Five For Friday & I'm Still Alive...Again!

Oh man oh man.  I know I wrote that blog post entitled "I'm Still Alive" about 2 months ago, letting everyone know I'm still here and blogging...hmm.  I guess that didn't work out to well.  This time, I am really trying to get back on the blogging scene though.  I swear!  Christmastime just became very busy, even for me, Miss I-Only-Sub-Now. :-) 

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with where to start with this blog post, because a lot has happened in the past 2 months since I last wrote, so I thought I'd link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five For Friday linky (Sam hates that word...linky). This way it's okay to be totally random.  Plus I've secretly always wanted to join this link-up!

 

Last week, our family celebrated Sam's 29th birthday.  I can't believe he's 29!  God, he's SO OLD!  (I'm only saying that because I turned the same age 16 days before him).  To celebrate, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Agave, with a large group of friends and his co-workers for some Mexican.  We had such a fabulous time!  I also made him Funfetti cupcakes, of course, because those are our fave!  This time, I tried something a bit new...

As you can see, they were stuffed with Oreos, and there was really no science behind it.  Just plop them right on top of some batter, and cover them over with more! MMMmmm!

Here is the birthday boy, himself! :-)

Saturday morning we received an unexpected snowstorm!  We ended up with about 7 inches. Poor Dudley has been so cooped up lately due to cold weather & icy conditions, so we decided to take a walk during the storm.  We went right over to Dudley's favorite place, large fields owned by a private school, where he could run around to his little heart's content. We were SOAKED by the time we arrived home.

I came down with the flu on Monday, which doesn't make for a very interesting week to share with you.  It was AWFUL, but really only for 1 day.  My fever climbed throughout the day and topped off over 103.  Sleeping wasn't fun at all, but luckily the next couple days I was only feeling a little off.  Definitely a far cry from my 10 day fever with mono last year, and for that I am THANKFUL!  Even so, just being trapped in the house for the past few days has already made me develop a case of the winter blues. 

I did get a chance to book a few more hotel...okay, motels, for our cross-country road trip that is coming up very soon!  Yup, we have a START date for our trip to San Diego...finally!  After we received the start date, I was able to start to break down our road trip day by day, and then start the motel reservation process.  Right now I only have one more to book for the way out there. We still aren't sure where we will be living once we arrive, but it could possibly be in La Jolla.  More exciting news on this subject- Mom is coming to visit us in March, and G & L, our family/friends, will be house-sitting and STAYING at our house while we are gone!  Hoooray!

www.roadtripusa.com

We'll be taking # 6 to Atlanta and then heading to San Diego via #10.  Can't wait!

I recently uploaded a couple new products to TpT.  One has a Valentine's Day theme, which I will share later, and the other is very chilly...

The Blustery Blizzard focuses on nouns, verbs, and adjectives, but since many find grammar to be a bit dull, it is very HANDS-ON.  There's only so many grammar worksheets and workbook pages a child can take!

Partner up your kiddos and provide them each their own mat and set of WINTERY-themed word cards! Next, your students will take turns rolling a 6-sided die and use the key on the activity's instructions to understand the meaning of each number they roll. Some numbers will prompt them to choose a word card with a certain part of speech (NOUN, VERB, or ADJECTIVE), which they must place on the correct section of their sorting mat. Other numbers will prompt students to remove a word card from their mat or skip a turn. If they roll a 5, WILD, they're able to choose any word card to add to their sorting mat!  The object of the game is to be the first student to have all of his/her cards sorted correctly.

 I would love for you to take a look at my grammar activity at my TpT store here, and I hope some of you will find it useful in your classroom!

Well friends, that just about finishes up my "Five For Friday"! Cheers to the weekend!

XO <3, C

Happy Campers on the Cape

How was everyone's LONG weekend? 

Sam, Dudley, and I had an awesome weekend camping with my parents at Nickerson State Park on the Cape.

These two pictures were taken soon after first arriving and setting up our little two-person tent.  You would think the tent would be perfect for Sam and I, but be aware, Dudley slept in the tent with us!  We ended up being quite cozy, which made for a bad night sleep on the first night.  At least we were toasty warm, even when the temperature hit a chilly 39 degrees on the second night!

We began our first day of camping by heading out to lunch, and then taking a walk around the park.  Dad stayed behind as he preferred to hang out by the fire with Marshal, who very much enjoyed his "camping" kennel!

 My beautiful mum was bundled up for Arctic temperatures on our walk and for most of the long weekend!

We took the Flax Pond trail and discovered the beginnings of beautiful fall foliage!  The only problem- keeping Dudley out of the water so we wouldn't be sleeping with a wet puppy that evening!

