December Currently & a Little Christmas Shopping!

It's that time again! 

I can hardly believe November is already gone....and for that matter, that 2012 is almost gone!!! 

Where did it go? I am glad I got a chance to participate in Currently this month....thanks Farley! 

If you've never participated, then you need to head over there and check it out!

Well....I had the bestest time out with my sister and 2 of my best girlfriends yesterday. We went to Ulta, them to Mimi's for lunch.....YUM! After lunch we went to Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Ross, and then stopped by Publix on the way home. I bought some Christmas decor for my classroom tree at Hobby Lobby. I still need to put it up....that's on the agenda for tomorrow after school. I bought bright colored decorations to match my classroom1 The kiddos are going to love it! We have Discovery testing all day tomorrow so they won't really be in the classroom but they will be excited to see it Tuesday! Anywho, here's the decorations I bought!

I found a few gifts and stocking stuffers at TJ Maxx, Ulta, and Ross. I was excited to find a good deal on a really well made Imperia' pasta machine at TJ Maxx for my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. They love to cook and are always making something special so I thought they would appreciate a machine to make homemade pasta. Have any of you ever made your own pasta? Is so, please comment with any tips you may have...:) I also found the cutest little sign that spells out cookies for my sweet gingerbread themed kitchen! Isn't it adorable? 

I also found a couple of things for my Secret Santa person at school as well as my ornaments for the ProTeacher ornament exchange! I can't wait to send them off and receive mine! I collect ornaments and can't wait to hang a new addition on the tree! Do any of you collect ornaments? I always buy an ornament when we go on trips and vacations or from shows I have been to. I also have ornaments that I've had since I was a kid! Here are a few of my favorites!

These two are both old....I've had them for about 30 years! My favorite aunt made them for me years ago....:) My sister had Little Red Riding Hood and her bear had a pink bow. Funny the things you remember!

 

These are from places I've been, Girl's Weekend trips, and shows I've seen! I have so many more that I would love to share, but we would be here all night! These last two are two of my favorites as well as my daughter's! Aren't they just adorable?

Be Blessed.....and make it a great week!

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Lazy Sunday in the South, a Blog Button (finally), a Few Goodies, and an Upcoming Giveaway!

Like my picture....that's me on the right! Can somebody say couch potato! 

I need a shot.....no, not a shot from the Dr or a shot of liquor, I need a shot of energy!

 I have been nothing but lazy today! This folks is not a good thing seeing as how I have more to do this week than I can possibly do! Seriously....what was I thinking!!! 

Oh well, I guess I just needed a break and some rest....:)

The one and only thing productive I did today was finally figure out how to put the blog button I created a couple weeks ago on my blog! I got very frustrated last time I tried and finally gave up. I decided since I was just sitting around today that I would try it again and I got it on the second try! I am so excited...:) Hopefully soon I will get brave enough to buy one of those beautiful backgrounds and redo my look! Be sure to grab it for your blog! I need to do that with all yours too! 

Isn't it cute...:)

I also want to share a few goodies I bought yesterday! I went BTS shopping with my sister and my two nieces, Shelby & Taylor. We had a great time...:) Here's a picture of me with Shelby and Taylor. Shelby (on the left) is the oldest. She is starting University of Florida in a couple weeks as a freshmen. She is a biology major who plans to attend med school and become a neurologist one day! Taylor (in the middle) is a high school junior and has plans to do something in communication in missions or ministry some day! They are both such smart, sweet, & kind young ladies! 

I am very proud of them!

Here are a couple new tops and a scarf I bought for work! I got really good deals on all 3 pieces. The scarf came from Old Navy at $9.95. The chevron print top was $12 and the other one was $10. They came from JC Penney's. It was tax free weekend too so I didn't have to any tax on school supplies or clothes!!!

Close-up of chevron top....I puffy heart chevron print lately! 

Close-up of the scarf....yep, it's chevron too!

Of course I had to hit up the Target $ Spot while I was there! I got everything you see here except the chevron zipper pouch. It came from Old Navy for $3.50. It was too cute to pass up! I got the striped bucket, the blue container, and the two paper pads (which match my color scheme) from the $ Spot! I also picked up the cute composition book, tablecloth, and planner from Target. The planner was on sale for $6.89! It is too cute....it's not the Erin Condren one I wanted, but it will do. Besides, I needed a cheap one for now so I can decide if I like it or use it enough to justify paying for an Erin Condren planner next year!

I also wanted to let you all in on my upcoming giveaway! I reached 100 followers last week so I wanted to celebrate! I am planning to put it on sometime this week, so keep checking back! Part of the prize will be a gift card for this awesome place!

