“Everything seemed possible, when I looked through the eyes of a child. 

And every once in a while; I remember, I still have the chance to be that wild.” 


It is time to bring your inner child on an outing. Have some fun now or later, but now is better: 20+ Ways to Have a Little Fun with Your Inner Child or Make some Time for YOU and YOUR Family...the Time is NOW...I bet You Already are Doing Some of These!


Summer is almost here and I began to think that when I taught full time (I have been retired for 2 years) how I sooooooo looked forward to the summer only to find that it was gone before it started. Have you ever felt that way...like...summer is gone and it hasn't even started it yet?? I mean it is cra- cra-crazy to feel that way, but it happens.  So...this summer I want YOU to enjoy your summer and try not to think about August or the next school year. I know what you are thinking...Yeah...right not think about next year... the school year is not even over yet and you can bet I HAVE already though about next year! So...for the month of June or July, store those thoughts in a box labeled "to think about later" and try some of these ideas that you KNOW and have LEARNED and are TRIED and TRUE and yadda yadda yadda!  This is a post I wrote a while back, but I think it is well worth repeating right about NOW as summer begins and relaxation is a MUST especially if you are a TEACHER!   SO here are some ideas for YOU!!! YES I know you may have your own kiddos tugging on your apron strings, calling your name at least 100 times and kicking screaming and telling you what THEY want to do...BUT...YOU Do need to make some TIME for YOU!  Close yourself in your room after everyone is asleep or get a babysitter or Mother's Helper for a day and try just one of these ideas...actually you CAN do many of these with your kids in tow and as suggested they can be used during the school year with your class, too!  Most of the ideas speak to this:
Why not take your inner child on an outing for a day?
  • Go solo to a park, sit with a good book for awhile and savor the quietness of the world...make sure to pick a bench that is far away from a baseball field and such.
  • Schedule a facial or massage to unwind and just savor the moment...Hand and Stone has introductory offers for about $50/hour....just don't let yourself get talked into the package or do and have one every month...like a massage/facial membership.
  • Take an early morning walk at a slow pace focusing on your breathing so there will not be any intruding thoughts of school or life...enjoy the presence of this moment, this second and calm your mind.
  • There are so many wonderful inspirational ideas that make so much sense that can be learned from reading children's literature! Bring out your inner child for a day and sit down to reread your favorite children's book! I bet you will look at the world from a different perspective!  
  • Go to a park and swing or slide for awhile (Recess is a great time to show your students you are really just like them...I used to LOVE to jump rope (of course as I got older, each jump was a little bit harder on my bladder and more difficult! LOL) play hand games (they LOVED the old fashioned ones I remembered from my day).  When I ran around the playground with my kiddos not only did I squeeze in a little exercise, but also this activity made my class giggle and smile! During the summer these ideas above can be done with your own kiddos. Put the cell phone away...leave it in the car or turn it off and have some fun at the park with your own little ones...believe this time will pass quickly...make memories...they DO remember!!! Oh...and don't forget to bring the wax paper so the slide is FAAAAASSSSSTTTT!
  • Read aloud your favorite children's book to your class, child or grandchild and have them pick a quote from it and expand and say what meaning it has for them.
  • Post a Quote a Day in your classroom or on the refrigerator that came from a children's book you loved and maybe still love and suggest your class or child read this book! You will have the benefit of seeing that quote everyday to encourage your spirit.
  • Draw on the sidewalk with chalk...YES YOU by yourself or with your class or children! A quote on the sidewalk for passersby might just make their day!!!
  • Watch some of you favorite TV shows from years gone by at home with your kiddos and chat about how things are the same and different from what is on TV today!
  • Run outside on a rainy day and jump in puddles or just walk in the rain without an umbrella...make sure it is just raining...no thunder or lightning just sayin'.
  • Build a sandcastle if you are near a beach or play with kinetic sand and build whatever suits your mood!
  • Walk barefoot through the grass or on the beach and feel summer...remember how free you felt as a child...bring back that feeling!
  • Swim in the ocean...jump in the pool, swim and feel the ocean breeze or glistening sunlight on your face.
  • Take a walk in the woods and stop for a few seconds to listen to the sounds of nature.
  •  Go to a trampoline park and jump solo or with your kids.
  • Walk the beach or pretend your walking the beach and visualize what you see, hear and smell.
  • Take the time to finish something you started a while back and never completed it...that children's book you are writing or the craft you never seemed to have time to finish!
  • Go by yourself to a movie that you have wanted to see!
  • Go out to lunch alone without your phone a bring that book you haven't had a chance to read!
  • Do anything that allows your playful childlike side to emerge from the deep, dark crevices of age!
  • Do whatever it takes to have some childlike fun...you won't be sorry!

