Over The Top Mommy

Sleeping Beauty is Out of the Disney Vault! Grab This Diamond Edition While You Can! Fun Activities and a Giveaway for Your Own Copy Too!

October 7, 2014 / Disney, Disney, Entertainment, Movies

It’s no surprise that we are BIG Disney lovers in our home! Emi has always loved Sleeping Beauty and used to dress up like her a lot, even when we’d visit Disneyland. She even had one of the reversible blue/pink dresses that came from Disneyland Paris. For Emi’s 3rd birthday, we even hired “Sleeping Beauty” to come to Emi’s party to entertain the kids. I swear she was the real one, too! (She came from Dream Come True Entertainment)

We just love “Sleeping Beauty” and we love this classic Disney movie!

Today is such an extra happy day! It’s the day that Sleeping Beauty is finally releasing from the Disney Vault! Disney’s ultimate princess fairytale classic “Sleeping Beauty” will be available for the first time on Diamond Edition Blu-ray, Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere! Creating the ultimate at-home viewing experience, Disney’s 2-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray Superset (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) contains digitally restored picture and sound, a digital copy of the film, and a variety of magical new bonus features!Additional all-new bonus features include never-before-seen deleted scenes “The Fair” (with Deleted Character The Vulture,) “The Curse is Fulfilled” and “Arrival Of Maleficent,” plus the Beauty-Oke sing-along to “Once Upon A Dream.” The Blu-ray Superset also includes classic DVD bonus features and more!

In honor of this grand occasion of “Sleeping Beauty’ being released from the Disney Vault, I’m also attaching a link to download some fun printables and activities that go along with the movie. They’re perfect for both boys and girls. I think we might even have a movie party at our house with our new DVD! Check them out just by clicking on the image!

Finally, I’m giving away one copy of “Sleeping Beauty: Diamond Edition” to one of my readers. Just enter below in the Rafflecopter. How exciting is that? Good luck everyone!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Camp Spooky is Taking Over Knott’s Camp Snoopy on Weekend Days in October!

October 2, 2014 / Knott's, Orange County, SoCal Fun

One of the most adorable places to visit in Southern California as a family has got to be Knott’s Camp Snoopy! Located just inside of Knott’s Berry Farm, Camp Snoopy features many of your favorite Peanuts characters and it’s just a fun place for kids to encounter kid-friendly attractions, including their 3 newest rides, Linus Launcher, Charlie Brown’s Kite Flyer, and Pig Pen’s Mud Buggies and 2 new interactive experiences for kids, Beagle Scout Headquarters and Peanuts’ Play Lot .

Starting this weekend, Camp Spooky will be taking over Camp Snoopy during the weekend days in October, as well as on Halloween. Camp Spooky provides an opportunity for children to participate in non-scary Halloween activities, that focus on “cheer rather than fear”! The shows and activities are geared towards children between the ages of 3 and 11. Camp Spooky admission is included in the price of regular Knott’s Berry Farm admission.

This year will be our first time visiting Camp Spooky. Although I grew up in Southern California and Knott’s Berry Farm was a big part of my childhood, there was no Camp Spooky back then, so for me, it’s a big deal too. Emi is kind of a planner, just like me, so when I told her we were going, she already starting looking at the park map again and making out her “Camp Spooky To-Do List”!

Here’s what you can be excited to find at Camp Spooky this year:

“The Monsters Are Coming, Charlie Brown“, live theatre show in the Camp Spooky Theatre– Watch your favorite Peanuts characters in this adorable, live theatre production.
Peanuts Costume Parade-Kids are invited to wear a costume when they visit Camp Spooky and participate in a costume parade and contest, hosted by Snoopy and the Peanuts Gang. The contest takes place on Saturdays and Sundays in the Camp Spooky Theatre, immediately following the 3:45 show. Kids have the opportunity to win prizes too!
Mini Monster Maze-Have fun roaming through the obstacles in this mini maze, with sweet treats awaiting guests at the end!
Photo Forest-You’ll encounter a few different interactive photo opportunities in this section of Camp Spooky. Look for the Mummy’s Manor, the mysterious mirrors of Medusa’s Bug Boutique, and The Witch’s Tea Party! You’ll be sure to capture some photo memories to last you a lifetime!
Witch’s Potion Station-for an additional fee, you can mix and match different potions, inspired by the witch’s own potions, to create the perfect and delicious potion of your own to take home and enjoy.

