HOLLOW LEG?

Is is normal for a 2.5 year old to eat an entire one of these?

Or 10 of these and ask for more?

Now, I don't normally have a freezer full of this stuff but we had a sitter on Friday and her mom is my teammate at school. I have heard from her momma that we have no "good food" at our house. So I did stop at the store and pick up some teenage friendly junk food for her. I put the pizza in the oven for them to share before we left. When we got home she informed us that he ATE THE WHOLE THING himself. ohmy. The next day for lunch he asked for the  "little pizzas". So I made him 5 pizza rolls. He quickly ate them all and then asked for more. I made 5 more. He ate them all and asked for more again! I told him they were all gone. This kid can eat!! He does eat healthy things too, not just junk-promise. The child cried for strawberries at SAMS Club yesterday, but I really did not think we needed an entire vat of berries- maybe I was wrong. We have been home from school for about an hour and he has had a yogurt, some fruit snacks, a slice of cheese and asked for more. ahhhh. I did give him some water and told him we would eat dinner soon.
I am wondering if he is going through a growth spurt or something. If he eats this much at two, how will I be  able to afford to feed him when he is 16!!

Just wondering- IS THIS NORMAL?

We are EXCITED.

WELL- WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Do you like the new blog design? I finally decided it was time to try something different and so glad I did. Thanks to Leslie, I am so excited about my new look. Today has been a pretty non-exciting day in Snyderland. Clark and I did make a trip to Big Lots to pick up the necessities- you know fruit snacks and chips. Those were Clark's requests when I mentioned going to Big Lots this morning. ha! The kid knows what he likes. We had a 20% off coupon so we headed over and did indeed find fruit snacks, chips, and many other spectacular finds. Along with seeing three people we knew in all my non-showered glory. yay. I thought that was going to be the highlight of the day, but when I got home I found an email saying my blog was done. THAT made me excited.

Let me know what you think about the new look.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend. This is the first time I have seen my grass in over a month. It may be brown, but at least it is not covered in snow- for one day anyway!

Teacher Talk Thursday

FIRST EDITION

Well today is my first attempt at a blog link up and I am pretty excited about it. I love a good peek in other classrooms and I LOVE getting new ideas from other teachers so I hope that Teacher Talk Thursday will do just that! So today I am sharing a few organizational tips. These are just a few things I do to keep my classroom somewhat organized. There are sooooo many areas of my day and my classroom routine that need organizational improvement and I am hoping to get some tips from many of you.

One of my favorite parts of my classroom is my classroom library. I have been building this library since before I started teaching. I pick up books all the time to add to the collection. I get many of my books from yard sales, consignment sales, free from Scholastic with bonus points, Scholastic book warehouse sales and clearance sales. I rarely pay full price for a book. Because of all my luck finding a good deal, I have quite the collection. I do work very hard to keep them organized and teach (and remind) my kids how to take care of them so that I can keep them nice. I have tried MANY different systems for organizing them and may change my mind again, but I am really liking how they are organized right now.

Shelf One.

Shelf Two.

As you can see I have the books in colored baskets. They are in baskets by genre, (ps- GENRE is one of my favorite words) or by author if I have enough of that author to have a full basket. The baskets are from the dollar store and the labels are from Really Good Stuff.  I have used yard sale stickers to label the books.
I used a sticker that matches the color of the basket and is labeled to match the label on the basket. For example: If your book has a blue NF sticker on it, it goes in the blue Non-Fiction basket. The color coordinating stickers have helped my kids tremendously when they are returning books to the correct basket. I did put a piece of clear tape over each sticker to help it stay.

Yellow Realistic Fiction Basket = Yellow RF sticker.

Red Animal Fantasy Basket = Red AF sticker.

Red Jan Brett Basket = Red JB sticker.

