Happy Last Day of School For Me!

Week after week, I have watched so many of the awesome blogs I follow celebrate their last day of school. It's finally my turn!  We used to end our school year like this:
Monday: Full Day
Tuesday: Full Day
Wednesday: 10:45 Dismissal
Thursday: 10:45 Dismissal
Friday: 1 Hour Turn-Around Day
However, Hurricane Sandy caused us to miss so much school this year, that we had to have full days ALL.WEEK.LONG.  Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little bit. We are getting out one hour early on Thursday and Friday. Whoopty Doo. Do you know how hard it is to pack up an entire classroom when you have all of your little loves with you ALL.DAY.LONG??  I was so uptight about getting it all done that I actually wound up doing a better job than usual. That left me some time to work on some ideas for next year!

I bought 4 of these Steralite 3 drawer units to hold my student supplies.

On the right, my old way of storing paper goods for classroom celebrations.
On the left, my new and improved Party Supplies crate!

I organized all of my anchor charts and weekly poems. No more digging through my locker!

My brand new Teacher Toolkit! I even made one for Mr. First Love for Father's Day.
 I think I will probably put a little more love into new labels this summer.

I got rid of a LOT of "stuff".

I finally finished my Classroom Library re-organization. I LOVE my new bins and label holders. Don't mind all the bins on the ledge...they are proof of all my packing up!

I turned this old Highlights Magazine sticker tower into a storage container for my calendar cards. LOVE!

I am busy re-decorating my rusty old file cabinet. .. using colored duck tape! I will post a new pic when it is done.

I'm also going to throw in a quick Five For Friday with Doodlebugs Teaching!

#1 - My oldest little love graduated pre-k! She will be coming to kindergarten WITH ME in September. oh.my.goodness. I cannot even possibly believe this is happening already! She also had her dance recital last weekend. She looked B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. and danced so well. I am so proud of her!

#2 - The end of dance class and the end of school means only one thing for me...end of the year GIFTS!  Here is what we gave her teachers...

#3 - Check out this super sweet end of the year gift that I got my class today. Isn't it amazing?!?!?! I am just SO afraid that I am going to break it - I'm such a klutz!

#4 - My oldest will be 5 on the the 4th of July!  Doesn't she have the coolest birthday?  That's why we call her our little firecracker...LOL! She is having her first "friends" party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. I can't wait! She helped me make these adorable invites.

#5 - I am excited to begin my summer reading with this:

Happy summer everyone!!!

Throwback Thursday....with a Cara Carroll Shout Out

Hi everyone! I'm sorry I have been MIA - this last month of school has been beyond crazy, busy, and stressful! So of course I am thrilled to start this post by announcing...
TOMORROW IS MY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!  I can't believe I made it!  This was a challenging year with the implementation of the Common Core and the new curriculum for both ELA and Math that went along with it, as well the start of APPR. I am super excited for summer to officially begin for me! I have already been working on some great new things for my classroom decor for next year, but I'll save that for a future post.

I saw Cara's new linky party posted on Facebook and knew that I just had to be a part of it. I am very new to blogging, but since Cara was my inspiration to enter the blogland, I decided to use my first post on my new blog design for my Throwback Thursday. There is a special Cara shout out!

Originally posted on March 28, 2013.
Happy Friday Blog Lovers!
I am THRILLED to be linking up with the fabulous Kacey once again for her weekly Five For Friday Linky Party.

I am especially thrilled because tonight is a BIG HUGE ENORMOUS EXTRA SPECIAL night for me! Read on to find out more!

1. Are you as totally in LOVE with my new blog design as I am?!?!?!  This is my dream come true and it is all thanks to the amazing Christi from Design By Christi, a.k.a. Ms. Fultz, from Ms. Fultz's Corner! Seriously, she is terrific. I am embarking on a new and exciting adventure in the blogging world and without her help, it would be pretty DULL. I am forever grateful!

2. Today is my last weekday of Spring Break. Do you hear that? It is the sound of me boo-hooing all the way back to school. I have loved every minute of being home with my favorite big, little, and furry loves (and yes, I am talking about DIFFERENT loves - no one I love is big AND little AND furry, but I guess that could happen...). I am looking forward to Easter Sunday. My littlest love is going on her first egg hunt with her big sister and her 8 big cousins. I can hardly wait!

3. It's no secret that girls love buying shoes. But my latest shoe purchase?  So NOT my favorite pair of shoes. Check out these puppies:

Betcha' didn't think I literally meant puppies!  My poor furry love scraped off a big chunk of one of his pads. We had to buy these special dog boots so that we can take him for nice long walks in the neighborhood. He loves his walks and has been so sad since he's been stuck in the house and yard:( I have to tell you, it was H.I.L.A.R.I.O.U.S. when I first put his boots on. First. he looked like Bambi learning to walk for the first time. Then, he looked like he was trying to Irish Step Dance!  It will take some getting used to, but he'll get the hang of it...LOL!

4. I want to give an extra special shout out to the one and only Cara Carroll! 

Click HERE to visit her blog!

She is the one who inspired me to embark on my blogging adventure. I first fell in LOVE with her TpT products and began using them faithfully in my own classroom. That, of course, inspired me to begin creating my own. Then I caught on to her her blog, The First Grade Parade. It was through her blog that my eyes were opened to this amazing support network of teacher bloggers. You ALL are AMAZINGLY FANTASTIC. Thank you for letting me into your world!

5. And last but not least, I want to celebrate my official entrance into the blogging world with a giveaway! I know it's a little late, but you can still use it next week in your classroom. This is what my Little Loves will be doing when they are Working With Words. I've been so busy getting ready for my big unveiling, I haven't been creating. But, boy, do I have a bunch of things in the works! So, here you go - ENJOY!

Click HERE to go to my TpT store and grab this FREEBIE!

Have a very Happy Easter everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!  I would love to hear what you all think of my new blog design, so please leave me some love if you can! 

Oh yeah, one more thing. My First Love has a Facebook page, too. Make sure you check it out!

Click HERE to go to my Facebook page

Thanks for checking out my throwback post!  I promise I will have something new for you soon! Happy summer!