VBS Decorating! Big Apple Adventure!

Sorry for not posting earlier!  Last week was crazy with our VBS program and then this week I have been taking a breather!  The kids were supposed to have another week of swim lessons.  However, I got a call that they accidentally drained the pool a week too early!!  So, we have been able to turn off the alarm clock and have some slow mornings which is so nice!!!!  Our Summer Challenge of earning points is going so well!  I had gotten this idea from 1+1+1=1. They have really impressed me with their sense of responsibility and helping out around the house!  It also has helped motivate them to continue to work on their reading and writing skills!
Well, I wanted to share with you some pictures of our decorations from our Big Apple Adventure VBS program!

This is the entrance to the hallway that takes you to the Sanctuary.  Can you see the lights behind the blue?

This is part of our bulletin board. 

This is not a great picture, but there are two backdrops side by side even thought only one is showing.  Then, the taxi was made by my hubby!  Each child sat behind it with their Statue of Liberty hats and torch for their picture!  The torch was from  Guild Craft.  The crowns were from Oriental Trading and we painted them the first day.

The posters and traffic lights were also from Oriental Trading and were all over for a billboard effect.  If you look close you can also see the street sign and traffic light!
                      

The bench was borrowed from my mother-in-law!

Our youth group also has a puppet group!  They do puppet shows about once a month during our Children's Sermons.  We had a puppet show each day at VBS and the kids loved it as much as the youth enjoy doing it!
We did many crafts during our week.  Here are a few!

Each child brought a plain white t-shirt for iron-ons from Guild Craft.  They then colored them with fabric markers!  The Handprint craft and prayer box was from Oriental Trading.  The door hanger was from Hobby Lobby with the foam shapes from a combination of Hobby Lobby, Oriental Trading and Guild Craft.

My final project to share is a painted apple.  I cannot get my camera to cooperate to get it uploaded and will try again later.  I drew a large apple for each child to paint red.  They then took tissue paper and covered the green leaf with it.  I placed their taxi pictures on the apple with the words:  I am the apple of God's eye.  They also added themed foam shapes to the apple.  These were hung throughout the Fellowship Hall and Sanctuary.
We had a great time and the kids were sad when it was over!

Giveaway Winner!

Today is the day to announce the winner of my first giveaway!  The winner gets a $10 gift certificate to The Dollar Tree! PLUS since I reached 50 (51 followers actually) I am also giving away a Guided Reading Ball!  I used Random.org  to generate our winner!

I was unable to get the actual box from the site placed onto my post...any help on this for further use would be appreciated!!!

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 18

Result: 7

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Without further delay, the winner is Cindy, #7!

Cindy said...

I follow your blog! :o)

Cindy
ccfirstteacher@gmail.com

July 14, 2011 3:07 PM

Cindy, I will contact you through email to make arrangements to send you your prizes!!!!

Thank you everyone for joining in on my first giveaway!!!!

My Giveaway and 50 Followers!

Don't forget to enter for my giveaway!  I will accept entries until  July 20th and then announce the winner on the 21st!  Since I am so close to 50 followers (only one more to go), I am adding to my giveaway!  If I reach 50 followers by the end of this contest I will add a Guided Reading Ball to the $10 Dollar Tree gift card!  So, please click here and add a comment to win!  ALSO, please read the whole post to see how to add a bonus entry!  Good luck!

A New Look and A Giveaway!

Hi!  How do you like this new blog design?  I got it from Leelou's Free Blog Layouts!

Well, I have hit 30 followers!  For this little blog, I am very pleased!  I have been a blog stalker since October and am truely addicted!  It is even more fun to also be able to share too! 
Anways, it is giveaway time!  I will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to the Dollar Tree!

Here is how to enter:
1.  Follow my blog and leave a comment. 
2.  Add me to your blogroll and post a comment with a link to your blog.  I will then also add your blog to my blog roll if you are not already there!
3.  Blog about my giveaway on your blog and leave a comment with the link.


I will accept entries until July 20th.  I will then use the Random Number Generator to choose the winner!
PS- I understand how to use the Number Generator...but I am confused on how to post it on my blog post.  I have read that I need to take a screenshot, but I am not sure how to do that.
If you are able to give any advice please do so by leaving a comment...this will count as another entry!
I have read that I need to take a screenshot, but I am not sure how to do that.
GOOD LUCK!!

Giveaway at Target Treasures!

                                                     
Hadar over at Target Treasures Blog is having a great giveaway!  The winner will get a $20 certificate to Target!  Wow, after all my finds, I am sure I would still be able to put that to good use!  Check it out and good luck!

Grade Level Linky Party and a Giveaway!

I am sorry to me MIA lately!  We have been traveling a lot lately and then next week is VBS!  I direct our VBS (and Sunday School) Program.  So, it is a bit hairy around here now!  Last week we camped with two other families at Hocking Hills.  It was so pretty!

