5 for...What Day Is It?!?

2013-06-16T17:00:00.004-07:00

We know we're in June...the sixth month of the year...

Right?

We're pretty sure we're well within the 5 for Friday "~~Slacker~~ Grace Period", so we're linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching once again.

Things were moving along at warp speed for us, and then just like getting clotheslined in a vicious game of Red Rover, it was

LIGHTS OUT.

Over.

School's GONE

and

Summer's ON!!

Cheers!
We got these as an end of year gift. Best gift ever!
They're from Pier 1 Imports. Run...

A lot of people have asked what we're most looking forward to about summer?

Ummm...Everything that has nothing to do with school?

No, seriously...

Do you really want to know?

The thing we are most looking forward to about summer is...

NOT packing school lunches every.single.stinking.day.

Seriously.

To end our school year, we decided to go with the theme of
"Being Tired" for the last full week of school.
It seemed most fitting.

So, we had Sleepover Week!

This is one of the kiddos' favorite weeks of school...Probably because ~~they get to wear pajamas and lay around on the floor all week~~ they get to hammer in all those first grade skills for one last week of hard, hard work.

They each brought a bedtime buddy to school on Monday who slept over for the entire week at school.

We cautioned them not to bring someone they would miss at home come bedtime. We are willing to do a lot of things for our class, but meeting parents at school around bedtime to gather their beloved snuggle buddies is not one of them.

On Tuesday, they brought their favorite bedtime book and a snack that a bear would eat. This kept things pretty healthy. Bears don't eat donuts. Or, brownies. Or, cupcakes. Well, unless they raid your picnic, camper or local trash can, but our bears would never cause that type of mischief. So, we ended up with snacks like raspberries, blueberries, teddy grahams, and goldfish crackers. They enjoyed their stories, snacks and snuggle buddies.

Wednesday was Teddy Bear Picnic Day. They brought their picnic baskets and blankets and we lunched and lounged in the grass together. A few of our girls took to the concept immediately and chose to use the cucumbers from their lunch for relaxation purposes.

Thursday was PJ Day! They were allowed to wear their pajamas to school (no slippers) and bring a blanket or beach towel and pillow. We learned on the floor that day. Crazy fun for them and it is absolutely amazing how well they work with the ~~threat~~ possibility of being sent back to their seats if they cannot handle the floor. Amazing...

We also had our school wide Reading Celebration that day in our Multipurpose Room. Each year, those kids who have met our reading goal for the school year are invited to a special movie.

All sleepovers have a movie, right?

After the class had their sleepover and all had left for the day, their buddies went crazy at their own sleepover!
So much for that "our bears won't cause mischief theory"...
Our class was greeted to a stern warning in the form of a poorly printed red sign on our classroom door which read,
"Beware of Bears and other Bedtime Buddies!"
There were construction paper paw prints on the door too.

When they entered, they were shocked to find their buddies had their own sleepover during the night! They giggled and giggled to find what their buddies had been up to. Some were reading. Others were taking a dive in our sticker tub. Once they gathered and cleaned up after their buddies (no maid service in our class), they wrote about it...Of course. :)

It was a fun, exhausting week.
And, just as suspected we were tired...
And, still are...

Father's Day was our last gift making session for first grade.

We just cannot send them into summer without recognizing good old Dad.

This year, we made key chains out of Shrinky Dinks.

Super easy!

You can cut any shape out of the Shrinky Dink film, but we used our Sizzix machine to cut a scallop shaped tag for each student.

We used the rough style of Shrinky Dinks, so the kids used colored pencils to draw and write on them. If you use the slick style, they can use permanent markers, such as Sharpies.

We followed the package directions and baked them at 325 degrees.

They curl up mid cooking and give you a mini teacher heart attack because you have NO time to redo these gifts if those curls don't settle down,
but then they must sense your anxiety because they flatten back out and life is once again restored.
Amazing...

We grabbed a package of rings and clips from the craft store and attached the finished projects.

They decorated their own gift bags too by drawing a picture of Dad and themselves, and gluing it to a colored construction paper background. They glued it to the front of a good old brown lunch bag and attached a handle to it with 2 pieces of construction paper, one thinner than the other and glued down the middle.

We gave them all the lunch bags we didn't need anymore because did we happen to mention we don't have to pack any school lunches for 104 days of summer?
We're kind of excited about it...

We are official Middle School Moms...

All of our boys graduated from 5th Grade this past week.

Help!!

In an effort to relax and get into the full swing of summer, the two of us handle things just a little differently.

Here's how Christy relaxes...

She heads to the Lake.

And, here's how Tammy relaxes...

She got a puppy.

Meet Jack...

Her new summer "job".

He's crate training and learning that 4:15am is not an appropriate time to wake up for the day...especially in the summer.
So much for relaxing...But, he's worth it.

Be sure to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more fabulous 5 for Fridays...or whatever day it is...

Fluttering Through First Grade

5 for...What Day Is It?!?