Friday, July 18, 2014

Five for Friday! 7/18

Happy Friday friends! 

As you are reading this, I am enjoying some time relaxing, chatting, and bonding with my co-workers at the most beautiful lake house I have ever seen. 
Not the exact house, these are the neighbors. 
This is a working retreat for the leadership team at my school and we will work on some items a little bit. Mostly we will laugh and enjoy some time together before we all return to the craziness of the school year. 
Last year, I was nervous about spending a weekend with my principal. This year, I have been counting down the days. It will be nice to have a complete adult conversation without being interrupted by my boys. I love them dearly, but I am in some serious need of time with friends and adults! 
This week I spent a lot of time at the park with my boys. After each outing,I walk away thinking, we really live in a great place. We do. 
We have 3 parks in less than a 5 mile radius, one is in walking distance. The other night we visited the newest extension of the one across the street, and I was reminded how beautiful our county park system 
The newest extension includes an official disc golf course that is built in to the terrain and woods of the park. They added a playground and a beautiful pavilion. Guess where we will be having future birthday parties? 

The boys and I explored the disc golf course and attempted to figure out how to play - the boys really loved the game.

I think we will be spending a lot of time on the course. 
My oldest has been bit by he baseball bug. 
I could have kissed the coach at his skills session. He told the kids something I have been saying FOREVER - you only get better by practicing. 
It is great when someone else confirms what you have been trying to teach your children. At least now my son might actually believe it, since I wasn't the one who said it! 
The lessons were so much fun, that he is going back for 2 sessions next week. Because he had so much fun, my youngest decided he wanted to try it out too. I am so excited that my middle is going to give something new a try! 
While my oldest was at baseball camp, the other 2 joined me for a little bit of sorting things out in my classroom. They actually asked to go - shocker! Since the school is next to the park, it made sense to stop in.
The AC was not on in the building and it was so HOT we only made it for a little while. 
I did not move any furniture, but I did sort through some books and organized my bookshelves. I have a lot of inherited items and am in the process of purging things that I have never used or have forgotten about. 
My teacher desk was moved to clean the carpets and I am considering getting rid of it. 
I find that it is a clutter collector and perhaps without it, I might have a tidier work space. 
The boys loved playing in the open space and entertained each other playing ball, puppy, and reading together. 
The AC will be on next week, so my youngest and I will go back to do some set-up while the oldest two are playing baseball. 
Every little bit I can tackle before the official return date will make the week of pre-planning more productive. So hard to believe that I go back in a little over a week!
My youngest and my middle son joined me and a friend on a trip to a local farm to go blueberry and blackberry picking. YUMMY! I love fresh fruit and really love fresh blackberries. They were super sweet and lots of fun to pick. 
I am so glad we made it out there early because it was HOT!
We brought home enough to nibble on them during the week and I have bags of them frozen to enjoy in some pancakes, smoothies, and baked goods. 




 Summer is almost over fr me and I know planning is really on my mind , as it may be for many others. I am posting some items on sale as part of stock up summer sale series, hope these might be of some help to you with your planning. 

Fraction Task Cards with a winter theme
Out of this World Fraction Task Cards

 I hope that you have had a great week and enjoy a very relaxing weekend! 
Cheers-


7 comments:

  1. Hello Laura, I don't think I've ever been to your blog before... thank goodness for these linkies :) Your post reminded me of the summers when my two daughters and I would visit a different park each week. It was a good way to see all of our parks and we have many. We would pack up a picnic snack and go exploring. They're in college now but still remember... as will your boys. Nice to find you... I teach kindergarten, but I think I'll follow you just to hear about life and fifth grade :) Kidpeople Classroom

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  2. YUM! I love blueberries and blackberries. We went blueberry picking last week. We freeze them and I use them to bake and in smoothies throughout the year. Google lemon blueberry cake...I made one this week and it was amazing!! You will have to try it! :)
    Miss King's Enchanted Kingdom

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  3. Fun pictures of the kids! I have 3 year old twins and I bet they'd love going to that blueberry farm. They're huge fans of ALL fruit. Thanks for sharing!
    Your blog is so cute. It's my first time here viewing it. I'm new to the blogging world and will have to stop back for more of your fun posts.

    <a href="http://literacylovinggals.blogspot.com”>Liteacy Loving Gals </a>

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  4. Your pictures are so great! Guess what- I went on a faculty retreat this week too. We also went to a mansion on a lake. How weird is that? We spent Monday night (stayed awake until 2am) and then all day Tuesday. It was really fun! It's so cool to see everyone in a different setting!
    Carol
    Teachers Are Terrific!

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    1. I'm jealous of BOTH of you. I want to go on a retreat...to a lake house. NO FAIR!!!!!!
      Alison
      Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  5. Wow! Beautiful view from the lake house!

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  6. What a beautiful view! I am on the leadership team at my school also and I cannot imagine my principal setting something like that up. She loves going to the beach so if she did decide to have a weekend away, I bet we would have a beach house. :) What an amazing park for the kids!! I bet they love playing there. I would love playing there too. haha
    ~Amanda from His and Her Hobbies

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