Seven Questions

Which Way to Witch School

I picked up  Which Way to Witch School on Amazon and we've read it at least once a day every day since then.  It's super cute and is probably Griffin's favorite Halloween book.  The book makes us giggle and the illustrations are entertaining.... and it rhymes which we love.  She's going to be a witch for Halloween and is into ALL things "witch" right now which is cracking me up because when I was her age I was OBSESSED with the Dorrie the Witch book series. 

Outdoor Halloween Decor

I shared our indoor Halloween decorations a couple of weeks ago but am just now sharing the outside because NOBODY at my house was about to get out there on a ladder to hang spiderwebs when it was 100+ degrees.  I even threw out the idea of "maybe we don't decorate the outside this year" and the kids were having NONE OF THAT!  Cue a crisp, cool morning this weekend and here we are...

Weekend Top 10

Saturday night we went to Bingo Night at school...

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!!! This week has been a little bit overwhelming with house stuff (when it rains it pours, right??!?!) and this post has been extra fun to write because looking for the "happy" in kind of a crappy week was a good thing for me :)

Erika,  Narci and I are all sharing our FAVORITES from the week and if you'd like to join us all you have to do is grab our graphic, link back to one (or all) of us and share your own Friday Favorites post.

First up on my list of FAVORITES are JACKETS in the morning!!!  It was in the fifties a few mornings this week and the puffy, cozy jackets were a FAVORITE.  I can handle a warm afternoon when it's crisp in the morning, amen?!?!?!

Blondies

My kids LOOOOVE the blondie mix from Trader Joe's and I've been on the hunt for a homemade recipe that's comparable.  I'm yet to find one that's as "cakey" and yet chewy as Trader Joe's BUT nobody has objected to me trying and I've come across a couple of REALLY good recipes.  The  recipe I'm sharing today is amazingly easy, chocked FULL of chocolate and these pair SO WELL with some sea salt sprinkled on top and served with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

Spooky Punch and Witch Leg Banner

One of our favorite Halloween books is Room on the Broom.  I feel like at this point it's pretty much a classic and today I'm sharing a couple of fun activities that could go along with the book OR just with Halloween fun in general.  

First up is one of my favorite Halloween traditions... "witches brew punch".  It's the EASIEST punch of all time but my kids LOVE it so much and when you present it in a smoking, bubbling cauldron it's pretty awesome.

Teacher Tuesday - Binder and Bookwork Edition

So last week when I mentioned that I FINALLY had a binder system in place that I was loving y'all pretty much demanded to SEE THE BINDERS!  So today I'm going to show you what is in all of my binders and why I'm loving this system :) 

Weekend Top 10

Slow Saturday morning complete with lots of festive book reading...

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends!!! It's been a really "normal" week around here which has been so nice.

Erika,  Narci and I are all sharing our FAVORITES from the week and if you'd like to join us all you have to do is grab our graphic, link back to one (or all) of us and share your own Friday Favorites post.

All things school lunch

Today I'm hoping to provide a little school lunch inspiration :)  I've talked on several occasions that my kids much prefer "little bits of lots of things" and we keep that same mentality when packing school lunches.  A couple of things before I dive in...

- Some days my kids pack their own lunches and other days Dave or I do

- We don't usually do veggies at lunch because 1) they never eat them and 2) they never eat them :)  My kids eat lots of veggies in smoothies and dinner but I'm the first to admit we could be better on the vegetable front.  #workingonit

- There are a couple of different allergy issues in some of my kids classes and there are certain restrictions on snacks that are eaten in the classroom but not what they can take to lunch.

Lunch Idea One

- apple sauce pouch - grilled turkey and cheese - mini chocolate chip cookies - pistachios - chompz turkey stick - apple slices

We'll sometimes make grilled cheese sandwiches on mornings where we have the griddle out for pancakes or eggs and while they're not hot when the kids get to school they still enjoy them.

Three Things

- FANTASY READING LEAGUE -
One of Luke's teachers started a fantasy reading league and he is ALL ABOUT IT!  I don't know the details but I do know that they have weekly pep rallies and that the teams include kids from all three classes and varying reading levels.  However she's running it - HE LOVES IT!!!

