I'm ready for Fall...

1. Tell us what you are looking forward to this fall?

I am looking forward to everything about fall...the weather, the food, the activities, but my top 3 things I'm looking forward to right now are:
-Going to visit my sister and brother in law in Indiana and re-visiting 1812

-My cousin's wedding in October

-Thanksgiving in Nashville

2. Show us your fall style.

Since it isn't exactly fall weather yet here in Ohio I haven't gotten to sport my fall style quite yet, but when I do it will look something like this...

                                                                                  Source: lifeisasunset.blogspot.com via Allison on Pinterest

3. Tell us your favorite things to do in the fall.

1.) My husband and I love to go hiking and camp in the fall. Nothing beats campfire food.

2.) I always look forward to picking out pumpkins and carving them with friends.

3.) We always make it to at least one corn maze.

4. Show us your favorite fall beverage.

                                                                                Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Allison on Pinterest

Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Smoothie. Seriously click here for the best drink of your life.

5. Tell us, how you will be participating in halloween this year.

Our good friends always have a Halloween party with a costume contest. It will be hard to top last year's costume (we won best couples costume as the Frisch's Big Boy and Wendy) but I have some pretty good ideas up my sleeve. 

All of these fall questions had me dreaming of fall so I decided to add a banner to my shop this weekend. Check out my new Candy Corn banner, which is now hanging in my house anxiously awaiting fall!

Singing servers!

Have you ever been to a restaurant and had your server sing to you? My friend Bekah is very musically gifted (she's the one who tried out for American Idol) and she heard about this restaurant called Vito's Cafe where the waiters are all amazing singers. So a group of us went to check it out and it did not disappoint. All of the servers, bus boys, bar tenders etc. are involved in music. They are either in school for music or they are supporting their music by working at the restaurant so they were all good! The theme for the night was Disney music and I was thrilled. The food was amazing and we got serenaded all night long!

Our server told us to come back after Thanksgiving because they start singing Christmas songs. I will be there ready to sing along the day after Thanksgiving! Is it too early to get excited about Christmas music? Ok I'll stop.

The best compliment

 One of my student's moms emailed me after the first week of school with this story about her daughter.

Chloe is wiped out today. She loved school this past week and she has no anxiety at all about it which is so nice.  After the first day of school, she came home and dressed like you, the sweater with the skinny belt on the outside of your sweater, and then she closed her door and Micah and I listened outside her door and she was playing teacher.  So cute and she has always really liked your style of teaching.  Jarett said, wish she could teach Chloe every year:)

This made me realize all over again how much I can truly impact my students simply by the way I make them feel (oh and the way I dress). I don't plan to take that lightly.

                                                                                          Source: luxefinds.com via Allison on Pinterest

Name that movie...

A corn husking tip that will change your life

For a cookout this past weekend I decided to make Pioneer Woman's Grilled Corn Guacamole. While I was making it I learned a life changing tip...and it has to do with corn. If you've ever husked corn you know how annoying those little strings are right? Well I found a way to never have to peel another corn string away.ever. Are you intrigued?
So here's how it's done. Take the corn and leave it in the husk, toss it in the microwave for 4 minutes. Use an oven mitt to take the corn out of the microwave and put the corn on a chopping board. Cut off the husk. Make sure to cut enough of the husk away or it just won't work. Use the hairs at the other end and shake. The corn should slide right out string free! I did it and it worked. Then I did it again, and then again one more time to show my husband. Am I easily amused or is this really a cool trick?

If you can do this in the microwave I see no reason why this can't also be done on the grill...just leave the corn in the husk, throw on the grill, cut the husk and shake. Simple as that.

Oh and the dip...it turned out freaking amazing, but what Pioneer Woman recipe doesn't? I have yet to find one and I have now cooked over 30 of her recipes, yep I counted.
Click here for the recipe!

