Five For Sunterday? And A Giveaway!!

I have been so involved in watching the Olympics that I kind of forgot about anything else (grooming, eating).  So, I'm a little late in doing this week's Five for Friday, but I have a lot of fun things coming up.

1.  This weekend I spent about an hour and a half loading up Girl Scout Cookies for our local division.  This was my first experience with this, and it is amazing how the leaders have this fine-tuned!  So, there are about 45-50 troops in our division who took part in cookie selling.  Troops come in 15 minutes intervals.  They check in and then drive up to the first stop:  Thin Mints.  They are first because they are the most popular so it is easier to fit them into the cars.  Some troops needed 3 cars to pick up all of their cookies!  When our volunteering was done, we picked up our cookies.  Here is our troop leader, our cookie mom, and me (brown coat, gray boots) with our haul.

2.  Yesterday was our park district's annual Daddy Daughter Dance.  The hubs took both of our little ladies out for the evening.  Dinner, dancing, and fun with friends.  The girls came home exhausted, but had a great time (the hubs too)!

I know I'm biased, but seriously, how cute are they?

This one has me concerned about what she will be like in college!

Little does anyone know that she has on her bright orange and gray tennis shoes on (no joke)!

3.  I am in the process of updating some of my products.  I know that I don't have that many yet, and not a lot of variety in them yet.  However, after having used them with students, there are some changes I have felt that they needed.  If it is anything major, I am letting all my followers know.  I am also trying to update graphics.  I mean, come on, those Melonheadz graphics just make everything cuter (especially the ones with the missing front teeth)!

Old Cover ........

New Cover!

4.  We are in the process of Benchmarking (using the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Systems) every student in our building.  I know what you are thinking, "Yeah, big deal, we do that too!"  The big deal for us is that teachers are doing most of the testing themselves.  They received training from our district and now they are trying it in their rooms.  Each grade level has a week to test and I "shadow" them the first day to make sure that they have the hang of it.  It is a big change for some of our teachers, and I have to say, they are taking it on and doing fabulous.  Not only that, but many have said that they are very intrigued by the results that they are getting.  I love that they are seeing the value of it, but I am drowning in data!!

5.  Today (February 9th) is my forty something mumble, mumble, grumble birthday.  As much as a I hate getting a year older, I love being a year wiser.  The experiences from this past year, have taught me a lot.  So, in celebration, I am having a giveaway for all of my new and old (just like me) followers.  Enter the raffle below for your chance to win a $25.00 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate.  Raffle will end at midnight on Friday, February 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Because I fully believe that a birthday should be a week (if not longer) celebration, I am continuing the celebration all week long.  Everyday will be something different, from Flash Freebies to Comment Winners.  It will help if you follow me on TPT, Bloglovin', and Facebook!

                      

Well, time to get ready to tackle the work week!

Five For Friday

If you have read my past few posts, and especially my November Currently, then you know we were thinking about getting a dog.  Then I read my friend's post about losing his dog, and it was equally touching and funny.  I think that sealed the deal with me making up my mind, and I started looking at Pet Finder to find a dog.  We were looking at Golden Retriever dogs because that is what we had before.  So, today, my Five For Friday is going to be 5 things about the newest member of our family.

So upon looking at Pet Finder, I was amazed and saddened by some of the stories about the dogs and their past.  We were not looking for a puppy.  It just wouldn't be fair to it with the hubs and I both working full time.  I didn't look at any more dog profiles once I saw this one.  Meet LILAH, the most crazy Golden Retriever, Chow mix you will ever know!

We called about her and were lucky that the foster parents lived nearby.  Within 2 days, she was on her way to meet us.  The foster parents had no concerns about our home and left her with us that day!  It also happened to be my youngest's 7th birthday (her golden birthday, pun intended)!

We definitely have had some adjusting to do.  She doesn't like it when her humans leave and tends to get a little panicky.  Something we found out the hard way when we came home and our home was destroyed!  She even chewed on our stairs!  We never used baby gates with our children, but have installed 2 since we got Lilah!  She can also open the gates we had installed.  We took her to the vet and then brought her home to run errands, and this is what we came home to!

We had to go back to the vet that same day because she had gotten into the chocolate cookies (you know the ones with the Kisses on top).  They kept her for a few hours so they could make her throw it all up.  Needless to say, we are looking into getting her "crate trained." for her protection, and to avoid any future destruction.  

We also found out the hard way, that she is not spayed like the rescue said that she was.  We are going to get it taken care of, but can't right now because she is in heat!  It is a big pain in the butt.  Thankfully, she keeps the doggie diapers on.  And honestly, she looks really cute in them!

So, in a nutshell, it is much more work than I remembered with our other dog (over 7 years ago).  But what my family is getting back from this naughty, yet truly lovable companion, is so much more!  I don't think I realized how much she had gotten into my heart until I picked her up from the vet after her chocolate incident.  She put both of her front paws on my chest and thoroughly licked my face.  The people working at our vet commented on how much she is already attached to us.  That made me feel wonderful!  She is so sweet, but vicious to her stuffed toys (I've seen the massacre).  She is a great napping buddy, and I look forward to the morning wake up call she gives me every morning by jumping up in bed and not so gently nudging me out of my spot (not to let her out, but she wants my spot in the bed)!

We are very lucky that this wonderful, nutty dog has come into our lives!

Happy Friday everyone!

Five For Friday!

I knew that it had been a long time since my last post, but looking back at the date of my last post really threw me for a loop!  I can't believe that it has almost been a month!  I was going to start out and do my "Currently" post for the month of October, but let's face it:  That ship has sailed!

