Focus

So remember how I was so excited for summer vacation so I could get lots of projects done around the house? Well, it turns out that in the summertime there are other things I'd rather be doing. Like sitting on the patio reading while Laila frolics in the sprinkler. Or giving myself a pedicure. Or going to Target.

The theme for this summer has been ADD so far. Seriously, I'll be folding laundry one minute, go upstairs to put clothes away and I'll notice the floor needs to be vacuumed, so I'll go downstairs for the vacuum and on the way down, I'll remember I didn't water the plants on the front porch yet...and so on. I've been getting sidetracked. I tried to get a paper done for class today and it took FOREVER, mostly because I kept getting up from the computer. I can't seem to get myself focused on a project long enough to finish it! I don't really know why that is, but I'm going to put my foot down and get some stuff done this week!

So here's a list of some of the things I WILL get done this week:

* Clean/Organize laundry room

* Buy shelves for master bath

* Organize treadmill room (sigh, I still don't know what to do with this room!)

* Pick out & order pictures for various empty frames

* Hang pictures in basement bathroom

* Finish writing paper

..Actually, that list doesn't look too bad. It seems worse when it's all floating around in my head.

Maybe it's the fact that I have so much free time lately that I don't feel pressured to get anything done, but that seems like a bad excuse! Summer will be over before I know it & I've been waiting all year long to have this time off!

I'll leave you with a picture of the newest addition to my fun red sideboard table. I found these fake flowers at Michael's and I love how they look here. This little space makes me happy every time I walk by!

In the top drawer, I added a little area for bill paying & general mail- checks, stamps, envelopes, thank you cards, mail opener, etc. since it's right next to the dining room table where I usually open the mail. It's also a good place for storing things that usually end up accumulating on the dining room table, like my ipod holder and headphones. I really don't like things on the table! Just an easy place to tuck things away!

Summer Vacation

So...we finally figured out what we're doing for vacation! Can I just say that picking a hotel is very stressful to me? On one hand, I feel like it's not worth spending a million dollars on a room that we won't be in very much. But on the other hand, I tend to be a bit of a hotel snob (I can't help it!). Don't you just love a new, modern hotel?

Anyways, it took a lot of discussion and checking of reviews, but we finally figured out what we're doing. We're going to spend just a couple of days in Traverse City like we did last year and then we're going to Mackinac. We decided to actually stay on the island. We've never been to Mackinac Island together & we've heard that it's pretty fun to see what the island is like once all the tourists have left.

We were going to go to the UP and see the Pictured Rocks, but it ended up seeming like too much travel to hit TC, Mackinac Island, and the UP. I think we're going to save the Pictured Rocks for maybe next summer and go on a camping trip in the UP. Now I just have to figure out our itinerary (nothin' too structured...I just like to figure out a loose plan of things we want to see) for when we're up there.

So excited...bring on vacation!

Summer Day

Donors Choose Project!

My new Donors Choose project was just accepted and posted to the site! Check out my proposal for a new MP3 Player Listening Center!!

Livin' Loud with a New Listening Center

Happy 4th of July!

This weekend we brought Laila to Lake Michigan to try out swimming again. We brought her last year when she was just a little pup and the waves were a bit intimidating to her.

Laila at Lake Michigan Last Summer

First of all can I just say, sometimes I don't realize how much growing she did in a year until I look at baby pictures next to current pictures. Wow, she's large. Anyways, this year we thought she would handle it a lot better & that she'd be excited to dive in. Indulge me as I pretend to be my dog. I'll be honest, I spend a lot of my time narrating Laila's life. Go ahead and judge.

Laila: "I would love to roll in this sand right now. The beach is great!"

"Water? I could go for that."

"Wait a minute...I'm not so sure about this. Why is the water moving like that!?"

Sue: "Maybe if you go out, she'll follow you!" Fail.

Gil proceeded to lead her out to the water and she proceeded to lead him back to shore.

"I don't think so."

"You guys go, I'm good here."

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the next 30 minutes of beach time, but we decided that Laila was probably freaked out by having the leash on her in the water. We took her off the leash and threw the ball into the water and she practically dove in. It was pretty cute seeing her swim around. She played fetch and swam in the water for a while before she got too tired. So we had a rocky start, but she ended up loving it in the end.

Back in the Car...Crimpy Girl

Today we headed over to our friends house, where we grilled out and the dogs played. If you recall, Erin and Matt are the owners of Wrigley, who just happens to be Laila's boyfriend. Something we noticed today was how much our dogs have calmed down since they turned one. They played here and there, but spent a lot of the time sprawled out in the shade.

Erin & I

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Summer Reading

I'm pretty excited because my Amazon order arrived yesterday afternoon (yay for free overnight). I was on the hunt for some good kindergarten resources. One of my personal goals for next year is to become better at differentiating, better at planning literacy centers, and to start doing math centers. I found some great resources to help me get started.

The book that I may be most excited about is called "Kindergarten in Photographs" by Jasmine Greene. It looks like a super easy read with tons of color photographs to give you ideas. Just skimming through, I already got some fun new ideas.

I also ordered "Literacy Work Stations: Making Centers Work" by Debbie Diller. This is a book for K-2. I've used this resource before and there are tons of great ideas for literacy centers to use throughout the year. The ideas make centers more manageable, in that you're not changing every single component each week.

I didn't know that Debbie Diller also made a book about math centers, but I saw it and decided I better grab it up. The book is called "Math Work Stations: Independent Learning You Can Count On, K-2". This one also has color photos throughout the book.

The last book that I got is called "Differentiating Instruction in Kindergarten" by Cindy Middendorf. This one doesn't look particularly interesting at first glance, but I'm hoping to get some generic tips that will make my year easier!

So there you have it, some books to keep my busy this summer in addition to my reading for class (boo) and some books I want to read for fun!

Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone...one of my favorite holidays!

Ah, Heavenly 85 Degree Days!

First things first, I slept until 11 today! Wow, I haven't done that in who knows how long. I think I might be fighting something off because I started getting a sore throat last night and it's still hanging around. Go away, sore throat, I refuse to be sick in the summer.

I got up and made breakfast...well, lunch and then we took Laila to the dog park. There were a few other dogs there and everyone was lounging in the shade. Laila, being the puppy she is, tried to instigate some play but none of the other dogs were really having it. We took her on the wooded trails behind the dog park and she frolicked for a while. Then we took her home and turned on the sprinkler, which provided us with 20+ minutes of entertainment as she attacked the water. Here's an example from last summer when she was just a wee baby.

Aw, so little.

On another note...I don't typically buy home decor at Meijer, but I was there the other day and thought this vase was super cute.

It ended up being on clearance for $11. Woot! I think I'm going to buy some fake white hydrangea to put in it. Also, I found a plain white frame at Meijer that I bought for the Detroit picture that I bought from Etsy. I don't know where I'm hanging it yet, but I like it framed!