Where Have I Been?!

Ya'll. I have been a blogging failure this summer. It has been a busy busy summer and I have barely been home in the month of July! Let me give you a quick little update on my life. 

1. Next year I am going back to teaching 4th grade. I'm like 70% excited right now because I LOVED 5th grade but I understand that the STAAR Writing test is a beast that need someone with experience to tackle. (yay...) 
2. Next year is going to be ...challenging. Some of my very best friends are moving schools, moving positions or just plain moving. I'm so sad because I work with some of the best teachers on the planet but I know sometimes you have to share the wealth. 
3. Next year I have new teammates again. Don't get me wrong, I love all the people at my school. I'm not even joking, we have the best staff. But I am going to miss teaming with my bestie. and James. The CKJ trio was like the dream team for last year's group of kids. It just worked. I know I will love my teammates this year but why is change so hard?! 
4. I keep saying "next year" but really it's in like a week...where did summer go? 
5. I know where summer went: I sat in 10,000 interviews, went to various PD, shared at GT PD, applied for grad school, entertained my 2 year old, created new TPT stuff,and traveled. In fact, I'm typing from Mississippi right now on our way to Florida tomorrow. The beach is calling my name, people! 

So there is a little update...check out the pics below for a peak at my summer! 

Also, I have some guest blog posts coming, new products on TpT revealed, a review for ABCteach.com (( Check it out--there are a ton of resources on there! I could spend hours looking through everything.)) :) and of course, back to school pics! See ya soon! 

My girlfriends and I headed to Houston earlier this week to visit our friend Megan who just moved there. We are going to miss Megan sooooo much but her new school is absolutely blessed to have her! 

Car Selfie

Aren't my friends beautiful?! In this pic we have 4th grade, 2nd grade, academic coaches and specialists and admin. I am so lucky to work with my besties.

I'm going to miss Megan so much! 

I led a training about teaching gifted children with these 2 ladies and it was quite interesting! It was one of the largest groups of strangers I've presented to yet :)

My old partner teacher and bestie, Kristin, surprised me with an afternoon visit to the Gaylord Texan (which is like 10 minutes from my house) to see all of the Wizard of Oz art and decorations :) We had a blast on our adventure!

Y'all. I've been coaching volleyball for a summer league and these middle school girls are my favorite people right now. We laugh so hard and have a blast. And they are pretty awesome athletes. I absolutely love these girls. 

We tried to get a family picture and this was as good as it got. Jackson was only interested if it was "exciting"

Just living out of a suitcase. #teacherlife

See ya soon! 

Random Sunday stuff

I randomly found this linky party and it is perfect for all the stuff swimming in my head right now, so I decided to join! 

{one}

 School is out! I'll be honest, I love summer, but I also love my job, the routine and my kids...so I'm still in that in-between phase of being excited about summer but being sad because I had to say good bye to my fab 5th graders. womp womp. Give me a few weeks, some pool time and a vacay and I'll be wishing for a longer summer. :) 

{two}

Tomorrow I start a new round of curriculum writing. It is seriously so instrumental in making me a better teacher because you really have to immerse yourself in the standards. It's hard work but I love my team! I'm ready to get started! 

{third}

Check out my "Books I Want to Will Read This Summer" stack! 

This actually isn't all of them since I left my 2014-2015 Bluebonnet books at school :( I am going to try to sneak in tomorrow and grab them. (Side question: Do you have to turn in your keys at the end of every year? We do and it always causes a minor panic attack for me because I can't get my stuff if I need it over the summer!) Anyway, what is in your "must read" stack for the summer? Before Jackson, I used to spend hours poolside reading, so this summer will be a little different but I still want to read as much as possible--no summer slide for me! :)

{fourth} 

My brother has started designing and formatting some stuff for TpT for me! (I know I've been saying this for a while but it's really happening)...My to-do list of stuff I want to make is insane but I have it bundled into more manageable pieces. If I get it all done this summer, my life next school year will be monumentally easier. So get ready Mrs. Davis--our pedicure and planning sessions will start soon! :) [[Mrs. Davis is the amazing 5th bilingual reading teacher at my school and she is going to mirror my products, but in SPANISH!]]

{fifth}

I get to go to a reading conference with Donalyn Miller on Friday. Be jealous.

That's all for now! I'm totally digging the randomness of this "smorgasbord" linky. 

I Choose to be Happy!

This week was..awful. I mean, terrible,horrible, no-good, very bad, awful. Stomach bugs ran rampant, paperwork was flowing out of my ears and deadlines for EVERYTHING crept up on me. My even got a neck spasm from stress...BUT, I am going to choose to share the things that made me smile this week. :) 


1. I bought my plane ticket for my girls trip to Myrtle Beach this summer. Lookout Pawley's Island, a few of us are taking over! I can't wait to spend some time laying on the beach (and by the pool) and hanging with my besties. 

This is where we are staying. Yes, please. 

Sidenote: I got this email from the owners and it totally cracked me up. I gotta make my handwriting into a font and cash in on this! :) 

2. One of my students stapled his paper like this. Because of the ridiculousness, I started laughing and had to take a picture. He didn't even do it to be funny. He is just that ridiculous without trying. Several of my kids (especially the ones who I looped up to 5th grade with) were laughing too because I am usually so organized with everything in a certain order and everything has a procedure, etc. but this week we were all just a little "off".  :) This mis-stapled paper basically summed up class this week. haha

3. We had our district-wide technology fair and I took Jackson with me. He snuggled up to my dear friend Danna and it was so precious! 

4. Speaking of Jackson, (and due to last minute change of plans), we went to the Spring carnival at my school today and enjoyed the sunshine with one of my besties who I happen to also teach with, Carrie and Mateo (aka Jackson's future bff). The weather was wonderful, I didn't have any responsibilities and it was so fun! 

He is just too cool for his mom's shenanigans. 

5. This video made my day. I love Frozen and the song Let It Go. You HAVE to watch it. It is just too darn perfect for all of us who will be administering STAAR next week. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3rysTvrFPs

Alright, this is probably it for me before Tuesday. If you think about it, pray for all the teachers and kids in Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday as they take the super stressful state assessments. (Specifically the little darlings in room 409 and 410 at Elliott!) 

Have a great weekend! 

Caitlin