Spring Break Heaven....Plus a Giveaway!

Ahhh.... Spring Break.  It feels good.  :)

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing day.  I woke up to my husband's alarm going off and was so happy to fall right back asleep.  :)

I spent way too much money at Target... of course.  I also went to the pet store to buy my Tobey some bully sticks and pork pizzles.  Ever heard of them?  They are... ummm.... bull (or pig)... ummmm  private parts.  You know what I'm saying?  Sound tasty, huh?  Ew.  But, Tobey loves them.  They are completely digestible and don't splinter like other rawhides/bones.   So, anywho, I stocked up on some pork pizzles.

There he is chowing down on his pizzle. :)

I also got him a new bed.  He has about 7 beds in the house but he could always use another, right?  It looks really comfy... I just hope he uses it! 

I was all ready to show you pictures of all of Tobey's beds... but, I started typing it out and I realized how insane I would sound describing how crazy-spoiled my dog is.  So, moving on...

I made some new digital papers that I'd like to giveaway!  If you are interested in the papers, please leave a comment (and your email address) below.  I'll have my husband pick a number and that person will win the pack!   Who needs fancy number generators when I have a perfectly capable hubby, right? ;)

Here is the MEGA "Spring Has Sprung" Pack!  There are 35 papers!  They are all 12 x 12 and 300 dpi.  :)  Leave a comment to *hopefully* win them!  I will pick the winner sometime on Sunday so you gotta' hurry!

Happy Saturday! :)

14

Easter Bunny Success!

The Easter Bunny Coupons were a hit!  I was a little nervous that my students would be disappointed because it wasn't candy... but no way!  :)  They were so excited for everyone to open the eggs... I don't think they've ever been so quiet.   I even heard about it at parent teacher conferences Wednesday and Thursday.  The kids must have been so excited to tell their families.  :)   I just love them SO much! :)

We also did some jelly bean sorting and graphing.  I'm not sure where I found this perfect jelly bean activity pack... but, if it was from you, please let me know so I can give you credit!  I've been using it for about two years and I just LOVE it.  :)

We had conferences on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.... and it was pretty boring.   The parents that I needed to talk to didn't show up (of course).  But, I did get to say lots of great stuff to the few parents that did show up.

Oh, and thank you to everyone who showed interest in the Crazy Color Zig-Zags!  I had a lot of fun emailing them out and reading all of the sweet comments!

I'm going to be giving away this pack of 35 (wowzas!) digital papers to one lucky person tomorrow... so make sure you come back!

2

Noun Game!

Love, love, love Latoya's weekly linky!  I'm excited to join in this week for the Noun Game!

Here are the rules:  Name your favorite person, place, thing, and animal! It's a piece of cake. :)

Person

That's a hard one.  I love my whole family but I'm going to go with my husband.   We have fun together but can drive each other crazy.  We know what the other person is feeling most of the time but other times, we are completely on different pages of different books.  He keeps me grounded and he also keeps me on my toes. He is one of the sweetest guys I know and would drop anything (except his video games) to help someone.  I love him! 

Place

My absolute favorite place is at home with my two guys.  I really enjoy being home when the house is clean and tidy.  I also LOVE Target.  :)  

Thing

My favorite thing is my laptop.  I could sit in front of this thing for hours.  It just allows me to do so much: keep in touch with people, play games, create for TpT, blog, etc.  AND... I can sit on the couch while I'm doing it all. 

Animal

Well, if you've ever read my blog before you know that I am obsessed with my dog!  He is my absolute, 100% favorite animal ever. :)

Don't forget to link up, friends!  Thank you to Latoya for hosting another fun linky!

Oh... and don't forget to check out my post from yesterday to see how you can get your hands on this... :)

8

Easter, Digital Papers, and Weight Loss :)

Monday, oh how I despise you.  I just have to stay positive and keep telling myself that Spring Break is right around the corner.  :)  :)

I know I mentioned this before.. but, instead of stuffing Easter eggs with candy for my students, I plan on using Easter Bunny Coupons.  The coupons are good for things from our Best Behavior Binder (Don't know what that is?  Find out here!).  I know it will be really exciting for all of the kids... and cheap for me! :)

  

Speaking of Easter eggs... my husband and I went over to my mom's to do some Easter egg dyeing yesterday.  :)  It was, as usual, very fun!  Is it normal to still dye Easter eggs when you're 29?  Ah, who cares.

