Hello Mrs Sykes

I've been a They Might Be Giants fan for ages...  I've even played TMBG for my class: We've had illness galore in the Hello house, and this song has been stuck in my head.  The best way to get rid of an earworm is to share it, so I'm sharing it with all of you... I'm sorry and you're welcome.  Enjoy!

I've been having fun creating my own digital backgrounds, and my teaching buddy Casey encouraged me to share them with y'all.  Here's my first set of Chevron backgrounds (for personal/commercial use) called Many Shades of Grey ... For a closer look at each of the patterns, check out the preview file.   Here's a free page from the pack (be sure to check my Terms of Use - basically, don't say it's yours.)  If you use my graphics in a product, let me know; I'd love to give a shout-out! I'd love your feedback, as this is a new venture for me.  Thanks for your support!

Life takes twists and turns, but it always seems to work out ok.  Sometimes, we have to say goodbye to loved ones... My first "baby," Sasha.  I love her and miss her terribly.  Sometimes we play with our food... NinjaBread cookies - we had so much fun making these!  Sometimes we have to pack up and move... The classroom I tracked in to this quarter.  (Don't worry - it looks much better now!!)  Sometimes we just play... We love Monopoly at our house, but the U-Build Monopoly is just fun to  build with.  ;)  Sometimes we are reminded about the wonders of the world around us... A 3-toed sloth in action at the NC Museum of Natural Science. I'll be back soon sharing some of my new backgrounds I'm working on... shades of grey (but not 50!) with interesting accent colors.  Happy weekend, y'all!  Thanks for spending a bit of time listening.  :)

Time for "The Magical Product Swap!!" Don'cha just love the button from The 3AM Teacher ? Ok - go ahead and be jealous for a quick moment... I was paired with Sandy from Ms. Fiorini's Stadium !   I have been a blog-stalker of hers for quite some time, so I was really nervous to email her.  (Ya know, since I'm such a rookie at all this... <<sigh>>)  Anywhoo - I got to go shopping in her store .  She has so many helpful activities and bundles of lessons, including these... Hard work, trying to pick just one...  Then I saw it -  the answer to my homework issues !!!! Homeworkopoly!! {{rant}}  I don't know about y'all, but homework is one of my pet peeves.  Either you completed it (ALL of it!) or you didn't.  Simple enough, right?  I try to make my homework assignments meaningful and a fun extension of our work, while still letting parents see some of the expected tasks for the grade level.  Even so - gasp! - I have a bunc