June Currently

Aloha everyone! Well I am fashionably late for the party!  I just checked the links and it is already over 100 people linked up with Farley for her fabulous monthly tradition.  I was so happy that I had 3 people link up to my Workin' It Wednesday, lol!!

Today we headed over the Turtle Bay Resort which is about 30 minutes from where we live.

It was their Ocean Fest, which is a free event for families to come and learn about how to protect the ocean and preserve our Natural Resources here on the island.  There were booths with games, food and projects.

They made these cute Jelly Fish, which I plan to make this coming school year.

They had a fishing contest and even a sand castle building contest for kids.

My daughter and her friend built a Mayan Pyramid, lol.  Everyone who participated got a pass to go to Sea Life Park. Guess where we are headed next week!

This next week will be a busy one getting ready for my sister and her two kids to visit from Phoenix! I am so excited, but my house really needs a good Spring Cleaning before she gets here.

I really do need to invest in a nice big floppy beach hat.  I have this old hat that has seen much better days!  Most people here on the North Shore live in Trucker Caps, but they never seem to look as cute on me as they do on everyone else!!

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April Currently

Aloha friends!  Time for one of my favorite Linky's!!

Right now my backyard is a disaster! The hubby is building himself a Man Cave in the back and I could not be happier!!

Now a place for him to store all of his junk toys, and a place for the kids to go and play when it's raining outside or when they want to have friends sleepover.  Ahhh, can't wait!

The downside to this is that it has been raining cats and dogs and my front yard is a jungle of weeds!!  It seriously it horrible.  I am too embarrassed to even post a  picture!!

April 1st begins the long haul into summer.  No more breaks, holidays or furlough days!! Full weeks of school!!  We also have to start getting ready for May Day, and it is not something I enjoy planning for.  The end result is always awesome though.

This year our kids are going to be dancing to Waka Waka by Shakira.  The teachers have to choreograph the whole thing and teach it to our classes.  I love dancing, but it takes me forever to learn a new dance.  The video below shows  exactly how I feel when I am learning a new hula!! I always feel like the woman in white!!

My advice for new bloggers is to do what is comfortable for you and don't compare yourself to anyone else!! Everyone is different and we all have amazing qualities.  Don't look at those numbers and just enjoy what you do!!

Don't forget to stop by and check out all the other fun links!!

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Five For Friday and Currently

Aloha Friday everyone!!  So happy to be linking up with some fabulous ladies on a Friday and a brand new month.

First I am linking up with Kasey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five For Friday.

We went outside to measure the length of different whales.

We learned it takes about 22 students to equal the length of a Blue Whale!!

 We also did some fun Whale Art using cool colors we would find in the ocean.

My daughter and her BFF enjoying the gorgeous Friday afternoon.

I was also checking my favorite surf spot ;)

When I came home I had some nice feedback from some of my wonderful customers on TpT and I was so excited to see this!! I never would have thought I would have 600 people who are interested in what I create. I remember being excited that I had 10 followers!! Thank you so much to anyone who has purchased any of my items and who follows my store.

I am also linking up with Farley and I guess this is one more pic, but who's counting??

That last one really gets me lately.  I have so many kids that when confronted about something always blame somebody else for why they did something!!  

Do you get this??   "Billy where is your homework?"   "My mom didn't put it in my backpack!"   "Lisa why did you just push her?"  "Larry told me to do it!" 

 Okay I know this seems petty, but all day long I get this!! Today there was a HUGE mess in the math area and no one would take responsibility for it.  I feel like kids today more and more are not held accountable for things and it gets very frustrating...Okay there's my rant for the day and "breathe"....... Done!!

Head on over and link up with Farley!! She is one popular lady.  I will probably be the 100th person to link up if I'm quick!!

Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a fantastic weekend.

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December Currently

December 1st sure came fast didn't it!! Only 2 weeks until Vacation!!  We have some extra time due to furloughs this year.  The district calls them Directed Leave Without Pay-DLWP-I call them Dilwop days.  I guess if I am not getting paid for some days them I will enjoy a longer vacation!

Well with December 1st upon us  Farley from Oh, Boy It's 4th Grade has her December Currently up!!