I understand that this is not rocket science and you may have a wonderful system too, but I just had to share what was working for me!  I had all of the books separated into the baskets I wanted them in and then had a WONDERFUL parent volunteer and student teacher that helped me put the stickers on to label each book. Now when I get a new book I just have to add the sticker. I also have librarian as one of my classroom jobs. This student checks at the end of the day to make sure the stickers match the baskets. This does not take a lot of time at the end of the day and helps keep everything in it's place.

You may have also noticed that I have a January book basket on one of my shelves. This basket changes each month. I fill it with books that go with the holiday(s) of the month (if there is one) or with books that go with something we are focusing on that month. For example: The January book basket is filled with Martin Luther King Jr. books and snow themed books (VERY fitting since we have had 12 snow days so far!). I have another basket of all the seasonal books behind my desk that is filled with books for each month. I keep them all in one place so that when a new month comes and I am changing the month basket I can easily find them all.

Three more quick things I do to keep up with it all are:
1. I have a divided shelf behind my desk where I put all of my copies and materials for the week. I have a slot for each day of the week, one for RTI materials, one for morning work, one for new student materials (in case I get a new student in the middle of the year- happens quite often), and a few more. All of the slots are labeled and make it so much easier for me to find everything.  In the baskets on top I keep my teacher's manuals and other books I use everyday.

2. I also use mailboxes in my classroom. The mailboxes are labeled with a number so that I do not have to re-label each year. The kids have a classroom number that they write after their name on every assignment they turn in. We put all of our work from the week in the mailbox and then it all goes home on Friday. This cuts down on things they have to take home everyday too. I have a bucket on top of the mailboxes where I put all checked or graded work. On the bucket I have a student list with their number in case the forgot to put the number on the paper. This bucket is there if I ever have a parent or student helper to help me file. If I have not help, I at least have until Friday to get it all filed.

3. I have a drawered divider in the back of my room that I picked up at WalMart. In this I keep extra materials on hand that the kids might need throughout the day. They drawers are labeled and allow for easy access to what they need. I keep things in there that they may run out of. It just helps keep me sane and not searching for a brown crayon when Suzy can't find one to finish her bar graph! ha!

So there you have it. Some simple things I do in my classroom.
Thanks for stopping by. I can't wait to see what you have to share!

I hope you play along- if not, JOIN US NEXT WEEK.
Next Week's topic: Show & Tell. Just share something. ANYTHING that you would like. A great lesson, funny story, cool project, ANYTHING you think is worth sharing.

A Case of The Tuesdays.

I am in a funk. Not sure what is causing said funk. Weather? Not being pregnant? Lack of routine due to11 snow days and the possibility of ANOTHER tomorrow? Could be none or all of the above, but I am thinking about going to bed early tonight in hopes that tomorrow is a better one.  I try really hard to be positive and see the brighter side of things but I am not too perky these last few days. So sorry to whine- just had to get that out there.

I do have one idea that might make me smile.
TEACHER TALK THURSDAY.

I am not really sure how this is going to work. Not sure if I am going to do it every Thursday or a few times a month, or even once a month. Not sure if we are going to have a theme each time or just let it be a place where you share things that you are doing that you feel are worth sharing. But I have decided that as our first one we will have a theme. THIS THURSDAY I will be sharing a few organizational tips of things I do in my classroom to help things stay somewhat organized. I would LOVE to see and hear what you are doing. I am always looking for new ideas. Maybe you have ONE  idea to share or maybe a whole list of things, but I do hope you play along. (Come on- you totally should. You do want to help me out of this funk don't you?)
So get an idea ready and come back on Thursday and play!

Until then, I will leave you with this picture of my wild man.  ENJOY.

Snow Day Play by Play #2

This time last year I was just begining my blog while home on a snow day. One of my very first posts (HERE) was a Snow Day Play by Play and today we are home again and I thought I would do it again since it had been nearly a whole year.  So here  is a peek at what we did all day around this house on our 10th snow day.

