we partied...

like rock stars!!

(alert! very very very long post with lots and lots and lots of photos)

ashlyn's 6th birthday party was her big "theme" party. we had to do something on the same scale as jaden's princess party.

we made invitations and asked our guests (kids mostly...but adults were also encouraged) to dress like a rock star!!!

the night before the party, we laid out all of our goodies and assembled "swag bags"...

this is what our rock stars received upon arrival. it's okay...you can be jealous.

swag bags & the signature canvas.

of course, in order to be a rock star, you need a microphone, mesh gloves, a guitar, and colorful hair. here's the birthday girl all decked out.
i just snipped some scrapbook jewel strips for face bling.
the funkier the hat, the more rock star, i guess...
divas!
mamaw & dirt know how to party...

we had our own girl band. eat your heart out pussycat dolls.

see this? this is why i love. my. family. they get so involved in our theme parties. i can't wait to see what they come up with. uh-mazing!
bobo...
marky marc and the funky bunch (a.k.a. the webkins dressed as avril lavine, jay-z, taylor swift & madonna)...

and my two beautiful rock stars...

we set up a hair-painting station. which the kids l.o.v.e.d. i think all 8 cans were empty within an hour. even the hubby opted for a new do. apparently, it took an entire team of stylists to decide how to make him an appropriate rock star...
rock. on. (see his badge? it says "v.i.p." i had one that said "press" and "i'm with the band")

more fun hair...
yes, that IS a smiley face...

ummm...even rock stars need presents, right?
favorite present? why, the singing justin bieber doll, of course.

cake...

okay...i don't know what's up with this kid. she kept blowing UP instead of towards her candles. you'd think she hadn't done this at least 5 times before...

but she finally figured it out.

after cake & ice cream, things got c.r.a.z.y.

wearing stretchy balls on our heads.

passing out (a.k.a. napping) in the hammock...

and glo sticks...

lots. and lots. and lots. of glo sticks.

all in all, i think we had the best rock star event ever. well, at least of the year. okay, at least in our neighborhood.

gotta run. i've only got 9 months to plan jaden's next party...and we all know she's gonna want to outdo her sister.

i have been...

working my butt off!!! (don't you wish that actually worked? i mean, if that were true, after the time i've put into my room this week, i'd be nearly invisible!)

i was moved from 2nd grade to 5th grade, so i needed to revamp my room and decor. (somewhat for the older students...but mostly for me.)

so, here's a tour of my room...

i finally made some banners and my sweet hubby helped me hang them up. i've also started collecting vintage globes. see the giant one in the middle? given to me by a fellow teacher.

my check-in chart. students pull their card out when they arrive. (quick and easy attendance) i also plan to use this chart in some way to monitor bathroom breaks. i used to use it for my 2nd graders in order to track behavior, but i think my 5th graders will laugh at me if i ask them to turn their card.

my writing center. i ordered 3 more inflatable globes to fill in this area a bit more. i wanted a theme that would last for a few years...i'm not much for picking a new theme each year...so i went with maps/globes/travel.
spelling station. monthly books. estimation station.
my classroom rules. simple and sweet.

also, my "skills board". i will record standards being taught and vocab for each subject. i sectioned it off with electrical tape, and my kind friend, sarah, cut the titles out with her cricut.
homework board. i just covered a piece of foam core board with dry erase paper. sectioned it off with electrical tape and labeled with scrapbook stickers.
thanks to my pinterest obsession, i made a quote to go above my main board. all letters were purchased at 50% off from hobby lobby.
part of my reading area. you might recognize the canvas i made. the little frames will showcase photos of my students of the month.
i covered two of my bulletin boards with old book covers. (again, thanks to pinterest.) it might be hard to notice, but there are 12 bulldog clips hanging on the board. students will display work they're proud of and swap it out weekly.
my favorite pic!!! remember the dark blue couch from above? the one with the babyish circus animals and dots? my final project today was to make a slipcover for it. (i used 2 clearance tablecloths from target.)

i must admit, i was rather bummed when i found out about my grade level switch. but, after working in my room all week, i'm finally starting to get excited about my new kiddos! (although i'm still in denial that they come back next wednesday.)

king's island!

(warning...lots and lots of pictures!)

we surprised the girls with a trip to king's island.

we left early monday morning and told the girls we were going in to work on my classroom. we actually stopped at school and dropped off a bunch of stuff, but then we grabbed breakfast and jumped on the highway. the girls wanted to know where we were going, so i might have lied and told them a school supply store.

as we got closer, ashlyn decided to play nintendo ds under her towel since the sun was in her eyes. we "coerced" jaden to do the same thing so we could pull off the ultimate surprise.

they didn't know what was really going on until we pulled into the parking lot.

we're here!!!

dinosaurs alive. while the dinos were kinda cool, i would NEVER pay to see it again. nor would i recommend it to anyone. unfortunately, the dinos move on timers, so you don't see most of them move, and the interactive boxes didn't work.

but...it did make for some fun photo ops!

i'm not much of a rider, so i did a lot of bag-holding and picture-taking.

all she did was drive. in. circles. that's. all. she. did.

oh look...i was actually there! see? i have proof!

hanging out in "kiddieland"...i have no idea what it's actually called because it's changed names so many times.

jackson paid ashlyn $5 to ride this. it worked...and she loved it!!!

face-painting. i might have been a little more excited about this than the girls were.

in honor of breast cancer, the "eiffel tower" was lit in pink. loved it!
we opened and closed the park. 10am to 10pm. i thought my feet were going to fall off.

but, doing something like that with my family was totally worth it!