Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer

The blogging community is an amazing world where we can do so much to help others.  My sweet friend Kimberly "Tess" was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer two years ago at age 30.  She is a wife and mother of two young children.  More than anything, Kimberly is an amazing and wonderful person.  I have known Kimberly my whole life.  I have never heard her say an unkind word about anyone.  She has an angelic spirit that makes me feel lucky just to know her, and I am honored that I can call her my friend.  Kimberly has been nominated for MLB's Honorary Bat Girl Contest.  Please help me in supporting Kimberly "Tess" by voting for her to be honored on the field at one of MLB's Mother's Day celebrations.  You can read more about Kimberly's story and vote for her by clicking on the picture below. 

Thank You!!!

How Do I Love Thee New Printer? Let Me Count the Ways....

I am one of those people who will wait for something to totally kick the can before buying a new one.  Then after I get the "new", I can't believe I waited to so long!!!  I should have gotten a new printer a LONG time ago.  My old printer was an HP print-scan-copier.  I was happy with it for maybe the first year and then it slowly started to make my printing life miserable.  At the end I had to hand feed every sheet of paper, and give it several tries before it actually went through the printer.  It also used an unfathomable amount of ink, pricey ink I might add.  So it was a happy day for me when it just completely stopped working all together.  I asked a friend who is just as obsessed with Tpt what printer she recommended and she steered me towards the Epson WF-3520.  I do A LOT of printing from home because our district doesn't have color printers.  We don't even have our own printer in our classroom, but we do get to share a staff printer - but every time I print I have to cross my fingers it actually makes it to the printer.  It's so sad when I get to the lounge and nothing printed... Anyways, back to my fab NEW printer!  I love it. It has super fast printing(I forgot that it's not normal for 1 page to take 5 minutes to print), wireless printing, I can print from my iPhone, 4 different colored ink cartridges so I only have to replace what is empty, copies, scans, fax, and clear crisp printing!  It was very easy to set up too.

 
The first true test of this printer was last week when I was making baby shower invitations for my niece Jenna.  I got the font and graphics FREE and the design was Pinterest inspired.  You can find the links on my Pinterest board 'Fonts and Graphics'.  The printer worked like a champ.  I was worried about printing the invites because of their unique size but the printer had no problems.  I am so, so happy with this printer.  If you are itching for a new printer check out the Epson WF-3520, I got mine on Amazon.  

An Easter Sale and Easter Book :)

Would you like to use this button? Go right ahead!  I'd appreciate a shout out to  my blog or store - Thanks!

Hi Everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families this Easter weekend.  All items in my stores will be 20% off this Saturday & Sunday. I am really excited this year because it will be my daughter's very first Easter.  The Easter Bunny hasn't been to visit my home in a very long time - waaaaay back when I lived with my parents.  Ahhh, how I loved waking up Easter morning to Cadbury Creme Eggs in my basket!

Easter reminds me of my most favorite book of all time - The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Hayward.  I found this book in my school library when I was young, and I read it over and over again.  I checked out that book so many times that my mom eventually bought me my own copy.  It's a little long for 1st graders, so I summarize the pages instead of reading word for word.  See if you have it in your school library, the message is priceless!

Flash GIVEAWAY!!!

Enter to win a copy of my latest unit: Long U u_e ~ Activity Pack!!!  To enter: visit my long neglected fb page and "Like" my page, then leave me a comment under my giveaway post with your email address.  That's it! Aaand so far I only have 20 likes on my page - so your chances of winning are great!  A winner will be announced tomorrow morning :)

Have a great day!!!

My Teacher is Having a Baby ~ FREEBIE

A friend told me when you go past your due date and haven't had your baby, it's like this: You wait months and months for Christmas to come, but when it does but you don't get any presents.  She was RIGHT!!!  While I'm sitting at home anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first baby, I put together this little freebie to share with you.  It has fun activities for your class to make predictions about a new addition to your family, and for students to write about how to take care of a baby.  I included versions for families who are adopting (infants and older children).  I hope you can use it or know someone who can.  I can't wait to see what my class has predicted and their advice on how to take care of a baby!

Long Vowels and a SUPERBOWL SALE!

Hi everyone!  I can't believe it's already Superbowl time.  My favorite thing about Superbowl? The party munchies!!!  There's something about that one day of all those delicious finger foods that makes my mouth water days in advance.  While I usually go over to one of my sister's houses for a party, this year we are staying home.  So for fun let me share the secret to my Superbowl food success - guacamole mix.  I've tried several mixes and most are pretty good.  I favor the ones that are labeled "spicy" for that extra kick.  Add 2 avocados and about 1/4 cup sour cream and it is like a piece of heaven I tell you.  If you like guacamole give it a try!  You can find the mixes in the produce section at most supermarkets. (Sorry for going on, I just realized as I write this that I'm really hungy!)

Aside from the food, there is a NEW reason to love Superbowl Sunday - in honor of Superbowl Sunday I am joining up with Tpt's Superbowl Sale!  This Sunday all items in my store will be 20% off plus an extra 8% off when you enter the code: SUPER at checkout. Here are a few of my latest units you may want to check out.  They are all activity packs focused on the magic e pattern for long vowels.  Click on the pictures to get the details on my Tpt store.

Here are a few pics from the Long I and A units in action!

My Team Knows How to Throw a Party!!!

I started this little blog last Spring and had wonderful plans to take it full speed ahead last summer.  My plans changed last Father's Day when my husband and I learned we are expecting our first child this February - a girl! All those units I planned to make and blog posts to write last summer were put on hold due to that unpleasant all day long morning sickness.  I had just began feeling better when I started back to work in August. With the craziness of work and taking care of myself, my blog and Tpt endeavors have gone much more slowly than planned.  I still check my email daily, love reading YOUR blogs, and have an enormous amount of units on my wish list :).  I am also slowly but surely continuing to make more units and hope to have a some completed in the next few weeks.  (They've been about half way done for a month, yikes!)

So back to my title post!  My wonderful first grade team threw me a FABULOUS baby shower just before Christmas break and I had to share it with you.  They went ALL OUT.  I was speechless with how thoughtful and generous they were.  I work with 6 other first grade teachers and they know how to throw a party!!! Check out these pics from the party:

Can you believe this cake?!?!  It was like something from Cake Boss.  It was so pretty I didn't want to eat it,  but I totally did and enjoyed every minute of it! I love chocolate :) 

 These M&Ms were specially made at the M&M factory in Vegas by one of the first grade teachers.  She picked out the colors and graphics especially for the party.  Thanks Jean!

 Our staff lounge never looked so good, well last years Christmas party is a close second (again, organized by one of our first grade teachers!).  I love how they hung the purple and white butcher paper to hide the copy machine.  Look at all those balloons and paper pom poms!  I don't know how well you can see it but they put baby confetti and vases of lavender on the tables.  Notice a theme? They did a lavender theme because that's the color we picked for the nursery.

 Just another look at that cake.  It was amazing - I wish there was more!

 The party begins!  Look at all those fabulous educators :)

 Here I am opening up some gifts.  I LOVE this outfit!  Puppies and Mary Jane socks - how could it be any cuter?

As if the cake wasn't enough, these cupcakes were delicious as well!  They were so pretty!

Not only did they have treats but they also had super yummy food from a local restaurant.  Just thinking about it makes me hungry again...

Thanks again to my wonderful team/friends: Amy, Cris, Debbie, Jean, Jil, and Mike.  I enjoy working with you all and I am so happy to be part of this team!!! P.S. - Charlie thanks you too!