I have been adding fun colorful, crazy papers to one of my newest digital paper packs.  I'd love to share this one with you before I even post it for sale.  :)  Not sure what to do with these papers?  I use them as the backgrounds to my TpT/Teachers Notebook creations and I love using them as the backgrounds on my Promethean board flipcharts.  My students get a kick out of picking a paper for the background.  :)  It's the simple things, right? 

So, here she is.  If you are interested, there are a couple ways you can go about getting your hands on these 25 crazy, colorful papers!  

You can like me on Facebook and leave a comment with your email address... OR... you can email me at:  mrsdsfirsties@gmail.com. :)  If you email me, please leave me your blogger name. Either way, I'll email you the whole pack for FREE.... just because! :)

This freebie will only be up for grabs until Tuesday, March 26th.  Come Wednesday, she will be a priced item... so act now! Feel free to blog about it, pin it, or use whatever other fancy social networking skills you have up your sleeve.  

Now, on to WEIGHT LOSS!  I've lost 4 lbs.  :)  Yipee!  I'm not really worried about the number... I'm more concerned with how I feel in my clothes.  I can't wait to fit into all of my "skinny" clothes that have been tucked in the back of my closet.  Yay for P90X!  We did Kenpo last night and it kicked my behind.  I am so glad today is a "rest day".  

And... I just couldn't resist.  Here is my little Tobey. :)  I put one of those aromatherapy shoulder pillows on him and he was in HEAVEN.  What is all that mess around him you ask?  He had just destroyed his new elephant toy.  My special little guy. :)

22

SomeBUNNY Loves Your Blog Linky!

Oh, the Sunday blues.  Thankfully, I will only have 3 1/2 days of work this week and then it is SPRING BREAK!! :)  We have conferences Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  So, my Spring Break will be much deserved.

Did you miss out on my sweet little freebie yesterday?  If so, head on back a post to see if it is something that floats your boat. :)

Anywho... I happened to stumble across this linky on Pinterest and once I read about it, I was so excited to join!  I adore Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge.  :)

But... just WHO do I write about?  I follow so many great blogs.  I wish I could write about each and every one of them!  But.. I suppose I will just pick one. 

I LOVE Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher.  Her blog was one of the first teacher blogs that I started following.  It opened up a whole world of other fantastic blogs and bloggers, Pinterest, creative ideas, and awesome teacher humor.  

Her blog is so well-written, HILARIOUS, and she has the cutest new pup named Murphie. :)

She is like my teacher blogger role model. :)  Go check her out!  You will not be disappointed! 

Thank you for hosting, Christina!

1

Happiness!

Happy Saturday!  The best day of the week.  :)

My new year's resolution was to be more positive.  I feel like I've made tiny baby steps with this resolution but have a lot more work to do.  I came across article and thought the list had some really good tips.  It is 22 things happy people do differently.  Check it out here.

I really need to work on #5.  I'm more of a realistic goal setter.  I squash more poor husband's big dreams all the time, too.  :)  I need to take a lesson from my hubs and this article:  dream big!

#11 is reallllly hard for me, too.  I always compare myself to other people.  I don't do this so much at work or at home.  But, I definitely have a little jealousy bug when it comes to the really successful bloggers and TpTers.  I love my faithful followers (thank you!!) but I just want to know how someone could get thousands or followers.  I guess it takes some time. :)

I'm working on #17 and #18.  I'm eating well and exercising lately (yay for P90X!).  I feel much better but my exercise high is slowing down... and I'm craving salt and sweets.  :(

I'm going to bookmark that article and revisit it lots so I can keep myself in check!

And... to spread the happiness, I made a little FREEBIE just for you!

Here is my Funny Bunny Rhymes rhyming activity!

