It’s the Final Countdown!

Okay, those of you that were 80’s kids…I know you are singing the song, right?!  Not that I love that song, but I can’t help but link music to whatever I say. My sister and I do that at the same time…someone will say something and we will break into song …because we are famous in our own minds!

Anywho, it is the final countdown for 2011 peeps! Can you believe that another one year bites the dust! Dun…dun..dun…another one year bites the dust! Man, I am on a roll!

Well, I am officially back from Vegas and off of the vacation I gave myself during the month of December. I still had my day job of course, but I got a little cray-cray with blogging and creating my units there for a while. J After Thanksgiving, I said, “self! You are working too hard…you need a break!” So of course I had to listen to myself because I am ALWAYS right…right?!!!

Thanks for sticking with me during my little break from blogging and creating. I am by no means going anywhere.  I love this little ole blog. And, creating stuff for my classroom, you, and my store is how I get my creative juices out…I mean if I don’t do this, I start decorating my house and painting all of the rooms and then Nicks starts whining saying he doesn’t want to live in a rainbow…blah blah. LOL!

I am totally pumped about 2012! In 2011, I turned 31 (I know…gasp! You thought I was 21, right? I get that a lot!) and that was much better than 30. I have been an official blogger for seven months now and have been sharing my creations on TPT, Teacher’s Notebook, and here for seven months too. I have virtually met some amazing teachers, whom I now claim are my blog BFF’s.  Well, I am not sure if they even know my name, but to me they are MY Besties! HAHA!

How do you feel about New Year’s resolutions? I never make them because they become broken promises to myself.  I start off all “Don’t stop believing” and end up singing “Blah, Blah, Blah” (that’s Kesha and even though I don’t know the words…my kindergarteners do! WTFrench fry! They are five and shouldn’t be listening to that! ) Moving on…So, I am going to tell you my GOALS for this upcoming year. Here goes nothing (wells, it will eventually be something if I can pull a few rabbits out of my hat!)

• 1.     Loose 60 lbs. Yes, you read that right. I had lap band this summer and I have almost lost 40 pounds. I started with a personal trainer before Thanksgiving too. I am pretty determined to lose 100 pounds in a year. I realize that is like looking one of you, lol, but that may just put me in the hot wife category which would be pretty sweet….even though Nick bought me “fluffy”  and has never been negative about my weight , so he will luck out with a free upgrade! J
• 2.  Finish grad school. I put it on hold for a few months but I am only three classes away so I just gotta finish.
• 3.   This is really a goal, but for you praying peeps…I pray this will be the year I actually get pregnant. My three kids, whom I love with all of my heart, are adopted but I really want to start from a baby. My kids were 3, 5, and 7 when they entered our home and so sometimes it’s hard for me to have missed out on so much…especially since they are 11, 13, and 15 now.
• 4.  Continue PROJECT ORGANIZATION. As much as I don’t want to get rid of stuff in my classroom, I just need to do some Spring Cleaning.
• 5.  Blog twice a week because I love it. J
• 6.  Plan a fun family vacation where my kids choose where we go…this could be dangerous!
• 7.  Participate in more training in areas where I am weak…I know, I know, it’s hard to think I have flaws but I do! (TOTALLY just kidding! You know I am a HOT mess!)
• 8.  Decrease debt and increase savings? What’s SAVINGS? I know,  I had to look it up too. J
• 9.   Make time to spend with friends and family…we’ve only got one life people!
• 10.  Most importantly increase all things Jesus! Sing, read, worship, learn, love, be filled to overflowing, give more of myself, donate more money and time, focus more on God’s plan instead of my own….of the list could go on forever but I am a work in progress people. No perfection here, but moldable clay in my potter’s hands.

With all things considered, I consider myself blessed beyond belief and I am pumped to see what 2012 has in store for my family and me. What about you?  

Found: Missing Blogger!!

Greetings friends! Feliz Navidad!!! I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas…sing with me! Seriously, just checking in to make sure you know that I am in deed still alive. J I know you  have been checking the back of your milk cartons for my picture, but I am not missing, I promise! I have been knee deep in projects and spending much needed time with my family. My two oldest children celebrated their birthdays this week. I can’t believe they are 13 and 15 now. Whooza!  I mean, I know with all the crazy hormones, teenager tantrums, screaming and tears (and I am not just talking about me), I knew they were getting old but OMG! They are headed towards driving, dating, adulthood. Hold on…must obtain adult beverage to finish this post….

