The excitement of creating your own space!

Well, i went back to work today for a few hours.  I dragged my sweet husband along since I needed his muscles. :) (thanks babe!)  This is what i saw when I came in:

Everything was in a different corner than the one I had put it in.  We had our work cut our for us!
After a little less than 3 hours....Progress!

Much better! Still have a few problem spots that i still don't know how to fix, but that will be a battle for another day. Even this took a lot of moving and re-arranging multiple times.

Another view.  I have to keep in mind- traffic flow, accessibility to materials, and safety (not to mention elbow room).  Not an easy task!

New home for the Pretend & Learn Center!  I think having that window more open will be nice...or a distraction?  Not sure yet....other teachers have it this way and like it.  What do you think?

New home for the Writing Center.  Last year it was so small and cramped.  I want to change that this year.  I want to encourage and nurture more writing in my students, especially the boys that would rather be in the Construction or Computer Center all day! :o)  Have so many fun ideas to make this center inviting, exciting, and fun!

My desk in a different angle.  This way it frees up some much needed inches of space in my room. I say Pre-kinder rooms should be BIG!  Smaller children need more room to move around and explore!  How can I have fully stocked and available centers with no good room to move around in without the students stepping on each others toes?! I guess back in the 50's they didn't know this, so they built all rooms the same.

Anyway...so we are back home and I am energized to get stuff DONE, so I tackled the DIY project that I thought of while on vacation in Vera Cruz, Mexico.  I spent my last day on the beaches of Vera Cruz (there are many small ones one after the other divided by large rock formations protruding into the sea.) with Rain Rojas and her lovely family.  I am indebted to her and her husband Moises!  I stayed at her house and she even drove me all the way to Vera Cruz from Xalapa where she lives the day before my plane flew out (2hr drive).  She suggested making a vacation day of it and took her whole family with me to Vera Cruz.   She has two sweet kids, Monica (aka Moni) and Mauricio, ages 13 and 10 respectively.
          Once there we stopped at various tourist attractions (an aquarium, mall, souvenir shops, etc.)  The beaches were the best!  We tied up our skirts, took our sandals off and waded in the shallow waves.  The sand was black where it was wet!  Incredibly soft between our toes and full of tiny crabs!!  They burrow right on the surface of the sand and the water covers them...but they create these cute tiny holes where bubbles rise from....they use it to breath i guess.  So Rain, the children and I started searching for them....we found many and even a few empty ones.   (there is a picture of one below. granted it's dead but, it's there)  Then I climbed up on one of the rock formations ( more like an accumulation of rocks that go out into the sea and separate the beach into smaller beaches. Each has it's own name even.)
Once up there, I could look out onto the ocean...so peaceful and endless....the weather was perfect...an ocean breeze, cool water on my legs, sand between my toes, and a warm rock to sit on....that's when I decided that I HAD to bring my husband here. (Think I convinced him too!)
I found among the rocks long twigs and dry seaweed where some animal had made a nest at some point....then Moni pointed out which it probably was..."Mira un pelicano!"  Sure enough, there was a large pelican souring in the sky near us!  So cool!  I had never seen a real one close up!  It was one of those rare perfect moments when you feel one with nature and at peace in yourself and just happy...content...calm...I can't describe it quite like it felt but...it was great!!
Right then, another great idea formed in my mind....I picked up a few of the white twigs and I already had a collection of cool shells the kids had found and given me, and I already saw the great picture I could create with all my treasures.  The thought became a reality finally today: Nothing will truly capture the essence of those moments on the beach, but pieces of it are trapped in each tiny shell and twig.  Tell me what you think!

Sorry it's sideways...but being a work of abstract art, right-side up is any way you want it to be right? :)

I made this label with some tricks I learned from the experts -read Lisa H. and Lisa F. - and some experience from my own wedding DIY projects.

Close up of the shell with the tiny crab still in it!! Love those purple shells too.

Close-up of the teeny tiny shells Moni found for me.

Final view of the final product.

I don't consider my self a collector, although I am a pack rack (but that's not the same thing), so I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that me and my husband have accumulated quite a bit of souvenirs, odds and ends and other neat things from all our travels (you'd think we were globe-trotters! hahaha!) and each one has it's own story to tell. Some have a bit of history as to how we acquired it and the memories of that trip that goes with it, others were simply bought at a gift shop, but they are just as special. :o)
We now have a collection that includes keepsakes from: Sienna (Italy), Rome (Italy), the Japanese Gardens here in the Fort Worth Botanical gardens, The FW Zoo (it counts cause it is world renouned!), Henry's trip to the Super Bowl last year, Henry's trip to the NBA Finals game a few years ago, our vacation to San Antonio (Sea world etc), and now my trip to Vera Cruz and Xalapa Mexico....soon I will be able to add Hawaii, and NY to that list!!  :o)
More to come!!

Let me know what you think! :)  Thank you in advance for your kind comments! I read them ALL !