Summer Lovin'

Well I found out that I can post blog entries on my IPhone...so I've decided to give it a whirl. I spend a little, okay a lot, of time on my phone so this might come in handy. I'd like to say that this will allow me to post more often, but let's just be honest, I've made that promise too many times without it coming true. So let's just see what happens.

Last week I spent my days relaxing by the pool. My family went on vacation to St. Pete Beach. I absolutely adore this place. We spend our days at the pool, have a lovely dinner out, walk the beach at night, and find some extra time to explore new places and do some shopping (my favorite). AND we get to do all of this while spending time with family that lives out of town.

 

 While in St. Pete we stay at a beautiful condo. The pool is huge, which always allows you the opportunity to find a quiet place to relax and swim.

At night we spent time getting our feet wet in the ocean, collecting shells, and taking pictures with family.  My adorable baby brother and I took a picture together at sunset.  Yes, he is in fact my LITTLE brother, contrary to what everyone believes.  I just got the short genes in the family.

I also got to take a picture with my GORGEOUS little cousin. Who, is once again way taller than me. I'm definitely the shortest in the family.  But I digress...I have always wanted to have Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts and Tabby graciously agreed to be Thing 2. What education major doesn't love Dr. Seuss?

My family also took our annual family picture on the beach.  I only get to see these guys once a year, which makes our vacation that much more special!  I am beyond blessed with this family.

When we were taking our family pictures, the cousins and I (okay maybe it was mostly me) decided we should have a jumping picture. However, we could not jump in sync with one another. ;) It may or may not have been my fault most of the time. I love these guys! I was lucky enough to spend several nights with these guys in heated battles of Phase 10...I lost a lot, but I had some great laughs with these guys. :)

Since Father's Day was at the very end of our vacation, we decided to take my grandpa to see the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game. They lost...but we had an amazing time. My dad and grandpa spent a great part of the game working on their dance moves (which really means they were just shaking their butts). They even landed on the big screen for their "dance moves." They danced, while I laughed of embarrassment.

Before the game started my aunt, cousins, and I went to feed the sting rays. I attempted to feed the sting rays, but I found them to be slightly terrifying.

I was good with it for a while, even as I was holding a dead fish in my hand, but then the ray got way too close. Let's just say I dropped the fish and ran.

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation. Shopping, relaxing, and catching up with family, What more could you want?!

 

Well vacation came to an end and we are all back to reality now.  Luckily, my reality is getting to spend time with three cuties. They love to have planned activities, and as an education major I love planning  activities for them! So, this week we have been doing Pirate themed activities. We have made pirate hooks, had a sword fight, talked like parrots, and more! Yesterday we had a "Pirate" playground day. We went to the indoor park since there was a chance of rain. The kids LOVE that park, and I love all the ways it is used to spread God's word. It's amazing. 

We are missing one cutie in the picture, but he was always on the move and wouldn't slow down long enough for me to capture a picture. ;)

Today we went to the library and picked out some pirate books. They played a little in the library "forts" as the kids call them and we practiced our skills on finding books in a library.

When we got back from the library I set up a treasure hunt for the kids. They LOVED it. They figured out all of the clues without any help at all. They raced around the house and backyard as they looked for the clues and treasure. 

In the afternoon we had a Pirate Picnic and played at a park in town. What a beautiful day! We went swinging, read some books, and they had tons of time to enjoy the playground. 

I love these girls! They always brighten my day. :)

Well, it has certainly been an exciting summer so far. Hope you are lovin' your summer!

Orange You Glad It's Summer?

It’s been on my to-do list for a while now to post another blog entry…and I’m FINALLY getting around to it.  I have a hard time finding motivation in the summer.  I have a million ideas swirling around in my head of different things that I want to do, projects I want to make, places to visit, etc.  Yet, money and motivation always seem to slow me down a little.  BUT, I did accomplish a few things this week and will happily share them as proof to you all, and myself, that I am somewhat productive in the summers.

I baby-sit three cuties in the summer.  Monday was our first day together for the summer and I wanted to do something special.  I stole the idea from Pinterest, made a cute tag, and shopped around for some fun orange items.  “Orange you glad it’s summer?”

The cuties and I spent a lot of time outside on Monday.  We played on the trampoline, blew bubbles, had a talent show, and took silly pictures. They are beyond adorable.

One major project that I have been working on is an About Me book.  I've seen a lot of teachers making these and including them in their classroom library.  My book is still missing some pictures, but it gives the students a little information about myself.  I can't wait to have it for my own classroom one day, and to possibly use it in my student teaching as well.

I am slightly obsessed with chevron.  I wanted to create a canvas, so I found a tutorial on Pinterest and tried my best to create a chevron piece.  It was pretty easy, but took me a while since I can be a bit of a perfectionist.  ;)

I found this poster on Pinterest and thought it was a great reminder.  One of my projects for the summer is to find cute frames and put inspirational quotes inside.  I actually bought some of the frames tonight…see, I can be productive! 

Now if I can just find some motivation for the rest of the summer...