Nobody Greater than God!

This was the scene outside my apartment today. After loading up the car and turning it on, Nobody Greater by Vashawn Mitchell was playing on the radio and all I could do was thank God that I weathered the storm! God is truly amazing and I'm thankful that Irene didn't cause more destruction.

I lost power about 4pm on Saturday but the worst of it still hadn't come through Central VA yet. At around 3 am 80% of residents were without power in the Richmond area. That number is steadily declining. But we will be cleaning up for weeks. Teachers in the area are suppose to report back to work tomorrow, I have yet to hear any information on that though.

I packed up my car and headed north on 95 until I reached my sister's house in Caroline County, it doesn't even look like a storm has been through here. I had to leave my apartment... didn't know if I could actually survive on Peanut Butter & Jelly and Chips and Salsa like I had planned. So I'm currently comfortable in the guest room with my laptop, air conditioning and cable. I don't have cell phone service though, but that's the least of my worries!

Earthquakes and Hurricanes!

So teacher work week begins Monday and I'm convinced that some teacher who is not ready to return to work has wished these natural disasters upon us...LOL. I'm located in Central Virginia and we were rocked by an earthquake on Tuesday and Hurricane Irene is scheduled to hit on Saturday. I've got my gas, nonperishable snacks and flashlights...I'm ready! While I wait for all the action to go down I will be busy creating back to school goodies for my new third graders. I will be blogging about them in the next couple of days... granted I still have internet access and electricity. I also can't wait to finish up my classroom so I can take and post pictures of my new space!

Mireya's Miracle

I am a member of Faith and Family Church and very active in the youth ministry. A couple of months ago we learned that one of "our" children had been diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia.
Mireya is four years old and her smile will absolutely melt your heart! I follow her mother's blog Three & 1 to keep up with her health updates. I have been praying and fasting for her complete healing and divine health. However I desired to do more. Then I found out that another member in our church had set up a donation page through GoFundMe.com. Through this page I've had the opportunity to give and I look foward to giving more. I encourage you to go and read her donation page, Mireya's Miracle, and if you are able to, make a small donation. Every little bit helps. Thank you and God Bless!

Team Bolton's story was featured on NBC12 News Acts of Kindness .

September Books

Since my entire classroom library is sitting in my dining room waiting for me to wisk them away to school, I figured I do some more blogging about books to read. I've already blogged about books for launching reading and writing workshop, I've also blogged about mentor texts for reading skills and stratigies. Below are a list of my favorite September Books. Leave a comment with your favorite book!

Character Building
A Bad Case of the Tattle Tongue
Bully B.E.A.N.S.
My Mouth is a Volcano
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun
Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon
The Boy Who Wouldn't Share
Fill a Bucket
Have you Filled a Bucket Today?
HOw Full is your Bucket? For Kids
Do Unto Otters
Yes We Can!
The Recess Queen
Little Prickles
The Marshmallow Incident
Bullies Never Win
Jungle Bullies
Sweet Briar Goes to School
Sweet Briar Goes to Camp
Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully
Back to School
The Berestain Bears Go Back to School
Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books
Miss Malarkey Doesn't LIve in Room 10
Ready, Set, School!
A Fine, Fine School
What Teachers Can't Do
I Know an Old Teacher
Amelia Bedilia's First Day of School
My School's a Zoo
How do Dinosaurs Go to School?
Library Mouse: A Friend's Tale
Miss Nelson is Missing
Miss Nelson is Back
First Day Jitters
The Kissing Hand
A Pocketful of Kisses
A Kiss Goodbye
Marley Goes to School
Seasonal
Johnny Appleseed- Jane Kurtz
Johnny Appleseed- Alyse Sweeney
Johnny Appleseed- Jodie Shepherd
We All Fall for Apples- Emmi Herman
Fluffy's Goes Apple Picking- Kate McMullan
A Day at the Apple Orchard- Megan Faulkner & Adam Krawesky
How Do Apples Grow? Betsy Maestro
Apples for Everyone- Jill Esbaum
Apples- Gail Gibbons
The Apple Pie Tree- Zoe Hall
Clifford's First Autumn- Norman Bridwell
Leaves- David Ezra Stein
Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane- Victoria Sherrow
The Biggest Leaf Pile- Steve Metzger
The Falling Leaves- Steve Metzger
The Falling Leaves and the Scarecrow- Steve Metzger
Little Red's AUtumn Adventure- Sarah Ferguson
Wild Child- Lynn Plourde

Giveaway Winners!

Since I only had 10 comments for the trifold giveaway, I will be sending them to all the people who left their email address! You should have already recieved your email with the download links, thanks for following!

8/14 Update: Sorry followers but the giveaway is now closed and I will not be sending out anymore downloads. Feel free to purchase them from the Teaching Oasis. I do apologize for the inconvienence.