Work It Wednesday - Free Weights!

Work it Wednesday

Welcome to this Work Out Wednesday Post!  I didn't know about this Link Up until today, but I thought I would join in anyway!  Thanks to Katie King for motivating me to post!

Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Today's workout is free weights. 

 I usually pick 2 or 3 muscle groups to work on when I work with free weights.  I'm trying to do weight work twice a week.  Today I picked out exercises from this book that I really like to work arms, shoulders and back muscles. The workouts are listed according to muscle groups, with detailed pictures, suggestions for routines and sets. 

Amazon.com

I have several pairs of free weights ranging from 2 lbs. up to 25 lbs. but today I used the 15's, the 10's and the 5 lbs. weights.  

I usually work out 5 or 6 days a week.  Spinning is my aerobic workout of choice!  I teach Spinning three days a week.  I try to lift weights two days a week and on Day 6 I do a different activity like Pilates, Yoga or neighborhood walking.

When I'm at home I love to do Pilates!  I have many DVD's that star Ana Coban.  She is an excellent instructor with Gaiam. Here's one of her beginning DVD's and it's a good one!

Amazon.com: Pilates with Ana Coban

I like to work out for about an hour each time but sometimes it's a little longer. It took me many, many years to find an exercise activity that I really love but I finally did. I could Spin everyday.  The thing is, we have to cross train.  It keeps things fresh and it keeps us healthy.  Mixing things up builds strong muscles and muscle burns fat!

I really want to be HEALTHY AND STRONG.  All the other good things that come from doing exercise are fabulous, but being healthy is the top priority.  

My best advice is that it is very important to be consistent and don't give up!  It's not always easy to find the time or the motivation.  Yada, yada, yada, just do it.  Get it done.
Think about and focus on how GREAT you'll feel when it's finished!    

Slip on your favorite gym shoes and get started.  

Get moving!  It's all worth it when you feel healthy and strong! 

Good Luck this week and work hard!      

My Personal Side - Favorite Cup Link Up!

What a fun Linky!  This one is hosted by Classroom Confections!  Yay!!  I think it's always fun to find out about the "Friend behind the Blog!" 

Here's a little picture of my current favorite mug!  It's, "Oo-la-la lovely!"  I love the little owls!  Look at them in their sweet berets!  It's so cute!  I do love to have coffee in the morning.  I have about a 40 minute commute to school so it's nice to have something warm to drink on the drive in.  My favorite is Millstone Hazelnut Cream but I also like Starbucks once in a while.  

I haven't always been a coffee drinker because I much prefer a Diet Coke any time of the day!  I'm trying to give up the DC but every now and then I have to get a fountain DC.  Target is a great place to have a DC while I'm shopping.  Way fun!  When I was on vacation I found that Circle K has a VERY large fountain drink cup that I filled with the drink of choice!!  

Yes, it was fabulous!  

Thanks for taking the time to find out a little bit about "My Personal Side!" 

How about you?

Enjoy your day!

Tell All Tuesday Summer Linky Party

Summer is the perfect time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some time to reflect on the previous school year.  It also gives teachers time to daydream and think to the future.  In honor of summer and the time time off we're giving ourselves from our teacher reality we want to know your dreams for your teaching career.  For this Tell All Tuesday we'd love for you to share your "Teacher Bucket List."  What hopes and dreams do you have for your teaching career?  Do you want to go back to school to become a reading specialist?  One day become principal of your school?  Or something else in the realm of teaching?  Dream big and don't hold back!  Share your Teacher Bucket List with us today!

Tell All Tuesday Linky Party

Here's how to join in on the fun:

1. Grab the picture and banner above and use it to link back to this post on your blog.

2. Save the Teacher Bucket list picture to your computer.  Using a tool of your choice (I used Power Point) write your Teacher bucket list and upload it to your blog post.  

2. Write a post about the topic of the week.  
This week is: Teacher Bucket List

3. Add your link below.

4. Advertise your post using any social media of your choice.  

Grow My TpT Store, Blog and Fan Page:  I really enjoy working on my TpT store items and I love to write but the problem I run into is available TIME!  This year I hope to be able to structure my available time a little better.  I have a full time Kindergarten classroom, a part-time job and with all the other things, it's a bit hectic at times.  My plan is to set aside specific times dedicated to working on my store, blog and fan page because I'm going back to school in the fall!

