First Few Days Back...

Phew.. these last few days have been absolutely crazy crazy crazy!! I did however manage to send out the freebie packs to the winners of the giveaway so that is one thing crossed off my ever expanding list!!

I now have a little fishy - the kiddos deciding on naming he/she/it Princess Belle... I think someone very influential in the class had been watching Beauty and the Beast! Other name choices included big tail, Liverpool, nemo (original!), Timmy and Treasure. I was only allowed one fish from the pet shop, so I have to wait a whole week before I can put another little friend in there. One little sweetie decided to draw a fish to stick on the front of the tank so our class pet wouldn't be lonely *heart melts on the floor*
 

The kids have been SO adorable. I'm very lucky for being able to move up with my class from Reception. They have grown so much over the summer,  but they're still as cute as ever. One little boy said 'Miss Lynch, your classroom looks so nice' I wanted to squeeze him!

I also received a gorgeous first day present from a parent... things like this make my year! (not the whole present thing, but just the note that came with it.. something I will keep forever)

I also decided to decorate the outside of my door... we're doing an 'into the woods' theme for our first topic so I thought it would be nice for them to feel as though they're walking 'into the woods' - I just hope it lasts as I had no energy left to laminate after I cut out over 60 leaves plus animals!!

My class are also going C-RRRRAAAZY for their fuzzies!! They love these little things... they will do ANYTHING for a fuzzy! Especially a big fuzzy worth 5 little ones! It's also absolutely BRILLIANT for their counting skills... I've had so many children who are reluctant to count telling me 'Miss, I have 6 fuzzies *holding their fingers up* I only need 4 more for a prize!!' Darlings.. they really are! 

This is a piece of work that one of the girlies in my class did today - apparantly I'm a princess! Not sure about my choice of clothing though.. I'm clearly a very unfashionable princess!

I'm trying not to neglect the blog too much, but I am also going away for the weekend with the boy for some much much much needed rest! Hope everyone is enjoying their first few days back as much as I am!

Dani x

I'm alive!!!

I have completely neglected my poor blog these last few days, but after more than several people told me to relax and actually have some holiday I decided to take their advice!!

We took Charlie out to the woods and to a few other places - he had so much fun running around and being with us... I'll be sad to go back to work full time and not be with him all day!

 

I also went to Alton Towers and went on most of the rides - for the holidays it was surprisingly queue free!

 

I popped in to work briefly just to set up my fish tank - my Mom and sissy are going to bring the fish tomorrow - I'm very excited to have some fish and the kiddos will love them!

I also made these owls to hang up in my room so I'll take some pics of them once they're in there.. and on the end is George, our class bear who has been very busy holidaying all around Russia etc so there's lots of photos of him to share with the kids when they return!
 

I am now showered and almost prepared for first day back tomorrow - 2 days of training then the kids start Weds. Hopefully the cupcakes I've made will help the day go a bit quicker!!
 

I'll blog more once this manic week is over - I also haven't forgotten about my freebie winners!! I'll sort it soon I promise :)

Dani

New Resource Pack!

I've been spending a lot of time making resources at the moment - and one thing I wanted for my first week back to school is a classroom job pack! Here's what I came up with. I can't wait to use it as a first week back activity!!

I've even left some cards blank so you can make them more specific for your room! Hope you like :)

If you'd like one for your class you can buy it from my TeachersPayTeachers shop for $2.50 - that's a mere £1.50!!!

Dani x

Sneak Peak

My superhero literacy pack is finished!! Here is a preview of the goodies inside this jam-packed 109 page resource pack!! I also messed up the preview a little - it should say Phases 2-5 of letters and sounds... silly me - but even better for you!

For a chance to win this pack you can head over to my giveaway here ...or you can go to my Teachers Pay Teachers store where you can buy it for $5.00 - that's just over £3.00!!! I think you're getting a bargain... but I may or not be a little bit biased.

Hope you like!!

Dani

Giveaway!

I'm having a giveaway!!

To celebrate the opening of my TeachersPayTeachers store I'm going to give away three copies of my  Counting in Wonderland resource pack which can be found at my TpT store (it's priced at $4.00)...

AND three copies of my superhero literacy pack that I haven't even finished yet.. but trust me, it's a biggie!! Here's a sneak preview of the front page... (if you don't win it will be in my TpT store soon for $5.00)

Click below to enter 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Competition ends on Friday so have a go and spread the word!! Good luck :)

Dani

Freebie Friday

Today is freebie Friday on blog hoppin' and it has inspired me to make my very first resource pack!! I am rather excited.. and I really really hope that you like it and find it useful!

You can either download it direct from here by clicking on the image;

or you can pop on over to my brand new TpT store and download it for free from there - if you like it please follow me and leave a comment!

Let me know what you think!

Head on over to blog hoppin' to find some more super freebies;

Dani x

Theraputic Thursday... and a name game!

So today is 'Theraputic Thursday' on Blog Hoppin' so I'm going to share some of the things I do to unwind...

 Reading...

When I get time I love a good book. I read these books a while back, they're about North Korean defectors... they're such fantastic books (I have a bit of a morbid fascination with North Korea) and I highly highly recommend them - you will not be able to put them down. I love reading anything and everything, but am yet to read 50 shades!

