Five For Friday!

                                                 

This week I went to the local teacher supply store, Utah Idaho Maps and Supply, and purchased some new borders for my bulletin boards! Here's the before and after shots! Gotta love chevron! I actually ended up cutting the border pieces in half so they were a bit thinner than they originally were.

I met a brand new TpT friend this week! Rainah Pray won my giveaway on Facebook and it turns out she lives in the midwest, just a few hours from where I grew up!! Rainah is just starting out on TpT and isn't a blogger {yet!}. I hope everyone will jump over to her store and show her some love by following her! 

My Mom sent me the coolest website this week called 

Once you create your free account, you can click under the tab "Relatives" and do a search on all sorts of categories. It is run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, so there are searches related to the church on there, BUT for those of you who are not LDS, there are tons of other interesting searches!!

Such as, you can search to see which U.S. Presidents you are related to. Or, if you are related to anyone on the Mayflower! There's a search to see if you are related to any famous Americans! 

So, what did I find out?? 

I was sooo excited to find out I am related to my all-time hero!!!

{I seriously think I have just about every book ever written on this man!!}

I'm also related to Thomas Jefferson, Amelia Earhart, and Mark Twain!! 

If you go to Relative Finder, leave me a comment below and tell me who you are related to!

(This photo doesn't do it justice!)

I'm sooo excited that my new teacher planner came this week! I went with a smaller planner by Plum Paper Designs on Etsy and I just LOVE it!!  It is a bit smaller than my Erin Condren planner that I bought last year, so I am thinking of using this one either for my guided reading groups or as my personal planner. I did love my Erin Condren planner and actually ordered one again for this year! I'll post when it comes in the mail!

           
And saving the BEST for last, this week was my husband's and my 2nd anniversary! I really call it our Family Anniversary as it is my 2nd year being a part of their family and they, a part of mine! My dog Bella and I just adore my step-children and we've had the entire summer together! The summer has gone way too fast! This is our most recent family photo!

I hope you have had a wonderful week!! When do you all start back to school? Leave me a comment below and let me know!

Happy weekend!!

There is Only Love!

Winner! Winner!! & *Friday Freebie

And our winner is.....


Thank you to everyone who followed our stores and who entered our give away! We all appreciate you so much! Sheila Felder, we will be emailing you and sending you our packets soon! Congratulations!!

1. Seriously, Mr. Groundhog....an early Spring?? I was soooo hoping this would be true...but alas, in the middle of reading groups this morning I was interrupted by a very excited little boy telling me to look out the window because it was SNOWING!! Ugh!!  I know it is difficult to see because the photo is a bit blurry,  but it was really coming down! {Oh, please warm up soon!}


2. I'm working on updating my Plant and Flower Packet and it is almost done! I'll post about it as soon as it is updated on TpT! In the meantime, here's a little Missing Subtrahend Freebie for you!

    

3. Look what came in the mail today!! I love this magazine! My mom gives me a gift subscription every year for Christmas...or my birthday...I can't remember...But it always has useful information. I love the article on easy tips for cleaning when you just feel like you don't have time! Seriously, teaching full-time, blogging, creating for TpT....who has time for cleaning???  By the time the weekend rolls around I'm lucky to have any energy left to stare at myself in the mirror.

But hey, suggest a few awesome cleaning products and you have peaked my interest! Nothing like when someone gives you a good cleaning product recommendation! {I seriously sound more pathetic than I thought....}

4. Only 5 more days until Spring Break!!! To celebrate the {hopeful} coming of Spring, I did my art lesson on Georgia O'Keefe today. Painting LARGE on a big piece of paper is difficult for first graders. Even with modeling and step-by-step instruction, my cuties still wanted to make their flowers from a "normal" perspective....or even smaller...instead of the perspective of a bumble bee or bird landing on a flower. Look at their darling work! It sure has brightened up our hallway!

5. My darlin' step-children are on their way here from California even as I type! With no children of my own, {and after a very long 44 years of waiting to find my sweetheart and best friend to marry} I feel oh-so-very-blessed to have these four Luv Bugs in my world! We have a wonderful relationship and I miss them so much when they aren't here! So, here's a photo of my cuties! I'm so proud of each one of them!

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Love,

                                                        

Friday Freebie and Five For Friday!

Whew! It's F-I-N-A-L-L-Y Friday! This was just the longest week ever for some reason!! Here's a little bit about my week!

1. I took the plunge and cut my hair about four inches and got bangs cut! I went looking for a photo of what my hair looks like now, and sooooo funny!!! I have a Kim Kardashian hair cut and didn't even know it!!!! Ah ha ha! Imagine this but blonde!  (Oh to be that young again!!)

2. I finished a new packet for TpT!!! It's been forever since I made a new packet and I am excited about this one! Missing addends can be a tricky concept for little ones and this packet has ideas for lessons, activities, games, and printable worksheets! Here's a freebie from this packet! Just click on either page to download.  If you like this freebie, I'd love for you to leave a comment below!

3.  I bought 3 new books at Barnes and Noble the week!!! I love them all!

 

4. Had the BEST belly aching laugh over watching this video my husband showed me!

 5. And to end my week, I went on a much needed date night with my D.H. tonight and had a yummy meal at Magelby's Fresh Take Out! They have the best stuffed bread sticks and carrot cake!!! Well, everything there is delicious actually! You just can't go wrong!