Now we need to come up with little costumes to dress our Snoopy and Woodstock in! Any suggestions?

We’re really excited to see all of our favorite Peanuts characters and get into the Halloween spirit this weekend at Camp Spooky! We hope to see some of you there!

For general Knott’s Berry Farm information, click here. For ticket info, including a place to purchase park tickets at a discount, click here. Knott’s also offers season passes at a very reasonable price!

Connect with Knott’s Berry Farm on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram too!

I Got Chased by Zombies at Knott’s Scary Farm and Lived To Tell About It! #ScaryFarm

October 1, 2014 / Knott's

Disclosure: I was invited as a guest to spend time at Knott’s Scary Farm, in order to write this post. I do not work for any brand mentioned in this article, nor do I have a relationship with them. I have a professional relationship with GigaSavvy, for which I create written content. All opinions are 100% my own.

Getting a chance to attend opening weekend of Knott’s Scary Farm this year was such a fun experience! I hadn’t been to Knott’s Scary Farm since high school. Back in August, I got to attend a media unveiling event where they announced all of the frightful events they were planning for this year’s haunt. I wasn’t sure if I’d be brave enough to go when October rolled around! Some of the main highlights looked REALLY scary from the previews they shared with us that night. Regardless, I was determined to go and act big and brave.

This year, Knott’s Scary Farm dates extend from September 25-November 1. It’s open from 7 p.m.-1 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays and from 7 p.m.-2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Scary Farm features 11 elaborately-themed walk through mazes and attractions, 4 endless scare zones across the park, 2 spectacular live shows, including Elvira’s Big Top and The Hanging, and over 1000 live monsters, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, and freaks roaming the park, ready to chase you around! All of that PLUS the regular park attractions makes for a crazy good time!

I think my first squeal of excitement of the night came when I was given a special Skeleton Key keychain on my lanyard, along with a Fright Lane wristband! The Fright Lane wristband and the Skeleton Key offers unlimited priority access to nine mazes and haunted attractions all night long. The Skeleton Key, which is included with all Fright Lane passes, “unlocks” a secret extra room inside of five mazes. Guests also receive a commemorative lanyard and collectible keychain. Fright Lane with Skeleton Key passes start at $65.00. (Separate theme park admission required, and not included)

I had a love-hate relationship with the mazes. While I dared to enter them with my hubby as my bodyguard, I was constantly screaming and petrified by all of the horrific things inside and yet, I kept running to find the next maze, every time we’d finish one! It’s like I couldn’t stop myself! I think my two favorite mazes were “Pinocchio Unstrung” and “Forevermore”.

Obviously I loved the story of Pinocchio as a little girl but when we ventured inside this maze, I think I realized almost immediately that it wasn’t going to be anything like the original story.

It was probably the creepy marionette show that gave it away! It was mesmerizing and frightening all at once! Poor Gepetto was all hacked up and bloody, lying on a table, too! Guess he’ll never get a real boy now! Hehe!

From the outside, Forevermore didn’t look so bad but once I got inside I knew that its look had been deceiving. It was a psych hospital and they were looking for an escaped murderer! That’s fun, right? Nothing like going through a mental ward where a bunch of crazies have all murdered people and are telling you that they killed all of their friends! I was lucky to escape without ending up in a straightjacket myself!

Yeah, I must admit that it was pretty creepy but that’s when my love-hate comes back into play since a normal person would’ve just run away and gone home. Not I though…nope, I got in line for Special Ops: INFECTED next! If you’re not familiar with the name, it’s because Infected is brand new for 2014. Knott’s describes it like this:

“Infected seamlessly integrates interactive gaming technology with an immersive mountainous landscape, delivering a breakthrough interactive haunted experience that is as terrifying as it is challenging. Missions will take guests through a variety of wilderness terrains, including the unpredictable barrel bridges across the rushing river, through the dark caverns, and through mysterious backwoods. Six acres of the beloved theme park is now home to mutinous, scream-inducing zombies, and the time has come for a harrowing Special Ops survival mission.“

This attraction was actually so much fun! I was worried that I wouldn’t know what to do because the rest of our group seemed like they’d played Laser Tag before and I hadn’t, but I did pretty well, at least in my own opinion. We were led through the Quarantined area by our two squadron leaders.

