The Latest in the Fablehaven Series

Can I just say I am so excited for this book to come out! (March 23!) This is the final book in the Faablehaven series. I am a huge fan of these books and my kids at school are as well. I have introduced many of my nieces and nephew to these books and they love them. I must say...don't get upset with me...that I enjoy this series better than Harry Potter. The last books in the Harry Potter series were hard for me to get through. 4 out of the five book of Fablehaven have been released and each book gets better than the previous. The idea behind the books are genius.

This is the synopsis of the book from Brandon Mull's Website

For centuries, mythical creatures of all description have been gathered to hidden refuges around the world where they are watched over by human caretakers. Kendra and her brother Seth discover that their grandfather is the caretaker of one of these secret wildlife sanctuaries—Fablehaven.

Brandon Mull has also written another chapter book called The Candy Shop Wars and a FABULOUS picture book called Pingo. Read his books I know you'll love them.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Today with my day off I was able to go and see The Lightning Theif. I loved it! I am reading the book right now to my 3rd graders and I am loving the book (so are my kids). My mom, dad, and husband went with me to the movie. None of them have read the book and they all loved the movie as well. If you are looking for a good series of books to read you should check them out. If you are just looking for an entertaining movie definately go and see it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This week has gone by so quickly. Today my dad brought me the most BEAUTIFUL flowers! My dad never forgets his girls on Valentine's Day. I love him so much! Here is a picture of the flowers he gave me...they are my favorites!

Yesterday I celebrated Valentine's Day with my kids at school. Can I just say that I am so happy that I teach school because exchanging valentines as kids is one of the most fun things. I even decorated my own box this year. Here is is full of all of my wonderful treats.

This week my husband was sick so he stayed home. Can I just say that I have the best husband in the WORLD! When I am sick I lay down and do nothing all day. When I came home from work I found a clean kitchen and these waiting for me.

Everyone should have milk and cookies waiting for them after a long days work. Thanks Honey! I love you:)

Warning!

So I hate cutting and measuring fabric and I hate hot glue (which I forgot). I wrote a while back that I was going to make this way cute craft...Well and did and it turned out better than I could have imagined. The only problem is, is that I cannot feel my fingers anymore because I have burned by hot glue so many times. Here is the Valentines Wreath I made tonight.

Didn't it turn out so cute?

There are a coupld of things that I had a hard time understanding in the instructions. Well I guess I understood fine I just needed to figure out how to do it right. I finished one side before I finally got what I should be doing. When you are rolling your roses keep your fingers a little distance apart.

You can change how far apart you have your fingers to change the look of the rose. When you finish rolling and gluing the end take the end of the piece in the center and the twist it to make the swirl spread apart.

Then pinch it.

And turn it upside down and glue in the center (where the swirl is) and also around the outside.

Then you are going to place it on the styrofoam heart.  Hold your fingers at the base and then stick one of your fingers in the middle to push the whole rose down. Keep your fingers like this until the glue cools down. (This is where I burnt my fingers)

Here are a coupld of close-ups of two roses. One used a longer piece of fabric than the other.

Once you are done with this step this is what your fingers are going to look like.

I spent as much time peeling glue off my fingers as I did actually doing the wreath. One thing that I thought of near the end was that I should have taken all of the pieces and one long side of the strip of fabric do a running stitch on my sewing machine and then gather it, spin it, and sew it into a rose. Then glue it on. It would have taken a little bit longer but I wouldn't have had burnt fingers, or had to peel glue off my fingers every minute. If you decide to make this wreath and gather the fabric let me know how it works out.

Here are a coupld more pictures of the finished product.