 

I am so excited to go and see Wicked tonight!!  I bought tickets 6 months ago when I heard it was finally coming to Hawaii!! My oldest daughter and I are going on our own to have some bonding time.  She is a real fan of musicals and I think we will love it!!

 

Unlike many of you I have not done any shopping for Xmas. I am just not that much in the spirit yet because it is still pretty warm here.  Plus we are headed to Phoenix to see my mom, so I plan to do most of my shopping there.  I do need to get gifts for teacher's, parents and colleagues though.

Who has the link up for some great ideas??

 

I could really use a new pair of shoes besides slippers/flip-flops.  We are dressing up to go out tonight and I have nothing suitable for my dress:(  I have a few pairs of heels but they just don't go well. Guess I will have to improvise.

 

Random acts of kindness is a harder one for me, because honestly I'm a pretty nice person, and I try to help out others as much as possible.  I think most teacher's just do this naturally!!  But this year I am going to shock my neighbors with gifts, lol.  Every year the sweet little ladies in this neighborhood come by with huge trays of goodies they have baked!!  I am not kidding, I feel like a heel for never returning the goodies.  So this year I am hoping to return the goodies to those that I always receive from, plus some of our new neighbors down the street.  It will not be fancy, but I am excited to share:)  I also recently made a couple of buttons for giveaways for some bloggy friends and I was so happy to help them out with something I love to do:)

 

I hope December is finding you happy and excited for the holidays!!  Head on over to Farley's and link up!!

 

 

 

 

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November Currently!!

Can you believe it!! NOVEMBER! I spent so much time getting ready for October that I am not ready for November!  There are so many holidays coming up now and my time is getting stretched.....

Farley has her Currently for the month going and I am very late.... I have been so busy  this week with school and life that blogging has taken a backseat again.  I have been doing some fun things though:)

For the last few weeks I have had to deal with report cards, conferences and then Halloween!!

This weekend was calling my name, but I didn't get to sleep in, I got up at the same time, but for fun:)

My 10 year old and I signed up for the Color Run and it was this morning.

 

My daughter is 10 going on 80..lol. I am super competitive and have always been an athlete.   She is a daydreamer and not very excitable.  She has always been a unique girl and as a teacher I would diagnose her as mildly autistic. She has officially been diagnosed as having ADD and a learning disability, but she is incredibly bright and picks up on details you would never think about.   The only things that really interest her are animals and a few friends her age.  You can see by all of our pictures she doesn't express tons of emotion, but I think she really had a good time.

 

 

It was tons of fun and she says she wants to do it again next year with the whole family.  Maybe we can get dad and little sister to join us.  Now after a shower we still have green hands and color in our hair and ears.  A few hours in the ocean might wash it all off. 

 

 Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Stop back by tomorrow, I plan to post pics of all the fun things we did last month:)  Don't forget to go link up with Farley, I plan to catch up on some blog reading this evening.

 

 

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July Already and Some Freebies

Aloha everyone! Can you believe it is July already!!  The weather is definitely getting warmer and my backyard looks like a jungle!!  We have a few fruit trees back there and they are fully loaded with goodies!

The avocado tree is just brimming and the papaya is almost ready too.  You can't tell from this pick but the avocado tree is giant. This is only one branch! We also have a coconut palm out there with so many coconuts I think I may just open up a roadside stand:) Summer is great for taking all of your fruits and sharing with neighbors.  The man around the corner has a huge mango tree and we always swap buckets of fruit.

This week is the 4th of July already and we will probably head to town for a big Firework show down in Waikiki.

I've been working on some fun things all summer and I realized I have not done any of my classroom items that I really should.  I have tons of centers to copy and laminate, I need to start designing my planning and grade book and I need to revamp some of my reading curriculum!!

The problem is I get on the computer and start reading other's blogs and suddenly 2 hours has gone by....I vow to get busy this week;)

I am at 255 followers right now and my FB fans have doubled in the last few weeks. So I am planning a fun Summer Giveaway which I will post tomorrow! So please make sure you come on by:)

I am updating and also linking with Farley for her July Currently. She has a great post today and I am totally jealous of her new washing machine and the fact that she may be getting a new jeep!!

