Teaching in Paradise: Prepping for the New Year, A Peek into My Class...and Some Wonderful Awards!!

Sorry that I have been neglecting this blog..my mom flew in from Maui this past Wednesday and we have been busy working in my room. My mom is also a teacher (preschool) of almost 30 years and flies to Oahu each summer to help me set up my room. I sure am a lucky girl to be so loved!! My dad also flies in for the weekend to help as well..you'll see what his job is...

My room is a MESS..and is nowhere near complete but I"ll give you a peek anyways. I just checked my class list and realized that I don't even have enough desks in my room to accommodate all of my students this year...and I will definitely have to change my desk set up as it only seats 24 students....

Ok.now this looks GROSS! This is a paper organizer that has been in my room since before I moved in three years ago. It has been this color since I moved in. I've tried wiping it down with cleaner, scrubbing with sponges but could never get it clean. BUT my mom had the brilliant idea of using a brillo pad to clean it and...it worked like MAGIC

This is a picture from the back of my room. I was working on sorting out my library book bin labels. I have been busy labeling each and every book so that my students will know exactly what bin the books belong in.

I'll be sure to share these with you soon..perhaps tomorrow.

library

THIS is what my AWESOME Daddy does for me!! He takes off ALL the cabinet doors of my closets, takes off all of the handles and locks.... and covers them for me..since they look 'ugly'. The closets look so much better covered!! I used those cheap table cloths that you can find at party stores...I wish I had got a thicker one though because you can kind of see the cabinets through the table cover...and I'm thinking they will probably rip when I put things on them nd take them off. SO they may just stay plain and blue...

I totally can't wait to reveal the rest of my room to you all! I've also discovered some AWESOME tools to use while setting up your room that I"m sure you can all benefit from. Hopefully I can share those things with you tomorrow....I have been having a horrible toothache the past 4 days so I will be at the dentist tomorrow. If I don't end up posting on MOnday..it's probably because of my poor tooth and will be posting on Tuesday.

During my short vacation from Blog land...I've been honored to receive SEVERAL awards from SEVERAL wonderful bloggers!!
I'm so excited because I've seen this award on so many other blogger's pages..but have never been awarded one..until now!!

With all great things come responsibilities..so I need to carry mine out!

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate other bloggers for the award.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site.

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated.

First of all, Thank you so much to Laura at:

Jaime at:

Heather at:

And..Michelle at:

Now..7 random facts about me:
1. I have danced hula since the age of 4 and danced professionally in a traditional Luau show for 5 years. I was also one of the soloist who performed solo hula and tahitian dances alone..on that huge stage

2. I have never called my older brother by his real name...EVER ( well except for calling his work place and introducing him to others). Since I was little, I called him "BA" since I couldn't pronounce brother

3. I LOVE Sushi and Taco Bell. I could probably live on the two for the rest of my life and be content.

4. When I eat too much sweets or salty things..my hands and feet get sweaty (Yuck! I know!) haha. BUT..you did say random facts :P

5. One of my girl friends from work and I are trying to start a crafting business. We hope to sell our products at this year's Christmas craft fairs.

6. My boyfriend and I are HUGE dog lovers. We each have out own dogs at our parents house..but unfortunately we can't have any at our apartment :(

7. I am a Hello Kitty fanatic! I have all things HK, even a pair of shoes. All my students know I love HK and I get tons of HK gifts :P

I've also received the LIebster award for blogs with less than 200 followers.

Thank you so much Second Grade Smartypants!

Now I'm to pass these awards on to some other bloggers. There are so many wonderful ones out there..but here are my fav. ones to follow as of this week :P

Courtney at: