Must Read Monday: Books For Rhyming

The theme this week for Must Read Monday is must read books about rhyming.  Rhyming books are such fun stories to read for they tell a tale with playful language.  I love when we read stories that rhyme and children start saying, "That rhymes.........that rhymes."  And then there are those little sweeties that can't seem to hear them - at all!  So, we practice, we read, we play rhyming games, and we just keep working on it!

The Kindergarten Connection and I would love to know what your favorite book(s) about rhyming are.  You can link up with us and/or leave us a comment down below!  Here are a few of my favorites - favorite rhyming books, and favorite books in general!

Come Rhyme With Me! by Hans Wilhelm is a fun story.  It is an ABC book with different animals for each letter, it rhymes, it has riddles, and it has a flap to reveal the answer to the riddle.  It has a little bit of everything and your students will LOVE it!

There's a Wocket in my Pocket! by Dr. Seuss is just a fun and silly rhyming book.  In typical fashion, Dr. Seuss creates made up characters and rhymes them with everything and anything!  I like this book because it allows you to have the conversation that rhyming words do not have to be real words, they just have to sound the same at the end.

I Saw an Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince is a really cute story about a train switchman named Jack who goes out of his way to save an ant from the train coming down the tracks.  The ant is oblivious to the train and the switchman is relentless in his efforts to switch the train.  This story rhymes and makes sure to convey the message that all life is important - no matter how small.

The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen is a wonderful story to read with a cute message about sadness and happiness.  This rhyming book is full of vocabulary words that require more discussion.  A fish is asked many times why he is so sad............and he responds that he is made that way..........until another fish comes along and changes his perception of himself!   This story can teach to the high kiddos, and yet also be scaffolded to make it understandable for all children.  I always read this book at the end of the year and end our literacy class on a great note!

Silly Sally by Audrey Wood is just plain ole' entertaining.  Silly Sally walks upside down.  She is trying to get to town and meets other friends along the way.  These other friends also get around in a playful way - a pig who dances a jig, a sheep who falls asleep, etc.  Will Silly Sally ever get to town?

The Magic Hat by Mem Fox is a class favorite.  This book rhymes, has riddles and magic - what more can you ask for in a book?  This story allows children to make predictions based on the clues, and the rhyming words help them guess.  Some of the answers are hard, but they start getting the hang of the guesses as the book goes on.  There is something about this book that is just easy to read, easy to like, and the children want you to read it again and again!

For More Book Recommendations, please check out:

Must Read Books About the End of the School Year

Must Read Books About Friendship

Must Read Books About Math

Must Read Books About Cooperation

Must Read Books About Compassion

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Must Read Monday: Books About Teaching Compassion

The theme this week for Must Read Monday is must read books about compassion.  The American Heritage College Dictionary defines compassion as "Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it."  Wow!  That is a heavy topic for kindergarten children.  How on earth do we teach this?  Well, we do this like we do everything else.  We make it relatable.  We break it down so they understand the concept, and children definitely understand treating each kindly (or not) and how it makes them feel.  What better way to communicate this, than by reading children's books.

The Kindergarten Connection and I would love to know what your favorite book(s) about compassion are.  You can link up with us and/or leave us a comment down below!

Big Al by Yoshi is a super sweet story about a big friendly fish named Al.  The other fish are scared of him because he is so big.  Al just wants a friend, and he tries many different things to gain friends, but they are all unsuccessful.  It isn't until fisherman come along and capture the little fish with a net that they see Big Al is friendly.  Big Al saves them, but is captured.  Does Big Al live?  You have to read the book to find out!

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon is a great story about being true to yourself.  Camila loves lima beans, but her friends don't.  She wants to fit in so she denies herself something she loves and so she breaks out in a bad case of stripes.  The other students make fun of her and she ends up being asked to leave school.  She is visited by several doctors and it is a little old lady who ends up curing her.  This is a story of compassion that makes sure you are faithful to your needs and confident in being yourself - and nobody else!

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell is a cute story about Molly Lou Melon, a little girl with some differences.  Her grandmother tells her to smile, stand tall, and be yourself and not be afraid of what others say.  This advice comes in handy when she moves to a new school and a bully makes fun of her.  Molly Lou Melon stays true to herself and eventually, the other children start to see her potential, and her gifts.

