Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

I love Halloween! I'm just sitting here watching Casper on ABC Family (and Hocus Pocus is coming on next...) and eating candy. Lots of candy. I thought I'd share a few of the pumpkin activities we did last week at school. Since, tomorrow morning, it will all be old news :)

We started off the week making these pumpkin growth flip charts. I've done this differently the last few years. Usually, we just label the steps on construction paper. This year, I felt like my kids were capable of writing a little better and I wanted them to write out the steps. Plus, we've been working on using first, next, then and last to help us write.

I love how first graders feel the need to draw hearts all over everything they make, don't you? I usually catch it and make them erase, but this one slipped by me :)

When you open each flap, you get to read about that stage of a pumpkin's life.

Here's another one...

 

The next day, I brought in a great big pumpkin and we investigated the heck out of that thing! I made an anchor chart and we filled it out together.

We described the inside and outside. And, we predicted and counted how many lines and seeds our pumpkin had. I'll be completely honest with you. I think pumpkins are disgusting. I HATE sticking my hand in those slimy things. And, they smell awful. But, I do it every year because those kids get so dang excited! I could never deprive them of such a fun thing. I just let them do all the "gut removal" for me :)

 (I need to give a special shout-out to my little first grade friend who sat on the floor for twenty minutes and pulled every single last piece of slime from inside that pumpkin once everyone had gotten their handful. If it weren't for him... we would have been carving a full pumpkin cause I seriously CAN NOT handle it!)

After finishing our chart, we waited until the afternoon to do our carving. I tried something new this year. Instead of the kids running around like heathens sitting and watching as I carved the pumpkin, I had them write a how-to story about carving a pumpkin. So, we did one step at a time and they would write a sentence about it.

The next day, I felt like we needed to make a pumpkin. And, I had big plans to attach their how-to writing to the pumpkins we made. But, I couldn't figure out how to hang it all together. I think the paper plate pumpkins we made are pretty cute just by themselves, though.

Here they are:

The kids had so much getting to be creative and make their own faces. I told them they could be "scary" or "nice" jack-o-lanterns. I think most of them went with "whatever is easiest to cut out." Ha.  

I like them because they add a great big punch of color to my back wall. And, their parents will get a big kick out of seeing them tomorrow for parent-teacher conferences.

And, I just thought this one was cute.

Oh, and we read a bunch of pumpkin books.

We especially liked Pumpkin Town and Too Many Pumpkins.

But, our favorite book last week? Hands down, it was this:

We might have read it twice last week. And, we definitely did read it twice more today. Ha. They cannot get enough of it! They LOVED to sing along with it and they started adding in all these "ahhh" sounds after every page. I was CRACKING UP. And, I'm so glad ya'll couldn't hear me trying to rap this book to them. Because, that? Wasn't pretty. Not pretty at all. But, they were impressed. So, I guess that's all that matters. Needless to say, I know 20 first graders who would highly reccommend this book :)

Well, that's all I've got for tonight.

Happy Halloween!

A New Old Painting

I went to the Nashville Flea Market this weekend with my mom. Everybody knows that October is the BEST month to go there because it's the biggest one! And, the weather is always great: not too hot and not too cold. My mom and I  made a deal that we wouldn't even go to the inside booths this time because there was so much extra stuff outside. And, the outside is my favorite anyway because it's where all the furniture is. If I had to pick only one place that I had to shop at the rest of my life it would HANDS DOWN be this flea market. That's how much I love it!

As we were walking around outside, something caught my eye. An awesome painting. A really old awesome painting. I asked my mom if I was crazy. "Is that amazing, or no?" She agreed that it was a great piece of art. I mostly liked the colors in it. It has a realllly old and kind-of unintentionally distressed frame. The mat surrounding it is stained. But, ya'll? What can I say? The heart wants what it wants. Ha.

So, I decided to ask about the price. The guy working the booth sold me some ridiculous load of  you-know-what about how it's an original and was from a French painter and it was worth hundreds of dollars and blah, blah, blah. I didn't believe a word of it. But, I wasn;t interested in it because of all that. I just liked it. So, sold.

