Five for Friday 7/31/15

Wow! I can't believe that tomorrow will be August! Where did the summer go?? Although I missed it last week, I am excited to again to link up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the

 Here's a little peek into my past week:

With the sound of Back to School commercials filling the air, I am happy to announce that my Back to School FREEBIE is uploaded and ready to roll. This "I Found, Who Found" game is a spin on the common "I Have, Who Has" game, except this game helps to familiarize your students with their new classroom. It's a fun way to begin the year, so click on the icon to get this freebie if you're interested!

I must say, I have one amazing husband! On Monday, he took both my boys camping - on his own! He packed up everything and took the boys for an entire 27 hours! Yes, that means I had a quiet house and was able to get so much done! I don't know what I possibly did with all my spare time before kids ;) All of the boys had a blast, and I was so thankful to get errands, cleaning, laundry, and yes, plenty of Teachers Pay Teachers stuff, checked off my checklist. They came home covered in dirt, and with sticks, rocks, and even a frog in tow. While I was grateful for the time to be "productive," those grimey faces never looked better!

My oldest son has been working so hard to ride his bike without training wheels, and this last week, it just clicked! He is still working on getting started on his own and making turns without ending up on the ground, but he is so proud - and, I must say, I am too!! 

I was able to update my Watch My Progress Journal this week! I use this to track the growth of my students over the year in certain skills. It's also a great place to organize monthly work for a portfolio at the end of the year! I am always amazed at how much these students grow in a year! 

Finally, don't forget that next Monday and Tuesday (August 3rd and 4th) is the TpT Back to School Sale! My entire store will be 20% off (bundles too), and if you use the promo code BTS15, you'll get another 10% off -making it 28% off your total purchase! Load up your wish list now!!

I would love to hear about your week! And be sure to check out the other posts at the Doodle Bugs Teaching Link-up. Have an amazing weekend!! 

Five for Friday Summer Linky 7/17/15

I have really enjoyed the opportunity to link up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the

 Here's a little peek into my past week:

I celebrated my birthday this week and as I reflect on the past year, I know that I am truly blessed. My hubby and boys showered me with love, acts of service, and beautiful cards. Of course, we topped the evening off with some frozen yogurt - my favorite! I know, I know, it looks like a kid's cup of yogurt, but I love it!

Also, as part of the birthday celebration, my entire store is 20% off until Sunday. And if you haven't entered the BIRTHDAY GIVEAWAY yet, be sure to do so! I know I can always use a gift certificate to TpT! 

I finally finished the update to my Editable Name Activities. This was my big project last summer, and updating it has become my big project this summer. Ha! I took all that I learned my first year on TpT and applied that to updating this product. It now comes in both Word and Power Point versions as well! So, if you previously purchased this item, be sure to download the new update by going to your "My Purchases" page!

So, we are completely re-doing our backyard this summer. With the horrible drought in California, we decided to let our grass go. So, despite the heat, my husband has worked tirelessly to rip out all of the grass and get things cleaned up - it was a bit of a mess! This week he built two wonderful planter boxes for us to use in the fall and next spring! I am so excited - and so are the boys! There's still a lot to do back there, but I was excited about this! Now, just praying for a very wet winter!

I finally got my Numbers 1-10 packet uploaded! I have been working on it off and on all summer, but with all of the traveling, product revisions, and life, it's been slow. So, I am happy to announce it is finally posted!

I also updated my TpT Store Quote, thanks to this amazing Tutorial from Mrs. Fultz! I think it really makes a difference! 

I would love to hear about your week! And be sure to check out the other posts at the Doodle Bugs Teaching Link-up. Have an amazing weekend!! 

Birthday Sale and Giveaway!

Whew! July has really been an amazing and busy month so far! I started the month with the launch of my new blog. Kristen at Design Infusions did an amazing job, and I am so thankful for her! Through that, I've been able to meet some wonderful people! Kelly, from Lattes and Lunchrooms, has been such a gift! She has helped me begin to figure out this whole blogging adventure and has been such an encouragement to me! We've been communicating via email and we both look forward to seeing our friendship grow. I got to spend about a week and a half visiting family and enjoying this summer weather. Now, this week I celebrate my birthday and I truly feel blessed! I am so thankful for the people I have been able to meet and spend time with over these past few weeks. So, I wanted to give back a little and celebrate with a sale and giveaway!

My entire store will be 20% off Thursday through Sunday. You can also enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below to earn a chance to win one of 2 $10 gift certificates to Teachers Pay Teachers or some adorable digital papers from Design Infusions. Best of luck to all of you! And thank you for stopping in :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday Linky Party

Excited to link up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the

This has actually been quite an exciting week - believe me, most weeks are not usually this eventful, but here's a little peek into this week!

My family and I got to visit my in-laws at the central coast. My boys absolutely LOVED getting to go to the beach, chase the waves, build sandcastles, and soak up some sun! Here I am chasing my youngest in the waves. We had such a fun time!

Watching the U.S. Women's Soccer Team win the World Cup was definitely a highlight for me. I played soccer for over 13 years, and my dad coached me every year. It was very special getting to watch the game with him, and it definitely brought back a ton of wonderful memories!

