Moore..

Have you heard about the amazing bundle over at Teachers Notebook? They have created a HUGE bundle (almost $2,000 worth) for a small donation you get it ALL! All of the proceeds go to benefit the residents of Moore, OK. Click the link below to find out more...

Vistaprint in the Classroom {Yes, Please!}

Have you ever used Vistaprint in your classroom?  A friend of mine turned me onto this website a few years ago and I am hooked!  I usually place my big orders during the summer when I have time to actually have coherent thoughts.  School will be out here soon so I am already thinking of what I need to order this summer!  They usually have several things offered for "free"... where you only have to pay the shipping charges.  I usually break my list up into chunks of 4-5 products in each order.  Here are a few of my favorites:

This is a vinyl poster that I hot glued to the wall.  I uploaded a pdf freebie from Technology Rocks Seriously

This is one of the rack cards that I customized.  I have one for each student.  All of their test scores, etc. are on the back.  I punch a hole in the top left corner and put them all on a ring clip thingy for easy flipping, etc.

Vistaprint calls these loyalty cards, but you can customize them any way you want.  I use them as incentive cards.  Kids can earn punches for lots of things... when they get all 10 punches, they can earn a reward... usually sitting at my desk for the day, extra computer time, a trip to the prize boxs, etc.  I went to Hobby Lobby and got 2 different hole punchers (star and heart) so that the kiddos couldn't punch out their own! ;) 
I have a whole FB album of Vistaprint creations... you can view the album HERE!  Also, did you know that there is a FB group specifically designed for teachers using Vistaprint....  you can find that group HERE! 
I hope that y'all are having a great weekend... talk to you soon! 

Five for Friday {Not. Going. To. Make. It}

It's Friday.... Thank God it's Friday.  Linking up with Doodle Bugs for some Five For Friday fun!

1)  My week was only 4 days.  This felt like a darn long week!  My body tried to die from allergies {OK, maybe that's being a bit dramatic} on Wednesday and I had to go home early.   I went home and entered a Benadryl coma.  Didn't.  move.  for.  3 hours!  ACHOO!  I then rallied {yay} and picked up my kidlets from school... and we headed to Columbia, SC.  We went to eat at Rush's... which was one of my favorite places to eat when I was in college.  We did a quick run into Wal-Mart to grab swim trunks because someone {cough, ME} forgot the kidlets' swim trunks @ home.  I then watched them do all kinds of boy awesomeness in the Hampton Inn's indoor pool for a few hours....  so thankful for an indoor pool.  They bathed... we hit up the vending machines... then they vegged out in the bed.  Don't they look comfy?  My kids LOVE staying @ hotels! 

2)  Thursday morning my younger brother graduated from basic training @ Ft. Jackson.  Such a proud moment for our family....  I am bursting with happiness I tell ya!  I only have one sibling... and to watch him be successful makes my heart so full!  I have watched him struggle along the way... and have stood back so that he could struggle just enough to become motivated on his own.  That is such a hard thing to do.  He is much more like my son in that way.  Our family dynamics are a little skewed as many of you know... and my brother lived with me for many years when we were younger.  He checked into his new base today in Virginia... and sounds so happy to have a little more freedom... and a new sense of purpose! 

3)  The school nurse talked me into registering for the Color Run this fall in Atlanta!  I.  don't.  run.  In fact... if you see me running... you should also start to run.  I will be walking the Color Run.  I promise to walk quick.  I hope the weather is awesome in September... just sayin'.  There are 6 of us from the school walking... our group's name is Six In the City {bwahaha}  Have you ever done a Color Run before?  Even though I say she talked me into it... I am secretly excited!  Girls weekend... yes, please! 

4)  There are only 5 more days of school.  That's 40 hours for those that are counting with me.  I am so very excited.  I am leaving for the beach next Saturday for a week.  Ready for some golf cart time, getting up early to see the sea turtle eggs, feed the deer, get sunburned, and eat myself stupid on rice krispy treats!  I'm going with my friend Tara {have you ever read her blog, ...and they all fall down?}, my other friend Heather, all of our kidlets, and a babysitter!  That means... I only have one more Sunday...  one more case of Sunday night blues! 