I brought it home and it's found a new (maybe temporary?) home...

right on top of my favorite flea-market purchase of all time.

Here's a close-up.

You can probably notice the stains on the mat. They don't really bother me because you know I love me some "old" stuff. But, I may paint that mat someday. It's an option. I won't be doing it any day soon, though. Ha.

Of course, in putting the painting over the cabinet, I had to find a new place for the teal architectural piece that was sitting there. I just shifted it over to the side to give the wall some more color. It looks random, I have to say. But, I do have plans to put a floor-length lamp in that corner behind the chair. So, maybe it will look better then. If not, I'll move it somewhere else. No big deal. I'm having a lot of fun moving stuff around right now, in case you haven't noticed!

So, this is the before...

and this is the after.

I think it's an improvement.

This room has always felt pretty random to me and a little bare. But, it's only been a few months since I moved in and I think it will just take a little time for me to find inspiration for this room.

But, I'm sure having fun trying to figure it out!

House Updates

I've been shopping and I've gotten a few fun items for the new house. It's starting to feel more and more complete!

First of all, my chevron rug that I ordered from Urban Outfitters arrived! I ordered it over a month ago and it's been the biggest pain. I kept checking my bank account and it never appeared, so I thought maybe I had made a mistake in ordering it. And, I debated about whether to order a new one... and had honestly decided I would just look for a rug somewhere else. But, lo and behold, the UPS man brought it Wednesday night... what a nice surprise!

Isn't it nice? The picture is misleading because it's a darker gray... and the weaving in the rug is really nice! I'm VERY pleasantly surprised at how well this rug was made.

As with everything, there's the dilemna about where to put it: the den or the front room. I bought it for the kitchen, but I think it's just toobig for that space.

Here are the options:

this room

OR...

this room.

I can't decide if there's too much chevron in the den. It's going to stay there for now until I can decide.

Also, my new ETSY pillows came in a while ago. I like them... I wouldn't say I love them on these chairs because they're a little big. I'm still working on the right pillow combination... such problems, I tell ya!

Here's the complete look. I defintely like them more than the blue pillows!

I bought this HUGE rustic mirror at TJ Maxx yesterday. I can't even express how excited I was when I saw that it was pretty affordable! I grabbed it up and carried all over the store... which, if you can't tell, it's heavy.

Here's a close-up.

On the opposite wall from the mirror, there was a round clock that belongs to my roomie Claire. It looked kind of weird to have circles right beside each other. Sooooo... I moved the clock to another wall and I started hanging up some stuff I had to make a collage wall. What do you think?

The two gray frames came from the flea market. The Keep Calm poster was where the big mirror is now. It might need another item or two to make it look more complete. Don't worry: I'm going to the flea market again this weekend :)

A close-up shot...

And, a view from straight ahead.

The more I look at it, the more I'm starting to like it!

And, lastly, I bought these two oil paintings to put in the hallway upstairs. I will eventually frame them. But, they look fine as is.

It's been Fall Break around here: so, that's why I've had time to do all this shopping.

I went to the beach and had a great time!

Now, it's back to life and I've spent the second half of the week getting my car tested and getting cavities filled... ahhh, so fun!

As always, thanks for reading!

 

Writing's a Hoot!

The week before Fall Break was a little nuts at school. Running Records took up about 85% of my time. But, the rest of the time? My little friends were hard at work on their writing.

First, we read the book Owl Babies, which my kids LOVED! They especially liked the part when Baby Bill cries "I want my mommy!" over and over. Since our Treasures theme this week was Animal Families and we had been discussing how animal parents care for their babies like human parents do, I thought it all tied together pretty well. And, if I'm being completely honest, I had been DYING for them to make owls.

After reading the book, we filled in our Story Map. The Story Map is my new favorite thing. (I don't even have a picture of it, sorry.) It's a poster with the headings: title, characters, setting, problem, solution and theme. We use Post-It's to fill in the information about basically every book we read.

