Life Lately...

Lots going on. None of it important. Shall I make a list? Yeah. I'll make a list.

1. My newest obsession is Instagram. I know, that's not new. But it's new to me because I'm super lame. If you want to follow some random pictures of food, a spoiled rotten puppy and all my latest crafts and adventures, my account is lindrid. (Autocorrect just made me type that nine times: awesome!) I'd link it so all you have to do is click. But, who are we kidding? I have no idea how to do that.

2. So, as I've been on Instagram a bunch  lately (too much?) I have a few new favorite apps! Well, the first is not new. I've been using it  for a while. It's called Red Stamp. It's a way to make digital cards on your phone with your pictures. 

Look at all those choices! Here's a pic I made with the app:

The other app I've been using is A Beautiful  Mess. It's totally amazing! You can add fonts and borders to pictures and they're all super cute!

And, here's a sample:

Obviously, I try out all apps using my favorite little subject!

3. I've had the laziest Fourth of July weekend ever! I've been at my parents a few days because I can convince myself it's a mini vacation, ha! It's rained non-stop so fireworks plans were cancelled. We've been puppy sitting for my brother and my mom and I have done a little shopping and crafting. That's honestly it. It's been so relaxing! I'm happy to relax because I have lots of stuff planned next week and  a girl's beach trip Friday: can't even wait! Here are some pics from the weekend:

We made seven pom poms. Four for my classroom and three for a friend's. Super easy!

My mom made the Pioneer Woman's BBQ and it is seriously amazing! And it makes a ton. Highly recommend it!

I've decided this weekend that my dog is a thug. She may look sweet but she just terrorizes Hampy non-stop. She runs up to her and nips at her and will NOT back down, even when Hampy does it back. I have a terrorist puppy! At least she's a cute terrorist...

Hampy girl is pretty cute, too.

And, this needs no explanation. 

4. I spent another day at school last week and got a ton done. Other than helping a friend this week, I'm through going up there until at least the week of the 20th. And, we have inservice starting pretty close to then because school starts August 1st. I feel so much relief knowing it's mostly done. Now I can focus on some things I want to change this year academically and not have to worry about organizing and cleaning. Woo hoo! I'll do a seperate post with a bunch of pictures closer to the beginning of the year. But, here's a sneak peek for now...

5. I figured out a fun way to add backgrounds to my iPad and phone! This may be common knowledge, I don't know. But, if you go to Fabric.com, you can save images of any fabric you want to your device! And then, you can just go in and crop out the ruler on the bottom and save them as a wallpaper! 

Fun, huh? And the best part is that there are literally thousands to choose from!

Oh, also? If you need fabric, that site is awesome and very cheap! Who knew?

Okay, I think that's all. 

Have a good rest of the weekend!

Happy Fourth of July!

Somebody Stop Me!

No really.

 

I can NOT stop making stuff for my classroom! It's sooo fun and sooo addicting! This is not a new problem for me. I go through this every summer. One year, I made so much stuff that I lost the feeling in my right hand for two weeks. I'm not exaggerating.

 

I wish I was.

 

But, guys, this is me:

 

Can I get an amen??

 

But, honestly, I just enjoy making stuff. I took art all four years in high school and I think classroom crafting is my way of getting out all that art angst I have since I don't do it regularly anymore. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

 

This weekend, I went to Michaels. Big mistake. The canvases were 50% off. So, I got one. This wasn't just a frivolous purchase. I lost one of my favorite classroom pieces in the Great Floor Waxing of 2013.

 

 

RIP, painting. I will miss you. We had some good times.

 

So, anyways, I took the new canvas and painted it blue. Then, I made a sun with scrapbook paper, wrote the word shine on it and used a generous helping of Modge Podge to fancy it up. The inspiration came from a painting I had seen on Pinterest a long time ago.

 

 

And, waa-laa!

 

I mean, it's far from perfect. There's a giant bubble in the middle, ha. But, I like it. It serves it's purpose: it's colorful and fun. (It's also not that dark. I'm just obsessed with dark filters on Instagram...) I'll show you where it's new home is when school starts. I just know you're on pins and needles!

 

This project led to another one. I've been wanting to make a balloon wreath for two years and I just never got around to it. So, I bought a five dollar wreath at Walmart, about a million push pins and some balloons.

 

 

I'm in love.

 

I did take the pins out of the ribbon and hot glued that sucker on when I got it to school. I just have a very sketchy glue gun at home. It was a relatively quick and definitely easy craft. It was kind of therapeutic sticking all those pins in... it doesn't take much, folks.

 

Today, I went to the Parent Teacher Store. I have to say, every year, I buy less and less there. I just think all that mass-produced stuff is losing it's appeal to me. I did buy one border for my hallway bulletin board, some name tags for the desks and some clips to hang things from the ceilings.

 

Next, I went into Hobby Lobby. Or, as I like to call it, Heaven on Earth.

 

And, guess what?

 

Ribbon was 50% off!

 

 

I went a little crazy.

 

(To be fair, I already had two of them. But, yeah. Still crazy.)

 

I also got some chevron fabric to use in my room. I want to cover some of my bookcases and I needed something kind of simple.

 

 

When I got home, I put all that ribbon to good use. I have this one wall in my classroom that gives me trouble. Here it is:

 

 

The problem is the space between the two bulletin boards. It's just awkward because of the tv. I tried hanging anchor charts there and it didn't work well. Plus, those cords hanging down are obnoxious, but necessary. So, yeah. I wanted something colorful and useful to stay there permanently.