Baking is another favourite of mine... these are some of the cakes and biscuits I've made;

I apologise for the dodgy layout - the photographs didn't like being central for some reason!! The best part of baking is that you get to eat all the goodies... but I also LOVE ice cream. After a hard day there is nothing better than tucking in to ice cream!!

...especially whilst watching GLEE!! I am a massive massive gleek.. and I love Emma, I love her style and how cute she is! I started a school choir because I also love singing.. and I'm still hoping that one day we can form our own Glee club and crack America! (big goals for little 5 year olds!)

 

Lots of Emma's clothes from Glee (and lots of the other characters clothes) are from Anthropologie... I love Anthro! It's not the cheapest shop, but they have brilliant sales! Which leads me nicely on to my next relaxtion session... shopping!!

I never really get time to go out shopping to the actually shops.. so I do lots of it online (I get a bit obsessed with QVC!)

This is a recent QVC purchase and I love using gorgeous Elemis products when I hop in the shower - showering is probably my favourite way of relaxing.. I could spend ages in there... I practically record a whole album whilst showering (yes, I'm one of those cliche people who sing in the shower)

I also love spending time with my adorable little pup Charlie who is an absolute doll and such a mummies boy - he loves cuddling... he's 1 on the 4th December so I'm planning a special puppy party!! <3

...and I love being with my fantastic family... 

My nan

The sissy <3

...the best parents anyone could ever wish for ...

...and the boy! <3 Who puts up with so much!!

Finally... the last thing that never fails to cheer me up and destress me is CHRISTMAS!!! 

I love everything about it! I love making cards. I love baking Christmas treats for everyone. I love decorating the tree and making homemade decorations... I just love love love coming home in December (Ok... more like Early November for me.. I cannot wait!) and putting the Christmas tree lights on and sitting in the dark in front of the fire... ahhh hurry up winter!!

 So that's how I spend my spare time (when I get any!) Head over to blog hoppin' to see how other teachers like to unwind...

FINALLY... I am soooo so so excited because today my persona doll arrived in the post!! She is such a cutie! I'm using her for my Master's research to collect the children's thoughts about the transition from Reception to Year 1... I think they will love her just as much as I do.

It's a little bit strange that she looks like me and freaked me out slightly.. but hey, she could be my daughter!

Anyhow this is where I need your help for name suggestions!! I have to come up with a whole history for her so the kids really believe in her, but I cannot think of a suitable name! My  hairdresser wants me to name her after her (Karla) so so far that's the only name I have... any other suggestions??

Dani x

...cannot stop organising!

So I have a week and a half before I go back to school - where have the summer holidays gone? I disregarded the summer bit - there has been far too much rain and cloud for it to ever be classed as summer. 

I'm bored of sitting. I'm almost bored of daytime TV. I'm bored of eating out of boredom. My boyfriend is bored of my incessant moaning about the house - I keep sitting.. and staring. Picking fault. I need to decorate. I need to organise.

Today has been a bit manic. My lovely friend and colleague is getting married tomorrow.. and I somehow agreed to make her wedding cake... she is clearly far too trusting!! So this morning has mainly consisted of getting covered in buttercream icing (head to toe, I'm not even jesting). 

She wanted orange flowers (which are damn hard to find!!) so I had to handpaint 60 white daisies - with vodka would you believe it??

...est voila half of the cupcakes were like this - the other half just had piped orange icing but I forgot to take photos of them!!

I then iced the fruit cake which is going on the top tier...

She wanted orange gerberas as they're in her bouquet... and this was the end product!! All done and dusted by 10.30am this morning (after lots of previous days prep with my Mom.. I'm not a magician!)

I then decided to tackle my kitchen cupboards which have been bugging the HELL out of me!! We moved in to our lovely first house just over a year ago... this is our house...  

...but the cupboards are just so big, I could easily do with more shelves. Anyhow, I decided to go to Asda (Walmart for my US readers) and buy a LOT of plastic food containers. Tom's reaction went something along the lines of [quote] "What the hell - did you really need to buy this many? *sigh* ...whatever..." [end quote]

It normally takes me all of two seconds to unpack my shopping - today it took me AN HOUR AND A HALF!! I scrubbed those cupboards and instead of shoving everything in to the cupboard/fridge I unpacked it all neatly and placed it into a cute container!

This was my cupboard before...

...and a couple of after shots...

I am rather pleased with myself!! ...although I am not pleased with how many graze box snacks I discovered in the cupboard!

I need to get snacking - and cancel my subscription.

This was my fridge before...

...and after...

Tom said it won't last. I disagree. I also bribed him with his own sweetie jar.  I may or may not have dipped in to it several times already...

 

I then decided to change our bedsheets (there's nothing like lovely fresh sheets!) but Charlie had other ideas... he was very comfy and didn't want to be disturbed!

 

 Tomorrow's task will be sorting out my office (eek!) I am a bit of a teacher hoarder and keep everything - it may come in at some point... but never really does.

I think Tom is literally counting down the days til I go back to school and he can get rid of me.

 Dani x