PS.  Here are 2 of my favorite books from when I was a child.   
  1.  The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams...I read this story to all my children as they grew up!  We often had great discussions about the topic of being real. As one quote from the book says, " Real isn't how you were made," said the Skin Horse.  It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL."Does it hurt?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit.  "Sometimes said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful.  "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
    A Great Guide to putting the Velveteen Rabbit's hidden message to use in every day life is: The Velveteen Principles: A Guide to Becoming Real Hidden Wisdom from a Children's Classic
  2. Trixie Belden Mystery Series by Julie Campbell Tatham I mention this series because one summer the summer of 1961, I spent the entire summer reading every book in this series!  These books are what hooked me onto reading. Before that I was in the "crows" reading group and of course I knew that the "Cardinals" were top notch in the class! However I was obsessed with these books and couldn't wait to read more and more. i remember being so disappointed when I read my last and final book in the series! These books were out of print from 1986-2003...I had no idea the early books were reprinted by Random House!  Think I will go on Amazon and get one to bring out my inner child ( 5th grade inner child!). 

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHAT BOOKS YOU FAVORED AS A CHILD...comment below!



5 End of Year Freebies for YOU! It is hard enough wrapping up the end of the year with report cards, data, more data, student gifts, students letters and everything else there is to do...Why not make your life a little easier, leave the creating to us and grab these freebies made especially for YOU!

YES...it is that time of year again when you ARE feeling the pressure and anxiety that the end of the school year brings right before your last day.  I mean let's face it...you really have a lot of loose ends to tie up before you can relax...if you can relax because there is always something to worry about...data, report cards, parent meetings, more data, anxiety over your classroom kiddos, distress over did I meet this or that child's needs...the last thing you need to worry about is end of year gifts, end of year letters to students, poems, how to send them off to the next grade and all the rest of the "stuff" that goes along with teaching that no one really knows about unless you are a teacher.  Why not leave the "driving" and creating to those of us who are retired and not working in a school setting any longer...and did I mention do you really even have the time to check out the resources that could help you achieve your end of year goals.  Well...worry no more...I have compiled a few of my favorite End of Year resources that i have used over the years for you right here and they are all FREE...YOU ARE WELCOME!! Have I just become your BFF? I sure hope so even if it is just for a day or two!!

So Happy End of the Year...you deserve a BREAK!!

























The Abc's of Our Year Together Book










I hope you enjoy these Freebies and don't forget to have a GREAT Summer!!

The Mother's Day gifts were completed this morning with my daughter's Kinders! I LOVE how they turned out! They are soooooo adorable. You should have seen how proud each child was when they completed the project. A few just kept walking up to the display with a huge toothless smile and could not stop staring at them. We had to place them on the windowsill for ALL to see! So, here are the details and directions on how to create the cutest Mother's Day Gift ever...Oh did I tell you how proud the kiddos were and how cute it is? #canthelpmyselftoodarncute! I apologize for getting this to you late,but it is quick and easy if you have all the materials ready. Sooooo #sorry #notsorry I had to share. I mean who can wait until next Mother's Day? Just save the post and use it then or maybe for some other special occasion with your own children like Aunt Katie's birthday, or Great Aunt Mary's or maybe Mimi's #hinthint (If my daughters are reading this, did you get that last part???)

 So Here it is the Grand Revealing of this amazing, dazzling, sweet, not too sparkly cutest Mother's Day Gift EVER!!!!!



Materials Needed:

1.  5X7 Thin Canvases or white/colored construction drawing paper.
2.  Various Colors of acrylic paints.
3. Heart stencil (I cut one from card stock)
4. Kiddos thumbprints
5. A poem for the back, which you can copy the one I wrote or make up your own.
6. Frames from the dollar store (optional).

