Happy New Year SALE!

Wishing all of my bloggy buds and followers the VERY best in the New Year! Thanks for being so awesome! Here is to the best year yet! Hello 2014!  

XOXO! 


If you are in the mood to shop {wait...who I am kidding?! We are always in the mood to shop!} everything in my TPT shop is on sale! 


Take Me Back Tuesday: Holiday Highlights 2012


Almost there! Almost there! We have almost made it! PTL! 

 It's almost time to snuggle up by the fire with hot chocolate, cozy blankets and Christmas movies. AND...we won't have to move for 2ish weeks! I am sure we are MORE than ready for a break, but most of us do have a few days left before the holidays. I am positive that everyone is running wild getting last minute holiday crafts and lessons in and parties planned, so today for Take Me Back Tuesday, I will be sharing my holiday highlights from last year just in case you need a few extra holiday ideas! :) 

*****************************Originally Posted: 12.20.12******************************

Hi Friends! Grab yourself a cup of coffee for this post! Warning: it's lengthy!

True Story...I have NOT: 1) Taken OFF my pajamas 2) Stepped foot OFF of my couch 3) Talked ALL day long! Seriously! I so did not feel exhausted until yesterday, I swear! Now, my body has been screaming at me all day to NOT MOVE! Thank goodness that I have two weeks to enjoy total bliss! :)

After this past week, I may need a few more of these worthless days. Since I figured that I would not be heading out for a night on the town, {I mean...who wants to put on makeup?!?} I might as well catch you all up on what we have gotten ourselves into this week. Then, I will begin feeling worthless again as I watch my 5th Christmas movie for the day {don't judge!}. ;)

On Thursday, we had our big time Polar Express Day. Our "to-do" list was crazy long this day as we were furiously trying to finish up all of our last minute craftivities, activities, and gifts! Call me crazy, but y'all I can't STAND to leave things unfinished before the holidays...much less...unfinished period. Does anybody feel me? So, on Thursday...it was GO BIG...or GO HOME day! In all seriousness, this is the hardest working class I have EVER had. They are so stinkin' sweet {most of the time! :)} and even volunteer their recess time to finish work {ALL on their own}. So, I am trying to soak up all of their sweetness to carry me through those years that aren't so sweet leave a lot to be desired!

Maybe their hard work had something to do with this little friend that we had visiting from the north pole?!? Maybe! Just Maybe! I like to think it is just their love for learning! Ha!   


On Thursday, we began by listening to a reading of The Polar Express and watching a few music videos on YouTube since I couldn't actually show the movie. While they watched the music videos, I passed out the hot chocolate! Here are a few pictures from my little cuties aboard the Polar Express!



Since we have been working through our graphing unit, after our little ride on the Polar Express, we graphed the way that we like our hot chocolate best. {Little idea courtesy of Pinterest}

 We were also able to finish up our caribou research by writing our conclusion and creating our caribou craftivity to display our work. {Idea also courtesy of Pinterest. I am echoing Amy Lemons when I say...I owe this Pinterest...BIG TIME!}

So proud of their writing! I already have a big list of things that we need to work on come January, but they have worked so hard and are becoming very confident writers! {Can I get a Hallelujah?} 




We recently finished up our nonfiction unit and have been working on using context clues to identify character traits. During the CAH-RAZY cyber Monday sale at TPT, I bought a wonderful unit by Lesson Plan SOS called Crazy for Christmas.  We made these adorable little Santa's and used our clues from the stories that we have been reading to identify character traits. We worked on several other activities this week from the same unit and let me just say...the kids loved them to pieces!
I am pretty sure that some of these little darlings look more like winter characters straight out of a snow globe. Ha!


What would the week before Christmas break be like if we didn't make parent gifts? This year, I decided to make ornaments for our parents since Pinterest was swirling with ideas. I let the students take complete responsibility for adding all of the details and they did a pretty amazing job! I am sure their parents will LOVE their gift.


After all of our hard work, it was finally time to PAR-TAY! Let me just ask you...does it look like we had fun or what???
Two Words: SUGAR HIGH!

My philosophy = Sugar 'em up and send 'em home! I so hate that I do not have more pictures of our wonderful hot cocoa bar, but y'all seriously...this was one WILD party and I got caught up in all of its craziness! So, here are a few pictures from our party table, games, and fun! {Side note: I had some wonderfully amazing parents who made this all possible! They are FABULOUS!}

I am about 99% certain that we had over 50 cupcakes and only had about 5 left! My kids turned into little piglets!


 I made gourmet marshmallows to dip into our hot cocoa. Ummm...about 5 minutes into the party, they were eating them like straight up lollipops. I swear, if we had about 10 more minutes of school on Friday, they would have been hanging from the chandeliers! OH.MY.WORD! It was too much! :)

Our Minute to Win It Games were a total HIT! Our two favorite?

Have Yourself a Hairy Little Christmas: One player became Santa and one player was the elf recreating Santa's famous white beard. The team with the most cotton balls glued {or should I say Vaselined} to their partners face won! To some, I guess Santa is a SUPER hairy kind of guy! They had cotton balls EVERYWHERE!

{note: also check out the Vaseline in one child's hair. Can we say crazy competitive?}

Light As a Feather: The object of this game was to stand a holiday pencil on your desk and manage to place a feather on top without knocking the pencil over. This was a game of TOTAL and INTENSE concentration.
LOVE their faces!

