Five for Friday (My First!)

 Happy Friday!  I am really excited to be linking up with my very first Five for Friday post today!  I love reading these blog posts every week and I have had intentions of writing one for a very long time.  Today I am "biting the bullet" and making it happen!  I had a fabulous week so it seems like a great time to start.

I got to attend the Teachers Pay Teachers conference in Orlando!  (Technically this was last week, so I guess it doesn't really "count"... However, the last 2 weeks have been an exciting blur... so they are going to be blurred together in my recap too!)

The conference was so much fun!  It was inspiring, exciting and overwhelming (in a good way).  Teachers Pay Teachers has been such a blessing in my life.  It was great to have three days to celebrate, ask questions, learn, and collaborate with amazing teachers from all over the world.  (No exaggeration! I had the chance to meet an amazing teacher from New Zealand... how cool is that?)  I also got to spend lots of time with my sweet friends Laura, from a Grace Filled Classroom, and Reddishann, from The Reddish-Brown Crayon.  It was a fabulous 3 days and I can't wait until next year!

(FYI: I am both proud and totally embarrassed about this one.)
I started this little blog just over 2 years ago.  I have yet to hit my blogging stride... I have not mastered the "juggling act" of teaching, parenting, writing, running my TPT store and blogging yet... And it always seems to be the blogging that gets the short end of the stick!  I am really going to try to change that.

ANYWAY, after over 2 years of procrastinating quite some time, I have finally written the "About Me" page on my blog.  For some silly reason this has been stressing me out for a really, really, really long time.  I couldn't figure out how to start it... I wasn't sure what to write... so I decided to "sleep on it" (for 2 years apparently).

Now, this is starting to feel like a lot of build up... it's not amazing by any means... but it is also not blank.  I think that's a pretty big improvement.  So, let's get to know each other!  Click HERE to meet me.

I had a birthday this week.  A big, round milestone birthday.  The one that many people pretend isn't happening.  However, I am totally owning it!  A few years ago, when my 4th child was still a baby I was sleep deprived and overwhelmed when I returned to teaching.  In passing a friend, who was  just a few years older than me made some comments about how life gets so much easier in your 40's.  She had this theory that in your 30's you do the "work" of building your family and your career.  These are the years of new babies and new jobs... it is "the good stuff" for sure... but not "the easy part".  When I was in a sleep deprived haze she convinced me that in a few short years the pace would change a bit and I would get a chance to LIVE this life I was building in my 30's.  It probably sounds silly and overdramatic but it was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment.

So, I am entering this new decade of my life feeling excited.  I am making a conscious decision to stop "sweating the small stuff".  I am going to spend more time enjoying my beautiful family.  I am determined to get a little more sleep... and I am going to count every single one of my blessings...  because there are so very, very many!  Life is good.

 To kick off my 40s my husband and I went to the beach with some of my best friends for the weekend.  Believe it or not, this is the first time we have ever gone away without our kids!  It turns out vacationing without 4 children is kind of awesome... who knew? ;)

 It was a quick trip but it was SO much fun!  We went with some of my very best friends from college.  We haven't had a weekend together like this in YEARS and we enjoyed every moment of it!  When we got home my legs were sore from paddle boarding and my sides were sore from laughing.  It was perfect.

So, as I mentioned earlier, I now have a completed "About Me" page on my blog.  Unfortunately, I do not have a completed "Freebies" page.  In fact, that page is glaringly empty.  I know, I know... I am now officially a 40 year old "grown up"... time to stop procrastinating and figure this stuff out!  I'm going to do that one of these days... However, it's not going to be today.  (I'm blogging today... I can't do everything all at once!  Balance, right? ;) 

ANYWAY, I wanted to share a fun, little freebie that you might be able to use as you get ready to go back to school. 

 These are the cute little class rules that I use with my kiddos.  Guess which one is my favorite?

Ha!  You can grab this set for free HERE. 

... and SOMEDAY this will show up on the "freebies" page of the blog... I don't know when... but it will happen eventually ;)