Directions:


1.  Tape stencil onto the canvas/paper.

2.  Use paint and have each child dot their thumbprints inside the heart shape.


3.  It might look like this...PERFECT or not, but that is okay...it looks cute no matter what!


4. Take the stencil off and here is what you have!!!
5. Have the students, if they can, use a Sharpie of their choice and write Happy Mother's Day Across 
    the top and then the year.  Write Love, at the bottom and then they can sign their name OR you can
    write the top and love at the bottom. and have them select a sharpie and write their name.
    This all depends on the OT needs of each child.


6.  Put the canvases/papers in a frame and glue the poem above to the back of the frame!

And there you have it...the cutest Mother's Day Gift EVER!!


Happy Mother's Day...May this Mother's Day be the Best Ever!!!

Time to Spring Clean Your Wish List and add them to Your Shopping Cart!



Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! To celebrate YOU, TpT is having a SITEWIDE SALE on Tuesday and Wednesday!! I don't know about you,but I LOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEE a sale!!!
I am thinking what a great time to go back and purchase all my wish listed items...easy peasy...move them over to my shopping cart, purchase and Voila...all those sweet treats that I was saving up for a rainy day are mine all mine and on sale to boot!!  I mean 28% off IS a dazzling deal if you want my opinion. Even if you are not interested in my opinion, be honest a deal is a deal and 28% OFF is a great deal!

So, today I am joining up with Teaching in the Tongass and her wish list Linky Party.  Jump on over to her site and catch up on all the TpT sellers, who have linked up, and take a peek at their most wish listed resources from their stores...This is one opportunity you don't want to pass up!   #trustme


Here are the top 3 wish listed resources from my shop!

 Runaway Bunny




First 100 Fry Words




I sure do hope you get tons of Spring Cleaning done with this Teacher Appreciation Sale...Remember You are LOVED:
I wasn't planning to write a post about Mother's Day, but then I had this really cute idea that I can't even actually show you because I have not exactly completed it yet! I know that is not exactly how you are supposed to do things in the #teachepreneur world, but I was just so super excited about the idea that I could not contain myself and I just had to share it with ya'll...okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea...at least I hope you understand and forgive me for sharing before the actual product is not completed!  I am hoping you will thank me for showing you this adorable, cute, priceless, tear inducing, wonderful, heart-warming Mother's Day idea that I am helping my daughter create with her Kinders. (if you know any of the Moms from her class, please don't share #kidding #notkidding).

So here is the project that we did for an auction for my granddaughter's preschool to raise money for the school.  I LOVE it SO MUCH that if my bid doesn't win, which probably won't, I am making another using my grandkid's thumbprints!


So here is what we did with the preschool class...not for Mother's Day.  Hold tight...my idea will be shared in a minute.

Supplies:
* Brown paper bag to make heart-shaped stencil
* Paper plates to squeeze paint onto
* Acrylic Paints in various colors
* Kiddos
* Patience
* Wipes to clean up the mess

Directions:
1. Make a heart stencil out of a brown paper grocery bag and tape the cut out part of the heart to a 16x20 in canvas so only a white heart-shaped canvas is visible...no messy spotted canvas if a child misplaces his/her thumbprint.  If you would like, you can pain the canvas a color and let it dry before creating the heart!

2. As each child comes up, have them choose a color for their thumbprint.

3.  First have them place their thumbprint by their name on the Key, which will be glued to the back of the canvas to show which color belongs to each child.

4.  Each child then stamps their print many times onto the white part of the canvas within the heart shape.

5. Continue in this manner until all children have participated.

6.  Paint or stencil a saying or phrase across the top and bottom of the canvas.

7. Voila! A beautiful wall hanging! Colors can be changed to your liking!

Are you following me here?  Can you guess what I am thinking for the Mother's Day gift?
That's RIGHT...you guess it! Individual 5x7 in canvases for each child...smaller heart stencils...colors of choice and Happy Mothers Day printed across the top and the date at the bottom!

Like I said, crazy idea or not, we are doing it this week!!  I will post some picks when they are completed!

Here is an idea of what it might look like:
This was created on the computer!

Here are some other ideas for Mother's Day that can be found on my TpT shop!

                                                             Quick Mother's Day Freebie




Happy Mother's Day Writing Activity and More




Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!