alphabet, helicopters, and XANADU

SO guess what happened to me yesterday???

anyone???
anyone???

ok nope that isn't it...
MY SCHOOL WAS ON A LOCK.....DOWN!!!
YESLOCKDOWN!!!!!!!!!
in the words of one of my FAVE kinder teachers
what the french fry YO?!?!?

CRAY CRAY FOR REALS....
but before I tell you the story let me tell you about this writing strategy thingy I learned today... I am sure it has been around for a LONG time and a day
BUT
it is new to me and maybe it is new to one of YOUS GUYS... ( I meant to put that)

OK
first have the kiddos write the entire alphabet at the top of their paper
then tell them they can only start their sentences with words that begin with the letters at the top of their page... once they use that letter they have to cross it out and can't use it again....
so I am going to practice that right now in the story about the lockdown...
and I am going to write it in FARLEY BLOG style with total disregard for proper sentence anything... so if this offends you I am sorry and believe me I don't teach FARLEY BLOG style to my kiddos... we have important state tests to pass (sarcasm)

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Yesterday... my school went on a lock down!!!
At first...I was semi OK with it because our FAB nurse, Frenchie, had filled me in on what was going on.  Mrs. Principal came on the intercom and told us we were going to do a practice lock down.  The kids thought it was because we had 3 stray dogs running loose before school started AND I let them continue to think that incorrect assumption. Seconds turned into minutes as I began the lock down procedures.  Just as I got my class settled into silent reading time...we heard SIRENS and HELICOPTERS. OF COURSE this was the end to SILENT reading time and the kids started speculating "why would helicopters be needed for 3 stray dogs?????"  I was starting to get nervous too...especially when the helicopter were obviously circling our school. "FARLEY!!!" I said to myself... don't freak out. What I have not told you is I AM SUPER AFRAID of big flying things flying over my head... mostly airplanes and helicopters and blimps (but when am I really around blimps???  BUT I am sure if there was one around me I wouldn't want it flying/floating above my head.) Quickly I quieted them down again... just in time to hear the helicopter STOP!!! Propellers were whirling and stirring and the sound was reDONKUlous!!! Right away I ran to the window to peak out... the grass was swirling (like you see on the movies) and the ceiling was undulating (like you see in shotty construction).  VERY FREAKED out now I kept looking for the FREAKIN copter... I couldn't see it!!! Don't think I forgot we were under lock down and I shouldn't be peaking out of my blinds BUT at that moment I am pretty sure I could have taken down the HULK because I was so CRAY CRAY that a HELICOPTER was hovering above my classroom!!!! By now the class was SILENT... their eyes were like WHAT THE FRENCH FRY YO!!! Concerned that my fear was now showing on my face... I walked to my desk on the opposite end of the room and started putting grades into the computer.  Right away the kids continue to silently read (OK OK some of them were NOT reading but for the most part 95% of my kiddos were doing what they should have been doing HELICOPTERS HOVERING have magical powers like that!!!!))) Under the magical powers I continue to put grades in and then the hovering slowly disappears!!! Hours passed and I had all my papers graded and in the computer and I had my desk organized and my kiddos were well into the 533rd chapter of their novels.  Next thing you know... the principal announces that if the kids need to be released to go to the bathroom they need to be escorted by the instructional aides located in each hall.   EVERY single hand went up!!! ZONKERS!!! Good grief ... I sent them out one at a time and they came back with the most absurd stories of what was REALLY going on!!! Really some of the stories were insane!!! Xanadu ended after about 2 hours and I was GLAD....Let me tell you what really happened MAYBE... rumor has it a boyfriend got cray CRAY and broke into girlfriend's home and girlfriend's dad met boyfriend's head with a baseball bat... boyfriend escaped... girlfriend's dad called PoPo and the chase was on!!!

and that my friends is the end of my  alphabet lock down story...
I am pretty sure I got all the letters...
but if I missed one... I still get an A for effort...

hope you could get a good laugh and a good writing strategy
and I know XANADU was like some great and wonderful thing RIGHT? it was with Olivia Newton John and all so probably it was some good thing...
BUT now that I think of it...
wasn't there roller skates and metallic tights and sweatbands ALL over that movie...
OK well then YES it was SCARE-EEEEEEEEE like XANADU!!!


toodles

truck, goldfish, and freebie

WHAT WHAT Blogger peeps???