There are 16 pairs of rhyming words and a recording sheet included.  It's cute, simple, and perfect for Easter!

 Just click either picture below to grab it and thanks for making me so happy!

1

I Lied!

Happy Weekend!  :)

I am SO glad that the school week is over.  :)  It was a fast but busy one.  Yesterday my students were acting a bit crazy... which is not normal because they are usually so calm and sweet.  Thankfully (for them... and me), they didn't have school today.  :)  We had a records day so we can finish up our report cards.  

My report cards were done so I spent the morning cleaning up and organizing my classroom.   But, I was ready to get out of there when 12:00 hit! 

Anywho...

We went to the zoo on Tuesday.  It was freezing and very WINDY!  Definitely not a good day for the zoo.  Most of the animals were inside so it kind of worked out for us.  I love field trips... but, no matter how well-behaved the kids are, it just kicks my behind!  So, field trips on Tuesdays are no good... 

My husband and I started P90X this week.  I am SO sore.  We've been following the diet, too... so I'm sore and starving. ;)  It was so hard to go to Target today and not buy myself a little sweet treat.  

Speaking of Target, I grabbed some pretty plastic Easter eggs that I plan on using for an Easter egg hunt with my students.  Instead of buying treats, sweets, and toys, I plan on just whipping up some Easter Bunny Coupons to put in the eggs.  It will be free for me and I know the kids will think it's fun! :)  I'm hoping to make them tomorrow...

Now... for my "Two Truths and a Lie" reveal....

1.  I was in marching band in high school - TRUE!  I played the flute.  I was only a part of it for a year or two.  We were invited to the Orange Bowl Parade and I really wanted to go to Florida with all of my friends.  So, I stayed in band.   When I first started playing the flute, I was first chair.  Then, when I became "too cool", I dropped all the way down to the 2nd to last chair.  Eek!  I can still probably play a little Hot Cross Buns.. but that would be it. :)

2.  I used to have 9 piercings - TRUE!  I was a bit of a rebel in high school.  I had 4 piercings in one ear and 3 in the other , my belly button, and my tongue pierced.  I thought I was pretty cool.  Those piercings didn't last too long though.  Now, I can't even get one pair of earrings in my ears.  :)  

3.  My favorite part of cake is the icing - LIE!  Yuck, I don't like the icing.  Plain cake is so much better.  Most icings/frostings are way too sweet for my taste buds.  :)   

Thanks to everyone who guessed my lie!  :) 

Time to cuddle up under my favorite blanket for a much deserved Friday afternoon nap!  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for a little freebie! :)  

0

2 Truths and a Lie

I'm linking up with Mrs. Reed from Flying into First Grade (again!!) for her Let's Get Acquainted linky!  This time it is:  2 Truths and a Lie!

Here are the rules:  Tell 3 things about you - 2 truths and 1 lie.  Put them in any order.  Your readers will guess your lie in the comments of your post.   Don't tell which is your lie just yet... you can do that at the end of the week! :)

Here it goes:

Please ignore my non-existent upper lip in the picture above.  :)  I really do have an upper lip... it just gets hidden sometimes. :)

3 Things About Me!

1.  I played the flute in the marching band in high school.

2.  I used to have 9 body piercings.

3.  My favorite part of cake is the icing!

So... which one is my lie?  Guess by leaving me a comment!

See which is my lie HERE!

7

2 Stars and a Wish!

I'm still having my 20% off sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store... go check it out!  Today is the last day!

Fonts:  Rowdy in Room 300

I'm really excited to link up with Luckeyfrog's Lilypad to join in her fun linky.  She wants us all to tell about our two "stars" and our one "wish".   Your stars are the things that are going well and the wish is a wish for next year.

The school year is just about three-fourths done for me.  I'm sure the last quarter will just fly by so this is the perfect time to do a little reflecting.  Here I go!

My first STAR is my positive behavior management plan.  I wrote all about it here.  I have a very well-behaved, sweet class this year... but, I can't give them all the credit.  :)  I have worked very hard to perfect all of my rewards and my positive behavior management system.  Although they are super sweet and good, I feel like they work extra hard to please me and earn the rewards. 

