We Have a Winner!!

Tiffany (One Fab Teacher) and I would like to thank all of our wonderful followers, both new and old. We would also like to thank all of our sponsors, Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade Teaching Tidbits, Teacher at the Wheel, The Lamppost in First, Erica Bohrer's First Grade (now Erica's Ed-ventures), All Things Apple in 2nd, Primarily Speaking, First Grade Critter Cafe, First Grader at Last, and Just a Primary Girl.  We couldn't have pulled this off without you!  I would also like to thank my partner in crime, Tiffany.  Thanks for agreeing to do this together.  I couldn't have asked for a better bloggy buddy!
There was a great response to our 100 Follower Giveaway and we are ready to announce the winner of the awesome prize pack!  Drumroll please....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Angela, check you email because some great goodies are headed your way!  Congratulations!

I'm off to enjoy the last two weeks of summer with my family.  I may or may not take a hiatus from blogging for a few weeks.  But don't forget about the HUGE Back to School Sale on TPT.  My store will be on sale for 20% off, plus if you enter the code below TPT will take another 8% off.  Woo hoo! Happy shopping!

(button from Ink n Little Things)

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to School Sale and a Freebie

Hey there!  I've neglected this little blog this week but it takes a lot of work to get a family of four ready for vacation for 2 weeks.  Whew!  

Anyway, I'm coming to you now to remind you about the big TPT Back to School Sale happening this  Saturday and Sunday and Monday (Sorry... I don't even know what date it is!).  It's time to check off that wish list and pick up goodies you have had your eye on.  Don't forget to leave feedback for sellers.  Not only is it sweet and sellers love the compliments, but  it earns you bonus points you can use to get products for FREE!

(button from ink n little things)

So this is like the Black Friday of Teacher Back to School Shopping.  (I LIVE for Black Friday sales, hehe!)  So ya gotta have a plan.  Here's my plan... I'll pick up some new goodies in one transaction and then give feedback to the sellers.  That will earn me bonus points that I can turn around and buy more goodies with.  SCORE!! Can you tell I am excited?  

So, I have a little Freebie that you can only get here!  My best selling items in my TPT store have been my Journeys (reading series) Word Wall cards.  As of right now, I have four styles to choose from.  I created these adorable welcome buntings that you can use in your classroom.  They coordinate with my other products, but the beauty is that they could be used on their own, too.  So you can download these even if you don't use Journeys.

Click on the image above to download your bunting for FREE!

I'm going to be using the Zebra and Turquoise on my classroom door.  Here's what it looks like at home.

Just print it out.  Punch holes in the two ends of the top and add some ribbon to connect the triangles.  Instant cuteness!

If you pick up this adorable freebie, please leave me a comment letting me know which print you are going to be using.  That way I'll know if anyone is downloading it.  

And don't forget to enter my giveaway.  Only one more day left!

Click the button to enter! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Week '13- Meet the Teacher

Hey there!  Since I haven't been blogging for too long, this is my first Teacher Week.  This is a great linky party where you can meet more great bloggers.  

There is a great schedule of linkys.  I'm going to be perfectly honest...  I will not be linking up every day.  Many of you are going back this week or have been back to school for a bit, but my school year doesn't start until September 3rd for teachers and September 5th for students.  I'm actually getting ready to go on vacay with my family next week for two weeks.  You may have done the math... There are only three more weeks until September... "When does she set up her classroom?" you ask.  I don't know how I do it, but I work like a maniac between in-services and meetings those first two days.  I stay until dark, but I get it done.  Going away those last two weeks are not my choice.  My husband's family has been going to the OBX (Outer Banks, NC) for many years for the last two weeks of August and the traditional has continued.  Since I am only one person who it inconviences, I can't expect everything to change to make my life easier.  So... I find ways to make it work.  That's a topic for another day...

So here's the schedule of great linkys, go to Bloghoppin' to link up or check out other great blogs.

Since, I have recently added many new followers, this is probably a great time to participate in this linky, so you all can get to know me better... So without further adieu...

1. I am getting ready to start my 12th year teaching.  When I started my career, I spent a year in third grade.  But, I've been in first grade ever since.  

2. My mom was always my best inspiration to become a teacher.  She retired a few years ago after teaching for 37 years.  Actually in my family, there's no other career path.  Everyone becomes a teacher.  My father taught for a few years at a catholic school.  My grandmother also taught for years.  My older sister teaches high school math and her husband teaching high school science.  My younger sister tried to buck the family tradition.  As a teenager she actually said, "I'm not going to be a teacher!  I'm going to do something where I use my brain!"  GASP!!! I was in my first or second year of teaching and I wanted to slap her.  I got over it and she caved after two years in nursing school and changed her major to Health and PE.  Haha, couldn't resist it.... we are a family of teachers!  

