Five for Sunday (Just a little tardy!)

Ahhhhhh. The last few hours of Spring Break are ticking by. All morning I've been wanting to say to the clock: Can you pleeeeease move a little more slowly?!

While I made a commitment to truly resting and recovering from a tough few weeks at school before Break, I really did get a lot accomplished. Some of the "clutter" has been put away (or at least put out of sight!), laundry is finished, papers are sorted, and lesson planning is in progress. But, best of all, I feel (almost) "ready" to go back to school and enjoy being a teacher!

Here are some highlights of my week...

When I left school on Friday, I was practically shouting...Woooooo Hooooooo! On the way home, I stopped for some promised-to-myself ice cream and looked up at the sky. I feel so fortunate to live in a place that is beautiful almost all year long. Palm trees and sunshine and loveliness...

About that ice cream... Oh. My. GOODness! There may have been more than one of these "opportunities" during vacation. My new favorite treat is "sweet cream" ice cream with hot fudge sauce from Cold Stone Creamery. Dee.Lish.Ous. I took this picture on the first day of break when it was ninety degrees. I am a less-than-capable photographer, but I was determined to get a photo before the ice cream was completely melted! (And, in case you're wondering, it tasted just as good in this "format"!)

Yep, those are my pillows. For the first time in ages, I actually rested. I may need to define that a little more carefully. During the school week, I don't get a lot of sleep. Normally, I got to sleep between eleven and midnight, and by 4:30, my coffee cup is generally in my hand. There were a few mornings when I slept all the way to six o'clock (which felt like noon!) Not to mention the TV marathons and naps! And there was coffee (sometimes with whipped cream) just for fun--and not because I had to stay up to grade assignments, essays or tests! It was just lovely, and I am so glad I "scheduled" some unscheduled time!

It was so nice to be on vacation the week before Easter. Generally, Spring Break is not connected to Easter's place on the calendar. (I am old enough to remember that, when I was in school, we called this week "Easter Break" and banks and other businesses would close at noon on Good Friday). Fast forward several decades... There were several Easter events at Church this week. And while it was beautifully decorated inside, I am so glad I got a picture of the beauty outside the church too! The color of these flowers was even more brilliant in person. I've begun thinking that this shade of pink may have become my second favorite color (after purple, of course!) So many blessings!

 Despite the naps and the ice cream and the coffee-with-whipped-cream, I did get a lot done. I am almost ready for tomorrow! On the "menu" this week: Colonies (5th grade social studies), Mesopotamia (6th grade social studies), ratios, rates and percents (6th grade math), multiplying fractions (5th grade math) to find area, analyzing poetry and finding evidence to support and opinion/argument. I even remembered to make extra reading cards, bathroom  logs, behavior reports and the April seating chart! Yippee! I am suddenly feeling quite accomplished!

I am thrilled to have found some wonderful task card-makers on TpT, whom I also happen to enjoy as BlogFriends! Pictured (blurrily!) are Areas of Rectangles with Fractional Sides (Kate Bing Coners), Rate and Proportions--Pirates! (Amy Alvis) and Measurement Conversions in 5 Days (Teaching in Room 6). These teachers have made my week a lot easier! They are printed, cut, and bagged, and I plan on using them all!

As always, I am late to the party, but there are lots of interesting sagas to enjoy if you head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching. Just click on the words you just read (Doodle Bugs Teaching) or the graphic above.

Whether your Spring Break is just a memory or if you are currently plotting your activities (and naps) for your vacation-which-lies-ahead, I am sending you sunny thoughts...