Awesome-Blog Re-Launch and Giveaway!

There are so many exciting things happening this summer.  Katie at Resources by Mrs. Roltgen is having a huge giveaway.  She just redesigned her blog and it looks great!  This giveaway runs from June 13-June 18.  Make sure you head over there to enter for some great prizes!!

Big Heartland Back-to-School Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hey there! We have some new friends from the Heartland, and we've teamed up with them for a back-to-school blog hop.

First, we wanted to share our back-to-school tips with you!

If you want to see how I'm doing #2 and #3 with a video this year, check out this post!

Kristi and I picked some of our best back-to-school resources to giveaway to one lucky winner. Here's what our winner will receive:

Math Helper (with workmats)

Super Sight Words Pack (level of your choice)

1st Nine Weeks HOTSHOTS (your choice 1st or 2nd grade)

Check out this post for an explanation of HOTSHOTS!

Go ahead...enter to win these back-to-school goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Big Heartland will also be having a linky each month that you are going to want to check out!

That will be a featured product priced at only $1 on the 1st of every month!

This month our featured product is our Sight Word Connect Four game pack (regular price is $5), so hop on over to our TPT store to pick it up for only a $1! 

Then you'll want to visit our new friends to see what back-to-school tips and tricks they have for you, enter their giveaways, and check out their $1 deals. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Winners--And Aren't These Monsters Cute???

 Good morning!

Our celebration ended at midnight, so I've been busy picking the winners--and verifying their entries! Thank you to all who participated in our celebration--either through the giveaways, the $1 Deals, or the Facebook games.

The winners are...

Those of you who won the giveaways, your gift cards are on the way! Please let me know when you receive them--and happy shopping!

Our Facebook game had only two participants, so we decided they could both be winners! I'll be getting in touch with you both on FB very soon in order to send you your free requested item.

As for the graphic... I just had to use these monsters from Graphics From the Pond and the paper and frames from Lovin' Lit. These are two of my favorite designers! And Robyn Hyndman's "Maple" fonts are my go to right now! This is the "face" of my next classroom decor pack--Monsters--hopefully listed this week!

Thanks again for being fantastic followers! We appreciate you!

Must Read Monday: Books for Rhyming and last day for our Giveaway

I have linked up with:

This linky has been so fun and the only problem that I have is that my shopping list has gotten so long!  LOL!  I have found some great ideas for books.  Here are the books that I like to read for rhyming.

1.  

I absolutely love the illustrations in this book.  It has a lot of rhyming and is a great book that repeats.  Good one for kids that are just learning to read.

2.  

This is a funny book about animals that get on a sled and one by one they fall off and then leap back on.  

3.  

Of course, you can't leave out Dr. Seuss.  I love all of his books and they all have a lot of rhyming in them.  

4.  

In this book, Bear's cave gets lots of animals that come out of the cold while he is sleeping.

5.  

All the animals in this book are so scared that elephant is going to sneeze.  They are afraid of what it will do to all the animals.  So, they beg him not to sneeze.

Make sure you link up and share your favorite books about rhyming!

Also, if you haven't already, today is the last day to sign up for our giveaway:

Three winners. 

$50 to Target. 

$25 to Etsy. 

$25 to Amazon. 

Plus it is the last day for our $1 deal which today is:

Daily Math and Language Hot Topics 

Review - 1st Nine Weeks

This pack includes the following skills:

Money – Pennies, Nickels, Dimes

Time – To the Hour and Half-Hour

Basic Facts (including turn around facts)

Addition and Subtraction without Regrouping

Numbers of the Day – Range from 1-150

Capitals, End Marks and Common Misspellings

Have a great day!

Five for Friday--Giveaway, Games, and Freebies!

Happy Friday!

I'm linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs for a peek at my week.

1

This is week 2 of my DIY version of the 21 Day Fix. I looked into buying it, but then realized it was really about making smart choices and portion control--something I felt confident I could do myself. I am so proud of myself for eating LOTS of fruits and vegetables--I even craved fruit yesterday! That's a new one for me! LOL!

2

So...this kid is so excited. I know it might not look like it. He shows excitement like his dad. What can I say? I had to make him smile! Some of you watched the video on Facebook of him running for the first time since February 23rd last week--now that showed a genuine smile.

He is released for cross country. He doesn't have to go to therapy for two months--when they will start working on making cuts, sharp turns, etc. for basketball. Woohoo! And mom and dad are happy that insurance is covering his expensive brace at 100%! Praise the Lord!

3

This pic takes some set-up.

