Spring Break........Flew by

It's hard to believe today is the last official day of Spring Break. I didn't accomplish everything on my "to do" list - but with only 42 days left of school - I'll save those things for Summer Vacation I guess!

Since my fall post - we celebrated a couple birthdays!  Bill's and Ryan's!  Ryan turned TWENTY-THREE in February!

and my friend, Carolyn had a birthday.  (Love these calendar gift bags I found at Marshall's - I bought one for Ryan and Carolyn's birthday and personalized them with their special date).

In March I bought a new car!  I've wanted a new Impala for a while and one FINALLY became available in the color I wanted! (Pepperdust)

For Valentine's Day, I made these mint tin gifts for little Valentine's gifts at school! 

 Bill recently went to the Orthopedic surgeon for his yearly checkup from his Total Knee Replacement Surgery.  He was released as MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement).  He will need to go for a checkup yearly unless something were to come up.  Since he is still unable to crawl and kneel comfortably he most likely won't be able to do so ever. 

In addition, he is still seeking relief from his recent diagnoses of Rheumatoid Arthritis. They have tried several different medications (dosage and types) - He visits the specialist for labs and monitoring of the medication to see what needs to be changed or tweaked.  We are hoping the latest change will give him some relief without any side effects.  Next appointment will be in May.

 While on Spring Break I was asked to take Communion pictures for my friend's daughter.  We went to four different locations and I think they turned out adorable!

I did some crafting for Easter decorations.  I saw some wooden block bunnies and chicks on Pinterest.  I thought I could recreate them by reusing old fabric bolts. - They turned out soooo cute!

These yarn bunny and chicks are Pinterest inspired.  These little guys gave me a reason to use my new pom-pom maker!

Ryan may be 23 - but I still make him an Easter Basket!

Little Gift Bags (and cards) for my friend, Carolyn's kids.  She is always doing nice things for me, so I wanted to show my appreciation! 

And since Earth Day is right around the corner, I had time to create a little Earth Day treat for school.  I purchased these pens at the beginning of the school year - they are made out of recycled water bottles!  Perfect for Earth Day!  I purchased some "globe chocolate balls" while at the mall and I'm in the middle of trying to figure out a cute way to give those as a treat too! More to follow!

These are my latest Skechers added to my collection:

Hoppy Easter!

iCreate2educate

  It's official!  I have incorporated and have an official business name!

iCreate2educate, inc.

My "small" business has become very successful over this past year, so my accountant suggested I incorporate for tax purposes. After a little persuading, I decided to sign all the papers and just like that iCreate2educate, inc. was born! I thank my lucky stars for this opportunity and hope to continue to grow in the coming years!

Please visit my store on TeachersPayTeachers here:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lisa-Sadler-9956

to see my products - you won't be disappointed!

Pass my information onto any teacher friends you may have out there!

This week I created these dictionary cubes.  There is a version for the printed dictionary and a version for the online dictionary.  It's a fun way to get the students to learn how to search for words and definitions! They are super simple to assemble too!

These are the Jolly Phonics cubes. - Broken down by each JP book.  They are simple to make and make learning the Jolly Phonics sound symbols fun!

(There are also a version with letter sounds)

This Jolly Phonics activity is a fun matching game.  All you need besides the items included in the download are clothespins!  I've even included the letter labels for the clothespins! Simple print - laminate and you have a fun activity for center time that can be done independently.

These activity circles are broken down into three categories

Books 1, 2, 3

Books 4, 5, 6, 7

Digraphs and Consonant Blends

 Speaking of school, Ryan has been at Brookdale observing in third grade.  He says he is enjoying it and loves it!  Hoping his enthusiasm will continue as he heads toward next semester!

I've added to my Skechers shoe collection!  Here are some of my latest styles!

Hoping for continued success with my "business" - it's my ultimate goal to have

iCreate2educate, inc. to be my ONLY job!

Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Happy Easter!

We had a big weekend - Not only was it Easter, but it was Mom's birthday.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures at the birthday party  ; - (

I was able to start washing windows and place a few outdoor decorations - SPRING FEVER has definitely set in!

Here is the veggie tray I brought for our Easter gathering - The bunny is made out of cauliflower - raisins for the eyes, a radish for the buck teeth, green peppers for the whiskers and red peppers for the inside of the ears.

I decided last minute to make these bunny boxes I saw on Pinterest....all the craft stores were out of white boxes, so I went to a Chinese restaurant and purchased boxes to make these cute treat holders.

I set one on each person's plate for  a cute decoration

along with the "traditional" bunny mum.  I've been buying these since Ryan was in grade school!

After dinner, we did a little photo shoot outside.  The weather was amazing and my mom asked that I get an update picture of her grandsons together.

Here they are....

Ryan 19 and Jacob 14

Ryan had to work all day and then drove right over to my parent's house for dinner.  After we got home, he opened his "Easter Bunny Gift"

The bunny brought some "expensive" headphones, drum sticks, candy, sleeping shorts, and candy.

Last week my printer started to act up.  I needed to purchase another one, but I had a TON of ink, so I needed to find a printer that uses the same type of ink.  Thankfully, I was able to find one at Sam's Club

 I've been featured on the front page of TeachersPaysTeachers (TpT) a couple times! So exciting to visit the site and see your own picture front and center!

I was also asked if my product could be featured on an Australian teacher's blog!

As of today, only THIRTY-THREE more school days until I'm FREE once again!

Spring Break Update

Here's the latest from the Sadler Household!

We are on Spring Break this week. I promised Ryan that while we were off, he would go to the DMV and get his license! So, that's exactly what we did!
The weather prior to break was BEAUTIFUL - warmest March ever - of course, this week has been colder, so we didn't get to be outside as much as we'd hope to!

In keeping with the Spring theme - I did some Spring Cleaning and Organizing - Our linen closet was in need of some organizing...... Everything is labeled and tidy!

 Ryan went to the Turn-a-about Dance in February and I don't think I ever posted a picture

 Here's our visit to the DMV in pictures! - Not knowing it is illegal to take pictures in the facility - I snapped away until I was told "NO PICTURES ALLOWED"! I snuck one with my cell phone (getting his picture taken) to make sure I captured the entire experience!

 

 At school, we had a special visitors. The characters from the Magic Tree House books came to Brookdale.  We had the kids write about what their experience would be like if they had a Magic Tree House.  I decorated our bulletin board to match the theme!  It turned out soooo cute!

 I used twisted paper to make the rope ladder.  Unfortunately, some of the kids have been trying to climb the board - I've had to restaple it in place! (Inside the tree house is our class picture and a squirrel stuffed animal!)

Here's the board completely done! The butterflies were made from coffee filters and water color paint! 

I designed the writing paper to match the board.

  I added a writing prompt - since they are only Kindergarteners and then mounted them onto construction paper.

I'm really happy with how well it turned out.

While I am at it - Here are some of the other bulletin boards I did this year.....

Fall  - Our trip to the Farm

 Snowmen At Night Bulletin Board

(Each snowman was made from cotton balls/twigs and a piece of fabric for the scarf)

 This board is a picture of each student's smile - They wrote about themselves without disclosing their name - Then when you lift the piece of paper the is a picture of them. This board is for the parents to see during open house.

And because you are never too old to get a Easter Basket bag! I made these bags for Ryan and my nephew Jacob for Easter.  I got to use my shredding scissors for the first time.

Today was the first time Ryan drove himself to work - ALONE! (He did call to say he got there and I asked him to call when he's leaving!)

Happy Spring!