Be Honest...Am I Weird?

Did the post title get your attention?
(Imagine the searches that are going to come off of that!!)

I already know (for the most part) the answer to that question-
trust me, I hear it
a lot.

One thing that adds to my weirdness-

Do you have playlist like that?
It is full of songs that I have heard in commercials that get stuck in my head.
And I have to hear all of it because i feel like I am missing something if I don't.
And 9 times out of 10, I end up really liking it.
So I end up in iTunes and it ends up on my playlist.

Is that weird?
Most of the time, people fast foward through the commercials with DVRs.
We have a DVR- I would be lost without that
but when I am alone and I know The Mr won't blow a gasket, I watch them.

It's not a secret either- because we play "Guess what commercial this is from" in the van all the time!!


Each little snippet is 20-30 secs long. You'll recognize several of them!


This is the song that started it all for me. I heard this one back in April or May of last year- You can "feel" the inspiration in this song.

Smidi- Honda commercial



Keep going...
many of these were very popular from the commercial first- then went to radio!

Alex Clare- Internet Explorer




Kishi Bashi- Bright Whites- Windows 8 commercial



Jose Gonzalez- Sony Commerical


Lenka- Crate and Barrel commercial


Yael Naim- MacBook Air commercial (the song I used in the "snow dance")


KidStreet- Mac Book Pro Commercial- another instrumental- great to listen to while I'm walking


(I love to sing this one to The Mr.)
Various Cruelties- Zales Commercial


Tim McMorris- Sam Adams Commercial


Jasime Ash- Ferrero Rocher Commercial


and finally- I probably wouldn't like this song if there were people in the commercial- but I LOVE THIS DOG!!!

Ray Lamontage- Travelers Commercial


Check back later this week for some great activities from the class.
For now, I am going to go soak my feet- today I was "inspired" a little too much to walk a little farther than my feet were comfortable carrying me:)

Have a Great Day tomorrow!!

LInking Up with a Lovely Linky about Loving Lovely Things

Hello!
I am linking up with Tessa today-
She is having  a fantastic linky where you get to talk about all the things you love!

Folks, I have a big heart
(at least that is what I tell myself when I step off the scale-
I'm All Heart)

But seriously, part of the linky is to talk about people you love-
not just any people-
but the people you are loving from this wonderful blogland.

Good Gravy!~ I was going to link up when this started, but I couldn't choose.
Really- it was like telling the family (of 5) that we're going to Disneyland but we only have 4 tickets.
(I swear that never happened , but that could answer A LOT of questions for me......)

Anyway, I just couldn't do it.

I know for a fact I am still leaving people out- but these ladies here have been soooooo supportive in one way or another for me over this last year.
Sometimes it was:
 a great comment,
a hilarious story (Squirt),
a calm voice on the ride home (Tooter),
 a week full of awesome recess pictures and reminders that it's Thursday (Turdy)
a virtual "cheers!",
 random laughs,
and
sarcasm wrapped in love (Moon Over Maui, my butt!)

Do you see what I mean though?
So many inspire me daily-
And that isn't even mentioning to ones who motivate me with their great products!!! Their names can be seen ALL OVER MY ROOM!!!
That list is even longer....
So to wrap this part up-
I have totally cheated!!!

LOVE TO YOU ALL LADIES!

On to things I am loving right now:
Loving my New Keurig Machine-
I enjoy things that are easy!!

 Loving the Map My Walk App
If i didn't have proof of how far I was walking, I probably wouldn't do it- and this makes it easy (again with the easy).

Loving that this lady fell asleep at the planetarium before it EVEN STARTED and that I took her picture

(that cracks me up)

I would share a freebie that  I made last year for Valentines day- but it is awful, dreadful, yuck.
So I won't.

I will however share with you a product from Stephanie at Falling Into First that I am planning on using this year-
She has gone bananas- and it shows:)

Source: fallingintofirst.blogspot.com via miss on Pinterest

Isn't that adorable???!?!?!?!

I know my class will be Lovin' it!

I leave you now with a few search keywords that made me giggle:

Maybe they saw all my old pics from when I used to be a model and stuff.....

