The Missing Mitten Mystery

This week I decided to read The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg. 

I love this book in the winter time. There are so many things you can do with it and it is great for making inferences.

The story is about a little girl who looses her mitten while out playing in the snow one day. As she talks with her best friend (her dog), she recaps her day, retraces her steps and eventually finds her mitten in the most wonderful of places. :)

I decided to have my kids do a quick craft (decorating mittens), but I also wanted a writing activity to correlate with the book. So I came up with a "missing poster" for the lost mitten....

My kids drew a picture of their missing mittens and described the mitten in detail. 

*I have plans to add another page to this freebie where you can have your students "lose" their mittens in the classroom or school and write clues to their classmates to go find their mittens. It is in progress, but I don't know about you I have been extremely busy lately! Coming soon! :)*

If you'd like to try this activity in your own classroom, just stop by my TPT Store!

Oh, and it's FREE!

Check out other FREEBIES from TBA!!

Check out other great storybooks from Paula's Place for Storybook Sunday!

My Fur Babies

So.. yet another Snow Day for us in Ohio and I have been a little under the weather. Needless to say I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. However, I got to spend the day with my two fur babies! 

I haven't shared a whole lot about myself.. so let me start by telling you about my fur babies... :)

My first fur baby is GusGus...

Gus will be 7 years old in March. I got Gus from my brother and sister-in-law. They got him as a kitten when my oldest niece was 1. He got his name from GusGus the mouse on Cinderella. Gus became a biter and they decided he'd be better in a home without kids. So I took him in! Gus loves foil balls (from my Dove Chocolates), boxes (and dryers), peanut butter, and enjoys his nose scratched. 

So.. I like all animals, but I LOVE dogs (no offense to GusGus). I have always wanted a pup of my own. That dream came true this past summer! Meet MochaJo...

(MoMo, MochaLatte, MochaFrappucino, MoJo...) 

MochaJo is my baby. She's spoiled rotten and will be a year old this February! 

She came to me through a friend, who is also an amazing dog trainer! My friend rescued her from a terrible home. Due to abuse she received as a wee pup she has no tear production in her right eye and requires eye drops every day.

Although she had a rough start to her life, Mocha is full of life. She LOVES anyone and everything. We haven't met an animal/person/etc that she does not want to love and play with. She is just so happy.. ALL the time. She enjoys bones, learning new tricks, playing fetch, playing in the snow, jumping in buckets of water, and BELLY RUBS! Currently, I am looking for a canine friend for MochaJo. She likes being around people, but thrives when she has a canine playmate. 

A four legged friendship....

When I first introduced Mocha to Gus.. He wasn't so sure about this new four legged friend. Gus had not been around other animals much prior and had a tendency to chase and bite anything that got near. Luckily, Mocha was young (4 months) and Gus sensed that. It took some time, but eventually they became friends.  Since Mocha has been in our lives, Gus has become less of a biter. And when Mocha came back from getting her spay... Gus laid right next to her for hours. Both will initiate play with each other.. It doesn't take long for Gus to get tired of playing with Mocha, but it doesn't stop either from playing. :)