Monday Made It : Heritage Makers

I wasn't going to link up this week. 

However, since I just put in an order for 3 things from Heritage Makers, I figured why not?!

Here is a look at one of the 8x8 books I put together. When I noticed they were on sale for the month of June, I decided that would be a better way to compile our summer instead of adding A LOT of pages to my 2014 12x12 book. I started out with a template and modified it as I needed.
I'm pretty excited about it!


</div>

I made a second 8x8 book for our trip down to Oregon & Utah using an even simpler template. It really helped me keep going so that I completed it.  I'm now about 1/2 done with 2014, which my goal is to be done with it and onto 2015 by August. We'll see how it goes.

My last piece I ordered was a metal print of our family picture from 2014….

a little late? Ya, I know. 

The picture looks a little out of focus here, but I'm excited to see how it looks printed on tin.

(I am a consultant for HM, but not a super active one. If you like what you see, feel free to contact me with questions or check out the website www.heritagemakers.com/stephudy. There is a lot more tied to the company than just digital scrapbooking. Youngevity, a nutrition & health brand, is also part of it.)

Five for Friday….June 26

This week was pretty family focused…which will probably be the case for the summer, but it's still fun to share!

Hope you all had a great week!

Happy Father's Day!!

I got a new phone…this was on the way home from the store.

Silagirl wanted an "Elsa braid." 

This was as good as it gets with her little hair.

She then proceeded to sing "Let it go! Let it go!" over and over again.

Daddy's little helper, whether he wants help or not. :)

They are clearing an area for our swing set to be moved and putting in some sand.

My hubby just left for a 4 week job up in the Bering Strait area with his summer job. I'm not super excited about it, but I know that it'll pass and that this is a great opportunity for him. The main part that concerns me is that he is scheduled to be home about 9 days before my due date. Let's hope our little girl decided to stay put until Daddy is home.

Us before he left out the door… our daughter wearing her "Rapunzel" hair.

What *We're* Wearing {6. 23}

It's time for another week :) 

I titled it "What We're Wearing" because I like to include my daughter, if you hadn't already noticed.

Top: Old Navy Maternity

Tank Top: Energie

Jeans: Indigo Blue Maternity from Target

Baby Bump: 33 weeks

Top: Two Hearts Maternity from Sears

Capris: Old Navy Maternity

Bump: 34 Weeks and complimentary pregnancy 'mask' dark spots:)

I like the eyelet detail on the top. It is a perfect top for the warm weather we've been having.

Silagirl's choice of clothes:

Minion Top: Universal Studios from Grandma

Blue Skirt: Kiddie Korner from Fred Meyer's

Orange Shorts: Kiddie Korner from Fred Meyer's

Purple sparkle flip flops from Target

(She wasn't enthused about this picture.)

This was this morning and I couldn't not add it.

Sofia Shirt from can't remember

Purple Skirt from Aunt Ashley 

Fabric on head, I mean Rapunzel hair, from a long time ago!

Girls' Camp {June 15} Monday Made It

The first three are from my week as camp director for my church's Girls' Camp. They had a fun filled week of different activities and learning about the outdoors. They went on a hike, did a service project by planting flowers at a senior living community, spent time canoeing, making a couple of crafts, learning archery, wilderness survival, preparing meals, and being spiritually uplifted. It was great, but I am glad that it is over for this year. :)

We made headbands from old t-shirts. This yellow one is an example I made. 

Cut 2 straps that go around your head.

 Cross them and match the ended. 

Hot glue the 4 ends together.

I added a bow and used a small tab of fabric to give it more a finished look.

This girl made her own by cutting three long strips, pulling on them to stretch them out and then braided them. She ended up hot glueing the ends to make sure it stayed secure.

The girls were way more creative than me, but I didn't get pictures of them all.

I forgot to get a picture of a final product and one of the girl's instead of my toddler's.

You use canvas and draw a design with sharpies.

Then take rubbing alcohol and a paintbrush and lightly brush.

It smears the sharpie and looks pretty cool.

