11 in '11

 I decided I needed to link up to this awesome party! So here goes..... 

11. Favorite movie you watched:

The Help - (Although The book was so much better!)

10. Favorite TV series: 

Burn Notice - on USA network -  I love me a Spy show -

and Michael Westen (or Jeffrey Donovan) is super cute!

9. Favorite restaurant:

Pei Wei

8. Favorite new thing you tried:

Blogging! I was scared at first, but I am soooo addicted!

7. Favorite gift you got:

One of my Kinder students donated a water well to a third world country in my name. It will give fresh water to over 300 people. I felt so honored! When I opened the card, I just cried.

6. Favorite thing you pinned:

So cute! I sooo need to make this! :)

5. Favorite blog post:

Wow - I kinda feel like each post is like my kids - I can't pick a favorite.

Okay... if I must....

my Christmas - The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

4. Best accomplishment:

Having my family's recipe on posted on another blog!

3. Favorite picture:

My family at Thanksgiving

2. Favorite memory:

My daughter receiving an award for all A's all year and on the same day, my son graduating from preschool! I was a proud Mom! :) 

1. Goal for 2012:

(I do love Miss Kindergarten's goal.. "Laugh a lot, learn a lot and live life to the fullest! That pretty much sums it up!"), but I would have to say I would love to open a teacher store!

This has been a great year! Here's to 2012!

I am ready for it!

Here's to sending happy thoughts your way! :)

Awards Galore!

I am such a blessed person! I have so many bloggy friends and everyone is so loving and giving! Thank you!  I have really been blessed with some wonderful awards!

Holly from Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade, Barbara of The Corner on Character,  Lisa from A Teacher's Bag of Tricks,  Julia from Loving and Learning in Pre-K, Michelle of Inspired by Kindergarten, Diana of Cole's Little Pups, Kinderdi, Molly of Classroom Confetti, and Traci of Dragonflies in First awarded me The Liebster Blog Award:

Here are the rules:

1.  Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Thank the giver and link back to them 
3. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog. 
4. Hope that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers!!  

To Spread the Love, I am giving this award to:

MelonHeadz Illustrating (don't you LOVE her clip art!)

 KinderKaren

Class Full of "Special" Kinders

Busy in K

Trainin' to be a Texan

Mrs. Egley's Kindergarten

Thanks again to all my wonderful Blog Friends! I love y'all  too! (in my good Texas twang voice!) :)

In other good news.... Thistlegirl had a 12 days of Christmas. On day 12 she a gave away a 50% off coupon! (If you hurry before 11:59pm tonight - Dec. 27th, you might be able to snag one and use it on anything in her store!) I used it to buy my Lifetime Membership and Reseller License! Yahoo!!!! Whoop! :) Super excited! Now, I am getting closer to making items and opening a store! :)
(and FYI - DJ Inkers changed their T.O.U. policy and no one can post their freebies using their products anymore - so sad!) :(

I am hitting the Texas roads to visit family in Granbury! If I don't get a chance to post again, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope everyone has a safe and happy 2012! I know it is going to be a super, exciting and great year!!!! :)

Holly Bloggy Christmas Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did! It has been so nice lounging with my husband and playing with my two kids! We made handprint ornaments, Gingerbread playdough, and lots of treats to eat! We visited family and opened lots of gifts! I love seeing everyone so happy! This is such a WONDERFUL and MAGICAL time!

This year I had so much fun participating in the Holly Bloggy Christmas!

I had MJ of Teaching in Heels and I gave her a cute bulletin board and purple blingy earrings:

I opened the best present! My Secret Santa (Kelly of Busy in Kindergarten) gave me this beautiful item:

Thanks Kelly! I LOVE it! Can't wait to add my car keys to it! :)

My husband opened up this great item my 12 year old daughter painted:

(She is so talented! I am a proud Mom!)

Thank you Caitlin of Ms. Preppy and Sarah of Kindergarten Korner for putting together the Holly Bloggy Christmas! It was so much fun! I hope we do it again next year! :)

I hope you had a Magical Christmas and have a wonderful New Year!

And I have received numerous awards - Thank you to everyone! Sorry I haven't posted sooner - I will make that my next post - right now I am enjoying my holidays with my family! :)

Santa!

Thanks to Erin Eberhart I found the greatest blog with the cutest artwork! Her name is  Nikki and her blog is MelonHeadz. Look what she made after she read my blog and I sent her an email! Isn't he adorable! You can get him {Here}. He would be great to send home as a family activity to go with the book Santa's New Suit. If you haven't read this book, it is adorable! I have a small post about it {here}.  Head on over to Nikki's blog and check out her cute artwork! She is so sweet! You will love her blog! :)

(Isn't he just the cutest???? Looks like he is ready for bed! Love him!)

