Surprise Valentine's Gifts-MVMT Watches!

I'm a bit late sharing Alex and I's surprise Valentine's Day gifts to one another. 

The funny thing about this is that Alex asked me a week or two before Valentine's Day when it even was. 

For some strange reason he thought it was the day after he was asking me, but no no it was actually two weeks away on February 14-the same day it always has been!

Guys are so goofy sometimes. 

So, I got him set straight on what day Valentine's Day was, and then completely forgot about it. 

We don't typically do anything for it, and I had conferences that week, so I knew it would be a busy hectic week. 

I planned to bake a cake for us and just hang low with dinner at home. 

Surprisingly enough, Alex mentioned something about these watches a couple of days before V-Day. 

I thought he was joking when he said he saw them on TV, and that he actually liked and wanted them. 

He proceeded to tell me that they had matching couples watches and wanted to know if I wanted to get them for Valentine's Day. 

Wearing the same exact watch as my husband didn't seem to be quite my thing, but what I found out and saw was that the watches weren't identical; they just kind have went together. 

We rarely both like the same thing, but we both decided on the black watches. 

I was over the moon that Alex actually thought of getting each other something. 

We put in our order and waited for their arrival. 

How cute are their boxes?!

Alex's watch

Both of our watches... 

See, they just go together. 

They aren't matchy matchy but complement one another!

We haven't had a chance to wear them yet, but they're super cute, and I hope they hold up just as well!

Tuesday Talk: Swimwear 2018

Happy Tuesday! 

If you had yesterday off, I hope you enjoyed your extended weekend!

We were supposed to have yesterday off, but then we went and had 11 snow days, so yesterday was a makeup day, and I didn't mind it one bit!

We are finally in a learning groove at school, and I'm loving it! 

Today is the third Tuesday of the month and that means Tuesday Talk!

The third Tuesday of every month Ashley and Erika do a little Tuesday Talk. 

You can blog about whatever you're interested in talking about. 

Today SWIMWEAR is on my mind!

I'm over the snow and ice, and today it's supposed to be 75 in February in Ohio!!
Woohoo!

Over the weekend I was scrolling through Instagram when a swimwear ad caught my eye.
I noticed it was a company that I bought swimsuits from in the past, so I thought I would jump over and see what they had new.

That was a mistake.
There are so many swimsuits that I love!

I've posted some of them below.
Let me know what you love or don't love!

This top was on the ad that initially caught my eye!

via

I love it paired with these side tie bottoms.

via

Then, I saw this pink and purple color of the nearly same print.
I like the strapless top with the side tie bottoms.
Or I like it with just a plain pair of black bottoms that I already have.

via

This top seems to be a bit out of my comfort zone, but it's super cute.

via

Paired with the fold top bottoms below would look super cute!

via



So, I'm narrowing it down and trying to determine which tops might go with bottoms I already have and what bottoms I think would fit well for me.
Let me know what caught your eye or your favorite swimwear brand!

Teacher Life: Grammar Skills Using No Red Ink

Hey all!
It's been a busy week here. 

Meetings and parent teacher conferences have me making it just through one day and into the next. 

I thought I'd post today about a current activity that we are working on in class.

Grammar Skills!

Grammar is tough for my 8th graders.
I think grammar went by the wayside for a few years, so now my kids are clueless.
Bless their hearts, but they don't even know how to identify a subject and a verb.
We have been working hard at it, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

I really feel I would be doing them a disservice if I just glossed over it and let it go, so I'm trying to change it a little at a time.

Each time I grade an essay of a students, I grade based on the current rubric that I gave them, but I also look for one main grammar error.
I find it best if I give them one thing to work on at a time.
Then, we use No Red Ink to learn the rules for their current goal.

Here is their No Red Ink Tracker paper where they list the skill they were assigned, the date they completed the practice and mark off once they completed the quiz.

An example of what the interactive practice looks like...

The thing I love about No Red Ink is it has personalized interactive practice.
It allows students to choose their interests, and then they actually get to drag and pull commas, semicolons, colons, etc to various places in a sentence.

Right now I have 14 different skills being learned throughout all four of my classes.
I might only have one or two students working on a skill in all of my classes, but if I see a skill that a student needs, I assign it.

For my higher kids we are working through using semicolons and colons and using commas and coordinating conjunctions.
This is tough.

At the end of this week I will specifically be assessing how the students learned their individual writing goal in their own writing.
Sometimes it's difficult to get the skill that they learned online to transfer and use it correctly in their own writing.
My fingers are crossed, and I'm hoping it WILL transfer on Friday.

For any other teachers out there, what grammar work do you use?
There's just no way I could make lessons for all of the skills that my students need.
The best thing I've found it No Red Ink.
It's not perfect, but it's the best I've yet to find.
Happy Thursday!

Friday Favorites: Super Bowl Cake, Bahamas, Bulletin Board Inspiration

Happy Friday!
It's been a long short week.
The excessive amount of snow days we keep having has me wondering what day, month, and date it is too regularly!!
Let's hope it's Friday, February 9 and the last time we have a snow day!

