Wonderful Winter Sale(s)

I totally missed out on the cyber monday sales since I wasn't prepared to shop. I will definitely be taking advantage of the Winter Sale that many wonderful TPT sellers are taking part in this upcoming weekend. 

I will be linking up with Casey from Second Grade Math Maniac for this wonderful Winter Sale where you can get 20% off in my TPT store as well as many others. If you head over to her blog you can see which sellers are throwing a sale as well as be directly linked over to their store!!

I'm afraid to see how much I'll spend but know it will be well worth it when I'm scrambling to make some plans right before we head back from break. Actually, I'm going to use today to start planning and get a little organized for back to school time. I've already spent SO MUCH money Christmas shopping that it is scary!! I need to start some major money saving and penny scrunching in the new year. 

For those of you who have been following, the boy and I went to take a look at our almost house!! We got to see it in the construction phase, and if all goes as planned that exact unit we saw will be ours!! There is one more couple ahead of us in choosing but according to the realtor at the development property...they aren't interested in the unit we want. What that means is that if all goes as planned....I will be moving into a brand spankin new home in late February/early March which means MAJOR MONEY SAVING up ahead!! :D 

Have fun shopping the tpt sales and the mall sales this weekend..I know I will!! :)

Holiday Ornaments

It is almost Christmas!! Time has really flew past me this year. I'm officially on winter break and enjoying every minute of it!! My first day of break though (actually first night), I ended up getting a mean stomach bug/flu :( I'm finally fully recovered and yesterday was my first day of actually eating real food besides soup and crackers. Despite the vomiting, chills, and high fever I am so thankful that my body held out on being sick until I went on break. It would have been horrible to get this during school, and there was no way I could have made it in to do any sub. plans. 

Anyways..if any of you are still in session, this could be a last minute project since it is very easy!! Otherwise, you can throw this in your bag of tricks for next year. Each year, my girlfriend and I do this same project for our kids to take home as gifts for their families. The students make snowman ornaments. Over the years we have really perfected these ornaments...if only we had our first attempt at those three years ago we'd probably laugh! Normally, I write the students names on the ornament but thought..hey these are going to their parents/families why not write Merry Christmas or Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas in Hawaiian). So, this year the kids were able to choose what they would like written on their ornament along with a color. I'll try my best to show you what we did to create these cute little ornaments:

I went away with my handy dandy cricut to cut out letter using vinyl. Lucky me, I had my friend to help with the cricut cutting as well as the vinyl transferring...BUT her super sweet husband came home from work and did it ALL for us! He was watching  us and said we were transferring the vinyl the hard way...so he explained to us but we didn't understand what he was talking about so he decided to just take over! :) We were happy and went off to baking

Once the vinyl is all done, now come the work of the kiddos. All I did was paint each kids fingers then let them press it onto the ornament.

You need to let the fingerprints dry quite a bit before you allow the kids to draw on them. 

All you need are colorful sharpie pens and the kids can go away at designing their snowmen...

You could also add in fake snow from any craft store and I also added in some glitter. The glitter adds a nice touch because 1. who doesn't like glitter 2. the glitter sticks to the side of the ornaments and looks like falling snow! 

Just a suggestion if you decide to try this craft out next year..you definitely want to find PLASTIC ornaments. The glass ones will shatter VERY easily. 

We also got special boxes that fit these ornaments perfectly. The students decorated the boxes then we wrapped up the gifts. 

PS: I am totally jealous of cold weather right now. In Hawaii we're experiencing some cold weather in the 70's :) haha, hey this is semi-cold for us okay! It's really funny because it was like 70 the other night and everyone was walking around the mall all bundled up. I'm usually in California at this time of year and am totally missing the cold weather!! 

Christmas Cheer and 5 for Five Success

It's beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas..and I'm totally loving it!!! This weekend was SO busy, I barely had time to keep up with everything going on (this seems to be the story of my life!). On Saturday, I went over to one of my old co-workers house (she let to teach at a new school) and another one of my co-workers came over..we decided that this year we would make gifts in hopes of saving some money this year. We ended up working ALL DAY but it was totally worth it. We made some chocolate covered pretzels..and baked some ghiradelli brownies that were SO GOOD!!

These are some of the pretzels we made. This was actually our very first batch. I'm sad I didn't take more pictures because we got really fancy with the decorating...

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the brownies but we packaged them up in cute little baggies. I was on amission to work quickly and get everything done since I needed to leave by 5:00 because we had my fiancée's birthday dinner at 6:30!

I found these cute little gift boxes...so we packaged everything up in these (brownies, choco. covered pretzels and a candy cane). 

We ended up making about 30+ of these goodie baskets. 

