I'm gone.....

I am Indianapolis this week for a national math conference. I know...sounds pretty dorky--but I am really excited. This is why I haven't been doing much lately--it takes a LOT of work to be gone. I had to do my parent conferences early, lesson plans, clean all the junk up in my classroom. But---I am gone now. I doubt I'll get any sight-seeing in, but hopefully I'll learn something.

I knew that I would be gathering a lot of information and hopefully free samples. This meant I needed a cute bag to store it all in. I had seen this cute bag pattern on V&Co. I went to the Gathering Place and picked out this super cute material. Okay---I didn't make it, my mom did. But, I did buy the pattern and material!!! We ended up cutting down the pattern from the original because it was quite big. But---I really love it.

Annelise Jr. Miss

Annelise is doing the Junior Miss (which is not the name of it anymore). I helped pick out her clothes, except for her formal, which she borrowed from a friend. We thought it would be fun to take her pictures in everything. This is something she needs to remember for a long time because it has been a lot of work and taken up a lot of time.

This is the business suit. The first thing we bought. I love the
green shirt and told her if she doesn't want
to wear it after this, I will.

This picture cracks me up--it's like we were going for that wind-blown glamour look. No--just the Idaho wind blowing.

This is her formal, borrowed from a friend.



The black/silver. I had an idea with this one, but
 thenI went shopping with Steve--and we changed
the whole idea. Silver is not very easy to find either.
It probably took us at least an hour to piece together
this outfit. She wasn't even with us--she just got
what we picked out--but I think it turned
out quite cute.



I just had to put a vintage action on a picture,
it's been a while.

Merlynn--you did a great job on the pictures--crummy weather and all!!!

Fill a Bucket

This month in school, we are really working hard on showing kindness. Every teacher read the book, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? to their class. It is a really cute book about how we all have a bucket and when we do kind things for other people--we fill their buckets. When we do or say mean things, then we are dipping into others' buckets. We are encouraging our kids to be kinder (which they need  alot of reminders this time of the school year). We have slips of paper that they can write down when they see someone else do something kind---they can't write about themselves--and they aren't supposed to do it to receive recognition. Then they take their slip of paper and tack it to the board on the door. Every day, or couple days, I take them off and put them in our bigger pink bucket.  I have noticed a lot of kids are quicker to help someone else and I am more consciously watching to see kids who are doing good things. They are really into it right now--as someone dropped their pencil box today and their stuff went flying---several kids rushed in to help pick it all up.

I took a tin pail from the Target dollar bin, cut it in half, and then hot glued it to a cork board I found in the closet. I cut my letters from vinyl and my Silhouette. I just shoved some tissue paper in the pail to give it more color.

 A few of the notes they've been putting up.

 This is out collection bucket--again bucket from Target and then I just used some dimensional stickers I had. the frame sitting on it used to be on my classroom door, but i had to move it. It has chalkboard vinyl in it so I can change what it says--I'm putting quotes about being kind.

This is a really cute flower made from wood--Nope I didn't make it---I got it for my birthday. Love the polka dots.