My toddler liked the painting with the alcohol a little much, so hers didn't come out very bright. You can see the corner of another girl's in the bottom right of the picture.

We made tin foil dinners one night. We were hungry and I didn't get a finished picture of this either.

What we used:

hamburger patties

carrots

celery

sliced potatoes

a dab of beef gravy

salt & pepper

It was yummy!

We had salad and s'mores to go with it.

I am going to be out on maternity leave for the 1st quarter. I was able to make an example of what I want my kiddos to work on during their social studies rotation with me. 

I'm using a combo of two TPT products. 

Native American Lapbook by Fifth in the Middle

Native American Unit by Rockin' Resources

We won't study all the cultures the lapbook lists. There is an editable form, but it won't hurt for the students to know that they are there.  I starred the ones we will study on the front.

My students will use the information from the Native American Unit to fill out the info tabs in lapbook pockets.  The table is the answer key of what information each pocket should contain.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Don't forget to check out other Made Its and link up with your own!

*Steph*

What I'm Wearing Wednesday {6.10}

I decided to show two different outfits today as part of Jivey's Linky party.

The first is actually from a few weeks ago. 

Me:

Calvin Klein striped dress with blue rope belt from Burlington

Cardigan from I can't remember.

Baby bump about 29 weeks 

Sila Girl:

Shirt from The Children's Place

Light pink skirt from handme downs

Dark pink Kiddie Korner skirt

Pink cowboy boots from Walmart

This is what I'm actually wearing today. I'm one of the ladies in charge of my church ward's girls' camp this year, so we're out enjoying nature. Actually, they are at the waterfront while I rest my sore back & hip. 

Old School Sweater: stolen from my older brother a long time ago. I kind of wonder why and how I still have it as he is 6 years older than me.

Do you have any oldies but goodies hiding in your closet?

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to join up!!

Monday Made It 2015 is here!

#1

I realized that I am seriously behind on my digital scrapbooking. So I started working on our 2014 book again. Hopefully I can be *almost* caught up before baby girl #2 makes her appearance.

If you're interested in digital scrapbooks...check out my Heritage Makers site {here}.

I love their products and the quality of the books! 

#2

After feeling guilty for not having dinner ready since school got out, I finally made dinner. Too bad my hubby ended up working super late that night. At least it was easy and delicious!

Here are the recipes:

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Parmesan Knots

#3 & #4

My daughter loves flowers! We decided to plant some of our own. She wanted orange flowers so marigolds it was (not my personal favorite but oh well).

We also got rid of a huge rhubarb plant which left a big hole. My hubby lovingly sifted all the big rocks (and believe me, that is a huge job!) so that I could plant some flowers. 

I tried transplanting some columbine and bought some delphinium and a peony. Hopefully they will all take and fill in my little space. K decided to move some of her marigolds into the bed as well.

Now I just need to get my lawn going, which is a difficult task here in AK unless you pay a lot of money to bring in a lot of top soil and lots of labor.

No school things this week but I'm sure I'll have some soon. :) 

*Steph*

What I'm Wearing Wednesday

Link up with Jivey this fun linky party!

http://www.ideasbyjivey.com/2015/06/what-im-wearing-wednesday-linky-party.html?m=1

(I'm trying this on my phone on still figuring out how or works.)

I went to a super low key Zumba put on with some people from church. My daughter came to, but she was a little more dressed up :)

Me:
Leggings from Target
Shirt from Walmart (I need maternity work out shirts)
Light jacket or what it would be called from Maurice's

Sila Girl:
Dress from Old Navy
Necklace from mommy's stash (??)
Leggings from a gift outfit :)

August Mindset in May

I know that it is technically June now, but it took me awhile to want to sit down and think about school again. My school has been out for almost 2 weeks now, crazy how time flies, and it took me a while to recuperate. I ended 2 years with the same group, not officially looping, I just changed grade levels. Since my school levels for core classes, I worked with almost all the kids for those 2 years in some capacity. It was a rocky year for me with some definite ups and downs.

