Happy Monday!!!

I hope everyone had the best weekend!

I know everyone is getting into a “back to school” groove!

I started easing back into some work things last week and will begin teaching soon! Kiddos in our area will also begin school over the next week!

As a teacher, I’ve always loved the excitement that surrounds the school year. I love a routine, a fresh start, endless opportunities, football, changing leaves, an upcoming season (my favorite 😉🍁), etc.

~

For those who are new here, I teach kindergarten for a SC public, virtual school.

I taught at a local brick & mortar school for 6 years and made the switch to virtual world when I started having babies. This will be my 4th year in the virtual world.

Which makes this my 10th year in education!

It’s so wild to think I’ve been teaching that long! I can still remember my first “meet the teacher” 10 years ago. It still feels like a “pinch me” thing that I am the teacher.

A little walk down memory lane….

10 years ago:

My very first classroom. I was getting ready to welcome a room full of kindergarten students!

And now…

My classroom/ home office 🙂

My classroom has changed a lot in 10 years but the heart behind it remains the same, impact lives!

~

Today’s “Motivation Monday” blog post is to provide encouragement + motivation for a new school year! I have a quote that can apply to everyone, back to school “teacher items,” back to school “items for littles,” a recipe for everyone, and I’ll leave you with a Bible verse!

I think we can all take something away from today’s post!

Starting with a favorite quote…

This book mark stays inside of my devotion and I see this quote every single day.

“Inside every child is a rainbow waiting to shine; they just need you to be the light.”

All children need someone to be their biggest cheerleader! Just like us as adults, we feel empowered when people cheer us on. Kids are the same way! Be the light in the classroom, at home with your kids, with clients at your desk job, or wherever you are today.

Back to school, “teacher items”

Aren’t these fun? I use all of these in my home office and they’re great for teachers in the traditional setting, too: a cute planner, a fun mouse pad, blue light glasses, and the best teacher pens. These would all make great gifts for teachers, too!

Shop here!

Back to school, “items for littles”

How cute are these back to school pieces? Brewer has similar attire, I purchased this, “night before preschool” book, we used this exact seersucker bag last year, and I love our boards for first/ last day!!

Shop here!

A recipe for everyone:

Baked Spaghetti

I’ve been making this recipe for years that I got from my friend, AnnaVee. Brewer loves it and he’s a picky eater! Hopefully the littles at your table will love it too!

It’s actually become a traditional “back to school” meal for us. It’s just an easy meal that I know everyone will love as we sit and chat about our first day of school.

Ingredients:

-1 lb of hamburger meat

-1 pack of pot size noodles

-1 big jar of spaghetti sauce

-1 1/2 packs of cream cheese (I use a little less because I don’t want to over do it!)

-1 small bag of shredded cheese (I use monterey jack and cheddar cheese!)

Directions:

-preheat oven to 350

-boil water and allow noodles to cook while you brown the hamburger meat

-drain the hamburger meat and return to pan and add the spaghetti sauce, you can allow it to heat for just a minute but the sauce will heat in the oven too

-drain noodles and return to pan

-add cream cheese by heating for a minute in microwave + mixing it with your noodles OR cut it into pieces to layer with in the baking sheet (see next step)

-Take your oven safe deep pan or an aluminum throw away pan (I use a large, full size pan) and layer the pan with sauce, noodles, (cream cheese?), sauce, noodles, (cream cheese)? sauce!

-Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. When 5 minutes remains, add the shredded cheese to the top of the spaghetti and allow it to finish baking. Garnish with parsley if you wish!

That’s it! You’re done!

Let me leave you with a Bible verse:

 “Train up a child in the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6

Amen!!!

I’m praying for a wonderful school year for everyone!

~

I am logging off my blog + social media the rest of this week to focus on my family and all things “back to school.”

I can feel the energy in the air! It gets me excited!! I also love “back to school” because it means that my favorite time of year is right around the corner. This morning Harry said, “seeing hoodies in the closet is getting me excited for fall.” Lol!

For now though, we are getting back into the school groove and soaking in these last few weeks of summer!!

I’ll be back on social media this weekend at some point and I’ll be back on the blog next Tuesday, August 13th! Have a happy, happy week!