Christmas - The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!!

Wow! Has this year flown by or what?!  I have had soooo many blog ideas to post, but time is just slipping away! (And my husband says I am a "Blog Addict" and I need an intervention, so he has been hogging the computer or having my children hog the computer, so I can't "feed" my addiction. I manage to sneak in a few minutes, but then he notices and starts shoving  pushing gently moving me out of the computer chair, so I won't "feed" my addiction. Ahhh... to have a husband who understands... That is my Christmas Wish!!!) Anywhoooo.... He is hunting (smiles!) so the kids are eating pizza and watching Prep and Landing and I am blogging! Wahooooo!

I had two wonderful Bloggy Friends bless me with the Sunshine Award! Thank you Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade and Climbing the Monkey Bars! Y'all Rock!!!  Wow! Y'all picked little ol' me! :) Smiles are on my face as I say Sunshine! (I love the song You are my Sunshine and every time I hear the word I smile!)

Here are the rules for this award:

1.  Thank the person(s) who gave this award and if you would like to, write a post about it.
2. Answer the following questions below.
3. Pass the award to 10-12 fabulous bloggers, link their blogs and let them know you awarded them.
My answers:
-  Favorite color? I don't have one, but when someone asks I say either Pink or Purple
-  Favorite animal? Koala bear :)
-  Favorite number? 8
-  Favorite drink? Hot Tea
-  Facebook or Twitter?   Facebook (but as Holly of Crisscross said "blogging has sort of replaced that addiction though!")
-  Your passion? God, My Family, My Love of Teaching, and Blogs!!!!!!!
-  Giving or getting presents? I SOOOO love to give!
-  Favorite day?  Saturday
- Favorite flower? Daisy

Wow.... I can only pass this on to 10-12 blogs? Really???

Well.... If I can only do 10-12, here goes:

Can Do Kinders

Heather's Heart

Herding Kats in Kindergarten

Kinder Kraziness

Kindergarten Korner
Kreative in Kinder

Little Miss Kindergarten
Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten
Mrs. Miner

Mrs. Wills

Ms. Preppy

Now... To talk more about Christmas! (Oh - Prep and Landing is over, thank goodness for Phineas and Ferb Christmas! OK - don't judge me because my kiddos are being "babysat" by the TV while I blog - yes I am an addict! Isn't  admission the first step in recovery? Except, I don't want to recover!)

This week my class read the book Santa's New Suit   by Laura Rader.  Then we talked about what Santa should wear for Christmas. Then I sent them home with an adorable Santa in his underwear and they get to dress him up!  I love this family activity! When I get some finished Santa pictures, I will take pictures and post them so you can see how cute they are! At right is a picture of the Santa I use, but I have no idea where I got it from so I really

don't think I can share it. Anyone have any idea where I can buy some clipart with Santa in his undies? I do have a letter to the parents I send home I could share (if it wasn't at school!).  I will have to post that later!
Teaching Blog Addict is having a favorite Holiday Book Linky party. For more wonderful Holiday books head over there!

Have you visited Oh' Boy 4th Grade's 12 days of Christmas yet? Look at her cute pic?

Isn't she creative? Some awesome teachers! Some awesome goodies!

I do love Christmas! Enjoy your weekend! Rest up! This is a busy time of year! :)

Maggie's Kinder Corner 50% off Sale!

Maggie's Having a 50% off sale in her Teacher's Notebook store!

If you haven't visited her blog, you are in for a treat! She has some wonderful ideas and freebies!

You will love visiting her!

Have Fun Teaching! 50% off Sale!

Have you visited them yet? Have you seen their rockin' videos? My class LOVES LOVES LOVES them! I bought a USB so I could watch them anywhere anytime! If you haven't yet seen them, here is a sample:

If you go quickly to their website {Have Fun Teaching} - they are having a 50% off everything sale! (offer expires 11/30/11) 

Just use code SUPERSALE. Your class will thank you!!! :)

Feeling HOT! HOT! HOT!

Wow! Am I a lucky girl or what??!!!  I was nominated, not once, not twice, but three times for the Blogs on Fire award! Wow!!!! I feel so honored and so special! Teacher Tam's Educational Adventures, Climbing the Monkey Bars! and Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade all nominated little ol' me for this awesome award! Wow! I feel so honored!

Okay, now to follow the rules.... the rules are that I have to tell 7 things about myself and nominate 7 more blogs for the award, so here goes....

