• Zap Zap Math Review & Giveaway
    I was given a year’s subscription to ZapZap Math in exchange for this review. However, this did not affect my review or views of the products. Normally over the summer, I like to spend some time with my kids reviewing academic content that they’ve worked on over the school year, as well as focus on some of their weaker areas. HOWEVER, with the crisis-schooling that we parents have had to do this spring, I feel like I’ve already done that and have no interest in doing it over the summer! As a result, I’ve been looking at digital options that […]
  • 10 Graphic Novels for Kids with Black Main Characters
    With everything that is going on in the news, it can be hard for people to know what to do. I find myself wondering what I  can do to change this world for better in terms of race relations. After much introspection, and a few conversations with my children explaining the Black Lives Matter movement, I’ve decided to continue on that front – educating children. Below are 10 graphic novels for kids that feature black main characters. As a white parent, I feel that it is important to ensure that my children grow up with as few racial biases as […]
  • Sunday Lately: Hiding, Quoting, Telling
    I’m co-hosting this week’s Sunday Lately with Katy over at Wild & Wanderful. This week, we’re focusing on “Hiding”, “Quoting”, “Telling”. If you want to participate, head on over to Wild & Wanderful for the link up info. Every weekend, I’m blessed to be able to sleep in until about 8:00. It’s great and I always wake up feeling really refreshed. However, I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been hiding out in my bedroom after I wake up, just for a little while extra. I’ll scroll through facebook or instagram on my phone, and just enjoy a little alone time before […]
  • Christmas for my Classroom
    This year, I when my parents and mother in law asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I sent them a link to my Amazon wishlist of classroom items. When I was doing my student teaching, my host teacher had lots of cool gadgets, and I wanted some for my own! In case you’re looking for something for the teacher in your life, here’s my list: Set of Sand Timers – This is a small set of sand timers that is great for putting on individual students’ desks to let them know that they only have so much time to […]
  • Sunday Lately: Cherishing, Applauding, Singing
    For this week’s Sunday Lately, I’m focusing on “Cherishing”, “Applauding”, and “Singing”. If you want to participate, head on over to Wild & Wanderful for the link up info. Lately, I’ve been cherishing all of the time I’ve been able to spend with my family. My husband took all of last week off, and the kids and I have been out of school, so we’ve been able to spend a lot of time together. We’ve watched movies, gone shopping, gone bowling, and the boys have spent every weekend skiing. (I tried to go skiing a couple of times, but it didn’t […]
  • Things I’ve Learned in My First Year Teaching
    For those of you who don’t know, I started my first year as a special education teacher this year. My first year was an unusual one, because I wasn’t completely certified when the school year started. I had my masters degree in special education, but I was still waiting for everything to fall into place so that I could be certified in the state of Alaska. I ended up basically subbing for myself for the first quarter until my certification became official. Now that I’m halfway through the school year, I finally feel like I’m organized enough look back on […]
  • Sunday Lately – Challenging, Beautifying, and Finalizing
    For this week’s Sunday Lately, I’m focusing on “Challenging”, “Beautifying”, and “Finalizing”. If you want to participate, head on over to Wild & Wanderful for the link up info. Lately, I’ve been figuring out how I’m going to be challenging myself this year. I want to get back into exercising, but I find it so challenging to actually make it out to the gym! It will be nice once the weather starts getting better and I can just run outside again. I’ve put on a few pounds this holiday season and they can go away at any time now, haha. Is […]
  • Light Box Sayings (And a Couple of Hacks)
    Why, hello there! This past year has been a whirlwind. Mostly good things, but I’m already excited about 2018. I know it’s kind of dumb, but I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. I love new beginnings, so I always embrace the new year. One of the things I want to change is silly, but it amuses me so I’m running with it. Back in November, Frux Home and Yard sent me a light box for my classroom to review on the blog, and I want to be better about updating it weekly. So far, I’ve got this […]
  • What I Wore: Fox Sweater & Califul Tunic
    First outfit post of the season! Yay! Although, truth be told, I wore this to work on my last Casual Friday, so I guess it’s technically a spring outfit? Anyway, I’m wearing my favorite fox sweater, with a collared tunic under it that Califul gave me to include in this post. This spring/early summer has been so much colder than last year’s. I can’t believe it! It’s grey and rainy all the time. I snapped these pictures in the morning, and I’m glad that I did, because it rained later that day! That’s one thing that’s good about Alaska – […]
  • Sunday Lately / Weekly Update
    Sunday Lately is a weekly blog series hosted by social media group Blogger Tribe, that provides bloggers with prompts to write about. (Prompts will be in blue italics.) I love these little time capsules! Note: My pictures almost never go along with the prompts. I use these posts as a photo dump. I have finished my work in pursuing my master’s degree, and am just waiting for my diploma to come in the mail. It’s a great feeling to be done, but I’m not quite a teacher yet. I still have to take a couple of tests to get my certification […]
  • Protect PE! Ours Kids Need to Move!
