Five for Friday Linky Party... and new stuff in the store!

 

My 5 for Friday is all about my blessings.  I'm tired, and sometimes its hard to get out of the bed in the morning, but I need to count them.  There's way more than 5, but I'm going to start there.  :-)

 

Sorry there aren't any pictures!

 

1. I love my kiddos.  It has been so great this week to have them back in my life.  I'm so lucky that I get to have ALL of the students at our school and develop a relationship with them over the 6 years that they are there!  What a blessing those sweeties are!

 

2. I am a huge Chicago Bears fan even though I live in KY.  Strangely enough, our school nurse is too!  She had on the most awesome pair of bears flip flops the other day.  I told her how much I loved them and she mentioned that she had bought another pair thinking she might want another pair if this pair broke. (As we all know, flip flops are pretty likely to do that!) Anyway I told her I'd buy them from her.  She brought them the next day and wouldn't let me pay her for them.  Seriously... how sweet is that?  What a blessing!

 

3. My pooches... always a blessing.  There's just nothing like coming home to someone who is always happy to see you! Love is a wonderful thing... but there's no love any truer than the love of a dog. I witnessed a very nice thing this week.  A fella from my neighborhood that I had never met came to my house the other day with his wife.  When he knocked on my door, he asked me if I knew of anyone in the area who was missing a dog.  He had the dog in the truck with him.  I asked him if I could go out to see it, hoping I might recognize the pooch. I went out, he opened the door and the sweetest looking blue eyed mutt stuck his head out to greet me. I put my hands on each side of his face just like I do with my dogs & he gave me a big wet kiss.  :-) I didn't recognize him, but I felt so blessed to have someone in the area that cared enough to try find the four-legged fella's family. Believe me, I've thought a lot about how I would feel if one of my babies went missing. I'd be in horrible shape.  I hope he finds his home.  :-)

 

4. Tomorrow is the Founder's Day celebration in my hometown.  I look forward to it every year even though there isn't much to it.  ;-) I usually get to see a bunch of people that I haven't seen in forever! Every year, there's a street dance after dark.  The average age of people in the audience has to be above 50, but I'm usually there... and there's a good reason.  My daddy loves to dance and I always have to go and dance at least one slow dance with him.  We've done it for years.  It makes me smile. :-)

 

5. TpT... wow! Let me just say how much of a blessing this month has been!  The sale and all of the other things I've sold throughout the month... well, I'm not rich, but I sure don't have to worry about money as much as I used to.  It's such a blessing to have that extra income when you are a single person trying to pay for a house, etc.  Life is expensive.  TpT helps so much... and without you, none of it would happen.  I want to thank all of you so much for your purchases, shout outs, and everything else that you've done to help me in this adventure! You are a blessing!

 

On with the show...

 

This week I've posted several things, and I have several more products in the works.  Most of my products are clip art, but I decided to go ahead and give posting more of my library stuff a try. So... I posted my lesson plans for the first 3 weeks of school, hoping that it might save someone out there a little bit of time... or maybe there's a new librarian out there who is overwhelmed and doesn't know where to start.  Believe me, I remember those days! (Almost exactly 10 years ago!) My lesson plans for the library include "I can" statements, core content and 21st Century Learning Standards. I have also posted an activity that I used this week called, The Dewey Races and a new clip art set for rules and classroom helpers.

 

Lesson Plans for Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

 

Classroom Jobs and Rules Clip Art Set :-)

 

I hope y'all have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!!! It's a SALE!

You've got to say that post title in the voice of a radio announcer telling you about monster trucks or something!  This is a BIG deal... I'm sure you've already heard about the HUGE back to school sale on TpT!  It starts tonight at midnight EST!  Don't miss out! 

Enjoy Friends! 

 

 

 

Blog Hoppin' & Our B2S Giveaway!

I saw this linky and I couldn't help myself... but can I come up with 10 fun things about me?  Hmmmm... I'm not totally sure.  Ok... I'll figure it out as I go! 

