the weekend...I took a few pictures before I left today but I didn't realize that I had left my memory card at home, so it took the pictures on my actual camera's memory (I think?) and I don't know where my camera cord is! Hmm, must add that to my to-do list for the weekend...

I'm so glad that it's the weekend now! I definitely feel worn out from this week but I also feel like I'm a good spot as far as being prepared for the first day. I have a few little things I want to get done before Tuesday, but otherwise, I'm planning on having a fun and relaxing weekend!

On Saturday, I will probably go on a shopping expedition with my sisters and then I'm going to my friend's birthday party that night. She is having it as a Christmas-themed party since she loves Christmas, which is perfect since it is my favorite holiday too! I can't wait to listen to Christmas music--I hope the Glee Christmas soundtrack is played! :) 

My Sunday and/or Monday will most likely be spent doing this: 

Reading the second book in this fabulous series! I will write more about The Hunger Games later for sure! :)

 Or this:

Painting my nails this ADORABLE pink: Strawberry Margarita by OPI! :)

Or this: 

Watching one of my high-quality, educational films such as the motion picture masterpiece 13 Going on 30! Love it!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! :)

Erin Condren--Teacher Planner!

Today I'm linking with Meredith to show one of the things that I am MOST excited about for this upcoming school year (besides meeting my new class and catching up with co-workers) which is my brand-new, totally awesome teacher planner that I got from Erin Condren!

It is SO amazing--I'm so excited to use it! It has every little detail you can imagine to help teachers stay organized.

I love the bright colors and fun details that the teacher planner has in it! 

It has several pages with the holidays and important dates already listed on it--awesome!

A few pages for notes for the substitute, although being honest here, I probably won't use these pages. I have an entire folder on my desk with information for substitutes. Plus, I doubt I would leave my plan book, since I take it home every day and probably wouldn't leave it for a sub..(it's full of all of my secrets! Hah, not really...) 

It also has pages to record birthdays! This will be great since I'm not always so great at remembering birthdays...:-/

I love the larger calendars for each month--this will help with long-term planning! :)

And the plan book pages! I think Fridays will be my favorite because 1. It's Friday! and 2. That day is pink and that's my favorite color! :)

Lots of super FUN stickers that say things like "computer lab", "library", "art", etc.! I think my plan book will be the most colorful one ever! :)

The  back cover--I LOVE the purple! The front looks exactly the same except it has my name on it.


I love this planner SO much! I cannot wait to start using it! :) It also came with lots of coupons, discounts, etc. So cool!

And the VERY best thing about this plan book is.....

it was completely free!!! I got a coupon on Plum District and four friends also bought the coupon which doubled my coupon, so I got the teacher plan book totally free! (except for shipping..) 

If you haven't yet joined Plum District, feel free to sign up using my referral link!

Another crazy weather day in Virginia!

Well, just in case you haven't been watching the endless media craziness for the past week, there was a HUGE hurricane barreling up and down the East Coast yesterday. Just in case the earthquake from earlier this week hadn't made people hysterical enough, Mother Nature had to throw in a hurricane the size of Texas--crazy!

In Northern VA, we got rain all day yesterday, and some strong winds late in the evening and into Sunday morning. It kept me awake pretty late last night, but did not do any damage around our neighborhood--yay!

The sky got an eerie green hue a few times during the day, but thankfully no tornadoes for us!

Not much of an action shot, since I took it through my window, but I certainly was NOT going outside yesterday, haha!

And just in case you were wondering how WE prepare for hurricanes, here is some evidence:

Lots of hurricane supplies here, haha!

Everyone else in the entire DMV area is out raiding the bread, milk and toilet paper aisles...where do my mom and I go? The mall of course! She wanted to look at floor lamps and carpets (random, yes, haha, but there is a lot of home-remodeling being done at my house!), and I wanted to return a few things to Macy's...and just happened to pick up a few necessities as well.. ;) :)

Macy's had some cute clothes, and luckily--NO earthquake this time! :)

But at the same time though, my dad was joining the masses of people at BJ's, so he took care of the food and emergency supplies.  And we had our Scrabble game all ready to go, so we were able to weather the storm nicely! :)

Bright and sunny today!

Three for Thursday!

Today's topic on I'm Blog Hoppin'  is Three for Thursday, so I'll be sharing a favorite font, a favorite blog, and a favorite online resource. 

Favorite Font

I just recently found this great website Kevin and Amanda that has lots of really cool fonts! It is SO hard to pick just one favorite, but I really do like this one: 

I'm super impressed with the awesome things they have on their website! :)

Favorite Blog

Umm, this is SO hard! I have so many blogs that I read and it is really difficult to pick just one favorite...ahh! There's so many to choose from!

As far as teaching blogs go, I love reading Clutter Free Classroom and have gotten some great ideas for my classroom!

For crafty inspiration, I love reading Little Pink Monster --she has totally creative and fun ideas! (Every time I read this blog, I think "One day, (hopefully), I will be this talented too!" Haha! :) )

And for lots of laughter, great beauty tips, and a refreshing perspective on what its like to be a 20-something, I love reading Confessions of a 20 Something -- I can't tell you how many times I read this thinking, "That is exactly what I was thinking/hoping/feeling, etc." :)

Favorite Online Resource
As far as online resources go, I just recently discovered Pinterest and am REALLY liking it! It's so fun and so addicting! :)

Where it All Goes Down Wednesday

I really wish I had pictures of my classroom to share! Unfortunately, we have a later start date than other areas and I have not been back in my classroom yet to set up. I did get a few things over the summer that I am excited to add to my classroom this year, so I will share those!

I love this poster:

I think it is a great motto and I hope my students will embrace it! I hope it will remind them that every day is a day to be learning something new and the importance of taking advantage of that! :)

I am also excited about this poster: 

It is cute, simple and straight to the point! :)

I can't wait to use this in my classroom as a new management tool: 

I know this probably looks a little silly (it is a baby toy after all!), but one of the teachers on my team used this last year to signal the students when she needed to get their attention and I thought it was a great suggestion. (Thanks Emily!) I am excited to have a little musical arrangement in the classroom! :)

I am also loving these name plates I found: 

I like ones with bright colors, but ones that aren't too distracting! I like to find ones that are fun and cheerful, but not too girly! And yes, I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, but since we all have to look at them for the entire year, I want it to be a good choice! :)

I can't wait to put these up in our windows to brighten them up during the different seasons:

Leaves, Back to School, Snowflakes and Shamrocks--so cute!

But I think the thing I was MOST excited about finding this summer for a fun addition to my classroom is this: 

Yes, it is a PINK, bedazzled stapler! I was SO happy when I found this because I have been wanting one just like this for so long! One of my co-workers and close friend has a stapler just like this that a student of hers from last year gave me. Just about every morning I go into her room to chat and I secretly covet her pink sparkly stapler every time I see it sitting on her desk! (Actually, it's not a secret at all because I tell her all the time how much I like it...hah!) I'm sure it sounds silly to be excited about a STAPLER of all things, but oh well! I love it! Yay for Staples having this adorable little office accessory! (And no surprise, I most certainly did buy the matching pen as well!) :)