Five for Friday (Early or Late?!)

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday on Sunday. I'm feeling random, so I thought it would be appropriate! Now you can either claim I'm a couple days late or you can think like I do and figure I am five days early. I'm not going to explain my thinking because I don't know that anyone would understand my explanation. It is just the way I think!


This week was short. Three days short. Monday was a scheduled day off. Friday was a snow day. That leaves only three days of teaching this week. I can't believe I'm about to say this but here it goes, "I've had enough snow days for the year." My house is so clean, I follow my kitty around and take pictures of her. I even use kitty treats to get her to pose for some of them.

Does anyone else feel like February is way to short to fit all the awesomeness there is in the month? Ground Hog Day, Valentines Day, MLK Day, President's Day, Black History Month, Dental Health Month, and  Chinese New Year plus Hundreds Day always comes in February. Who decided to only give this great month 28 days? I'm starting a petition to add an extra week in February. We all want a longer winter anyway. Right? 

And now for a joke...What goes clink, clank, clink, crash?   A robot laughing his head off! Get it? I told that joke to my Owlets and they thought it was pretty funny. When I was a kid I told a similar joke quite a bit...What goes ha-ha-ha plop? A man laughing his head off! Get it? 

I love you a-bot! Get it?!

Here are some of my favorites!

This year was my Third Annual President's Parade and Luncheon. Each student researches a different president and makes a poster about him/her(someday there will be a her). This year I invited participants from the last two years to participate if they wanted to. Several of them decided to be first ladies instead! We marched through the halls to the sounds of John Philip Sousa's President Garfield's Inauguration March. Candy was thrown and streamers were waved!

Some how we ended up with two Tafts! Only one was stuck in the tub!

Speaking of Taft....Have you seen this book? Hil.ar.i.ous! My students love Taft because he was the um the um largest president of anything including the United States of America. Chris Van Dusen's illustrations are always a win with me. For that matter, Mac Barnett hasn't written a book I didn't like either. I'll keep reading everything he writes to make sure he keeps up the good work! 

I should warn you that one of the reviewers said it wasn't appropriate for the classroom because of all of the pictures in the tub. Apparently Taft bathed without clothes on...gasp! That is why I think it is especially engaging! Kids love this kind of humor!!

It's never too late early to link up with Five for Friday!

Five For Friday

Valentines Day would not be complete without talking about the greatest love of all! John 15:13 tells us what the greatest love is. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friend." Each day teachers put the needs of their students ahead of their own, they are loving like that. My Owlets read 1Corinthians 13 with me yesterday and looked for words that gave evidence of love. We want our hearts so full of love that there isn't any room for hate. Sharing God's word with my students every day is the best part of my job.

I can't imagine living somewhere that doesn't have the hope of a snow day once in a while. There is something really awesome about hearing that phone ringing at an odd time in the middle of the night. Then being able to climb back under toasty warm covers while listening to the winds pound the windows asking to come in is priceless. Much to my daughter's disappointment I spend a snow day at home and off the roads. I search for unusual crafts to make using hangers and milk jugs. I drink coffee, take naps and watch birds. 

I think I finally figured out how to give Hundred's Day the time it deserves. Stretch it out over the first several days of hundred. There is no way anyone can fit in all the wonderful and educational ideas associated with the day. My favorite activity this year was 100 balloons. After blowing them up I was going to use them until they popped of natural causes. The best time we had was taking them out of our classroom tepee and covering the associated number on a unifix cube 100 frame. The Owlets had to find a cube the same color as the balloon to cover the corresponding number with. We could easily use the cubes to build a graph to see which color we had the most. Because we can't go outside if the temperature is ten degrees, they ended up being a great indoor recess activity too.

Valentine's Day, how I love you. My Owlets get so excited about sharing their cards and treats with each other. This year I the most unique Valentine ever. One of my kids made wooden Valentines for me and each of his classmates. He was so proud to have made them all by himself. What great parents this kid has. He came up with this idea and executed it on his own. He brought them to school three days early!

My baby turned 16 this week. 16! She is a constant source of sweetness in my life. Even when she kicked my hand yesterday during some wild dancing we were doing in the kitchen, I can't imagine life without her laughter and energy. Drivers Ed. Starts in two weeks. I hope I can survive this last student driver's 50 hours!

Happy birthday to her. Here is a set of bookmarks for you. They're free until March!

Dear Vacation...A Love Letter!

I bought these cute graphics from From the Pond!

For Valentine's Day my owlets made free hugs! They had to
estimate how many hearts it takes to make a hug. I
traced around their arms. They cut and placed the hearts
from fingertip to fingertip. 

Dear Vacation,
I have missed you so much. I love the way you let me sleep in late and let me play dumb  games like Candy Crush Saga without feeling even a tiny bit guilty. You give me lots of time to catch up on laundry, dusting and school work. I get nice long chunks of time to read awesome books like Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott that make me think, laugh and grow.  I love you, vacation, even though I know you'll leave me again. Thanks for coming at just the right time. You are helping me recover from Valentine's Day, 100's Day, a 14 year old's birthday bash and a weekend long church retreat. I can't wait to see your sister, Spring in a little over a month.
Love,
Jenny the Tired

Are you on Mid-Winter Vacation? I needed this extra two days to recover from last weekend and to rest up from all the excitement that has already taken place this month. It may be the shortest month, but I think it is the biggest month for special learning opportunities!

A long time ago I was lucky enough to receive an awesome package from my dear friend, Kimberly. The blueberry jam is long gone, but the other goodies are a reminder of her friendship. I am finally ready to Pay it Forward with 3 packages of my own. Here is a picture of the gifts that I'm paying forward to three lucky recipients. Keep your eyes open, Barbara, Maria, and Dinah and  don't look at the pictures if you want to be completely surprised. I love the handmade candlemats a friend made for me and the Michigan ornaments I found in a delightful Etsy shop that is just down the lake from me. The Paper Marriage is a great shop for custom wood and paper products! If you like owls, you must go to the shop just to see the awesome owl they have up for sale! You can help Ashley grow her business HERE!

Now I'm off to take a nap...After one more level of Candy Crush Saga and a visit to your blog, of course!