 You can bet Dudley wanted to keep trekking through the grass towards the pond,...

 and of course Sam kept us entertained the entire time!

The first night we hung around the campfire, dining on homemade soup, cornbread, and apple crisp!  Yum!

Dudley enjoyed relaxing by the fire from a distance.  Maybe because he once burned his nose on a campfire when he was a puppy?

The following day, we made the drive out to Provincetown.  We lucked out with the weather!  What a gorgeous day!

Unfortunately, this was the only whale we saw as all whale watch trips were cancelled due to rough waters. 

Instead, we had an absolutely delicious lunch at the Lobster Pot.  The restaurant reminds me of The Lobster Pot in Bristol, RI where Sam and I had our rehearsal dinner.  I highly suggest the bread bowl of clam chowder!  Amazing!

 After lunch, we took a few more touristy photos.  Here you can see Mom, Dad, and Dudley as "the cat"! We shopped around a bit and may or may not have picked up a Christmas present for a certain someone.  Of course, we could not leave without purchasing some delicious homemade fudge!

Since the whale watches were cancelled, Sam wanted to check out the Pilgrim Monument.  This was his first trip to P-town and The Cape so the two of us went to the top, while Dad hung out in the car, and Mom watched Dudley outside the monument museum. The Pilgrim Monument was built in the early 1900s to commemorate the Pilgrim's voygage to the New World.  It was built on The Cape because the Mayflower first landed in Provincetown.  The Pilgrims actually spent a bit over a month exploring Cape Cod, before they finally sailed on to Plymouth. 

Much to our surprise, we noticed a little (and sleepy!) fox hanging out in front of the monument.  It seemed to pay little attention to the visitors walking by. 

After hiking up the ramps that covered 116 steps, we made it to the top of the monument.  The view was gorgeous, and I loved seeing ocean from almost every angle! 

Dad wanted to stop by a beach on the way "home" from P-town so Sam could see some beautiful Cape Cod dunes.  We ended up missing the beach Dad wanted to visited, so we stopped here, at Pilgrim Heights, instead.  The Pilgrim Spring Trail begins at this location, and even though we didn't have a chance to take it, I was excited to learn the trail has a special marker pointing out the spot where it is believed the Pilgrims first discovered fresh water.  

We finally made it to a beach just before sunset.  Sam, the dogs, and I were the only ones interested in playing!  Sam and I explored the dunes, and then let the dogs out for a quick break from the car.  Again, we had the challenge of keeping D out of the water!

The second evening was a bit more chilly!  We enjoyed steak, beans, and s'mores while hanging by the fireside!

Above is the view of Flax Pond across the street from our campsites.  I'm thankful for the beautiful long fall weekend spent outdoors with family! It was great to show Sam Nickerson State Park, where my family and I have made many camping memories, as well as create new memories with Sam and my parents!

Dudley, who enjoyed himself very much, was all tuckered out on the ride home. 

Talk to you soon, friends!

XO <3, C

Beautiful Lengths

Today, I finally forced myself to cut my hair.  About a year ago, I started growing my hair out for my wedding, and decided very quickly into this process that after the wedding I would donate my hair.  I've been excited to chop my hair off and donate it to Beautiful Lengths, by Pantene, but of course I was pretty terrified.  I never cut my hair, and when I do, I usually don't go too short.  With all of the changes in my life, I figured this is perfect timing to become the new me!  

I chose to donate my hair to Beautiful Lengths because I've heard from many they will not scrap any hair and will use every piece.  Beautiful Lengths is partnered with the American Cancer Society, and so far has donated over 24,000 wigs made out of real hair so they can be dispersed among women battling cancer.  I can't imagine how difficult, overwhelming, and terrifying a cancer diagnosis and battle would be, and I'm so happy I can do something, even if that something is tiny, to help put a smile on someone's face. 

So...today was the day, and I did it!  My hairstylist, Bridgette,  tied my hair back in a ponytail and chopped off exactly 12 inches!  I cringed as I heard the sound of the scissors slicing through ALL of my hair!  I have to say, though, I am extremely pleased with the end result! I hope whoever receives a wig made from my hair will enjoy their new look just as much as me! 

 Let's Do This!

 A foot of hair chopped off!

 My new haircut made for some good photo ops with Dudley and Sam. :)

 Family Portrait! 

Puppy Love

Check out Pantene Beautiful Lengths here for details about donating hair.  It's incredibly easy- all you need is 8 inches of clean hair tied in a ponytail! :)  As they said on the site, PONY UP!

XO <3, C