I know I know I have been MIA...
THO THORRY
I say that a lot huh???
and FAIR WARNING...
this post is FULL of nutty SQUIRRELS!!!
and very RANDOM SQUIRRELS

it has been cray cray in my neck of the woods...
we had 2 teachers cut from our school and I am super upset about it.....
it is about numbers... we don't have enough
SOOOOOO slash... teachers get cut
well 3rd grade didn't have numbers and our pre-k
if you didn't know this already I am at the tiniest school in our district...
we are already at 3 teachers per grade level so when one gets cut
it is like losing a family member...
the pre K teacher was seriously one of the bestest pre k teachers I know...
AWESOME
and now with her gone there is only one pre K teacher and now she has like 20 kiddos
THAT IS A LOT OF LITTLE ONES... bless her heart FO SHO

and then we cut a 3rd grade slot...
well the 3rd grade teacher who was being cut is the daughter of a 4th grade teacher
AND
*tear*
my buddy Mama Monk (aka Mrs. Monk... AKA farley calls her MONKy) volunteered to be cut and be reassigned so her daughter "chipMONK" could stay
THO THWEET right????
THO THAD TOO
I love me some Mama Monk
MONKEY was my mama at school... I LOVE HER VERY MUCH!!!
broke my heart to see her go BUT what a great example of what a mama will do for her kiddo....
soooooooooooo
Chip Monk is now a 4th grade teacher with me and Melissa (aka itty bitty... I don't call her that b/c my dog's nickname is Itty Bitty and that is just creepy)
so changes changes changes

and while we are talking
well I am typing and you are reading... so let me rephrase
and while I am on the subject....
of CHANGES
man have my dynamics in my classroom changed
let's just say I have my work cut out for me and I was
SUPER SUPER SPOILED LAST YEAR!!!!
I'll leave it at that!!!

and now I break into this blog for SQUIRREL
*********squirrel***********
 I get random emails all the time and a few have been to show you my new truck...
well I must say I wanted to get her all "jacked" up and rimmed out... BUT I digress...
I love her in her pre- farley stage... LOVE LOVE LOVE... never thought in a bajillion years I would be a truck girl BUT
step back JACK
I LOVE HER....
had my mama take pics of me and the truck....

there she is... and me too.. no smile... not sure why... mama must have caught me  off my smile big pose...

smiling and posing... LOL... what a goober

 *****squirrel****

we had a birthday party today...
it was for my dear friend's daughter
it was at one of those jumpy place thinga ma jig places
you know the kind where it is just a germ infested...
kid jumping....
CRAY CRAY want to poke my eye out place....
mama need a CALGON moment kinda place...
well this place WAS NOT...
it was a wonderful place for little kiddos to jump around
and VERY CLEAN and well just plain NICE

Bub had a blast!!!! and was on his best behavior!!!
BESTEST... I was a very PROUD mama
so to treat him Mia (she stood in for hubs b/c he is back to working Sat.) and I took him to Landa Park to ride the ........

 TRAIN... he loved it!!!!
Still a proud mama... he was quite possibly the best kid in that jumpy place... YAY BUB!!!!

*****squirrel*****

our spelling TEKS (what TX tell us to follow) has 4th graders work on plurals for spelling so ... we have not only been spelling various plurals... BUT we are ALSO looking for plurals in our reading... some of these are PRETTY good!!!

AND just in case you didn't know....
I posted a plural FREEBIE in my TpT store... hope you can use it...
my kiddos liked it
take a look at it b/c it is a plural sort
concentrating on the add -es

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREEBIE-plural-practice-sorts-for-adding-es

please tell me it is NOT just me that keeps having issues
attaching LINKS to pics...
OK THANKS...
and ONE last thing...