Anywho, people say you need a book on how to care for a baby but seriously the books should come in when these kids are teenagers. They are mini adults with bigger drama and attitudes. I think this the last year I will buy Christmas presents for them. I mean, for now on, they will get money. Or, I will take them to pick something out and then wrap it because these mini adult people are pickier than picky! Um, I think I have missed this whole blogging thing more than I thought. This is sounding like therapy. Maybe I should look into that…naaa, yall are much cheaper! Enough about my kids, God love ‘em! J

I survived the last week of school and our Holiday Party. It was a whirl wind of a last day but I think the kids had fun. I am totally not looking forward to going back to school on January 2^nd. Not that I don’t want to go back to school but it’s just the whole 2^nd thing. If it was the 3^rd, I think I would be okay with that but not the 2^nd. Something about that date makes me want to hurl myself over a cliff.  Well, I hope you are done with school and on your "break", I mean the hustle and bustle to shop til you drop, wrap, and then slave in the kitchen over cookies and a 20 pound turkey. Enjoy that, ok?! 

Love and virtual hugs to each and every one of you!!

Vote, Vote, VOTE!!

It’s not too late to go vote! Two of my favorite blogs, Kleinspiration and Teaching Blog Addict have been nominated for Edu Blog Awards and they completely deserve it!! Please take a few seconds and vote for them! If you haven’t visited these two blogs, you are missing out my friends. Erin with Kleinspiration has amazing educational technology tidbits that she shares with the world daily and Teaching Blog Addict is the best collaborative blog in the world….and I am not just saying that because I am an author..hee hee! J Have a great day!! CLick the picture above to take you to the voting page. Seriously, it takes one minutes and three clicks peeps! Totally worth the sixty seconds out of your day!! JJJ

And, if you are feeling incredibly sweet, you can go vote for my school's Pepsi Project. You can TEXT once a day from each cell phone you own. Text the number 110578 to Pepsi (73774)! Also vote by email by going to http://www.refresheverything.com/ipadthereforeithink. THANKS!! YOU are the bestest little imaginary online friends in the whole wide world!!

'Tis the Season for a FREEBIE!

It’s a holiday season, and bloop de blue and blah be de blah…I really don’t know how that song goes but I find myself singing it a lot! I wore my tacky sweater shirt on Wednesday. It was worth my jean day. I have to tackle the task of report card testing this week. Boo! Don’t get me wrong, I love not taking grades every day but report card testing especially before a holiday is the pits. Note to self: wear big girl panties tomorrow! AND…I have morning duty this week!! Triple BOO!!! I have a hard time getting to school early but the one week I have to be at school earlier than early each six weeks is like World War 3 at my house. Lots of screaming, throwing things (not really), growling going on. Yuck!

On the brighter side, I am totally excited about doing a Secret Santa at work this week...Ok, that sounded naughty, I mean participating in secret santa this week.  I think that will help my survival. I obviously don’t know who got me, but I am totally excited about who I got. I’m going to have fun with this. Bwha ha haaaa! (Insert evil laugh). No, I am not a naughty elf, but a little fun never hurt anyone…or does it? J

Confession time…I really don’t want to go to school this week because it’s the last week before the break which means there will be baked goods everywhere you look. Ugh! I am three pounds away from losing 40 lbs (can you believe it?!) and I don’t want to go to school because I want to stay far away from fudge, holiday cookies (ohhh, my favorite), candy canes, and everything else that will be thrown our way this week. Not that I am not grateful because I totally am but people these hips don’t lie and they are telling you to keep your baking to yourself and save your sugar for your kids! HAHA!

Did I mention that my family has been a HOT MESS the past two weeks? Yes, passing around strep throat and a stomach virus? UGH! I feel like a dog chasing its tail…so BEHIND on everything. I.don’t.like.it.one.bit! Please forgive me for neglecting my little ole’ blog so much this month. J You know I heart you more than chocolate (but that’s only because I am trying to count calories though, haha!)! Okay, this is beginning to sound like a therapy session. The only reason I have time to write this post is because I type a gazillion words a minute. J Just wanted to pop by and say I hope you are surviving the December madness, and tell you how much I appreciate you, and hope you have a fantabulous week! Leave me a comment to let me know you're still alive and that this here microphone is still on! J

Here is a peek at my Snowman Unit for those of you crazies that are planning ahead to January…oh I wish I was one of you right now!

