Never Judge a Book...

Can I get an amen?

Never Judge

The first week of school is like childbirth because....

I posted this on Facebook the other night 

and the responses were awesome and so spot on! 

The first week of school is like childbirth because.......

...it seems to last forever.

...it is so challenging while you are in the middle of it.

but seems to have flown by after the fact.

...it sneaks up on you!

...it is best done with a partner.

...the preparation is extensive! The week is exhausting...you can barely remember it once it is over. Sometimes you cry....but most of all....at the end of both....you simply get to sit quietly with your sweet kiddos and love on them because that's all they want too. 

...lasts forever and is a pain in the.....

...there are never enough narcotics to get through all the pain. 

...the pain is excruciating but the results are priceless.

...you plan and you plan but in the end somethings

 just happen that are out of your control!

...once you see sweet baby's face...automatic love!

...in the end it's all worth it!

...once it's over you realize it's only the beginning.

It's so true- the first week of school is super 

exhausting and crazy but also super wonderful. 

My favorite comment this week came from 

one of my little gifted 1st graders 

who is SUPER adorable. 

As I helped him out of the car the other morning he said

"I noticed that your name is Mrs. Long 

and you are short. 

And I know a first grade teacher who is named 

Mrs. Short and she is long. 

Isn't that interesting?"

He cracks me up! What a fun 6 year old!

My least favorite comment came from 

a lady in the car rider line one afternoon.  

It was 106 degrees and it was miserable. 

I was walking down the super long line of cars 

writing kids names on cards for them to put 

in their front windows so that it would speed the line up. 

I had sweat rolling down every single part of my body.

I walked to her window smiled and said:

"Would you like for me to make a sign for your window?"

{Should not have asked. Big mistake!}

She said:

"No....I had one last year and it kept falling down

 and getting in my way. 

 It just didn't work for me."

I stood there staring at her. 

{and thinking "ARE YOU KIDDING ME? 

DO YOU THINK STANDING OUT HERE IN THE 106 DEGREE HEAT WORKS FOR ME?"}

She continued:

"I know it makes things easier for y'all 

but it just doesn't work for me. Sorry!"

and she rolled up her window and drove on. 

I can't wait till next week when if she doesn't have a card, 

she will have to park her car, walk inside, 

and show her ID in order to pick up her child! 

Wonder how that will work for her? 

Happy weekend y'all! 

Happiness is a Choice

Even if I am exhausted, my feet hurt, I have a sore throat, it's a thousand degrees outside, and my to-do list is miles long, today I choose to be happy! 

You?

Happiness is a Choice

You are FABULOUS because....

The elementary school that I teach at turns 
50 this year and our theme is
 "50- Not a day over fabulous!"  

So I tweaked my You Rock Because...... 

printable from this post to fit our theme. 

{If you want to save this as a jpg to print- just right click on this image and choose Save As}

One day last week during staff development for teachers at my school, the principal, counselor, and I quietly left the training session and went to each teacher's classroom.  We placed a framed copy of this printable at each door. My fabulous principal spent the night before writing on each frame one thing that she appreciates about each staff member.  The hope is that each teacher will use it to celebrate the successes of the students in their classroom.

The neatest thing is that in every classroom I have walked into since that day, 
I've seen a frame proudly displayed.  

And I love that. 

Because it was truly a simple gift to give the teachers but it so reminded me that each of us truly craves and values and needs to be reminded that we are fabulous in the eyes of others around us. 

So today...just know...you ARE fabulous! 

You Are Fabulous

A Prayer for the First Day of School

{I did not write this and don't know who did.  

I found it a few years ago online and oh how I love it!}

Prayer for the First Day of School

I love you more than Sonic

Made this fun little sign tonight for my sweet girl. 
Because I do love her...even more than Sonic! 
{and everyone knows I love Sonic...lots!}

i Love You More Than Sonic

Well....he's got the hang of emailing....sorta.

So yesterday my husband got an email from my sweet, 

new-to-email Daddy.  

{of course he called to tell me he had emailed Tony}

Here's the email he sent. 

Notice anything? 

No message. 

Well....there was a message. 

It was just in the subject line. 

Nothing in the body of the email. 

Nothing. 

Anyone want to volunteer to tell him you write in the body, not in the subject line? :) 

I {heart} my Daddy

The good news is that my sweet Daddy has 

NOT thrown his new laptop computer across the room 

or mailed it to me. 