9:25- I get up. Yes. 9:25.
Notice C is still snoozing.
Stuart has been up, gone to gym, fixed and eaten breakfast, showered and gone to work.
I am just getting up! ha.
Note: Normally my alarm goes off at 5:30.



10:00- Clark wakes up!
He wakes up DRY and with sweet bedhead!



Yes- Day 7 of NO DIAPERS!!

Candy Cane reward because I was soooo excited that he stayed dry all night.
Yes, a candy cane for breakfast. Dry all night is a big deal people!

11:00- C enjoys some Cheerios during Choo Choo Soul, and I browsed some on
Teacherspayteachers.com. Barney waits paitently for some of his own.

12:00- Lunch Break.
On the menu today- Spaghettios and PBJ.

1:00- Naptime.
(He laid in bed talking and singing until about 2:15. Finally goes to sleep around 2:30)

During Naptime- THIS GUY shows up!
Yes, I was soo happy even though he rang the doorbell at about the same time Clark decides to go to sleep.

Ah. My J.Crew order. Made my day.

3:00- Barney is out.

During Naptime- I try on my new J.Crew deals, catch up on emails, play on fb,
read blogs, read from my Nook, load the dishwasher, 2 loads of laundry, read more Nook,
fold said laundry while watching Criminal Minds from DVR, clean microwave,
stove top and counter tops and exciting things like that.

4:15- Daddy comes home and C gets up.

4:30-Get dressed and ready to make the snowman he has been talking about ALL DAY.

Cleaned off car.

Barney LOVED the family snow time.

Mowed the snow.




Quick family picture in snow.
(Do you love my new headband? If so go HERE to get your own.)

 

He loved every minute of it.
Running in the snow and throwing the snow.

Snow wrestling.

My sweet boy.

5:15- Came in from snow play.

6:15- Eat Dinner.
Chick-Fil-A per Clark's request. Sounded good so we agreed.

7:00- A little book reading.

7:30- A little train playing.

8:00- A little daddo playing.

8:30- turn on tunes. Time for bed.

8:30- Night Night Big Guy!



As you can see we did not get much done today, but it was great to be home with my guy all day. Tonight I am blogging, watching Dateline and snuggling with Stuart. It has been a low key day, will be a low key night and I am loving it. Low key and lazy is not something I do too often so snow days are always a plus in my book. So there you have it. The play by play of our day. 11-21-11

On another note. I am excited that so many of you are excited about Teacher Talk Thursday! If we don't start this Thursday we will begin February 4th so get your ideas ready. The first theme will be classroom organization. What tips can you share on how you organize things in your classroom?  Books, files, paperwork, materials, anything. I am always looking for new ideas on how to keep it all together, so I think this will be a fun place to start. So get your ideas ready!!

Have A GREAT Weekend.

An Idea, An Award, and A Video

Today is SNOW DAY #9. I got THE TEXT at about 5:45 this morning, right after my alarm went off. I was a little confused as I looked out the window to NO SNOW as to why we were not going to school. I mean come on- my kids have been on the same spelling list for 3 weeks and we will never learn to divide if we are not there. Not to mention the persuasive letters we are writing to SANTA that are still not done. ugh. How authentic are those going to be now. But I am not going to complain because I love a good snow day and I will take anytime at home that I can get weather it be now or in June. I am however googling Father's Day activities to do with my kiddos because with the way things are going we are going to be in school until July! (PS- as I am typing this it is beginning to snow buckets outside.)

