Has it Really Been that Long?

As we sat down to write this post, we noticed the last time we posted was on June 11th. YIKES! How did all that time go by? Oh, wait…It must be SuMmEr!! Yep, full swing. We’re in it. Let’s face it folks~Summer suits us. And, who are we do deny the invitation to bask in all its glory? Not a care in the world. Lazy days. Long nights. Beach days. Baseball games. PJ days. Whatever days…

So to catch up a bit, we are linking up with the fabulous Farley over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade…

We’re so glad we found her cute blog, and she adores mustaches which we find so fun…She’s a hoot! So we’re linking up to let you know what we’re currently up to.

Just in case you are curious…Well, and just because I wanted to see her again myself. I know she’s blingy…but she’s so pretty!

Now I can visit her anytime I want right here. 🙂

So in our Summer stooper we certainly haven’t come close to forgetting about school.

Though we took a bit of time to decompress,

…We’re baaaaaack!…

We are gearing up and diving back in.

First mission = Organization!

We were super lucky to not be “chosen” to host summer school in our classroom.

Sorry for our other chosen friends, but YAY for us!

So, we have spent a few afternoons in class emptying cupboards, recycling oodles of papers, and dumping 4 huge boxes of ~~junk~~ stuff in the teacher’s lounge for anyone who wants it. Feels soooo good to get rid of stuff! We still have a ways to go, but it’s a start.

Decisions…Decisions…

We’ve also decided on our classroom theme. We’ve had an Ocean theme for the past few years, but haven’t truly embraced it. So, we’re diving in two feet this year and keeping this fin-tastic theme going with a little “upcycling” to boot.

Out with the old, in with the new!

For starters, we’re tightening up by selecting a color scheme. We decided that it would be helpful to streamline things as well as continue our cutthroat decision making to purge things. Oh, how our Type A sides shine here ~ “It has to match.” Puh-lease!!

We both agreed that not e.v.e.r.y.l.i.t.t.l.e.t.h.i.n.g has to match, but it gives us a focus and keeps our eyes from wandering in the Dollar spots around town! Know what we mean?

So, we’ve been like squirrels in winter. Gathering little nuts and berries in shades of blues, greens, and whites.

Here’s just some of the loot we’ve gathered so far ~ minus the chiminea and plants of course…Ugh…and the dead summer grass! 🙂

Our neighborhood hosted a garage sale this past weekend.

So, we went shopping and found these 2 chairs~

Beachy-Check.

Color White-Check. Yay!

Original price = $10, but I noticed the owner was a childhood friend of my husband’s, so once I name dropped the Hubby, he knocked the price down to $5 for both! My kids were so proud of their bargaining Mama, but of course gave all the credit to Dad. Rightfully so! I would not have paid $10. A lil’ paint, maybe some mod podge and we’ll be in business. Oh, if only it were that easy!

So after gathering all these fun digs, we got cracking on the computer to see how we can tie this altogether.

We absolutely adore Just So Scrappy Too clipart.

So much so, that we spent whatever leftover garage sale money we had on
new clipart! Hey, a lil’ retail therapy does wonders for tired teachers
even if it is all school related!

So we are using our new clipart to create signs, labels, folders, bulletin board tags, really whatever we may need for the new year.

Still a work in progress, but it’s a start.

We’re excited to share any tips we find along the way. We know everyone has such great ideas for organization and classroom decor. With the birth of Pinterest, it’s so hard to keep our heads from spinning with ideas sometimes. Know what we mean?

But, we’re going to stay the course with our blue, green, and white ocean classroom and see where it takes us. One things for sure…These lazy days just got a whole lot busier. But, those long nights…yep, those might stick around all summer and beyond.

So, we’re curious…Do you have a classroom theme?