I was late to my dinner and ending up leaving at 6:30. I had to meet everyone at the dinner place and my fiancé ended up having to bring me clothes..We ate at this really awesome sushi place..best sushi I've ever eaten...but it's the kind of sushi that cost an arm and leg. our total tab for 5 people ended up $700!! The good thing though is that the sushi chef/owner ended up packing us a to go container of sushi since they would be closed the next day and he didn't want the fish to go to waste.

So this was lunch the next day :0

Sunday was my fiancés birthday so we spent the day doing errands, decorating the tree and wrapping presents :)

We also went to dinner with his parents at an italian restaurant.. 

He got some kind of meat and pasta with shrimp

 I got salmon, pasta, and shrimp

Before I knew it..It's Monday and I'm headed into work. I got surprised with a GIANT Christmas tree this morning :)

LOL. This was totally unexpected. I had a student on Friday that asked me if she could bring in a tree...I assumed it was one of those tiny 3 ft. trees. She comes in today with her mom wheeling this HUGE cart with this huge tree. HAHA. I guess I learned my lesson to never assume and always ask. The kids were totally surprised and absolutely love it! I must admit..I'm loving it too :) 

Now it's Monday and time for my 5 for Five with Jenn and Jessica!! 

For those of you who are new to this...I am listing 5 goals that I hope to accomplish in the next 5 days!!

Goals that have been accomplished will be in green!

Red is a failure :(

Orange is a semi-accomplishemnt! 

1. Catch up on the past 5 weeks of grading that I have fallen behind on! 

Woohoo!! Totally caught up on this one :) Feels sooo good!

2. Put up my Christmas Tree and decorations!!

Yay!! Totally got this done too...I love how cheery it makes my house seem :)

3. Head to the mall and start my shopping lists!!

Not only did I start..I'm ALMOSt done!

4. Get our faculty Christmas Party planned!

CHECK!

5. Cut vinyl and label student ornaments for Christmas gifts for parents.

Got this done on Saturday as well...Well, my co-workers husband pretty much did this part for me!! :) I'll be sharing the kids' ornaments tomorrow.  They're almost done..just putting finishing touches tomorrow. Be sure to check back..they are absolutely adorable!!

OMG! Total success this week :) So happy!!

Hoping next week will be just as successful!

1. Finish shopping and wrapping ALL gifts.

2. Clean the house (it's a total mess again)

3. Paint my nails and toenails in a Christmasy theme

4. Make a hair appointment

I haven't got my hair done since May!! It's so bad but I just don't have the time and money...My hair dresser is in the opposite direction of traffic from where I work. I'm hoping to get an appointment sometime during the break.

5. Make gift baskets for grade level!

This was a long post. Have a great rest of the week. Check back tomorrow or Wednesday for our Christmas ornaments!

5 for Five..Week 4

I'm linking up this week with Jenn and Jessica for their 5 for five.

I missed last week since I was so crazily busy and couldn't even find a moment to THINK....Since I was so busy last week, I honestly can't even remember what was done which week so I'll just be looking to see if it was accomplished in the last two weeks....Honestly, I don't even remember what my goals were (that's not a very good sign!) but here we go!

Alright..here are my goals from Monday Nov. 12:
Red means this did NOT happen
YAY! Green means I totally did this!!! :)
Orange means I got half done :/

1. Take a multi-vitamin every day this week.

Okay this was a big fat fail. I don't' know what it is but in the morning for the life of me I can't remember to take my vitamins!! Any suggestions?? 

2. Work out 3 times this week.

Uhm yah. NO 3 portfolios due within this time period=no workout sessions for me!

3. Do not waste time doing ridiculous things, be focused, and get work done. 

Yay! Was totally productive with this. In terms of finishing all three portfolios by the deadline!! Turned my last one in today :) 

4. Make it to a bank/apply for our house loan.

Totally got this one done. Also went house hunting...AND applied for a new housing development coming up!! Fingers crossed we will hear some good news on this. The unfortunate thing  is that this development gives priority to families of 3 or more so we are one of the last picks. :( 

5. Create a product for TPT this week...

Woah! I guess I was pretty successful and focused! 

I created  Holiday Themed Multiplication and Division Task Cards that are aligned to Common Core (specifically for grade 3) word problems! 

You can pick this file up at my tpt store! There are multiplication and division word problem task cards as well as a recording sheet. You can use these in centers, small group review, or for a fun game of SCOOT!! 

Here are my new goals for this upcoming week!

1. Catch up on the past 5 weeks of grading that I have fallen behind on! 

2. Put up my Christmas Tree and decorations!!

3. Head to the mall and start my shopping lists!!

4. Get our faculty Christmas Party planned!

5. Cut vinyl and label student ornaments for Christmas gifts for parents. 

My students will be making ornaments for their parents. Each year I use the same ornament project but I normally write on the ornaments with paint pens. Since I got a cricut this summer, I want to be fancy and use vinyl on the ornaments. Hopefully it'll turn it :)

Have a great week!!