    This post is sponsored by Voices for Healthy Kids, a joint initiative of the American Heart Associationand Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, but I mean every word of it anyway. When I ask my eldest what his favorite subject in school is, he (without hesitation!) will say PE. Every time. Every year. It’s a fun break from his desk, and he gets to MOVE! My son, and many other kids like him, stop being able to concentrate if they’re sitting at a desk for too long. Movement is critical for his learning, and occasional movement breaks in classroom are not enough […]
  • Groupon Coupons: The Working Woman’s Savior
    Can I ask you a question, readers of mine who work? HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU GET THINGS DONE?! Like, when is there time to run errands and still hang out with your family?! I need tips, please. Now that I’m back in the workforce, I’m finding it hard to get simple things done, like shopping. My husband has been good about making grocery runs, but everything else started to fall through the cracks. Luckily, we have the internet and online shopping. This has been my saving grace. Enter, Groupon Coupons. Not to sound too pitchy, but they have […]
  • Leggings vs Tights: A Legwear Review
    My student teaching started last week and with that came work-wear. Dresses, tunics, blouses, dress pants, the whole bit. It’s quite the drastic change from my stay at home mom life. One of the things I’m struggling with is breaking out dresses that I used to wear back when I used to work; before I had kids. They’re all so short! Not club short, but short enough that they require leggings or tights underneath. Also, it’s January, so the temperatures outside require this as well. Which brings me to a conundrum in the mornings. Which do I wear? Leggings or […]
  • Sunday Lately / Weekly Recap
    Sunday Lately is a weekly blog series hosted by social media group Blogger Tribe, that provides bloggers with prompts to write about. (Prompts will be in blue italics.) I love these little time capsules! (PS: My pictures almost never go along with the prompts. I use these posts as a photo dump for my pictures I haven’t posted elsewhere.) I feel like I’ve been redoing the cleaning in my house. Good golly, this place is never clean! My mom and sister came up for a visit for the first week of the kids’ winter break, and I got the house […]
  • Sunday Lately / Weekly Recap
    Sunday Lately is a weekly blog series hosted by social media group Blogger Tribe, that provides bloggers with prompts to write about. (Prompts will be in blue italics.) I missed last week, but I’m back again to recap this week. I love these little time capsules! (PS: My pictures almost never go along with the prompts. I use these posts as a photo dump for my pictures I haven’t posted elsewhere.) This past week, I’ve been doing a lot of bloggy work, although you can’t see all of it here. I changed the layout, wrote some articles, caught up on […]
  • My Children’s Christmas Stockings
    I’ve had a couple of friends post on facebook, asking what people are putting in their kids’ Christmas stockings, so I thought I’d make a list of what I’ve bought for my children, since I have their stockings complete. I don’t know about your house, but we keep our Christmas stockings fairly simple. Just a few small toys and some candy; that’s it! I hope my list inspires you, and remember, you don’t have to go all out on stockings. I’m sure your kids won’t mind… mine don’t! The bandanna bibs and compression sleeve were given to me in exchange […]
  • Sunday Lately / Weekly Recap
    Sunday Lately is a weekly blog series hosted by social media group Blogger Tribe that provides bloggers with prompts to write about. (Prompts will be in teal italics.) Once upon a time, I followed a similar series, but that ended a while ago. Since then, I’ve been looking for something to replace it. Hopefully this will fit the bill. (PS: My pictures almost never go along with the prompts. I use these posts as a photo dump for pictures I’ve taken but haven’t posted anywhere else.) This past week, I’ve been completing all things Thanksgiving. I know that’s maybe a […]
  • Under $20 Gift Guide – Small Business Saturday
    Hello! I wanted to pop in really quickly and show off a little gift guide for this year’s Small Business Saturday. In this edition, I’ve got cute items for ladies of all ages, and everything is under $20! Some of these will make great stocking stuffers or inexpensive gifts for the crafty lady in your life. And remember, when you shop small, you’re helping someone buy groceries, pay for their child’s sports, chipping in to keep someone’s lights on, etc. So if you’ve got a couple extra bucks (Seriously, one of these items is only $2!) your money could go […]
  • What I Wore: Winter Whites
    It’s been a long while since I’ve posted an outfit, but I felt the need to once I put together this outfit. I’m breaking fashion rules here and wearing white after labor day! White can be a hard color to wear in the winter, and a hard color to keep nice if you’re a mom, but I successfully wore this all day without issue. Although, I think if you’re going to try and wear white in winter for the first time, white and mint is probably a good wintery mix of colors, right? I was tempted to wear a white […]
  • I Passed the Math Core Praxis Exam!
    Sorry for the lapse in posts, guys. I gave myself until the end of October to study for and pass the last Praxis exam that I needed to apply for student teaching, which meant that I had to buckle down and start studying. I stopped exercising, blogging, and didn’t even post that much on social media. BUT, it was worth it. I took the test on the 29th and PASSED! There was much celebration, which can be best expressed in gif form: So much weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I’m excited to have the rest of the […]

ARCHIVE: