ART: pumpkin in disguise

This activity was sort of inspired by the "Disguise the Turkey" activity.  I had the students start with a "pumpkin" (oval) shape.  I explained that the idea was to come up with something original; something they thought no one else would do because it was a contest.  I had the other activity teachers judge them for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place and honorable mention for each class.  I was so impressed with their ideas!  Here are just a few of my favorites:

Winnie the Pooh

 Mr. Potato Head

 A strawberry

A bunny rabbit

A kitty cat

Captain America

An apple

 Spiderman

 A football

A frog

Minnie Mouse

Grumpy Cat

CELEBRATE: julia's surprise birthday party

 My dear friend, Julia, was leaving to study abroad for grad school in France.  We decided to throw her a southern-style going-away/early birthday party.  She has such a fun personality, and we wanted the decorations to match, so we made a DIY garland with bright-colored tissue paper and some big balloons.  I loved the way it turned out and so much fun!

  We filled our table with fried chicken, biscuits, fruit, baked beans (her favorite), etc. 

 Isn't she just the cutest?

We used the same garland tutorial to use as the strings for the big balloons.  I thought they turned out so cute!
So thankful for these lifelong friends!

Happy 23rd Birthday, Julia, and best of luck to you in grad school!

TEACH: charlie brown christmas door

I loved the way my Snoopy door turned out! The dog house itself was fairly easy to make.  I just used red butcher paper for the house, white butcher paper for the snow, and a piece of white poster board for Snoopy's body.  I used construction paper for the lights, Snoopy's ear and nose, and for Woodstock in the window.  I used a black Sharpie to draw on the lines of the dog house and the strings for the light.  

The student teacher across the hall loved my Snoopy idea and wanted to go with a Charlie Brown theme as well.  

 

 We thought it would be really cool if we could make our doors go together since our teachers are team-teachers.  We tried to make it look like Charlie Brown was putting the lights on Snoopy's dog house. I love the way it turned out!

TRAVEL: new orleans 2016

This summer I was fortunate enough to take a little weekend trip to New Orleans, Louisiana with my mother-in-law, grandmother-in-law, and three sister-in-laws.  We decided to take a little girls trip to celebrate my grandmother-in-law's birthday.  They are so spontaneous and adventurous, which made this trip one I know I'll never forget.  


My cousin, Stephen, was nice enough to host all of us during our stay.  Such a good sport!

Our first stop?  Cafe Du Monde, of course!  We had to start off our weekend in NOLA with some beignets and coffee.  

Then, we did some shopping.  We all got some new sunglasses and had to document the occasion.

 

I loved walking the streets of New Orleans.  We found some of the coolest places just tucked in the most random places.  

We enjoyed an AMAZING dinner at Jacques-Imo's. I had the Shrimp Etouffee - and let me just say - I enjoyed every. single. bite.

Day 2 started with more beignets and coffee for our sweet Blue's birthday breakfast.

Macarons from Sucre for a shopping snack.

Marigold and I felt it necessary to take a selfie in front of this mint green wall.

We enjoyed an afternoon on Magazine Street with lots of shopping and a little bit of rain. 

We happened to be in town for Bastille Day, so we went to NOMA for some French festivities.  Unfortunately, due to recent events, they cancelled a large portion of the activities to honor the lives of those that were tragically lost.  

Any trip with my mother-in-law means lots of photo-ops.  I had to pose with these trees - I love them!

No joke - we had dessert more than a dozen times throughout our 3-day trip. 

.  
 Cannolis and gelato from Angelo Brocato's. 

We drank lots of coffee to keep us going and made several stops at Morning Call.  

  

Our last stop before heading home: Joe Gambino's for Doberge cake and cannolis to take home.  

We decided to go home through Mobile, AL, which gave me the opportunity to make a pit-stop at my cousin's new coffee truck.  

 So glad I got a chance to enjoy some Yellowhammer Coffee. 

