5, 4, 3, 2, CHRISTMAS BREAK

5 more days... that's right... 40 more hours.  Christmas break is on the horizon my friends!  {tying a knot and holding on}.  This week I am including a picture with my lesson plans. I think that my principal will get my humor.  I may even skip writing them this week and just send the picture :)  Our break this year isn't quite as long as in years past.. but I plan on relishing in EACH day.

This last week is SLAM packed FULL!  We are doing Christmas around the world all morning Tuesday, lots of assemblies, Christmas party on Thursday, and Polar Express day on Friday....  the kids are cah-razy and I think the teachers are even worse {me included}.  This is my favorite time of year though... and their excitement is quite contagious.  I love hearing tidbits of their convos about Santa, Elf on the Shelf, reindeer and I've actually heard several talks about Jesus.  Be still my heart!!!

So...  we've been immersed in all things polar and Christmas related.  The kids were fascinated by reindeer facts.  We researched online and got to watch a few video clips.  They were so excited to tell me yell out all the things they had learned!  We also listened to Olive, the Other Reindeer on Tumblebooks... and the kids sat mesmerized!  That book is so fun!

Out in the hallway we have our shape snowmen (you can get them for FREE in my TpT store HERE!).  I also made poster sized elves with my SMARTboard...  by tracing them from  Melonheadz!  {puffy heart her}.  In fact... she now has a Melonheadz Addict Club.  She announced it this morning... and I got up and it was right near the top of my list of things to accomplish today!  I even have an official badge now!  If you want to get in on that action... you can find out how to become an addict by clicking HERE to find out more!  Out on the sides of the picture are our Elf Applications.  I didn't make these and I'm not sure of the original author, but they are a FREEBIE I found on Google Docs.  We do them every year and they are super cute.  Grab them HERE!

My niece got married yesterday and we traveled 10 hours (5 there and 5 back)... so I haven't been able to get much TpT stuff done this weekend.  I do have a few projects that I have started... hoping to finish them up soon.  I will keep you posted when they are done.  If you don't follow my TpT shop yet... you can do that HERE so that you won't miss any freebies or new products!  I also share a bunch of freebies from around the web that I find on my FB page if you wanna check that out!

I hope that y'all had a great weekend... and that this last week before break will go by SUPER fast for all of us!  One last picture...  this one is of my small humans at the wedding yesterday.  The youngest {M2} was the ring bearer and was so stinkin' excited about wearing slacks and a jacket....  I know I'm partial obviously, but they were so handsome!  Talk to y'all soon!

We interrupt this Sunday for Melonheadz

Short post today... but y'all know I love Educents, right?  Well today they joined forces with Melonheadz and I'm in trouble!  Click HERE to find out how to score this whole set at 1/2 off (or click the pictures)!  Man, I love a sale!

I hope that y'all have had a great weekend.  I have lots of posts coming up and I'm kinda of excited about some things I have in the works!  Oh, I also forgot to mention that I finally started a Facebook page (after some prodding from my bloggy buddies)... and you can find me HERE!!!  I try to find some cool freebies each week... and I'm always good for a laugh!  Talk to y'all soon!

Vinyl ALL the Things!!!

I did it!  I bought a Silhouette Portrait!  2 months ago.  It sat in the box for awhile... a standoff of sorts.  I finally had this machine that I had coveted for years.  I may have entered every.  damn.  giveaway in the hopes of winning one.  {ahem}...  They have an amazing teacher discount by the way... you just send them a copy of your teaching license and VOILA!  Ok... back to the story.  So... the machine sat in the box for awhile... I was very overwhelmed with all the magical things that it could do... that I didn't know where to even start!  I finally opened that baby up in July and practiced cutting out letters on some scrapbook paper.  I think that I squealed with delight the first time it started cutting!  Once I got into back-to-school mode... I decided to upgrade my status to VINYL!!!  ...and let me just say that acceptance of your problem is the first step...  I am loving me some vinyl.  I am secretly thinking of all the different surfaces in my classroom that could use some sprucing up!  Well, maybe that's not a secret anymore.  Check out what I've done so far:

I vinyled (?) the corner of my desk with my Melonhead... and I'm kinda in love with it!!!

I made vinyl letters for the white board... that way all I have to do is write the date everyday...  it looks so crisp on the white!!!

More black vinyl on my white board... this is the area where I hang my I Can statements.  The best part about the Silhouette machines is that you can cut out letters using ANY font that you have on your computer!!!  (and I have a lot of favorite fonts)

I bought polka dot contact paper at Wal-Mart to cover the back of my bookshelves... and I had some left over.  Hmmmm, wonder if I could use the contact paper like vinyl with the same results.  I tried it and it totally WORKS... and it's a LOT cheaper!  I have a galvanized tub for my pillows (thank you Goodwill for pillows) and a galvanized tub for my clipboards.

I was so excited to get our class pet.  I did a grant through Petco and went to pick up Lulu the guinea pig last week.  I decorated her cage using white vinyl and a uber-cute guinea pig pic by Melonheadz!!!  Within about 5 minutes of having Lulu at our house, I had a severe allergic reaction... so no class guinea pig for us!  Lulu is now back with her family at Petco!  I will blog more about that later! {I know you can't wait!!}.

I have taken a TON of pictures while I've been working in my classroom.... but it will have to wait for another blog post.  Tomorrow is our 3rd day of school... and I need to hit the hay soon!  I hope that you guys have had a great weekend... talk to y'all soon!