"Swirlie Squirrely playground"
Is that a place?
I want to go to there!!
Wait, unless it is a playplace for actual squirrels- cause something like that is just nuts!!!!

hee hee-
Be sure you head over to Tessa's to share what you are loving!

Sick Squirrels and Secret Sisters

Hi Diddley Ho Neighbors!

I had a plan- I swear I had a plan!
There are some amazing linky parties circulating right now- and I wanted to post and link to so many.
I was taking notes and strategically planning what I was going to write, who I was going to join, and where I was going to link-
and all of it was gone.
Gone in a matter of minutes.

How does this happen?

One Little Word.

(No, not THAT One Little Word)

Trust me, no one chooses this as their OLW.

The word....

STREP.

I took Littlest Little in this morning, and sure enough- it's strep.

Bleck-
You would think that with all the germs that I bring home everyday that these lil squirrels would have some immunities built up!!
I'm like  a petri dish by the time I get home-
But these little germies were tough ones and they made their way through.

I had to stay home today with him and we are also home tomorrow.

I was dreading having to set up for Day 2 of a sub, especially since it is not the same one. It is just sooooo much work.
I went looking for something to ease the planning- and I found a wonderful surprise!
I found these ladies in TpT and then moved on over to check out their blog.



I found this unit that covered my ENTIRE day tomorrow and the prep time was MINIMAL!!

 Check this out!

See that on my writing table?
That's it.

Clockwise starting at 12:00
Breakfast count
Packets for each child for the day
book
schedule
"Teacher" copy
School procedure

In the words of a close friend-
BOOM!
Done.

The pages are all separate- but I decided to make a "packet" for the day for each student (the copier did all the work there).
That way, our sub would only have one thing to pass out.

They will still have regular Math and Reading centers - but the day is centered around the book.
Activities for the whole day.
Talk about an easy plan:)
Thank you ladies!!
If you are planning (or NOT planning) on being out- go check these ladies out- give em some love, tell 'em Squirrels sent ya:)

------------------------------------ME!---------------------------------

You may have noticed things were a little nuttier than usual on the blog-
up there
at the top.








They were all  there in some form or another before.
Little birds.
Red Boxes.
Pink hearts, green clovers, wait....nope that's something else...
anyway
But now they are all cute little acorns.
And there's a new one.

Yep- I did it.
I added this nutty blog to the world of facebook!
(I know, I know- I'm the last squirrel in the world to not have a page)
but I fixed that-
now Squirrels has GONE GLOBAL!!!
Be sure to head over there and "like" me.

I tend to be jittery and nervous- (squirrelly characteristics) and it is totally compounded when i have to worry about whether or not someone likes me!
This is going to cause me to be on more meds.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday-

Smooches!!

Pretty Pencils!!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Was it an awesome Tuesday for you?
Did you rock that reading group?
Did you smoke that science lesson?
You did, didn't you?!?!

I am so proud of you!

I would like to say that I did both of those and then some, but it was not in the cards today.
We headed into school this morning two hours late because of a "wintry mix" that was on it's way.
Forty minutes after they were all in,  it was announced that we were dismissing an hour early.
So we came in and ate breakfast and then 45 minutes later we ate lunch.
Read a story.
PE
Language
20 mins of Math
Pack up-
Load buses.

And we are closed tomorrow.
Ice storm.

(In my little "squirrel brain", I picture ice cubes falling from the sky.
But not like Sonic crushed ice or even the kind your freezer makes, but the ones from the ice trays
you know, the blue ones that NO ONE ever filled back up?....I make myself giggle).

My goal is to use my time wisely tomorrow- and treat it like a work-at-home-day.

However, I am very confident that won't happen.

I do have to work on a WTH Wednesday post- Where the heck have those been????

I have lots of other great posts that are started, almost finished, or just living in my head.

There's just so much to share- but I get sidetracked so easily- really.
Easier than you might think....

For instance, I was taking pictures last Friday of a great center they were working on and something caught my eye.
What was it?

 Pretty Pencils!
They are all so used to me having my phone or camera out, so taking pictures isn't the issue.
BUT they all thought Miss Squirrels had finally lost it when she started taking pictures of the pretty pencils!

