SALE!

Hey Bloggers!

The 3 AM Teacher is having a 24 hour sale on her TpT Store!  GO!  Happy Shopping!

Hiking, an Award, and a Hop!

Hi All,

It's a lovely Sunday morning and I HURT ALL OVER!!  I went hiking yesterday to the Cascades (beautiful waterfall in Giles County, Virginia), and my knees hate me.  However, it was very pretty and I did have a good time, so it was worth it.

Anyway, I have a few shout outs to throw out.  I wan to say THANK YOU to Taylor over at Baking, Crafting, Teaching...Oh My! for giving me the Versatile Blogger Award!

The rules are to:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award (DONE!)
2. Link back to them (DONE!)
3. Select 15 awesome blogs to give it to (well, 7)
4. Let them know they won the award (right after this)
5. Tell those you awarded seven things about yourself (YUP!)

Because I am super new to this, many people already have this award, so I will try to find as many as I can to award this to!  Second, since I did a lovely Tell Me More linky party with Amy last week, I will just send them a link :)  Here we go!

1. Courtney at Classroom Snapshots
2. Stephanie at The Secret Life of a Teacher
3. Courtney at Flocking to Fifth
4. Ashley at That's So Second Grade 
5. Jeannie at Classroom Couture
6. From the Desk of... 
7. Kerri and Lindsay at Teacher Bits & Bobs

That's it, I'm stopping at seven...that took almost an hour!  Anyway, congratulations you guys!

Next up is a Blog Hop!  Kelley at Teacher Idea Factory is having a Rocking Resources: Things you can't Live Without Linky Party.

So here goes....

Things I can't live without.....

1. Felt Tipped Pens - I love these pens!  They are great for grading, drawing, writing, etc.!  They don't bleed through papers or stay on hands too long!  I always buy 2 or 3 packs a year, because I keep losing them!

2. Paper Cutter - I really can't live without this!  It saves so much time cutting out things.

3. Laminator - Again, I don't what I would do without this.  I don't even know how much time I spend laminating and cutting things out in front of the TV.

4. Agenda/Lesson Planner - I would be lost without this thing.  I've had my kids scour the room looking for "Mrs. Love's agenda!"

5. Scholastic Printables - In a pinch or need work fast for a sub, these are perfect.  You can find just about anything here!

What can't you live without?

Tell Me More! Tell Me More!

Okay, so I saw that Amy over at Step Into 2nd Grade is doing a linky party.  Okay so here goes....

1. I am currently teaching in Stafford County, Virginia, BUT my husband is a doctoral student at Radford University in, wait for it, Radford, Virginia.  So driving 8 hours (4 down and 4 up), every two weeks is getting very, very old.

2. My food cannot touch each other on my plate.  It cannot be done.  If I have two items that have sauce on them, I put a row of rice in the middle so the sauces do not touch one another.  My husband bought this for me :)

a monkey divided plate :)

3. I love, love, love Virginia Tech Hokies!  I started college there and I will finish it there as well (hopefully)!  I'm going to get my doctorate there sometime in the near future.  I love college football because of them!  I bleed orange and maroon!  I cannot wait for fall to watch them play!!

 

Sue (a good friend), me, and John (my brother) at a VT vs. BC Game

4. I can't stand crooked picture frames!  That drives me crazy!  It's almost to the point where if I go to a friend's house and see one, I want to walk up to it and fix it.  Don't ask me why.

5. I don't like going into the ocean past my knees.  If the water hits my kneecaps, then that's it; I'm not going any further.  I think it's because I can't see the ground and that bothers me.

Apparently, Aster didn't think too much of the ocean either.

6. I don't like feet touching me.  I don't know why either.  I don't mind my feet, just don't really care for other people's feet near me.

7. I adore Harry Potter and anything about Harry Potter!  Check my Pinterest page if you don't believe me.  I think I might actually love it more than HOKIE Football?

Harry Potter rates 2 pictures :)

8. I am love with this one mystery series set in the Victorian era.  It's the Amelia Peabody Emerson series; I have read the whole series (20 books in all) at least 15 times since 2004, if not more.  It's about a family of Egyptologists who solve mysteries in Egypt.  I've learned a lot about Ancient Egypt through these books.  Mike is demanding that I read something else, like Game of Thrones :)

9. I am truly an ambidextrous person; I was born left-handed, but because I am Chinese and they frown upon these things, my parents made me learn to write with my right hand before school began.  However, I still use my left hand for most things.  I can actually do most things with both, but I only write with my right hand.  Funny though, when I started teaching, I would only write on the board with my left hand and still do.

10. I am mildly claustrophobic.  If I am in an elevator, I will look around to find the best way to get out of it if it were to get stuck.  If there is more than 4 people in the elevator, I will stand as close to the door as humanly possible and not look behind me.