Thank goodness for these two! They saved us, but it wasn’t easy! (photo credit: Knott’s)

I tried my best to listen to them as we ran from shelter to shelter and were chased by zombies, trying not to get INFECTED! It was really nerve wracking to be chased and scared by all of the zombies, while having to react really quickly by shooting at them! When you’re dealing with zombies, it doesn’t matter HOW big the husband that you brought along to protect you! In the end, my adrenaline was flowing and I was ready to do it again! They’ll take your pictures before you turn in your equipment and the pictures are available for purchase.

I kind of love how our pic came out!

I would definitely recommend buying tickets and making your own reservation for Special Ops: Infected. It’s not part of the regular Knott’s Scary Farm ticket but isn’t something you want to miss. You can get more info about it here.

I absolutely fangirl over Elvira! (photo credit: Knott’s)

We got so caught up in all of the mazes that we actually didn’t get into see Elvira’s live show, “Elvira’s Big Top” that night. I grew up watching Elvira on TV so I was sad that I didn’t get to see her show but I did get to see her on stage back in August at the unveiling event. The woman hasn’t aged a bit. I’ve heard so many people make comments about Elvira “looking good for her age” but seriously, this has nothing to do with her age..she’s just a hottie!

Elvira rocks 2 shows a night, on every night of Knott’s Scary Farm! Wow! (photo credit: Knott’s)

Since we didn’t make it into her show on time, we did visit her Boo-tique which is located next to the Charles M. Schultz Theater.

There was SO much Elvira memorabilia in there, as well as a ton of items to purchase. Fans also have an opportunity to meet Elvira each night of Knott’s Scary Farm, just by spending at least $50 in her Boo-tique! Find out more about her Meet n’ Shriek here.

After taking a break from all of the craziness, we grabbed a couple of ice cream Cookie-wiches to munch on while we waited to watch The Hanging in Town Square. I think this picture pretty much describes how yummy they were!

I don’t even know where to begin with all of the compliments I could pay the writers, actors, dancers & stuntmen in The Hanging! It was SO clever, witty AND hilarious! I was also excited because they ended up hanging the person I voted for them to hang, in an online Knott’s survey last summer.

I won’t spoil it for you, you’ll just HAVE to go watch The Hanging for yourself! I LOVED watching The Hanging though and my only regret is not getting there earlier to be even closer to the stage, but that’s just my fault for making us late with my need for a snack! It’s basically standing room only for the show but we were a little ways back. Next time, I’m getting front row!

In order to get out of the park, we still had to trek through the foggy ghost town and kept getting spooked by all of those who awaited in the shadows for us! We honestly had the best time at Knott’s Scary Farm and I was so happy that we rallied to stay up almost to the end of it.

Knott’s Scary Farm requires a separate ticket for entrance than a general park ticket. You have the option of purchasing a single night ticket or they also offer a Scary Farm Pass this year, which is something new, and gives you unlimited access to any night of Scary Farm, with no blackout dates. For Knott’s Scary Farm lovers, this pass is a GREAT deal!

Do YOU like scary things like this? Have YOU ever been to Knott’s Scary Farm? If you haven’t, you need to grab some tickets and get there on one of the nights left THIS year! Do you dare? I did!

Happy 100th Birthday, Morton Salt Girl! #MortonSaltGirl100

September 29, 2014 / Celebrations, Food, Parties, Product Reviews

Disclosure: I received a free party pack of products from MomSelect and Morton to host a MommyParty! No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own. I grew up with Morton Salt in our house. My mom used it for cooking and baking and the Morton Salt Girl was just an American Icon that I always recognized. Now that I’m a mom, I love sharing things from my childhood with my own daughter. Everytime we bake or make a recipe for a meal, we use Morton Salt. She even knows which salt to grab when we’re at the store doing grocery shopping. She’ll even say “the salt with the girl on it”, reach for the Morton Salt, and toss it into our shopping cart.

Did you know that the Morton Salt Girl turned 100 this year? Yep, she first appeared on the Morton’s Salt package back in 1914. (The company actually established itself in Chicago in 1848.) She sure does look good for being 100 years old, don’t you think?