I have not been sleeping well for months--which means hubby has not been sleeping well. We had our queen-sized bed for 15 years and it was a hand-me-down from hubby's parents so who knows how old it really is... 

On July 4th, we decided we'd had enough and loaded up in our truck and went shopping. We spent hours picking the perfect king-size (hubby wanted to go up a size)! To my disappointment I learned that we would have to wait 7-10 days to have the bed delivered. 

So we waited. 

It was coming the 10th day.

Then the 11th day.

Then they said it wouldn't be here until today (the 13th day).

So the mad face is on our old bed...that's how I felt about spending one more night in what I have not-so-lovingly termed the "torture chamber."

The other picture is me on my new bed that was delivered yesterday--hooray! 

Please ignore the snowflake pillows and camo blanket. The king-size means I got new sheets too--woohoo! And in case you're wondering, I slept like a baby last night. :-)

4

In case you haven't entered yet, you're going to want to click here to enter our giveaway! Prizes include $50 to Target, $25 to Amazon, and $25 to Etsy.

We're also having $1 Deals every day the giveaway is open (until July 20th at midnight). Today's deal is our Connect Four Sight Word Mega Pack--marked down from $5! 

Feel free to pass the word along about the giveaway and $1 deals.

5

Freebies!

At my school last year, we all had "versions" of the Whole Brain Teaching rules and they were all in different orders... Talk about confusing when we teach each other's kids for specials! In music, I'd say, "What's rule #1?" And the K and 1st would say something different than what I had in 2nd...etc. We decided to all get on the same page and I came up with these. Click the picture to grab them for free!

And...I've had some people ask me about our Robot Calendar. It is updated in our Robot Theme Pack if you purchased that. I decided to also put it on Facebook as our Fan Freebie for now. I tried to let our followers know, but considering it has only 30 or so views I think FB might be "hiding" it...so weird the way that works.

Speaking of FB hiding things, I wanted to let you know (in case you didn't see it) we have a little game going on over there too. Comment with what you would like to see as $1 deal in the coming days and on Monday will draw a winner, who will get whatever they selected for FREE! The game post is pinned at the top of our page for now so head over there to play along.

Okay, I'm out! 

Back-to-school panic is setting in...I report back one month from today, students the 21st and I have so many "projects" I haven't finished yet. Yikes! Need to stay focused today!

$50 Target, $25 Etsy, $25 Amazon and $1 Deals Anyone???

It's giveaway time!

We haven't celebrated our followers in quite some time, so we decided to do a big giveaway! 

I have to admit that I am still amazed and humbled by the number of followers we have--especially on Facebook! 

Kristi and I are so thankful for each of you.

In addition to the giveaway, we are having $1 Deal Days every day while the giveaway is live--July 16th - July 20th! Make sure you are following us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook because that will be the easiest way to share the $1 deals. You won't want to miss them! 

Today's deal is...

...drum roll please...

That's right! 

Our Fractions Mega Pack is only $1 for today only! 
This pack includes seven fun and engaging games designed to help your kiddos with those tricky fractions...for $1!

I told you that you wouldn't want to miss these $1 deals! 
The rest of them will be announced via IG, Twitter, and FB so use the buttons in the top right corner to follow us if you aren't already!

How can we top that $1 deal?

A giveaway, of course!

Here we go...

Three winners. 

$50 to Target. 

$25 to Etsy. 

$25 to Amazon. 

Perfect for your back to school preparations!

You're going to notice an emphasis on following our TPT store in order to enter. That's because I have only recently realized the benefits I'm getting by checking out the new listings e-mail I receive for stores I follow. I'm often able to grab FLASH Freebies and/or resources at great discounts. We want to offer that same thing to our followers--and we want to make sure you don't miss those specials!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ok, I hope you're as excited about this as we are! 

Best of luck! ;-)

Winner, Winner!

Good evening! I just got home from my daughter's track meet and thought I'd pop in to let you know the winner of our mini-giveaway. :-)

Thanks to everyone who commented and explained how they got to the blog post. It was good to hear that we do still have readers out there! Hee hee. 

I will say I still read blogs, but during the school year I definitely don't comment on as many as I would like. I use Bloglovin' and felt a twinge of guilt the one time I used "Mark All as Read" because I just got too far behind. Ha!

So…the winner is Jayme! I'm e-mailing you the fraction pack now. 

Sleep well!

WiseDecor Review and Giveaway!

Have you seen all the awesome decorative lettering all over Pinterest? I know I have!

 

That's why I was really excited to be contacted by WiseDecor Decorative Lettering to do a product review and giveaway on our blog.

