We are engaged! I travel down to Florida a lot because my family has a house there. I'm a teacher so on all my breaks I head down to Florida. For spring break I was planning on going of course, but Nick said he wanted to go for a long weekend because long story long he starts a new job Monday and could come down for a few days. Which I was shocked about him planning this out! Now for the back story.

Nick and I started seeing each other in March 2021. We started living together casually August 2021, officially around Thanksgiving break 2021. In November of 2021 I made him go to Kay Jewelers with me because we passed one on the way to dinner and to my surprise he turned around and we went! Picture below from that night!



On the ring trip we looked at a few different shapes and sizes of diamonds. I had always wanted a princess cut, or square as I call it, since childhood, but ones I saw on Pinterest that I liked were round. Nick preferred the round. I told Nick he could pick, but I knew he would probably go with the round because he said he liked it a lot. My preference was a thin, plain band with one diamond.

So fast forward to October 2022 Nick got me a ring. I guess he went somewhere by where he was working and asked his dad to go with him. He said that he did look at round diamonds first, but he just didn't like any of them when they were compared to the princess cut. He couldn't believe how many different colors and clarity of diamonds there were (same because I know nothing about this lol). He also wanted to get a ring THAT day. (He's like that, he gets his mind on something and gets it lol.) So the rounds they had he just didn't care for and he went with a princess cut. He said he didn't like the plain band and thought it looked better with little diamonds on the side so that's what he went with! To say I was surprised by the ring is an understatement because I truly had no idea he was going with the princess cut, which I think deep down I wanted more! I even randomly asked (probably in October) if he got the ring yet because I think I like the square more. He probably was thinking thank God! haha

Okay back to the story. So December 2022 we were supposed to spend Christmas in Florida. Well December 23rd rolls around and a blizzard happens that cancels all flights out. I had a SLIGHT inkling that he MIGHT propose on that trip because when he was on Instagram I saw the photographer we used in August 2022 in his DMS and as I asked why she messaged him I was like OMG maybe he's planning to propose. Spoiler Alert: I was right lol. I should have known when my dad who goes to bed at 9PM got out of bed and was looking for flights out. We couldn't get out though. The flights were all canceled for days and then when they finally had flights going out they were like 2,000 dollars...

Then he thought about New Years Eve, but then I was annoyed at him lol so it wasn't really a perfect time. Mind you, I still have no idea besides that little tiny inkling.


So spring break comes along and he basically plans out this trip so my neighbors (who are like my sisters) are 100% sure that he is proposing on this trip lol. When I say plan, I mean he told me the dates lol normally I'm the date teller, flight booker, plan maker, etc. I was 50/50. I knew he wanted to catch me off guard so I was thinking he might NOT do it in Florida because that was his original plan. 

We went on my morning walk on my favorite beach. We walked probably a good hour. I asked a lady to take a picture of us and Nick said this is when he was going to do it because he knew I'd ask for a picture. However, the lady was dropping things and seemed flustered so he decided not to do it then, but he had the ring in his bathing suit so he needed to do it at some point lol. So a few minutes later he's like okay I can't wait (or something, I blacked out haha) and then handed me a box. I knew what it was of course, but I was also in shock lol. I have no idea what he said and then he got down on one knee and I was so surprised by the square diamond and it was just a whirlwind!

I also really had no idea he was doing it then because I facetimed Kaylee and Fallyn. That was my plan because they said if you facetime we will know you're engaged so I planned to randomly facetime Kaylee, Fal, and Channing throughout the trip in case it did happen then they would be surprised at the time I did facetime them thinking I was just facetiming to say hi.

Then we saw another person and I said can you take a picture we just got engaged and she takes that cut off picture and didn't even seem to care haha. It is so special to me though because Vanderbilt beach is my HAPPY place. I walk on that beach every day I'm here and just think of how happy I am to be there. So he did a good job!


When he tried to put it on my finger it was NOT going. As you can see my fingers were soooo swollen. I thought it was because I had gained weight, but it's fine now. It was fine later when I was out of the sun too. I think I was swollen from flying, I've heard that can happen. I couldn't even get it off at first and now I can easily!