Over the Winter Break I got my Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener in the mail!
I had it shipped to my house because I worried that it would come to the school and be lonely since we wouldn't be there with it.
I was so excited and couldn't wait to use it. Believe it or not, I had NOT ONE PENCIL in the house to sharpen.
Not one.
So I sent Littlest Little next door and he came running back with a handful! We all took turns sharpening!
It was a bonding family time for us.

It really is just as easy to use as the videos show on the site. And so far, every one we sharpen in the room looks exactly the same.
I use the "sharpened" "needs to be sharpened" cans in the room, so hearing the sharpener was never an issue for me. It was always the actual sharpening.

The best part about it is the fact that Littlest Little still thinks it's "fun" and I don't have to do it!

As much as I would like to stay up and chat, I still have to go to bed at a decent time.
I will have to brave the ice (maybe) in the a.m. because Chickadee has her last appt before the braces come off!! She is so worried that the roads will be too bad for me to take her. (I am worried, too).

Stay Warm!

My Mom Said.......

Great Buckets of Wild Geese!!
Welcome back!

As I pulled into the parking lot with Littlest Little this morning, I was certain that after I got everything set up,
the sweeties would be walking in and the sounds of
 "Oh Miss Squirrels I missed you so much!"
or
"Oh Miss Squirrels, I am so happy to be back!"
or
"Oh Miss Squirrels, I don't ever want to be away from you for that long ever again!!"
would fill the room.

{{{{{ cue the Dream Sequence music}}}}}

I mean, everyone expects that, right?

It happens every year!!!

{{{{Record Scratch.....}}}}

Those are not the words that I heard.
At all.

Oh, now there were quite a few who hugged me a little tighter today. But I didn't have anyone profess their undying love to me or anything. Half of them couldn't wait to tell me what they got for Christmas. The other half wanted to know if we were gonna have homework!?!?!

They all looked so cute in their new Christmas clothes. Tutus were extra fluffy. Boots were extra sparkly.
Collars were extra pressed. Jeans were extra dark.
There were a ton of new hat/glove/scarf combo sets. I counted several kitty cats.
And a few new lunchboxes.

Everyone just looks so great right after the break!
But it kind of stresses me out~
Do you know what else I saw on these dapper little dudes and dudettes?
While it added to their new style for the new year, it made me cringe just a little. I knew for certain that it was going to lead to headache for me and heartache for them.
What could it be? What did I see? What was it that was making me so distraught?

Sneakers.
Brand New Sneakers.
Lots and lots of squeaky clean sneakers!

These sneakers lead to one of the most common phrases heard right after the holiday break....
Can you guess what it is?

(You may have heard it today. )

You got it!

"My mom said I can't get these dirty."

Really?
I had three friends CRYING today because we were going outside for recess.
"I'm gonna get in trouble!"

Our sweeties play on a playground that has rocks (pebbles) inside of the railroad ties- to soften the blow and avoid giant mud puddles.
These pebbles are local.
They come from the river.
Know what river?
The RED RIVER.
Know what makes it RED?
The clay.
The RED CLAY.
Know what that clay turns to when they pull the pebbles out?
Dust.
RED DUST.

So all that dust gets stirred and whirled around and sticks to anything that touches it.
I quit buying my children white shoes when Chickadee started that school in 2004!!!
It's not a secret.
We don't hide the dust. And when the rain falls and makes that pretty red mud, we don't hide that either.

I had a gang of children with baby wipes trying to get their shoes cleaned when we got back inside today.

When they weren't dreading the bus ride home because of dusty tennies, they were quite productive today.

We started out chart for OLW. Last year was my first year to do it. I wasn't going to do it this year- but it made quite an impact on several of my sweeties last year. One of them actually still carries her OLW card in her purse . Her word was "Confidence". Talking to her mom over the break, made me realize I needed to do it again.
I'll link last year's at the bottom of this post.

We talked about some goals for this new year to lead us into the process.

 Check out what they are planning on doing this year:

 This year I am going to look forward to be a great reader.

 This year i am going to learn to double knot my shoes.

 I love this guy!
This year I am going to eat healthy. No desserts. No cookies! No Brownies?
(Looks like he was questioning his decision there towards the end).