My husband has been working on making a taxi for our New York VBS theme and I have others helping me with a skyline background!  Other ideas are in the works as well.  I will be sure to take pictures next week and post them!

Anyways, There are a few things I wanted to post today!  First off, there is a Grade level linky party going on at the Teacher's Lane Blog.  Stop by and join in!
Also, I am so excited to be so close to 30 followers!  Once I hit 30 followers, I will be having a giveaway!
I will back to posting here very soon!

Birthday Freebies!

Donna over at http://peacelovelearning.blogspot.com/  is celebrating her birthday by giving many great birthday freebies!  Go and check out her wonderful blog! 

Target JACKPOT....250 Miles Away!

My family and I traveled to Chicago this past weekend to visit my husband's sister and family!  We always enjoy this trip and the big city...although we always are happy to return to our farm in Michigan. 

Anyways, each summer I am disappointed that our Targets back at home do not have all of the teacher finds that you all are always posting about!  I usually am able to get to the Target near my family in Chicago!  This year was an ABSOLUTE SUCCESS!  Check out my finds!  Above you can see the stickers, birthday certificates, paper.  I also found some cute pencils for the first day of school...more to come on my plans for Open House and the first day of school....

Cute name plates for the fall (first name only), more for later to put first and last name, and then a set for the name bags I make for each student each fall.  I will have a post for Name Bags in August when I am putting them together and can share some photos.  I also found some matching name tags for the first day of school.

Here you will see some of the craft supplies I picked up:  Glitter pom poms, pipe cleaners and jewels.

Cute signs for line up time.

A few new pointers to add to our collection.

Mini dry erase markers and write and wipe stips.  These will work great in my Literacy Work Stations!

I found some Dr. Seuss pencils and stickers for his birthday in March. They also had some cute Dr. Seuss silly bandz, but our school does not allow silly bandz.

I also grabbed these cute ABC stamps and small stamp pads for Literacy Stations.  Fran over at Kindergarten Crayons  posted about these stamps and even offered some freebie activities to go with them!  Check it out!



They had a Dollar Tree too that is usually better then the ones around me.  We didn't have time to make the trip so I am hoping to find some good finds back at home....we shall see!


Be sure to check out  the Classroom Shopping Linky Party taking place at  Ladybug's Teacher Files  and see what everyone else is finding!  You will also see that I have a few other shopping/garage sale posts from earlier.  Enjoy your shopping!  I may need to put the brakes on this shopping spree soon!

A few pictures from our Chicago trip...
We visited the Shedd Aquarium, the beach, Volo Car Museum and a few nice restaruants.  At the Shedd Aquarium, we really enjoyed the Aquatic Show and the Beluga whales.  My pictures from this visit were not that great.

My son has LOVED Herbie the Love Bug for a few years now and even had it as his theme for his 7th birthday.  I had been searching for a car museum that may be nearby a place that we would travel to at some point soon.  Since we visit Chicago each summer I thought I would try that avenue.  About an hour away I found the Volo Car Museum.  We saw many Star Cars and two (and a half) Hebies!  Remember the movie that Herbie was cut in half?  That was pretty cool to see and my son was in awe to finally see the actual Herbie!

Have a great 4th!

Mrs. Parker's Giveaway!

Mrs. Parker over at Learning with Mrs. Parker is having a giveaway!  To celebrate 500 followers, she is hosting a giveaway to win the Sounds Fun Phonics Music CD and Flashcards from Heidi's Songs! 

I LOVE her music and products!  This would be a great addition to any classroom!  Hop on over to Learning with Mrs. Parker's blog to eneter to win and to check out her awesome blog.  Good Luck! 

New Read Alouds for the Fall-Mrs. Parker's Linky Party!

Learning with Mrs. Parker is having a linky party for favorite new read aloud books for the beginning of the school year!  I have many that I have used for several years that have already been mentioned.  Another that is not new either, but a good one is Kevin Knows the Rules.  This book is written wonderfully and really explains the school rules well to children.  This book was recommended through Teacher.net a few years ago.  The illustrations are well done and has a poster that can be used in the classroom as well.

Click here for a link that has more information and teaching ideas for this great book!

Of course I am also looking forward to the release of the new Pete the Cat book later this month!



Posting Comments on Blogs

Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher Files has posted a wonderful tutorial on how to make commenting easier.  I went right away and fixed it on my blog.  However, I was still having a problem with my blog and then with some others that I wanted to post comments to.  For some blogs, I could not get them to reccognize me as a blogger user.  Everytime I would sign in, it would keep bouncing me back.  So, today I looked more closely into the settings and was able to fix mine.  Here's what I did:  under Settings, I clicked on Comments.  Then, I clicked the option to have my comment window to be as a pop up.  Once I did that, it then recognized me as a blogger user and already signed in.  I now have the option to post a comment.  I wanted to let others know in case you might be interested in making that change or if you were unable to comment on my own blog.  I have so many times wanted to leave comments on wonderful posts, but have not been able to.  I hope this helps someone!!
Holly