January Currently....and Happy New Year!

Well....it's that time again! I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for January's Currently and you should too! Here it is!

I've been listening to way too many Lifetime and Hallmark movies over the last several days! I can't help it....I love them!

I am definitely loving that I have 6 more days of break! I have a long list of things to accomplish before next Monday though! I need to get busy!

I have been thinking and reflecting a lot lately about 2012 and what a blessed year it has been! I pray that 2013 is even better! Life is amazing right now and hopefully it will be even better is I can stick to my New Year's resolutions!

I am really, really wanting to open an ETSY store in 2013! I plan to sell both handmade and vintage items and can't wait to get it started!

I am needing a new fridge but want to pay off my new stove first! It's almost paid off.....so hopefully just a couple more months!

And last....but not least, my OLW is GRATITUDE! I have been trying very hard over the past year to have and show gratitude for EVERYTHING in my life.....be it good or bad. This is hard to do sometimes, but life is so much sweeter when you are grateful. We live in a world where gratitude is not shown as much as it should be. A few years ago, my sister gave me a book called Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. The book focuses on gratitude and is an excellent book! I plan to reread it this year. I just discovered that she has a website too.....you can check it out here.

I am leaving you with a quote from the book that I absolutely love. I have had this on my home bulletin board for years...it is so true!

'Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.'
-Melody Beady

May your 2013 be blessed and beautiful!

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New Year....Fresh Starts!

Hello Everyone! I'm linking up with Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness for her Resolution Solution Linky Party! I love the fresh start that a new year brings and as a teacher. I feel like I have two fresh starts each year! Back to school time in the fall always feels like a new year and I always set goals at that time as well as the beginning of the new year. Anywho....like all of you, I have some resolutions....lots of them! Let's start with school.....:)

School Resolutions: I don't have a lot of school resolutions. I have been trying to stay on top of things since I started working at a new school in a new subject and a new grade level this year! Here are a couple of things I do want to work on though!
1. Grades: I really want to try hard to stay on top of grading this year! I also want to post at least two grades per week. I have really been struggling with grading papers and entering grades lately!
2. Behavior Management: I have been using Class Dojo for behavior management in my classroom but haven't been as structured with it as I would like to be. I plan to revamp the way I use it and use it more effectively in 2013!

3. BLOG: My last one is taking more pix of what's going on in my classroom and posting more on this blog!

Personal Resolutions:
I have lots of personal goals for this year! Maybe by sharing them I will be more likely to try sticking to them.....MAYBE! :) Here they are.....in no particular order!
1. Get Healthy: I struggle when it comes to eating and exercising....just being honest! I am a sugar addict! I absolutely love sweets...:) About three years ago, I decided I was going to drop a few pounds and exercise, and I did just that. I did it with walking and water! I drank mostly water and walked most every day and I love about 30 pounds! I did really well that year until I started back to school in the fall and life got crazy! I have managed to keep most of that weight off but am ready to try again! I am planning to do the water/walking thing again! A big goal for this year is to be able to run a 5k....toward the end of the year! It has been a dream of mine for a while now!
2. Pinterest Projects: I have been pretty good about trying some of the things I have pinned, but my goal this year is to try at least one new recipe per week as well as one of the housekeeping tips and/or crafts I have pinned! I have over 5,000 pins so I will never get to all of them, but I can try more that I have been! You can see my boards here!

3. Home Improvement: My dear hubby and I have been working on remodeling our mobile home for a while now. We have completed a couple of rooms....my son Dakota's room, and my craft room. We are currently redoing the siding on the outside of our home. My goals for this year are to build a new screened porch to extend our living space, as well as totally gut our master bath and redo it! I also hope we can put in new walls and floors in our dining and living rooms. And....I would really love to complete my little library space that I have created. I want to build in floor to ceiling bookshelves along one wall to house my HUGE collection of books!
4. ETSY Shop: This last goal is to open an ETSY shop and sell handmade items as well as vintage items. I absolutely love to treasure hunt for vintage items and I also love crafting. I decided to try and make some extra money by opening an ETSY shop. Do any of you shop ETSY? If so, what do you shop for? I hope to have it up and going before summer, but realistically, it probably won't be! I can't wait to begin this endeavor!!! Wish me luck! As soon as it's up and running, I will share on here so you can check it out!

Well, that's all folks! Thanks for sticking with me through the whole post! I appreciate it oh so much!  Have a happy and blessed new year! 

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Snowflakes for Sandy Hook & A Fun Linky Party!

