Paper Bag Album

My elementary school scrapbooking club starts this week! For our 1st session (4 weeks) we are going to be making a paper bag album! It is pretty simple to put together and looks oh so cool! I put this example together this afternoon. When the kids make these, I'm pretty sure I'm going to cut the patterned paper to size!

Back to Storytime!

Back to Storytime tomorrow. I am beyond ecstatic! I love sharing books, puppets, songs, and stories with the children. 

 

Favorite Book of the Week:

The perfect book for "Back to School." 

 

Letter of the Week

 Isn't Randy Raccoon adorable?!

 

Favorite Prop of the Week

Five Little Mice Going to School. It goes along with one of the books that I am reading to the younger children!

I am so excited! I am heading to bed early, because I know that I might have a hard time sleeping because of the excitement.

Germ-a-phobe freak out class!

Yesterday I attended a communicable disease class for work! Before taking this class I was not a germ-a-phobe. Now maybe a little bit. That class was horrible enough to make you want to go out and buy  your own personal plastic bubble. I joke with my co-workers that I really should wear a surgical mask when I go into the classrooms! I see over 500 students a week. Ewwww that is a lot of germs. Gross! Deep breath! Ok...better now!

One interesting fact that I picked up was that specialized teachers such as the music, art,and gym teachers get sick far more often than classroom teachers who are with the same kids everyday! That is so the truth. In the winter I seem to get every bug that comes around the corner!

  Michal was in the mood for some bar cookies.Found this recipe and gave it a try! This horrible cellphone picture does this bar no justice! This is a rich gooey wonder! You can find the recipe here!

Right Now!

This is what I'm looking at right now!

Felt Storyboard

Storytime will be starting soon at work. I am very excited! I have really missed it over the summer!

Today I made a storytime flannel box. I know, how old fashion. Yet kids love the touch and feel of the box and they love to move the little pieces around!

I put the background pieces on velcro. So when they get worn out or pilled, I can just add more!


This is for our goodbye chant!


Five little monkeys jumping on the bed!

A side view!

In other news the weather her in Cincinnati is amazing! Almost fall like! :D I have jeans on! Delightful!

11 Hours in the Car?

I've been keeping track this past week and I spent more than 11 hours in the car Monday-Friday. That is one heck of a horrible commute! I love, love,love,love, love my job. Yet, the one thing that stinks is the commute. I drive about 35 miles (one way) to work. In Vermont 35 miles is not a long way, because it only takes you about 30 minutes to get there. Not in Cincinnati.Holy cow...11 hours sitting in a car doing NOTHING. I try to use some of my time sitting in traffic calling people and bugging them during dinner time. I could listen to books on CD. I could listen to the sermons I put on my MP3. Yet that is boring. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do make all the time spent in the car fun!?

Emily's List of What She Could do with an additional 11 hours a week

1. Clean the house (Hmmmmm...Maybe not)

2. Learn to bake bread

3. Go to the Gym more often

4. Scrapbook

5. Learn how to do my hair and make-up

6. Make my house look cute. I currently have no curtains in the living room or kitchen. I have huge blank white walls in the kitchen that are begging to be filled.

7. Volunteer

8. Learn to play the guitar

9. Start some kind of business

10. Take up ballroom dancing

11. Drive to PA to visit Michael's family

12. Drive to Chicago and back!

13. Make some friends.

14. Cook fancy dinners like in Real Simple Magazine

What Work Looked Like Today

Happy Friday! I haven't blogged on here for quite a while! I have been blogging on http://www.avermonterinkentucky.blogspot.com/ for a bit now. I think I'll continue to blog at both. I have a lot to say and just one blog can't hold all of my thoughts and opinions! Ha! Ha! (Ummm that was a joke!)

Work has gotten pretty busy lately. The new school year will be starting soon and that means storytime will be starting up again. Honestly, I could do storytime all year long. Maybe with a few breaks here and there. I am so blessed to have a career that I LOVE. I get to do the fun part of teaching, reading books, doing art projects, playing games. I don't have to deal with all the paper-work and other hassles of being a classroom teacher. I also get to write,take pictures, and blog for work! I am so blessed!

This is what work looked like today!

Setting up the water balloons ready to be smashed over someone's head!

Cotton Candy, Popcorn, and Snow Cones!

A very friendly clown!

Getting Drenched!

The end of summer carnival! I love it! The kiddos get to dunk their counselors, eat GOBS of cotton candy, popcorn, and snow cones! They got to bounce,jump, and climb all they want! What a fabulous day!

Like I said in the post before painting pottery has become my new hobby! I made painted this a couple of weeks ago when I went with one of the summer camps to You're Fired! in Oxford! It was one of the best field trips of the summer! The kids loved it! The counselors loved it! The staff at You're Fired! is amazing! I wish that I lived closer to Oxford, I would go all the time! The above sign reminds me to create and not worrry about all the "stuff" that can take away from that drive to be creative!

Here is what I'm doing tomorrow!

1. Picking up my serving tray that I painted last week at the pottery shop!

2. Going to a BBQ at the home of the boss! :D

3. Drive to Lexington and to see THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE

4. Go to a baseball game

5. Watch fireworks after the baseball game!

Slightly Irreverent Tips for Parents sending their child to Day Camp!

Summer Camp Season has started! Ok, I'm a little bit nervous as I am one of the people in charge of 5 summer camps but all it going to be ok!

Ok...this may border on a rant but...well....hmmmm......go with the flow!

What I wish parents would know before sending their child to Day Camp!

1. Please put sunscreen on your child. We will make sure that more gets put on later, but it just really helps if you take the time to apply some in the morning.