 

5)  Finished one project this week.  I use numbered cards in my class to do random grouping.  You know... because when you let them pick the groups.... ummmm, it doesn't always end like you had hoped.  I have cards for groups of 2, groups of 3, and groups of 4.  This just makes it fun... and the kids like finding their group members.  Think this would help in your classroom, too?  You can check them out HERE 

 

I hope that you guys will all have a great weekend... and that it will go by slowly!  One last thing... have you seen the video with the gas station couple singing?  It is hilarious... and I am loving it... if you haven't seen it... Check it out HERE!  Talk to y'all soon! 

Five For Friday {Fab Randomness}

Linking up with Doodlebugs... man, I love Fridays!  

 I always look through the pictures on my iPhone when trying to decide what to share on Fridays... and this week was pretty flippin' random...  We now have only 10 days of school left...  Not that I'm counting {ahem, that's 80 hours}.

1) I had a hair appointment on Tuesday.  Goodbye roots.  My hair actually grows really slow, but I've been having heavier highlights lately... so unless I want to look like crazy Britney Spears {not the original/normal Britney}... I have to go see my hairdresser regularly :)  Here's me sitting under the dryer with my foils...  it's a good look for me, right?  I also bought these hair ties... I am so in love with these things.  I {might} have approximately 5,698 of them already!

2) On Sunday the hubs, M1, M2, and I took off to spend the day in Savannah.  We walked on River Street to look @ the big ships and shop from all the vendors, had lunch @ one of the hubs accounts... we picked a super fab Mexican restaurant since it was Cinco de Mayo.  I stopped into one of the candy kitchens for some really fresh pralines... and then we perused the aisles of Target.  Our anniversary was Monday and we wanted to spend the day with our kidlets to celebrate.  11 years... still sounds so strange!    Man, time flies when you get older!

 3)   My dog turned 10 this week.  His name is Foreman.  He is old.  He sleeps a lot.  He lives a very good life.  He eats better than I did when I was in college. #entitleddoggy

4) The very sweet teacher across the hall (yes, the young one who dresses so fabulously) brought these to me on Monday.  She said... I know that May is going to be hard for you and that this Mother's Day is going to be hard... so these are for you!  They are SO very beautiful.  I have kept it in my classroom all week... to be a reminder that I am loved.... and I can do this!  Thanks, Meagan! 

5) I was looking up ideas online this week... and found this really cool website where kids can create fake text messages.  OMG... the possibilities are ENDLESS!  For instance, I made this text message from George Washington to King George III (think Revolutionary War)...  you could have book characters "talk" to each other... or have kids pretend to have convos with historical figures, etc.!

I hope that you all had a fab week... and that your weekend will be A-mah-Zing!  Talk to y'all soon! 

2, 4, 6, 8... Who Do We Appreciate? Oh Yeah, It's Us!

Woohoo for teacher appreciation week!  I am all about some teacher appreciation.  The PTO had an ice cream sundae bar @ school today {ummm... yes, please, and thank you!}.  They are serving us a Mexican feast on Friday...  I'd call this week a win!  I am the most excited about the sale starting on Teachers Pay Teachers tomorrow!!!  I looked at my wish list today and there "may" be 25 things on there!  I am trying to think ahead to next year and what I might need before the next big TpT sale.  How big is your wishlist? 

Today is my anniversary so I'm gonna keep this short and sweet.  Yep... I've been married for 11 years {and to the same guy for all of those!!!}.  I hope that you have a great week and that you score lots of goodies during the TpT sale!  Be sure to check out my store... it's all 28% off!  Finished some Pirate Place Value Practice recently...  my kids LOVE pirates!  Argh!

Talk to y'all soon! 

It's Currently May

Holy summer countdown, Batman!  After today... we only have 17 days of school left.  Hear that?  Yes, those are the angels beginning to sing.  Ok... maybe that was me singing! :)

I love my class of firsties... I truly do.  But the truth is... I love being at home with my own boys during the summer even more!  I want to sleep in until 7 (maybe 8), go to the bathroom whenever I feel the urge, stay up too late, go grocery shopping in the middle of the day... you get the point! 

Linking up with Farley for her May Currently... I hope your first day of May was amazing! To be honest... I am hoping that May will go by as quickly as possible for my mental/emotional health... it's going to be a very hard month for personal reasons!  If you've been following for awhile then I'm sure this makes sense! 

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for an interesting kind of post {lots of pictures}.  Talk to y'all soon!