Today when I was looking for some snowflake patterns for my kiddos, I stumbled across something awesome! Sandy Point PTA is asking students across the country to make and send in snowflakes....the more unique the better! They are trying to create a winter wonderland with as many snowflakes as they can collect to welcome the students to their new school after the break. You can read more about it here and get the address to send them in. We are doing this in my class and I will send them in over the break. It is the least we can do, and it is an awesome RACK for my kiddos to be involved in! I have been wondering how we could help and this is perfect...:) There are lots of different snowflake patterns on the web, so if you are still in school, please take the time to join this worth cause!

Last night when I was blog hopping, I stumbled upon this fun linky party while visiting Mrs. Hacker at Just a Primary Girl.....and just had to link up! Christina from Bunting, Books, & Bainbridge is hosting it....go check it out for yourself! Oh....and please pay a visit to Mrs. Hacker! Share the love...:)

Well, I have quite the story for this one! Several years ago....maybe even the first year I taught first grade, one of my sweet kiddos brought in something they thought was really cool to show me and their classmates. The special surprise was................ready for it...................a dead ground mole in a plastic baggie!!! Eeeewww......I know! Well, it was the last day before Christmas break and you all know how crazy, busy that day is, and we forgot all about it! I never gave it another thought. Fast forward two weeks.....I come back from break....we always come back a day before the kids....and I don't notice anything strange or different at all! That is, until I was cleaning out the student desks so I could rearrange the seating for the new year! Needless to say, I reached in to swipe everything out of that desk and all of a sudden a horrible smell hit me in the face.....yeah, you know that smell! Rotting flesh is not a smell I care to be so up close and personal with! It was fine in the baggie until the juicy rodent was disturbed....I know, dis....gus....ting! I thought I would throw up! Well, I got it out of the classroom and scrubbed and sanitized that desk, but the smell lingered for a good two weeks!!! I will never forget it....and I make sure I keep any "surprises" my students bring in on my desk now! GROSS!

Be Blessed!

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Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Be Blessed.....

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Sandy Hook, Secret Santa, & Scoot

I'm sure all of you are feeling the same way I am tonight....full of sorrow for the lives lost this morning at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. I didn't hear about it until just after I sent all my kiddos off after school. Heart wrenching.....:( I am so sad for the families of the children and the staff members, but also for the school "family".....as they lost 26 members of their family today. I can't imagine how life goes on after such a tragedy. Each person affected by this senseless act is in my thoughts and prayers. May God provide the peace and comfort they need.

Anyway, I had a really good day up until that point....

Secret Santa started today and I got the sweetest...no pun intended...gift! A gingerbread house kit! I can't wait to make it...:) I love Secret Santa....it is so fun picking out special little gifts for someone and also to get special little gifts every day for 5 days! My kiddos were so excited when Mr. Johnny (one of our custodians) delivered the package to me. They couldn't wait for me to open it! Isn't it adorable..:) I will post pics when I finish it!

I also had this sweet surprise in my mailbox today! One of our school board members always gives ever employee (admin, teachers, aides, lunchroom staff, custodians, and bus drivers) in the district a small gift....this was a nice metal tin full of yummy chocolates! 

 I know why it's called a sampled now! As you can see, I sampled several pieces! LOL!

After work, I had to run to Wal Mart and pick up some quick foods for my hubby and son to have over the weekend while I'm gone to Tallahassee to visit my daughter Miranda! While I was there, I spotted a pack of these.....

I have been looking for some so I can make some of these.....

Aren't they just adorable? I saw them on Pinterest! I'm hoping to find some things to put in them this weekend at one of my favorite stores.....

And....to finish up this post, my kids got to play SCOOT today. Mine really love it and it gets them up and moving! You can find the document and directions to play here. You can use it in so many ways...today we used it to review physical science vocabulary. I typed up the definitions and placed one on each desk and the kids had to write the words for each definition in the boxes. Sometimes I type up questions....either multiple choice or true/false and they write the answer in the box. Have you ever done this with your class? If so, please share how you use it...:) 

Well, I better head to bed....it's 11:30 and I need to be up around 6 in the morning! 

Count your blessings tonight and please remember Sandy Hook students and workers in your thoughts and prayers! 

Be Blessed,

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Productive Days...:)

Don't you just love a productive day? I know I do....and today was one of them! I got so much accomplished! First, I was able to take my classes to the computer lab today so we could do Discovery assessment 2 make-ups. I only had a few in each block, but it is just easier in the lab. It also gave us a chance to visit a fun website while the make-ups were being done. I let my kiddos go to edheads and choose from 3 activities to review some of the units we have covered or are currently working on. They LOVED it! When everyone was finished with make-ups, I let them have the last 15 minutes to visit A Kid's Heart and play some fun Christmas games. 