When I was presented with an opportunity to throw a “Morton Salt Girl 100th Birthday” Celebration MommyParty, I was excited! I’m always up for a party and celebrating something like that is so much fun. My own daughter also gets really into it. She loves a fun theme. So, I decided to invite over a couple of my girlfriends for a casual girls’ night one weekend. One of them brought her daughter over to hang out with mine. I let my daughter plan some fun activities to do at the party with her friend. While we relaxed on the patio with some drinks and appetizers, the little girls had some birthday celebration fun of their own.

I set out some special snacks for the girls to munch on, which included these adorable, personalized M&Ms and some (salted) popcorn. The little girls ended up combining the 2 to make one of my most favorite mixes…popcorn and M&Ms! It’s like my movie theater go-to! They brought us each our own little bowl to enjoy.

The girls loved drawing and painting that night and were even drawing the Morton Salt Girl. Although I grabbed a snapshot of this “works in progress”, she didn’t want me to post pictures of the finished products because she didn’t like how it turned out. Honestly, it was adorable!

They used the die cuts included in my Morton Salt party kit as game pieces and played quite a few games of “Morton Salt Girl Tic Tac Toe” outside in the front yard, on their big, giant pillows. I love their creativity!

Later on, the girls informed us that they had plans to dress up like the Morton Salt Girl and wanted me to take their pictures. It was their Morton Salt Girl Photo Booth. Looking at these pictures makes me giggle because both of the girls have pretty long hair and they worked really hard to make it look short, just like the picture of the Morton Salt Girl. Their favorite part about the photo booth setup was getting to use the special Morton Salt Umbrella! What do you think? I’d say they “Nailed it!”, wouldn’t you?

We had such a fun time getting together for a little “girl time” and watching our girls be creative while we “big girls” caught up with each others’ hectic lives. Happy 100th Birthday, Morton Salt Girl! I only hope I look as good as you do when I’M 100!

To learn more about Morton and The Morton Salt girl, click here.

Belo Blow Dry Bar in Laguna Beach! Do Something For Yourself!

September 28, 2014 / Beauty & Pampering, Lifestyle, Orange County

I don’t know about you, but for me, there are just times when I NEED someone else to do my hair for a special occasion or an event I’m attending. There’s just something a stylist does that I’m just not capable of doing with my hair. A few of my closest friends had recently visited a blow out bar together as a group to have their hair done before a wedding they were all in and it sounded like so much fun. A blow dry bar differs from a visit to your regular stylist in a way that allows you to achieve that “finished” look without the long term commitment you have with your own personal hair stylist. Let’s face it, we all know that cheating on your hairdresser is a BIG offense and this actually doesn’t count, so you don’t have to worry!

I was recently invited to Belo Blow Dry Bar in Laguna Beach to try out their services! It’s Laguna Beach’s first, and only, blow dry bar and is located in the heart of downtown at 302 Forest Avenue (upstairs at the corner of Forest Avenue and Beach Street)

Belo Blow Dry Bar is a dream come true for hair stylist and Laguna Beach resident Patricia Musselman, who is the owner of this fabulous new establishment. Orginally from Brazil, Musselman has a passion for two things: hair and traveling. Belo Blow Dry Bar combines the two in a glamorous black, white and gold setting. Musselman describes her most recent venture as:

“I’m a huge fan of blow dry bars myself and saw a need in Laguna for girls to get their hair styled locally. When the opportunity arose to take over a friend’s salon, I jumped at the chance and am having a blast with it,” said Patricia Musselman, owner of Belo Blow Dry Bar. “My goal with Belo is to create a warm and friendly environment where women can come have fun by themselves or with their friends, experiment with new styles, and get beautiful hair for work, beach parties or special events.”

You can spot Belo Blow Dry Bar from its logo’d front door and the adorable sidewalk chalkboard that sits out in front of the door. Just inside the front door is a staircase that takes you to the second floor. The decor inside is so beautiful and the staff is very welcoming.

Emi loved being able to order off of the “hairstyle menu”. It features 8 of the most popular current hairstyles, with a sketch and description of each one. If you don’t find one of those that you’d like, Belo also has iPads available for their clients to use, to search for hairstyles on Pinterest! The Belo stylists will work with you to create whatever hairstyle you envision.

