A New Job! *she says sarcastically*

This post is not really about teaching. But I hope you find it interesting!

proof that I met my husband on a backpacking trip!

MY NEW JOB.......you can read about here (I really didn't want to write it all out again).

Can I share what I've been up to? I think this will do some good for me because as I was taking the pictures, I realized that I am making progress! I wish I was blogging more and creating teaching materials (I have sooooo many ideas that I haven't transferred to documents!!), but I have other things that must come first.

To catch you up to speed (as I am MIA more than I am present):

1) I moved to England about 5 weeks ago to join my now husband
2) Because of the international issues and our families residing in South Africa and America, we are having our actual wedding here in London in about 3 1/2 weeks (ek....that's the first time I've typed that! that's coming up quick!) even though we are actually legally married.
3) I am working on everything needed to host/welcome our families here (they're coming in about 2 weeks)....welcome baskets, accommodation, side trips, food........
4) I am trying to make this wedding as DIY as I can (photo displays, candy bar, fun facts, invitations, flower centerpieces, music...........
5) I am adding finishing touches to our flat/apartment (frames, baskets, pillows, etc)
6) I am doing all of the above without a car and my husband works loooong days and I am too proud to ask for help (not a good thing I know).
7) Cooking, as mentioned in new job. And working out to fit in wedding dress.
8) England has got a lot of hoops this time around for me getting teaching jobs here. This is probably best since my plate is full.

So here are some pictures! There never seems to be enough time!

these baskets organize everything for us-from cards to receipts to travel books

I do love jars as vases!

love this old vintage Australia map I found when I was living there

jars for our candy bar at the wedding

collecting diff size frames, postcards & pics for a wall display. still need large frames.

found this in a journal I made for le Rey for Afghan.

the start of welcome baskets for families for wedding-umbrella, maps, etc!

ready for house guests!

hoping to make these pinwheels out of old maps to hang next to the australia map

www.myhandsmadeit.com

OK, more to come........I hope to get to a shop today called Hobby Craft. Hoping it's similiar to Hobby Lobby, Michel's or Jo-Ann's!

Oh and I forgot to say that yesterday I got a UK tax refund from when I worked here 5 years ago!! How unexpected and couldn't come at a better time! yay!!!!!!!! le Rey and I celebrated with sticky toffee pudding.of course.

Kelli

Here's a preview of a Nouns/Verbs for Journals pack I'm working on:

Help me with Pinterest.......please!!

So. I just posted about an hour ago, but I am really frustrated with Pinterest.

First of all, I noticed awhile back that some of my pins (I had pinned some images from my blog) were gaining alot of momentum, and that alot of people were coming to my blog via Pinterest.

Then all of a sudden, it stopped.


When I searched Pinterest for my "pins", they could not be found.


I still had my boards (Classroom, Wedding, Home, etc) with all my pins, including my pins from my blog that were in my Classroom board.

I looked through the Pinterest rules and saw that we shouldn't 'self-promote'. Surely I cannot be the only person that has ever pinned some things from their own blog? Have I been kicked out?

Can you help me with 2 things please, please, please?

1) What have I done wrong that when you search (example) place value or math journals.......my stuff does not come up anymore (it used to).

2) How do I add the 'pin it' button on my posts so that other people can pin my stuff?  I have already googled many tutorials and tried SEVERAL, but none seem to work.

Please help! I feel so lost and I want to stay connected to teacher blog/pinterest/TPT stuff!

Thanks,
Kelli

Award!

Thank you Miss Willis and Tammy for the Top 10 Award!!

 

Miss Willis has lots of great tips from her experiences in Title 1.......I am constantly learning great techniques for various things from her blog. You must check it out if you haven't already!

Tammy at Forever in First has many sweet things going on at her blog. Between her fabulous class books and great quotes and excerpts from educators, I am always reflecting on my practices when I read her blog.

Here are some other blogs that I think are Top 10! Check them out:

Tara at Little Minds at Work

Michelle at The 3am Teacher

Alice at Reflections on Teaching
Jamie at 2nd Grade Stuff
Kelly at Teaching Literacy in the Early Years

I am off to bed!! Still getting used to life in Wimbledon, being a wife, and my husband working night shifts : (

Hope things are going well in the States for everyone! I must try harder to keep up with the news over there...I am falling behind. I would imagine you all have spring break coming soon!! Let your countdown begin  : )

Kelli

'ello govna!

'Ello from London!!!

snow when I got here!

I am now officially moved into a little flat (apartment) in Wimbledon with my husband---such a flood of emotions and transition! I had a dream last night that my husband had to go on another deployment but then I woke up and remembered he's not in the army anymore!! Yippee!!

We are living in a fantastic area, but can only stay in this flat until September---then onto another place....hopefully close by.

view from our living room window

I can't start subbing yet until I have 3 proofs of address-weird. It is not actually so easy to get that because our utilities are tied to the landlord, so I am trying to make the most of this time off--getting stuff for our apartment, creating teaching documents, cooking, and getting ready for our families to come over for our "wedding celebration" as they were not there for our first, legal ceremony. 7 people from South Africa and 4 people from Arizona are coming in 5 weeks! To those that answered before, I think my family and I are going to Scotland for a few days (I really wanted to take them to Amsterdam, but there's not enough time).

Ok, onto some favorite websites, a freebie and the unveiling of my precious Short Vowel Pack I've been working on!!

First, here's one of my favorite British websites for printables:
http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/ ................print labels, signs, cards, games-it's great!

I have used this next British website many times during science, and all the kids love it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/index_flash.shtml  ...........do science experiments, learn vocabulary, etc.

Here is my freebie from my K-2 Short Vowel Pack.......these resources are designed to be completed into a Literacy Portfolio/Journal or a Learning Centers Notebook during centers (or could be laminated for centers):

 Grab the freebie here!

 Here's what it looks like in a kinder literacy portfolio/journal:

 How do I add that pin it button I see everywhere? I think I made a huge mistake of pinning my own stuff from my blog and pinterest has now kicked my stuff out of the search engine (I think it was considered self-promoting, oops)........let me know if you know about these pinterest rules--thanks : )

Head over to my TPT store for the pack of 67 pages of Short Vowel resources for K-2 journals!

Can't wait to catch up on all your blogs now! Hope you are doing well!

Kelli

Some more British pics if you're interested!

    

*FREEBIE!

Hi everyone!!!

I am cleaning out my files on my USB(s) and I came across my schedule signs. I think having a schedule up in the room is so important, don't you?

There are more when you download it--hop over to my NEW TPT store and get it for FREE! Tried to have different signs in case you call it "Writing" or "Literacy" etc.

I hope to get more personal and get to know more people in this wonderful blogger world, but I have so much on my mind I don't feel up to chatting really. I got my passport back with my visa yesterday (YAY!) so I am flying (I mean moving) to my sweetie next week! But I am nervous about my goodbyes. So right now I just alternate packing with putting up documents. Hope to interact a bit better in the future : )

Kelli