10 Things I Would Like to do This Summer!

I am linking up with Deanna Jump and friends to share 10 things I'd like to do this summer!! 

Oh man, where to start? There are so many things I would like to get done! Ok, here goes :) 

Number 1

I have always wanted to be a runner, but have never consistently kept it up. It always one thing or another that gets in the way, like getting sick or the weather getting cold and snowy... Well I have decided that I want to run a 5K before we try for another little bean, so I have started jogging again. I load Little Bean into the car and head to the beach or one of the beautiful parks in our area. I then proceed to jog with our awesome Bob jogging stroller, and then we hit the swings ~ swinging is one of Little Bean's all time favorite things to do :) One thing that keeps me going is my Run Keeper app. I love that it tracks how far I've gone and what my average pace is, although I vary my pace for heart health. You can also set it to play music from your iTunes play list which is pretty cool. 

Number 2 

Work on my TpT store! I have so many products swirling around in my mind just waiting to be created! Now to find the time... :) I'd also like to revamp some of my older projects. My goal is to create two each month ~ we'll see! What are your goals for creating products? Any tips or tricks?

Number 3

Begin and finish a painting! I haven't painted for pleasure since finding out I was pregnant. I mostly oil paint and that's not safe during pregnancy due to all the fumes. We have friends getting married this fall and my gift to our friends who get married has always been a painting. They send me a photo and I paint it! It makes me so happy to know my artwork makes other people happy :)

Number 4

Cook/bake more recipes from Pinterest. I love cooking and baking, and fortunately I was blessed with a little one who will (usually) happily sit in his high chair munching on snacks or playing while I cook and bake. I always show him what I'm doing and let him "help" me, which he loves :) I was also blessed with a husband who is willing to try just about anything! There have only been a few meals that he's said "I'd be ok if you didn't make that one again..." Haha ;)

Number 5 

Work on Little Bean's photo book. We love creating photo books through iPhoto on our computer, so I began one Little Bean's first month and had lofty goals of doing one month at a time. Of course, that only lasted for the first 5 months and then Christmas and TpT took over (I know, excuses, excuses). So, I am a few months behind! The fact that he's our first and our iPhones make taking good photos ridiculously easy means that we literally have thousands of photos. So, this is a big goal and a big project! 

Number 6

Take a road trip home. I haven't been home to Ithaca, NY, in the summer in years. I would really like to take Little Bean and have a family get together not made crazy by Christmas/snowy weather. It's so beautiful there in the summer!! It's a pretty long drive and my husband isn't sure he can swing the time off, but we are brainstorming how to make it happen.

Number 7

Visit my best friend and her baby boy! She is about 6 hrs away from us now but they are in the middle of packing to move to a new state, so our visit has been put on hold until they relocate - it's killing me! I can't wait to meet and snuggle the little guy and introduce him and Little Bean :)

Number 8 

Get some sewing done. There are always so many projects I want to make! Even before I had Little Bean I always had a million sewing projects I wanted to get done. I dream of a time when I can have a studio space to paint, draw, sew etc. My huge dream is to not only have a studio to do those things but also have space for a wheel to throw pots and a small kiln. I miss pottery so much!!! Someday, someday. 

Number 9

To take advantage of the beautiful area we live in by visiting lots of parks/playgrounds, going to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum etc. and exploring some new hiking trails. We love being outside and thankfully so does Little Bean! 

Number 10

Work on my tan! My brother is getting married this fall and I can't wait! My soon to be sister-in-law picked out beautiful bridesmaid dresses that have a strap on one side and are strapless on the other. Wearing a strapless bathing suit top with a little one is dangerous; wearing one with a little one who is exclusively breast fed and knows exactly where the  milk comes from is out of the question! Haha. Hopefully I can get a little time on the weekends to get some sun on my own. Ooh, maybe I can even squeeze in some reading... :) We'll see!

What fun this has been! Hopefully writing these goals/desires down like this will help them come to life :) What are your goals for the summer? I'd love to read them! 

Happy (almost) Summer!!

Five For Friday

I am excited to once again be joining Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Linky Party! I love reading about other people's weeks. Here are my 5 things. Make sure you read all the way to number 5! I'm throwing a great giveaway you won't want to miss :)

1

Before heading home from visiting our good friends in Florida we went to an alligator farm! 