Emi and I each had our own stylists that day. It was fun for me to sit back, relax and chat with my stylist, Angelik, about girl things. Emi loved the attention she was getting from her stylist, Tiara. She also loved her name! (I wonder why?)

I was seriously in love with the back of my hair when she showed it to me in the mirror!

We had such a fun morning at Belo Blow Dry Bar and were so happy with how both of our hairstyles turned out. I highly recommend calling to book an appointment of your own. Whether you have someplace special to be or just want to do something nice for yourself, you deserve to be pampered every now and then.

Call 949.4949714 to make an appointment today. You can also connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

I Got My Brunch On at Michael’s Pizzeria in the Long Beach Downtown Promenade!

September 17, 2014 / Food, Lifestyle, Los Angeles, Restaurant Reviews

One of my most favorite things about living in Southern California is the fact that there is SO much to see and do here! We recently decided to take a short drive down to Long Beach. The Downtown Promenade area of Long Beach is so cool.

Along the promenade, you can find this adorable little Italian restaurant called Michael’s Pizzeria. It has a charming outside patio area (as well as inside seating) and even an area to park your bike!

I had seen pictures of Michael’s delicious pizzas before on their Instagram page, but we specifically made the trip on this particular day to try out some of their brunch menu.

The brunch menu is served on Saturdays and Sundays and features several wood-fired cast iron frittatas, as well as sweet items such as cinnamon rolls, french brioche french toast, and pancakes. Other items available during brunch hours include wood-fired organic eggs, fennel sausage, smoked bacon, and garlic-roasted new potatoes. I also need to mention that they have NUTELLA to put on your toast and your french toast! Wow!

So let’s talk about what I got to sample that day. It’s a lot, so I hope you’re ready for the pictures and the descriptions. (I just hope you’re not reading this while you’re hungry!)

I’d already seen a picture of Michael’s homemade cinnamon rolls on Instagram, so I knew I was destined to have some of my own. We started out with an order of the cinnamon rolls.

They’re cast-iron baked and topped with a rosemary syrup. They were amazing and I had to fight over the last one with Emi. (we halved it)

Next, a Salsiccia E Funghi frittata arrived at the table. It’s made with 2 organic eggs, fennel sausage, and mushrooms and wood-fired in the oven.

I love the presentation of the cast iron skillet. All of the frittatas are served with a side of brioche toast and house-made jam, which was strawberry. Yum!

We were just getting the party started when a Carbonara Pizze Bianca showed up at the table. This pizza is like a foodie’s dream. It’s made with provolone, mozzarella, and pancetta….and then topped with 2 eggs!

Breaking the egg yolk on top of the pizza just brought out even more flavor! This pizza is actually part of the regular menu and not specific to the brunch menu so you can order it anytime!

We slowed down a little bit with some light, refreshing Prosciutto and Melone. The cantaloupe and honeydew served with Parma ham was so pretty to look on the plate. It was especially delicious and tasted so fresh when it was combined with the arugula and balsamic. You can tell something is great if a kid will eat it and Emi was doing just that.

We then ventured back to meet a couple more pizzas. The first one was a Margherita Pizza. Tomato, mozzarella, basil, and extra virgin olive oil.

The second one was something featured on the special chalkboard menu that sits above the wood-fire oven. It was called the Porchetta Pizza and was made with pesto, porchetta (slow-roasted pork belly), smoked mozzarella, peppadews, and garlic spinach. It was loaded up with so much flavor!

Even though we were getting pretty full from all of the delicious food, we knew we still HAD TO have dessert! From the start, Emi had been eyeing the gelato she’d seen on the menu. There are about 8 different flavors of gelato to choose from each day at Michael’s. We finally decided to try the Salted Caramel and the Mint Chocolate gelatos. They were so light and flavorful and were just enough to top off our great brunch!

I especially enjoyed getting to chat with the manager, that day. He is so passionate about what they’re doing over there and talked extensively about the way the foods are all prepared fresh daily and how they only use the freshest ingredients. They really pride themselves on bringing the best foods to the table for their customers. He explained each and every detail about the items we were sampling that day.

I learned something about pizza slicing too. The pizzas arrive at your table unsliced. Michael’s Pizzeria follows what the natives in Naples do, by serving pizzas unsliced because they believe that slicing a pie immediately after it comes out of the oven, causes moisture to form beneath it. They want to make sure your pizza does not end up soggy and suggest cutting it with a knife and fork as you enjoy it, but will slice it for you upon request. I love this!

