We finally got around to carving our pumpkins yesterday... can you say "bad mom"!? :)

Unfortunately Olivia had TWO tests today she had to study for so she still hasn't had a chance to do hers. :(  Maybe after school tomorrow though before we hit the streets.

Liam had help from mom...



And Braeden went the "all by yourself" route...




Yes, his was interesting... LOL  It ended up saying "TRON"  (Who knows!) :)

A day at the zoo!

(But I forgot to actually get a picture of them with the pumpkins!)

Lots of other good ones though...

You didn't think I forgot did you??? :)

Our social committee at the school I work for asked the staff to sign up to bring treats each day for the month of October.  (As if the month of Christmas/New Year's isn't enough JUNK?) :)  My treat day is Monday so today I made a goodie I saw recently on Pinterest and wanted desperately to have a reason to make.  HOMEMADE BUTTERFINGERS!  WHAT!?

And you NEVER guess the secret ingredient?!  In fact, there are only THREE ingredients.  But the one that is a shocker... CANDY CORN!


Ingredients:
16oz bag candy corn
16/17oz jar peanut butter
chocolate (I used bag milk chips with Tbs crisco)

First, melt your candy corn (I know, I had NO clue you could MELT candy corn!?).  Start with one minute in the microwave and stir, then add in 30 second intervals until melted.


Mix in the peanut butter and spread in an 8x8 or 9x9 pan with wax paper on the bottom.  Let cool completely then cut into rectangles.


Place the rectangles onto wax paper, melt your chocolate, then either dip or spread your rectangles with chocolate.  I am not a good "dipper" :) so I simply used a spoon and spread the chocolate over the top and onto the sides.  After this picture, I took a knife and smoothed out the sides (but forgot to take a new picture!)


Allow the chocolate to set and enjoy!  

These are very good!  Each of us had one to try and the taste is uncanny.  The texture is a bit different, not as flaky/crunchy, but still very good!!!!!

My very good friend and her husband just arrived home tonight with their brand new treasure from China!  

Please head on over to their page and give them a shout!

We had a very special visitor this past weekend!  Spencer is a bear who spends the week in Liam's class and then goes home with a different student each weekend.  At the end of the weekend the students are to draw pictures of their adventures and the parents write an explanation of the weekend's activities to share with the class.  Spencer had lots of fun with us this weekend!

He joined us for our family movie night at home on Friday where we discovered his love of popcorn!


Was tucked lovingly into bed each night and listened to stories with Liam.


Joined us in a downpour for Olivia's two soccer games on Saturday and when we stopped at Culver's in between games to warm up.  (Yes, we gave him a sweater to wear out in the cold!)


He played dress up with Liam.


Spencer also came to see Hotel Transylvania with us, attended church, and played and played.  It was a very busy weekend!

When I gave Liam the paper to draw his pictures of Spencer's adventures, I was VERY impressed and proud when Liam immediately said, "I need to put my name at the top first."  He then proceeded to write HIS NAME ALL BY HIMSELF - this is HUGE!  Yes, the letters are out of order, but still he did this will NO prompts/verbal explanations from me AT ALL.  He wrote the L and m first and then put the a in front and the i at the end.  I'll take it!  SO PROUD!!!!!


A GREAT weekend!

If you remember when I was doing my bedroom makeover, I still had a few projects that I had yet to undertake.  One of those was my headboard.  I've had this bed a number of years from IKEA (VERY inexpensive!) but I was really wanting something a bit more solid to sit against at times when reading in bed.  At the same time, I didn't want to purchase a whole new bed because I just didn't want to spend the money.  So... a friend had a great suggestion put together with some of my ideas, and I ran with it... and LOVE the results! 

Here's my bed when my room was mostly transformed.  It's a VERY basic pine bed, with a few metal bars in the headboard section as well.  I painted the bottom portion of the bed the mustard color I was using in other areas of the room because I knew it would be seen.


I then purchased pine boards and had them cut at L*owe's for free.  I had other boards for some other projects as well, but for the headboard I bought three10"x 8' boards and had them cut down to 69" long.  I did some online research and found a cheap, easy way to age the wood... using balsamic vinegar and steel wool!


I didn't take time to do the backs since they wouldn't be seen.  After "staining" I joined the three boards together with joining strips and screws.


I painted the front the same light gray I used on the walls in my room.  I decided I wanted to do a chevron pattern so after the gray dried I measured and marked in pencil a chevron but only on the top portion.  I figured the bottom was going to be behind the box spring and mattress and wouldn't really be seen.


When finished I used the mustard paint and painted with a sponge brush.  It was actually a lot easier to get straight lines than I thought it might be.


I put a coat of poly on top, which for some reason completely distressed the bottom board.  I'm still not sure WHY, but it was fine so I wasn't too concerned.  I took off the mattress (you can see it standing on the left) and scooted the box spring down a bit off the end of the bed.  I set the headboard in place and then pushed the box spring back.  There was NO room and it really helped to hold the headboard in place.


I then secured the headboard to the bed frame with a staple gun and velcro, so it can EASILY be removed at any time and down the road if I decide to change my color scheme I can reuse this and repaint.


Finally putting the mattress and bedding back on... and I LOVE the result!


I do still have to replace the light fixture on the ceiling and finish the windows, but I'm almost DONE! :)

I seem to have missed out on Saturday Favorites last week... ooops!  Sorry!

This week I thought I'd share some of the things I've made and have for download in my Teacher's Pay Teacher's Store.  If you haven't yet checked out this site, you need to!  It's just amazing what you can find on there!  Especially geared toward teachers and homeschoolers, this site packs in the products.  Basically, anyone can create a "store" and sell or give away downloads that could be worksheets, activities, SMART board files, powerpoint presentations, data collection sheets, you name it.  The top seller, who I BELIEVE has been at this for just around TWO years, has recently hit a sales figure of ONE MILLION DOLLARS!  Hello!  And with our country moving toward Common Core, and with school districts not able/willing to shell out big bucks to purchase all new Common Core geared curriculum, this type of site is perfect for adding in items that hit those CC standards!

So here are a couple of what I've listed so far and I have a few larger units in the works currently.  Most of the rest of the items I've uploaded thus far have been Dolch Word Data Sheets, Dolch Word Flash Card, and a few other type of data collection sheets.




Would you consider checking out my "store" and following me???  I'd love to see those follower numbers GROW! :)  I've really enjoyed creating items for my classroom and putting them in the store to allow others to use them as well!  You can click these pictures to take you to those items in my store, or click my store logo at the top right of the sidebar to go there as well!