3. I married my best friend 9 years ago.  We met when I was in college and it was love by third date.  He's a great husband and even more incredible dad!

I wish I had a digital version of our wedding pictures, but my scanner is on the fritz and our wedding was before digital became the only way.  I'm not really that tall and he's not really that short, LOL!  I am taller but I think it's a combo of small heels and the camera angle that make me look like the Jolly Green Giant and him like a Oompa Loompa.

4. We have two wonderful and crazy little boys.  K is starting 1st grade this year (I'm so nervous about being in the same grade.)  L is going to nursery school two mornings a week.  

5. My first son is my fur baby Otto.  He's an english bulldog who is such a lover.  He just turned ten.  We got him right before we got married.  

6. I love bad TV and juicy dramas.  I always say, "Separate TVs make for a happy marriage." My hubby and I disagree on what great entertainment is.  How does he not see the intellectual value of The Bachelor, Dancing with The Stars, Glee, and Scandal?  

7. I may have a mild addiction to Diet Pepsi.  I saw this and had to pin it.  I just wish I knew how to cross out Coke and replace it with Pepsi.

8. I love, love, love Target.  Who doesn't?  Where else can you grocery shop, buy cute clothes, and shop in the dollar spot for cute, cheap stuff for school.  I have to resist the urge to go more than once a week.

9. I love doing Zumba.  It is the first workout I have stuck with for over a year continuously.  It is so much fun and the time just flies.

10. If you have not participated in the giveaway that I'm hosting right now with Tiffany of One Fab Teacher, you have to click here to check it out.  You could win a great prize pack!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Five For Friday! Giveaway and a Sale!

Hey there!  It's Friday! (Haha, I didn't even realize it was until I saw all of the Five For Friday posts going up- gotta love summertime!)  Anyway... I'm linking up with Kacie from Doodlebugs Teaching to share five random things from my week.  

1. Do you have a great group of co-workers who help you stay motivated and make it fun to come to work?  Besides a wonderful group of current co-workers, I need to acknowledge my first teaching family.  When I started my career 12 years ago. I worked as a classroom aide in our district's third grade team.  Within just a few days, I realized that this group of women would become my friends for life.  I got hired as a third grade teacher the following year and was officially "in."  No one in our little group  actually works together anymore.  We've all gone separate ways... some have retired, some have stayed home to raise children, and the rest of us have moved around grade levels.  But even though our work experiences may have changed, our friendships have remained strong.

So every summer we get together at Mrs. T's home on the Barnegat Bay with all of our kids.  I don't know about you but whenever teachers plan a party... it's organized, packed with fun, and has a dash of learning!  One of our fun activities was to create an obstacle course.  We made our course down the street at her neighborhood beach club.  Each family brought one or two items to add to the course.  The kids had a ball!

Then we headed back to the house to enjoy the pool.  We had a grilled cheese bar.  My favorite was grilled ham and cheddar cheese with apple slices... mmmm good!  Never would have thought of that combo myself!

Our annual get together is one of the highlights of our summer.  I hope you all have had the opportunity to work with amazing and inspiration teachers, like I have.  It makes going to work even more fun!

2. We are counting down to the end of summer.  Our last hurrah is a vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina so, the boys and I are spending the last two weeks before vacation doing "one lasts".  We went to Sesame Place and Six Flags Great Adventure.  I'm hoping to get in a trip to the Philadephia Zoo and the NJ State Planetarium next week before we go away.  This week, the boys and I took a quick camping trip.  My parents have a travel trailer and we met them for a few days of camping fun.  We visited Crystal Cave in Kutztown, Pa.  My oldest is very into rocks and crystals so this was a perfect trip for him.  They loved seeing all of the cool formations.  My little guy was just looking for Batman the whole time, since he heard there were bats that lived in the cave.  

3.  I don't know why I didn't do this sooner... I uploaded all of my learning CDs onto my iTunes account and now I have MP3s of them that I can play through my computer and SmartBoard.  I'm working on making some pages for my SmartBoard that I can use as a Jukebox.  When I get that done, I'll share how I did it, in case anyone else is making the transition away away from CDs.  (Confession... I just gave away the last of my cassette tapes at the end of this year.)  Not sure why I was hanging on to them, but I did part with them... you can put off the call to "Hoarders"... for now!  