My second STAR is how I keep track of their sight words throughout the year.  This system has allowed me to have 5 different sight word lists each week.   It is the one area that is REALLY differentiated in my classroom.  I adapted the freebie I found from DillyDabbles.  It allows me to show their growth... and it is rewarding for the student (and for me) to check a word off.  :) 

We have 5 words a week and a morning work activity for each day of the week.  I compiled all of my sight word "stuff" and added it to my TpT store.  Check it out! 

I happened to stumble across the BEST idea a while back and I definitely want to try it.  It's from Extra Special Teaching.   She puts the words onto a Powerpoint (one word on each slide) and just clicks from slide to slide as she is administering the test.  I do something similar but it's for whole group sight word practice.  I never thought to use it for their assessments.  Check out her awesome idea. :)

My wish for next year is to organize my lessons into units - especially with Language Arts, Reading, and Writing.  I feel like all of those things could gel together easily.  It would be fun to do themed units to incorporate all three subjects.... or even Math, Science and Social Studies, too!  I have a hard time making it "fun" when I teach them separately. 

I need to use the summer to make some creative units.  I feel like I was so creative in college when I was learning how to be a teacher. But, now that I AM a teacher, I'm overwhelmed with everything the job brings.  I just have to step back, turn on the creativity, and make it happen!  Does that make sense?  :) 

Don't forget to link up! 

1

Let's Get Acquainted!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Don't forget about my SALE!

I feel like I've been doing a ton of linky parties lately.. but, they are all so fun!  I can't help myself!

I came across this SUPER cute linky from Mrs. Reed at Flying into First Grade.  Let's Get Acquainted!

Here are the details:  Use your initials to share things you like or like to do.  :)

My initials are JLD...

J - is for... um?  J is a hard one!  I don't like jogging.  I don't really care for jellybeans.  Juice is okay, but I don't like it that much.   Okay... Jet's Pizza.  It's the best.   I'm a fan of pizza, but this is not just any pizza.  MMMM.

Source: www.jetspizza.com

L - is for LAUGH.   I love being funny and making people laugh.  I also love when people make me laugh.  :)

Source:/www.keepcalmandcarryon.com

D - is for DOG!  If you've read previous posts or know me at all, you know I LOVE my dog.

That's my sleepy Tobey!  Look at those big teeth!  :)

D - is also for Dave.  That's my hubby.  I love him, too!

This super cute linky is almost over!  Go link up before it's too late!

0

My Spring Break Bucket List

I'm joining Brigid from Brigid's Daily Lesson Log to tell you what fun things I want to do over break!

To be honest, I don't have big plans... so, this list might not be too exciting.  :)

1.  Workout, workout, workout -  My husband and I are starting P90X (again).  We did it about 4 years ago and I lost so much weight and got pretty fit.  We are going to start on Monday.  Spring Break will be a challenge because I usually just like to snack, eat, relax, and nap on breaks.  Not this time though!

We also have P90X2 to try... but we are going to do the first one then move on to the second.  Whew, 6 months of P90X, can I do it??

I can't wait for Tony Horton's lame jokes. :)

Source: www.beachbody.com

2.  Clean -    I can't wait to really purge through the closets and corners of my house.  Things have piled up throughout the winter and I'm so ready to just get rid of stuff.   The house needs a good thorough cleaning and some organizing, too.

3.  Relax - I love my couch.  My favorite thing to do is just lay on the couch (without a thought in my head) while starting at the TV.  But, I also find it really relaxing to create things for TpT.  So, I'm compiling my list now so I can spend lots of time creating and relaxing.

Did I tell you I was having a SALE?  It's running tomorrow and Monday!  Stop by and check it out!

Fonts:  Rowdy in Room 300

4.  Walks in the Park - Weather permitting (since it's Ohio it could be sunny and warm or freezing cold with snow, who knows!), I want to take my dog on lots of walks in the park.  I put him on his long leash and just let him lead me.  He loves it!

5.  Sew Something - not sure what.  My lovely sewing machine hasn't been touched since Christmas so I need to dust her off and whip up something pretty.

