I Spy: lots of fun

And I'm back! To celebrate I'm going to have my first new product free for the next 24 hours!

In this game, students will help Santa's elves make gingerbread houses with a specific amount of gum balls for the roof. They'll be practicing those difficult times tables of 7s, 8s, and 9s.

You can check it out here.

December Currently

Yes people, I am in fact alive. It has been a crazy October and November. Kuddos to you teacher friends that teach full time, keep up a blog, and create things for TpT. I don't know how you all do it!

Anyway, on to my December Currently:

Most of these are pretty self-explanatory, but for my favorite tradition, I am blessed to get 2 full days of Christmas! I spend Christmas Eve with my boyfriend's family, and then we spend Christmas Day with mine. I LOVE it! Lots of family time, and no headaches about rushing here or there.

October Currently

It's that time again. Okay, I may be a little late to the party, but getting sick can do that to a girl.

I am linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade. Here is my October Currently:

Listening to Criminal Minds. Gotta love that show.

 

Loving Fall weather! I live in Georgia, though, so our weather is wacky. High in the 80s all week. :( I want nothing more than to wear my boots. Just can't do it, yet.

 

Thinking I have the best loved ones. My birthday was at the end of September, and they treated me to an extra special day! 

 

Wanting my maroon jeggings that I ordered, using some birthday money, from Hazel and Olive Boutique. If you haven't checked them out, yet, you've got to!

Needing that report card fairy to come input and print out all of my report cards in a few weeks. She's real, right? ;)

Treat: I am planning a trip to Disney in the summer, and I found this awesome app: My Disney Experience. It's a free app by Disney, so it links up wait times, park maps, you can make dining reservations, and even see where and when all the characters will be. How cool is that?

 

Happy birthday to me!

Good morning friends!

Tomorrow is my birthday, so in honor I decided to throw a 20% off sale at my store. If you've had your eye on anything this would be a great opportunity to pick it up. :)  Those Multiplication Mania task cards are now an even better deal at $12.80! If you need them on an individual basis, they're only $1.60 a piece. Wowza!

Hurry, though! My sale will last until my Dad's birthday, Tuesday, Oct 1st. (Yup. I was his birthday present the year I was born. ;) )

Multiplication Mania: Complete

Good Monday evening, friends!

As promised my Multiplication Mania is now officially up in my store! You can now find Trading Cards for all of the times tables from 2-12. Each number is differentiated to meet all of your students' needs. You can choose to get them individually or you can buy the bundled set. That set is priced so that you get 4 times tables for FREE! :)
Take a look:

Graphics credit: Melonheadz, Graphics from the Pond, Clip Art by Blair Turner, and Cherry Workshop

I also completed my Trading Cards that I wrote about on Friday. These trading cards are designed to help motivate your students to learn their times tables. Each time a student learns a table in its entirety, he or she is given the next trading card. On each card is a hint to help learning each table. The final card is the holographic card that is given once the student has learned all of the times tables. In order to really make this one pop, I put a sparkly sticker in the box that usually holds the number, and it is also the card that gets laminated. You can check them out here:

Graphics by: Graphics from the Pond and Creative Clips

Have a fantastic rest of the week!! :)

Five for Friday: Multiplication Mania

Good Friday evening! We did it! We made it to another weekend. Whoop whoop! ;)

I am teaming up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another installment of


1. I am going to Disney World!!! ...well, I will be anyway, come next Summer. I am so excited, you don't even know it. My family planned the time out perfectly so that my boyfriend and I can go during Star Wars Weekend, because they rock! One thing you may or may not know about me is that I LOVE to plan things! I am definitely looking forward to planning this vacation out. It's been two years, people!

2. iOS 7. Well, like most people out there, I joined the bandwagon and updated my iPad. Can I just say that I adore it! It's like getting a brand new iPad. Seriously, I found myself thinking, "wow this is so much faster! ...wait...I didn't actually get a new iPad. Just a new operating system." I know there are some people out there that are waiting, for various reasons, but trust me, you'll be happy with it! (By the way, I am by no means the type of person that has to have the latest and greatest. Point in case: I don't have a smartphone. In fact, I had the same phone for nearly 4 years before I had to trade it in because the battery went loopy.)

