Summer Lovin!

Summer! Summer! Summer! Bike rides, time spent with family, Soph's first birthday, fresh veggies from my garden and a few DIY projects for home AND my classroom;)



Sophia's birthday party was a bLaSt:) She is one luck little girl to have so many caring people in her life! The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is the book we used to set the theme for the party!

The birthday cake and the smash cake were both made by Andy's cousin, Katie Scott. They were fantastic and PERFECT. The happy birthday banner was super easy to make. I printed off triangular banner letters and then glued them to colored card stock paper and cut them out. I used mini clothespins from Walmart to attach them to the brown twine that we used to hang them from. The fruit plates were easy as well. I made copies of the fruit from the actual book and then glued those onto white card stock paper. I used a paper punch to make the wholes in the fruit and then put a large kabob stick through the paper fruit pieces. The other card stock rectangular/square pieces were used to write the quotes on from the book. 



Two new recipes that I MUST share this week:



Better than Sex Chex Mix: I made this for our trip to Wisconsin and it was heaven.

You can get the recipe here!



Meatball Sub Casserole: So good, Andy even had the leftovers the next day. WHOA. *I used garlic cheese bread instead of french bread*

You can get the recipe here!



Check out the DIY page for a few new projects!
Have a great week:)
~Stephanie

My Summer Bucket List

Happy SUMMER! AHHHH!! I can't even contain my excitement (hence the exclamation marks and words in all caps.) I'm teaching 2 weeks of summer of school then off to Wisconsin for VaCaTiOn! Then a month later: New Orleans!! Now, although I have a couple of vacations planned for the summer, I also have some things I would like to accomplish! 

My Summer Bucket List:

1) Snuggle with Sophia:) I have some fun activities planned for this little girl and I can't WAIT to spend my summer with her:)

2)  Finish reading the book I started 2 months ago: Minds on Mathematics: Using Math Workshop to Develop Deep Understanding in Grades 4-8. Next year 6th grade will be joining the elementary and if I have some students from 6th, I need to be better prepared and this book will help me to do so!



3) Exercise every day: So far, I've biked 3 miles everyday for 8 days in a row. I really need to do more than 3 miles, like 5 or 6, and its attainable, I just need to do it.



4) Make some yummy sauces with my tomatoes, green and red peppers and jalapenos: This is my first year planting a veggie garden and so far, so good! I went out this morning and I have 2 little baby tomatoes on my plant:) Learning more about canning, is a must.



5) Take more time for me: I think 'me time' is extremely important. My bike rides or my DIY projects are a time for me to relax and enjoy my hobbies. 



I've made a few new dishes for dinner in the last couple of weeks. Here are some pics and you can find the recipes on my Pinterest board: Yummy.

 pork sandwiches on a pretzel bun w/ jalapeno cheddar cream cheese

mini Italian sausage & mozzarella calzones

creamy garlic spaghetti squash

I've posted some new projects under my DIY page!
~Stephanie