Winter Vacation Linky Party

Clutter-Free Classroom is hosting a "How I spent my winter vacation" Linky Party.

Well, I...

 spent time with family (both sides)

drove my kids around (actually my husband did most of that, I am not sure he is as excited as I am about that!)

sat by the fire

read

blogged (oh man, I did a lot of stalking visiting other blogs)

finished my scarf

took TONS of pictures (703 in three days)

(these are just a few of my favorites) : )

 scheduled a bridal show booth with one of my friends (our first adventure together)

made cookies

frosted cookies

played Rock Band 3

played Glee Karaoke

played Just Dance (I see a theme)

ran with my sister and then again with my husband

AND>>>> I have three more days to go!!!

Have a wonderful day!

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Winter Freebie

I am in the middle of my Winter Unit. 

I couldn't wait until it was finished to post a freebie. :)

Click HERE to go to the link on my TPT page.

Or HERE if you want to download it from Google Docs.

It's two writing pages. In Winter, I Can...and In Winter, I Can't.

I thought it was Thursday all day. I missed an appointment with my new TA 

(it's a good thing she is a friend). 

AND that means I have "lost" a day from my vacation. 

Have a wonderful day!

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It's like Christmas AFTER Christmas!

Have you seen all the giveaways?

Oh My Goodness!!!!!

Kelly, over at Busy in K, 
is giving away 
THIS!!!

She says, "I have been teaching for 18 years and so far, this sharpener is "all that"! It is the quietest sharpener I have had in my room. I truly do not know how many electric sharpeners I have gone through, but this one has staying power for sure! Another thing I really like about this sharpener is that my students just put their pencil in and turn the handle and they have a sharpened pencil. Yes, it is just like that!"

Check out her site....so cute!

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Kristen, over at Ladybug's Teacher Files,

is giving away a blog design. 

This one I wanted to keep for myself. 

But, there are one of three designs to win. 

She is so talented. 

Go over and check out her site.

I would LOVE< LOVE>LOVE the Shutterbug Schoolteacher design.

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Erica, over at The Honey Bunch, 

is giving away a car sticker that reads, "I'm a teacher! What's your super power?" and a mystery item. OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!

I just found her site. I can't wait to explore!

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Courtney, over at Swimming into Second,

has reached 400 followers! WOW!!!

She is giving away a $25 gift certificate to TPT. YAHOOOO!

She has some great stuff over there. I put the Common Core Standards (Student Version) on my wish list. 

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The Crafty Community

is giving away a $20 gift certificate to HoBbY LoBbY!

Who couldn't use that!!!

They have so many fantastic ideas!

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Caitlyn, at Kindergarten Smiles,

is giving away ALL of her units on her TPT store. 

ALL of her units!!!! Did you see that?

""/>

She is trying to get to 300 by the end of the year. Right now she is at 274. Let's help her out!

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Diane and Kelly, at Made for First Grade

are having a whole bunch of giveaways. The first one is a set of their winter themed centers!!! Three of them. Woo Hoo!

They look so cute!

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Whew!!!!

Have a wonderful day!

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Giveaway Ends in 3 Days! and Freebies

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the iTunes giftcard and the Target giftcard. 

One giveaway....two prizes. : )

Enter by leaving comments in this post.

RIGHT HERE : )

By the way, I have a new button. Isn't it cute?

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On another note, I posted the rest of the Winter ABC Order.
Check them out on my TPT store.
There are four of them with progressively more difficult words.

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I hope you are all enjoying your break. I know I am!

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A Holly Bloggy Christmas/ New Year's Resolutions Linky Party/ 11 in 11

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much to 

SARA over at Smiling in Second Grade.

You should go check out her blog. It is so cute!

She was my Holly Bloggy partner. I actually put it in my stocking until Christmas Day. I can't tell you how hard that was NOT to open it. But, I didn't (my children actually helped me out!).

 I am so glad I waited....

A cute polka-dot planner. (I needed one for my purse :)

Sticky notes WITH A B!!!! I LOVE STICKY NOTES!!!!