The Snow Bear by Miriam Moss is a heartwarming story of a bear cub who loses his mommy.  The snow bear decides to make a snow mommy until his mother returns.  Many animals come by and help the snow bear build his mommy out of snow.  Eventually, night falls, the other animals are called home to their moms, and the snow bear cuddles up next to the snowy mom.  It is a sweet reunion when the real snow mom returns to her bear cub!  The hardbound book is also fabulous because it is embossed and the students love feeling the snow bear, as well as the other animals in this tender story.  (I feel like this bit was written by a movie critic with words like heart warming, sweet, and tender! Ha!  But, these words are fitting - read the book and see for yourself)

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz is a great story to read anytime of the year, but I like reading it in February during Black History Month.  A little girl and her mom talk about skin colors and decide that brown is not just brown.  There are many shades of brown - like cinnamon, french toast, peanut butter, peachy, etc.  Each person is unique and has a skin color that is special.  They mix paint and the little girl creates portraits of all of her friends.  There is a lovely story about compassion that values each persons outer beauty and uniqueness.

The Lion Who Wanted to Love by Giles Andreae is one of my favorite books to read.  It also rhymes which adds to the story.  It is the story of Leo, a lion who is a vegetarian and wants to hug animals, rather than eat them.  He is banished from his pride (by his mother) and so Leo sadly leaves, but roams about the area helping other animals and saving them from peril.  All the animals love Leo and would love to find a way to repay his kindness.  One day, a cheetah is caught in a rapid river heading towards a dangerous waterfall.  Leo jumps in to rescue him.  He saves the cheetah but is then caught in the rushing water.  The animals all rush to help him.  Will Leo be saved?  Will he reunite with his mother?  Check out this book to find out - you won't regret it!

Hey Little Ant by Philip and Hannah Hoose is the ultimate story of compassion.  This is in my top 10 favorite books to read of all time!  It is the story of a boy who wants to crush an ant.  All of his friends are telling him to do it.  A conversation ensues between the boy and the ant and each of them state their own case.  The boy states why he should crush the ant.  The ant states why the boy should not crush him.  This rhyming book illustrates the idea that all living creatures matter.  The best part is, the book ends with the boy's raised up shoe and lets you, the reader, decide what he should do.  This leads to a great discussion and you can also have the children write and draw about what should happen next.

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry is an excellent story to read around Earth Day.  A man is sent into the rainforest to chop down a tree but gets hot and sits down to rest.  During his nap, different animals of the rainforest come up to him and tell him why he should not chop the tree down.  When the man wakes up, he sees the tree, the forest, and all the animals through different eyes.  What happens next?  Does he chop down the tree?  The end of the story will reveal all!

For More Book Recommendations, please check out:

Must Read Books About the End of the School Year

Must Read Books About Friendship

Must Read Books About Math

Must Read Books About Cooperation

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Must Read Monday: Must Read Books About Cooperation

The theme this week for Must Read Monday is must read books about cooperation.  I have been thinking about how much I have enjoyed this linky party this summer.  I love to read children's books to my students.  It is a nice time of the day that I generally have their attention and good behavior.  My students really like to be read to.  I hope you have the same experience.

It has been nice reading everybody's blog posts and hearing about favorite books to read in the classroom.  I have noticed that there are some similar themes and favorite books amongst the blog posts.  There is comfort knowing that we are all on the right track and have the same idea.  But, I also like that we have different ideas and bring something original to our own classroom.  It also seems to me that linky parties are all about cooperation.  We are all sharing ideas, willingly taking our time to write about books (or whatever the theme is), and then linking up!  This week the theme seems very appropriate for a linky party!

The Kindergarten Connection and I would love to know what your favorite book(s) about cooperation are.  You can link up with us and/or leave a comment down below!  Alex will be linking up tomorrow, Tuesday, with a brand new blog!  Be sure to check back and see her beautiful new design.

The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf is a great book to read at the beginning of the year, and throughout the year as well.  A little girl walks into a toy shop and hears a box of crayons arguing.  She takes the box of crayons home, colors a picture with ALL of the crayons, and then the crayons realize that they work well together and start to get along.  This book rhymes and is absolutely adorable.  If my students seem to get off track with behavior, we always revisit this story and talk about how we are a class with many different personalities, but we are together for a year, and we need to learn how to accept each other, and get along.

