[love] eBay Shopping

Ladies, meet my new coral pants.
$10 Gap capris from eBay!
Pardon the wrinkles and disheveled hair, it was after school... 

I have recently jumped on the eBay wagon after doing some searching one uneventful night two weeks ago. Who knew they had clothes?! Haha okay, I knew that. But knowing I was in need of some new pants for school and knowing that Gap had pants that fit me well, that is what I searched specifically for through their site.

Now, Gap isn't Walmart. As in, their prices are a bit more than I want to spend on clothes. I mean, they're clothes. Anything/anywhere over $20 makes my heart hurt a little bit. And I take sport in finding a good bargain. Unless its technology. Anyways, to eBay I went. And these cute coral capris (there's that alliteration again!) were mine for only $4.50. I spent more on shipping ($5 something) than the actual pants! The grand total was $10.40 and that made my heart super happy!

I was a bit disappointed when they arrived however... they spelled like cigarette smoke. Yuck! But after washing/drying/drying/airing out, they were as good as new! Obviously, you want to read the "fine print" of your item, checking for wear and stains/holes/etc. You take a risk buying things on eBay because who knows what you'll get, but these pants have been great! And Nate thinks I look cute in them, so that pays off too.

Happy Monday! I'm counting down to Friday because my parents are coming into town to visit Nate and I! Can't wait!!!

"Oh our Lord, oh our Lord. How majestic is Your name in all the earth." -All Sons and Daughters

[photoaday] Week Thirty Four

The first full week of school has come and gone. Nate and I are so excited for fall and for our routine to be back again! Friday night high school football games, cooler weather, Dallas Cowboy football, Texas Rangers (hopefully!!!) in the playoffs... Yes please!

[psst: if you take photos this week, use my button on your blog post and leave me a comment on THIS post with the link to YOUR blog post with your photos.... that's not confusing at all, is it? once you do that (and assuming you're a follower of mine), I will feature your blog with a few of your photos! remember ladies, sharing is caring :)]

[sunday]: Enjoying a nice evening under the Texas sky... gorgeous!

[monday]: Our bedtime routine... Chloe snuggled up by my leg, Oliver doing who knows what...

[tuesday]: My craft room (somewhat) cleaned and picked up. Believe me, it was much worse before!

[wednesday]: Teacher perks? Gifts from your students, including but not limited to cookies. Did I have a cookie for breakfast this day? You betcha.

[thursday]: High school football is back! Only a scrimmage game, but good to see the guys out there again. Now if we could only get cooler weather instead of blistering sun. Sheesh. Although it was cooler than it has been in a while. A hint of fall coming? Hopefully!

[friday]: This is how Oliver relaxes on a Friday night. Wow.

[saturday]: Saturday movie date... "Across the Universe". I'm a sucker for a Beatles cover... and an entire movie based on their music sung in new(ish) fashion? Mhmm.

What a wonderful week. So blessed. So very very blessed. Have a wonderful weekend!

"We are the light of the world. We are a city on a hill. We are the light of the world, we gotta we gotta we gotta let the light shine." -Kari Jobe

[love] Four Favorites for Friday

Ahh, the first full week of school is complete. And as a reward to myself for a job well done (ha!), I want to treat myself with virtual window shopping. Join me as we do the best kind of shopping: free shopping!

Store: Forever 21

[one]: Sheer Pleated Collar Top
The structure of this piece is appealing to me: a bit of a throwback teacher-vibe, don't you think?

[two]: Metallic Tribal Print Top
Flowy, patterned, and shiny. Yes please.

[three]: Geometric Print Top
I'm seeing a pattern here. Again, flowy and with a pattern.

[four]: Metallic High-Low Sweater
This top would be fun for a weekend event, possibly a date night (hint, hint Nate!)

Wasn't that fun? Virtual window shopping. This may be my Friday wind-down-from-the-week new tradition. I like the shopping appeal. Nate loves the free appeal. Everyone wins! So my goal each week will be to find four favorite things for Friday (also, I like alliteration if you couldn't tell).  Happy weekend, friends!

