Friday Favorites: Irma Edition

Happy Friday! Our week turned out super crazy and unexpected so I thought I'd attempt to document our faves from the craziness. ☺

We found out at the very end of our school day on Friday that school would be closed both Monday and Tuesday due to the expected impact of Hurricane Irma. It was exciting news because of extra days off but also made me a little leery of the approaching bad weather. But we went ahead with our regular weekend plans which included a lazy Friday night movie night, and pretty much all soccer for Saturday and Sunday. Plus church. 

Layton came down with something similar to rsv last week so he couldn't play in his first ever game, but Terrell went to watch Austin play early Saturday morning while me, Garrison, and Layton traveled to Garrison's away game and Terrell and Austin met us there in time to see the whole game too. Austin scored twice in his game and his team won in a shut out. My number 4 played awesome. ☺

We didn't get any pictures at Garrison's games because of cheering and excitement and frigid winds. His team won their 1st game on Saturday but lost a close one on Sunday. And by Sunday afternoon the wind was crazy and the temperature was dropping. We FROZE at the soccer field. So we came home and moved everything from our front porch under our garage and watched the weather while we settled in for our extra days off. 

Monday morning was lazy and laid back. The weather wasn't super scary just windy and rainy. I changed all the sheets on all the beds and did laundry before letting the boys do a "Fall craft" aka paint a construction paper pumpkin. Haha. They loved painting and we were enjoying our day off to the fullest.

Until the power went off. In the middle of lunch. Thankfully that's all that really happened here for us. We didn't have any trees to fall or any sort of wind damage or even scares from the storm. But being without power definitely made the day crawl by. 

But I finally finished my book! And I think this one may be my favorite Elin Hilderbrand book! And I've read a ton and loved a ton, I just especially loved this one. ☺

By Monday afternoon we were pulling out all the puzzles, games, papers, ideas, THINGS we could come up with. 

Terrell was probably the most bored in the house. Ha. He finally got out to get ice so we could save our food and he managed to find us supper for Monday night. I think the whole town was without power so he waited in line at Ingles for at least half an hour with tons of other people looking for a hot meal. We ate by candlelight and flashlight Monday. Everybody slept decent and thankfully our house was cool and the only issue we had was the lack of noise. We are all used to sleeping with some kind of noise so it was too quiet for everybody! Thankfully we could listen to the wind and rain even though it had calmed down quite a bit.

Tuesday we were still without power so we decided to head over to my in-laws who actually never lost power. I was able to shower (#yaaaaay) and then we made chili and baked potatoes to have for supper. It felt good to get out of our house and to have power for a while! We even got in some fun games while we did laundry Tuesday night. School was cancelled for Wednesday and we were relieved to have another day off since things for most of our county were far from back to normal (including us!).

Late Tuesday night around 11 our power came back on (SO thankful!!) and even though I was half asleep I knew I was going to make the most of Wednesday!

Wednesday morning we woke up to normalcy and were off to run all of our errands that since I started working, typically have to be saved for the weekend. It was awesome. ☺ The boys and I had a great day together. 

Our favorite part of the whole day was Target! #ourfavoritesectionofthestore I decided to get the boys a bag of popcorn to share while we shopped and the sweet lady working gave them 3 separate bags. #God'sgrace #Ihopeshewasblessedtherestofherday

Wednesday I was able to get a lot done and then we all went out to eat with my side of the fam at our fave Mexican restaurant. It was a fun way to wrap up our time off. We were back to school and reality on yesterday and are somehow still worn out this morning. Haha. But this picture of Garrison reading on the way to soccer was my favorite sights from yesterday. I am so thankful he loves to read!!

And this little man donned his soccer uniform for the first time last night before soccer pictures and was the cutest thing ever! I just about couldn't handle it!! He was so proud and loved wearing his soccer clothes. ☺

This weekend is Buggy Days for our hometown and Terrell and I have special date planned too. (We're getting to enjoy one of Terrell's birthday gifts that we're super excited about!) We are so thankful it's Friday and looking forward to our weekend! 

(Continue to pray for those affected by the crazy hurricanes. Our power being out for about 36 hours was a minor inconvenience compared to what others have suffered and lost. I am remembering them and praying for them daily.) 

Have a great weekend!

Austin's 6th Birthday Party

We celebrated Austin's 6th birthday with a super fun fidget spinner party on Saturday! He requested a party at home, with the water slide, and finally decided on fidget spinners as his theme. ☺ Despite the craziness of trying to pull off a party at home after the first month of school and my first time back in the classroom as the real teacher in 8 years (and a minor crisis with the cake), we pulled it off and our birthday boy had a super awesome party. YAY!!

Megan created our invites again and did a perfect job as always! Her work is the best!

Pre-party family pic! The big boys enjoyed 4 days of water slide fun since the slide was delivered on Friday and because of the long weekend wasn't picked up until Monday evening. (Layton never did the big slide... he preferred the baby pool and little slide, haha!) Big, BIG thanks to Granna and Papa for providing Austin's party entertainment for the 6th year in a row! Next year we're providing the entertainment!!