December Currently and Christmas Cards!

Oh my goodness..Time sure does fly by when you're busy! It seems like yesterday we were all going crazy with our Monday Made It's over the summer and posting pictures about getting ready for the start of the school year..now half the year is gone and it's December!!

Of course..I could not let myself miss Farley's December Currently! Head over to link up :)

December is my absolute favorite time of year. I love everything about Christmas! I love all of the decorations, the lights, and the holiday spirit!! Seems like people are happier and nicer this time of year...hmm maybe we should leave decorations up all year round?! haha. 

I have been wanting to get started CHristmas shopping so badly...but I needed to get done with my portfolios. I've been talking about it a lot lately for those of you who have been following me. I've finished 2 of 3 and am hoping to crank this last one out today. I'm hoping to finish by 3 when the boy gets off work so we can start some holiday shopping!

For my RAK, I live in an apartment building so there are a lot of people who I do not know! I would love to start a "you've been jingled" where you leave a gift on someones doorstep with a note..They are to jingle others in the building as well. Can't wait to start this when I go shopping!! :D

Last but not least..I would like to share our Christmas Cards. My students have been working on starting their Christmas cards to their families. This was a pinterest inspired card. 

All you need is various colors and sizes of green paper. I used some scrapbook papers and cut them up. The kids then put them in order from big to small and create a Christmas tree! They love this!!

Hopefully later this week I'll be sharing with your our gifts that we make for families. It's a super cute ornament :) Check back later this week for that

Have a great and busy week!

Cyber Monday Sale!!

Come and shop at TPT's Big Cyber Monday and Bonus Tuesday Sale!! There will be a TON of awesome products on sale from wonderful and creative sellers! All the products in my store will be 20% off for three days :) Hope you find some awesome deals...and I hope I have time to shop too!! I'm scrambling to finish my last two portfolios!! ahhh..

Thank you to Ashley  for this super cute button :D 

5 for Five

I'm linking up withJenn and Jessica again for their 5 for Five. For those of you new to this...it means that I set five goals that I wish to accomplish in the next five days. 

I didn't do too well on my goals from this past week :/ 

1. Work out at least 3 times this week.

I did get a chance to work out 2 out of 3 times this week. SO I guess you could say this is almost accomplished. I must say though that I did have one of the best workouts of my entire life this past week. My boyfriend fiancé  proposed to me on a hike we took this week!! :) 

2. Remember to take a multi-vitamin EVERy day.

Uhm..yah this did NOT happen. HAHA For some reason I can never remember. I did remember to take it 2 days out of the 5 so improvement is what counts, right?? 

3. Maintain my clean house.

Okay, what's with the half and half colors right?? Well I'm not quite sure on this one. My house isn't AS clean as it was last week BUT it's still pretty clean. I did set up a desk in the living room and have some work stuff around but for the most part it's pretty clean....

4. Eat at home at least 5 times this week.

YES! This was definitely accomplished :)

5. Drink coffee from home everyday this week.

This would have been accomplished..but I went to go and use a free drink coupon that I earned but when I got rung up I didn't realize that a venti size of the coffee I got would only be $3. So I felt like I couldn't waste a free drink on such a cheap drink so I ended up paying cash for this drink and decided to save my free coupon for a more expensive drink :) 

Here are my goals for this week:

1. Take a multi-vitamin every day this week.

2. Work out 3 times this week.

3. Do not waste time doing ridiculous things, be focused, and get work done. 

It's crunch time and I have a lot of things due in the upcoming weeks..I need to stop wasting time playing games online, watching tv, blog stalking and just focus on finishing what needs to be done...so I can have time for all those fun things later. 

4. Make it to a bank/apply for our house loan.

Since we got engaged, we can officially begin house hunting! We need to get approved for a loan so we know how much we can spend when we start hunting! So excited!

5. Create a product for TPT this week...

How to Make a Turkey

Last year I did a really cute activity with my students about How to Make a Turkey. They work on using sequence order words to give steps about how to create a candy turkey. I came up with the idea of doing this project last minute last year so I had such a hard time finding candy corn. It was already right before Thanksgiving and all the stores were out of their Halloween stuff. This year, I was smart enough to tell my kids to bring in any candy corn they got from trick-or-treating as well as any whoppers. Good thing I did because I saved myself a ton of money from having to go out and buy them. Last year, I had to go to a specialty candy shop and spent almost $15 on candy corn!! I'm glad I planned ahead this year :)

This is what the cute turkeys look like. You need two double stuffed oreos, some candy corn, and whoppers (this is per child). I pre packaged everything in plastic baggies the night before so that I could easily hand them out to the students. They absolutely loved this activity...