Michael’s Pizzeria is definitely somewhere I’d recommend to others. They have 2 locations in Long Beach, on 2nd street and on the Downtown Promenade, as well as a location in Rancho Mirage. (I know where we’re going the next time we visit Palm Desert). The restaurant is family friendly and has something for everyone on it. Kids will love hearing the kitchen staff shout “Pizza!” every time they take another pizza out of the wood-fire oven. (Ok I’ll admit I loved that part too and may have joined in too) I cannot wait to go back and try more items from their menu. I know you’ll love it too!

More Fun With The Box Trolls! Check Out These Printable Activity Sheets and a DIY for an Industrial Metal Lamp!

September 16, 2014 / Entertainment, Movies, Uncategorized

As September 26th gets closer and we’re starting to see TV spots for The Box Troll movie, we’re getting more and more excited in our house for its release into theaters! After Emi saw this video from You Tube showing how some of the movie was made using stop motion, she was extra excited because she loves making stop motion videos of her own on her iPad!

We been visiting the official Box Trolls site quite often lately and playing the “Make your own Box Troll” game. It’s really fun! You need to go try out! I’ve got some free activity sheets that go along with the movie for you. There’s a fun maze, an unscramble activity, a word search and some other printables. Just click on the image below to take you to the link where you can download and print out some of your own!

Another fun thing you might want to check out this awesome DIY tutorial that shows how to make an industrial lamp! Watch!

Have you picked out a favorite Box Troll yet? Mine is still “Shoe” and Emi’s is “Oil Can”! Which is yours?

Un sinópsis de la película:
Un evento cinematográfico para toda la familia de los creadores de “Coraline” y “ParaNorman”, que le presenta a las audiencias a un nuevo tipo de familia: los Boxtrolls, una comunidad de criaturas estrafalarias y traviesas que han criado con amor a un niño humano huérfano llamado Eggs (con la voz de Isaac Hempstead-Wright) en la asombrosa casa cavernosa que han construido debajo de las calles de Cheesebridge. Cuando el villano del pueblo, Archibald Snatcher (el ganador del Premio de la Academia Ben Kingsley), propone un plan para eliminar a los Boxtrolls, Eggs decide aventurarse a la superficie, “para encontrar la luz”, y allí conoce y se hace amigo de la fabulosamente enérgica Winnie (Elle Fanning). Juntos, conciben un osado plan para salvar a la familia de Eggs.

I Created a Beach-Themed Reading Corner in My Classroom This Year With the Help Of Oriental Trading Company

September 15, 2014 / The Teacher in Me

Although this school year has just begun, it’s already been a great one so far in Room 7! I have 30 bright-eyed, adorable, and very curious first graders in my class! Did I mention how adorable they are? This year, I decided to set up a thematic “Beach” reading corner in my room to get my students extra excited about reading. Thanks to Oriental Trading Company, it was easy to create one.

A photo of my classroom setup in process with my “Beach” Reading Corner in process. I’m obsessed with all of the plush sea animals on the canopy. My favorite is the octopus! It was so much fun to set up my classroom this year.

Here are the items I ordered from Oriental Trading Company’s online site to create my reading corner:

The DIY Sun was really easy to assemble. How cute is the face?

I could’ve easily ordered a bunch of other things too but I held back. (maybe next time) Everything was so easy to put together and hang up. I don’t think my classroom has ever looked this cute before!

What NOT To Do With Your Reading Corner at the Beginning of the School Year

Let’s first talk about what NOT to do with your reading corner at the beginning of the school year. I guess I got so excited about my thematic reading corner and had it all set up and ready to go the first day of school! What I didn’t really think about was the fact that my students might not be ready for IT that soon. On the first day of school, the worst possible thing happened….someone popped one of the green reading chairs! (Ok maybe that wasn’t the WORST thing that could’ve happened, but it was bad) Yep, it was a little girl in my class and she jumped onto it when my back was turned. I heard the noise of the pop, which was followed by a whole bunch of gasps from other students. It was at that moment that I suddenly remembered how important it was to set up my classroom expectations and review the procedures for the reading corner BEFORE allowing them to use it! I should’ve known better, especially since it’s not my first year teaching. I guess I just got forgot since I was so excited.

