March High and Low Linky!!

I am linking up with amazing Katie from Teacher to the Core for my high and low of the month.

Check out her super cute blog by clicking the link above!

My high of the month...

This goes along with my 2 Truths and a Lie post here.

I have always wanted to go to Disney.

I have never been.

I knew that one day I would take my two children when they were old enough.

Next year they will be 4 and 6 at the time of a week off in February.

But, it is SO expensive and money is super tight:(

My husband and I are hard workers by nature.

We both paid for entire cost of college on our own (after any scholarships and yep, we are still paying those loans after being graduated for 13 years!).

So, we thought we could just charge the trip to our credit cards.

We don't hoard our money and have the philosophy that we have the rest of our lives to make money but our kids are only going to be with us to go on vacation for a short time!

I really didn't know if we could stay in a one room hotel room for a week with little kids.

We stayed three days in a one room hotel last spring in the Outer Banks and I couldn't wait to get out of there!  

To save money, we went to the grocery store and ate some meals in the room.  

Here is a picture of my youngest eating pudding in his seat in the hotel in the Outer Banks:

Actually, TODAY we were talking about staying one night in a hotel next week at Splash Lagoon (I am on a 2 week spring break...don't be a hater!).

Charlie looks at me and says, "I want to eat pudding in there!"

It must have made a lasting impression:)

So, what is the HIGH??

My hubby's aunt and uncle said that we could use their timeshare points to stay at a resort!

What?!?  Seriously, my hubby and I never seem to get any break like this!

It is a two bedroom unit with a kitchen and everything:)

The Fountains Resort in Orlando. Anyone ever stay there?

Our fee for the week? $250 for the booking of the timeshare!

We are SO excited!!!

I can't stop looking for ideas to plan our vacation coming Feb. 2014:)

This one is a no brainer, unfortunately.

Our beloved pug, Asia is no longer with us.

She was 15 years old.

Here she is with our other dog, Aussie (shih tzu).

I don't have any puppy pictures because that was before we had digital cameras.

She was the most adorable puppy ever!.

She entered our family officially in 2003 when my husband and I bought a house.

First, she was my little sister's puppy while I was in college.

Then, my sister went to college and my hubby and I "adopted" her.

She was the most loving dog and always was great with both our children (they were born in 2007 and 2010).  She is a part of our family history.

Knowing that she lived a good life makes it a little better...but not much.

Her last days were sad.  She had been deaf for about two years but her mind was great.

Then, her back legs gave out and we started having to carry her everywhere.

She couldn't hold up herself to eat or go potty.

We knew we were prolonging the inevitable.

The last straw was when she just sat in her little bed and was shaking all day.

I am so proud of my hubby for being the one to take her to the vet.  

I couldn't do it.

He called me and told me what I knew the vet would say.

There wasn't much they could do and we would be back.

We made the toughest choice to put her down:(

It happened last Saturday and I didn't know if I could blog about it.

I am sitting here now crying like a baby.

 Our Christmas card photo before kids was with the dogs!

She could twirl like this over and over...so strong!

Aussie is nine years old and still very healthy. 

She spent every waking moment of the last nine years with Asia by her side.

It is not surprising that she is so depressed.

When I came home today, she was howling like I have never heard her howl before:(

I guess that is one way she can show us her grief.

(SIGH)...On a happy note...I am throwing a sale at TPT and TN:)

Adorable button by Tonya at Tonya's Treats for Teachers!

Five for Friday (a day late!)

I am linking up a little late with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday.  What a great way to reflect on the week!  I usually spend some downtime on Friday night reading blogs and posting something about our week.  If I had my choice, I would stay home most nights after being pulled in so many different directions all day.  However, last night my hubbie and I went out to dinner and a movie with my parents.  It was a rare treat to get a sitter and go out:)  The movie we went to see was "Lincoln" and it was fabulous!

1.  Project on Donors Choose Funded!  I was so thrilled when these packages arrived in my room this week!!  They are from Donorschoose.org!  I did not really expect that the project I submitted last summer would get funded, but it was! Yay!!  One lovely lady kept coming back giving donations and finally funded the whole project because she said that she wanted to see it completed.  I am so grateful and blessed by the kindness of strangers like her.  

My big ticket item that I had my eye on was this storage cart from Lakeshore Learning.  

I had already spent much more money personally than was in my budget last summer for school supplies (don't we all) and this item was $99.  It was a piece that I knew would be so helpful in organizing the Daily 5 and math centers that I was downloading all summer.  I went the cheaper route and have been organizing materials in folders and boxes.  This has worked somewhat but the centers with little cards are awkward in folder and fall out easily.   Now, some of my centers can have their own little drawer and the students can take the drawer with them to their work space!  LOVE IT!!

My students were just as excited as I was.  It was so cute!  These three boys assembled the cart and were so proud.  I wish you could see their faces.  Now, I am working on getting permission slips to post photos on DonorChoose and then we will write our thank you letters.  If you haven't checked out Donorschoose.org, I highly recommend it.  You just never know when someone may help your classroom dream item become a reality.  It has been a great experience and I think it was also good for the students to witness an act of kindness by a stranger on their behalf!

2.  Pencils Made by Seniors with Disabilities- Speaking of acts of kindness, the students were also thrilled when one of my room mothers who works with senior citizens with disabilities delivered these pencils and bookmarks to our room.  The seniors added a ton of pizzaz to these pencils and one elderly gentlemen came with the parent from my classroom to deliver these!  It was so sweet and the students have been using them all week.  

3.  Electricity Unit- We started our electricity unit this week (finally!).  After learning about electrical safety and making rules for our classroom when working with electrical items, we were ready for our first investigation.  Each pair of students is given two copper wires, a "D" battery, and a little lightbulb. I gave them about 10 minutes to try and figure out how to light the bulb.  It is so funny listening to them.  So many say, "Oh, this is easy!  I know how to do it!"  Guess what?  Not one could do it this year!  Usually, I have one or two groups that figure it out or might have an electrical kit at home.  Not this year.  They were amazed when I demonstrated how to light it.  I love watching their reactions to science experiments and then witnessing how much they learn over the course of  a few weeks.

4.  Pen Pal Letters-We mailed our third round of pen pal letters this week.  Our class made a five- minute video clip of our class saying a big hello with each individual saying a quick blurb to their pen pal.  We also took a look out our classroom window with the snow, fields, and woods.  We are in a very rural area.  Our pen pals are from Indianapolis and it is fascinating to compare the rural vs. city life.  They asked us a lot of questions about snowmobiling.  When the winter is great for snowmobiling around here, it really affects the local economy.  The trails are closed right now...not good!

5.  Daughter's 100th Day Project:)  Here is my little Kindergartner and her "100 Scoops of Ice Cream".  She is so proud!  Between Valentine's Day and the 100th day, she had quite the busy week for a five year old:)  She is growing too fast...sniff, sniff:(

How was your week?  I would love to hear your comments!  Have a nice long weekend:)