Friday Favorites in June: Cecilia; Father's Day; Massachusetts; Line Leader Letters!

Happy Fabulous Friday!  Today I am linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for:

 Cecilia
Every Monday and Friday, my husband and I take care of our almost 11 month old granddaughter, Cecilia:

She is the happiest and most pleasant baby I have ever known.  She wakes up from her nap with a smile on her face.  
Father's Day Boston Harbor Cruise
Several years ago on Father's Day, my family and I went on a sunset cruise of Boston Harbor.  Here are 2 highlights:

Here's a picture of Boston Light - the oldest lighthouse in North America.  It is also a lighthouse that is still manned.  Back in colonial days, the purpose of this lighthouse was to warm of the presence of enemy ships. 

Continuing on, here's a picture of the famous USS Constitution.  In the background to the left of the ship, you can see the Bunker Hill Monument.  Every evening at sunset, the crew of the USS Constitution holds a ceremony to retire the flag in which they play Taps and set off a cannon.  The sound of the cannon is really loud, and many other harbor cruise ships stay in the area to witness this nightly ritual.

Massachusetts History I always loved teaching about Massachusetts history.  Any time I go to another state, my heart does sing when I'm on my way home and see the "Massachusetts Welcomes You" sign.  Plus, in 3rd grade, we studied about Massachusetts all year so I'm always happy to add to my knowledge base.  
Now it's the 250th anniversary of the start  of the Revolutionary War, knowing history is even more relevant!

This picture shows the recent 250th anniversary of the first battles in Concord, MA!
Line Leader Letters/Acrostic Poems

Here is an idea to keep in your back pocket for next school year!  

Every week, there is a Line Leader for the class.  Besides, always being first in line, this person gets to lead the class in the Pledge of Allegiance and choose a song to sing in the morning.  Every Friday afternoon, the students and I write a Line Leader letter (for the first half of the year) or an acrostic poem (for the 2nd part of the year).  Then I staple all the pages together and share the pictures with the rest of the class on the rug.  The prior Line Leader and I read our letters/poems out loud, and then the Line Leader receives their book. 

Here's a sample of the acrostic I wrote to one of the students:

This Friday afternoon tradition was VERY important to me because it is a community and confidence building experience.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there!  Make sure to visit this link up to check out other great blogs!

Friday Favorites in the Beginning of June!

Happy First Day of June!  Today I'm linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals  as well as  Erika from A Little Bit of Everything  for Friday Favorites!  I have to remind myself every day that it is actually:

Planning

Next weekend I'm hoping to open up my above-ground pool and install the air conditioners.  Even though it is officially June according to the calendar, it was only in the low 60's yesterday so it's hard to believe that it's spring and that summer will ever arrive.

That super tall tree is my favorite tree in the world!

What I'm Reading

Now that I am retired, I am getting to read A LOT MORE!  Here are some books I would recommend:

Good Dirt

I already loved the book, Black Cake, by Charmaine Wilkerson, and I loved this book just as much.  In Good Dirt, ten year old Ebby Freeman grapples with witnessing the murder of her brother in their family home.  This violent act dramatically defines Ebby's life.  When she has the opportunity to house sit a cottage in the French countryside, she grabs it!  Unfortunately, her ex-fiance who stood Ebby up on their wedding day,  shows up to rent the guest house.  

If you're looking for a new book, this is definitely a book to check out!

 A Book Of Longings:

First, I love all of Sue Monk Kidd's books.  Second, the setting of this book is during Biblical times. (One of my all time favorite books is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.).  Third, the premise of the book is that Jesus gets married to Ana ~ this book is Ana's story.  Ana is a woman who knows how to read and write which was very unusual at that time.  I highly recommend this book; it's a book that I love so much that I don't want it to end!

Check Out My You Tube Channe

I never expected to be a You Tuber.  Many of my students claimed to want this job as a career because of fame and fortune.  I'm not expecting any of that; I was just hoping to maybe help another teacher with virtual learning/teaching.  However, I continued recording the books I read to the kids during snack so there are plenty of videos to check out!

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Thank you for stopping by the blog today!  Have a fun weekend!

Happy Mother's Day and Happy May!

Happy May!  I'm excited to link up with Andrea from Momfessionals and Erika from A Little Bit of Everything for:

Student Drawn Portraits

My student, Blessings, drew this picture of me, and the resemblance is pretty close.  Of course, I do appreciate the long, thick eyelashes Blessings gave me!

Even after retiring last June (how is it almost a year!?), I still have all these student drawn portraits ~ they are very special!

Playing Corn Hole:

Yesterday I was browsing around in T.J. Maxx when a pink box caught my eye.  I pulled it out from underneath a display, and it turned out to be a Corn Hole game with a donut theme!

For $40, I got a one of a kind game!  If you go online at T.J. Maxx, you can get a similar version with an American flag theme right here!  We were outside in the cool, damp weather playing

Spring?:

I remember to check the weather every day lately ~ just in the event that the sun might peek out.  Here in Massachusetts, it's been a very changeable spring with 

Plus, I'm trying to not wear winter clothes which is challenging due to the low temperatures and rainy weather.

Reading: 

I have been reading online books on the OverDrive app.

Right now I'm reading Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove.  

What I'm especially loving about this book is that the main character, Meredith, is 50 years old!  She decides to jump start her life by buying a lighthouse on the coast.  How cool is that!  If you're looking for an endearing book to read, check out this book! 

A while ago, I read a really fun book, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, by Gail Honeyman:

 Eleanor is completely honest and sees everything in black and white terms until circumstances, beyond her control, force her out of her comfort zone.  She is forced to assimilate into "normal" society and experience "normal" social situations which cause her to blurt out her own viewpoints ~ which are so true and funny!  If you're looking for a book that you'll remember for years to come, check out this one!

Well, thank you so much for checking in today!  Please let me know what another good book would be!  

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Spring ~ hopefully the weather is more cooperative where you live!

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