Little Bean had a great time :)

2

We celebrated our wedding anniversary!! 

What a special day it was :)

3

I gave my TpT Store, my FB page and my Blog a spring makeover! Previously my logos were all different, so I made new ones that match. Stop by and check them out :)

4

This past winter was brutal on my skin, especially my hands. I found this great sugar scrub recipe that's super easy to make and works wonders on my dry, chapped hands. Since Mother's Day is coming up I thought it would be the perfect gift!

5

I'm having a Teacher Appreciation Giveaway! 

Check out the post to learn how to enter to win 3 FREE TpT products of your choice!!

Happy Friday!!!

xo Amelia

Teacher Appreciation Giveaway!

As my way of saying a big "Thank You!" to all of you hard working teachers out there I am holding an end of the week giveaway! There are 5 ways you can enter to win 3 FREE TpT products of your choice: Leave a blog post comment about why you love teaching, follow my blog with Bloglovin (I love Bloglovin!), share the post on Facebook, tag a friend in the post and last but not least, leave a comment with a kind deed that you did towards others today :) I added this last one because yesterday while I was at the grocery store with my son in the ergo carrier, the sweetest lady offered to help me empty my cart while I was checking out. While I am perfectly capable of doing it, it was so kind and helpful of her!! It made me smile  all day :)

Please leave your email with your comment so I can message you if you've won!

There will be 2 lucky teachers who win! Thanks again for all you do :)

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May the Fourth Be With You! ~ My Top 4 Products

I am so excited to be taking part in this blog hop! I hope you enjoy reading about my top 4 products! 

My Number One selling product is my Winter Sequencing Pack. This pack is full of sequencing sheets for you kiddos ~ 33 pages! What I love about these sequencing sheets is how they can be used in several different ways. I start the year by using the very basic sheet with only 3 pictures for the kids to cut and glue in order, then progress to the cut and glue with 4 pictures and finally end the year with the cut, glue and write sheets. I especially love when the students are able to write about what's happening in each picture! It is such great practice for them. I have often used this version as a sequencing assessment. This pack also contains two 6 card sequences. I have my students glue these down onto a long strip of construction paper and fold it zig zag style to make a little book. 

Basic version for the beginning of the year or for students who continue to struggle with the concept of sequencing.6 card sequence. My students glue the pictures onto construction paper and make a zig zag book.

Cut and give one strip to each student along with the writing sheet below (there is another sheet with four spaces included in the pack). After the students cut and glue, they write about what is happening in each picture. This version is a great assessment piece as well as great writing practice!

My second best selling product is my Five Senses Book Pack. This pack is made up of three books, each one a different level. I love this because is makes it so easy to differentiate for each student. Students fill in information and draw a picture in each version of the book. 

Title page and optional table of contents. I always like to have my students include a table of contents in their non-fiction writing. 

For this version the students simply fill in with something they hear, touch, etc. on each page. 

In the second version students write what body part matches with the sense and what they can see, taste, etc. 

In the last version, students write the sense and body part, what they taste, smell, etc. and what that thing tastes like, smells like, etc. 

My third best selling product is my Fall Sequencing Pack. There are 21 pages in this pack. It is very similar to my Winter Sequencing Pack above, however it has no 6 card sequences. Other than that the format is the same!

My fourth best selling product is my ABC Handwriting Book/Morning Worksheets Set 1 D'Nealian Lettering. These worksheets can be used individually as morning or literacy center worksheets or can be bound together into a handwriting book. I like to use this set as a handwriting book with my students and Set 2 as morning or literacy center worksheets. For set 1, students have the opportunity to practice writing a letter of the alphabet several times, and then have two picture examples of something that starts with that letter. They then color pictures a certain color based on uppercase or lower case. This makes the work fun for them and incorporates reading color skills. I love when they begin to read the colors on their own!

  

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my top 4 selling products! Sorry for no pics with the kiddos. As some of you already know I am blessed to be staying home with our little one this year. I will try to "borrow" a class in the future but it didn't work out this time. Happy hopping!

An InLinkz Link-up