A Sparkly K. I am going to hang that on my door!

And some BEAUTIFUL green earrings. 

I had to post a pic of them on me because the other picture does not show how pretty they really are. (By the way, that is my nephew....soooooo cute!)

Thanks so much to:

Caitlyn at Ms. Preppy (Adventures in Primary and Polka Dots)

and 

Sarah at Kindergarten Korner

They put so much work into this. I had so much fun! I can't wait to do it again next year!!!

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New Year's Resolutions

Tammy, over at Live, Love, Laugh is having a New Year's Linky Party.

 Just what I need to start the year off right.

Personal: 1. Get back into shape.

               2. Go on a "date night" with my husband once a month. 

               3. Spend some quality time with each of my children.

Teaching: 1. Clean up behind my table.

                 2. Work on the Common Core Standards. :(

                 3. Make sure my students laugh each day.

Blogging: 1. Post interesting things that will help other teachers.

                 2. Create one unit a month.

                 3. I am stealing borrowing this from Jennifer over at First Grade Blue Skies. 

                    Thank the teachers I get freebies from. 

Great idea!!!!

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11 in 11

11. Favorite Movie: The Help

I brought my daughters to see this. It was soooooo good. Just as good as the book!

10. Favorite TV Series: Modern Family

Belly Laugh!!!!!

9. Favorite Restaurant: Foggy Goggle

YUMMMMMMM!

8. Favorite New Thing You Have Tried: Blogging and Website

My blog started out as a running website and then I found all these FABULOUS blogs out there by teachers. WOW! 

My website for the parents of my students has been a great success too.

7. Favorite Gift You Received: Skirt from Athleta

I mentioned this to my husband (put the catalog on the bar, opened up to the page with the picture circled and starred). He got it for me for Christmas! Awwww!

6. Favorite Thing You Pinned: Homemade Caramel Sauce

I actually made this!!!

5. Favorite Blog Post: My 51 Followers Post

When I started. I never thought I would reach 5. : )

4. Favorite Accomplishment: My Units

My Thanksgiving Unit was downloaded over 1700 times. That is amazing to me! I realized after I had posted my Holiday Unit on TPT for a price that my real enjoyment is seeing how many people I have reached. I LOVE that!!! I don't know if I will post anything that is not free. HMMMM????

3. Favorite Picture: I have to share two...

My friend over at Jennifer Wolsey Photography took these BEAUTIFUL pictures!

2. My Favorite Memory: My daughter's face when she got to drive for the first time. PRICELESS!

1. Goal for 2012: Be Happy. Don't take anything for granted.

That's it....really this is the end of my post!

Have a wonderful day!

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Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

Have a wonderful day with family and friends!!! 

You have inspired me to be a better teacher, blogger :), and colleague. 

Thank you for all you do!

Now....get off the computer and go spend some time with your families!! :)

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51 Followers Giveaway!!!

Well, Merry Christmas to me! 

I remember when I was posting and my only follower was my colleague, Linda! 

I would like to thank you by having a giveaway. 

I have gift certificates for Target and iTunes.

$10.00 each.

Two Winners!

This is what you can do to enter...
One entry for each comment : )

1. Follow me.

2. Follow my TPT store.

and 

3. Like my FB page.

Leave a comment for each below.

The giveaway entries must be in by December 31st at 11:00 pm.

Thanks in advance and good luck to all!

Happy Holidays!

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A Little Late....But Nevertheless!

I know this is late, but I finished them yesterday. 

I thought I would post the little tags up so maybe you could use them today or for next year. 

Anyway....I posted some tags for students and classroom volunteers in my TPT store. 

Click on the link below.

Holiday Tags for Students and Classroom Volunteers

I wrote a little note to each student in the small space to the left of the cute little cardinal from 

Scrappin' Doodles. 

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of their products. 

The fonts are from

  Kevin and Amanda. I have been stalking visiting their site lately. They have much more than "just" fonts! You should check it out!

I purchased a book coupon for each student from Scholastic Book Clubs. 

We are going to choose a book when they get back from break. 

