An award- go check out these great blogs!

 

Wow! Colleen at Totally Terrific in Texas and Tonya at Tonya’s Treats for Teachers  both gave me this award!!! I've seen it on so many blogs, and I always thought "You must have to have a really cool blog to get that!" So a huge thank you to Colleen andf Tonya! I am truly touched. Writing a blog is so personal, and like teaching, it's putting yourself on the line in some ways. It's like letting people read your mind, or look into your thoughts. Or like meeting a new friend when you don't want them to learn your faults too quickly. So getting an award is always a little validating. Does anyone else think that? Anyway, go check out her super cute blog and see who else she nominated, and learn a little more about her. 

So 7 random things about me:
1. My husband is my principal.  I have nothing more to say about that.
2. Like Colleen, I like dark chocolate. I'll eat milk chocolate when in a pinch, but it's just not the same.
3.Parks and Rec is my favorite t.v. show. It's so weird and quirky. It just makes me laugh. 
4. I HATE to cook, buy groceries, and find recipes. Yuck. Thinking about it after school starts makes me nauseous.
5.I LOVE to bake, and seem to have built up a tolerance for raw eggs. I've eaten enough cookie/brownie/cake dough to feed a small country.
6.I just bought a new (used) van, and it's ORANGE. I love it. I can find it in the parking lot.
7.My students all know this about me: I live in AZ, and I have a paranoid fear of scorpions. So much that we moved out of our house because we had so many. 

So here are some blogs I am passing on the award to: (I'm sorry if you've already been nominated! I tried to make sure I didn't see the award, but I may have missed it).

1. Miss Elisabeth at The Adventures of Miss Elizabeth

2.  Susie at Learning with Susie Q. 

3. Lorena at Little Treasures

4. Shuna at Pocket Full of Kinders

5. Anne at Mrs. Tussing's Class

6.Delighted at First Grade Delights
7. Molly at Lessons with Laughter
8. Cynthia at Second Grade Pad
9. Deborah at The Paper Maid
10. Heather at Third Grade is a Hoot
11. Sara at Ramblings of a Deaf Ed Teacher's Mind
12.Jennifer at Kindertrips
13. Katie at Little Kinder Warriors
14. Tara at Little Minds at Work 
15. Mrs.  Jordan at TIPS: Teach, Inspire, and Prepare Students 
Thank you again to Tonya and Colleen. Go check out all their great ideas!

Thanks for reading!

 
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Made it Monday Linky

4th Grade Frolics is having her 4th Made It Monday. They are awesome. So many good ideas. If it weren't for these days, I don't think I'd get anything done. So here's mine:

 An organizer for school. Like my mantle from last week, it's not done. (:  I told you I start a million projects and don't finish them I also did the 3 drawer cart below it but wasn't happy with the result. I should've planned it, which is what I'm always telling my kids!

                                         A confirmation cake for a friend.

Can't wait to see all your stuff!

By the way, my $1 sale is over. Sorry!!!

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100 follower giveaway

Yay! It's a 100 follower giveaway! Time for a freebie!
I finished my polka dot/Hawaiian classroom decorations and now I've made a clip chart to go with it. You can download it here. If it doesn't work, please let me know. I'm also trying to upload it to TPT, but having some trouble.


And now, for the real excitement! Everything in my store is 100 cents!  Ok, so cheesy, but everything that's not already free is only $1. So check it out while it lasts!
Here are some of the items for sale:

A gardening unit.

This unit has to do with rain, puddles, and things you find in water, like frogs and alligators! Could also be used for spring.

This is my decoration set.

The Tropical Rainforest is a story that I wrote to use in my classroom. I'm going to copy it on cardstock and use our school's binder to make it into a book.

                                        Another unit!

So check out my Dollar Store now while it's truly still a Dollar Store. Every time I say Dollar Store, I think of my good friend and fellow teacher, Cindy, who once told me this joke:

"I love the dollar store. I don't have to get all dressed up to shop there like I do when I go to Walmart."

Was that bad? Probably, but funny.  No offense, all you Walmart people. I spend my fair share of money there, too. They have the cheapest cardstock, I think, by far.

So thank you all my followers!!!!!! I appreciate you SO MUCH! And so does my husband, who now has all of you to share in listening to my neurosis!! 
Thanks for reading!
 
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DIY and a polka dot freebie!

I know someone has a Make It Monday link up, and I know people have DIY link ups, so I'm joining in to show you what made my son say "I'm not sure if I like it better." It' s the mantle, which used to be ugly dark brown that was really rough and always filled with dust because it was so hard to clean. And I know what he means, because I don't know myself if I like it, but come on! I'm not done! I have some more sanding to do, and then staining. I'm not sure what color yet. So I'm sure this project will not be done until Christmas break. And what do you guys think, should I spray paint the gold hearth? I'm thinking black? Too dramatic? I'm not sure. At least the gold is pretty non-descript.

But I finally finished my polka dot Hawaiian theme decorations! Here is some of what it looks like:

 So, tell me what you think. The first person to comment gets all 133 pages of it for free. So if you like polka dots, or beaches, leave me a comment with your email and I'll send it to ya. You can get it HERE at my TPT store.


Thanks for reading!
 
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The Rainforest, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and a little Tim Hawkins for a laugh!

Hi everyone!

Is anyone having trouble uploading to TPT? I have a Rainforest story to add. I decided that after all my Hawaii love, my classroom theme for the year will be Hawaiian/beach. But only for the reading corner, and the rest of it will be polka dots. Yes, I'm jumping on the polka dot bandwagon. So I've also decided to use Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for the first week of school, and am making a unit for that, too. Although in my adult-onset ADD, I've started 18 projects and have only finished ONE. And that one I haven't even made activities for. But it's a story, so it was very time-consuming, in my defense. Why does it sound like I'm talking to my husband, not fellow teacher-friends who understand and don't judge??!!

Anyhow, here's a picture of my newly-created story:

It's a number book (that can be sung to "Over in the Meadow") that teaches about animals in the rainforest and how the rainforests are being destroyed. I did a lot of research for this and I had no idea how sad it all is. Makes me want to join Greenpeace and jump on a plane, to... do what I don't know. It does make you feel pretty insignificant in helping. So, a portion of the sales of this book (if I ever get it uploaded to TPT) will be given to a Rainforest charity.Maybe that will alleviate the guilt I will feel as I print off the pages on non-recycled paper. 


So I'll be tying Hawaii/polka dots in with ChickaChicka BoomBoom and the rainforest and the desert and soil. And communities.  No problem. If this were a movie there would be foreboding music playing. I'm hoping all these things together will take me through October. We'll see.

If I can pull this off, I definitely think it is worthy of a field trip to the Rainforest Cafe! Volcanos on me!!! (Have you had one of those?) Really, it's all about the food. Seriously. What is wrong with me??!! It's a sickness!

Need a good laugh? Have you heard of Tim Hawkins? Go here and listen! He's hilarious!!



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Hawaii Blues, but a fabulous linky to join!

I have been away awhile...in Hawaii and I have mixed feelings about being back, as I'm sure you can understand. Does anyone else have a hard time adjusting when you come back from vacation??!! Is it just me that takes DAYS to decompress??!!  Hawaii is AWESOME, if you haven't been there. We did it on a serious budget, and having my brother live there is really what made it possible.  But now that we're back, and I'm over my vacation depression, I found an awesome linky party to join:

Can you think of a better linky than that???!!!! It's from Amber at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher.

 




 
 
These are spectacular.
Here's my pinterest site if you want the recipes.  So link up! I can't wait to see your pins!

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