 
The first thing I had to decide was whether I wanted a product for my home or my classroom. They have a huge selection of wall decals for the classroom, but I just don't have much wall space in my room.

It took me awhile to make up my mind (I'm pretty indecisive when it comes to decorating), but I ended up having this custom quote made.

I love it! It is hanging above the entrance from my dining room into my living room (a 5 foot opening).

 

The WiseDecor staff was very helpful in helping me determine the size of the lettering I would need for my space. It was also fun and easy to play around with the font, size, and color options on the website.

 

My house is mostly stucco (hubby was in the business for 10 years) so we knew we would need a smoother surface for the quote. I decided to make a distressed wood sign and used the same crackle technique (with Elmer's glue) I had done on the bathroom vanity. Take a look:

 

Preparing the board took the longest! When we sat down to install the decal, I couldn't believe how easy it was to do. Notice hubby actually doing the work. That is because I expected this process to take patience (and I have none), but it was so simple I probably could have handled it. ;-) The decal came with a detailed instruction sheet and a plastic squeegee. See the pics below:

Here's the best part... WiseDecor wants to give one of our readers a $75.00 gift certificate so you can personalize your own space. Hooray!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Good luck!

Now click over to visit me at Luckeyfrog's Lilypad. I'm guest blogging for Jenny with a few terrific timesavers. See you there! :-)

 

 



Monday Made-It - Birthday Cupcakes and an Awesome Piano!

Made-It #1

 

 

Aren't these cute?

 

I'm glad you think so...

 

...because getting to this final product was a nightmare!

 

You know when you have a "great idea" but then you get started and that great idea transforms...many times. I'm not going to go into details, but I will admit that I spent about 2 hours total getting to this point and it took a friend of mine (thanks Sara!) to give me the idea to line them up in this straight line.

 

Go ahead...laugh and make fun of me (Kristi).

 

I will admit that I am--hmmm--particular about things. I had seen the cupcakes with candles for birthdays on Pinterest. I thought it would be pretty cool to somehow make them 3-D -- easier thought than done.

 

Anyway, I'm going to tell you how to make these cool cupcakes and save you the headache (and trial and error) that I had after messing with them.

 

First, get the corrugated border that has been hiding in your cabinet or closet from back when it was cool. Then cut it the length you want to make the bottom of your cupcakes. Hold in place and staple to your bulletin board. Next fluff and stuff tissue paper in the top. Finally, add glittery "fire-looking" poms to craft sticks (mine are small because I wanted colored and my jumbos were plain - I think jumbos would be easier to see...). Write your kiddos' names and birthdays on the sticks. Use a tiny bit of hot glue to hold them in place. Add the month labels--I'm sure you could make your labels cuter but I was DONE by this point in my experiment. Ha!

 

Easy peasy...well, for you anyway because you get to benefit from my OCD ways! :-)

 

Made-It #2

 

Check out this piano!

 

I tell you, my kids are such a blessing to me! They are always willing to help me in my classroom. My 13-year-old son made this awesome piano and put together this bulletin board. We are planning to add some black Mustangs (that is our school mascot) to finish it off.

 

Why am I decorating a music bulletin board? Well, I told you I'd explain later so I guess this is it...

 

My new job is at a very small  K-2 school. The specials teacher--she taught music, PE, art, and technology--retired and the district decided not to fill her position so the classroom teachers are each taking a "special."

 

The K teacher is also teaching PE.

The 1st grade teacher is also teaching Art/Technology.

The 2nd grade teacher (me) is also teaching Music.

 

We will have one hour a day where we rotate the classes through the specials (20 minutes each).

 

No, I do not play piano nor do I consider myself all that musical, but I can push play on a CD player and the school does have a music curriculum for me to use. It's going to be a learning experience, but I am going to try my best! I made the principal promise that I wouldn't get fired over my music teaching - HA!

 

My son has played piano since he was in the first grade. He loves music AND he loves to organize. While I worked in my 2nd grade classroom, I was able to send him over to the music room to organize and tidy up. He was perfectly happy to do so because it meant he could stop and play on the Clavinova every so often. :-)

 

My daughter was also helping during this time. She did another bulletin board, passed out all my books, and labeled almost everything.

 

Like I said I really do have the best kids!

 

Oh, and the winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Congrats, Jennifer! I'll be e-mailing you shortly. :-) 

 

Head on over to link up your Monday Made-It (or to check out all the other cool projects)!

 

 

 

 

Don't Forget...

