Endless Gifts

~Fall. Love, love, love the fall season!
~Falling,swirling, twirling leaves
~The smell of fall
~Bonfires (can't you tell I'm getting country-fied?)
~Pumpkins
~Fall decorations- they're the best!!!
~Apple cider and plain doughnuts. Dunked of course!

~Getting unexpected mail. I was expecting 3 packages in the mail. Got NINE instead (so the other six were tiny bead findings I ordered on Ebay from China three weeks ago. LOL)

~My Children being unbelievably good today! Resulting in:
~An extra long recess in the gym before lunch.
~Their teacher shooting hoops with them, playing Ring-Around-the-Rosey and
Duck Duck Goose (I was it every other time. I'm too old for this!)
~At nap time I decided to give them a special treat. We pushed all the desks
to one side, laid their mats out together and built a "tent" out of blankets.
Then, instead of sleeping, we watched Cinderella.

~Pizza day at school, and Bulgolgi for the teachers, along with rice and two types of egg rolls. Delish!

~Looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend. Happy almost weekend everyone!

Random Ramblings

First of all, let me say that my plethora of posts is me trying to be a better blogger (and the fact that I have deactivated my Facebook account for the time being, for a variety of reasons). So, be thankful for it! =)

I'm not sure why, but today I'm feeling completely random. I love it!

I am super duper proud of myself! Today I finished my first "homemade" bulletin board that I've made since I was in college! I know that's so incredibly lazy of me, but hear me out =) As all of my teacher friends will attest, pre-made bulletin board sets are simply adorable! Why spend hours and hours of time that we don't have (okay, that we do have, but would rather be watching our favorite tv show) making, when for about $10 we can buy an adorable one that we will have forever and ever! However, I had the idea for a "crow" themed board. Can you believe... NO one makes crows? (or at least not cute ones...) I drew some yesterday during nap time- doodling on the edge of a piece of paper. Ah-dorable!!! So I sketched out a few- larger, outlined them with a sharpie, colored them in with crayons (yes, crayons. I'm a kindergarten teacher, and that's all I had...) And, drumroll please... the turned out to be exactly what I wanted! I literally spent NO money on this bulletin board!!! I used pumpkin patch boarder I had from my first year teaching, leaves I had bought from Dollar Tree, and cut out letters on my cricut. I used a tiny Sharpie to make "stitches" on the edges of my letters, and it was the perfect touch. However, once I got them up on the board, you really can't tell. Oh well, isn't there a saying about it being the thought that counts? :) It's such a super cute bulletin board, and I got it up before October, peeps! Be impressed!!!!

Isn't he just the CUTEST????

Ta-da!

Here are the letters I was telling you about. It took FOREVER! And I did the same thing on the leaves as well. Took this pic so the detail wouldn't be totally lost on 'yall.

Another random thing... I'm getting mail today!!! I'm soooo excited! THREE packages are sitting waiting for me at the Post Office! Yippee skippy!!!! One is a Cricut cartridge I ordered off Ebay. It's basically for my vinyl "art", and I am so excited to start playing with it. I'm sure you all will be seeing pictures of my creations in the not very distant future. Another package is from my Mommy and Daddy! They send me random little stuff every once in a while. My mother is always buying me stickers and little things for the kiddos. She is on a major kick about making Christmas cards for the soldiers. Michaels craft store is doing a promotion about it.. asking people to bring in cards by the end of next month. I can't remember the specifics, but she said something about 10,000 soldiers will not receive a single Christmas card this year. How SAD, especially when these brave men and women are faithfully serving to help keep our country free. She has me very excited about it, and as soon as we get the package and Christmas stickers she sent, I will have all of my kiddos begin making cards. It's a great project, especially for here because I think almost every one of my students has at least one parent in the military. My last package is from a dear friend, and I can't wait to open it!!!

I thought I would share one of my passions with you all today. Jewelry! What girl doesn't love jewelry? And I seem to be a little "girlier" than most. Haha. I love wearing something pretty around my neck, hanging from my ears, on my finger or around my wrist. My style used to be a lot simpler, as did my collection. However, one store changed all that: Charming Charlie's. If you haven't been to a Charming Charlie's, and you like jewlery even a little bit, I would strongly suggest going. It is, in a word, AMAZING!!!

I love this jewlery holder! One of my friends had one, and I realized I just "had" to have one! It's perfect for earrings and bracelets.