Source: willowbeanstudio.blogspot.com

6.  Go Somewhere - Where?  I don't know.  I don't like going places overnight.  I'm a homebody and love the comfort of my own house.  I'm also afraid of dirty hotel beds...  But, I want to go somewhere for the day with my husband.

7.  Pretty Up My Hair - I have a hair appointment scheduled for over break. I usually get the normal blonde highlights and a trim.  But, this time  I'm going to branch out A LOT....  ;)  I'm going to ask for the highlights to be a lighter blonde for a fresh look.  I'm so daring!  I might get a shorter cut, too.  We'll see.

I really can't call this a bucket list.  It's more of a to-do list.  :)

Time for YOU to link up and share your Spring Break Bucket List with us!

3

Updating and Adding

I've started updating and adding to my digital paper packs.  So far I've added to the St. Patrick's Day and Boys Will Be Boys packs. :)  If you happened to purchase either one of these in the past, please re-download so you can get the new papers!

This pack includes 21 papers for just $2.00!!

This pack includes 19 papers for just $2.00!!

On a different note, we've had a little 're-structuring' happen with the administration at my school.  Without saying too much, I just want to put it out there that it is SO refreshing to have your "leader" say "hi" and smile when they see you.   Ahhh.... it is a nice change.  :)

I've been trying to surround myself with more positive, supportive people.  I'm trying to weed out sources of negativity. With that said,  I'm so lucky to have found a sweet, supportive co-worker that just understands me completely.  :)

Happy Friday!

0

EGGShausted

Daylight savings time really kicked my butt!  I am a creature of habit... and my routines didn't fare so well with the loss of an hour.  Even though it was just one hour, it seemed like the day flew by wayyy too fast!

On Saturday, we went to Red Robin (yummm) to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday.  Then my husband and I got our rings cleaned an inspected.  What a crazy Saturday night... we are such a wild couple! ;)

Sunday I grocery shopped, cleaned, washed the cars, and did TONS of laundry.  Do you do laundry throughout the week?  I save it up and do it all on Sunday.  It makes for an all-day job... but it's the routine!

I have a fun week ahead.... I took the day off on Thursday because it's my husband's birthday.  :)  Then, on Friday, we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day in the classroom!  I bought some green juice and I'm planning on making some green cupcakes for my students.  :)  Then, Spring Break will be here before you know it (thank goodness!!)!

I also made this cute little pack of Easter themed morning work worksheets.  It covers so many skills: rhyming, ABC order, alphabet order, rhyming words, antonyms, synonyms, addition, subtraction, greater than/less than, ordering numbers, patterning, ordinal numbers, odd/even.. and much, much more!

Click the pic to check it out!

Oh, and I also joined in on a fun linky from Diane from Fifth in the Middle.  It's a blog link-up based on your state.  Join in the fun!

Happy Monday!

4

3-D Shapes

I am loving the Ohio weather this weekend.  We all needed a little sun, huh?  I just hope it sticks... I can't do anymore snow.  We have our field trip to the zoo on March 19th so I'm hoping these nice temps and sunny skies will return for us.  :)  But... it's Ohio.  It changes hourly. ;)

Source: /www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/

Anywho...

We're moving onto three-dimensional shapes in Math.  I'm really happy because I think my math smarties were tired of two-dimensional shapes.  I'm thinking 3-D will provide us with the challenge that we need.  :)

I whipped up a fun "Find and Graph" activity for 2-D and 3-D shapes.  It's perfect because it will keep our graphing skills sharp while working on our shape identification skills, too! 

There are three graphing activities.  One is only 2-D shapes, the second is only 3-D shapes, and the third has a mix of the two.  Also, because our first grade learners are all over the place with their reading skills, I decided to make two different types of graphs.  The first graph has the shape pictures and the second has only shape names.   Although I'd love to think that all of my first graders can read the shape names, that's just not realistic.  But, maybe after a week or so of 3-D shapes they'll all be able to read them?!  Fingers crossed!

Click on the picture to check it out! 

Have a wonderful, hopefully sunny Sunday!

0