THE IDEA:
In the middle of playing trains and Legos this morning I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog carnival type thing. I LOVE getting other ideas from teachers and learning what other people do in their classroom. I participate in many other bloggers carnivals such as What I'm Loving Wednesday, Top 2 Tuesday, Show Us Your Life Friday and things like that. This summer I participated in Teacher Week over at Babbling Abby and L-O-V-E-D getting to peek into other teacher's rooms and learn what works for them and share some of my ideas too. From Teacher Week I found SO MANY great teacher blogs and blogs of people whom I can relate. So I thought it would be fun to create a place where teachers could link up and share. It may happen once a month or every week depending on if it works. I know that many of you are not teachers and that this blog is mainly a way for me to tell my stories from our family happenings, but being a teacher is a huge part of MY STORY and I am always on the lookout for new ideas. So with that being said- If I started TEACHER TALK THURSDAY would any of you want to play along with me? Do you have any teacher friends that might like to play along too? Let me know what you think and if you have any topic ideas that we could start with.

THE AWARD:

Lindsey, over at Fillies and Juleps, awarded me with a Stylish Blogger Award.

With this award comes duties. Four of them.

*Make a post + Link back to the person who awarded you this award.
*Share 7 things about yourself.
*Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers I'm changing this rule to 5. Fifteen is just too many.
*Contact these bloggers and tell them they’ve won!
HERE GOES.
1. I cry every time I see the Disney Christmas morning commerical where the parents tell the kids they are going to Disney. Have you seen it? Ohmyword. Not sure why, but I cry every time.

2. I am obsessed with Lip Gloss and have been for as long as I can remember. Even as  a little girl I always carried a Lip Smacker. These days I have become addicted to the Bubble Gum Mint flavor from VS. Many think it sounds gross, but I love my lip gloss to have a tingle to it.

3. I have never straightened my hair. People ask me ALL THE TIME what straightener I use and I just laugh. My hair is stick straight! It does not have even the slightest wave in it. It does not hold curl which made those early 90's cheerleader ponytails impossible fir this girl. The only time it has been curly is once when I might have had a permed mullet. But that is a WHOLE different story for a different day.

4. I cannot go to bed at night in an unmade bed. I (we- whoever is up last) make our bed EVERY MORNING. I have to. No matter how late we are it has to get made. It is hard for me to function if the bed is not made. And if for some reason it does not get made (reason being Stuart is last one up and he did not make it) I have to make it before I can get into it.

5. I am addicted to sale shopping. I love a good online sale, warehouse sale, 1 Day Only sale, heck- even a yard sale. I pride myself in my ability to find a good sale. (For example just ordered the $98.00 JCrew sweater I have been eyeing for $17.99 after sale and coupon code & I am loving the Vineyard Vines order that just came for my boys. 40%off, free shipping and a little extra from a coupon code) I buy a season ahead for Clark from end of the season clearance sales to keep him stylin' and my bank account happy.

6. I have an older sister and a younger brother. My sister is 10 years older than me and she has two boys that are both in high school. She lives in my hometown. My younger brother is 16 months younger than me and he lives on Martha's Vineyard. He studied turf/golf course management in college and works at a golf course on The Vineyard. He is obsessed with Clark and I think that is so cute. If he wouldn't kill me, I would totally enter him over at Kelly's Korner Show Us your Life Friday singles addition! :)

7. I love board games. I was in a meeting last night and they asked us to introduce ourselves by telling our name and our favorite board game and I was a little stressed because I had to pick ONE. I love Scatagories, Cranium, Trivial Pursuit, Catch Phrase, Taboo, Apples to Apples-just to name a few. I enjoy a good game night and wish I got to play more often.

There you have it. Seven facts about me on this now snowy day.
I am passing the award on to:

1.) Meredith @ The Davis's
2.) Kate @ The Bradshaw Buzz
3.) Kerbi @ So You Are To Me
4.) Kaelin @ The Thacker Family
5.) Emily @ Live A Charmed Life


THE VIDEO:
Here is my guy singing to me while we ate breakfast this morning.
It pretty much sums up why I LOVE snow days.
(Clark is pretty quiet so you might want to scroll down to the bottom of my page and pause my playlist so you can hear his sweet voice.)


Untitled from Abby Snyder on Vimeo.

In case you are unaware. He is singing the theme song to the show The Wonder Pets. ha!

HAPPY THURSDAY.