The next day, we took the information from the Story Map and we wrote it into sentences. We used the same kind of web that we used last week with the spider writing. Then, they transferred their writing into sentences on paper.

On Friday, I let them make the owls and branches and put them on their papers. I wasn't completely blown-away by them as they were working on them. But, hanging all together, I think they're DANG CUTE. Ha. I guess there really is strength in numbers.

I hung them over my back cabinets.

I'm a pretty firm believer that scrapbook paper is a teacher's best friend. It just makes everything so much cuter. And, if you buy it in those big packs? It's cheap and it's all in the same color scheme. Win/win, huh?

 

 

And, sorry. These are all the pics I got. I'm lucky I remembered to get these. Did I mention how NUTS the week before Fall Break is?

I have to say... OWL definitely be doing this writing activity again next year!

 

A "Grown Up" Kind of Day

Do you ever have a day where it just hits you? You're an adult. A real, actual, official adult. I had one of those days today.

I'm not a fan of cooking. I've been sitting in the teacher's lounge at school for the last five years bored to tears as people talk about recipes and crock pots and all that other "domestic" stuff. I was NOT INTERESTED. I'm the girl who signed up to bring napkins and plates for every shower we've thrown at school: as long as I didn't have to cook something!

But, today,  I just got the urge to cook. My co-worker Heather told me about a recipe a couple of weeks ago and it's SO GOOD and SO EASY. She got it off the Hellman's website. You just mix mayo and parmesan cheese into a bowl. I add lots of italian seasoning to the mixture... just because I like it. Then, you rub the mixture on some chicken breasts and roll it in some italian bread crumbs. It bakes for about 30 minutes at 450 degrees. Ya'll, it's AMAZING! I've been adding store-bought marinara to it to make it even more yum.

I also made some Parmesan Knots that I found on Pinterest. You get Pillsbury Golden Layers Buttermilk Biscuits in a can. Then, you roll them out and twist them into a knot. They cook for ten minutes. Then, you mix canola oil, oregano flakes, parmesan cheese and garlic powder with parsley. When the knots come out of the oven, you use a brush to put the mixture on them. They are delicious. I'll definitely be making them again!

A relatively healthy dinner... I'm shocked at myself.

(Don't worry. I'm sure I will eat Sonic for dinner tomorrow.)

And, to make matters worse, I spent my hard-earned money on a pumpkin and a pretty flower for my front porch while I was grocery shopping. I seriously don't know what came over me.

Definitely more inviting. And, we're all set for Fall now!

I also made a big decision. The new yarn wreath is going on the front door. For now. Who knows how long it will stay there...

Well, that's all I've got.

I'm off to do some dishes.

Thanks for reading!

Dreaming...

I've seen some great stuff on Pinterest lately. Especially in the home decorating department. I just wanted to share some of the amazing rooms I've been drooling over. You can find all of these images and their sources by clicking on the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button over to the right side of my blog.

I LOVE, LOVE reds and teals. And, I mostly love them together. This room is just so pretty to me! I wouldn't change a thing...

I also like this color scheme. I wouldn't think to ever put navy, gold and pink together... but, it works! I think I can officially say that I am becoming a HUGE navy fan.

I really like this calming room. It just looks so inviting! And, every house needs a touch of animal print. Right, Mom?

I'm now on a search for a plate rack that I can put picture frames on. Such a great idea! Maybe I can find one... fingers crossed.

LOVING orange. And stripes. Together? Can't beat it.

We should seriously all have a home office this beatiful. And, that wall color is amazing. Just amazing.

Sigh. I just want to snuggle up in this sweet little room and read a book.

I just LOVE these chairs. And, the wall color and bamboo shades.

I think even I would enjoy cooking in this kitchen!

Love the colors.

And, lastly, I ADORE these stripes. I am trying to get up the nerve to do this in one of my bathrooms. It'll probably never happen.

But, it sure is fun to dream.