That night my dad had made us a reservation at some fancy place. We are not fancy people whatsoever and honestly my dad isn't either, but he does like some nice restaurants down here in Naples. We had a different reservation, but we just went because we thought that was cute that he had made us a reservation. When the bill came it was empty because he called ahead and paid for our dinner which was cute too! As you can see my hand is not nearly as swollen by this point.

So that's it. That's the story! I am looking forward to surprising my kindergarteners at school. I wanted to try and surprise by dance girls, but waiting would be too long because I won't see them until Friday at competition. Plus Nick wanted to post about it and they all follow him lol.

I will share our journey with this whole wedding slash engagement thing! Thanks for reading. :)


Engagement

Saturday, March 25, 2023


If you're new here, I absolutely love CRAFTIVITIES! Craftivities are a craft that aligns to whatever you are doing academically. We do a math craft once a week! My kids love it and I love being able to reference back to them.

We used to do the hot chocolate teen numbers and these teen number puppies (which I do still love and we could do), but hot chocolate is out for March and the teen number puppies were just counting, not showing a tens frame like my hot chocolate ones did.




So I randomly thought of this while my kids went to specials and whipped it up. The cereal represents the ten and the marshmallows are the one. So now when we talk about making teen numbers and filling the tens frame I can say 'remember the tens frame gets the cereal and the other part is the marshmallows'. :)

The craft comes with different ways to print it out to make it easiest for your classroom or home. When I made it with my kids I realized I needed a 'topper' and also would not print out the cereal on brown again lol. Either light tan or just have them color it!

Click here to get the craft.




Teen Numbers Lucky Charms Craft

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Years ago my first grade teacher friend and I made lucky charm pancakes with the kids. We wanted to make them a rainbow stack of pancakes. Ya, don't try that unless you are at your house with maybe five kids max lol. Making all the colors of the rainbow pancakes for 40+ kids is not an easy task lol. We ended up giving up and they got two different colors.

Fast forward five or so years and I just make funfetti pancakes with the kids.


This is the kind I use. You can find it at Walmart. You could really use any kind of mix, but if you are doing it at school I would suggest any that is 'just add water'. I probably would use just add water with my own kids at home too, considering I use it for myself as well lol.

I have portioned it out individually before, but this year I portioned it out for four tables. I did a bowl of pancake mix for each table and then a small cup of water for each kid. I was trying to portion out the water correctly, but it turned into a hot mess because the cups were all leaking...so I just decided to give them all a little water and if I needed to add more water or mix I could at the end.





They took turns passing it around to mix. We do things like this a lot so they have learned to be patient, share, problem solve etc. It does take a lot of modeling and helping when you first get started, but it's really cute when you here them come up with methods like 'let's start here and move around in a circle' or when they start counting and each person gets ten seconds. When they do this without prompting you legit feel like you accomplished something because they are learning how to be a person in society and I love it!


As you can see the table in the back is just waiting for their turn. They had their own bowl too, but they are just checking out their surroundings. Just love them.

I have zero pictures of them helping me with actually MAKING the pancakes because I am sweating at this point and need to focus! I did come up with a genius plan this year. Last year I would pour the pancakes and wake until they started getting those bubbles then call two kids up and show them the bubbles and then teach them to flip and then let them flip alone (with me right there), but this year I thought of something brilliant on a whim. I made two pancakes on a very low setting then turned off the griddle. I let them come up and practice on those cooked pancakes with flipping. I did hand over hand if they had never flipped a pancake and then let them do it. If they knew I let them show me their skills. :) This took off a lot of the stress of the griddle being hot and all that. 

This still got to see me cooking the pancakes, but they were not allowed to approach the table within 3 feet lol. While I was cooking the pancakes they were working on some things that we needed to get done. We do book buddies with the second graders so I made enough for them and their book buddies. When their book buddies came over they decorated the pancakes with whipped cream and lucky charms. They look up to their book buddies so much so it was super cute. Once they were done, they did a how to writing. My kindergartens explained to their buddies how we made the pancakes and the process. Then they worked together to do the writing piece.


