It's October

So that means...

1. I am knee-deep in papers to grade.




2. The combine will be rolling out of the barn soon.




3. The boys in my life will disappear for a few weeks.




4. My baby boy will soon turn 8.


5. Both kids will be in a wedding next week.


6. I am knee-deep in papers to grade.


7. The leaves are changing.




8. I am making way too many stops for this.




9. I can start making meals like this again.


10. Fall Break is only 2 weeks away.

My Newest Obsessions

Pinterest.

I am forever ripping pages out of magazines, printing pictures of things I love, bookmarking websites and pictures to come back to later. And then I lose them or they get thrown away. Or I never remember to go back to those sites.

Enter Pinterest.


Pinterest allows you to "pin" all your favorite things, creative ideas, recipes to try, all in one place. My pins include shoes I must have, ideas for my classroom, party ideas...the list goes on. If you haven't tried it, do it. It's crazy addictive, but it feels...useful. Purposeful. And although it leads you to believe you need to be "invited" you can request to be added and it only takes a few hours. Click here to get started.


Guess-the-Google.

Oh my dear. What an enormous time waster...and yet? Completely addictive. The gist: You see a series of Google images and then guess the keyword that brings those images up.


Go ahead. Click here to play. Well, finish reading this post first. Because I know once you go over there, you won't want to come back.


Montage-a-Google.

Brought to you by the same genius who created Guess-the-Google, Montage-a-Google is another cool Google image time waster. You type in the keyword and it will make a montage of images based on that word. Here's one I made:

Yum.

Big Huge Labs.

I may be severely late to the party on this one. But...I just discovered this site and am in love. Basically, you can do lots of fun stuff with your own pictures.

Remember the motivator posters that started out as serious?


But then ended up as fake and hilarious?

At Big Huge Labs, you can make your own!

and seriously if you don't know this story, go read it here.

I have also made some for school. They make great teaching tools for whatever you're studying: vocab words, content area, story elements, etc.


At Big Huge Labs you can also make magazine covers, movie posters, pop art posters, and more using your own pictures. So fun! Click here to check it out!


I hope you have fun playing with my newest obsessions. What's keeping you from cleaning your house?

Award Winning Spaghetti Recipe

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from the deacon of a small Georgia church. He had made my spaghetti casserole for a spaghetti cooking contest and won first place! How awesome is that?! If you haven't yet made this, what are you waiting for? It's so yummy and now... Award Winning! Click here for the recipe. Enjoy!

Back at It

Several of my friends have been posting on Facebook that they are going back to school tomorrow. And to that I say :p~~~~~~~~. (Does that sound like a tongue sticking out making a raspberry?)

I've been back for months. Okay, it's only really only been a few weeks, but it feels like it has been months.


The kids went back to school a few days before I did. Here they are on the second day of school because this mom forgot the camera.


Can you believe I have a second grader?! He's going to be 8! 8 years old. C.r.a.z.y.


And my kindergartener! She loves school. Loves it. She gets a weekly homework page on Monday to be turned in by Friday. She has it done in about 2 minutes on Monday afternoon, begging for more!


The boy on the other hand? Is doing great in school but really lives for recess and playing with his buddies at after-school care. The 6 hours of school are really an inconvenience to his playtime. And homework? Not quite as willing as his sister.

The weather for the first 2 weeks back to school was amazing. Low to mid 80s with less humidity. The entire summer was 95 degrees with unbearable humidity, so we definitely did our best to enjoy a few beautiful days after school at the park.


It was 100 degrees on Friday and today? A high of 62 with no sun. It was SO cold this morning! But it was definitely a welcome change. I love nothing more than chilly evenings and extra blankets.


We have a busy couple of months ahead. The little miss turns 6! this month with a party at the local gymnastics center. My niece turns one this month AND becomes a big sister! I can't wait to meet my newest niece or nephew! The boy turns 8 and they are both in a wedding next month!

Not to mention we have gymnastics, book club, and Girl Scouts. All the while I try to keep my sanity teaching all day! The good news...Fall Break is only 5 weeks away. :)

Winners!

We have winners!

The lucky winner of the John Deere backpack from Rungreen is...

Emilie Rose from Just Us!

And the winner of the John Deere computer bag is...

Handy Family from Handy Family Happenings!

Congratulations, ladies! Please email me right away with your shipping address so that our friends at Rungreen can get your prizes to you ASAP!

Thanks to everyone who entered. Don't be discouraged if you didn't win this time. I am sure this won't be the last John Deere giveaway you see here. :)

John Deere Back to School Giveaway!

Odds are, if your kids aren't back to school yet, they will be soon! Rungreen is offering you the chance to send them off to school in John Deere style! Not only are they offering you 10% off back to school items using coupon code "school" they are also giving away two fantastic John Deere bags to two lucky John Deere Mom readers!

One lucky reader will win this John Deere green and yellow backpack. This high-quality, John Deere embroidered bookbag would be perfect for a preschooler or kindergartener!

Another reader will win this John Deere laptop computer case! This embroidered John Deere laptop bag comes with organizing pockets and an adjustable shoulder strap. It's perfect for carrying your laptop, papers, or school books!

To enter this giveaway, just answer the following question in the comments:

Which bag would you like to win-the John Deere backpack or the John Deere computer bag?

For additional chances to win: (leave a separate comment for each)

*Visit Rungreen's back to school page and let me know what other product you would love to have!
*Tweet about this giveaway
*Like Rungreen on Facebook

Fine print:

* Contest open to U.S. residents only
* Giveaway ends Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. EDT
* Winner will be selected by Random.org
* Contest sponsored by Rungreen
* Thank you and good night

The Goings On

The BFF came to visit! She drove 8 hours with 2 kids to see me! Well, and others too. But I like to think it was mostly me. We had a great time visiting...it was as if she had never left! I was very sad to see her go...but hope we can continue these cross-country visits. We managed to get one picture of us-from her phone. Must do better with pictures next time.


Vistaprint has consumed my life for the past few days. I can.not.stop.myself. I am completely making things up at this point, but I just can't NOT order when it is only costing me $1.24 for SOOOO much stuff! And having all of this stuff will require me to purchase more organizing containers to store it, furthering my obsession of all things organizing. I need help.

I refuse to count the days left of summer. Suffice it to say, June went way too fast. I literally cannot believe it is already July. And I saw school supplies out at Target. Lalalalala. Covering my ears and living in denial!

This is fair week in our county. And we are under a heat advisory with the heat index nearing 110. Oh, and it's hay baling time as well. Those things ALWAYS fall on the hottest damn week of the year. Always. The kids have been begging me to schlep them to the fair and I put it off all weekend. Little did I know those 90 degree days were going to be the coolest of the week.

I have been redoing our kitchen. Wallpaper removed. Glue scraped. New paint applied. New microwave. New dishwasher is to arrive tomorrow. Next step? Replace the countertop, new backsplash of some (cheap) kind, repaint the cabinets, new hardware, new Roman shade blinds. Then we wait for the refrigerator and stove to die. :) I'll post pictures of the before and after when I am finished!

Stay cool this week! And if anyone wants to take my kids to the fair, let me know!