So here I am on a Friday night, dinner in the oven, the sounds of the washer and dryer coming up from the basement.  Dare I say I feel that I might just now be settling into the school year?  Then, in our family comes the birthday season, followed by the Holiday season, so I know that this feeling of serenity is going to be short-lived.

I haven't been just sitting around eating Bon-Bons (although I hear they are yummy)!  I changed the look of the header to my blog along with a few changes (maybe more to come) to my sidebar.  I seriously have to say I am so proud that I have done all of this on my own through much trial and error.  So, I am going to ease back into my posts and my long-forgotten professional book study.  I will start with a laid-back Five For Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching teaching!  Get ready for some randomness and saving the best for last!

I have now been seeing my students for about a month.  I feel like we are getting in a groove, getting to know each other and getting lots of good instruction in.  The data collection at the beginning of the year is so necessary, but I honestly can't wait to get going with the kids.  Hands down, that is the best part of my day!

So excited that the hubby and I are going to the Notre Dame game tomorrow evening to see them beat some USC booty. I'm prepared for cold, rainy weather, but hoping for the best! Big Notre Dame fans in our family.  My 4th grader doesn't know it yet, but that is where she will go to college (wink, wink).  I'm sure it will be with a full academic and basketball scholarship!  Right now she says she won't go away to college and that she and her husband will live with us!

Speaking of the kids, my youngest and I spent last weekend T-peeing house for her first grade Homecoming football and cheer leading squad.  Thankfully, they were all houses that gave permission to be t-peed.  6 and 7 year old girls just don't quite get the hang of it, so I am not embarrassed to say that I had to step in (with a few other parents) and show them how to throw over branches of trees.  I love imparting these very important lessons to the youth of today.  Here is a picture of my little one in warmer weather earlier this season.

We had our first night of parent-teacher conferences on Thursday.  We have two more nights next week. The conferences are different for the teachers this year.  In the past, the discussion has primarily focused around the report card.  We have switched to trimesters this year, so report cards are still quite a ways off for us.  That has left teachers baffled a little bit as to what to discuss with parents.  It's yet another new change in a year full of new changes.

I am beyond thrilled to have been asked to participate in my very first blog hop!  It truly is going to be pretty amazing.  We have 28 reading/literacy specialists involved and the wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of literacy that this group has is astounding.  I am lucky to be a part of it!  Look for more to come, from me and probably other blogs that you already follow, but for now, here is your teaser!

Happy Friday y'all and feeling so glad to be back from my blogging absence!

Five For Friday

I love this linky party hosted by Doodle Bugs Teaching, but have never joined in.  However, on a Friday at the end of the second week of school, I feel completely random and so I am ready to ramble away!

I am very excited to be heading home to my hometown of Kewanee, Illinois this weekend.  It is a small town in Illinois of about 12,000 people.  Sa-lute!  (Okay, for those of you who have no idea of the old TV show Hee-Haw, you won't get that reference)!  Anyway, I loved growing up there and my girls love going back to stay at camp Grandma and Grandpa!  So today you are going to get 5 random facts about pretty much the coolest small town in Illinois!

1.)  The reason I am heading home with the family this weekend is because every Labor Day weekend, the town celebrates Hog Days!  Yes, you heard me right Hog Days!  It is a long story about our town's history, but basically it boils down to this.  Kewanee was a great place to raise pigs.  So much so that the US Department of Agriculture named Henry County (of which Kewanne being the biggest city in the county) "top hog" when it came to pork production.  Kewanee took it upon itself to celebrate this honor by a one day (which has now turned into 4 days) of celebration.  Things snowballed from there.  So on March 23rd, 1949, the Illinois House of Representative passed House Resolution 40 declaring Henry County (and Kewanee) the Hog Capital of the World!

2.)  The biggest industry has since shut down, but I know you have seen what Kewanee is famous for making in some of your favorite movies.  Especially the basement scenes!  The Kewanne Boiler Cooporation was famous for making boilers!  In fact, that is still the high school mascot (and I believe the only Boilermaker high school mascot in Illinois)!  So watch Blues Brothers again (and I have heard the old version of Nightmare on Elm Street) and you may see a genuine Kewanee Boiler!

3.)  In a town of only 12,000 people, Kewanee actually has 2 separate school districts.  Very rare for such a small town.  The good thing is that one is smaller than the other so the two rarely have to compete against each other in sports!

4.)  Over the years, one store in Kewanee has grown so much that even up here in Chicago, commercials for it can be seen now and then.  Goods Furniture has turned from a small store to about 2 whole city blocks.  It even has a restaurant and a bed and breakfast.  Yup, that's the skywalk you see in the picture above connecting one side of the store to the other.  Rumor has it that the store even delivers up to Chicago once a week!  Pretty cool for a small town!

5.)  When we visit my parents, we often go to Johnson's Sauk Trail Park.  The girls go fishing with grandpa and we sometimes walk the trails.  It is home to one of the biggest round barns in the country!

I know this has nothing to do with teaching, but after working hard for a couple of weeks, I thought I deserved to take a break for this post.  And, if you can't tell, I'm kind of proud of the country girl that still lurks in me somewhere!  There is something to be said for small town life in the Midwest!

If you have started school, enjoy your days off with the holiday.  If you will be starting next week, have a great start!  

The next chapter for Pathways (my book study) will be posted on Tuesday, September 3rd.  I am taking Labor Day literally and not doing anything!