Ok.....I think I may have talked myself into removing my huge big butt from the couch and going to cut out and sew my curtain and bunting banners for tomorrow's Monday Made It! I need to do some laminating and cutting out too and the good thing is I can come back to my little nest on the couch for the cutting part...LOL! Hope you are are having a restful Sunday!

Be Blessed!

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Pocket Chart Revamp a Little Bling, & a Freebie!

Peek-a-Boo! 

That's what this little fella seems to be thinking! Isn't he a cutie? As some of you know from Sunday's post, I went for a mammogram yesterday and my Dr is an animal nut and huge supporter of the Humane Society. She always has a doggie or two in her office...:) This little guy is sitting on the receptionists desk and peeking out the sliding window......:) 

He made me smile!

Some of you probably saw my Home Depot nail apron pocket chart I posted on Monday Made It yesterday! Well, when I went to the Dr yesterday, I also ran by JoAnn's and picked up some ribbon and a couple other goodies. Here is my updated pocket chart! I absolutely love the way it turned out!!!

Here's a close-up of the ribbon. Too cute!

I also picked up some stick-on rhinestones on clearance (not sure what I'm using them for....yet!), and some glittery 12x12 scrapbook papers to use on my Stellar Scientists board. 

Here's a close-up of the glitter! I love all things sparkly....:)

Next up, I finally figured out how to attach an image of the labels I made....thanks to Sara over at Fourth Grade Fanatics. Click on the images to see them larger. I hope this works! If you are interested in having them....leave a comment and I will e-mail you the pdf. Sorry these are off center....still learning!

Oh....I am so excited that I now have 91 followers! I'm getting closer to 100 every day and will be doing a giveaway pretty soon...:) Well, that's all for today! I am off to work in my classroom.....ALL day! I am hoping to get all my junk things moved from the high school to my new school. My son is off work tomorrow so I have some muscles to help! I will post pictures of my progress. Tomorrow I hope to get my stuff moved in, arrange the desks in the room, and weed through all the science supplies and re-organize things to suit me. 
Wish me luck....:)

Be Blessed!

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Goodies Galore, a Cutie, & a Shout-Out

Well, I got my new hot pink fabric yesterday! Sadly I wasn't able to find a stripe like I wanted, but they did have this gorgeous polka dot so I was happy with that! I also got a rotary cutter (pink for breast cancer awareness) which I need to cut out my triangles for my pennant banner! The sweet cashier at JoAnn's was kind enough to let me use a 40% off coupon that wasn't supposed to be used until Sunday....and my 15% teacher discount! So, I left there tickled PINK with my two pink items! Can't wait to start on that! While I was in town, I ran in the $ Tree and was thrilled to find team caddies and some cute baskets to use for trash when the kiddos are working in their interactive science notebooks. I made some cute labels for the caddies to number them. I'm sharing them if anyone is interested. Just leave me a comment or e-mail me! (I have tried and tried to figure out how to put an image of my labels on here but nothing is working. If you have any advice....please help!) They are super cute and I wanted to show them to you all! I also got my Vista Print order in today. This one was only two items.....there are still a few things I need to order. Here is my banner (which I heart) and a notebook I made for my bills and budget at home! The last picture shows my growing mountain of school stuff! (ook closely and you can see my cat Cruella jumping from the quilt rack to the bed!)I am so ready to get it in my new classroom! I have much more still stored at the high school that I need to move to my new school as well! 

I'm tired just thinking about it!

This isn't teaching related, but I had a blast watching my nephew Jake play lacrosse today! He is really good! His middle school age team won 14-10 and Jake scored 4 of those points!  If you've never watched lacrosse, it is really fun. I would probably end up in a fight though with people trying to steal the ball from me and hitting me with their stick!!! LOL! Here's a pic of him....he's a cutie under the helmet and pads...:)

Before I go, I want to give a shout-out to a couple of awesome ladies....Kathy from Kathy's Coordinated Class is giving away a $20 gift certificate to TPT....WOW! You can get lots of goodies with that! Angie from Timeouts & Tootsie Rolls is giving away a $10 Target gift card to one lucky winner and a second winner will receive a Back to School pack by Ginger Snaps and Angie's own Wild About Learning Take Home Folder covers. Click on their links above to enter! These are some awesome giveaways! I am trying to decide what to do for my 100 follower giveaway....hopefully it won't be long! I'm up to 78 followers!!!!! Not bad after only 3 weeks blogging....:) 

Be blessed!

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More Good(will) Deals, 3 Lovely Awards, & Green Smoothie Goodness!