My counselor comes in a does a great lesson with this book.  After she reads it she picks one crayon color (say purple) and asks them to describe the playground.  She draws what they tell her all in purple.  As she is drawing the children also get upset - "No, the grass is green" or "The sky is blue."  She asks what the picture is lacking at the end and they all say color!  She then puts paper out on a table and gives each child one crayon color.  They must cooperate, and draw a colorful picture by sharing, talking, and taking turns.  It is a very cute lesson and the children get to share their pictures at the end of the lesson.  Did I ever tell you that this past year our counselor was awarded the Oregon Counselor of the Year????  Our school is so lucky to have her!

Rabbit Stew by Donna Kosow is a funny book about a dog who has rabbit trouble.  By trouble, that means rabbits coming into his yard to eat his veggies.  He captures them, and puts them in a pot to make rabbit stew.  The only problem is...........he doesn't know how.  So the rabbits say, "You need some carrots" and the dog leaves to get carrots and the rabbits hop away.  This pattern repeats itself over and over until the dog has a pretty good rabbit stew going.........sans rabbits!  At the end, he ends up sharing the stew with the rabbits and tells them they know how to make a good stew.  It is super cute!!!

The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss is a wonderful book to read about learning how to get along and cooperate.  The Star-Belly sneetches are the "popular" sneetches and the Plain-Belly sneetches are not.  A man comes along and offers to put stars on those without.  So, they give him money and enter his machine and come out with stars.  Well, the Star-Belly sneetches don't like it so they go into his machine and take the stars off.  This goes on and on until all of their money is spent and then nobody remembers who should have stars, or shouldn't have stars.  They all realize that a sneetch is a sneetch and it doesn't matter if you have a star or not.  This fun rhyming book is also great to talk about getting along and cooperating and working together - no matter your differences!

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems is such a sweet story.  Trixie goes to the laundromat with her dad and then goes to leave and realizes that Knuffle Bunny is missing.  She keeps trying to tell her dad, but he doesn't understand.  When they get home the mom notices right away and they all rush back to the laundromat.  Spoiler alert: they find Knuffle Bunny..............but they find it b/c they worked together and supported each other.  In addition to this being a super cute story, the illustrations are amazing.  It is like cartoon cut outs over real black and white pictures of New York City streets (Park Slope, Brooklyn to be exact).

FYI - did you know you pronounce the "K" in Knuffle Bunny?

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman is a super silly book that also rhymes.  It is mom's birthday and her seven children all have very different and specific foods they like to eat.  Mrs. Peters spends her days "catering" their meals.  The children decide to make mom a treat - but they make it with the food that s/he likes to eat best.  The children combine all the ingredients into one pot.  Guess what is makes?  Mrs. Peters' birthday cake!  Super cute story about cooperation!

For More Book Recommendations, please check out:

Must Read Books About the End of the Year

Must Read Books About Friendship

Must Read Books About Math

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Tell All Tuesday: Summer Flashback

I love this linky party with My Day in K and Teach Talk Inspire!  Tell All Tuesday is a fun way to get to know one another!  The theme this week is Summer Flashback!

I have so many fun summer memories.  When I was little we would go to upstate NY every summer where my parents grew up and most of my relatives live.  We would visit and also get a camp in the Adirondack Mountains.  I have so many fond memories of swimming in the lakes, hiking, and spending quality time with family.

During college I worked in Yellowstone National Park for 3 summer seasons (and one winter).  Those were amazing times and I am very grateful to have that experience.

Summer also means spending time with my love and traveling.  I wrote in a previous Tell All Tuesday post about visiting with family and exploring National Parks. 

However, my new favorite summer memory is our wedding.  We have been together 13 and 1/2 years and will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary on July 5th!  We had the most amazing time on our special day.  We had our wedding at a local hotel property (McMenamins Grand Lodge) and we stayed the weekend along with our guests.  It was amazing to see my friends eating with my brother, and everyone getting to know each other.  It was a fabulous 4 days (most people arrived FRI night; rehearsal and Welcome Dinner for everybody on Saturday, Wedding Sunday, breakfast Monday and then many guests left - family stayed though.  We honeymooned a week later in Kauai!)  We had a very intimate wedding - 27 guests - and our relationship just keeps getting stronger each day.  I feel so blessed!