Each time he emails one of us however, 

he calls to tell me. 

I don't have the heart to tell him that calling 

kind of defeats the purpose of emailing. 

I {heart} that man! 

NO.........

I saw this sign posted on the wall of a sweet friend's

 house at book club the other night-

 right outside of her kitchen. 

Her sweet 6 year old son wrote it 

and taped it to the wall after a particularly vigorous round

 of dancing she did while cooking one night. 

Can you tell what it says? 

So stinkin' cute!

Think Outside the Box

I've always told my students to 

think outside the box

so I thought this would be a great poster to make

to hang in my new classroom as a reminder to us all! 

Polka Think Outside the Box

Step AWAY from the Computer Daddy

My sweet Daddy is one of the most amazing men I've ever met.  

He seriously can make or do anything. 

When I was little, I honestly believed he could fix ANY and EVERY problem. 

Technology, however, is not his friend. 

Several years ago he bought a laptop and

 although we showed him how to use it many times 

and had lots of phone calls about how to use it, 

one day it arrived in the mail with this note: 

which totally cracked me UP! 

Well several years have gone by since then

 and last week my sweet Daddy purchased another laptop. 

When I called him tonight and asked how he was, his answer was
"Aggravated." 

When I asked why, he said that he couldn't log in to his email.  

After a bit of discussion, I finally advised him to 

"STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER" 

when he mentioned he was ready to rip the cover off of it. 

Wonder how long it will be before I get another package in the mail for Madison?

Before you Speak: THINK

I saw this saying on Pinterest earlier today and 
knew I had to make it into a printable sign. 

Such wise advice....for kids and adults alike! 

Before You Speak Think

{If you don't know about Pinterest, it's fabulous, fun, and VERY addicting!

If you'd like an invitation leave me a comment

 with your email address & I'll send you one.

You can find my boards here.}

Downloading Issues? 

A few people have had problems downloading this from Scribd

 {might be a Mac issue?}

so if you have trouble here are a few alternatives:

1. Download from Google Docs here. 

2.  Leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send it to you.

{or email me and I'll reply}

3. Right click on the smaller image and save it as ajpeg. 

You ROCK because......

Earlier this year I posted an idea I saw

 on Etsy called I {heart} you because......

to use with your family. 

You just buy a frame,

 {Walmart or the Dollar Store or even spray paint a frame you already have}

print out the card in whatever size your frame is & place it in the frame. 

Add a thin dry erase with a cute ribbon and it's ready to go! 

You just write on the glass the reason you love someone

along with their name, and simply erase when you want to change it!

I started thinking that I'd like to use something like 

this in my classroom each day as a way to celebrate successes 

and came up with this! 

I printed it out at Walgreens and placed it in an 8 x 10 frame. 

I'll use it each day to celebrate a success 

of one of my students.

I thought some of you might like to use it for your kiddos at home so here it is! 

You Rock Because

Printing Signs as Pictures?

I've had a few emails asking if the signs were 

high enough resolution to be printed as pictures 

{like at Walgreens or Wal-mart}. 

I wasn't sure so I tried a few out today!  

I printed out the Sonic sign 

{with a polka dot heart to match my room} 

in an 8 x 10 and the wash your hands sign in a 4 x 6

and both came out fabulous! 

 I printed mine at Walgreens 

and the 4 x 6 was only 19 cents and 

the 8 x 10 was $1.59.  

To print a poster as a picture you will need to just open each one in Adobe 

and then go to Save As 

and choose JPEG from the drop down list of choices.  

I have Adobe Acrobat Pro and it's one of the options for me. I'm not sure if it is Adobe Reader but I'll check the next time I'm at school on a different computer. 

Another option is to go to the blog post of the poster you'd like to save as a picture and right click on the small image of it and choose Save Image As from the list of options. 

If neither of those work,  just leave me a comment 

{or email me}  

with your email address and which posters you want 

and I'll be happy to send them to you as JPEG files.  

Please Wash your Hands

I've been finishing up signs for my classroom and made this one 

to go by the sink in a super cute Ikea frame.  

I'll post a picture of it soon!


And I've got a really cute printable to share tomorrow-
it may be my favorite! 

Wash Your Hands