...about our giveaway! You could win a gift certificate to Target for your back-to-school shopping!

 

This is short and sweet...remember I'm on a mission!

 

I got my job chart and my clip chart finished (among other things which I promise to tell you about later).

 

You may remember I made new ones last year for my sports-themed room. Lesson learned - don't change themes! Make things neutral! Ugh!

 

You may be wondering why I don't reuse the sports ones...

 

I did sports for three years so I was kind of ready for something new...

 

New district...

New school...

New grade...

 

Seemed like a good time for a new theme.

 

Anyway...I thought it would be simple enough to change out my graphics on my charts from last year. It ended up being a bigger project than I thought, but they did turn out pretty cute. Here's some pics of my job chart (on my living room floor, not in my classroom yet - ha!):

  

I kept it very neutral - no theme - just kids! Figure I should be able to use it for a long time. Yeah!

 

If you want a closer look, head over to our TPT or TN stores.



 

 

Okay...back to my mission of getting as much school stuff done as possible this week. I'm getting there...but I haven't even started preparing to teach music (yes, I'm going to be teaching 2nd grade and K-2 music, a post for another day).

Many Monday Made-Its = Freebies!

Let me apologize in advance...this post is kind of all over the place, but it does have lots of pictures! You will want to stick with me - our 400+ Giveaway is at the bottom. :-)

 

First my daughter's "made-it"...she's been busy! Check out how she dressed up some of her school supplies from last year in preparation for back-to-school:

 

Made-It #1 - Flower Bed

This summer I finally put in a flower bed...we moved to the country in 2007 and there was so much dirt work to be done around the house, I kind of gave up the idea of having flowers like at my house in town. I had hubby move a giant rock out by our driveway and created the flower bed around it. Here's my first Dahlia bloom. Beautiful!

Made-It #2 - S'mores Pie

 

Birthday picture - not a great one! But hey, I told you I would let you know about the S'mores Pie (pinterest inspired). I think it should be called S'mores Candy, but it was pretty tasty. :-)

 

 

Made-It #3 - Rules Posters (Freebie)

 

Click the picture to grab it!

 Here they are up in my room!

 

 

These posters were inspired by Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts. I loved hers, which are also free, but I didn't want...

"Raise your hand for permission to stand."

(which was part of her rule #3)

 

My posters say:

1. Listen when your teacher is talking.

2. Follow directions quickly.

3. Raise your hand for permission to speak.

4. Respect others. Respect yourself. Respect our school.

5. Be safe. Be kind. Be honest.

 

 

Just had to add this picture too...it is my Reading Focus Wall coming together (below the rules). Hooray!

Please note - if you downloaded my free Focus Wall Headers, I changed the yellow to orange so they would be easier to read (same with my thought bubbles - see below). You may want to redownload.

 

Aren't they cute??? Love how they turned out.

 Made-It #4 - Binder

 

This binder part goes along with a great linky going on over at:

 

 

 

I blogged about the binder pack I purchased here. It comes from Bridget at Little Lovely Learners. The made-it part comes as I have put it together and added to it... I was going to wait to post this because I'm not all the way done, but I know some of you are already back at it and thought you might benefit from seeing how I'm putting mine together, so... 

First thing you see when you open it up is my daily check-list. I know my check-list will change this year, but I went ahead and put it in to remind me to include it. This truly saved me so much time last year!

 



 

Monthly Calendar - The binder pack comes with a good 1-page calendar...it took me awhile to choose, but eventually I went with this FREE 2-page spread from Marshall in the Middle.

Weekly Calendar - I wanted to combine my binder...personal and school...so I wanted a weekly spread to keep me organized with all our activities through the week. Grab them here free if you want.

 

A place to write dinner plans at the bottom = one less page in my home management binder.

 

Okay, back to more school sections:

 

I made this yearly planning calendar.

I got the idea from someone else - it was chevron backgrounds. If it is you, let me know and I will point people in the right direction. I also don't want to give this away in case that person had it for sale. Sorry... :-(

 

The binder pack comes with MANY more covers and pages for inside your binders. I plan to make at least three more binders: Student Information/Data, MTSS (Bridget made by special request), and a Sub binder.

***I also absolutely LOVE a work skills/behavior checklist that Bridget includes in the pack.

 

Okay, if you've stuck with me this long, you deserve a giveaway! Kristi and I are so excited that we reached 400 followers on Bloglovin' that we wanted to celebrate. We figured anyone can enjoy a $25 gift card to Target! Use the Rafflecopter below to enter and good luck!

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to link up your Monday Made-It with Tara!