Make sure you check the linky party to see what other memories more bloggers have to share.

Must Read Monday: Must Read Books About Math

The theme this week for Must Read Monday is must read books about math.  I must admit that I struggled with math as a student in school.  It just wasn't a subject that clicked with me.  The irony of this is that my dad was a mathematician (as well as a meteorologist and had a career in the Navy).  He would try to tutor me and some of those sessions were difficult.  I didn't understand it, and he didn't understand why I didn't "get it" and a few of those sessions ended with me in tears!  Anyone else have this experience???  Fast forward to present day, and teaching math is probably my favorite subject to teach.  One of the reasons I love it so much is that I am determined to make math meaningful and I want it to make sense for my students.  I want them to understand math, to like math, and to feel successful!

The Kindergarten Connection and I would love to know what your favorite book(s) about math are.  You can link up with us and/or leave us a comment down below!

Click, Clack, Splish, Splash by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin is an adorable and simple book about counting to 10, and then counting backwards from 10 to 1 at the end of the story.  This book is by the same authors as Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.  I like reading this at the beginning of the year since the words, pictures, and objects to count are clear, and made for beginning readers.

Chicka Chicka 1 2 3 by Bill Martin Jr and Michael Sampson is a great book to read at the beginning of the year, and then also to revisit throughout the year.  My students love this story and want to hear it over and over again.  It counts from 1-20 and then by 10's to 100.  It also addresses a little bit of place value with the number zero.

Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews is another wonderful book with cute rhymes and counting objects up to 10.  Each page has a different number of dots and those dots are integrated into a picture.  Children can easily relate to this book.  As an extension activity, it is fun to give your students 10 black dots and construction paper, and have them create their own design.

10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston is a lovely book that rhymes and focuses on subtraction.  This story starts with 10 turkeys, and then through a series of events, the turkeys leave one by one.  This leads to good conversations about making numbers smaller and I always write the subtraction sentence on the white board and we practice reading the number sentence together.  This book is just one of many that has this particular style (starts with a group of 10 and gets smaller as the story goes on) and they are all great to read throughout the year!

The Mission of Addition by Brian P. Cleary is another fun book that talks about math.  It rhymes and explains what addition is.  There are various scenarios in the book which allow your students to add objects together.  It helps children count "all together" and then also create addition number sentences.  

For More Book Recommendations, please check out:

Must Read Books About the End of the Year

Must Read Books About Friendship 

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An InLinkz Link-up

Must Read Monday: Must Read Books About Friendship!

The theme this week for Must Read Monday is must read books about friendship!  Having friends is such wonderful thing!  It is great to spend time with friends - laughing, talking, and being comfortable just being you!  This is an important skill to talk about in your classroom as well.  Some children need reminders about how to be a friend and stories are a great way to share this information.  The Kindergarten Connection and I would love to know what your favorite book(s) about friendship are.  You can link up with us and/or leave us a comment down below!

Dont Fidget A Feather by Erica Silverman is one of my all time favorites for sure.  It is the story of Duck and Gander, two friends who are competitive.  They want to know who is the one and forever champion of champions so they decide to have a freeze in place contest.  Whoever moves, loses.  They stay still while bees buzz around them, rabbits hop through them, etc. and they even stay still when a fox comes along and puts them in a bag.  The fox wants to eat them and is preparing a pot of boiling water.  The animals still don't move.  However, when the Gander is about to be thrown in the pot of boiling water, Duck is faced with a dilemma.  Is Gander too afraid to move?  Does he move, save his friend, and lose the contest?  Who will end up being the one and forever champion of champions?  This is a story of true friendship!

 The Ice Cream King by Steve Metzger is a cute story about how things are more fun with a friend.  A young boy goes to an ice cream shop with his mom and ends up in a dream world of ice cream, castles and everything he could possibly want.  He is all alone and finally he realizes something is missing.  What is that you ask?  A friend!  Life is better when you get to share things with others.

Corduroy by Don Freeman is such a sweet story.  I don't think this story is new to many of you, but it is a sweet tale for sure.  It is quite the adventure for a little teddy bear and a little girl who end up finding each other.  When they get together at the end of the story, they realize that they are friends...........and they always wanted a friend!