1. I have an obsession with Mustangs.  My first car was a 1968 Mustang.  I had to sell it in college... I just couldn't afford to keep it.  I now have 3.  One I bought a few years ago... and finally have paid for, lol... one that my dad gave me because I begged to buy it from him.  (It's not old enough to be a classic, but just old enough to not be worth a lot. lol... I love it though... it's a convertible.) The third one is a 1965 rust heap that barely runs, has no front passenger seat and the brakes don't work so good.  Someday...  she'll be a beauty.  Maybe. 

P.S. They have names.  Trigger, Windy, and Rustang Sally.  I bet you can figure out which is which.

2. One summer, when I was in high school, my mom and I lived mostly on cabbage.  We were broke and that was the only thing that did well in our garden.  I hated cabbage for a LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG time.  lol... Looking back on that, I realize that even though I might not have it all, I am VERY blessed these days... and every cloud has a silver lining.  I lost tons of weight that summer!  :-)

3. My favorite movie of all time is Forrest Gump.  There are so many great quotes in that movie & it has the best soundtrack ever!  I have watched it so many times that I feel like I have it memorized.  Every time, I laugh my head off and ball my eyes out!  I was in an elevator one day and hear the music from the beginning where the feather is floating and had to fight to keep from bursting into tears!

4. When I was in the 7th grade, I was in a school bus wreck.  My bus ran off the road and flipped right out through a field.  It rolled over several times.  I think I kind of know what it would feel like to be in a dryer... without the heat! :-)

5. I love music.  All kinds of music, but my very favorite kind is anything by the "hair bands" from the 80's!  If they had big hair and wore eyeliner, I probably loved them... but I love some good old country music, too.  Oh... and 50's & 60's stuff.  Awesome.  See... I told you I love music.  I kick booty at song identification games.  (Like Song Pop... but I had to quit.  I was getting obsessed!)

6. I know how to run heavy equipment like bulldozers, backhoes and stuff.  Yeah.  I know that's weird, but that's what my dad does and my dad always expects me to give stuff a try.  I'm not too great at it, but if he's desperate for help... I can.  :-)

7. I talk too much.  Yep.  All the time.  I type too much, too.  Might as well be the same thing.  lol

8. I started reading when I was 3 years old.  My mom got annoyed with me asking what everything said, so she called up a friend that taught Kindergarten and said, "How do I teach this kid how to read?" She took her advice and taught me how.  I ran with it.  That's one of the reasons I grew up to be a librarian.  ;-)

9. I was in the top 10 of my high school class. However, that doesn't mean very much when there are only 50 something kids in your class.  :-)

10. I have had the same best friend for 25 years.  At this point, we are no longer friends.  We're family. 

Now... you're probably ready for me to get to that giveaway I was talking about.  I've already hinted about it before. 

My buddy Jaime over at The 1st Grade Bloom is hosting a giveaway of some of our favorite stuff for back to school.  She has an awesome literature unit and I am giving away a couple of sets of clip art.  Click on the giveaway button below to go enter!  :-)

 

 

I hope your Monday was fabulous & Tuesday is even better!

 

 

Clothespins and stuff...

Hey y'all... it's 10 o'clock on Sunday night and I just finished writing my lesson plans.  Can you say PROCRASTINATION?  This is not a good way to start things out for the year.  After all, it's only the second week of school!  I hope this week doesn't whip my booty quite as bad as last week did! 

I posted a new set today.  It's cutesy little clothespins.  :-)  Everyone can use some clothespins, right?  They are $2 on TpT...  but if you actually read this and pay attention, you can get them for free!  Yes, I said FREE!  I have a group on facebook that you can join by clicking the facebook icon on the right side of this page.  Once I add you, you can download the file from my page for FREE... but it's only for my facebook followers.  :-)  Don't worry... I don't bombard those who follow me with tons of posts...  I usually just post on facebook when I have posted here.  ;-) So... want some clothespins? 