Complete My Principal's License:  This summer I have applied to attend an elementary Principal's license program.  I love being a Kindergarten teacher and I also love mentoring, guiding and helping new teachers!  I am looking forward to going back to school when we go back to school!

PhD in Early Childhood Education:  Someday, I want to finish my PhD.  It's a long term goal but every step I take leads me closer to that goal.  Over the years I have obtained my Masters and enough additional credit hours to probably have another Masters!  It just shows that I am a life long learner!  I learn something new every single day and certainly enjoy gaining knowledge in our field!

Presenting Workshops In The Future:  Presenting at the ITeachK! National Kindergarten Teachers Conference in 2013 was AWESOME!  It was interesting and I certainly learned so much!  It's my dream to continue to present at workshops and conferences all over the country!

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog post!  I hope you'll take the time to link up so that I can read yours too!  

Thank you to Diana at My Day In K! for creating this fun Linky Party!

Five For Friday!

Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching!  It's always fun to do Linky Parties!

It is so cold outside!  Snow is on the way! I'm so glad to wind down on this Friday with a little fire and a nice cup of coffee.  What a long week!  Saturdays are my "Work Free" days.  "Work Free" for school work, but "Work On" at the house!  I have to have one day where I don't do any school work so that I can catch up on other things! 

Balance! (aka Balancing Act!)

So inside this sweet little cup is one of my favorite coffees. Are you a coffee connoisseur?

I gave up my favorite, favorite, favorite drink.  I loved the DC. Diet Coke. Drink of Choice.

Lately I've been trying out different kinds and flavors of coffee.  It's interesting and fun to go to the smaller coffee shops around Cincy!

How cute is this?

Now all of this relaxing must be accompanied by a good book!  Here's the book that I've just started!  With all the cold and flu germs swirling around the school, I think I just need all the help I can get to stay healthy.  I hope I have time to finish what I've started!  I've read all of  Dr. Furhman's books and this one looks to be a very interesting read! 

Want to know about boosting your immune system by making great nutritional choices?  

Check out this book and let me know what you think.

I found a new and interesting website to help my kiddies with a variety of skills!  

ABCya.com.

There are many reading and math activities as well as other learning games for the kids to play!  I'm still working to explore all the games myself but so far, I've found it to be a delightful website for my kiddies!

This week and for the next few weeks I'll be reorganizing my leveled collection and my classroom book collection.  To say that this is a BIG project is an understatement!  I have so many books.  There are bins of books all over my room and it's time to sort them out again! 

It's going to be a busy week!

Thanks to Doodle Bugs for hosting this Linky Party! 

Have a wonderful week! 

Kimmie

Sunday Smorgasbord Linky Party!

Linky Party with Fabulous in First

I'm getting better!  This week my Sunday post is on Monday instead of Wednesday!  I should have the hang of this by next week and be right on time! LOL!

Even though I'm teaching Summer School this year, I still have lots of other things to keep me busy!  Here are a few of the fun things I get to do in my non-teaching hours! 

I LOVE TO READ!  I read and read and read about healthy nutrition!  This is the book that I've just started but I've read T. Colin Campbell's other books as well!  Have you read, "The China Study" yet?  Do it!  You'll look at nutrition with a new understanding!

                        My Current Read Available At Amazon!

Yep!  I'm a Spinning Instructor!  I teach at a local fitness facility AND I have my own Spinning bike that I ride several times a week!

It's a FABULOUS workout that has so many benefits!  Want to try it?  Please come and Spin with ME!

I'm a Certified Johnny G Instructor! 

bayareabikes.com/merchant/1173/images/site/spin_class_clipart.gif

Pilates!  

Love it!  I'm also a Pilates Instructor!  What a great way to build core strength and develop long, lean muscles! 

Great Core Workout

clipart: spot.pcc.edu

I also teach YogaFit, HydroRider and am certified to be a Personal Trainer!  