The funniest part of this game? One child SWORE his pencil was broken because it would not stay standing. What he neglected to see was his hands shaking faster than the human eye could see! HA! Bless!

AND....FINALLY {I know, I know, I have bored you WAY, WAY too long}...the photo booth was a total success! It was a great way to end our party. The kids adored it, but the parents were the true crazies in there! This little activity comes highly recommended for all holiday parties! ;)

Well, that's all I have for tonight blogging buddies! So, from my crazy classroom to yours....HAPPY HOLIDAYS, FRIENDS! :)

Disclaimer: If anything is misspelled or does not make sense...I am TOTALLY OK with it! ;) 

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Be sure and link up below and take us back to some of your favorite holiday highlights! 





Five for Friday & Flash Sale!

Say it with me...5 more days! 5 more days! I think I can! I think I can! :) Are you as excited about Christmas break as I am? I. Can't. Wait! So to celebrate one week until that moment arrives, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs for a little Five for Friday! 




This is genius! Too good not to share. Although, I am uncertain as to who this belongs. I have searched forever and ever, but couldn't find the brilliant mind behind it. If this brilliance is all yours, please let me know so I can give proper credit. 


This is the same concept as the balloon or bust that I did at the end of the year last year.


So basically, you fill each balloon with a special activity. If the students have an exceptional day, they get to pop a balloon and reap the benefit the next day. I know it is probably almost too late to use this, but you could always fill 3 or 4 with rewards {depending on how many days you have left} and leave some empty. Then they could pop to see if they earned a reward or not. This would be a great way to keep them engaged these last few days. Oooor...you can tuck it away for next year! 



I have to share my new obsession. You can thank me later. I have been doing tons of Christmas shopping. Nothing like last minute...right? Well, I think I found my absolute faves for the season! 

How cute are these baubles from Reece & Blaire? Seriously...obsessed. You must check them out. You'll be oh so glad you did! Your wallet won't...but that is beside the point!  


Here are a few of my favorites that I have ordered for some friends and family this year! 






I am spending my night prepping for an ugly sweater party tomorrow for my cheerleaders.  Gosh I love a good party. I especially love planning parties! I will definitely have to share pictures later, but here is a little glimpse of my fab sweater. I highly recommend hosting an ugly sweater day in the classroom and/or with your staff. So much fun! 



In other news....

This has been a super busy week. I have been trying to finish up the decorations in my house....


Working on a brand new unit for the new year. It will be a mix of New Year's activities while bringing in a little Chinese New Year for a little cultural effect. Trying to finish this up in the midst of my party planning. 

And, I even managed to squeeze in an Atlanta Hawks game with some of our RCA kids!



Since I am feeling so festive this weekend, I have decided to place these two units on sale...BIG TIME! But only until Sunday, so hurry hurry!  Click on the pictures to check them out on TPT. 



Have a great weekend, friends! 

All I Want for Christmas...A Holiday Linky!

A moment of truth...I hate receiving gifts. I *really* do. And...it's not because I am not super grateful for people going out of their way to purchase something especially for me. To be honest, I am not exactly sure why, but I have never liked that feeling when all eyes are on you and they are watching you open gifts. So when the holidays roll around, I am always the absolute worst at giving my mother/husband/family ideas for what I would like for Christmas. This year, I consulted several bloggy buds for help, and they had THE best ideas. I figured if I am struggling creating a list, others must be too. AND...since the holidays are literally only a few weeks away, I thought it would be fun to link up with our holiday wish lists. Then, you too will have the help of your bloggy buds if you need some last minute ideas for yourself or others! Below is my list! Enjoy and link up with all of your fabulous gift ideas for the 2013 holiday season! 



Just about anything from my new favorite online boutique! 



This super cute vest from J.Crew that has been blowing up instagram for WEEKS! 


I love a good Michael Kors or Kate Spade Watch

I love these accent pillows for the holidays. I know it will be too late to use them for this season, but I'm thinking ahead! ;) 


 
Obsessed with this Jewelry {Thanks to Cara Carroll}. 
Kate Spade Perfume...Oh yes! 



And shoes...of course! 


   
The hubs is extremely difficult to shop for because he never wants ANYTHING. So, I am digging deep...


Since my hubs now has to wear a full suit everyday, he is all about his shoes. Love both of these...


He loves his coffee. As in...don't talk to him before his first cup. I think this will be perfect for his classroom. Blue since he loves his Blue Devils! 

And...he {well we} is one of these crazies...so I better get on finding tickets for a Duke game! 

The teacher in me loves...

Obsessed! 

Perfect speaker for the classroom! 


What teacher wouldn't want a Cameo. In love. That's all! 

OR...you could just buy your favorite teacher a visit to the Ron Clark Academy so that they could come visit meeeee...and be part of an amazing training, of course! :) It really is the perfect gift! #justsayin

 
Now...as far as men and kids are concerned. Go for the electronics! ;) Ha! Seriously, I am at a loss on those two groups. But...I do know what ladies will love! 

My husband bought me these for my birthday. They are amazing! Period. 

 

 

Loving just about anything in this shop! #scarfobsession

Of if you wanted something a littler more personal, love these monogrammed scarves...


This necklace has also been blowing up instagram! 


Granny Jammies or Not ;)...these are SUPER DUPER comfy and would make a great gift. They come in lots of great colors, too! 

For All My Ladies





For the hubs...

J. Crew Ties



Socks



Leather Iphone Case

Anything sports related. This year it will probably be tickets to the Chick-fil-A Bowl!