We had a great time and it is a bonus that some of the kids I had in Kindergarten get to come back in my room again during book buddies. :)

Click here to watch a little video from us doing it!


Lucky Charm Pancakes

Sunday, March 19, 2023


LUCKILY Saint Patrick's Day was on a Friday because this teacher could not have handled another holiday falling in the middle of the week lol. The kids were pumped because on the calendar I put a little icon for the holidays and they were counting down. We called it everything from 'the leprechaun day' to 'the clover day'.

I am not huge on Saint Patrick's Day. I'm not Irish at all and I just never really was fascinated it by it, even as a kid. However, when you teach kindergarten babes you have to be into every holiday. So we had a somewhat normal Friday, but added in rainbows in a cup and we made pancakes.



The rainbows in a cup were so simple. I saw the idea on Tik Tok, but they had used green jello. Which I did look into, but I couldn't find it at target and I didn't feel like making any so something in my mind said vanilla pudding and food coloring.

Walmart sells the pudding cups in packs of 6 which was nicer than doing the packs of 4 with how many kids I have. I did three packs of 6 and one pack of 4 for my 20 because I wanted to be able to show them an example.

I got the food coloring at Target and it was the pack of orange, purple, blue, and pink which I didn't realize, but they still loved it. It doesn't HAVE to be green. I think they preferred this more because they could pick a color.

I opened up all the pudding cups while they were doing calendar. Then once we were done I called them up to pick a color. I had all of the pudding cups at my desk and told them the colors before hand. When they came up they told me which color and I added the food coloring. I thought this was a better idea than passing it around because a. it would move more quickly and b. they wouldn't use too much before someone had a chance at that color.


So they got their pudding cup, food coloring, and a spoon and went back to their seats. I had to show them how to scoop the bottom of the pudding in order to not have it be white on the bottom still. Then I passed around the whipped cream. They got to try it on their own. If they were struggling I did hand over hand or they just asked a friend. I REALLY like them to try things like this on their own even if it is a little messy. I did tell them that this was all the whipped cream we would have for rainbows in a cup and pancakes so not to go overboard. I also told them not to mix the whipped cream with the pudding because they needed it as a cloud for the rainbow. 95% listened to that lol


Then I gave them an air head extreme to use as the rainbow. It was an easy, quick, and decently clean craft snack. We are all about trying new foods in our class, but they do not have to eat anything they don't like. I also don't force them obviously. I just encourage to try new things, but they 100% don't have to. I was proud of all of them, even my slightly picky eaters, for trying it. I would not eat that in a million years, but I probably would have as a kid lol. Surprisingly most of my babes are NOT fans of whipped cream. They said it 'tastes disgusting. LOL!



Click here to see a video about rainbows in a cup!




Rainbows In A Cup


Okay so I've been dreaming of this table for FOREVER. I asked Nick if he could help me make it and he said yes! However, I probably could have figured it out myself now that I know how to use a drill lol. *This is not a hammer and nails type project...lol.*

First you need to lay out the bins. I put painters tape around mine to get the measurements. My table is 30x36.

Then head to home depot. We got two pieces of five inch width wood because my bins were five inches tall and I wanted it to have sides that they fit in without it going over the top. I forgot how many inches they were, but we needed two to make the 36x30 work. We also got one piece for the legs that was 92 inches long which would have been perfect for the legs (23 inches), but I insisted it would be too short so we used other wood at home and he had to cut the legs...oops! 

We had wood for the bottom at home, but not enough to cover. So I suggest getting a big piece that can be cut into three or however you need to make the bottom solid. We had it with openings and that was a disaster to the classroom floor. Much easier clean up with a full bottom. I was able to do that myself by getting some more wood, but would have worked doing it from the start too. Then sand it down and coat it if desired. 

The price:
two pieces of wood for the sides: $5 each
piece for the legs: $6
bottom part: we had the wood, but I do think this piece is a little more expensive
bins: $1 each from dollar tree

Check out this video for more visual detail. 