Don't you just adore this jewelry holder? It's from Cato, of all places. I instantly fell in love with it, and it goes with the whole, vintage/shabby chic theme that my bedroom is trying to pull off right now.

This handy dandy little device is double sided, and helps keep me super organized. Instead of a jumble of jewelry, there is a pocket for each item. Some things that I make, like rings, I have organized by color because I have so many. That's my problem. Everything I make, I like. I wouldn't make it otherwise. And then, I have to make one for myself, in the off chance that I may wear it some day.

This is where the majority of my necklaces are, as well as some of my favorite earrings. I love having a long place to hang and display my necklaces, and to be able to see exactly what I have. Sigh, jewelry, don't you just love it?! I have now shared all of my jewelry with you (except for a few stray pieces that may be laying around the house. I'm just like that.)

Monday

Mondays. How we dread that day of the week! Going back to work or school after a fun-filled weekend is certainly not something we look forward to. This morning was no exception. I woke up this morning, sick. I mean, incredibly sick. My cold had overnight turned into some sort of viral infection, and on top of not being able to breathe/ blowing my nose off, my stomach was super duper upset. I literally weighed my options while driving to school, of what I would do if I had to throw up... to just do so in my lap, and go home and change or to try to pull over, somehow get out of the car without getting hit and throw up on the side of the road. Teachers' meeting seemed endless this morning, and I literally barely made it. Afterward, after much sympathy from my fellow teachers, I was instructed to eat a few crackers (NOT something I wanted to do) and drink some water. Reluctantly I did so, mainly because one of them gave me some Ibuprofen to take, promising that it would help as long as I had something in my stomach. I was doubtful, but obeyed. And, miracle of miracles, it helped!!! The crackers settled my stomach, and the medicine helped my cold.

The rest of my day went so smoothly. The students were very sympathetic to their poor sick teacher, and tried their best. Maybe they weren't quite good as gold, but they definitely deserve a bronze medal for effort. Today is probably the first day in all of recorded history that one or more of them did not get their name on the board! So, what started off as an unpleasant Monday turned into a really good day! We had a lot of fun and a very enjoyable beginning of the week. Sometimes Mondays aren't so bad after all.

Living room re-do with a touch of fall

I am sorry, all my lovely readers out there in Blogger-land.  This summer was absolutely crazy and mostly without internet.  And I've had my hands a little full since school started.  Plus, my life is incredibly boring, and I felt that I had nothing to blog about.  That is... until I got my "artsy-fartsy" on (as pointed out to me by my dear friend and awesome blogger, Nicole).   If I knew how to join a link to her blog through this post I would, but I'm sure 'yall read her amazing stuff anyway.  So, here are pictures of my living room "renovations".  Since I am not the blogger I should be, of course I did not take before pictures...  but here at least is the finished result. Enjoy!                                                                                          <

I love how this bookcase turned from ugly drab to a fabulous shiny black.  And I had a great time arranging fun touches on it.  I put my growing collection of Nicholas Sparks books on it, as well as all my Pride and Prejudice type books.

Here are the two together

Another table I painted that I moved to between the couches.  Don't you love that I already have my fall decorations out?  Thank you, Hobby Lobby!

Here is my large empty (nail hole studded wall).  Because we cannot paint, and the previous tenants must have made a mural out of nails on the wall, I have resorted to attempting to cover the holes.  Don't you love the welcome sign?  Completely my own idea.  I got 7 matching plates from Goodwill for 50 cents each.  With my cricut, I cut out letters from vinyl and stuck them in the center of each plate.  I then superglue hangers on the back, cut ribbon and hung each plate from a nail in the wall.  It was a very cheap and easy project, which I think turned out great.  The "home sweet home" sign is a picture frame I purchased for 25 cents at a thrift store.  However, I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get the back off.  So, I simply hot glued ribbon around the inside of the frame and cut out more vinyl letters.  I absolutely love how it turned out!

I bought this welcome sign from... where else... HOBBY LOBBY, the bestest store in the world!

Mrs. LaBate, I still LOVE LOVE LOVE this window!!!!  Is there a word more than love?  :)

Love this author!

A closer look at my sign.  Also, the infuser I bought in parts at Walmart, and added the black ribbon.  I think it is just the right touch.  Hope you enjoyed the "tour" of my living room.  I had such a great time doing it, and am very proud of how it turned out.  Maybe it will inspire others to get their spray paint and hot glue guns out.

                      

Something Better

"There is a law that I am learning,
As I live my life each day.
God gives me something better,
For each thing He takes away."