Spring is the time for new beginnings–Spring cleaning, fresh starts, beautiful flowers, and Spring Training! I love cleaning out the old and purging what I no longer need. There is just something so wonderful about starting over! Our Spring Break is next week and I plan on cleaning out a lot of my papers and files to make room for some new things. Of course, I also plan on relaxing with my kids and even spending time with my mom, who is flying in from Ohio I can NOT wait!!!
I also plan to do a little bit of redecorating. I am having my husband help with rearranging our bedroom so I can go shopping for a new desk and organizing tools. It is going to be more like Christmas than Easter in the Mahan household! I love finding new ways to organize all of my teaching supplies! Since I teach from home, I need even more help than normal when it comes to keeping things easily accessible, yet cute and out of the way. I will be looking for storage as well as cute decorations. I REALLY want one of these cute wreaths from Marina’s Custom Designs that our group (Upper Grade Memoirs) found:
And, Marina is so awesome that we are giving away a custom wreath to one of our customers! You can enter the giveaway at Upper Grade Memoir’s blog page.
The other thing I am looking forward to for spring is the weather. We plan on going to the beach with my mom. Although I love California weather, I must admit that I do miss a good rain or thunderstorm during the spring. My kids actually mention missing that too. In fact, my daughter brought up the fact that without the rainy days, we do less of the lazy activities, like lying around reading a book or cooking in the kitchen. I told her we would make sure to have a cooking day while my mom was in town! But, the conversation reminded me of one of my favorite Patricia Polacco books–Thunder Cake. If you are reading this book to your class or with your kids, I have a free writing activity you can use with the book. You can read more about the book and activity on my Thunder Cake blog post. And, you can download the product from my TpT store.
I hope everyone has a HOPPY Easter, Passover, and Spring Break! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway on our UGM page and check out these other Spring ideas:

Thank you, Krista. I’m always so impressed with all you do with homeschooling and the great products you create. I love all of Patricia Polacco’s books. Sandy
Krista,
Thank you for sharing! I haven’t read Thunder Cake before, and I love Patricia Polacco! I’m going to pick it up from the library asap. I love using mentor text, so this activity will be great with my 4th graders.
April