*****squirrel****

remember I told you that I fell in love with this wacky book....




well I finally finished the packet to go with it... LOVE IT and my kiddos did really well with it!!!
here are some pics

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Activities-for-The-Day-I-Swapped-My-Dad-for-Two-Goldfish

we had a great time sharing all of their SWAPS!!!

 they really did have a blast talking about their various swaps and illustrating them in a fish bowl... LOVE IT

*****squirrel*****

ok maybe I had one more squirrel...
you know the kind that just jump out at you while you are driving... the kind that you almost hit and then realize you almost died trying to miss a SQUIRREL...
the NUTTY kind...

well I have to tell you this story and then I am done....

last week
we were studying FREEDOM WEEK
and more precisely the Preamble
and the kids were making connections between Martin Luther King Jr and his speech and the Declaration of Independence!!!

it was an interesting conversation...
and so I added that a kinder teacher at our school likes to refer to M&Ms when she talks about the topic of skin color...
I proceeded to tell them that Mrs. Holbrook likes to say everyone is like M&Ms...
we are different colors on the outside but same thing on the inside and some of us have nuts...
well I didn't exactly know what caused the looks on my kids faces BUT they just stared at me and some of the boys snickered... and then it hit me... they had just watched the PUBERTY video and now I was talking about some of them having NUTS...
OH MY GONADS...
I had to back pedal and laugh and repeat it to be something like this...
you know you know...
some of us are nutty
FUNNY???
isn't that awesome of Mrs. Holbrook to come up with that....
so now
ONE - they think Holbrook is a NUT for saying that sort of thing
and
TWO - I have scarred them for life with this analogy that I obviously screwed up... Holbrook definitely says it better

OK that is it.. for now...
no more random squirrels
no more talk about NUTS
or M&Ms...
I am on a diet...
or like I call it a LIFESTYLE change...
and just for the record I am down 40 pounds... HOLLA!!!
baby still has back and curves BUT just less of it!!!
here is a before and after for ya :)

the first one was taken on July 4th this year and then the other was taken today...

Mustache how you like my new necklace???

OK that's it...

TOODLES...

Currently for Kids, links, and first 3

I just wanted to write a quick post...
about my newest creation...

 I get several messages and emails every time I post a CURRENLTY LINKY
to make one for kids...
and well now I have :)
take a look!!!

I have a template for EVERY MONTH...
and for each month there are 3 variations
1 is the FULL COLOR Template
1 is the color ink-friendly version
and the last template is
design your own...
I am SUPER EXCITED about this

I already have this posted in TpT
YAY
click on the link below to head on over there
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Currently-for-Your-Classroom

PLEASE tell me I am not the only blogger who has a hard time making links LINK to pics...
I KNOW how to do this BUT BLOGGER is letting me down..
CAN'T LINK a PICTURE!!!! WHAAAAAA!!!!

and because I want to spread some sunshine....
I have a free copy to the first 3 people to comment and leave me your email:)
READY SET GO!!!!

toodles

4th Birthday, Nada, & Land Rover

 LOTS of  pics on a Sunday night...
this week we are doing nonfiction review
so in honor of that....
everything will be in the captions
Ok mostly everything

I wonder who had their 4th birthday this weekend ... this cutie patootie

we had a crafty birthday party and all the party guests got to paint their very own bird house tweet tweet it was sweet...

here is one of my besties and her adorbs daughter baby H she is super cute and sweet

my nephew picked the rocket ship and went at it... it turned out so cute

Hubs had to get in there even after I said NO... bubs is not thrilled that dad-o is jumping in

it is blurry I know but this is Itty Bitty and her itty bitty... we teach 4th together...we are besties too LOL

and the smiles return... he is so talented he can paint with 2 hands

some of my other besties.... love my girls... don't I look like I just had a crafty birthday with about a dozen kids... yep yep I do... I should have worn party lashes that would have helped!!!

we had a family party later and he wanted a carrot cupcake... wish granted.

the family party was at Gpa's and Memow's house... Bubs adores his great grandparents... he is BLESSED to have them

although it felt like a tornado of a weekend... it was all worth it

********** squirrel **********
here are random pics of my class
and RANDOM is the key word
I saw tons of classroom pics around Blogville and realized I have't really done any
so in keeping with randomness... why not stick them in this post... right
HERE...

you've seen it before but did you know I painted it? I did I did

the letters are not painted and the sun is NOT done... I want to add dots between the rays... it is my SHINE board but nada (Spanish for NOTHING) is on it yet

what the DUCK???? it is a purple duck...love this quacker... it makes me SMILE

another pic and see the monkey thingy it is a tissue holder... I got it last year from who knows who... really one day it showed up on my desk no note nada (nothing) weird... yes but I kept it and I use it

my no name board... WHO board... no name no fame... right?  also my pledge poster that I made and is free at TpT

calendar... seen it before too BUT I LOVE THIS!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!! ignore the glue gun and my crazy cords

my library...  I LOVE BOOKS and by the time my kids leave they do too... no excuse in my room to not have a book all the time... this is NOT even all of it I still have another book case full of NON FICTION

a look at my curtains and pennants and my OH I bet you are jealous view... at least it is getting some grass... SOME!!!!

my newest creation... my lamp.... spray painted by hubs and wrapped by me... matches my newly recovered chair... 