Once I got each class started in the lab, I was able to work on transferring a ton of documents I had saved on my laptop to my flash drive and organize them into folders. I find so may awesome things online and save them, but I'm always in a hurry and don;t take time to organize them on my flash drive. I was thrilled to get that job done!

After school, I was able to get all my Discovery data recorded and ready for our data meeting after school tomorrow as well as update my RTI data. 

Well, anywho.....my first block earned their last cupcake for their Sweet Rewards, so I went by the store and got what I needed to bake their cupcakes for tomorrow! 

Here's my Sweet Rewards board earlier in the year!

They are going to be so excited! I let them vote....cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, or brownies. 

Well, cupcakes won, but lots of kiddos wanted the other options, so.....lucky me found a mix that was brownies topped with swirls of chocolate chip cookie dough....so I made cupcakes and brownies/cookies! Now, they can have a choice.....:)

MMMMmmmmmmm!

So, while I was baking, I made grilled cheese and soup for supper and then finished all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. Then, I sat down and made myself go ahead and type up my after-school tutoring progress reports that are due Friday. They are done and e-mailed! I am almost all caught up! Hopefully tomorrow I can finish lesson plans and grading and then I can totally enjoy the weekend. I am excited....my sister, nephew, and I are going to Tallahassee to spend the weekend with my daughter. We are going to shop till we drop and then go look at some fabulous Christmas light displays! 

Here's one from last year....they do a patriotic light display complete with music on the radio. The lights change and flash with the music.....gorgeous!

Same house....different music!

I can't wait!!! Well, it's almost 11pm....past my bedtime, so I better hit the sack! 5:30 will be here before I know it! Have a happy Thursday...:)

Be Blessed!

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Christmas...:)

I decided to feature my Christmas decor today! I absolutely love Christmas and decorating for Christmas! I wanted to share some pictures I took around my house! The first few are in my kitchen. The kitchen is my favorite place to decorate each year....probably because it is so bright and cheery! It is all decked out in gingerbread and sweet treats! Each year I add a little more to my collection....come take a look around!

The top of my fridge!

The Cookies sign is a new addition this year! It makes me smile...:)

My kitchen tree....all decked out in sweet treats!

Top of my cabinets...gingerbread houses and train. The garland has candy and peppermint lights.

Area by my stove...my mother-in-law made the gingerbread girl for me years ago!

Another cutie made by my mother-in-law!

My coffee/hot cocoa area. I love it!

A closer view....:)

Yankee Candle gingerbread carousel and in the background a ceramic gingerbread muffin pan!

A little cutie I picked up at the Dollar General this year!

This is the buffet in my dining room....complete with a few miniature nativities.

My china cabinet....with a little Christmas decor.

Next up are some pictures of my snowman collection. This started several years ago with the teacher snowgirl you will see in one of the pictures. She has apples on her dress...you can't miss her! Anywho, my favorite aunt bought her for me when I was in college to become a teacher.....and that started the collection! I have surrounded her with several little snow students...:) Some of these were gifts and some I bought myself, but each one is near and dear to my heart! Take a peek.....

I love the snow family....a Secret Santa gift at school a few years ago!

Two of these three cuties were Secret Santa gifts as well!

My cutie teacher snowgirl and her students.
I love the one with the red and green hat....he has a huge head and little body!

A couple more cuties....the one on the right is a snow globe!

You can see books by my favorite author in the background here!

More sweet little snowmen. The one in the center was a gift from my daughter...:) I love them all!

This is my largest and he springs up and down! Don't look at the dust on top of my  media cabinets....LOL!
I had to hold the camera up high to snap this one and I didn't know the top was so dusty!

Frosty's hat...:)

Not the best picture, but this is the cabinets with the snowmen inside.
They light up and look so pretty with all the snowflakes, snowballs, and fake snow surrounding the snowmen!

My Santa I've had since my kiddos were small, along with a few new Christmas novels....:)

My tree covered with sentimental ornaments....we love reminiscing  over them each year!

I love this antique bowl sitting on top of my Christmas Carol books...it has 2 scenes from Dickens on it!
I found it at a flea market a couple years ago and fell in love! I have a large collection of the Christmas tree jars you see here as well....all found at yard sales & flea markets for next to nothing! The pedestal one in this picture is my favorite!

Well, that's it for now...I hope you enjoyed the tour! Next year I hope to have my library area finished so I can decorate it! I have big plans for it involving book page ornaments! I can't wait...:) I plan to feature my favorite aunt's house soon. It is just gorgeous! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Be Blessed, 

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