Random Thursday: Top 5 Blogs

Please excuse my hiatus! I'm back! And to be honest there is not a real excuse as to why i have not posted! Either way today is the day to be RANDOM!

It's time for Random Thursday! 

The topic today is

I must admit i am really behind in my blog reading... especially since the app i was using just flat out gave up on me! I love reading AND commenting on blogs on my iPad. I have tried several free apps and may have actually found one that i will eventually pay for because it allows me to see each post! And it hasn't flipped out yet! And it lets me comment easily! Woo Hoo for that! 

How do you read your blog roll without sitting in front of a computer all day? 

Do you use an app that works for both reading and commenting? 

Anyway, back to my regularly scheduled programming... here's my top 5!

(Oh and by top 5 blogs i read, i mean the ones i seek out on a daily basis!)

Somewhat Domesticated

You can't blame me for supporting my gal pal! She may not post often, but i think she's pretty swell! 

la, la, love, learn, laugh

Bev is such a great gal! i totally think we would be pals! And i hear she is moving soon... my vote is that she would move back town to sunny SoCal and then maybe we could be friends in real life! 

Goings on in Texas

This girl is so down to earth and i am so blessed to have her as my penpal! i love each post she shares: fashion, experiences, whatever... I love it all! (And i totally get excited to read her letters! Especially since they are usally long!)

Trial By Sapphire

This girl has a great outlook on life and shares so openly on her blog! Lindsey is so encouraging and positive! This helps me to think the same way! 

Lovely Little Things
Jessica has had this great link up that she took a break from and then just started it back up again... it's called Smell the Roses! I has encourages me in so many ways and whether the task is small or big, it gets me out of my comfort zone a bit! Also, I love how Jessica shares her honest struggles with her life. 

These are of course in addition to our lovely hosts! Be sure to check them out! I swear you wont regret it! 

Classroom FREEBIE!

Phew! 

What a week! 

But i am happy to report that all my parent teacher conferences went GREAT! 

Now it's on to other stuff that is classroom related! 

I made these typed up these lovely sight words that i am gonna copy onto colored paper and then put them up in my room! 

(The problem at the moment is that where i would like them to go would require me to climb what seems like a 20 foot ladder to get there!) 

Regardless, my kiddos requested these and i think it would help them with their written work! 

The whole document is 14 pages and it would be easy to copy them, cut them out, and then put 'em up! 

Help yourself, its FREE! 

Just click the link below! 

prePRIMERdolch-WALLversion

Hope this helps! 

Let me know if you put it to good use! I would love to hear from you or see pictures of how you used these! 

Also, that is how this teacher struts her stuff! 

I am all linked up with Six Sisters Stuff for the Strut Your Stuff Linky Party! 

Head on over to see what you can find! 

Top 10 Recipes Lately

Recently I have had a few people ask questions about my meal planning. 

I have gotten it down to quite a science, you see, and so i will be posting a short series on what i do each week to plan at least three meals for dinners and a lunches for the week as well! 

Oh, and did i mention i cook and prep it all on one afternoon! Sometimes it only takes me 90 minutes with cleaning time included! 

In the mean time, i thought i would share some of my favorite recipes! 

So, here are my current Top Ten Recipes In Rotation:

Source: thecountrycook.net via Simone on Pinterest

Pasta E Fagioli in the Crock Pot

Source: skinnytaste.com via Simone on Pinterest

Crock Pot Minestrone

Source: skinnytaste.com via Simone on Pinterest

Crock Pot Three Bean Chilli

Source: katrina-runs.com via Simone on Pinterest

Sweet Peppers that are bubbling away in my crock pot right now!!! 

Source: wholeliving.com via Simone on Pinterest

Taco Salad with a fresh flare: Fresh mangoes! 

*When mangoes are out of season, dried mangoes worked just great! Just be careful about portions as the dried ones can have a bunch of sugar! 

Source: theyummylife.com via Simone on Pinterest

Slow Cooker Apple Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal! MMmmm! 

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Simone on Pinterest

Cowboy Caviar = Easy side dish or AWESOME dip with a bag of chips! Yum! the best part is this recipe can be caried anyway you prefer! there is really no way to mess it up! 