Retro Owl

Do your lips turn purple after drinking red wine?? (See results of red wine to mine above)

My friend Bekah loves owls so when her birthday rolled around I had the perfect idea. I took her to Cheers to Art to celebrate with our friend Ellie. Cheers to Art turned out to be a perfect place to celebrate for several reasons...1. Wine, 2. Fun music you can sing along to 3. A birthday crown
4. You go home feeling like a real artist and 5. You all leave with a party favor (your painting!)

This visit marked my 5th painting I've done at Cheers to Art and I have never left disappointed. See some of my other paintings here.

Friday's Letters

Dear Science Teaching Husband, We did it! We made it through our first week of school.  I'm so glad we can completely get what the other one of us is going through. It's a huge blessing!
Dear Doughnuts, I hear that you are the new cupcake. I'm excited to try making all kinds of you with our new doughnut recipe book! Maybe you will become a Saturday morning tradition in the Renner house.

Dear Doughnut pan, You are an amazing invention. I'm so glad I found you!

Dear Kitties, You are the cutest...quirks and all. I miss not being home with you, but my kids love hearing about you. Yes I talk about you at school and I even have a calendar with pictures of you on the wall.

Dear Singing Servers, I have heard a lot about you and will be visiting you at Vito's Cafe tonight. I hope live up to all the hype. Dear Husband, Dinner and evening walks at Sharon Woods will keep us sane. Let's make that a priority okay?

Love, Allison

Happy weekend!!

Back to school basics

Dress: Target, Cardigan: Gap, Belt: gifted, Utility Tote Bag: Fossil (similar one found here)

School started on Monday and I have to say this year is off to a wonderful start. I knew this year was going to be a special year because I am teaching a class of students that I have taught before. When I first start teaching at my school I taught these kids in Kindergarten and then last year got moved up to second grade so now I have my precious kiddos back again. These kids already had a special place in my heart and it is so fun to see them "all grown up." God knew I needed this year to be amazing after last year's challenges and He is already showing up big time! I've been MIA from the blog for a few days because my mind is just jello. There are so many things you have to think about when you teach the first few weeks of school to an elementary student.
My first day went something like this...
-Teach kids how to sit in a circle on the rug
-Teach kids how to line up
-Teach kids how to walk in the halls
-Play get to know you games to build classroom community
-Teach kids appropriate behavior on the playground, in the bathroom and in the lunchroom
-Teach kids how to sharpen a pencil
-Teach kids how to listen for your quiet signal
-Read books about being a good friend
-Teach kids how to organize their desk
-Teach kids how to put their back packs/lunch boxes away
-Oh and stop to take a breath

And that's just day 1. As an elementary teacher you can assume NOTHING. These kids are blank canvases and you are the artist there to mold them into shape. Let's just say I did not stop talking all day long, but after day 3 your talking and modeling starts to pay off and it feels so good.

(Shirt: Gap, Skirt: Target, Necklace: Shabby Apple found here, but won by me in a giveaway!)

For those of you that are teachers I'm going to tell you about a few of my favorite teacher items.
1.) My teaching bag from Fossil. (see picture up top) This bag is amazing and so durable. I can carry several "teacher books" in it as well as my laptop, planner and papers to grade. It has a million pockets for my grading pens, post-it's and paperclips and also has two side pockets for my water bottle and umbrella. (Lesson 1: A teacher must always be prepared)
2.) My Franklin planner (pictured above). I could not live with out it. It is visually appealing and I can buy new re-fill pages every summer to go inside.
3.) My crate seats! I made them last summer and people are still asking about them. My kids love them and they are great for storage! Find my tutorial here.

4.) The Daily 5 book...I use this book to help me teach Reading Workshop and it has so many amazing ideas.
4.) The Cafe book...another book by the "sisters" who wrote the Daily 5. I use this book often for Reading Workshop as well as guided reading groups.

And there you have it...the first day in nutshell and some of my teacher favorites. Now back to lesson planning...