4.  My district adopted Houghton Mifflin's Journeys Program two years ago and I hand wrote all of my word wall cards... until this year.  I created word cards specifically to match this program.  Since, I posted my first few, I've gotten a few requests for specific backgrounds.  This is my newest creation... it's basic and goes with any classroom decor.  Each card is on a plain black chalkboard background.  The frames are without fussy borders and the font is traditional penmanship.  I also included several editable pages, so the user can add any other words they wish.  You can check it out in my TPT store.  

5. Finally... the big day has arrived.  Tiffany of One Fab Teacher and I are hosting our ver first giveaway to celebrate 100 followers.  We are so excited to giveaway tons of great prizes from us and many of our well-known bloggy buddies.  Click here to see my original post and enter the rafflecopter.

Also to celebrate this big milestone, everything in my TPT store is on sale for this weekend.  Stop by and check it out!  Thanks for stopping by!

It's Time to Celebrate!!

Wahoooooo!! It's finally time to start the party and this is one you just don't want to miss! The fabulous Miss Tiffany of One Fab Teacher and I are hosting our first awesome giveaway.  We want to thank all of our amazing followers with a prize pack from us and all of our best bloggy friends.  Check it out to see what you could win!

Frames from Mrs. Fultz's Corner, beach ball from Glitter Meets Glue Designs, and Fonts from 

Kevin and Amanda

The winner could be you!  But, only if you enter below!!  Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I Feel Like Dancing!!

Woo hoo!  I just opened up my email to find that this little blog has reached a really exciting milestone! One hundred FABULOUS followers on Bloglovin'.  I promised a great giveaway and it is coming.  If you haven't visited Tiffany at One Fab Teacher, she needs one more follower to hit 100, too.  

Look for our giveaway to go live in the next few days.  I'm going to be away camping with my sons for a few days and it will depend on the WiFi access in the campground on whether I can get to blog and post about the celebration.  But, I'm going to enjoy the mini-vacation, too.  

Thanks to all of FGH&HF amazing followers!

August Currently

Hey there!  Can you believe it's August?

I know many of you are back to school or going back soon.  I still have one more month.  I'm really feeling better about my jealousy when everyone was posting in May about being on summer break when I was sweating it out for a month and a half longer.  Anyway, I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy, Fourth Grade for her famous linky party- Currently.  

Listening:  I LOVE the kids Jeopardy tournament.  I try to forget that I am "competing" against ten year olds... and I am kicking their butts.  Regular Jeopardy just isn't as much fun (probably because it makes me feel a little dumb, LOL).  Plus, my boys were actually playing nicely. No one was throwing or destroying lego creations... no one was wrestling... no one was making fart noises... and no one was tattling.  Sometimes I wonder how I can control 20 first graders, yet my own two monsters drive me bananas!  

Loving: I love that I still have one more month left of summer and we have time to have more adventures... still up, two weeks in the Outer Banks of NC, more day trips to the Philadelphia Zoo and Sesame Place, and a camping trip in the Pocono Mountains. Yay!

Thinking: I really need to stop staying up so late.  My little guy (3) still tends to get up early.  He just doesn't get sleeping in on summer break and the lack of sleep is starting to take its toll.  

Wanting:  I'm only a few followers short of the first big bloggy milestone- 100 followers!  Tiffany from One Fab Teacher and I are planning a joint giveaway celebration.  If you aren't following my blog or Tiffany's, join up now with Bloglovin and help us celebrate.  I'm going to be going away in a few weeks and she's going back to work and we'd love to hit this milestone before everything gets crazy!

Needing: I need to continue to purge old toys and help organize my kids new playroom.  We converted  our attic into a great playroom.  I am reclaiming my living room and getting the toys in their own room. Yay!  No more stepping on Legos or Hot Wheels cars in the middle of the night.

Back to School Must Haves: 1) I love Flair pens.  They come in great colors and they write so smoothly!  2) You can never have enough Post-Its.  I'm sure you all agree.  3) Command hooks are my favorite decorating helper.  The hold up and come off cleanly.  I just wish I didn't have to take them all down every June.  It's hard to find just the adhesives.  But I did (at Target this year), Yay!

This week I was contacted by a potential customer at TPT asking about my word wall cards for the Journeys reading program.  She asked if I would customize a set for her theme of lime green and turquoise polka dots.  So this is what I came up with...

I love how they turned out.  If anyone else uses Journeys and would like a set, let me know.  I'd be happy to personalize something for the theme of your room.  Thanks for stopping by!