How Do Dinosaurs Play with Their Friends? by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague is a great story of friendship and also a good one to read at the beginning of the year.  This story talks about how to play with friends nicely, how to share, and how to listen.  I like this story because it gives non-examples of friendship and ends with good examples of what it means to be a friend.  

Are you always on the lookout for new books?  Do you have favorites to share?  Follow along each Monday this summer, and if you like, link up with us!  You can also leave a comment about your favorite books down below.

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Tell All Tuesday! Summer Snapshot!

Tell All Tuesday is a fun linky party hosted by Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire and Diana from My Day in K.  The theme this week is Summer Snapshot!  Summer is a wonderful time to relax, catch up on things around the house, and spend time with my hubby and family.  Our family lives in New York and Colorado, so we try to meet up each year for a visit and vacation.

Lately, the theme for our family vacation has been to visit near National Parks and then spend our time hiking and exploring an amazing area.  Some of these snapshots are from NP's that we visited with my family, and some are of trips with just my husband.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, New Mexico

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

Canoeing in Teton National Park, Wyoming

Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yellowstone holds a special place in my heart because I worked 4 seasons in the park during and after college.  This past summer was the first time I had been back in many years and it was the first time my husband had ever been.  My heart felt so happy to be back in such an amazing part of this world we live in.

This summer we want to visit Mount Rainier National Park and North Cascades National Park in Washington.

Thanks for stopping by!  Make sure to link up with other bloggers to find about their Summer Snapshot!

Must Read Monday: Books for the End of the School Year

I am so very excited for the first week of Must Read Monday, a sumer linky party, with The Kindergarten Connection!  As teachers, we all read to our students and Alex and I are curious - what are some of your favorite books to read to your class?  I am excited to share mine each week and to also hear about yours. I have a large book collection as it is.............but I know I'll be purchasing more books at the end of this summer after reading all of the blog posts.  You can never have too many books.  Right????

The theme this week is must read books for the end of the school year.  Here are mine:

The Last Day of Kindergarten - by Nancy Loewen.  This is a cute story about a little girl who thinks back to the beginning of kindergarten and then ends up continuing the story on the last day of kindergarten.  It is a great way to reflect on things we did as a class at the beginning of school and where we are at the end of the school year - just like the character does in the book.  She also talk abut what summer will be like - which is cute to hear what my students say.  This story does have a graduation (which we do not do at my school) and that allows for another conversation about comparing and contrasting how her school is the same and different from our school.

The Night Before Summer Vacation - by Natasha Wing.  I love how this mirrors The Night Before Christmas.  It follows the same pattern and also rhymes.  It gets the children excited about possible trips they may take in the summer and allows us to turn and talk about places we'd like to travel.

First Grade, Here I Come! - by Nancy Carlson.  This story starts at the end of the first day of first grade.  It is a cute story because this child doesn't know how to feel about first grade.  He tells his mom all about his day (while comparing it to kindergarten).  He misses kindergarten, but ends up coming around to being excited about being a first grader.  This is a nice story to talk to my kiddos about what first grade will be like.  It also lets them know that is is OK to miss kindergarten, but that they are moving on and are ready for new adventures!

Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the Last Day of Kindergarten - by Joseph Slate.  I love all the Miss Kindergarten Books!  This follows the same format - it rhymes, focuses on the letters of the alphabet and also has a repetitive line "Miss Bindergarten celebrates the last day of kindergarten."  It is a great opportunity  to talk about how the end of the school year compares to ours (like cleaning the classroom, children being excited and children being sad to leave).   The class also has a party at the end and shows Miss Bindergarten leaving the classroom where Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten begins.

Oh, the Places You'll Go! - by Dr. Seuss.  This is definitely a favorite book to read at the end of the year.  My guess is most of you know this book.  It goes through the many stages of life.........good times.........bad times..........good times..........hard times.........all the ups and downs in life.  But I love it because it talks about their future.........and how their whole life is ahead of them.  Kinders are little and don't fully grasp the brevity of this book, but it is wonderful to plant the seeds of a bright future.  I always get teary eyed at the end too. Do you?  When it says today is your day, your mountain is waiting, get on your way!  Ugh! Gets me...........every.........time!

Are you always on the lookout for new books?  Do you have favorites to share?  Follow along each Monday this summer, and if you like, link up with us!  You can also leave a comment about your favorite books down below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Currently - May!