Source: espressoandcream.com via Simone on Pinterest

Autumn Chopped Salad with cranberries, pears, pecans, feta, and a little bacon! This was lunch last week and it was totally refrshing even on a hot SoCal Fall day! :)

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Simone on Pinterest

I know these are just hard-boiled eggs, but the preparation is definitely EVERYTHING in this case! Love this easy solution to what can be easily messed up! 

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Simone on Pinterest

This stuff is great as a dessert or a sweet apetizer or even can be used instead of a fruit salad! Gotta love Fruit Salsa! So sweet and yummy! 

Alright, for the record  i have tried each and every recipe in this bunch! I love them all! They all get my mouth watering! Might make Pasta E Fagioli next week! My mouth is watering already! 

Which one would you make next? 

PS. Please let me know if you have any specific questions about my meal planning and cook day! I would love to give detailed information as to what i do each week! It's difficult to be detailed when you do a cook day each week, it all becomes habit! Leave a comment below with your questions! 

Boo!

OK so i got BOOed! by Lisa over at The Lower Elementary Cottage

Here's what that means: 

If you've been booed, copy and paste the above pic and these "rules" into your post.
 

1.  Give a shout out to the blogger who booed you and link back to their site!

 

2. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (yours or someone else),

or freebie(s) that you love!

 

3.  Share the Boo love with 5 bloggers- make sure you check this link to make sure you don't boo someone again:
 Click Here to check whose been BOOed!

And don't forget to tell them that they have been BOOED!

 

4.  Link up {here} so that others can find you and read about your October ideas!  And while you are there... check out the other great blogs!

Thanks to Lisa! So sweet of her to boo me! 

Her blog is adorable! Be sure to go check her out! 

Here are some products I have either used or plan to use this month to celebrate Fall or Halloween! 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Simone on Pinterest

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Simone on Pinterest

I used both of these clip art packs just last week! My kids used them to match them to different types of nouns and then had to verbally tell me an adjective to describe the noun. They had lots of fun and loved that they got to take all the pictures and sticky notes home! 

Source: loryevanspage.blogspot.com via Simone on Pinterest

Really hoping to find these treats for our Halloween Celebration! 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Simone on Pinterest

This might make a fun warm up! Gotta find which one is different! 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Simone on Pinterest

Halloween Cookie Math Facts Game! Free! 

BTW - all of those pins are links to FREE items! Love that teachers share such GREAT resources for FREE! How helpful is that?!? 

Wanna find more of my educational pins? 

Head on over to Pinterest and follow me! 

My Teachable Moments Board is chalk full of great resources! 

And last but not least... here's who i am Boo-ing! 

Jessica @ Apples and Papers

Taylor @ Baking... Crafting... Teaching.. Oh My!

Chrissy @ Buzzing with Ms. B

Katie @ Dirty Hands and Lesson Plans

Elyse @ My Life with a Cherry on Top

These ladies are all great! Be sure to check out their blogs! 

Hope everyone has had a great Monday! 

Sunday Social: Deep Thoughts Edition

I am late to this game a bit today, despite having had this post written last night! 

How come it always seems like Sunday FLIES by!!!! 

This week forSunday Social the theme is:

Deep Thoughts 

with Ashley and Neely

1. What do you value most in life?

Geez, this is difficult to answer. If I really had to sit down and really decide it would have to be relationships. My reason behind this is because it can encompass so many aspects of my life. I value my relationship with my husband, family, friendships, and above all my faith in the Lord.

2. What do you think is the greatest invention in your lifetime and why? 

I asked hubs on this one and he immediately responded with "power" but then I changed the stipulation to be something within our lifetime. We were both born in 1980 and after a little debate, we both agree that the iPad is the greatest invention of our time. Not sure I have to explain this much!

3. What do you think is the secret to a good life? 

I think the secret to a good life is gratefulness  Without the perspective of being grateful for the things you have in life, now matter how big or small, a person could become bitter, jaded, and full of hate and frustration! With gratefulness a person can focus on the positive which then creates more positive emotions! I choose gratefulness!

Source: google.com via Kathy on Pinterest

Source: fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net via Linda on Pinterest

4. What would you most like to be remembered for when you’re gone? 

I would like to be remembered for being a great teacher! Not just to my students but also to my children! It really is such a blessing in life to see children learn and it really is amazing to see a child "get it" after struggling for a bit! It is heartwarming and especially rewarding to think you may have played even the smallest role in helping a child to learn!