So my mother-in-law really wants to have my 10 year old come and stay with her, but I think she is too young to fly to California all by herself!!  Anywho after a month of saying no, no, no, I have decided to let her go.  Grandma isn't getting any younger and I hate to be the naysayer all the time...but I still hate to see her traveling alone.  I just can't afford to go with her this summer:( What do you think?  I have some issues with my Mother-In-Law...

I will leave you with some digital papers that you could use for the upcoming holiday or other holidays.  I also posted my I Pick poster in my TpT store if you want to grab that as well.

Have a great Sunday and don't forget to come back by tomorrow for my Summer Giveaway!!

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Currently and A Stroll Through Our Town

Well today I had to go to a workshop on Electronic Portfolios. I was actually looking forward to it, but it turned out to be not as exciting as I would have hoped :( I am really hoping tomorrow will be much more hands on!! I will let you know what comes out of it.

I also noticed as I was sneaking a peak at my favorite blogs during class...shhh...that Farley is having her June Currently and I of course had to link up.

Yes, this summer we are stuck on the island.  I know you're very sad for me I can tell, lol!!  One thing about living on an island is that you are stuck here and have to find new things to do if you are unable to travel elsewhere.  People call it "Island Fever".  The hubs gets it pretty bad, but me, not so much. I do love to travel though. 

I have to tell you it has been pretty fun taking pictures and imagining myself as someone who has never been here before. I try to think of all of the things you would enjoy seeing.  So today I am going to take you on a stroll through my little town.   It won't take long...

This is our little town called Waialua.  It is an old Sugar Plantation and very historic.  The Sugar Mill was the main source of economy for this area until  1996 when it shut down.  Many families that live and worked here are from all over the world including China, Portugal Japan, Korea and the Phillipines.

 Lots of families moved in search of jobs and the area was not the best place to live for awhile. Some of the land was parceled out to small farmers. The area is very quaint and many young families moved here and have changed it quite a bit.  Our area is now mainly open fields and very rustic.

It is definitely a drier area of the island, but still really beautiful, especially in the winter with all the rain.  Now the old Sugar Mill area has become a marketplace for many growing businesses.

Do you like the local advertising??

Here is the Sugar Mill today.  I can actually see the smokestack as I look out my living room window right now.  We live just a few blocks away.

The Sugar Mill is now the North Shore Soap Factory.

This place is amazing!! The owners Debora and Jerry Driscoll have made this a beautiful showcase for their handmade soaps.  Everything is made right here.

This is the Chocolate and Strawberry soap. It smells so good I think they wanted to eat it!!

This is Deb the owner.  She happens to be a good friend.  Our daughters met in pre-school:)  She was kind enough to send the girls off with their favorite soaps.

My favorite products here are...

and I can't live without this.  I have one in each purse, at school, in my makeup bag....

It smells and tastes so good, my lips cannot live without it!! Click on any of the Soap Factory pics to go to their awesome store:) ( I am thinking about putting together a care package of all my favorite items for a giveaway) What do you think?

There's lots of warehouse space in this area and other shops are here...

Did you know Hawaii is the only state that grows coffee commercially?

There is also a farmers market here on Saturdays. 

 You can come and get papayas, bananas, mangoes, avocadoes, cucumbers and lots of other locally grown fruits and veggies.

The rest of our little town consists of the Elementary School, Recreation Center, library and little Shopping Center.  We also have a Middle School and High School.

I forgot to take my own pic of the school. Its just two blocks from our house, but I don't work here.

This is the sweetest little library and Saturday Story Time was always my girl's favorite

The old bank is now a screen printing shop

My girls putting on a show for me

The nearest gas station. I try to fill up elsewhere!

It's better just to walk/jog through the old Sugar Cane fields...well maybe for mom...

The population of our town is about 4,000 people. It's very quiet and definitely off the beaten path.

I think it is a wonderful place to live and a great place to visit.

We used to live across the street from this little beach park. It's so lovely here first thing in the morning.



 

I know you are waiting for some beach pictures,  but there are so many that this post would take you all day to get through!!  I am saving the beach post for later.  Our next stop will be the neighboring town of Haleiwa.  Hope you come back for more!!

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