Thirteen in '13

Well, helloooo there!!

Long time...no see.  

Since I've been an absentee blogger for too many months, 

I thought I'd kick of 2014 by recapping all the things that kept me so busy in 2013!

I'm linking up with 3 fabulous bloggers to share my

13 favorite moments of 2013.  

1. Snowmageddon 

We had ourselves a Midwest blizzard and made the most of our snow days by sledding, having snowball fights, and building a mansion of a snowfort!  It had 3 entries on three different levels and a slide inside of it.  Amazing!! 

2. Shark Mania!  

SonShine and his super creative Grandma made this incredible Shark Valentine box.  So much fun!!  He LOVED that his box "chomped" all of theValentines!

SonShine's Shark Attack cake won 3rd place in his Pack overall at the Cub Scout Cake Bake!

3. May 1st Snowstorm

I've never seen Snow in May!!  It was incredible.  

4. Cinco de Mayo with Jose Pepper!

My kid has such a GREAT sense of humor! 

This costume was all his idea and he ROCKED it all through the grocery store.

We had an absolute ball!!  

5. Dad & Lad

This should probably be my Number 1 most favorite thing about 2013.  

My hubby is the World's Greatest Daddy...I love, love, LOVE to watch him with our son.  He is a silly buddy, strong father, spiritual leader, tireless supporter, and tender daddy. 

6. Halloween

To my delight, SonShine decided to be Harry Potter for Halloween!

So, we made sure his trick-or-treat bag had some authentic treats like Chocolate Frogs. We always go Trick-or-Treating in my Grandma's neighborhood with all the cousins. It's such a fun family tradition!

7. Mother Nature

SonShine is such a nature lover!!  He has had such a great time this year going on hikes, catching baby frogs, fishing, making camp fires, and finding cool rocks!

8.  ABD (All But Dissertation!) Doctoral Candidate

  In July I took the comprehensive exams for my Educational Leadership Doctoral program...3 days, 3 massive binders, 6 exams, and 90 pages of essays.

PASSED!!  

Now, all that's left is Dissertation.  Can't wait to be Dr. Swan in 2014!!

9.  Colorado Vacation

Our first family vacation in 4 long years!

I have been in class every summer for the last 4 years - making vacations impossible. So, as soon as I finished my comps, we headed out of town for 10 days in Colorado!! We rented a house on the very top of a mountain and soaked in as much fun and family time as possible.

10. Baptism

 Both Hubs and SonShine were baptized together this summer. 

This picture is my favorite...

I love the look on SonShine's face as he watches Daddy getting baptized!

11. Boys Trips

I've been very busy this fall working on my dissertation proposal. So, my incredible Hubs has been taking SonShine on all kinds of amazing Boys Trips! They've gone on nature hikes, helicopter rides, to museums, festivals, and MORE!! I'm so grateful for a hubby that turns the times when I have to work into awesome memories for our son!

12. Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of year!!

We have had such a great holiday season... visited Crown Center, saw A Christmas Carol, looked at Christmas lights, made NinjaBread cookies for Santa, celebrated with our family, and remembered the birth of our Savior. 

13.  Instagram

I have fallen in love with Instagram this year!

I'd love for you to follow me!!  I'm @happyteacherheaven 

It's so much fun getting to know all my blogging friends and it's a great way to share ideas and keep in touch when you don't have time to blog.  Below are my 3 favorite InstaPics of the year!

We gave SonShine Bertie Botts Every-Flavour Beans...

he got a vomit flavored one.  GAG!!  

My boys with their 2013 Memory Ornament -- it's an "I've Been Everywhere" Santa to commemorate all of their Boys Trips this year.  Memory Ornaments are my favorite holiday tradition!!

This is my absolute favorite student writing sample from last spring.  

I'm linking up these 3 favorite Instagram pics of the year with Kickin' It In Kindergarten for her

If you're still reading...be sure to hop over to Simply Kinder and get registered for her INCREDIBLE giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by!

I promise to be a better blogger in 2014!!

Enchanted Kinder Garden's GIVEAWAY!

Enchanted Kinder Garden has hit 200 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers! A giveaway was only the RIGHT thing to do.

Be sure to join in on the giveaway below! Share with your friends on Instagram, Facebook, and be sure to PIN away! Happy holidays. The winners will be announced on Thursday. The giveaway will run now until midnight on the 25th. Here's what we're giving away:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BlogLovin'

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5668149/?claim=kgvjynzhfcg">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Hello Summer!! (freebie)

Check out my post over at Teaching Blog Round-Up for an adorable way to express your gratitude for co-workers, aides, parent volunteers, or friends!  You can grab the gift tag for FREE!!

Teacher Appreciation Freebies Roundup

Happy Friday!!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for "Five for Friday"!

Keep reading all the way to the end for a fun FREEBIE!!

1.  Son-Shine was SUPER excited about Cinco de Mayo last weekend and insisted upon wearing a costume all day...even to the grocery store!  I was able to convince him to leave his maracas at home, but we just had to stop in "Jose Pepper's" favorite aisle and pose for some pics.  :)  Funny guy!!

2.  My sweet class gave me such a nice Teacher Appreciation Day!  :)  They made dinner for my family, gave me a beautiful bouquet, brought treats for the class and my favorite Sonic drink, gave me a spa gift card (!!!), and a Summer Fun" bag with a cute beach towel, lotions, make-up bag, magazines, bookmark, etc.

3.  I forgot to bring my camera outside, but we released our butterflies yesterday!!  All 10 of them survived and flew to freedom!!  :)  Such a fun experience.