Hi!  I love the beginning of the month because it is like a fresh start every 30 days or so.  A new beginning, the changing of decorations, and in this case, one month closer to summer vacation!  It also means that it is time to link up with Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for another edition of Currently.

Listening: I just got out of bed and came upstairs.  I am sitting on the couch with our sliding glass doors open.  It is a gorgeous day in Oregon and the birds are chirping and happy.  It's going to be a great day!  Now, if only I can stop this cold from getting worse I'll be in good shape ;)

Loving: Being Tribes trained.  Are you?  It is a great way to build community and relationships.  All of the teachers in my school were trained this year.  We had two days at the beginning of the school year, one day in the middle of the year, and then yesterday was our final day.  It was exciting to discuss things that we liked about it this year, to get refreshed on some of the strategies, and to look ahead to next year as well.  We were given about 30 minutes to come up with a culminating task for our class this year.  Here is my student teacher and my teammate hard at work in our planning session.  We came up with a great way to end the year! I'm excited to share it with you once we complete it.

Thinking:  How is it May already?  Is anyone else with me?  All of a sudden, it is here!  I just typed my May newsletter yesterday at work (wish I had a Mac at work!) and need to go in to work today or tomorrow to print it and stuff it in their folders.  Good thing I looked at it again for I just noticed a typo - please excuse it!  I typed up all of our end of the year events for the parents to see what will be happening in our classroom.  It is always such an exciting time, but also super busy!

Wanting: I want to get started on end of the year things now.  The end of the year is crunch time - right!?!?  There are so many things to fit in, projects to make, assessments and report cards to complete as well as field trips and end of the year memory books, award ceremonies..........and the list goes on and on.  I got started this week on some end of the year assessments.  My student teacher just finished her official two week solo and she did a great job!  I started pulling kids out into the hall in order to get some testing done while she was teaching.  It is always a crazy time of year when testing season approaches because I have to keep my kiddos occupied, while I pull them for one on one assessments. This was brilliant!  She was teaching, I was testing, and teaching did not have to come to a screeching halt!  I want to keep going while she is in my room and try to get as much done for the very end of the year now, so it won't seem so busy when June comes.  Here is a sweet picture of "Miss D." and me and our school carnival last night.  She is awesome and I hope a district snatches her up soon!  Isn't she the cutest?

Needing: I MUST write my birthday thank you notes this week.  My birthday was April 19th and it was a wonderful birthday.  I always love hearing from friends and family near and far, and just being thought of makes me happy.  It is a great day on Facebook too!!!!  I was blessed with some sweet gifts from family and friends and I need to reach out and thank them.  I do love writing handwritten notes............but I am a procrastinator.  I am actually looking at the pile of cards I have that I need to write in.............and I have been looking at them for days.  Oy!  I need to motivate.  This week.  I declare it here in cyber space - this week I will write them and mail them off!  Settled :)  Teehee.

Summer, yes, hope, dream:  Summer.............sigh...........sweet, sweet, summer!  Oh how I adore thee! May does mean that summer is in sight.  I am so excited for the summer this year as I have many fun plans.  I am excited to make the Teachers Pay Teachers conference this summer.  I get to meet and room with two lovely gals - Alex from The Kindergarten Connection and Becky from The Class Couple.  I know we will have fun, and learn so much this summer.  It is also time for my 25th high school reunion.  What????  Seriously, I have been out of high school for 25 years?  Do you remember how as a child time went by so slowly?  Now, it flies by.  Can't believe it!  It will be great to head back to Louisiana and visit with my childhood friends.  Some of us are all staying together (my friend Aimee is letting 3 of us +hubbies come invade her space) and it will be so great to catch up in person.  After the reunion, my husband and I are going to rent a car and travel to either Gulf Shores or Destin for a little Gulf Coast vacation.  My hubby has never been to this area of the country so it will be a fun, albeit hot and humid, vacation!  I just need to research and book a place.  I'm also hesitant to tell you that we have had our Ikea Ektorp couch for about 10 years now.  Finally, we are going to get a new couch this summer and I can't wait!!!  I am already looking online and look forward to curling up with my hubby, a good book, and/or my laptop and enjoying some of the relaxing days of summer.

Thanks for stopping by!