Thank You for 2 AwaRds! and Giveaway Reminder!

Wow! Tonight I need to say thank you for 2 awards! What a wonderful surprise!

Thanks so much to Beth Ann from Taming my Flock of Firsties for the Liebster award!

I am passing this award onto the following fun blogs:

busybeesandcupcakes.blogspot.com

firstgrademagic.blogspot.com

ilove1stgrade.blogspot.com

langstonslearners.blogspot.com

frolickingthroughfirst.blogspot.com

Go by and visit these girls!

We also want to thank Kristy from Cozarts Class for the versatile blogger award!

 

The rules of The Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

Thank the person who gave you the award.

Share seven things about yourself.

Give this award out to other bloggers that you think are deserving.

7 Things about Me

1. My favorite beverages are sweet tea and chocolate milk.

2. I was born in North Carolina. I grew up in Alabama, Florida, Nevada and California. As an adult I've lived in Utah.

3. I'm married to my best friend!

4. Some of my favorite TV shows are the Dick Van Dyke Show, Mary Tyler Moore,  Bob Newhart, I Love Lucy, Original Hawaii 5-0.  

5. I am most inspired by: my 19 year old college son, who is a good person every day. (and he is always patient with his nieces and nephews)

6. I am most affected by: My mother, who we lost suddenly in May, and we are all still amazed at the profound influence she had, and continues to have on our lives.

7. I have 3 grown step kids (not that we think of it that way) with 9 grandchildren and our Christmas shopping list is long, but I love being "Nana".

I am passing this award onto the following 15 super blogs!

flipflopteacher.blogspot.com

clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com

yearn4learning.blogspot.com

whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com

thelemonadestandteachers.blogspot.com

seusstastic.blogspot.com

delightfuldaily5cafe.blogspot.com

dandelionsdragonflies.blogspot.com

mspreppy.blogspot.com

mrswheelerfirst.blogspot.com

mrsschmelzer.blogspot.com

fairydustteaching.blogspot.com

firstgradealacarte.blogspot.com

firstgradeblueskies.blogspot.com

firstgradeglitterandgiggles.blogspot.com



Thanks again everyone and don't forget to enter our giveaway!

Thanks Bloggy Friends!

Hi Ladies! I just wanted to say thanks for cheering me up! I kindof had a case of the "blahs" tonight. Been moving furniture all day, laundry is piled up etc etc blah blah blah . .  but when I got on the computer and started reading your blogs and reading comments you left on this blog it really lifted my mood! I can now journey forth and organize a closet! Yeah!

Winter Fun.

The wall outside our classroom is looking pretty darn cute these days. . .thanks to Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies for the darling snowman design and for Deanna Jump at Mrs. Jump's Class for her version of the snowglobe.

Giveaway! Giveaway! Giveaway!

Great News! We are having a giveaway!

When I was approached by My Memories to do a review and giveaway of their software, I was very excited! I was not familiar with the software at that point but eager to give it a try! It was easy and I'm the type of person who just likes to dive in and read the directions later! (I know, I know-sshhh!) 


 There are templates to use or you can start from scratch. If you want to add to the vast collection that already comes with the software you can purchase easily. If you are like me and use digiscrap collections from various sources, you are able to use those backgrounds and elements as well.


 Now, don't get me wrong I also love traditional scrapping with paper but have found this to be rewarding and fast and great for my family. We have some family members who don't live in our area.. Those members of the family can get on my blog and look at layouts anytime they want. It is a great way to show off photos of kids and grandkids. I have also used it to make layouts for my classroom blog for the parents of my first graders! Cool, right!


 I have enjoyed it so much that I joined My Memories Monthly Club, where I receive several kits each month for only $5.99. What a deal!

Anyway, on to the details of the giveaway. It is for the My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Program which includes lots of kits and extras built in. It is a $40 value!

Here's what you need to do to enter this awesome giveaway!

1. Follow our blog, by clicking on the button that says "Join this Site", if you haven't previously. 
2. Leave a comment on this post, voting for one of the four layouts I have posted below.
3. Post the giveaway on your blog, if you have one, and link back to us.

 The giveaway will end at 3:00 on Friday, January 13th!

Winner announced on Saturday, January 14th.

1. Austie

2. Trumpet

3. Halloween

4. Christmas

Book Review

Over Winter Recess, I spent a lot of time on Pinterest and found a great book for New Year's Resolutions to read to my little ones. I was quite excited until I discovered not one of our bookstores had it in stock. Thanks to Lory and her really cool Amazon ordering capabilities she ordered it for me (because I found it the last day of our break).

My family decided to make one last run to the "big" city, and I thought I would check one more bookstore. It wasn't there, but I found this:

Click here to find a copy for yourself.

It was just too perfect, I HAD to get it. I thought I might try and do a snowman brace (we ran out of time and ended up doing this). But it not only talked about snowmen, but goes through all the seasons AND the water cycle. Talk about integration! And to top it off, my little ones loved it! This is a definite do again.

Free DiGiScrAp on my personal blog

Hey everyone! If you like digiscrap, I wanted to let you know that I have posted a link on my personal blog for a free digital scrapbooking quick page set. Includes 2 quick pages, 2 papers and 6 page elements. Hop on over and grab it! I will be posting more soon. . Have a great evening!

Click here to go to Focus Forward

I just want to say I am IN LOVE with Nikki's clip art at:

Click here to see for yourself

It just makes me smile everytime I see it!

Liebster Award

Thanks so much to Johanna at fanaticallyfirstgrade.blogspot.com for the award! It is so appreciated! Best Wishes Johanna!

and here are some blogs that are new to me that I am passing the award onto . . .

plug-n-plan.blogspot.com
eduperry.com
whatsthebuzzinfirst.blogspot.com
clutterfreeclassroom.blogspot.com

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Opposites

Gosh, I'm surprised at how hard it was for me to actually *think* after the holiday break! I'm not sure of whether or not I am using those asterisks correctly to emphasize "think", but my college son does that in texts to me when he is emphasizing something that he thinks I am not getting. . . I figure he must know what he is doing! Anyway, here is a little freebie for opposites:

Click here to download opposites activity.

Happy New Year and a Couple of FuN FinDs!

 

Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Over the Christmas break we were finishing up some home construction, having carpet installed, moving stuff out of storage etc., etc. . . so in other words ExTrEme ChAoS has been the norm at our house for the last few weeks! I will admit that there was a day or two that I had to go out into the garage where the chest of drawers was located to get my underwear! (no pun intended. ha, ha) I hope everyone had a great break. We started back to school today. My class was stellar! I think they were glad to be back. Today I am actually sharing a couple of fun finds that I got over the break.

1. Fuji Instax Camera.

This is so unnecessary but entertaining none the less. It takes mini sized Polaroid photos . . yes Polaroids- remember those?! A throw back to another time . . . Mine came from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Fujifilm-MINI-25-Camera-White/dp/B002LLHHQ6/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1325548814&sr=1-3-catcorr

2. Black and Decker Flex Vac

COOLEST thing ever! . . .and I really mean that. I can't tell you how many times we have reached for this rechargable little vaccuum during the last couple of weeks. Love it for quick clean ups. It comes with a few different attachments including one that reaches under the edge of the stove. It is also wonderful for stairs. Ours came from Walmart.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-FHV1200-Cordless-Ultra-Compact/dp/B002FQJW4W/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1325547302&sr=8-10