Establishing Rules and Procedures in the Classroom For the Reading Corner

Before you can utilize your reading corner, it’s very necessary to introduce and review the rules and procedures for how you want the children to behave and use the area. It’s very important to establish your expectations for them and to even do several sessions of practicing WHAT to do. I, often times, find that my own students need a lot more guidance because they come from homes where there is very little structure and many just haven’t learned basic ways to treat things, especially things that belong to others that they may be using. I also find that my students do really well, once I have explained and modeled my expectations and let them practice.

It’s also important to build a classroom community and give the students ownership so they feel like it belongs to them. The beginning of first grade is a big change for the students who are coming from kindergarten. I think it’s important to help them feel like our classroom is theirs and the items in our classroom are also theirs to use. The reading corner is a place they can choose to visit when they have finished their work, to read quietly. If they feel it’s theirs, they’ll treat it with respect and use it the right way.

Motivating and Keeping Students Accountable Using the Plush Clown Fish

I am SO happy that I decided to order a dozen of the Plush Clown Fish for my classroom this year. I’m using the fish to motivate my students in the classroom and also as a way to hold them accountable for staying on task.

Each morning, I have 12 glitter clothespins clipped to 12 of the fish on the wall. When the students arrive at school, they look to see who has a clip and those are the students who will have the privilege of “reading with a fish” that day and having them on their desk. ONE of the 12 students is also the student who gets to sit in the reading chair that day.Students may read with a fish on the carpet, they may also read with a fish at their desk.

Wherever they choose to read, they are held accountable in the sense that if I see them off task or playing around, I take the fish away and move to glitter clip to another student’s name for the day. (When that happens, they get really sad). It’s adorable to see them reading with the fish. Never underestimate the power of a stuffed animal with a first grader!

The students actually say that their fish help them read better!

The reading chair is the most sought-after seat in room 7!

I am so excited to see how much growth my students make this year and how well they progress in their academics. It already seems like my Beach Reading Corner is keeping them motivated and I have Oriental Trading Company to thank for helping me out with that!

Disclosure: I received products from Oriental Trading Company in order to write my review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

Irvine Park Railroad’s Annual Pumpkin Patch Now Open Through Halloween!

September 14, 2014 / Celebrations, Holiday Fun, Lifestyle, Orange County

With the start of a new school year and seasonal treats like Pumpkin Spice Lattes making appearances everywhere, I’d say there are signs of Fall all around. It’s a time of year that I absolutely love!

One of the things many families love about Fall is the opening of Irvine Park Railroad’s Pumpkin Patch! Nestled inside of Irvine Regional Park, the Irvine Park Railroad is one several family fun activities offered at the park. Others include hiking, biking (bike rentals available), paddle boats, pony rides, and The Orange County Zoo. We like to bring along a picnic and make an entire day of it.

(photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

This year, Irvine Park Railroad’s Annual Pumpkin Patch ` opened on Saturday, September 20th and will run daily through Friday, October 31st! Although we’ve had the opportunity to visit their Easter Eggstravaganza and their Christmas train recently, this will be our first time visiting their Pumpkin Patch in many years, so we’re very excited about it!

(photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

Some of the activities you can find at the Pumpkin Patch include:

the Irvine Park Railroad train ride through the park
John Deer tractor racers
A kid-friendly haunted house
face painting
Halloween bounce house jumper
carnival games (where everyone wins a prize)
pan for gold
cookie decorating
a giant hay maze
Halloween picture stands for photo opportunities

Emi could jump in this for HOURS! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

I haven’t panned for gold since I was in 4th grade! I’m doing it! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

I love these little Halloween faces! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)

Watch this video for Irvine Park Railroad’s website, that shows how much fun the Pumpkin Patch is!

The hours for Irvine Park Railroad’s Pumpkin Patch are:

Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

There is no charge to enter the Pumpkin Patch, but tickets are required to ride the train and participate in Pumpkin Patch activities. Activity tickets can be purchased at the box office for $5.00 each or you can buy a book of 15 tickets for $60.00 ($15.00 savings). Also, please note that a gate entrance fee will be charged by the County of Orange for each vehicle that enters Irvine Regional Park.

He’ll be happy to give you a lift! (photo credit: Irvine Park Railroad)