3. Christmas stuff is starting to roll out in some stores. There are definitely some people out there that will groan at this notion, to which I say, "bah humbug!" Christmas is amazing! In fact, I start listening to Christmas music in October. shh...I'm not crazy...Plus, it helps me get in the mood to spread out all the Christmas cheer aka presents that must be bought into three months instead of 1 or 2. Food for thought, people. ;)

4. Did you talk like a pirate yesterday? I was kind of sad to miss out on the fun, but my sweatpants were calling my name more than doughnuts. ...however, today I could totally go for some. Isn't that just how life works? Ha! Oh well.

5. Multiplication Mania! Multiplication Mania! I have a bad case of multiplication mania. This is the first year that I will teach it, so I think I've gone a little crazy with products for TpT because of it. As promised, I gave you a sneak peak of my latest product, so here it is:

 Multiplication trading cards!! I have several boys that are totally into Pokemon cards, so that got me thinking. As a grade level, we decided to have an ice cream party for all of the students that learn their facts at the end of the year, which is going to be awesome. However, there are some kiddos that need a little more here and now kind of reward. So here is what I did:

When a student learns his or her fact, he or she will get the trading card for the next fact. So, I started with 1 instead of 0. After he or she learns 0, he or she will be given the trading card for the 1 times table. On it, there is a trick to help the students learn/study the tables. Once he or she passes the times table timed test, he or she will be given the 2 trading card, an so on. It all leads up to the final card. And this is where I leaned on the knowledge of the stinkin Pokemon card excitement. After the student learns his or her 12 table, he or she is given the final card, which is no ordinary card, my friends. It will be the only one that is laminated, and where the number would be, I will put a shiny, sparkly star sticker. The last card is the holographic card! That's right! Holographic! Who wouldn't want to earn that? I plan to have this set up no later than Tuesday to my TpT shop! Can't wait! ;)

On top of the trading cards, I have also been working on task cards for each table. They are almost complete! I need to edit the last batch, 9-12, and then they will be up for sale, along with the 2-8 already in my shop. Hopefully I can figure out how to create a zip file. If so, I plan to have them bundled for a discount!

Enjoy your weekend!!

Monday Made It: Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Cups

I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for

Okay, I needed a mental break this past weekend, so I put my creative juices toward making something yummy. I am by no means a baker, and usually I am pretty bad at coming up with my own recipes, so allow me a second to toot my own horn. I made my own recipe for some delicious Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Cups. I am so ready for Fall, and I just wanted a taste of it. Everyone said they wanted me to make them for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I'll take that as a success! :)
Okay, check them out:

Here's what I did:

I followed the recipe from Martha Stewart's No Bake Cheesecake. Super easy!!

Ingredients:

1 package of Snickerdoodle frozen cookie dough (or sugar cookies, just add cinnamon before you bake)

2 8oz tubs of cream cheese

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Lemon juice

Cinnamon

Caramel syrup

Cupcake wrappers

Directions:

1. Line a muffin tin with the cupcake wrappers.

2. Put one spoonful of cookie dough per wrapper, like so:

3. After all wrappers are filled, follow directions for baking cookies found on the package. I didn't have to do any adjustments.

4. While cookies are baking, mix the cream cheese until smooth, on medium strength.

5. Slowly add in the condensed milk.

6. Mix in a few drops of lemon juice. (I did 6 drops.)

7. Add cinnamon to cheesecake mix to taste. I used about 4 teaspoons, but this is to taste. ;)

8. Take out cookies and allow to cool for a few minutes. I repeated steps 1-3, to make a total of 24 cookies. Here are what mine looked like:

9. Once cookies have cooled, pour filling mixture in, like so:

10.Allow them to cool in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

11. When you're ready serve, take out of the wrapper, and top with Caramel syrup. :)

      If you try them, I hope you enjoy! Have a blessed week!