11. I spell my name in the British fashion.  My dad had a bunch of grammar books written in British English.  My name came from those books; so, I spell my name with only one "L" in the middle and not two.  Best story ever...so I went to Kindergarten knowing how to spell my name with one "L."  My teacher told me I was spelling it wrong; my name had two "Ls" in the middle.  So I thought, my teacher must be right; it has two in the middle.  A couple months later, I'm writing my name on something and my brother, John, says, "You're writing your name wrong."  I said, "No, my teacher says it has one "L" in the middle."  He explained that she was wrong.  So I had been writing my own name wrong for months!  It's amazing how many people don't notice this even if my name is right there for them to see.

not 

12. My husband, Mike, is the only person I can sit in a room with, not talk at all, and be completely comfortable.  We laugh at the same things and have the same dry sense of humor.  It's kinda scary at times how well we get along.

Last (for now), but not least...

13.  I love cop shows, NCIS, NCIS LA, Covert Affairs, Bones, Law & Order: SVU, The Closer, whatever, bring it on! I'll watch it.

Okay, now I'm sure you probably think I'm crazy, but I'm not really. :)

An Award, a Giveaway, and a Blog Hop! Oh My!

I got an AWARD! 

First, I want to thank Kelly Teach for giving me this lovely award!  This award goes to blogs with fewer than 200 followers.  So I'm passing the love (no pun intended!).  The rules are:

1. Copy and paste award on your blog.
2. Thank the giver and link back to them.
3. Reveal 5 other bloggers and let them know by commenting on their blog.

This award goes to:

• The {Mis}Adventures of First Grade
• That's So Second Grade!
• Two Tacky Teachers
• Fifth Grade Fancy
• The Elementary Adventure

Congratulations you guys!

Second, Ashley over at Just Reed is having a GIVEAWAY!  So head over there and check it out.  She is giving away an Erin Condren Lesson Planner.  I honestly had no idea what that was so I went and searched for it.  It is a wickedly cool lesson book!  Because I am obsessed with office supplies and the like, I had to enter!  You should too!

Third, Janis from Grade Three is the Place for Me, is having a Newbie Blog Hop.  

So I figured "why not?"  I want more people reading my blog :)  So the questions are:

1. What state you are in
2. Your current teaching position
3. Your teaching experience
4. When you started blogging
5. Share a blogging tip/blogging resource

Right then,

1. VIRGINIAN!
2. Fifth Grade is awesome :)
3. Just finished my second year
4. Technically since 2009, but really this past June
5. The 3am Teacher pulled me into all this!  She has an awesome blog, clip art, and frames!  She also has fun little tutorials (that even I can follow) on how to create buttons for you blogs and such.

Okay, that was a very long post for me.  However, do and check these blogs out; they're pretty fabulous!

Owl Themed Morning Message and Routine SMART Board!

Evening All,

I know, no more posting today.  However, I made an owl themed Morning Message/Routine SMART Board that I just wanted to share so very badly.  Check it out!

Owl Themed CAFE Poster Set with Definitions! Now in DJ Chunky Font!

Hello!
I just came back from seeing The Dark Knight Rises!  It was absolutely awesome!  However, I did find time to finish up a project that someone wanted me to do for them.  It's just like my previous owl themed CAFE poster set but with a different font.  A younger classroom teacher wanted to use it for her class and asked if I could make it in another font.  TA DA!

I made it in the DJ Chunky font.  I don't think I've heard of it before, but it's pretty cute.  So for all you folks out there who teach a younger class, this one's for you!

Owls and Dots...Part II!

Morning All,

I finished my Owl and Polka Dots Job mini-bulletin board set.  It's supposed to go along with the classroom set I posted Thursday.  This one is for free, so head on over there!!

Owl and Polka Dots!

Hi All,

I know I've been out of the loop for a little bit.  I was hard at work, working on a classroom themed set.  It's all about owls and polka dots :)  Go check it out!!  Please leave feedback if you like it :)

Owl Themed Birthday and Blank Label Cards!

Hi All!

I created some owl cards for my store.  Head over there and check them out!  There are 6 birthday owl cards with cute little sayings and I included 6 blank cards for you to use however you want.  Make sure you read my Fine Print!  Thanks!

 

Owl Themed CAFE Poster Set with Definitions!

Hi All!

I have finished my owl themed CAFE Poster set!  It has title and definition posters.  Go and check it out!  Because it took me so much time in Photoshop, I decided to price it at $2.50.  If that doesn't work out, make the assumption that the price will go down :)  As usual, thank you to the The 3am Teacher for her owls; also thanks to Kevin and Amanda for their awesome fonts!  Happy Sunday!