Classroom Pictures 2012

I spend a lot of time in my classroom so I want it to be bright, fun, and cheery! I love how it turned out this year! Thank you Pinterest and so many awesome teacher blogs for lots of great ideas!!

Here are some great blogs and sites where I picked up many of the fun things you see in my classroom. I wish I could remember where I found everything but I can't: (I really do want to give credit where credit is due!)

http://www.the3amteacher.blogspot.com/ (She has the cutest clipart which I used for many things throughout my room! I used her owl clipart for bulletin boards and my subject headers!)

http://www.livelovelaughkindergarten.blogspot.com/  (Boggle board and welcome banner are from this awesome blog!)

http://www.stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/ (One of my all-time favorite blogs!)

http://www.theteacherwife.blogspot.com

CAFE headers are from Alissa Manning-Telisak on teacherspayteachers.com

Pink and green owl daily five cards are from Amanda Holland Gregory on teacherspayteachers.com

Owl themed READ banner from Kathleen Amari-Crookston at www.middlegradesmaven.blogspot.com

Owl classroom theme pack from Rebecca Johnson at teacherspayteachers.com

Reading comprehension posters from A Year of Many Firsts at teacherspayteachers.com

Owl labels from Faith Wheeler at teacherspayteachers.com




Here are some pics...

I love organization:)

• 

 Math board

Reading corner with the table I painted this summer. The colored scrapbook papers are for "Work to Hoot About!" Each kiddo has their own space with a clip to display their work.

Tyler made the cute subject headers for me with free clipart from The 3am Teacher:)

Where we display our best work! I promise that picture is crooked and not the board:)

Boggle is a big hit during word work!

My kids love to play spelling jump on the alphabet puzzle!

View from the door

View from the door and my desk area

Baby Ashton

I am blessed to be spending some time in California and Oregon this week. There has been so much going on with my mom and her skin cancer and I needed to make a trip to Cali to see her and the rest of my family. I also wanted to make it up to Oregon and be with my dear, sweet, Ally (and of course her husband Chad) and their new baby Ashton. I am so in love with him already. Here are some pictures of our 3 sweet days together!

 Snuggling with baby=happy Tiffany

 Chad is totally SUPER DAD!

Summer Snapshots (So far...)

Summer 2012 is in full swing! We have been very busy!! I can't believe how quickly our summer calendar has filled up. Several people have asked me if I have had a lot of time to relax since school has been out and the answer is not really! Haha! Today was a rare day when I didn't have to be anywhere and it was wonderful!


Here are some snapshots of our summer so far!

Promotions: We had the pleasure of attending both middle school promotions and watching as our 8th graders were promoted to high school. Tear:( I love this group of 8th graders and I am sad to see them go.

Ty and I with Madison. We will sure miss her.

Urban Plunge:  We led an awesome trip to Spokane called Urban Plunge. We took 12 awesome junior highers and were blessed to serve at the Union Gospel Mission and the Women's Crisis Center. It was a great trip.

VBS: Tyler and I were in charge of recreation games! Whew...those kids have a lot of energy! I loved their excitement and enthusiasm.They were sure fun and kept us on our toes.:)

Tyler overseeing a VBS game:)

Youth group events: Our summer calendar is full of pool parties, bonfires, lake days, a water slide trip, a trip to Silverwood, and our upcoming trip to Portland for ENTER! Here is a pic from a recent bonfire (S'mores....yum!) we had with our 4th/5th grade group (Tyler heads up both the 4th/5th grade group and 6th-8th grade group).

Here are some other random snap shots from this summer!!

We have been able to go disc golfing a few times! Such a fun summer activity!

We got to babysit the cute Alcorn kids for 2 nights! They were so fun!!

I have been working on lots of school projects and have already begun lesson planning for next year. Yes, the work never ends....even in the summer!;) Thankfully, Pinterest helps make it fun!

Enjoying a beautiful summer evening:)

Missing this girl!

Get ready for a sentimental post.

Meet Ally. She is one of my best friends in the whole world and I miss her like crazy. I think about her every single day and wish we could just go out to coffee or on a walk like we used to. She is expecting a little boy in just a few weeks. I just had to post this picture because she is so beautiful and glowing! In August I get to go to Oregon and visit her and baby. I can't wait. Her pregnancy has been ridiculously hard and painful, yet she has handled it with such grace. Ally is an amazing friend and we have shared so many of life's challenges and blessings since our sophomore year of college. Her husband is also a youth pastor and she is also a full-time working lady (soon to be full-time working lady, pastor's wife, and momma....she's amazing) so we really get each other. Okay I am done being sentimental. Did I mention I can't wait to see her in August?!

Little Balcony Makeover

Tyler and I live in a little 1100 square foot apartment. We have been asked many times when we are going to buy a house or move to a bigger place. At this point, we are content with what we have. We have what we need. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, it meets our needs plus some. Oh and we have a washer and dryer which we did not have in our last apartment in Cali.....that is a big deal! I am always praising God for those 2 lovely appliances we now have!  Don't get me wrong, there are things that would be so nice to have: central air conditioning, a bigger kitchen, more storage, privacy, etc! Sometimes I dream of being able to paint my own walls and do whatever I want to MY space (Pinterest does not help these longings!), but then God reminds me how blessed we are! No good comes from dwelling on what you don't have, but lots of good comes from being thankful for and embracing what you do have. Maybe one day it will be part of God's plan for us to buy a home or move to someplace bigger, but for now we know we are here and we are trying to make our little space as cozy as possible. :)

So, let me just get to the point: OUR BALCONY WAS DRIVING ME NUTS! One thing that is hard for me is not having a backyard space to enjoy. I grew up with parents who loved to garden and I always had a lovely backyard space to enjoy. Our balcony is our outdoor "space" so I knew I needed to embrace it and make it a enjoyable space. It was an eyesore before. Take a look!

See our lovely view from our patio?;) Haha! It sometimes makes me a  bit crazy that we face a busy street, but oh well!

 Yuck!

Here are some afters! It's amazing what a trip to Home Depot can do!:)

Here is a picture of our flowers today. They are blooming beautifully! We just added a planter box this weekend....yay flowers!

 

No matter what size space you live in, it's important to make it your own! :) We now love eating on our balcony and as soon as it is a bit warmer in the mornings, it will be a lovely place to do our devotions!

Spring Break Seattle Trip

Our view as we entered the city....makes my heart so happy:)

Tyler and I decided we needed to get away for a couple days during Spring Break. March was a LONG, busy month and I was counting down the days until Spring break back at the beginning of March. We decided to spend a couple of days in Seattle! We went on hotwire.com and got an incredible deal on the Westin (4 star hotel!) in downtown Seattle! It was beautiful! (If you have never used hotwire, I strongly recommend it! We have had 2 great experiences using it.) We stayed on the 29th floor and had an incredible view of the city. Tyler and I both commented about how we could have stared out our hotel windows for hours and just watched the hustle and bustle of city life. We ate wonderful food (and a lot of it!), saw 2 movies, visited the Pier and Pike's Market, did some shopping (Nordstrom and Old Navy were right down the street....I was in heaven.), stayed up late, slept in, visited wonderful friends, and just enjoyed spending time together. This refreshing getaway was good for my soul.

After eating at the Crab Pot on the pier! Very fun!

Stopped to look at the water down below

Our view from our hotel during the day...

Our view at night. So beautiful.

My dried flowers from Pike's market. They look great in our living room.

Had to throw this pic in. This was our view during the drive to Seattle.

Of course we had to have Chipotle for lunch one day....how we miss this.