We had the best time!  So thankful for lots of laughter, coffee, dessert, and memories.  

TEACH: what an adventure door

      With less than two months left of school, we had difficulty choosing a door to make it through the end of year.  I saw an "Up" inspired door and decided to make it my own.  I drew the house on brown poster board and wrote each child's name on a construction paper balloon.  I decided to sort of re-phrase the saying to "what an adventure" since this was for the end of the year.

The kids really loved it, and I was pretty satisfied with the way it turned out.  
---xoxo, Lauren 
 

DIY: starbucks giftcard holder

       My sister-in-law turned eight last year on her birthday (I have one younger than that, too!), and I had absolutely no idea what to get her. They celebrated her birthday a month late to share a party with her younger sister.  She has every toy imaginable and honestly, I wanted to get her something that would be special.  Being one of five, she loves to spend time with Harrison (her big brother) and me.  The girl is OBSESSED with Starbucks (and I do mean obsessed).  I can't even walk into the house with one or the girl becomes a one-track mind.  I wanted to get her a Starbucks card that promised her a breakfast date.  I wanted to make it cute, because I'm all about the appearance of a gift.  Plus, I knew my gift was going to have to compete with a bunch of new fancy toys.  I made her this card:
 

Her absolute favorite thing is a coffee frappuccino, so I put that on the front. 

Inside, I drew a to-go cup of coffee.  I, then, hot glued a recycled Starbucks coffee sleeve to the card and also sealed the bottom shut with hot glue.  it was a perfect fit for the gift card.  

The inside read: 

We know it's not your birthday - 

sorry it's a little late.

We want to make it up to you 

by treating you to a coffee date.

Harrison, Lauren, and Sophie - 

just us three.

We'll have breakfast at Starbucks

and enjoy a cup of coffee.

Happy Birthday, Sophie!

Love,

Harrison and Lauren 

Sophie loved her gift card and the moms at the party were more impressed with the card than she was, but oh well! I still love the way it turned out!   ---xoxo, Lauren

 

TEACH: now showing work display

           
        While student teaching, my clinical instructor asked me to help her come up with a way to display student work in the hallway.  We decided to go with a movie theme.  I made a "marquee" that said "NOW SHOWING: OUR BEST WORK".  

           I made this giant carton of popcorn to go along with our theme.

         I hot-glued "popcorn" and "movie tickets" onto clothespins to display the work in the hallway.  I loved the way it turned out!

CELEBRATE: college graduation - may 14, 2016

Saturday was such a special day.  What started out as a cloudy and chilly morning, turned into a gorgeous sunny day.  It's still so surreal to me that I'm done with college.  I am so glad I got to spend the day with family and friends to celebrate graduating from college.  

So neat that I've known this girl for literally my entire life, and we have been able to experience so many milestones together.  Congrats, grad!

I was lined up in front of the building where my dad happened to be looking for the restroom.  He was completely unaware that I was standing there, and I said, "Hey Dad!" to get his attention.  He casually responded, "hey" and continued walking.  Ha! 

Moments later he returned wanting to take a selfie.

Thankful for new friendships

and old ones, too!

Thanks mom and dad for a delicious and fabulous graduation party!

It was such a wonderful day! :)  

If it's any indication what the "adult" world is like, I will be perfectly content.

I've learned so much in the past 4 years - both from school and from life in general.  While I can't say I feel fully prepared to enter the "adult" world and get a "real" job, I don't think I'll ever really be prepared.  I don't think any of us are ever really "ready" to do anything.  I think you just go for it and do the best you can.  If there's one thing I have truly learned thus far, it's to "let go and let God."  I don't know what I'll be doing in August, but I trust that God has a plan for me.  
---- "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

For now, I'm painting fruit. Ha!  I'm really enjoying not having any schoolwork to do and spending my spare time pinning classroom decorations and catching up on the to-do lists that I've neglected for the last 9 months.

---- xoxo, Lauren