Now it's time to move and and think about next year! Yikes! I worked very hard at trying to be in the August-Back-To-School mindset while cleaning up my classroom this year. Partly because I hate feeling rushed in August and mostly because I am going to be on maternity leave for the 1st quarter. Stressful! I have a sub lined up as of now, but she's looking to get hired and I don't blame her. I have a feeling she will so then I have a few other names, but as most certified teachers that you want to have do a long term sub, they are also looking to get hired. That makes planning difficult. :( Because of that, I really wanted to be super organized!

My little one is due Aug 3rd and teachers go back Aug. 11. My first went very smoothly and I'm hoping this delivery will be the same. If that's the case, my principal (love her!) has said it's okay for me to bring my new one to our site based PD days and work day before students come on the 17th. Then I will be off until the middle of October. That is if all goes well.

Here is how I ended up cleaning up and organizing my classroom. (I was so focused that I forgot to take pictures. Sorry!)

What I had students do during that last couple of days:

-Take down my bulletin board & check for staples in the wall - minus the fabric background and border
-Empty & wipe out their desks
-Double check that supplies were in the correct plastic drawer organizer (colored pencils, crayons, markers, etc.)
-Look up a lot of my classroom library books and label how many AR points they are worth. I'm hoping to push reading a lot more next year. Not necessarily AR reading, but figured I might as well have them labeled.
-Change my calendar to August
-Take all their stuff home!

What I did during the couple of days plus work days:

-Rearranged the front of my classroom to see how I wanted to be set up for Aug with my new shelves.
                  We had the carpet in the front of our rooms deep cleaned over spring break, so that is where my classroom is packed up right now. This way I just have to pull out things that don't belong up front.

-Had two boxes, one for Reading and one for Math. Whenever I ran into a random paper or task card set, I tossed it into whichever box it needed.---more to come down below.

-Emptied out three of my overhead cupboards to go through the resources that have been handed down for generations.
                I am the social studies teacher for our grade level. I meet with each homeroom class 4 days a week, about 40 minutes each time, for 3 weeks each quarter. Not a lot of time to do much. I had 2 cupboards worth of resources, but the newest one was over ten years old and a text book broken into 3 parts. BORING! One of the books was published in 1977! With approval, I got rid of almost all of it.  Man did that feel good! I condensed 1 1/2 cupboards into 1/2 of a cupboard. Also, because our district hasn't mandated/adopted a social studies curriculum, I get to have fun with picking my own. That is a goal of mine over the summer. I have a few ideas and products on TPT to check out, but I'll save that for another post.

-I took my boxes from the previous Aug, with those odds and ends I didn't know what to do with, and dumped them on the floor. It looked like a tornado had hit for a little while. I put like things together, donated some things, and tossed some things. Then used some newly freed up totes, labeled them and stacked them nicely in my freshly cleaned closet.

-My Reading and Math boxes each got some of my attention.Working one subject at a time, I took an empty crate and filled it will hanging file folders. As I pulled out a resource from my box, I labeled a file folder with the topic and then put it in the crate. If I already had a file with the topic created, I added to the folder. This wasn't as time consuming as I thought it'd be, and I'm in love with how it ended up. Now I don't have to wonder if I've already printed that resources out or not. I can check my crate and be able to quickly know.

-Put together a homework packet for my reading class.
               I teach the intervention reading class and I have to use some direct instruction programs.These programs do not come with homework options and they don't always hit the standards that I am suppose to teach in 5th grade.Homework is an expectation at my school and I didn't want to spend a lot of time figuring it out in Aug when I need to be working with whoever my sub is going to be on procedures and actual curriculum. I gathered some resources and put together a small packet to be given on Monday each week. I also put the masters of each resource into one binder. This will make it super easy to put together and copy the following weeks' homework packets.



I know that it seems like a lot, but I think that when I come back in Aug to my actual classroom that I will be soo happy that I did it now. It also helped with purging. If I didn't even think about it this year, I found it a new home. Whereas I remember thinking to myself in Aug, "I could use this this year" when it didn't happen. I felt refreshed and even more ready for summer and all the fun it brings!

Hope you all feel as ready for summer as I was!
*Steph*