Though we've been on vacation and I haven't been super productive with developing resources, I am finally closing in on finishing my first number bundle. My older son has been loving the activities (he's my official tester of many materials), and I am excited to be able to post it soon! Here's a sneak peek of one of the activities.

My oldest son finally learned to swim this week - and we're talking swimming from the shallow end of the pool all the way to the deep end! He has always loved the water, but without a pool in our own backyard, hasn't always had the consistent practice needed. However, this week, while visiting grandparents, he has been in the pool everyday, and it finally clicked! I am so proud of him!

Finally, being surrounded by family this week has been such a blessing. We spent the first half of the week with my in-laws and the second half with my family - and the time has been so sweet! Since we don't live in the same towns, this extended time with family members is nourishment to my soul! Ah, the gift of summers off (since my hubby and I are both teachers). Spending time with my parents, siblings, nieces, nephew, and other extended family has been wonderful! I love watching my kiddos interact with their grandparents and cousins, and I treasure watching these relationships grow. While I might be a little bummed to miss the TpT conference in Vegas, I wouldn't trade this special time with family for anything!

Would love to hear about your week! And be sure to check out the other posts at the Doodle Bugs Teaching Link-up. Have a fabulous weekend!! 

Summer Linky: Where I Was 5 Years Ago....

Hey everyone!
This week I decided to link up with Miss Monica from I Heart Grade 3 for her weekly summer link up. This week's topic was: Where were you 5 years ago?

At times I feel like 5 years is such a short amount of time, but then again, SO much can change in 5 years! 5 years ago this summer, my husband and I were going to my family's baby shower for my first baby boy. While that might not seem like such a big deal, it was a HUGE event for me. You see, my husband and I had been trying to get pregnant for the past 3 years and even had 3 different doctors tell us that there was no way we would be able to get pregnant naturally. We were crushed, to say the least. We had been seeing a specialist for a few months and that January had gone in, only to have them send us home saying that they would not even attempt any sort of procedure because there was not a chance that month. Fast forward a few weeks, and my husband and I were sobbing tears of joy after discovering we had indeed become pregnant naturally! Isn't God amazing? We know that our little boy is one of God's miracles and we thank Him for our little guy everyday.

So, summer 5 years ago was truly spent celebrating the gift of this little boy and preparing for his arrival! As you can see, we had a blast decorating his room!

I was preparing to enter my 6th year of teaching, and trying to figure out how I was going to balance teaching while being very pregnant, what maternity leave was going to look like, and how to be an effective, engaging teacher while surviving on just a few hours of sleep. Thankfully, I had an amazing husband (at the same school!!!) to walk with me through it all.

5 years ago, my parents had no grandchildren (2 were on the way, but not here yet). They now have 5 with one more on the way. 5 years ago, I stood in awe of the gift of the baby in my ever growing tummy. Today, I stand in even greater awe of God's goodness and grace as I look at my 2(!!!) healthy, growing boys! 5 years ago, I was teaching full time and loving every minute of it. Today, I am still teaching, but not in a full time classroom anymore. While I still have a passion and a love for teaching, I am so thankful for the opportunity to be home with my boys. Yeah, 5 years might not seem like a long time, but wow, things have really changed in my life! So thankful for all of the blessings in these past five years!

Our 4th of July

I have to begin by saying that I have two INCREDIBLE parents! Every year they host a big 4th of July BBQ, complete with homemade ice cream, ping pong, water basketball, swimming, and, of course, fireworks. They open their home to family and friends and we all walk away from the day, exhausted, but feeling incredibly blessed. A few years ago, my mom started "hosting" a food competition at our annual 4th of July BBQ. There is a category assigned, anyone who wants to can participate, everyone votes for their favorites, and she always has little prizes for the winning dishes. It's always in good fun, but there's always a little competition - especially between my siblings. Here's a little peek at what the spread looked like this year:

The category this year was appetizers, so I entered these pretzel bites from Sally's Baking Addiction. And I must say, they were wonderful - especially with the yummy cheese sauce to dip them in - YUM!

It was a wonderful 4th of July, and I am so thankful for the blessings of family, friends, and freedom! I'd love to hear about your 4th of July as well!

Welcome to my Blog!

        What?!?!? I have a blog! I have been toying with the idea of entering the blogging world for the past year or so, and about a week and a half ago I decided to finally take the plunge. I am so excited! A HUGE thank you goes out to Kristen at Design Infusions who created my entire design and set everything up for me. She was such a pleasure to work with - professional, knowledgeable, timely, and so patient with me and I tried to figure everything out! And I absolutely LOVE what she did!
        So begins my blogging adventure. Thank you so much for simply taking the time to stop by. On this blog I hope to share some of my teaching tips and ideas as well as some of the resources I have designed to help you in your classroom or home. And since I absolutely adore my little family, I'll probably also be sharing some of our adventures, successes, and yes, even major flops - because sometimes those create some of the best memories, right?
        So, if you'd like to join me, don't forget to hit that "b" for Bloglovin' to follow along and join me on this adventure. I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by!