"This is the story of the Son of God hanging on the cross for me. But it ends with a bride and groom and a wedding by a glassy sea. O death where is your sting? Cause I'll be there singing holy, holy, holy is the Lord." -The City Harmonic

[love] My Sweet Chloe Pup

She should be in the circus. That is all.

Happy Wednesday!

"Shout it, go on and scream it from the mountains. Go on and tell it to the masses. That He is God. We will sing out hallelujah, we will cry out hallelujah." -All Sons & Daughters

[teach] Pom Dry Erase Markers

[I originally pinned this on Pinterest, but it had the dreaded "uploaded by user" tag with it instead of its original link: if you know where the idea came from, let me know!]

I  h-a-t-e using tissues as an eraser when I write with a dry erase marker. Yes, I use a tissue instead of an actual eraser. Yes, I still use dry erase markers because I don't have a smart board. It's okay though- I don't write with it much. But it does irk me when I have to keep up with a yucky tissue to wipe my board clean.

Enter pom poms, hot glue, and dry erase markers. I saw this idea on Pinterest (see disclaimer above) but I have no idea where the original source came from. Be careful when you pin, friends!

Here's what I did: it will take you all of five seconds.

Markers.

Pom poms.

Hot glue.

Done.

Pretty.

Gorgeous!!!

Yes please.

Isn't that the easiest project ever?! And now I have an eraser whenever I use markers. No more yucky tissues to keep up with. Happy teacher. Happy Tuesday!

See where I link up: Monday Made it @ 4th Grade Frolics, Blog Hop @ Naptime Review, Tips & Tricks @ Stringtown Home, What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots, Craft-O-Manic Monday @ Craft-O-Manic, Link Party @ Uncommon, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party @ Not JUST A Housewife, {Wow Me Wednesday} @ Ginger Snap Crafts, Link Party @ Destination: Craft, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick, Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello, What I Wore Wednesday @ The Pleated Poppy

[make] Knotty Blanket

Don't get any ideas, you guys :)

I needed a soft blanket to add to a "We Care" bucket in my classroom (basically a bucket for a kiddo to grab something out of when they are feeling sad and need something cuddly to help them feel better). Of course no-body has those cheapy $5 fleece blankets they have everywhere during Christmas-time. Then it hit me. Duh. Make my own. Here's what I did:

Gather supplies (two colors of fleece- tan and mustard yellow for me), coordinating fabric (leopard print of course), rotary cutter, scissors, not pictured: sewing machine and coordinating thread

Cut your two fleece fabrics the same size. I just wanted a small blanket (kind of like what Linus carries around in Charlie Brown cartoons) so I cut the two pieces into a rectangle shape.

I wanted to add a heart with my coordinating fabric since this blanket was going in my "We Care" center... just to show some love when they are feeling sad. To make a perfect heart, fold your fabric in half and cut out half of a heart. Unfold and voila!

Next, decide where you want your heart to lay on your fleece fabric (just pick one of your fleece pieces). If I were to do this again, I would've pinned it further away from the edges, but oh well. Live and learn!

Stitch that heart on there yo.

Pretty zig-zag stitches.

Next, put your two fleece pieces on top of each other and go around the perimeter of your blanket to cut little slits, about 1 inch wide. All the way around....

To where it looks like this:

Then plop yourself in front of the TV (yep, that's the Olympics... I did this a while ago...) and start tying knots!

If a little girl sits in your lap and cuddles with its sweet softness, don't push her away (or turn the lights on apparently).

The end! See how the heart is so close to the edge? Meh. Next time :) But the knots secure the fleece pieces together without you having to sew all the way around and then having to turn it inside out and then having to stitch it closed... Whew.

Hahahaha. I can't make this stuff up. Okay, she did sit on it and I told her to lay down so I could get an adorable picture. Mission accomplished. I believe she feels cared for.