What are you up to this summer?  You can always come and join in the fun with me! 

Have a wonderful day!

The "Hey! It's NOT Sunday, It's Wednesday!" Linky Link Up

Fabulous In First

Okay, I know that it's not Sunday but I've been really, really working on keeping up with Summer School  so I'm going to pretend that it's Sunday so that I can link up with my friend Michelle from 

Fabulous In First!  I like that this Linky Party is about random stuff because I feel like I'm bouncing all over the place lately!

Un (1)

We're working around the house this summer and I have about a million projects on my "Honey Do List!"  

The new roof was finished two days ago and it looks great!  We ripped out one of our bathrooms and we're remodeling it, updating it and replacing it with a newer, better, more modern everything.  I painted in the kitchen a little and I'm getting ready to paint my girls' bedrooms.  The list goes on and on!

Deux (2)

 I planted a bigger garden this year so I'm spending more time working in the dirt.  It's really difficult to get great tomatoes in our area so I need to grow my own every year!  This year I have planted 32 tomato plants at home and 3 at school!  I also planted green beans, okra, yellow squash, zucchini, peppers, banana peppers, onion, garlic, eggplant and sunflowers! I also grow lots of fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley, cilantro and tons of basil.  I know!  It's a lot!

Trois (3)

I have a long drive to school on the days I teach so I've decided to brush up on my French language skills!  One of my girls took French in high school and college and the other took Spanish so I have a variety of resources here at the house.  Maybe I'll get to put it to good use if I ever get to travel!  

Oui, oui!

Well, that's just a little of the randomness that I have in my world this summer!  I hope you're having a great summer break and that you're doing lots of things to keep you busy!  

This was fun!  Thanks Michelle!
Kimmie!

School's Out But Not Really...

I have to admit that the last few weeks have been so very crazy busy that I have slightly neglected this blog.  No more!  I've promised myself that I will do a better job of blogging this summer! 

I see that there are several Linky Parties that are coming up and I'm going to do that this week!  I don't want one more party to pass me by!  Watch for me in those upcoming Linky Parties!

Are you on Summer Break yet?  I thought that I might take a break, but it's really just a Summer Pause.  After a two day weekend, I volunteered today at the downtown Cincinnati Public Library!  That was pretty interesting!  I love, love, love to read so having a chance to dig through thousands of books is pretty fun!

Tomorrow I start teaching Summer School, hence the pause and not the full break!  I'm excited to work with some of our Kinders in a small group for a couple of hours!  I hope that we'll make lots of progress this summer!  If you have great ideas and suggestions for summer themes or activities, I would love to hear from you!

Wish me luck tomorrow!  I hope you're having a restful summer break even if it's just a pause like me! 
Take Care!
Kimmie

The Christmas Questionnaire Link Up! So Fun!



Hey, Hey and Ho, Ho, Ho!!



 

I'm linking up with my friend Michelle of Fabulous in First

to answer some holiday questions! 

I love, love the idea of meeting some new friends, learning about what others are up to during the season and getting some great ideas for Christmas!

 

Thank you Michelle for inviting me to play!

 

 

http://fabulousinfirst.blogspot.com/

So without further delay, here are the answers to the holiday questions! 

Hot Chocolate or Eggnog?
Neither.  Unless the Hot Chocolate is made with Almond Milk and Vegan Dark Chocolate!  Can't get that at the drive-up window! 

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them underneath the tree?
When I was a little girl, my parents didn't wrap presents.  They waited until we went to sleep, got everything out and arranged things in piles, one for each kiddo.  Then as soon as mom and dad passed out from exhaustion, we were up, running around and screaming like crazy birds, about all the wonderful things that Santa brought! Sweet chaos!

I wrap all the gifts for my girls.  I always make sure that they have the same number of gifts so that when they take turns opening, neither is left without a gift turn.  Sometimes I save silly boxes and put their gifts inside!  I've wrapped jewelry in empty Wheat Thins boxes or gift cards in Mike and Ike candy boxes!  Hilarious!

Colored lights or white? 
White lights are best!  I like to decorate my tree with different colored ornaments each year.  I have mostly red ornaments on my tree this year.  Next year I might use white on white!