 This year I am going to practice how to be an artist so when I grow up I can be an artist.

 This year I am going to learn about animals. And young animals.

 This year I am going to PLAY the Wii!

These are some attainable goals. I am glad they are being realistic. (Except for "no brownie boy"- that's just not going to happen)
At least they didn't have a silly goal like:
Drink less coffee.
Eat more veggies.
Exercise.
Sleep better.
Read for fun.
Lose weight.
I mean, those are just ridonkulous- right???
(Please back me up on this one).


Before I go tonight- I have a few searches to share....hee hee...

Why, yes I am! How did you know???

 I don't know? Maybe I was planning on being a sleepy chick and forgot??
(I love that someone missed me):)

I started our bulletin board- but didn't finish before I left tonight- I will have to finish up in the morning:)
I think he needs a stache- whatcha think??

Have a Terrific Tuesday!!
Smooches!

Last year's OLW project

Happy New Year or Holy Headaches!!

"Happy New Year! "
and
"Good Morning!"
Why is it morning? Cause I haven't been out of bed very long- and when I get out of bed,
THEN it is morning.
Not before.

I went to a New Year's Celebration last night and I indulged in a few too many adult frothy beverages.

All is good though..
Thank goodness I do not return to work until Friday because I have been totally worthless today.

Don't believe me?
I'll recap my day for you.
2:00 am Went to bed.
4:30 am Asked the Mr to bring me Motrin and water (stayed in bed)
7:00am Asked for more water
8:00 Asked for more Motrin
9:00 Stuck foot on to floor to make sure it was still there
9:30 Weighed head- confirmed it was 100lbs- dozed off again

Somewhere between 9-12 I had a horrible dream that the cat from Coraline came in through the window of my classroom (I do not have a window in my classroom) and attacked me. He tore my arm up! It was awful!! And my school was really different and I couldn't find the nurse's office. When I got there (finally) she put Vaseline on it and sent me back to class!!!
What?!?!?
She should have called 911 for sure!!!

Fast Forward to Noon
12:00pm More Motrin, water, attempt at walking
12:15pm Moved to couch
From that point on, I switched between comfy chair and the couch. Watched a little Tv. Dozed on and off. Talked to a few friends on the phone- so I could wish them Happy New Year and confirm that I did not have to apoligize for anything:)
Whew.
I do not.

I tried to think of something teachery to share with you- and again I came up with nothing.
So I thought I would share something else I have done over the last few days.
Let me reiterate- not today. In the past....I have done nothing productive today (except for this post).

We took the Mr's mom to a local distillery this past week, and amongst the yummy bottles of grown- up deliciousness, there were displays of goods by local businesses.
One of those displays contained baskets upon baskets of these little tarts.
She also had regular candles, but I am terrified of an open flame in my home, so I use an electric tart warmer.
These smelled so good that I had to buy several-
Blue Christmas is melting right now.

These little puppies were $1.75 each! And they are little.
I got to thinking about all those great smelling candles that received from my students and families that I don't burn because I don't like the fire part.

So I put a few candles on the warmer plate of my tart warmer.

I love the smell of this one! Smells like you are baking, which is something else that I don't do- so it is nice to smell it and pretend.

This one was a great clean linen smell. I don't enjoy cleaning either, so this is also great!
All I had  to pour them into at the time was these egg trays.

(What's up with all the chickens??)
After they went into the freezer for a bit, they popped right out!

Chickadee says to hide them because she doesn't want anyone to mistake them for candy-:)

So I ran a few errands and when I went to Target I found these. And of course, teachers have the gift of seeing so many uses for something (often nothing near what the original use was supposed to be).

Final product? I have tarts galore!!! There are Japanese Cherry Blossom from Bath and Body Works, Gingerbread, Clean Linen, and Apple Pie tarts.

That is way too much for me to use- so I shared with my neighbors.
Just thought I would share what little productivity I have mustered with you. Maybe it is something you can do with the closet full of candles you have received over the years.

For everyone who has to work tomorrow, I send my deepest condolences:)
I head back on Friday for staff development and then kiddos return on Monday.

Whatever you venture into tomorrow, I hope it is great for you!
Smooches!