 

Also, don't forget about the giveaways I've blogged about recently. :-) 

 

Have a great week... on purpose!

 

 

 

 

 

Library Ninjas!

Some of you may remember my ninja set that I posted a while back.  Well, I'd been tossing around the idea of Library Ninjas for years, but I just couldn't really put my finger on what to do with it. 

 

So... I finally came up with a plan.  The kids were going to become Library Ninjas.  Library Ninjas don't ever hurt anyone.  They protect the library books!  They take care of the library.  I made a powerpoint and activity to go along with this idea!  Take a look!

 

In other news, tomorrow is our official opening day... and Wednesday is our first day with kids.  I'm still nervous, but it's getting a little better.  I'm kind of getting back into school mode... I think.  Oh well, ready or not, it's coming!

 

Also, I got an email from a former mini-me customer named Julieta.  She emailed me to show me what she did with her mini's.  She ordered one of herself and one of her boyfriend. This is what she did with it.  I think it's stinkin' adorable!  :-) She even had such a cute presentation with the flowers and candles!  Precious!

 

 

Anyway, those cabinets I've been talking about are being installed as I type.  :-) They are looking soooo nice!  I can't wait to show you the finished product, but for now, I'm going to show you a picture from my point of view... where Bella and I have been hiding in the corner of the living room.  It's the only surface that isn't covered with something at this point!  She hates all of the noise.  Keimo is right in the middle of things... he's trying to help.  lol

 

 

Looks crazy right now, but I know it will be great!:-) 

 

Have a wonderful night! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to School... Almost... and random ramblings

Well, I did my training that I had to co-lead on Friday.  I didn't throw up (yeah, me!) but it didn't go completely smooth either. No details, but several really sweet co-workers sent me messages afterwards to tell me that I did a great job (they were just being nice.  lol) and encourage me.  :-)  I made it through it, I didn't throw up or die, so it's a big success to me.  ;-)

I didn't realize it, but I don't have to go to the training tomorrow!  Woohoo!  It is for classroom teachers only, so I am exempt!  One more day to enjoy... err... well, you should see my house right now.  I'm not so sure about the enjoying part.  I'm getting new cabinets installed tomorrow and my house is completely upside down.  It is not helping my anxiety.  lol  The pictures are crummy, but you get the idea.  Hopefully, I'll have some prettier pictures in the next few days!  :-)

My poor dining room table

The sad kitchen with no cabinets
& the little fridge that will be moved to the garage



living room & new fridge

So... tomorrow night is open house.  I never get to stay in the library.  I always have to help hand out transportation info and stuff like that.  Oh well.... best part is, I get to see my kiddos!  I love that part.  I've said before that I get really stressed out at back to school time, but that's the part that keeps me going!  I already know all of the kids at open house.  I don't have a whole new group to get to know (except K kiddos and move ins!). I already know these kids and I've missed them.  There will be a lot of hugging and squeezing going on tomorrow night.  I need that.  :-) 

Now... on to something else... 

I recently made a new bloggy friend.  I've been using some of her stuff for a while.  Her name is Jaime Locke and she's from Alaska!  I finally emailed her and told her how much I loved her readers' theater stuff and we decided to do a combo giveaway... some of her stuff, and some of mine as a back to school treat!  We don't have all of the details worked out yet, but as soon as we do, I'll let you know!  Anyway, go over and show Miss Jaime some love.  :-) 

 

 

Another bloggy friend, Laura, is having a giveaway on her blog!  Not only is she giving away her awesome Teacher Guide Unit, she's also giving away a $20 Target gift card!  I love Target!  I wish I had one closer to me!  :-) Go visit this very sweet teacher and show her how great she is! 

 



 

On a final note...  I am going to share something that always makes me smile.  My silly husky, Keimo wearing his "T-Birds" Greaser jacket & some shades!  He's even smiling at you!  I love that dog!  :-)

 

Have a wonderful Sunday evening!