When do you decorate?
Whenever I can wrestle my girls into helping me!  Usually it's the week after Thanksgiving because I'm exhausted from cooking for 2 days to get ready for the holiday!

Real or Fake Tree?
Fake now.  We used to have a real tree.  I love the smell of a real tree.  We would go to the Tree Farm in the town where we used to live and trudge around in the frozen mud to find the perfect one.  We'd cut it down, drag it to the car, load it up and then feel guilty for cutting down such a precious and beautiful tree.  One year when the girls were little, we had a Blue Spruce in our yard that was growing sideways and needed to be cut down.  We waited until Christmas so that we could use that sweet little tree in the house.  After that year, I bought a fake tree!


What Tops Your Tree?
A star.  It's kind of folksy.  It looks good!

Favorite Christmas Memories or Traditions?
Cookies, cookies, cookies. We always baked thousands of cookies, cakes, pies and candies!  My mother was a baker at heart!  We made such wonderful treats, some to keep but most to share.  I'm sure that's how I came to love baking so much! 

Do you remember your favorite gift as a child?
I remember I always got a doll, every year.  I do remember one year getting a cool, light blue, manual typewriter!  It came in its own case!  I know!  I thought it was the greatest!  Here's a funny connection!  In high school, I won a medal for typing! LOL!

Do prefer giving or receiving? 
Giving!  I love to give to others!  It's something that brings me so much joy!

What is your favorite Christmas song?
!I have so many!  Hands down, #1 Charlie Brown Christmas CD, The Linus and Lucy Song! 
 #2, Baby, It's Cold Outside and #3 almost all of the Christmas music performed by Dave Coz!
Followed by, Disco Santa and James Taylor singing, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Candy Canes. Yuck or Yum?
Yummy!  I also like Peppermint Coffee!  And toothpaste!  And Cookies!

Favorite Christmas Movie?

Charlie Brown Christmas

Do you shop online or at stores?

Both!  I love to shop!  I love to shop with my friends and we often meet at different stores just to shop and talk and drink a fountain soft drink together!

Photo Cards, Letter or Store Bought Card? 

I usually send a store bought card, but I love to get photo cards! 

 

Wow!  That's a lot of information!  And it was pretty fun!

 

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! 

 

Thanks for taking time to read this holiday question post!

Kimmie

 

 

 

    

Five For Friday Linky Party! Yeah!

I haven't participated in a Linky Party in a while so I'm so excited to join in and link up!  We've been so busy this past week it just seems like a Gingerbread Blurrrrrrr!

Doodle Bugs Teaching

I didn't get this on my page until today!  That's okay to be posted on Saturday.  I'll just pretend that it's last night! 



I've been working on this Gingerbread Science activity for a few days.  It's finally posted on my TpT page!  Check it out!  The Gingerbread Man falls into the water and the kiddies can do an experiment to see what happens when he does! 

 

 

We've been reading lots of versions of the Gingerbread Man.  Here are a couple of the ones we've read so far.  We're going to read the Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Pirates and Get Cookie next week!

 

 Books On Amazon

 

 

 

We also read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears!  We did a compare and contrast with this story and the Gingerbread Man!  I was so proud and impressed that my boys and girls discovered so many similarities and differences as well! 

 

 Books On Amazon

 

 

Our poem this week was a fun one!  It is the Gingerbread Man Poem, of course!  I make it as interactive as I can by changing the names, and some of the words as we learn them. For example, I use the names of the boys and girls on the blank line, or use the principal or other teachers' names.  Instead of "stop" I switch it to, "run" or "jump" or, "hop."

Here's my Poem of the Week!

 

 

 

 

 

Just like some of our other friends, we had a SNOW DAY!  Friday the weather was terrible!

There was a huge winter storm and school was cancelled!  Hopefully we'll be back on Monday!

I want to read the rest of our Gingerbread Boy and Girl stories!

 

Books On Amazon

 

This is one of my all time favorite stories! 

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this post! 

I hope you have a great week! 

 

Thanks to Doodle Bugs for setting up:

 

Doodle Bugs

 

Enjoy your week!

Kimmie!