Thursday's Top Five - Classroom Decor

So I am revamping my classroom this year. I'm officially staying in third grade, and I am TIRED of my five year old decor. It has ran it's course. So here are five things I've made or purchased for my new classroom for next year! 

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http://www.sweetsewnstitches.com/2011/08/thursday-threads-subway-art-printable.html?m=1

5. 

I'm excited!

Thursday’s Top Five–iPhone/iPad Apps

Today I am writing about my favorite iPhone and iPad apps on my personal devices. I was fortunate enough to be a part of a pilot group that field tested iPads in the classroom, so I will have to do another post about apps my students used on a regular basis.

1. Calendar on the iPhone and Cloud Calendar on the iPad

Seriously, where would my life be without my calendar!?! For some reason on my iPad, I could not get the Calendar app to sync with my school Gmail account. However, it managed to put ALL of my Facebook friends’ birthdays in there. So annoying. I bought the app Cloud Calendar for my iPad, and it is synced with my Gmail account. Love it!

2. Social Media Apps – Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest

Do I need to say more? I’m really loving Instagram these days! And Pinterest is making me want to be a stay-at-home momma! Only 12 more days until summer vaca!

3. Picstitch

Sometimes, I have like five photos I want to post. Turns out, people get really annoyed by clogging up their newsfeed with pointless pictures of your kid no matter how cute you think they are! ha! Picstitch is a wonderful and easy app to help me combine those photos into a collage.

4. Runkeeper

I LOVE this app! It keeps up with all my workouts, times, and routes all while letting me listen to my music.

5. MyFitnessPal

I need to be using this consistently, but I’m kinda hit and miss. I’m really good for a few days, then I’m really not so great. I love how it keeps me on track though when I am diligent!

Thursday’s Top Five

Now that Griffin is officially a toddler, I thought I would post my top five toddler items!

1. Squeezable fruit and veggie pouches

When I first saw these, I thought the whole concept was gross. However, after trying them, they are a MUST HAVE! G loves them! I always toss some in his diaper bag when we are on the go. They’re quick, easy, and you just toss the pouch away when he’s done eating. I love that I don’t have to haul and back home and wash it. It’s also an easy way to squeeze in some veggies for a little boy who still has some texture issues.

 

2. Separate tees and bottoms

Griffin has outgrown onesies! They are just too big of a hassle now. He mainly wears separates.

 

3. Munchkin Straw Sippy

We still are in love with these cups. You can read my full post about it here.

 

4. Cozy Coupe

This has provided hours of entertainment for our little guy!

 

5. Spoons

This has saved meal times! Griffin is very independent. He wants to do everything himself, and that includes feeding himself. He’s actually getting pretty good at maneuvering his spoon. But if he has one in his hand, he usually won’t swat at the one I’m using to feed him.

 

It’s funny how little babies seem to “need” so many things. Now that Griffin is older, he’s content just walking around the house with his sippy and playing with a few favorite toys. He just needs some loving and play time with his parents, and he’s good. No extra equipment required. 

Thursday’s Top Five

Before I get to this week’s top five (I love my new little series!), I must say I had the most wonderful Mother’s Day weekend! I will blog about that tomorrow.
This week’s Top Five is about my favorite home improvement projects. We have been in our house for just over three years now. It’s not a big house, and definitely not our dream home, but we have done several upgrades to it and I feel as if we have put our “stamp” on it.

The first picture I took of our little abode! I don’t think we even owned it at this point!
This is what our kitchen looked like when we moved in:

WOW! I almost forgot how horrid it was! White appliances in terrible shape, “wood” countertops, icky hardware, wallpaper border, and scratched cabinets.
1. Painted countertops

Everyone thought I was crazy when I said I wanted to paint our countertops, but I had nothing to lose. The fake butcher block was getting on my last nerve. You can read more about this project here, here, and here! It was an easy and cost effective project. I would do it again in a heartbeat. It’s not something I would want in my forever house, but it did the trick for the time being! Other updates in our kitchen: new paint, new appliances, new skirt above the sink, and new hardware.
2. Dining Room (or really dining area) Light

You can barely see our old light in this picture. It was just a standard, builder-grade light. Nothing special. My mom, or maybe it was Brandon, bought a new light for my dining room.
Ta-da!

Love!
3. New Doors
Brandon’s parents bought us new doors for Christmas last year. They made a huge difference!

4. Bathroom

This is really the only picture I have saved from our old master bath. Almost two years ago, on my summer vacation, I started to pull up one of the sticky tiles in our master. The shower was leaking, so I pulled the rest up. After walking on the concrete slab for almost 6 months, we decided to completely gut the shower and remodel both bathrooms.

Hallway bath:

5. Blinds
Before:

And I don’t have a current after shot… but this will give you the feel.

Brandon recently installed blinds on our back patio door. It gave us some much needed privacy! I always felt like I was being watched… Creepy.
As much as I long for a bigger, nicer, newer home, I am going to miss our first starter home SO much. So many wonderful memories!

Thursday’s Top Five

Griffin will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. Here are my top five baby items at this stage:
1. Burp Rags

No… not the cute burp rags. Those are only for public outings. ha! I love the cheap Gerber cloth diapers that I use as burp rags. Griffin spits up at least once after almost every feeding. Sometimes it’s a little, other times it can be a lot, so I always have one handy!

2. Aden and Anais Muslin Swaddle Blankets

These are the BEST blankets. Griffin is a big boy, and most of the receiving blankets just don’t cut it. I swaddle him from his armpits down. The boy does not like having his arms trapped! Griffin also gets super hot, so these are lightweight enough to keep him warm but not too hot.

3. Aveeno Eczema Therapy Cream

This cream is so wonderful. When I left the hospital, they told me I could not put any lotion on Griffin’s face. After two weeks, his poor skin was so dry on his face. It was broken out and looked so pitiful. Finally, I got online and did some research and decided to try this lotion out. Within days, his skin was SO much better. When I started using Aveeno’s oatmeal bath wash, it was even better. Griffin’s delicate skin cannot handle anything from Johnson and Johnson.

4. A+D Diaper Rash Cream with Zinc Oxide

Griffin had diaper rash for weeks. It looked awful. His bottom was so red and angry.  I tried Butt Paste, the orginal A+D, and a number of other creams. Nothing worked. Right before his two month check-up, my mom picked this up at Target for him. It was a life-saver! (or a butt saver…)

5.  Medela’s Breast Pump

When my milk finally came in, I felt like I could feed an army! This pump was an essential, and still is! Now that Griffin is sleeper longer periods at night, I have been pumping and have a good stock pile in the freezer. I love that I can pump him a bottle and can be free for a few hours. It’s wonderful to be able to pump for those rare date nights with the hubs!
So I have a few more than five… haha! Here’s a few more:

6. Changing Table

I almost didn’t get this. My thought was… “Oh I can change him on the floor or bed or where-ever.” Stupid. I use this table ALL the time. Love it!

7. Fisher Price Luv-U-Zoo Bouncer

Griffin loves this bouncer. The past few weeks, he’s really gotten into playing with and batting at the toys. I need to put some batteries in it so it will play music when he pulls the green toy. He can literally spend an hour in this thing. The first month, he even took a lot of his naps in this.

And finally…. Griffin’s favorite paci.

We tried SO many pacifiers, and the MAM brand is his favorite by far. I’m not sure why so many people are against pacis… But if Griffin likes it, keeps him calm, soothes him, and keeps him quiet in church, I’m all for it!!
There are other great baby products, but these are my top eight by far!

And just for good measure, here is a picture of my little boy at the 4th grade track meet two weeks ago.

Presh.