1. I always wanted to be a teacher, (especially a Kindergarten teacher, thanks to the fabulous Kindergarten teachers that taught me - Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Burton and Mrs. Medley - I adored them!)  but was always talked out of it by my family. So I graduated with a B.S. degree in something else and when my daughter was a baby, went back to school to get my teaching certificate. :)

2. I adore dark chocolate! YUM! Lindt dark chocolate truffles or Ghirardelli 72% Dark brightens my lunch time almost everyday! I can have just one and I am on the road to a pleasant afternoon (well, some days it takes more than one, but that's a topic for another post).

3. I love hot tea in the mornings! Drink it every morning - it wakes me up! I do love coffee, but it makes me jittery, so I try to stick to Decaf tea - (although, when it is cold, you will see me drink coffee with a peppermint stick - Yummers!)

4. I love the smell and taste of cinnamon! I (Maybe that is why I love apple pie and pumpkin pie!) I put it on my oatmeal or toast in the morning!

5. I am a Texas girl who loves to cook, loves her manners -(I say Please, thank you, yes mam and expect my children to do the same).

6. I love bling! Especially sparkly shirts! This summer someone gave away a cute blingy shirt and now I can't find the website and I so want to order a Kindergarten Rocks shirt! (If you know who or what I am talking about, please help me! Thanks in advance for your sweetness!!!!)

7. I am 100% Italian! My great grandparents came to America - so that makes me 3rd generation American. I went to Italy in 2008 with my family to see my parents renew their wedding vows in the same church my great grandparents got married in! It was very memorable and special.  I lost my mother to Cancer in 2010 and now, my sweet Daddy is bonding with his children by taking us to Italy next Summer to learn to cook! I am super excited and can not wait! My husband can wait though, because he has to stay behind with the kids! (Sorry Honey!)

Now to nominate 7 more Blogs that I think are on fire...... (I adore all the ones that nominated me... I wish I could nominate them again!).....

Heather's Heart

Who do you think is on fire?

Holly Bloggy Giveaway!

Have you joined the fun yet? If not, what are you waiting for? Kindergarten Korner and Ms. Preppy are teaming up for a Holly Bloggy Christmas Secret Pal Christmas Gift Exchange! What fun!  And they have 9 giveaways! (well, the first one is over, but there are 8 left!)   The newest giveaway is for Christmas cards!

If you hurry, you can still register and be a part of this fun gift exchange! The deadline to enter is Monday, October 31st at Midnight! You can click the link above to find out all the rules.  I am super excited and can't wait to start shopping for my secret pal! How about joining the fun?  You could have a super surprise waiting for you Christmas morning and you could make someone's Christmas morning with a sweet treat from you! :)

Giveaway Winner!

Hi all!  I used Random.org and then I tried to copy the generator so I could paste it here and be all cute, but I could not figure it out - but I did get this:

True Random Number Generator

Min:

Max:

Result: 15

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

So..... The Winner is.....

Kathy said...

Hi! I follow your blog!

Congrats Kathy!!! Please email me your address so I can mail you your goodies! :)



New Blog Look and Giveaway Reminder!

Do you LOVE it!  I do! I am just sooooo excited!  Herding Kats in Kindergarten was soooo sweet to hook me up with Kelly of Kelly's Avenue Designs!  She totally rocks! She is major patient and works so hard to find what you are looking for! I could not be more happy with my new blog look! If you are interested in a new look, you should definitely look into her wonderful work!  I promise you will love it!  If you love my new look as much as I do, give me shout and a little love! :)

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway!  There is less than 24 hours left, so what are you waiting on!

Conferences Monday and a Giveaway!

Whew! I am exhausted! I spent today cleaning out my classroom and organizing - want my little room to look it's best for all my sweetie's parents!  While I was cleaning, I came across some things I had forgotten about... and well, since I haven't used them, I figured I would not miss them! :)

Contents: A Lakeshore grocery tote, chocolate chip cookie dough smelly dot chapstick (to help you with your positive behavior), two sets of Capital Alphabet stamps, a Great Job stamp, some cute reward stickers, one set of  happy birthday stickers, a line up here sign, two sets of alphabet stickers - you could use these to make students names, and a set of great reader awards.

This is where you come in!  I am going to try my first giveaway! Here are the rules:

1. You have to follow my blog (This is a MUST and will give you 1 entry)
2. Blog about my giveaway! (This will earn you 2 entries - so just copy and paste your info)

*** So that is three chances to win!****

You must live in the USA. (Sorry! My budget only allows for US postage!)
Please leave your blog information or email address so I can contact you if you win!

