Five for Friday ~ Valentine's Day

Yes...yes...I know! I am even later than usual, but you know I wouldn't be me if I weren't waiting until the last minute with an incredibly LONG post for you.

Believe it or not, I started this post on Friday night. Hence the Five for Friday linky, but somewhere in the middle of editing pictures and the contemplation of the direction of said blog post, I passed out. I am talking sudden loud snore wakes me with computer sliding down my lap passed out! Surely it wasn't the festivities of Valentine's Day in a room of sugared up fourth graders that did me in. Haha...such an exciting life I lead.

Well...with no further ado.... 

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.... I have such a generous and thoughtful group of kiddos and parents. If doing what I love, with people I love, everyday was not enough to make me feel blessed, the smiles, hugs, and thoughtfulness of those I teach truly reminds me of how lucky I am!

The love continued at home with my own kiddos this weekend... 

 

I woke up Saturday morning to find a card, flowers, and candy from Justin, and if that wasn't pleasant and surprising enough, Derrick took his dad and I to lunch at our favorite restaurant, KanPai. Yumm....he then presented me with my new Jawbone Up! I hope to use this to help me get myself back on track to a healthier me. 

 

 

 

True and random happiness is watching a kid play in the snow! We were gently kissed by snow during a recent school day, and ohhs and ahhhs prevailed. Mrs. Whitt and I thought we could try, and probably fail, to keep our excited kiddos focused, or we could let them run wild and free for a few minutes. In the end, we ALL had fun and created cherished memories! Just look at all those tongues. ;)

 

 

Have I mentioned how awesome our parents are? Mr. Chris Brown from Entergy brought his friend, Mr. Marty, to do a demonstration about electricity with our fourth graders!

Our kiddos wrote thank you letters afterwards. Some of them totally cracked me up!

 

 

 

 

Goodness...we have some creative kiddos parents! Hehe...I know that some parents love this part of school Valentines while others would rather skip it, but the kiddos sure smile ear to ear as they walk in with their decorated boxes!

 

 

We sent some sugared up kiddos home Friday night, but we all had a blast sharing the love!

 

 

My sweet friend, Sarah, from Hungry While Teaching works with our school's K-Kids. She was sort of volunteered for the job, but she has taken off with this group of precious kiddos. I was lucky enough to tag along with her on their latest service project. The kiddos gave Valentine treats and cards to local nursing home residents. It was certainly a touching experience! There were a couple of us with tears in our eyes as we watched these kiddos interact with the senior citizens...in the end, all involved were smiling. 

Technically that should be the end of my rambling since I hit the 5 in Five for Friday, but I do have a bit randomness to share...but don't forget to visit Doodle Bugs to find even more fun school randomness!

I love when my Katie Byrd stops by out of the blue for a visit...so does Mr. Dunn!

 

 It makes me smile to see my kiddos successfully working together!

These girlies escaped from the wild that is indoor recess to the quiet calm of the hallway to make bracelets.

Rewards come to those that work hard...this little man enjoyed his deep dish pizza after working hard to reach a goal...hopefully more pizza will be in our future...soon!

Responses like this make my heart sing! True growth in reading right there, people! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it!

This is what our extra fitness looks like on an overwhelming and cold, rainy day...meditation does the body (and mind ;) good!

Sometimes my girlies make the best lunch dates!

Now...time for some BOOK LOVE!

Guess what came in this week? Whoohoo....book orders!

Found this cutie on Facebook a while back...
would love to give credit where credit is due...

So of course that is just what I looked like....you may very well be correct if you think I need an intervention! But oh how I love to open that box of new books...so heavenly!

In honor of our One School One Book Program with Mr. Popper's Penguins, I picked up quite a few penguin picture books...two of my faves are...

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo and illustrated by David Small is so stinking cute! It is a Caldecott Honor book for 2012, and there is no question as to why it deserves to be! 

If you have followed me for long, you know my love for Mr. David Small! You can read posts about him here, and here.  

I just loved little gentleman, Eliot! He and his father have a very unique way of sharing their passions! And no doubt many of our kiddos will recognize some familiar names in this one if they have been reading Popper's Penguins.

Penguin in Love by Salina Yoon is perfectly timely with Valentine's Day upon us! Such a lovely story of perseverance, kindness, and friendship! What a cute way to revisit common themes in literacy!

I just finished up Kate DiCamillo's Newberry Award winning book Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures! I must say that it was precious cute! There were many things I loved about it, but most of all I loved how the sweet and quirky Flora will connect with so many of my kiddos. I actually connected with her! Watching her struggle with and sort out her family relationships made me giggle...her mom is something else...no doubt my very own lovelies think of me much the same.  And I know that my kiddos are going to totally dig the illustrations by K.G. Cambell. Perfect mix of text and graphics... so fun! I can't wait to put this in my kiddos' hands!

Goodness....has this been a ridiculously long post or what? Thanks for sticking with me and my dramatically long pauses in blogging! 

I am off to make dinner for the hubby, and then take a walk to rack up some steps on this new Jawbone Up of mine. ;)

Happy Reading, friends!