4.  There are 9 days of school left!  WOOHOOOO!!

5.  Teacher Appreciation Week may be coming to an end, but the celebration isn't over yet!  Teaching Blog Roundup is teaming up with 20 of the best blogs to host this Teacher Appreciation FREEBIES Roundup blog hop.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  I would like to show my appreciation with this great freebie for you.

I'm assessing like crazy right now!  Which means I need a lot of independent activities to keep my kids engaged and learning while I'm working one-on-one with other students.  Here's a little freebie for you to practice ending blends.  Click the picture below to grab your FREEBIE!!  I hope you and your students enjoy it!

I'm glad you hopped by!  If you are new to my blog and liked what you see, don't forget to follow me!  Now head over to Learning is for Superstars to roundup the next FREEBIE!

We Appreciate You!

Recess Rants to Recess Raves!!

Do you have a "Mr. Nobody" that plays on your playground
and leaves out all the equipment??  We do!!

The PE teacher sent out the following email last week, "We are losing equipment by leaving it out at a record pace.  I placed 3 brand new basketballs out there last week and already they are gone.  We are almost out of equipment..."  Since Kindergarten is the last class out on the playground each day, we can really help to solve this problem!!  

We are fortunate to have a door straight into our classroom from the playground.  To encourage my kids to be more aware of cleaning up at the end of recess, I put some stickers (FREE from Highlights magazine) in a cute little sports bucket right by the door.  My idea was that kids who picked up equipment could grab a sticker on the way back inside.  

FAIL!!!!

While the kids were certainly motivated to pick-up the playground, 

the sticker pail created a total traffic-jam in the doorway.  

So, like any good teacher, I very quickly revised my plan!

Our recess door is magnetic, so I decided to use that to my advantage!  I printed some "Recess Star" cards, laminated them, and slapped a magnet to the back.  Now, when kids pick-up equipment at recess, they simply grab a card off the door and put it on their desk tag.  

Our recess is at the very end of the day. So, when the kids arrive the next day, they can put their star back on the door and select a sticker.  The flow of the morning routine helps to reduce the "traffic jam".  The kids also love starting the day off with a reward!  :)  

If you'd like to give it a try with your class, you can click the picture below and download your very own set of "Recess Stars"!  

With only a couple weeks left in the school year, I'm pulling out allllllll the stops in positive behavior support!!  Keep checking back for more posts about my "Rockin' Rewards"!!

Thank you for stopping by!!

Five for Friday...on time!!!

**Woot**  

My Five for Friday is up...on Friday!!!!

1.  It's snowing...a lot...in May.  :(  boo

2.  I've switched from a typical "worksheet-y" daily warm-up activity to "Quick Write" journals.  And...I'm LOVIN' it!!!  There is no better way to start the day than with kinder-writing.  Check out just one of the jewels from this week. 

3.  It's been a crazy week.  In fact, it was so Super-Whack-o-Nuts-o that I completely forgot to update our calendar when the month rolled over into May... and I didn't even notice it until the end of the day on Thursday!!  {Clearly, we haven't been doing "Calendar Time" this week!!}  Of course, not one kid noticed...this is a definite perk of teaching kinder!  :)  My 5th graders would have nailed me on it within 12 seconds of walking in the door on May 1st!  this is what it looked like when I left today...I'll change it tomorrow.  Maybe.  ;)

4.  All of our little caterpillars have formed their chrysalis and have been transferred to their new home!  My kinders are practicing patience...but it is a pain-staking wait, for sure!!  We are so excited to meet our new flying friends!!

5.  There's only one word to describe my students' behavior lately...BIZARRE!!  I really, really, really try not to use sarcasm in the classroom.  But, this week I actually looked at a sweet kinder kid and said, "Really???"  So, I'm pulling out allllllll the stops in positive behavior support.  (Blog post coming your way soon!!)  But, if you have any favorite tips and tricks...send 'em my way! 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!! 

May Currently!

I am BEYOND excited that it's May!!

I have less than 3 weeks of school left until SUMMER!!

I'm linking up with Farley for Currently in May...

HBO has been playing "Meet the Fockers" and I think I must have "watched" it 5 times already this week!  I like to have something going in the background while I work on the computer.  I love those movies!!  

I've got 2 hellish weeks of final projects and papers and then I'm D-O-N-E with grad school.  :)  I'm so excited to be nearing the finish line!!

As many of you know, this is  my first year in kindergarten and all of these end-of-year assessments are making me feel like a crazy person!!  In the intermediate grades, the big rush is in February getting ready for state assessments in late March and early April.  I always loved being able to slow down and have fun in the 4th quarter!  Whew...I was unprepared for the realities of wrapping up a kindergarten year.  I feel like all I have time to do is assess - especially since I teach 1/2 day kindergarten.  The kids are loving all of the fun craftivities, games, and learning stations...but I'm maxed out!!  ;)

This is just part of the mountain of assessments that appeared on my desk this week.  

Between end of semester grad school craziness and end of the school year chaos -- I'm looking forward to wrapping things up and getting summer vacation kicked-off!!  I can't wait to spend time with my family when I'm not thinking about the 6,492 other things I "need" to be doing!!  

I've got to buckle down and finish these grad school projects.  I need to clear my plate!!

This summer I'm looking forward to a family vacation...we haven't had one in 3 years!  I want to learn Yoga, get a mani/pedi, and spend some time with my girlfriends!!  

What are you up to?  

Go link up with Farley so I can find out!! 

Are you looking for fun FREE Mother's Day activity?
Check out my "Sweet Love" Mother's Day card pack...
includes cards for moms & "mother figures"!!