Back to School We Go! {Five for Friday edition}

I'd say raise your hand if you are feeling tired, but after being back at school this week my body is so tired that I don't think I could muster a hand raise. So why don't you just give me a little moan instead. :) Shooey-I swear I forget every year how exhausting the first days back to school are! I'm so thankful for this long weekend to allow my body to recoup from the last four marathon days in first grade! 

To bring my blog to life after my back to school blog hiatus (sorry about the bloggy neglect!) I'm going to join in with this week's

1. Favorite day of the week=Date Night!

Back to school is SO busy, isn't it? I have an amazing hubby and with the slower days of summer ending and the busy days of school beginning, I wanted to give him something to let him know that he is my priority! When life gets busy sometimes it's easy to let the urgent overtake the important and I don't want that to happen when it comes to spending quality time with my hubby! We already have a wonderful habit of taking a weekly date night (my hubby is so good about writing our date night on the calendar each week-it's my favorite day of the week!) so I thought that making a gift for date night would be fun! I found the date jar idea from Life in the Green House and fell in love with it! It was so fun and easy to do-just paint craft sticks 3 different colors (I did 25 sticks). Each color stands for a different type of date (see tag). Since I used different colors than the one on Life in the Green House I made up my own tag, but she has a free tag you can use too! I had SO much fun making this for my hubby and when I had back to school night I left it on the table with a little note! :) I can't wait to use it for date nights this year!!

I keep a whole Pinterest board filled with this idea and lots of other ways to keep dating my hubby. If you're interested in some fun and creative ways to love on your hubby this year, you can follow my Pinterest board: Ideas for the One I Love by clicking HERE!

2. First Day Jitters
My favorite book to read on the first day of school is:

Click HERE to check it out!

I always love when we get to the end of the book and the kids realize that it was the teacher that had the first day jitters! It's so true isn't it--even teachers get those nervous/excited first day jitters. I always know that the night before the first day is going to equal little sleep due to those jitters! :) But then I always feel better after the kids come and then I sleep like a baby that first night of school!

After reading the book to my first graders, sharing our jitters, and writing about our first day jitters, I give them Jitter Juice to help make those jitters go away! I went to the grocery store to get the fruit punch and sprite to make the jitter juice and then saw these babies:

SO SMART! How did I NOT use these the past 3 years!! It was SO much easier to do jitter juice with these Little Hugs Fruit Juice Drinks AND they were only $3 for 20! Score!! My kids LOVED them and I loved how easy it was to use--straws and all were included! :)

3. Little By Little-Inch By Inch
I'm loving my new precious first graders this year, but let's just be honest-the beginning of the year in first grade is exhausting and a tad bit overwhelming. This first week has been filled with so many routines and procedures...routines and procedures...routine and procedures...I think you get the idea! :) Plus there are so many things to do aside just from our teaching and when more and more is being required out of us with less and less-it feels daunting. To add to the first week of school, I also started a grad class on the first day of school. Insert tired-overwhelmed-zombie feeling here! 

One night this week when I was feeling like how in the world I am going to be able to do all of this year (anyone else ever thought that?) my husband came to me and said he wanted to play a video for me. He knew I was feeling defeated and the chorus of a song from his childhood popped into his head:

Music can be so powerful can't it? Even a child's song to a tired, weary teacher! I LOVE this song and the chorus has been floating through my head all week:

Little by Little

Inch By Inch

By the Yard it is Hard

By the Inch What a Cinch!

Never Stare Up The Stairs

Just Step Up The Steps

Little by Little

Inch by Inch-What a Cinch!

-Lyrics by Patch the Pirate

What a great reminder for me and for us as we tackle on a new school year! We've got it-little by little, inch by inch! It's going to take our first graders some time too! We need to remember to take each new thing once step at a time! :) I'm also so thankful for a God who is faithful, constant, and is my strength in the midst of weakness!

4. READ IT AGAIN!!

Give a little drum roll please....because this weeks favorite read aloud was:

Click HERE to check it out!

This is always a hit the first week of school. I love Jon Scieszka's writing and David Shannon's illustrations are always amazing too! This is a WIN-WIN book and ever since I used it to introduce Daily 5's Read to Self, my kids have been BEGGING to read it again! Even the one little boy that told me he hated books on the first day of school was begging for it again! SCORE! :)

If you want to find out how I used this book to introduce Daily 5's Read to Self, be sure to check out this month's

Last month's post is HERE and this next month's will include Robot Zot and more on September 5!

5. Facebook Fan FREEBIE

You all know how much I *heart* FREEBIES and I am excited to tell you that my Facebook Page now has a FAN FREEBIE section:

Just click HERE or on the picture to grab the latest FREEBIE on my Facebook page!

I also made this Daily 5 FREEBIE for you too:

(Clipart from KPM Doodles and Teaching in a Small Town)

Just click HERE or on the picture to grab it for FREE! 

*The Daily 5 and CAFE are trademark and copy written content of Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters. Educational Design, LLC. The 2 Sisters does not authorize or endorse the materials mentioned or used on my blog or Facebook Fan Page.

Well friends, my grad work is now calling my name. "Little by little, inch by inch!" Have a fantastic long weekend--get some rest and take some time for you and your family! It's so important!!