New products for the big sale!

ARE YOU CRAZY PUMPED FOR THE GIANT TPT SALE!? My cart is a little too full at this point... Oops! My store is set at an extra 20% off on top of the regular sale... Enjoy!

Just in time for the mega sale, I've added 2 new products!

March Morning Work is done! I worked REAAAAALLY hard to have it done for the sale!

AND, since March was the last month that I needed to do, I also posted a MEGA BUNDLE! It's a combination of ALL my morning work pages... 245 in all!

Stay tuned for a new post soon! I've been using mentor sentences in reading groups to teach adjectives this week... My kiddos responded really well, and I was super happy :-)

New Blog, Big Giveaway!

WOW! Our new collaborative blog, Collaboration Connection, is up and running and there's a giant giveaway that you won't want to miss!! There's actually 3 separate raffles that you can enter! I'm giving away a free copy of my Rainbow of Kids clipart set. You won't believe all the awesome stuff up for grabs!!!! Go check it out :-)

ALSO, I'm starting March morning work tonight -- anything your first graders have been struggling with that you'd like to see included?

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

We weren't supposed to have school today, but it ended up being a snow make-up day... and it was also the 100th day... and we exchanged Valentine's since we had a snow day on our party.

I'm surprised I'm still alive. But, I did manage to take some pictures! Check out some of the things we did today :-)

SO. I've officially seen the ways of the Daily 5 and I have no intention of ever stopping... until the next big thing comes along. I LOVE that it lends itself so well to fun little activities like these. At word work today, I put out a page that had my firsties list 100 words. I was SO surprised at how creative they were! I fully expected them to use the word wall and their spelling lists, but they went around and collected calendar words and words from posters and my heart went a-flutter.

Instead of guided reading today, I had them write about life would be like if they were 100 years old... Some personal favorites included "I'll play bingo and eat soft food since I won't have teeth" as well as "if my children are old enough they can take care of me."  They're a hoot and a half.  I also put out a list at work on writing that had them list things they'd love to have 100 of and things they'd hate to have 100 of. One of my kiddos just got stitches on his forehead from falling on the ice, so he said he'd hate to have 100 stitches... priceless.

AND, since today was also our Valentine's Day celebration, and since I love to utilize every moment of the day to the max, I had my aide's reading group squeeze in a little candy heart math.  These pages are from my Spread The Love Valentine's Day Activities pack, which is still for sale for the next few days.

I also came up with this simple (totally last minute) Valentine for my kiddos... Dollar tree pencils 12 for a buck?! Done. Bargain shopper.

And with all the things that were going on today, I literally forgot to tell them about President's Day. I could kick myself. Guess what we're talking about TOMORROW!

P.S. I added the 100th day of school activities as a freebie in my store... It won't be a freebie for long, because it's a pack I've been dreaming up in my head and plan on adding to very soon!!

Potato Soup Goodness

As I sit here procrastinating my grad-school paper and drowning in a pile of snotty tissues, my dear sweet wife is making one of my favorite meals... For real, though. I just got over a cold a few weeks ago, and it's back. Ugh. Anywho, my mom used to make this potato soup for me ALL the time, and I'm fairly certain the original recipe came from some Betty Crocker cookbook from back in the day, but it's amazing nonetheless. She used to make quadruple batches because I ate it so quickly.

Fast forward a few years, and my wife and I, who are trying to live gluten free, have given the recipe a bit of a makeover that still tastes just as good as the original. If you're tired of the snow, if you're tired of the cold, or if you just love a good soup recipe, you should check this out... My taste buds are tingling.

New Clipart = Flash Freebie!

I just finished up my latest clipart set, A Rainbow of Kids! It's got 84 images for personal or commercial use!

Since it's Valentine's Day, I'm setting it as free until 5 P.M. EST!!  All I ask is that you leave some TPT love and don't mention that it's free!

Much to Share!

Hello, hello, hello! I've got loads to share.

FIRST OF ALL, I was asked to be a part of a collaborative blog, Collaboration Connection, and my first post went live just a short bit ago! I know you already know all about me, but go check out the blog... it's going to be a blast!

Today, we made our Valentine bags today, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out! Here's a few pictures of what they look like...

The pattern is now part of my Spread The Love - Valentine's Day Centers and Activities, so if you downloaded that before, go snag the newest version! I also included some candy heart math pages... Can't wait to use them this week! I put the whole pack ON SALE for the rest of the week :-)

I've also been diving in clipart land! I made 2 packs so far, and I think I'm addicted.  Here's a little preview of my Plane Shape Pals and my Bow Tie Monsters!

We're supposed to get MORE snow on Thursday... I'm hoping that if I pretend it's not going to happen, it won't actually happen... Ugh.

Super Bowl Sale!

I'm hopping on the Super Bowl Sale band wagon! My store will be 20% off today AND tomorrow... Enjoy, ya'll!

It's the perfect chance to go stock up on some of those items from your wish list! I know I'm loading up my cart!!

February Currently

Ohmygosh. Seriously, it's February already? I feel like we had 4 days of school in January. Oh wait, we practically did. And there's more snow coming on Monday. Oh joy. Anywho, I'm linking up with Farley for February Currently...

LISTENING - My wife and I have a problem. We pretty much don't do laundry until we run out of clean clothes. So, we're currently having a laundry marathon. It will likely take 2 days. It's pretty ridiculous.

LOVING - I had THE most amazing baked Oatmeal at one of our favorite little coffee shops.  If you live in the Central PA area, you need to go to Folklore Coffee & Company in E-town.  I love love love their breakfast sandwiches, but alas, my gluten-free self settled for oatmeal this morning.  To my surprise, it was pretty freaking incredible.

THINKING - Seriously. The first snow is fun. Possibly even the second snow. Now, we're to the point where one more snow day will mean school days tacked on at the end of the year. That will not thrill me.

WANTING - Since going gluten free, I'm becoming obsessed with salad. I'm craving a taco salad right about now.

NEEDING - I have a paper due tomorrow night... Haven't started. I have report cards due Monday morning... I'm half-way done with the narrative comments. I'm falling in love with the auto fill feature... <First name> is continuing to make wonderful progress... <He/She> scored... My goal for <him/her>... It automatically puts the kid's name and the right pronouns, and then all I have to do is go back and finish my sentences. It's pretty epic.

2 TRUTHS - I really can solve a Rubick's Cube, and I really am in rehearsals for Sweeney Todd. I'll be playing the part of Anthony, the young sailor who falls in love with Sweeney's daughter 2 seconds after he meets her. I'm practically one of the only characters who doesn't die in the end. It's really the craziest show I've ever been a part of.

FIB - I could never be a vegetarian. Like, never ever.