Five for Friday: January 1

May I ask you a question? Seriously, where in the world did 2015 jet off to?!?! This year has flown by and like all good moms everywhere, I just want it to sloooooow down. My oldest headed off to middle school (What?!?!?! How is that even possible? I just gave birth to him last week!!), my middle is in 3rd grade, and the little is in 1st. It's going too fast.....  so here's a review of our Christmas break. 

Here is my little on Christmas morning modeling his new winter hat that clearly he doesn't need because it's 75 degrees at my house.... in December. The important thing here though is that he looks like an impish little elf (life imitating art people, life imitating art)! This is one of my favorite photos from the holidays!

Big had his first Christmas concert with the middle school beginner's band. It is amazing to me that this group of kiddos just began learning to play in August. His band director deserves a hearing transplant (they didn't always sound this good) and a vacation to a tropical isle where it is not currently raining!

Pinterest is our friend, right? I spent part of the break pinning ideas for a library renovation that will be happening this summer. I'm so excited and equally overwhelmed simultaneously! I'm pretty sure that Pinterest exacerbated the second problem. ;) #imaginethat

 Click on the picture to see the ideas I've gathered. I'd love to hear from you if you have completed an elementary library renovation. I can use all the ideas I can get!

Like all good teachers everywhere, I spent a portion of the break scouring the internet for lessons for the LMC. Since this is my first year and I am planning for PreK-5th and two self-contained special needs classrooms, I can use all the help I can get! I found loads of good ideas and many books connected to the lessons that I need to order. Click on the picture to head on over to see if there's anything you can use in your library.

So, Dr. Seuss' birthday is celebrated in March. And if you read my last blog post, you know I am a fan! Anywho, as I was looking for lesson plans, I came across a fantastic mystery incorporating many of Dr. Seuss' most famous characters. The kiddos will be required to use evidence from the "crime scene" and the text clues to infer what might have happened. Loads of reasoning and defending their conclusions in this lesson. I can't wait!! You can click on the picture below to head over to Sarah's blog Everything Library to read the details there.

The Clemson Tigers won the Orange Bowl and are headed to the National Championship!!! This Clemson graduate couldn't be more thrilled!! The game against Oklahoma was a nail biter (for me at least). My 3 boys kept looking at the woman screaming at the t.v. and hopping up and down like she was an alien. What can I say, I'm....

and am as passionate a fan as any other Tiger!

I love these crazy nuggets! Christmas through your children's eyes comes close to recapturing the magic and joy we felt at their age. Don't you agree?

#christmasmagic#eyesofachild

Here's wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year!

Christmas in the Castle

Er, maybe I should have titled this "Christmas near the Castle" or "Christmas in the Media Center". Neither of them were quite as catchy so there you have it! It's hard to believe, but this school year is halfway over! Halfway!! The move from the regular ed classroom to a media center means that I am essentially a first year, a novice, a just beginning, don't know what I am doing but am faking it until I make it librarian. Hopefully, that will explain my long absence from this little blog!

 Original idea pinned from The Top Ten Hottest Christmas Trends of 2015

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree.....how lovely are your books! We used old Reading Invitational books that we had 10 copies of to create the tree. I borrowed a "wild thing" from the Easy section to use as the tree topper.  A wild thing seemed appropriate considering it matched the behavior of the kiddos perfectly! ;)  I added a few bulbs as a garland for the wild thing, and then christened this tree complete! I've included a link so that you can take a look at my inspiration tree on Pinterest. 

 I bought bulbs that wouldn't shatter from Target in an assortment of colors. You can't tell in the picture, but some of the bulbs have glitter, some are matte finish, and some are shiny. My para and I hung them with white ribbon by using the heavy duty (read expensive) 2 inch masking tape. We tried book tape first, but it just didn't hold the bulbs as well. They would periodically fall which became annoying in a hurry! The school tree was located right outside of the media center, so we got a double dose of festive!!

Original idea found on Pinterest. Click here to go to her post.

We continued to wrap the bulbs around all of the windows on the inside. It didn't take us long and created a simple yet festive touch to the decor. We added a little sheer ribbon with red and silver to finish the top. These windows had a shallow ledge and we couldn't hide the tape on the underside. The mesh-like ribbon hid the tape perfectly! The kiddos love it when we change things up a bit in the library. 

One of my volunteers found a menorah on Pinterest and recreated one in our library using Hardy Boy Mysteries; they had lovely blue spines that fit the bill perfectly. The volunteer did not share the pin with me, and unfortunately, I didn't get a picture before a little one caused it to collapse (for the second or third time....it was obviously in an area that received way too much traffic (er elbows)....sadly, I didn't get a picture). 

Next year, we will be putting up a tree similar to this one:

Idea from A Pop of Pretty Blog

A Dr. Seuss tree in the media center. I.love.it! Now is the time to start working on this friends. Christmas ornaments are up to 70% off. 70% people!! Run to your nearest Michael's, JoAnn, Target, Wal-Mart, or Hobby Lobby! Kerri from A Pop of Pretty Blog also has a green tree version and all of the directions for how she put this tree together. Hop on over to her blog for your list of supplies and the directions to recreate this tree. #cutesttreeforalibrary #ever

Dr. Seuss' birthday is in March. I'll be on the lookout for the Cat in the Hat hat and tie as well as the foamies that Kerri mentions in her blog at Michaels. I've already picked up the tree, all of the ribbon, and some shatterproof ornaments on clearance. I'll be ready to roll next December!

Click here to go to Kerri's blog for step by step directions on how to recreate her Dr. Seuss tree.

Along with the tree, menorah, and window decor, I added Christmas lights to the inside of the castle. I am fortunate to work with a gentleman that is more than proficient with sounds systems. (He literally made it so that broadcast has voices instead of the static that came on t.v. as a little girl after 10 p.m.  Can I get an amen if you are a child of the 70's and know exactly that of which I speak?) He also happens to be handy with lights. He brought in 4 lights that change colors. My kindergartners thought they were at a rave or a disco at the very least!  Of course the point was not dancing, no sirreee. We were having cookies in the castle (That lasted for all of one kindergarten class before we hightailed it to the tables.....I can not even describe the mess they created. Wow.....just wow.) and reading books for pleasure. The older kiddos (3rd-5th) absolutely relish this time to read for fun! This is the second time we've done it this year. The first was the week of Halloween/Red Ribbon Week. I hosted Campfire Reading in the media center. I'll have to go back and post about that another time. You can literally do it any time of year! At any rate, the kids had a blast and so did I! Let's face it,; none of us can compete with Christmas, Christmas parties, or sing-alongs!!

If you look closely in the background, you can see the cool lights shining on the back wall of the castle. #kidwin

How do you decorate for the season? Do you have any special activities or traditions to help you maintain your sanity? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!