- PALINDROMES -
Luke has been OBSESSED with palindromes.  We've been talking about and working our way through multi-step palindromes and having so much fun.  I'm fully aware of how nerdy this sounds and I'm totally okay with that!

- AREA 51 -
Luke has been cracking us up with alllllll the Area 51 talk.  He and his friends have apparently been having some in-depth conversations about conspiracy theories, likelihood of alien life, etc.  It's led to some fun dinner table conversations at home :) 

- GAGA FOR GAGA -

Our school JUST got a gaga ball pit and Mason is absolutely living his very best life during recess right now.  He LOVES gaga and, in fact, while I was waiting for the frozen drink machine guy to deliver the machines the other day I could hear kids chanting "Mason, Mason, Mason..." I looked around the corner and up on the hill was Mason playing gaga and his team was cheering for him. SO CUTE!!!

- COMBINED RECESS -
1st and 3rd grades have recess together so a few times a week Mason and Griffin are out there together on the playground.  Mason talked a big talk about NOT being excited about this because "mooooommmmmm.... what if Griffin tries to play with me and my friends" and so you better believe I was one proud mom when I found out that he has not only included her and her friends when they've wanted to play together but has gone out of his way to be sweet to Griffin's friends AND even stuck up for her in one situation.

- ASPIRING ARTIST -
I've mentioned Mason's love of art several times before but lately he has been all about "illustrating" books and stories just like Dav Pilkey.  Dog Man and Captain Underpants pictures are ALL OVER his room and he and his best friend have their own book in the works :) 

- BALLET -
Griffin has been asking to try out a ballet class for the past few weeks and I wasn't sure whether it was because she really wanted to do ballet OR because one of her friends from school was in the class :)  She tried the class on Tuesday and FELL IN LOVE (which kind of surprised me!) and so she's trying it out again this week before we add ballet to our weekly routine.  I'm secretly really excited to see her in a ballet bun and pink tights again.

- ALLLLL THE NOTES -
Griffin is VERY into writing notes right now.  She writes several notes every night to give to her friends and teachers the next day, she leaves all of us notes on our pillows and she likes to "take notes" during church.  She's even been asking to mail some of her notes which is so sweet.

- HOMEWORK BINGO -
Griffin's teacher is doing homework differently this year and Griffin has been eating it UP!  Every week she brings home a blank homework bingo card and she has to complete a row or column by Friday.  It's been extremely motivating and I love it when kids this age get to make choices.  It's the same things she would have been doing otherwise, but I felt like it was such a clever idea to keep kids motivated when it comes to at-home practice.

- BINDER LOVE -
This is quite possibly the most ridiculous thing but I am SO SO SO excited about it so I'm sharing :)  After 14 years in the classroom I FINALLY went out and bought enough 1/2" binders to have one for every chapter that I teach.  I feel like I've made answer keys/originals for assignments and notes every single year and I FINALLY have a manageable system in place that's all neat and organized and it's making me giddy.  And all the type-A people said Amen :)

- GOD BLESS TEXAS, EXCEPT FOR THE DARN SOIL -
So in adulting-land Dave and I have been dealing with some not-so-fun foundation issues at our house thanks to the treeline we back up to.  Sigh. There are about one MILLION other things we'd rather spend money on but such is life.  If you're not from around here - Texas homes are built on concrete slabs and when our soil dries out (or when you have a dozen or so trees who have roots growing underneath that slab) it can cause your house to rise/fall in certain areas and cause cracks/etc. inside your house.  It sucks.  But we're thankful for so many things including a great company that's dealing with the problem and hopefully creating a solution and some long-term preventative measures at the same time.  This is boring and not fun - BUT has been consuming a lot of our conversations lately so there it is :)

- JELLY BEAN'S BFF -
On a lighter note - Jelly Bean's best friend HANDS DOWN is Dave McAnally.  She waits for him to come home before coming inside at night, will always (and only!) lay with him in bed and we swear that her eyes light up when he walks in the door :)  It's hilarious because he swore he wasn't a cat person and isn't a cat person but he for sure has a soft spot for her. 

Happy Wednesday, friends!!!