***** I'll take more pics this week... I am still feeling like I am in a vortex from the last few weeks really 
seriously I need to invest in some ruby slippers!!!***


I am getting tired... so I will end it here... but before I go let me show you 2 more things...

we did a decimal ordering activity and it involved the entire class... they each wrote a 3 digit number on the paper and some were told to write only a 2 digit number and then....

each group raced the clock to put them in order... it was fun!!! 

and last thing
I have a winner for my BIC giveaway
but before the reveal... I had a TON of questions asking me how I  get to do product reviews...
here is my secret...
SHHHHH don't tell a single person....
shhhhhhh
but I stay up til the wee hours of the morning personally writing each and every CEO of all the companies I adore and LOVE and beg to do a product review... and then I get them on my door step... I can't wait til my Land Rover shows up... LOL

OK really you want the truth...
OK here it is FOR REALS
they contact me
I do NADA
I get an email asking me to do the reviews and I say
YES!!!
I think it has a lot to do with my Advertising Page, my followers,  and my honesty...

OK now for the winner...

a Rafflecopter giveaway


toodles 

CURRENTLY SEPTEMBER

WHAT TIME IS IT????
that's right it is CURRENTLY TIME!!!!

but before you see the super cute CURRENTLY I have for you this month...
I must introduce you to my CURRENTLY SPONSOR....

HOLLA...

Heather's Store is filled with AWESOME goodies like....

      
blogger is being a stubborn mess and I can't link these pics to their exact location.....
so here is the link to her store....
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Heather-Jansen-12

I have to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Heather for being my very FIRST CURRENTLY SPONSOR

THANK YOU

please take a few and click on over to her store...
she has some great items :)

alrighty now bring on the CURRENLTY....

 

so a lot of my things above revolve around  WALKING....
yes I have been walking... I am using the Nike + app and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it
here is the pic I posted on FB the other day...

 

I am down about 30 pounds and yes the dog and bub go with me...
so not only am I walking BUT I am also pushing an extra 60 pounds around... LOL

and now let me explain my favorites...
hubs got me some really nice walking shoes...
love him and them....
can't find a good pic of them and I am being lazy and don't want to go take a pic so... just trust me they are pretty fly for a pair of walking shoes...
silver and green and they can get a chip implanted and all this other hulla balloo and well they are GREAT

my other fave is the sound track I have been blasting... 




this keeps me moving and grovin...
I am pretty sure people stop and stare when I accidentally bust out singing  along with it...
pretty sure!!!!

and my last FAVE is
my new truck
I know I know what happen to the jeep...
LONG LONG STORY...
I will sum it up for you
we bought it...
I got nervous
we went to get it
I was really nervous
no room for bub
looked at trucks
got a better deal
bought a truck
NOW
I am a truck girl
now I am looking for some fantabulous RIMS



I like these...but we will see...
I mean these are PERFECT
but they are also purty pricey
but my truck needs accessories like this
FO REAL
I don't have a pic of the truck wellll
because... I park it in my driveway and millions of birds have started to park it in my tree above my driveway
and well it has bird poo on it now...
will wash it soon... promise
but
I am so annoyed
we use to have just one bird in that tree...
fine I like birds
but I think she threw a party and her friends never left
they will leave soon
I am thinking of hanging a fake snake and owl
for now
hubs parks under the tree
ANNOYED
BIRD PARTY will END manana

OK your turn
and PLEASE remember the rule of 3
go 2 behind your link and comment and go 1 ahead of yours and comment
I know some of you are not doing this.... shame shame
I know this because my good friends that link up tell me
yep they do
they tattle on you

so please for the LOVE OF FARLEY follow the rule of 3
it is the only REAL RULE I have

for the favorites section just pick some of your recent faves... that easy :)