This party (well, it feels like a party to me!) will end on Friday October 28th at 6:00pm CST at which time I will use random.org to select a winner!

If you blog about my giveaway, I must say I am sorry I don't have a cute button yet to add to your post!

I hope you either have or had a great time at your conferences! Now I need to finish preparing for Marathon Monday!

Favorite Read Aloud Linky Party

Swimming into Second is having a Favorite Read Aloud Linky Party and I thought I would link up!

My classes over the years have LOVED Skippyjon Jones!  He is just so fun! He even has his own website and Facebook page! Your child can even dress like him (go here) for Halloween!  I have been trying to collect all his books!

What is your favorite Read Aloud?  Join Swimming into Second and let's hear of your favorite! :)

Pinkalicious and Conferences!

First Grade Fanatics has the cutest new unit - Perfectly Pinkalicious! Don't you just want to eat it up?   I LOVE it!  I must admit Pink and Purple are my colors! And I LOVE the Pinkalicious book series! So adorable! So this unit just calls to me! What fun it will be in my classroom!  They were so sweet, they gave away 2 copies and I guessed right, so I got one copy! SO excited! Can't wait to get it and print it out! :)  

Now my excitement is slowing down, because I have to prepare for conferences next week.  We have conferences from 1 - 6:30 next Monday. That means every 15 minutes I will be speaking to my sweet parents about their sweet children. Whew! Exhausting! I have been trying to make positive contact with as many parents as possible so Monday will not be so overwhelming.

A few years ago a teacher friend of mine shared her tips for conferences. One of the big one was to have notes for the parents to take home. This is so helpful!  So each Fall and Spring I type up a list of Strengths and Areas of Concern and give to each parent. If you follow my Scribd account, you probably saw it this Summer when I uploaded it, just waiting to share it with you now. :)

Conference Student Form - Blank

I type up personal notes about each child and give each parent a copy at Conferences. Mrs. Wills has a great form! Take a look at hers also! :)  If you have conferences coming up, wishing you luck and blessings! If you have already had your conferences - Smile and breathe! :)
Have a great week! :)

Giveaways! Updated!

Have you heard about the latest giveaways? Wow! Is all I can say! :) Some amazing things are going on....

Ms. Preppy is having a Fabulous Follower Giveaway! She has teamed up with Kindergarten Kiosk, The First Grade Jungle, Froggy Friends Fun, and Teaching First to give away some amazing products! She is also giving away a membership to the Graphics Factory! You have until Friday, October 21st, so head on over!

Also...

Ashleigh's Education Journey has teamed up with Little Miss Kindergarten, Tales of Frogs and Cupcakes, Mandy's Tips for Teachers, and The Creative Apple to give away some of their wonderful products! The winner will be announced October 28th!

Also....

Literacy and Laughter is giving away an autographed copy of Square Cat and a $15 dollar gift certificate to Lettering Delights! You have until October 23rd!

So head on over to these blogs and Good Luck! :)

Question? Answered and Freebie!

I made a letter sort for my classroom (using letters M, S, A and P). Is it okay to post a freebie with Microsoft clip art? Thanks for the answers Kerri , Allison and Holly! :)

My class has been learning the letters M, S, A and P, so I made this sort: (the graphics and Font are from Microsoft clip art - I made this in Microsoft Word)

M S A P sort

Hope someone can use it! Have a great week! :)

Halloween Making Words

I have a sweet Kinder student who blows me away everyday! The ability of this student is beyond imagine! The mother of this student requested a little bit harder homework, so I created the document below. The student loved it! I guess I will be creating more -  What fun! :)  I love when the students rise to challenges! :)

 The font and artwork are from DJ Inkers

If you enjoyed this, you can find more Halloween ideas over at Ginger Snaps Halloween Linky Party.

And there are some great Freebies at Teaching Blog Addict!

There are some great ideas at both sites! :) 

If you love my Making Words and you download it, please leave me a note! I love your comments! It makes me smile! :) Thanks! Have a great week! :)

Yum Yum Recipe!

Have you heard of Plain Chicken?  She is a Southern girl with some wonderful recipes! This week she featured my husband's favorite casserole - Yum Yum Chicken! He asks for it every year on his birthday!  If you want the recipe, head on over to her blog! :)

Spooktacular Giveaway!

 Have you entered the latest giveaway yet?! It features 11 wonderful Bloggers awesome products! :)

 

 

Drooling yet? Head over to Kinderglynn's blog and enter! The giveaway ends Saturday Oct. 15th at 10:00pm est!  Good Luck! :)