I attached a colored pencil to each of the gift tags for the children with a ribbon. They LOVED it!!!

(I wish I had thought to take a picture. They turned out so cute!)

Happy Break Everyone!!! WOOOO HOOOOOO!!!

By the way: I am one follower away from 50. I can't believe it! I am planning a giveaway when I hit that magical number! Stay tuned!

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Currently....

Farley, over at Oh Boy! Fourth Grade! has set up the new Currently.... for December. I LOVE reading and writing these. Farley is currently making me very jealous because she is now on vacation and I have one more day : ( 

Have a wonderful last day everyone...and if you are already enjoying your vacation....have another cup of coffee for me : )

Here is mine...

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One More Day!

I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

One more day. The kids are ready, I am ready. Alas, we have one more day. 

We are going to be watching "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" tomorrow with my second grade friends. 

Our pen pals from Minnesota sent us the next set of letters along with hot chocolate for each of the students. How sweet is that?!?! We get to sit and read their letters along with some Yummy hot chocolate. 

We have a sing-a-long in the morning with the entire school. This should be fun. Some of the teachers are reading our own version of a some sort of carol. :)

I have a double special day. A full hour to get the room together and try to get ready for next year. 

Woo Hoo! 

I hope you all have a wonderful last day/s of school. I can't wait to get to sit and relax through the next couple days. 

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Winter Fun Freebie

I just posted Winter ABC order on my TPT store. I am in the process of making three more of these as they get progressively more difficult so we can work on that vocabulary and differentiate.

Winter ABC ORDER A

I am going trying to develop some units that fit with the Common Core Standards. We are starting to delve a little deeper into this. I know a lot of you are already in the thick of it. I would love to hear some advice for a newbie! : )

I have an appointment today, so I am taking the opportunity to do a little shopping. YIPPEE! I hope my substitute has a fun day!

Have a great day everyone!

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Another Shout Out!!!

Kristen, over at Ladybug's Teacher Files, is soooooo great!

Not only does she have an AMAZING blog...but she also ANSWERS emails! I know! Can you believe it? 

I tried and tried to put the Facebook Link on my page. After scrolling through a ton (I am not done!) of Kristen's fabulous tutorials, I emailed her with a question. She got back to me, I sent her another question and....she got back to me again! 

I just want to say, thank you so much! 

I did end up linking my new FB page to my page. I will have to fix it later. I have spent way to much time on it today. I am learning so much from her tutorials. I am having a ball trying new things! 

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A Little Holiday Cheer

Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files 

(an amazing site that I frequently stalk) has a wonderful holiday "card" to send along to a blogging friend.

I would like to pass a little holiday cheer onto Barbara at

  Grade Onederful.

She not only reads posts, but she makes meaningful comments on them.

I LOVE that. 

This will have to be my New Year's Resolution.

Her blog has so many cute ideas! 

AND she teaches PE! (I don't know how she does it!)

So, here's to you Barbara. Happy Holidays!!!

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We met our Pen Pals!

We had a video conference with our Pen Pals today! We had so much fun! 

They are a first grade class from Minnesota. We introduced ourselves and then said something that we like. They did the same. And then....we sang a song and they sang a song back to us. It was so cool!

The kids wanted to have one-on-one time with their pen pals. They were a little disappointed about that. 

We are going to meet up once a month. Next month we are going to prepare a book reading by both of us. 

I was wondering if anyone else had done this sort of thing. Any tips or strategies?

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Ooooooh! An Award! I am Up-and-Coming!!!!

Dee, over at First Impressions (don't you LOVE the name of her blog?), gave me the

 Liebster Blog Award. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

This award brings recognition to blogs with under 200 followers. It is a way to support and encourage new bloggers. Once received it needs to be passed on to five up-and-coming blogs.

Well, I certainly never expected to be up-and-coming! I love being a part of this group of wonderful bloggers that are just beginning.

Here are my five picks:

First in Maine

First Grade Smarties

Primary Princesses

Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade

AND>>>>>

From Kindergarten With Love

Check these blogs out. They have many great ideas!!!!

Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful day!

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