2. Please make sure your child has a water bottle with them everyday! We will make sure your child drinks from it! Hydration is very important!

3.Read all papers and calendars that come home from camp! This is one of the major ways that we dispense information. If you are just tossing the papers on the floor in the mini-van you may miss that your child is going on a field-trip on Wednesday and the bus is leaving at 8:30am. It would be horrible to find this out when dropping your camper off at 9:00am!

4. Expect that your child is going to get messy! It's summer camp! Also please take the time to tell your child that it is "OK" if they get messy! You could not guess how many kiddos I've had to calm down in the last 10 years because they were worried that Mom would be mad because they got messy!

5. Going along with that, dress your child for the weather and what they will be doing that day!

An ankle length jean skirt is not going to be a good idea on that HOT sunny day in August when your camper is going on the rafting trip!

6. Please style your daughters hair for weather comfort. It is sooooo uncomfortable for the little girls to have their hair sticking to their sweaty face while trying to play soccer!

7.Most of you, and I'm just taking a wild stab at this do not have 14 children. SO, please take the time to write your campers name on EVERYTHING! I do me everything. SOCKS! UNDERWEAR! Sunglasses! SUNSCREEN! It is not an easy task to keep up with the items for the 14 or so campers in your group, having names on stuff just makes that part of the counselors job easier!

8. Flip flops are not apporiate for summer camp! While they are cute and I love wearing them myself, they are just not practical. Your child may be going on hikes, playing on the playground, or playing soccer. Lots of foot injuries could be prevented by having your child wear sneakers!

Sorry for my slightly impolite tone! It don't mean disrespect! 99.9% of the issues that I deal with have to do with the things I talked about above! Please just keep up to date on the activities that your camper will be involved in!

Have a happy and safe summer camp season!

Rock On!

This is Mr. Matt Introducing a pre-school class to the guitar! Yay! I wish I could show some of the cute kiddos and their reactions!
During the Pre-School Concert/Sing-Along

My calendars are soooooooooo cute! All color coded! Yay!

Don't you just love coffee filter butterflies?

This is from this blog by Liz ! Thought I'd play along


When I was a child... I wanted to be a teacher and a Mommy more than anything!
If I could be anywhere, I'd be in Paris
My least favorite chore is... Any chore!
If I could be on any tv game or reality show, it would be...A makeover show :D
If a mystery package arrived on my doorstep, I'd want it to be filled with something fun
My guilty pleasure is... Making Stuff and ice cream
I thought I would never...move out of New England. I live in Kentucky? What?
If a genie granted me three wishes, I’d wish for... a trip to Paris, a closet full of cute and fun clothing, unlimited time and money to make stuff
You would never guess it, but I... secretly like Country music. Shhhhh....don't tell! I sometimes rock out to it on the way to work!

A Project for Work!

I really love my job! I get to be creative and silly! It's a perfect fit for me! Sometimes I feel like all the creativity is drained! It's ok! It comes back!

So this book is about a character called Silly-Sam! He's quite a guy! After I read this book

the "Real Silly Sam will come and visit the children! The book is really interactive! I can't wait to read it to the kiddos next week!

Graduation time again? Spring is going way to quickly. June will be here before ya know it!

Today I took pictures of the Pre-Kindergarten graduates! So cute! I wish I could show all the pictures, I got some really cute ones! Yet, I don't like putting pictures of kids up that I am not related to! This little kiddo above just knew how to pose! It was very funny!

I have been doing a painting project with a few of the Kindergarten classes! Its been fun! I always manage to get painty :D

Michael Playing Corn Hole! Last night was Game night at small group! It was a lot of fun! I always have a good time chatting with the people! I like this church. The people are friendly and welcoming. They actually talk to us. You would be surprised how many churches Michael and I tried out where we were never spoken to. Grace Fellowship has about 1600 people who attend. So it's a pretty large place, but I think that the church is great at being welcoming :D

Gene and Kevin playing Corn Hole

They were not happy that I was taking their picture :P

Michael and I were at Goodwill this weekend! When Michael saw this he declared "THATS IT! That is perfect for your ribbon! Isn't my husband sweet!? I'm going to change it up a bit and paint it! He was right it is just the perfect size!

This is me with my new favorite drink. I haven't had soda since Easter, so I've been trying different juices, teas, and water beverages! So far this is my favorite. It's Snapple Red Tea Raspberry and Pomagranite (Spelling anyone??) Anyway...It is YUM, YUM, YUMMY :D I could drink a case of this in a day!

So thats what is going on with me!

Have a lovely day!

Em

Font Freaks

It is getting crazy at work! Whenever we make a new document we have to find an a very nice font to go along with the theme. Yesterday I was typing up my Spring Break Camp Lesson plans and I spend 10 minutes looking for a lovely little font! Argggggggg......We are soooooooo funny!

Speaking of fonts...Here is an excellent site that I came across! Tons of super cute free fonts! Kevin and Amanda's Homepage!


Have a lovely day!

Em

Bookmarks and a funny, yet not so funny cartoon

I finished the bookmarks. I'm pretty pleased on how they came out! A women's ministry event is coming up, maybe I will make some for that as well!

Job Fair:Impressions!

Today I had the opportunity to help staff a booth for my company at a local job fair. I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It totally rocked my false sense of security. There were soooooo many people there. So many hightly qualified people. To be honest, it broke my heart. People with Masters degress just trying to find a job, ANY job. Oh, how I wish we could give jobs to all those people who applied. You could just see in their eyes the look of helplessness with a bit of hope as well. Just so unbelievable. When will things change?

My commute home!