 

Five for Friday 9/6

I am linking up with Kacey from Doodle bugs teaching for



1. If you didn't gather it from my Currently post, I heart Supernatural! My boyfriend and I have been going a little crazy with Netflix marathons. I don't think we'll watch all the seasons prior to the new one airing, though.
2. Inspiration. It's amazing when inspiration hits! I am super pumped to unveil a new tool for teaching multiplication that I created. I was inspired by the fact that one of my students loves Pokemon cards. More on that one later. :) Here's a sneak peek:

3. Living life on the dangerous side. Well, folks, I have been very bad about making my to do lists, which is very out of character. Result: not completing very important things. Whoops!
4. I heart this blogging community. I have never felt more welcome before! :)
5. I want to go shopping. Like really badly. Too bad I am trying to save money... (Birthday is coming soon, though!)

Okay! Happy weekend, friends!

Currently in September

I know I'm late to the game, but it was a Netflix kind of day today.

Here's my Currently with Farley of Oh Boy 4th Grade!

Listening to my {current} favorite new show. Well, new to me. Yay Netflix! :)

Loving that I get to spend a full day with my honey! I heart him.

Okay. I promise that is not a dumb blonde saying. If I think too much at the moment, it somehow strays to everything I need to do at work, and this is my day off! ;)

I think the "wanting" one is pretty self explanatory.

I agree with Farley. Fairy God Mother, please!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you had a fantastic Labor Day!

Birthday certificate

Hello friends! Whew! It has been quite the first two weeks. I hope your back to school time is going great!

This weekend I was a busy bee getting some things made for my bunch of sweeties. One of the things I made I put up as a freebie in my store.

Take a look:

If you like it, be sure to grab it and leave some love! :)

Now, who is ready for a nap? :P

Five for Friday: What I've been up to

Wow! It has been far too long since I've been on here. What a wild and crazy past two weeks it has been!

As my official "I'm finally back," I will be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for

Here is what I have been busy up to:

1. New Teacher Orientation. Wow! I am so excited to be a part of a new county, well new to me as a teacher. I actually grew up here, so I'm super excited to be home!! Best news: I finally feel like I've arrived at my school home, too. I've been praying for one, and God delivered! :)

2. Setting up my new room!! Seriously if I wouldn't miss the kiddos, I would so set up classrooms for a living. I think it feeds into two of my favorite things: planning and decorating. Here are a couple of pictures:

And here is probably my most favorite wall. It has several combinations of products from my favorite teacher ladies: A Year of Many Firsts, The Teacher Wife, and Second Grade Shenanigans. 

 

3. Meeting my sweet darlings: My first day with them was probably one of the best first days that I have ever had. I really have been blessed with this group! They are sweet, inquisitive, and respectful. Seriously, other teachers dream of having this kind of class. I know I have at certain times of my life.

4. Let's add 5 more students. I had a ridiculously small class to begin with, 16 third graders. T-I-N-Y! All of our third grade classes were kind of low, so the powers that be decided that we had to collapse one of the classes. :( I hate to see one of my teammates go, but at least a position was opened up at our school for her to take. Whew! So, on my second day I had to get things ready for 5 new sweethearts to join the mix. I'm nervous but excited to the added dimension. I have had the pleasure of spending a full day with the new kiddos, and quite honestly, they fit in beautifully. In fact, I think we're going to be an even better class (and I'll be a better teacher) because of them. In the wise words of Ashton Kutcher, "Opportunity looks a lot like hard work." It was kind of hard to be in the class until 6 and 7 to get things ready for them, but this hard work has definitely opened us up for a wonderful opportunity! (Seriously, if you haven't seen Ashton's speech at the Teen Choice Awards, check it out! It's amazing how motivational that speech was!!)

5. And last, but certainly not least, I am teaming up with other TpT sellers for their fabulous Back to School sale on the 18th and 19th! My products will be 20% off, and if you use the code: bts13 it will take an additional 10% off for a grand total of 28% off! :)

Thank you ZipADeeDooDah for the graphic!