DIY Sensory Table

Tuesday, September 20, 2022






I love this Rubbermaid scrubber for getting gunk out. I recently used it for the sink drains and it was amazing. It does splatter though, so I like to use cleaning gloves! Click here for the link.


Cleaning gloves! Literally a game changer. I don't know why I ever cleaned without them. Click here for the link to the cute pink ones!


Perfect little vacuum for a bathroom clean. It would probably be good to have in the kitchen too, but it isn't as big as a black and decker. Click here for the link!


Drawer organizers are a MUST in our house. It helps Nick keep drawers organized and find things + I love the look of it! Win, win! Click here for the link.

Here is another set too!


This is the ultimate hair product!!!! My hair seriously went from stringy to healthy after one time. I use it weekly. I was super scared because you can't return it, but I instantly loved it and do it on my family lol. Click here for link!


So I haven't tried these yet, but I want to get them because K pods are so expensive and I feel like it is better for the environment? I could be making that up lol I have no idea, but they look so interesting to me! Click here for the link.


Want to make doing the dishes fun? Get this! Even my nephews like doing dishes with this. Click here for the link.



I have seen these all of Instagram, but decided to try it when I saw one at Walmart. I love it for my underarms and legs, bikini area not so much, but I have to shave daily. It gives such a close shave for real. Click here for the link.
If you hate your hose all over, invest in one of these. I feel like they probably last forever and it is so convenient! Click here for the link.



Last but not least, make up remover pads. They are microfiber and take off make up so easily with just water. These are the amazon brand and I will say I liked the Target one better, but they both do the job!

That's all! Hope you found something that you were looking for. :) All links are affiliate links!







Favorite Tik Tok Buys Summer 2022

Monday, August 8, 2022


It can be so hard to find the right books for you child when they are learning to read. The 'beginning reader' books are far too hard for our little babes who are just putting together sentences in stories. Here is a list of books that I like best! All of the books have good illustrations and are the texture of a 'glossy' book. I do not prefer the paper books with the black and white illustrations. I use books like that printed out in class, but books that cost a decent amount of money I would rather have color! :) I listed them through amazon (affiliate links) and scholastic. I know scholastic can be hard to navigate and I'm not sure if you need a code or not, but I left my code. You used to not be able to ship to your house, but you can now so if you need a code you can use ours!



1. First Little Comics
-Repeated Sentences
-Picture Clues
-Levels A through F

Click here to shop on Amazon.
Click here to shop Scholastic (you can use my class code: NM9G7)



2. Buddy Readers
-Repeated Sentences
-Sound Out Words
-Picture Clues
-Levels A through F (E-F available on Amazon)

Click here to shop on Amazon.
Click here to shop Scholastic (you can use my class code: NM9G7)




3. First Little Readers
-Relatable Content/Vocab
-Sound Out Words/Sight Words
-Available in Spanish and English
-Levels A through J

Click here to shop on Amazon.
Click here to shop Scholastic (you can use my class code: NM9G7)




4. Nonfiction Easy Readers
-Real Life Pictures
-Animals
-Seasons
-Vocabulary
-Levels A through F (E-F only in Nonfiction Sight Words)

Click here to shop on Amazon.
Click here to shop Scholastic (you can use my class code: NM9G7)



5. Elephant and Piggie Books
-Dialogue
-Parent/Teacher Modeling First
-Expressions on Characters
-One Word Pages

Click here to shop on Amazon.
Click here to shop Scholastic (you can use my class code: NM9G7) 


5 Easy Reader Books for Beginning Readers

Friday, June 24, 2022

Another dramatic play in The Beach Classroom.

Click here to skip straight to the product!

So I started this one way back in mid march of 2020. Which today seems like ten years ago. I literally went up to school that week later on to continue working on this and then they never got to do anything with it. Last school year we didn't get to it because we were in and out so they didn't get as many dramatic play stations. So this year is the year.

They were super hype to see this set out. Normally I have something having to do with food or a restaurant so this was definitely a switch up.