 

Well, I used some inspiration from about three different pins I saw on Pinterest and decided to make an academic vocabulary word wall for that space. I have a word wall. But, it gets really cluttered and I hate that the words are all mixed together.

 

Here's what I made:

 

 

I'm so excited to see how they look in that space! I pretty much had to hide my keys from myself to keep from driving up to school this afternoon and hanging them up, ha! I plan to make vocabulary cards on white index cards and even including the definitions on the cards. And the best part? Third graders can make them themselves! I love that the words will all be split up by subject instead of just jumbled up on one big wall. And, I'll still use the big word wall for our weekly vocabulary words we learn from the stories we read. Plus, I think it will make me be more conscious about vocabulary which is one of my goals this year. Win/win, friend.

 

This weekend, my mom's gonna' help me turn this:

 

 

into some fun pom-poms!

 

Seriously, somebody needs to stop me.

 

 

 



Full House

 This week, my parents' house was full.

 

 Very full!

 

My grandmother, aunt Connie, cousin Lauren and her three kiddos all came to visit. And, Matt and Blakely and their dog were staying there too. And, I came over with Finley because I didn't want to miss out on all the fun!

 

We had a lot of fun. We didn't do much, just enjoyed spending time with family. And with three kids and two dogs running around, it was pretty loud!

 

It was like that scene in Christmas Vacation when everyone's just sitting there quietly and then... the doorbell rings and chaos ensues...

 

Hampy didn't even know what was about to hit her.

 

 

We had to take some selfies, because that's what kids do. And, hipsters do it too. But, we aren't hipsters. Nope. We're not.

 

Hipsters would totally know better than to put their knee in the shot.

 

We watched tv in all kinds of fun positions...

 

And, we loved on Baby K.

 

She's pretty sweet.

 

And, she's so squishy and cuddly. I mean, look at these rolls!

 

We may or may not have put Charles in a dog cage.

 

We definitely DID make a mess!

 

Those kids love to play with dog toys.

 

Abigail and I made cupcakes for Lauren's birthday. They were not so cute, but sooooo yummy!

 

Abby was a good helper!

 

That night on the couch, I had this on one side of me...

 

and, this on the other!

 

That would be my dog. In my mom's lap. Sometimes, I wrap her up like that because she scratches the heck out of my arms. But, yeah. She's spoiled rotten.

 

Another day, we went shopping.

 

This one slept.

 

This one wracked up and made some fierce poses.

 

And, this one stayed home with his cousin Matt. Because, he's a mess.

 

But, he sure is cute.

 

Hampy was ready for everyone to return to their regulary scheduled lives...

 

but, Finley loved every minute of the madness!

 

 

It was a fun week!

RIP Google Reader

 
I'm not too sure what all this Google Reader nonsense is. I don't really use it. But, a lot of people do. And, if you follow this little ol' blog currently and you still want to follow it after Google Reader closes on July 1, then you can click over on the fancy new button in the sidebar to the right. I think it's working, I don't really know. It's honestly a miracle I even figured out how to blog because I'm not so much with the technology, ha! But, I'm trying. That counts, right?

Thanks!

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Flashback and a Road Trip

This post is going to be random, so buckle up! I was looking through my iPhone pics and found a bunch I hat blogged about. And, of course, none of them relate to each other whatsoever. But, oh well!

First of all, it's been ONE YEAR since this: 

I can't believe it. She's still not very big, but she's massive compared to the day I met her. I was so nervous for about two weeks because she was so tiny and I had no idea what to do with her. She pretty much just slept. And, honestly, she pretty much just sleeps now :)

I was packing one day last week and Finley was climbing over everything and eating all my clothes so I just put her in this laundry basket. And Miss Scaredy Cat was too chicken to jump out so she just say there. For a looooong time...

Aren't these hydrangeas gorgeous? They're my grandmothers. We went to visit her this weekend. It was a short visit because we brought her back here. My aunt and cousin are coming tomorrow and my brother and his wife are staying here for a while. So, we're gonna have quite the party this week and we didn't want my grandmother to miss out on all the fun! 

When we go to her house, we swing a lot. Mostly because it's cooler outside in the 90 degree heat than it is inside her house, ha.

On the way home, this spoiled little brat slept like a baby :) 

(I say that lovingly. She's not a brat. Usually.)

Look out, Franklin! A party animal is on the loose! 

When we got home, Finley spent a little time reading with my dad on the porch. 

Finley got a haircut and was looking a little poodle-y. 

And she got the best new toy. Because it keeps her verrrrrry busy. 

Know what's been keeping me very busy? 

Summer is perfect Harry Potter reading time. I read the whole series almost every summer. It's my favorite. I skipped the first two books this time because they're my least favorite and I read them at school to the kiddos. 

Okay, one last thing. I'm at my parents' house tonight and I came across these pictures and I love them! 

It's been five years this week since my sweet grandma passed away. She was amazing and I miss her like crazy.

This one just made me laugh. Look at our faces! 

And, this picture? It just screams summer to me. Tired, sunburned, dirty kids coming inside for dinner and baths. and look at those outfits?!? Hello, 1990! Ha! 

Well, thanks for reading. I know it was riveting information!