Crayons, Chocolate, Cake and Monday Made-It!

Wow...July is flying by way too quickly!  I have been super busy with my own Little Loves at home enjoying some much needed summer vacation. I managed to squeeze in about 5 days of curriculum work at our district office as well. I use those extra paychecks to pay for our much needed vacations...LOL!

Last week, Mr. First Love and I took our Little Loves to Pennsylvania for a few days. We went to the Crayola Experience. It was A.W.E.S.O.M.E. The girls got to do so many hands-on activities. They even made their own crayons and markers. Very cool.

After Crayola, we went to Hershey. Everyone loved Chocolate World. The girls got to practice packaging Hershey Kisses. Here's a quick pic of my Littlest Love shaking her container up before loading it up onto the conveyor belt.

The day we went to Hershey Park was Hot with a capital H. We managed surprisingly well and made sure to drink a LOT of cold water. My Little Loves are total thrill seekers and wanted to go on every ride they could. We had a great time.

As soon as we came home from our little getaway, it was time to start prepping for their BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!  I love holding our annual birthday celebrations for the girls. It is my chance to put as much effort into something special for THEM as I do for classroom on a daily basis. When my first daughter was born, I was a little sad she was a "summer birthday".  I know all you teachers out there can totally understand. But I quickly realized that having a summer birthday baby meant that I could go ALL OUT for her party because I had so much extra time. Three years later we were blessed with another summer baby. My girls' birthdays are one month apart, so this year we had a combined party for the two of them. They wanted a Mickey Mouse / Minnie Mouse party. I had so much fun with the party prep. It could be my favorite theme so far. And that is where my Monday Made-It comes in!  I spent all week MAKING lots of things for the party. Here are some highlights:

I also have a Monday Made-It for school. I give my students Retelling Rings to use during Read to Self and Read to Someone time. After reading a book, they flip through their ring and answer the questions. Sometimes they answer in their own heads or into a Whisper Phone, sometimes they write the answers in their journals, and sometimes they share their answers with a partner. I decided my rings needed a little makeover. Check out the link below to take a closer look.

Click HERE to check it out!

Would you like to use my Retelling Rings in your classroom!  Well, you are in luck!  I will choose TWO winners to receive my Retelling Rings file for FREE!  Good luck!

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Have you made something this week? Don't forget to link up with 4th Grade Frolics!

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