Have you ever made one of these blankets? I made one in high school with my aunt (blue/white background with footballs all over it... took it to games when I cheered and marched in the band)... Oh the glory days.

Happy Monday! I survived our first full day of school yesterday. How many more to go? ;)

See where I link up: Monday Made it @ 4th Grade Frolics, Blog Hop @ Naptime Review, Tips & Tricks @ Stringtown Home, What I Whipped Up Wednesday @ Sugar and Dots, Craft-O-Manic Monday @ Craft-O-Manic, Link Party @ Uncommon, Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts, Show Me What Ya Got Linky Party @ Not JUST A Housewife, {Wow Me Wednesday} @ Ginger Snap Crafts, Link Party @ Destination: Craft, The Creative Spark @ Clean & Scentsible, Before & After Party @ Thrifty Decor Chick, Weekend Wrap-Up Party @ Tatertots and Jello, What I Wore Wednesday @ The Pleated Poppy 

"Ruin my life, the plans I have made. Ruin desires for my own selfish gain. Destroy the idols that have taken Your place, til its You alone I live for... You alone I live for." -Jeff Johnson

[photoaday] Week Thirty Three

This week was c-r-a-z-y with school-school-school. I was on the go, awake early/up late at night. Dang. But school has officially kicked off and next week begins our first full week of Kindergarten (which includes a nap, thank you Lord)! Let's check out the week, shall we? ANDDDD I have a beautiful new button to show!

[psst: if you take photos this week, use my button on your blog post and leave me a comment on THIS post with the link to YOUR blog post with your photos.... that's not confusing at all, is it? once you do that (and assuming you're a follower of mine), I will feature your blog with a few of your photos! remember ladies, sharing is caring :)]

[sunday] Prepping a goodie bag of animal crackers for my kiddos for orientation night. Not as many as last year (21 vs. 28) but still a good number!

[monday] The calm before the storm that is orientation (you can see the goodie bags on their tables). It was a great night though! All the kiddos were so excited and their families seemed very nice. Can't wait!

[tuesday] Meetings, meetings, meetings.

[wednesday] No photo this day. Finishing up of meetings/classroom set up/making copies and Women's Bible Study night!

[thursday] First day of school! You've already heard all about our day during this post from Thursday.

[friday] Spending the night with this little gal here.

[saturday] Laundry day at the Johnson household (hence my missing sheets). Basket of towels, folded t-shirts, and Big Bang on my Kindle Fire. Good times.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

"everyday I will praise You and extol Your name forever and ever." psalm 145:2

[teach] First Day of Kindergarten In The Books

I did it.

 [commemorative first day of school photo, at 6:55am no less... ignore the sleepy face]

First day of Kindergarten is complete! Well, we got out early today and will get out early tomorrow (1pm) so the first FULL day of school will be on Monday. My kiddos are so sweet! 21 is a big class but since I conquered 28 (ending with 26) kiddos last year, I feel like 21 is a breeze!

We worked on a few "first day of school" projects today, trying to get in the swing of "big kid" school. We read "The Kissing Hand" (of course!) and made kissing hands (handprint with heart: we traced their hands, I have learned my lesson in the past, but the kiddos colored them and I was impressed; we also discussed first day feelings). I found a Kissing Hand poem online (not sure of the author, I just Googled it) and we painted handprints to go with it- thank GOODNESS I have an aide to help me with my antics!

We also read another book called "My First Day of School" and drew pictures of ourselves on the first day. We read one more book as well (called "Kindergarten Rocks!") and colored a picture of a school [not pictured].

 
We discussed some procedures and routines (which will need LOTS OF PRACTICE forever and ever): tomorrow we will talk about our names and the alphabet. It is looking to be a great year in Kindergarten! Now... time to sleep (I already took a nap at 7pm, haha)

 "what love is this? that You sent Your Son for me? and made a way for me to know You? and I confess You're more than enough for me. You're all I need. Jesus, in Your suffering, You are reaching, You thought of me." -Kari Jobe