5. What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of? 

So far, I am most proud of three things:

• My marriage. Marriage is hard work and I feel my husband and I have done a great job! I still love him and he still loves me. We just keep working to keep that going. It is one of my best accomplishments thus far in life and i hope to continue to keep it that way!  
• My education. I have worked extremely hard to be educated and put it to good use. My college experience was a definite time of GREAT amounts of learning for me!  
• Teaching. See question above.

 6. If a movie was made about your life, who would you want to play you? 

I would cast Emma Stone to play Simone! She is super talented and I think she may even make my life look that much more dramatic and entertaining.

via

Hope you all have a great Sunday! 

It's Been Awhile...

I haven't posted my high five for a while!

I'm linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk to share my top five highlights from the week! Here goes nothin'!

In no particular order...

|one|

My husband has come with me to my kickboxing class TWICE this week's  He is even sounding like he is gonna commit to it and I am in love with that! I love my hubs and working out with him really means a lot to me!

|two|

It is the second week where I have felt SUPER on top of things. My desk may not be the cleanest, but I feel much more organized. I am using a new technique to help me stay organized! Hmm ... Might have to post about it sometime. Lets see if it works for longer! Lets just say it's amazing what sticky notes can do!

via

|three|

My Birchbox came! It's the goop version and I am way excited about some of the items! More on this soon!

via

|four|

Writing! I have truly enjoyed writing posts like this one and this one lately!

|five|

It's cooling off! Thursday was cloudy and cool, but no rain! Loved that! Today is supposed to be cool! I am loving that maybe just maybe we at getting a touch of fall!

That's my high five!

What were your high five moments this week?

Random Fall Love

One of my students asked me the other day "Mrs. Simone, when is summer over?"

I promptly told that student that summer was technically over, but the student quickly asked "why is it still so hot?" I of course reminded this child that we live in California where the weather is usually very pleasant and that 90+ degree temperatures was not entirely uncommon during this time of year in Southern California. 

Fall is extremely different in a climate that doesn't include much fall weather, at least not lately! Usually, we have heat which brings winds. Hot and windy is not ideal fall weather. It does not conjure up this image in my head:

{via}

Either way, there are things I love about fall.

I love new school supplies.

 

{via}

I love pumpkin flavored items hitting the stores!

I love drinking warm beverages in the morning.

 

Source: shape.com via Marie on Pinterest

I love dragging out sweaters and cooler weather clothes!

 

Source: archimedes16.polyvore.com via Simone on Pinterest

I love cooking soups, stews, and chillis! My crockpot has not failed me ever!

 

Source: foodiefancy.info via Melissa on Pinterest

So much to love about Fall!

That's my random Thursday post for the week!

See what others love about Fall! 

What do you love about fall?

Not a Thing

What's broken?

Nothing! 

I could sit here and try to find something wrong or something that is broken in my life, but it wouldn't be the truth. I could complain and talk about something I need to replace or something that I need to fill a void, but there is no void.

I have a husband who loves me.

 I have a family who loves me.

I have an adorable kitten that I can't believe how much she has added to our home and family since she came to us.

 

I have a classroom full of students that I am dedicated to teaching ach and every day.

I have friends, a church family, a life group, and many relationships in my life.

I have food on my table each and every day.

 

I have clothes to keep me warm and they help me look good to boot!

 

I have my basic needs met.

I am blessed each and every day by a God who loves me infinitely.

So what's broken, you say?

Nothing at all.

Just sharing my last response to Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writers Workshop. Hope you can check out some other writings from some great bloggers! Just click the link! 

Fall Tea Treat

In California we are blessed with several Trader Joe's locations!

If you are not familiar with this great grocery store, be sure to try it any time you are near one! It is not to be missed! There are the standard veggies, fruits, meats, cheeses, and so much more at every location! 

Since it is Fall, the stores have been inundated with all things pumpkin! So many people get so excited about this and i am definitely not excluded from this. I, however, do not get all that excited about things like the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, because i am really not a coffee drinker! I am very much a tea drinker. Now, you say, why would i mention the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte and Trader Joe's within the same paragraph? Well, i am merely establishing the fact that Fall has come, pumpkin flavored items are in abundance and while i usually avoid everyone's beloved Pumpkin Spice Latte, i have invariably found my substitute! Trader Joe's has come out with this yumminess this year:

Have you tried this stuff yet? 

What is your favorite Fall treat?