Snowman Freebie

You can purchase the whole unit here or at Teachers Notebook. It's a whopping 95 pages!! :)

Also, everything in my Teachers Notebook Shop is 25% off until Thursday, which is my 10^th Anniversary. 
(Everyone say ahhhhh!) J

ABC's and 123's...the FREE kind!

Eight more days but who’s counting? Um, me!!! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my job. But, there comes a time when Santa, presents, cookies, and parties take over the mind of every five year old child and make them a little cray-cray. Yep, I said it. They become these hyper, unfocused, overly giddy little people. It’s as if they are going to burst at any moment….which leaves me with lots of deep breathing throughout the day. LOL. Did I mention that we are report card testing? Here’s how that goes…

“John (made up name, haha), can you read these words to me?”

“Uh, huh…yes, can, no…um, do you know what I asked Santa for? And mom said that….and my favorite ornament is….” And so on. HAHA! Gotta. Love. Them.

So, today I was thinking about what we need to work on before the break and came up with these little worksheets. I thought I would share. Let me know if you like them. Have a great hump day…what a silly word, hump. HAHA!

Gingerbread ABC

Gingerbread Numbers

Oh, and today is our staff Christmas party. We can wear jeans (and people we will sell our first born to wear jeans to work) if we wear a tacky Christmas sweater. Well, I don’t have a tacky Christmas sweater. I don’t think I have been teaching long enough to acquire one and I hate to hear my teenage daughter say “oh mom, you look too much like a teacher!” Whatever! J So, I had to throw this thing together. I’m embarrassed to wear it. LOL. I am not sure if there in enough room for those Christmas balls under my hoodie though. HAHA! Do you have a tacky Christmas sweater?

On the 6th Day of TBA Christmas....

One the 6^th day of TBA Christmas a Kindergarten teacher said to me….

My favorite words…free…free…freeeeee!!!!

Isn’t it exciting? You don’t have to shake boxes, search for hidden presents, or feel guilty for being a sneaky peeky! That’s right; here at TBA we just throw presents at you because you are…Just.That.Special! Merry Christmas!!

Here is a fun activity you can do with your students and my favorite Christmas Cookie Recipe. Yum-Meeee!!!! 

Click on the pictures to download and 

have a great week!!

Freebie, Fun, and Call for Help!!

Happy December friends!! Let the Christmas Break countdown begin!  So, thanks to the great suggestions on my last post, project: Elf on a Shelf has begun. I wrapped it and put it in the deep freezer over night to get nice and cold. Then, the office called down to my class to say we had a delivery. I purposely sent the most dramatic vibrant students because I knew they would overreact make a big deal out of the temperature.  It was addressed to my class from SANTA! They were SOOO excited! We read the letter and then opened the box. Then, they all gave suggestions for his name. Suggestions included: Elfie, Hannah (random right?), Kevin, Jolly, Jingle Bell, and the winner “Snowflake.” OMG they were off their rocker excited about Snowflake. We read the book and put his box on the cubbies so he could watch us. I just knew the kids would be so quiet when the elf came to town…wrong! They sang Christmas songs (which I don’t mind), screamed at him, they were nuts. Now the classroom next door was walking on pins and needles being good for their elf. Luck teacher elf! So, while the kids were in activities Snowflake split and went back to the North Pole because of their “poor choices.” Don’t worry, he left a note and will be back tomorrow…baring good behavior. Fingers crossed people! I paid $30 for good behavior for the next 11 days and it needs to work. Haha! I have a lot of fun stuff planned with this little guy. Hopefully tomorrow will be great…it just has to be…its Friday!! Here’s my letter from Santa, another freebie from my Elf Unit.  You can purchase the rest of it here. 

Have a great day tomorrow. May the ELF be with you!!

Elf Santa Letter

Oh, and one more IMPORTANT THING!! I submitted my school for the Pepsi Refresh Challenge about a month ago and found out today that we made it to the voting round. I am SOOO excited! You can vote once a day through the month of December. You can use this link or Text 110578 to Pepsi (73774) to vote from your mobile. I would love you forever if you could vote daily and help a sister out however you can. Well, I will probably love you forever anyways! http://www.refresheverything.com/ipadthereforeithink