I loved the colors for this party. They were just bright and fun. And the cake table turned out perfect. It was basically my main decor spot and was super easy to put together.

The cake turned out amazing and just like Austin wanted! We avoided a major last minute disaster with the cake but everything worked out and it was so good and one of our favorites!

Even though the theme was a little different it was super easy to plan for. Spinners for favors was a hit with the kiddos and easy for mama. #winwin

In the dining room I threw some plastic tablecloths and extra spinners on the tables and that was it. Nothing fancy or complicated but just right for the party. Austin was so sweet telling me thank you and being so impressed with everything. ☺ I'm really glad we made the effort to give him the party he wanted. We were tempted to skip the home party this year 

Our outdoor set-up.

And this year we decided to let the kiddos eat outside. They're dripping wet and eager to get back on the slide anyway, so it just made more sense.

Our birthday boy!

Party guests! ☺

Terrell grilled hotdogs and we had chips and fruit. Good end of summer food.

Time for presents!

He got lots of goodies off his wish list and some shopping money too. He was pretty excited about all of his gifts.

My favorite part of every party... singing Happy Birthday to my babies. And I love this shot of him grinning at me! #allthehearteyes

Action shot mid-song. ☺

Love!

Layton assumes he gets to blow out candles on every cake at every birthday party. Haha!

The cake was soo good and so worth the last minute craziness. YUM! After the kiddos scarfed down their cake and ice cream they ran back out to the slide. 

Including Baby Girl! #hollywood #cutestthingever

Austin had such a fun party and declared it the best ever. ☺ He was so appreciative of everything and thanked us multiple times. We worked hard to pull it off and it was definitely worth it. Yay for another fun and successful birthday party celebrating our most favorite middle man! 

(I'm hoping to recap more of his birthday next week, but have given myself a lenient goal of making it happen before the end of the month. Haha. Beginning of the school year busyness and exhaustion is still upon us and mama is still adjusting to our new normal.)

Happy Friday, Happy Weekend!!

Classroom Tour!

I have been trying to make pictures for weeks so I could put together a little classroom tour, and for now this is it. I'm getting some new things soon (like a new bright and colorful rug that I'm so excited about!) and updating my door and classroom decor to be Fall themed but this gives you a good idea of what my classroom looks like. ☺

Welcome!

My classroom. ☺ It isn't exactly like I want it just yet, and it may not be until next year, but I'm pretty proud of it nonetheless. I moved into a very bare classroom and basically had to start from scratch. Thank goodness my sister is a pro at classroom set-up and decorating and helped a ton! And her PreK expertise probably saved me from a nervous breakdown. Basically I couldn't have done it without her!

To the left after walking in is my writing area, birthday wall, and word wall. 

The word wall is changing today! Farm words and Fall words are going in. I'm excited to change the words out according to the unit we're working on and/or the season or holiday. 

This little corner is directly to the left of the door.

Right next to the writing area is my reading and library center. This a popular area for the kids who are still struggling a little with separation anxiety. They get cozy and cuddle up with something soft and feel better pretty quickly. It's also a pretty big hit during center time. 

I love how this area turned out. The only thing I'd like to add is a second over-sized pillow like the gray one. The kids love it!

This is how the board looks with the classroom lights off and my little lights turned on. (This was before finalizing my writing area) I also have these hanging over the doorway coming into the room and over the doorway that leads to our bathrooms. They're super fun and festive.

This is a look at the back of the room. This was taken one day after school so it isn't perfect but it is real life. Ha.

I think I made this picture before Open House. I love my bulletin boards! The credit goes to AnAn once again. ☺

This tree is to the right of my calendar space and this is what my para and I came up with for back to school. We thought it was super cute. Last week we took down the back to school items and this week we'll be adding some Fall and Farm (our next unit) items. I'm looking forward to seeing the tree change throughout the year. I think the kids are going to love it too.

The back right corner of the room is our art center. This a fun center for the kids and I love our "All About Us" wall. (More have been added since I made this picture)

Our Family Tree, pet fish, additional art supplies, and sink area...

I get to bring these home over Fall Break next month! Oh boy!! Haha!

This little shelf and space is my favorite. It's located near my desk in the perfect spot and just feels like home. ☺

And here's my desk.... I cleaned it off especially for this picture. Haha! I try to keep it clear of clutter because clutter just isn't my friend, but being a teacher you are given papers all the time to keep up with or sign or collect or distribute, etc so the struggle is real. But for the most part I try to keep it somewhat neat.

This red shelf was in the room when I arrived.... so it's inherited. But for next year, I need a new one. This one is falling apart and barely making it. The size is perfect but it just isn't sturdy. And it doesn't match my decor. Ha! I do love all the pictures it holds... which I strategically placed to hide wires. ☺

I love my desk area and place to really make my own and just for me. 

And here's one more look at the room from a different angle. It's pretty special to me and I hope to continue to make it more and more my own. I really want curtains to hang next. And I can't wait to get my new rug! All the work that was put into the room is huge motivation to stay for a while. ☺

Happy Tuesday! Have a great one!