I know I posted about a couple of good deals in yesterday's post, but I found a few more and wanted to share them too! Yesterday, I went to Crystal River with my mom, dad, & my nephew Riley. We went to the movies, ate a yummy lunch at Chili's and made a trip to the Goodwill & Home Depot! The Goodwill in Crystal River is my favorite!!! I came home with  several great deals! First thing I spotted when I walked in the door was a rack of adorable bathroom decorations.

I know I just bought the shower curtain at the Dollar General that I blogged about yesterday, but this one was half the price at $4.99 and it is plastic so I won't have to hem it if I need to shorten it! I'm returning the DG one! If you didn't read yesterday's post, I am using the shower curtain to create a makeshift closet to hide some things behind. Anywho, the colors were perfect for my room.....turquoise, hot pink, orange, and apple green! They had bathroom accessories to match so I bought the cute cup to hold pens and pencils on my desk for $1.99...:)

Too Cute!

I bought this green container to hold flyswatters for our SWAT games we will be playing this year and this brand new set of 3 plastic containers for $1.29 to use in my pantry. 

I got these two books for $3.38....they were a BOGO deal. I love to read and collect good books for my future library! 

I am very excited about these next purchases. I bought 3 tops and two pairs of shoes for school. The tops are all like new and one is new...still had tags, they were $4.27 each! The brands are Pleione which is found at Nordstrom, Lane Bryant, and Westbound Woman from Dillards.  I normally don't buy used shoes, but one pair of these has never been worn and the others look like they may have been worn 2-3 times at most! The brand new ones were Mootsie Tootsie brand! I paid $6.06 per pair and I priced them when I got home. The Mootsie Tootsie sandals cost $40.00 online and the cute little heels were around $24.00 new. I am tickled with these...:)

I also stopped by Home Depot to pick up 5 of these canvas nail aprons that everyone is using for chair pockets in their classrooms. I have other plans for mine...:) Hopefully you will get to see on Monday Made It next week!

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Wow! I feel so special to have been nominated for yet another award! I was nominated by three lovely ladies for the One Lovely Blog award! Thanks so much to Carla from Playful Learning Brooklyn, Mrs. T from Teaching Mrs. T, & Miss Pasqua from Ms. Pasqua's Kinder. Thanks so much ladies....I am honored!

To receive the award you must do these three things.....

~ Follow the person(s) who gave you the award. DONE!

~Link back to the person who gave you the award. DONE!

~Pass this award on to 15 new bloggers! 

So....here are my 15! 

Ashley from Inspire, Dream, Create

Donna from Working 5 to 9....Math & Science

Shasta from The Loop

From the Desk Of.....

Liz from Teaching In the Valley

Karen from Fun Times In Fourth Grade

Heather from Room 4 Imagination

Cindy from Teach With All the Colors of the Wind

Lisa from The Glittery Apple

Sara from Fourth Grade Fanatics

Jessica from Fabulous & Fun 4th Graders

Miss Cayer from Teaching is Love

Sixth & Spectacular

Jane from Hoot-Worthy in First

Jennifer from Darling Little Learners

Congratulations to each of these winners!

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Has anyone else jumped on the green smoothie train? When I first heard of them, I thought they sounded disgusting! I mean who drinks spinach in a smoothie.....YUCK! But, then I read several testimonials of folks who said you absolutely cannot taste the spinach, so I decided to try it. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike spinach.....I don't. I actually love it on a sandwich in place of lettuce, and it's one of my favorite pizza toppings...I'm a meatless white pizza girl and my favorite toppings are cheese, tomato, mushrooms, & spinach......YUM! In a sweet smoothie though? Well, I bit the bullet and made one for myself and my hubby and guess what? They are actually very tasty....and you can't taste the spinach! Healthy and tasty....you can't beat that. Our favorite is Greek yogurt, pineapple (canned in it's own juice), spinach, banana, & a little orange juice. If you can get past the color, you will love them!

Here are the ingredients...I put my pineapple in a jar after I open the can. A good tip I discovered is to slice your bananas, lay them on a cookie sheet and freeze them and then put them in a freezer bag and they won't stick together. Frozen bananas make the smoothie stay cold longer and since they go bad so quickly, this keeps you from having to go to the grocery store more than once a week.

I don't measure anything, but here are the ingredients for one smoothie in the blender. Put a good handful of spinach in!

And....here's the finished product!  What do you think? Are you willing to try a green smoothie? I promise you they are yummy.....and healthy! I plan to drink one every morning on my way to work when school starts! Let me know if you have tried them and what your favorite ingredients are....:)

Be blessed....

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