They were also required to write out the ingredients needed, as well as step by step directions. At the ending, they drew and colored a picture of what the turkey is supposed to look like. I packaged the finished products up and sent them home with the kids. :) Surprisingly, most of them wanted to wait to eat it so they could show their parents. If you would like a copy of the worksheet that my kids used for this activity you can pick it up here. 

Fab. Five for Friday (a day late) and some NEWS!!

Hi gals, sorry my Friday post is a day late...I had to take my car in to get tires changed yesterday after school so didn't have time for a posting. BUT..I've been hard at work pinning so let's get to my Fabulous five pins for this week. Again, I've been pinning so much lately that I'm having a difficult time narrowing down all of my fabulous pins. Feel free to check out my pinterest board to see what I've been up to! All of my pins this week have a common theme...sorry, no educational pins this week! 

Source: saifou.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Isn't this picture SO adorable?? I love the idea  of my dad (or any dad) having this picture framed in their office or at home :)

Source: ohamanda.com via Courtney on Pinterest

Have guests sign puzzle pieces with advice/best wishes. Put the puzzle pack together, frame it and display in your home!

Source: etsy.com via Courtney on Pinterest

This is a MUST HAVE. I always tear up at weddings when I see the bride walking down the aisle with her Daddy. Can you tell I'm a daddy's girl??! haha

Source: organiser-un-mariage.com via Courtney on Pinterest

When I get married, I totally want a set of photos like these!! Gotta remember to bring some sparklers!! 

Source: fhiky.com via Courtney on Pinterest

How beautiful is this table arrangement?? I think that candles make all wedding look so elegant!!

SO..does anybody notice a common theme with all of my pins for this week?! Yup, you got it!! They're all about weddings.......Why??

I GOT ENGAGED!!! :)

On Tuesday, the boyfriend and I went on a hike...Once we got to the top he wanted to take a photo of me looking out at the scenery (he's been getting a little into photography lately and has been wanting to take photos like that) so the good girlfriend I am..I decided t model for him. He was taking a bit long to snap the photo so I turned around and he was down on one knee with a ring!!!! I was SO SHOCKED and it was completely unexpected. Of course, I said yes.and I am so excited for all that we have ahead of us. I must say that this was probably by far my most favorite hike I've ever taken..or ever will take. I went up the mountain with a boyfriend and came back down with a fiancee!! :) All the pain in my legs and the tiredness I was feeling when I was going up...totally disappeared on the way down! haha. 

5 for Five

I'm linking up withJenn and Jessica again for their 5 for Five. For those of you new to this...it means that I set five goals that I wish to accomplish in the next five days. I must say..I think this is by far becoming one of my favorite linky partys!! It actually makes me try to do the things I say I will do :) 

Alright..lets check in to see how I did last week....

1. Work out at least 3 times this week. 

Unfortunately, this was very unsuccessful :( I did work out once this week, but didn't go the rest of the week because I felt like I was getting sick....

2. Eat at home at least 5 times this week

Yay!! Totally accomplished this one. It was difficult, because I wanted to go out to eat so many times...but forced myself to cook something. I'm glad that the BF knows how to cook too because on those nights I felt really lazy..he took care of dinner :)3. Recycle

Didn't happen. Those bags are still sitting out on our balcony....

4. Drink coffee from home every day this week

I ALMOST made it, but I got tempted one day after school..plus I got a jamba juice one morning since my throat was extremely sore. 

5. Finish ONE of my 3 portfolios due at the ending of November. 

Yay! This was actually one of the most important of my goals to accomplish this week, and I did it!! 

I accomplished 2 of my 5 goals this week. Not bad for the first time around, hopefully this week will be more successful!

Here are my new goals this week:

1. Work out at least 3 times this week.

Even though it may be just going for a walk..it counts and I need to remind myself that..

2. Remember to take a multi-vitamin EVERy day.

HAha..the bf and I buy our multi-vitamins from Sam's Club..his is half gone and mine is almost full. I can never remember to take them in the am unless he hands it to me. 

3. Maintain my clean house.

I worked really hard this week to get my house cleaned..I'm hoping to keep it that way throughout this week.

4. Eat at home at least 5 times this week.

5. Drink coffee from home everyday this week.

Pencils Books and Dirty Looks....

Pencils Books and Dirty Looks is having an AMAZING 300 follower Giveaway. 

Don't you just love her name?! Heheh. Head on over to her blog to check out all of her favorite things (that she is so graciously sharing with one lucky winner, who I hope will be me)!.

Here are a few of her favorites that she will be giving away:

I LOVE Panera bread. We don't have one here in Hawaii but every time I make it out to the mainland I always need to stop at one for some broccoli cheddar soup. YUM. Sam's Club recently started selling Panera Bread's Broccoli cheddar soup but it is nothing like eating it fresh from the store. It actually doesn't even taste that good. haha. 

Congratulations, Aimee on 300 followers!!