Five For Friday!

This is my first time linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five For Friday!

This is such a fun linky party! I've always loved seeing all the random stuff that other people post, so I decided that this week I would link up, too!

I spent the last week at my mom and step dad's lake house. It is always a great time there, but this summer we got to spend it with my brother and sister and their families. They both live on the other side of the country, so it is such a special time to be all together. All of our kids were in heaven playing with their cousins for a week!

 

I got to spend hours playing with 6 kids under the age of eight. My idea of heaven- for real! We spent countless hours playing with duck tape. I think we made everything under the sun. My favorite creations were our duck tape vegetables! I wanted to make some for a sensory table, so I had the kids help me make them. They turned out AWESOME!!



I'll be posting DIY directions when I get a chance!  Update: You can see the DIY here.

My dad passed away 10 years ago. My kids, nieces and nephews were all born after he died. However, this week I heard every one of the kids talking about "Granddaddy", as if they saw him yesterday. It warms my heart to know that he is still present in every one of their lives.

 

We celebrate and remember him, with a special tradition, every time that we visit the lake. We always find and leave a special stone at the bottom of his tree, a beautiful weeping willow that my mom planted overlooking his lake.

 

This year was especially beautiful, because all of his children and grandchildren were there. We each decorated a stone, kissed and placed it under his tree. Beautiful.

I don't have a scanner, but my mom has one at her house. Every time I go down there, I scan in more of my families handwriting and create more fonts! I am such a dork, but I get a huge kick out of writing on the computer in other people's handwriting! You can see my original post on my font-creating obsession here.

I had a little too much fun back-to-school shopping this week. I found too much for me, instead of the kids! One of my impulse buys that I can't seem to regret is this ridiculous monster pouch. I already have a smaller hot pink monster that I use to eat all kids of stuff, so I didn't need this purple monstrosity with "grillz". This guy made his way into my cart and I actually paid $7 for him. I know that it's ridiculous, but some things you just have to have...

My last tidbit is giveaways! I am a sucker for a great giveaway! I am part of a great giveaway over at It's Elementary, My Dear! We are giving away 4- $50 gift cards from Target. Head over and get a chance to win!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my 5 for Friday! Hopefully, I can get it together to link up again :)

Back-To-School Freebies! Link-Up

I can't believe that back-to-school time is almost here for many of us! Whether you have one day left, or one month, it's always great to get new ideas and be prepared for the beginning of school!

I thought I would kick off the back-to-school season with a Freebie Link-Up. I am always so excited to see the creativity of other teacher authors. I also love sharing great ideas with other teachers and parents, so this is the perfect forum to do both!

Please feel free to link up any of your Back-to-School Ideas and Freebies! I can't wait to see all the creativity!

I'll start it off with a free back-to-school bump game. This addition game is great to get kids adding with dice. They can bump opponents off the spaces for added fun! Head over to TPT to download your free copy.

 I also have a free back-to-school scrambled sentence game. Kids can physically move the words around to find the correct order of the sentence. It's great for kids to focus in on the capital letters and punctuation in a sentence; as well as, checking if the words make sense. Download this freebie here.

 I just started a Pinterest board with tons of Creative Back-to-School Ideas. I can't wait to add your great ideas, too!

Link-up your back-to-school freebies on the link-up below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Play to Learn!

I blogged over at Classroom Tested Resources with some fun ideas to get kids playing to learn!

Kim, from The Very Busy First Graders, shared some other awesome playful ideas + a math FREEBIE! Be sure to check them out!