Here is the back view. The top left stays the same no matter what. It has the credit cards, phones, dry-erase markers, and extra money. (I do have the Melissa and Doug market cash register piece so a lot of the money stays in that.) Then the bottom two are for whatever set we have. I have learned that LESS is so much MORE. More organization, more time, more patience, more peace. LOL The more items you have the more cleaning they have to do. They start shoving things in the wrong place. Things go missing. It is such a pain. The labels come in my dramatic play pack. I also found that clear bins make the world go round. If you can see inside, they put it away right 95% of the time versus not clear bins. They will shove that junk wherever they please...insert queasy emoji lol.

Click here for the clear bins.


Here is a little closer pic of the top left. They do a decent job of keeping the stuff in the right place because again, there isn't too much. That black thing in the money spot is a label maker, but they pretend it is a credit card machine LOL.

On the bottom left I have all the tools. We went over how they both say tools, but the one is for grooming and the other is for an exam. We discussed the differences and why the shampoo and hair trimmers are in one and the stethoscope and thermometer is in the other. It is really easy to expect them to have this vocabulary and know these things. It is easy to forget that some may have never read a book about this or have seen a show with these topics. So I always try to go over vocabulary and explain what things are. :)


This side is for pets and food. I got a lot of the pets at Walmart. The dog, cat, and food came with the Melissa and Doug pack, but I found a toy fish, turtle, and bird at Walmart. I tried to link some, but I got a lot of these two years ago. Your best bet would be to visit dollar trees, Walmart, or Target. You can also get a leftover box and print out a picture of dog food. Dramatic play has no rules!



I got these little tanks or carriers at Walmart. I hot glued fish rocks in the turtle cage, which did not go quite as planned. I remember thinking what the heck lol. However, it is good enough and when my kids saw it this year they said how it looks so realistic. Bless their hearts lol.  I put foam for the fish tank after realizing the rocks was a bust. The little plants are also from Walmart and I just hot glued them. The fish are not hot glued, but they sit up right so it works.

Thanks for reading!

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Vet Dramatic Play

Friday, March 25, 2022


If you want to skip the reading and go right to the door decor pack click here!

So I did something wild yesterday. I let my kids decorate the door...

A few years ago I said I wanted to put up a new door every month. The kids love when the door is decorated to something new. I lasted maybe 2 months LOL. I try to decorate it at the beginning, but it is such a pain. It always falls down, I can't get it straight, etc etc etc.

Well last week one of my co-worker's decorated her door. It was a spring door with flowers and my kids of course were in awe. "Let's decorate our door!"

So yesterday morning during my morning coffee I randomly thought to make a packet of things they could decorate the door with. It is homeschool at school in our classroom so I thought, I'll give them the stuff and some examples and they can decorate it together.

I told them in the morning about it so they were pumped when it was time. I printed out all the stuff ahead of time and cut it into pieces, but not the exact item. Like I didn't cut the eggs to shape, but I cut them out so there was more than one to cut. That way everyone was working. I told them all the different things there were and how they would have to work together to decide how it would get done. They immediately started brainstorming. Two took charge with the names and followed my direction of writing it in black (hey they can decorate the door, but the color choices still need to be directed from my OCD...lollll). The rest started cutting and organizing how they would put the decor. I had told them not to glue until they lay it all out so they know it fits. The only thing they wanted me to help with was the letters/words.

They did an awesome job. There was barely any arguing. The only comments were things like 'hey watch your feet' or 'you are going to step on it'. So I would count that as a win. I also stayed calm which I am finding is easier to do the older I get lol. I actually time lapsed the process which was adorable.

The best part? They were so proud. One of the office aides was walking down to second grade and I saw my one run up to her and pull her towards the door. Later the office aide told me my little babe said "We made that!" Insert crying and heart eye emojis.

I am excited to do another one. We get out in May so technically there is only one more month left, but maybe we will switch it up more since I don't have to do all the work and they love it anyways!

Click here to buy the packet for your classroom or home teaching area!

Thanks for reading! Click here for more classroom + teacher content blogs.

Kid's Door Decor

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

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