A Peek into my Classroom

I promise I haven't disappeared!  We have gone back to school for our Teacher Workdays and I have been busy busy busy! For all my teacher readers, we all know how stressful those days can be and how many hours it takes to fulfill your duties.  I wanted to give a few peeks into my new 4th grade classroom! :)

 Bulletin Board for Classroom Jobs

 Busy Wall!  A wall for the student's to show off their work.

 Close up of student's brag wall!

 Close up of student's desk!  The tootsie roll bag says, "Here's something to help you ROLL into 4th grade!"

 Helping Hands - Teacher wishlist for Meet the Teacher day tomorrow

 Writing and math shelves

 A view of the room

 View of the room from a different point of view

 Sign in table

A gift for the parents! (Thanks for "popping" by!) and then a little message from me!

Tomorrow is the big day!  Tomorrow is when I meet my new 28 4th graders! :)  I am excited, nervous, and thrilled to be starting a new year with a new class!

Until later,

XOXO

Ashley

Toasting to Daytime TV

Welp.  This is the last evening before I head back to work in the morning.  It's a Teacher Workday and we have a morning staff meeting, PTA Lunch, and team meetings in the afternoon.  It's a day of catching up with our fellow teacher friends, looking at class lists, and not getting a whole lot done.  I would love to find a teacher that actually gets a lot of work done on the first day back.  I usually going home feeling unaccomplished but I am determined to get at least one thing done tomorrow. (or so I say)

So what have I done today?  I woke up to watch a couple episodes of Saved By The Bell, had a massage (amen!), and then came home to do laundry and do a little crafting.  Of course I had to watch all my daytime today that I will not get to do after today.

I had to watch...

 The View!  I have to give all my "View" love to Elisabeth Hasselbeck.  If she were not on this show then I probably wouldn't watch it.  I have to admit I am not a huge Whoopi fan and I think that she likes to take control of every conversation. (apologies to Whoopi fans!)  I have recently found this show...

The Talk!  This is the perfect cast (in my opinion)  How can you not just fall in love with Leah, Holly, Sharon, Julie, & Sarah?  I seriously LOVE watching all five of them interact and talk amongst each other.  They have different opinions and they respect each other.  They have a quality that you can't find on a lot of talk shows.

Have you watched either one?  Which one is your fave?

I am going to vote with THE TALK and send love to all of their fabulous hosts!

Let me leave by toasting to the ladies who have occupied my summer and kept me entertained for days on end.  You will be missed.

XOXO

-Ashley-

Let me introduce you to....& share my number one problem!

Meet my three fur babies...

 Allie

 Mason

& Amber

These three dogs are seriously like my children.  They are spoiled and seriously run the house.  I really love them all and they are all rescue dogs!  There is only one problem...SHEDDING!

Please tell me someone else out there has dogs that shed crazily.  I mean these dogs shed and shed and shed.  We will sweep up what looks like another dog in just fur, just to have more the very next day.  It is seriously driving me insane.  The hubby and I spent a good hour cleaning today and then we even brushed the dogs and I already see hair. What is up with that?

We need HELP!  I am hoping there is someone out there that can give us the cure or share a secret that keeps your house fur free!  I am desperate and have even started browsing online for "As Seen On T.V" products that are supposed to keeping shedding to a minimum. All I know is I am ready for the shedding to stop and for my house to be hair free. 

Until next fur animal is swept up,

XOXO

-Ashley-

The TRUTH!

I have probably eaten ice cream more in the past week than in a long time.  Oops!  My body is not like it was five years ago.  I can see the change when I eat unhealthy foods. Yuck!  I need to head back to the gym as often as I used to and get this whole thing worked out. 

So I know you are wondering what my favorite ice cream place is...

 I absolutely love Marble Slab!! I have gotten the same ice cream and mix every single time I have gone there for probably ten years. And to think that I claim I like change.  I always get cheesecake mixed with butterfinger.  Does that not sound delish?  What are your favorite flavors?

I went to The Creamery last night with my sister and friend, Jessica.  While checking out I asked the cashier how they kept the marble cold enough to not melt the ice cream while they were mixing it.  I honestly was curious.  Then I found out a SECRET that will HAUNT me the rest of my LIFE.

You know the slab?  The famous "marble slab"????

IT IS NOT ACTUALLY MARBLE!!!  I know, insert your shocked face right now, I couldn't believe my ears.  The slab that the entire dessert franchise is based on is not marble.  It is granite. Does Granite Slab Creamery sound ok to you?  I don't think so.  

Alright, let me have it....are you as shocked as I was?

Until next lie unveiled,

XOXO

-Ashley-

Random Weather

This weather is CRAZY here in N.C!  This summer has brought on all sorts of craziness around where we live.  In fact it is a little scary.  We have had the hottest days that NC has seen in years, more storms that I think I have seen in years, and even a random cool day here and there.  The weather just doesn't make any sense.  Coming from an old second grade teacher who studied weather intensely for quite some time, the patterns just don't seem normal.  (I think I am starting to sound like a meteorologist, my bad.)

This morning I headed to my parents house (that is up for sale *enter sad face*) to wait for an appointment they had set up.  Since they no longer live in NC, I agreed to do this for them.  Fabulous daughter?  I think so.  I pulled into the driveway only to see...

 and...

 oh wait, there is more...

 and...

What in the world?  I live less than fifteen minutes away from their home and our neighborhood looks nothing like this.  I'm trying to even remember what storm this is all from?  How can it be this bad just a few miles away?  All I can hear are the sounds chainsaws running and people gathering wood at the curb. Seriously?  Not to mention that one of the trees fell onto a neighbors car. Oops! 

Has the weather been this random everywhere?

Until the next tree falls,

XOXO

Ashley

My New Obsession

I have a new obsession...

 Have you tried this stuff yet?  I was shopping at Target recently and went through the grocery aisles ( I love their food prices!) I ran across this Organic Sweet Tea and I thought I would give it a try.  Let me just tell you it is AH-Mazing!  I have already gone through almost two containers of it and it has only been a couple days. Oops!

What drink obsessions do you have?  Where do you buy them?  Please share!!

Until next refill,

XOXO

-Ashley-

Positivity

If you read my last post, you know that I am in a positive mindset and I really want to bring positivity to my coworkers, students, and friends.  In a world where it is extremely hard to stay positive (myself included), I want to make a conscious effort to put my best foot forward and to attempt to make a difference.

I have been debating about what to do in my library area in my classroom for about a week or so now.  I used to have a big school bus to keep up with their reading for each quarter.  I wanted to do something different and a little bit more mature for my fabulous future students.  Since I am on this positive kick, I decided to put some quotes in frames and I am going to line the top of my book shelves with them.  Again, I apologize at the crappy quality of my camera phone. :(

 " A warm smile is the universal language of kindness."

 " It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

 "Just for today, no matter where I am going, or what I am doing, or who I am doing it with, It is my intention to focus on the positive."

I hope that my students know and remember these quotes as the year progresses.  I will probably add more to my bookshelves, especially for mini lessons that we may or may not need to build character.  

When I am out in public I constantly notice the number of children that don't show kindness to their parents, friends, sales people, etc.  If I can only reach a class of 25+, then I need to reach them well and really teach them how important kindness is in the real world.

Can you think of any other quotes that are great mini life lessons that I could share with my kids?

Until next life lesson,

XOXO

-Ashley-