Today, like every Friday, is a Friday Favorites kind of day!


As always, I'm linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea. 

We're sharing our favorites from the week.

Grab their graphic and linkup with your favorites from the week, too.

Super Bowl Cake

I vowed not to watch a lick of the Super Bowl. 

I was going strong until Alex brought dinner home and forced me to watch it. 

I really didn't get into any of the commercials, and I wasn't rooting for any particular team, so my favorite part was this cake...

#GoSteelers!

Live with Kelly and Ryan from the Bahamas!!

We got an unexpected snow day on Monday, and I was even more excited when I turned on my TV for Live with Kelly and Ryan to find they were at Atlantis!

I was even more shocked that Kelly was in that dress over the weekend on Instagram, and then again for the show!

Now it has me wondering if perhaps Monday's episode was recorded from the weekend.

At this point in time I was daydreaming about being in warm, sunny weather unlike what I was seeing outside of my window!

Reading

These snow days have left me ample time to read. 

On this particular day I ran in the middle of the road before the sun rose. 

It was snowy, slippery and a beautiful sight!

I came back, showered, made myself some cocoa and sat down to read.

One book for class and another for pleasure.

Bulletin Board Inspiration

I've been finding a ton of new teachers to follow on Instagram.

I love these bulletin board ideas. 

 How cute is the paper border?!

Plants

It's that time of year...

Time to plant flowers!

On Sunday I planted my geraniums...

Four days later and they were sprouting!

The weeks have been long, oh so long recently. 

We've had one consistent week of school since before Christmas break. 

I love snow, but I'm ready for sunshine, flowers and warmer days. 

Our school year has officially gotten longer as we just added a makeup day at the end of the year. 

NO MORE SNOW!

Here's to a sunny weekend and dreaming of Spring! :)

Instant Pot: Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

A couple weeks ago I made another super easy Instant Pot meal. 

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes were made right inside the Instant Pot.
It was super easy to throw together and tasted delicious!

Meatloaf-You Need:

1 Pounds Ground Beef
1 Egg
 1 Cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1/3 Cup Ketchup
1 TBSP. Minced Garlic
1 TBSP. Minced Onion
1 1/2 tsp. Parsley

Mix ingredients together.
Put in a disposable aluminum loaf pan.
Set off to the side.

Potatoes-You Need:
2 Pounds of Potatoes (Chopped) I used Yukon Gold and took the skins off
1/2 Cup Half and Half
1 Cup Water
2 TBSP. Butter

Put chopped potatoes at the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Cover with 1 Cup of water.
Put the rack of the Instant Pot over the potatoes.
Place the loaf pan of meatloaf on that.
You will probably need to mash the sides of the loaf pan a bit to make it fit.
Set Instant Pot to high pressure for 25 minutes.

When done, vent steam.
Take out meatloaf.
Add ketchup on top and place in over.

I poured out the potatoes and used a mixer to mash them.
Then, half and half, butter and salt/pepper.

Here's the process in pictures...

Enjoy!

Book Review: January

Happy Monday and Book Review Day!

Last month I read three books. 

I felt like I started out strong and then had a major loll half way through the month. 

I was stuck at home for 7 days without a good book, so I lost a lot of reading time!

This year I'm going to share my books in reverse order of how well I liked them each month. 

So, here we go...

Winter Solstice

This was the last book in the Winter Street series. 

I'm the type of person who hates beginnings and endings, so I really held out on reading this final book. 

I grew to love the characters at the Winter Street Inn, especially Ava and Margaret, so I didn't want my connection to them to end. 

Alas, the story had to end. 

I really can't give away too much, but once again more characters are mingled into problems that continually arise.

Ava makes a big decision and learns to live away from her former home-at the Inn. 

The characters enjoy one more Christmas at the Inn before some big changes take place. 

While I loved the series, this book kind of wrapped everything up, which made me sad, and thus I deemed it my 3rd favorite book of the month. 

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain

This book has been on my list for over a year. 

We tend to always read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas in my classes at the beginning of each school year. 

The students love that book that shows life outside of a concentration camp through a German boy's eyes. 

This book mixes a few of the characters from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, but it details an orphaned boy who goes to live with his aunt, who he doesn't even know. 

She, ironically, enough works for Mr. Adolf Hitler. 

A series of changes occurs in Pierrot as he entrusts and begins to look up to the Fuhrer. 

This book was great, and a lot of my students were intrigued by my reading it because it was written by the same author as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. 

This book might become a book in our literature circles next year. 

Orphan Train Girl

I randomly selected this book out of the Scholastic book magazines that I get each month. 

It's about another orphan who is looking for a home. 

She has grown up on a train looking for her forever home. 

Each time she comes to find it, something falls through. 

This child is skeptical and hopeful for people who will love and care for her. 

Along the way, she tries to escape the horrors of one home by clinging to her teacher. 

At a new home she befriends an elderly lady who she learns has more in common with her than she thought. 

This book was a page turner!

It was a quick read, and I loved the story of hope that it shared, and so I've ranked it my #1 book for January!

That's all for today. 

Hopefully, next month I will have more books to report back with!