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!!

November Currently...

I'm hopping on the Currently train and linking up with Farley for her November Currently. 

If you've read my past few posts, you would have known that I played hookie yesterday and took a day off. I am LOVING that I did because I got a TON done. Most importantly, I finished one of my portfolios and I'm so relieved (now only 2 more to go). I also did 2 loads of laundry, changed my bedding, did a deep cleaning of the kitchen and bathroom, went grocery shopping, picked up some much needed ink, AND made an eggplant pasta for lunch. I felt so productive so decided to reward myself with a  nap...unfortunately when I woke up again..I felt like I was getting a relapse of whatever sickness I thought could have been coming on to me a few days ago. 

For all of you that have recently purchased your new home or already own one, you must be able to understand the excitement that I'm having that we are going to go house hunting in about 3 weeks!! My parents are coming up to O'ahu to help us look. I've been paying someone else's mortgage for the past 3 years and it has been killing me! I hope that we find something awesome and I can't seem to get house hunting off of my mind. I almost feel that I'm obsessed to a point. haha. I'm going crazy on pinterest and of course, watching my favorite channel HGTV

AND..my favorite music to play in class is KIDSBOP!! I think I secretly like kids bop maybe even more than my kids?! It's so cute to see them with their huge smiles and lip synching the music as they work so quietly. 

On another note..for all you keurig users, has anyone tried cleaning their Keurig with this tutorial from pinterest??

Source: cleanmyspace.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I tried this this morning and I guess I didn't run the water through enough...I made a cup and I was SO excited to have my morning cup of coffee but it was SOUR! YUGH I had to spit it out..my coffee totally tasted of vinegar. I'm hoping that after running the water through several times it will go back to normal and I didn't ruin my keurig?? 

Pumpkin Characters Revealed.....

I'm linking up with Amanda at Teaching Maddeness for:

In my classroom, I do the annual pumpkin project where students turn a pumpkin into a storybook character. They work on reading their story and coming up with character trait inferences. They then do an oral presentation on what type of person they think their character is and whether or not they would like to be friends with them.

Yesterday, my kids worked with partners to create invitations to hand out to other teachers and administrators to come and view our 'pumpkin gallery'. I didn't tell them what to write, but they brainstormed together possible ideas of things they should include into their invitation.All of the invitations were so cute. Here are a few of them in the making..unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the final products.

 It was a bit of a last minute idea that I used as a time filler, but it worked out being great. The teachers enjoyed having a formal invitation and it was great to have them work together to create the invitation, decide what information to include and then going back to make sure it is detailed and descriptive enough for others to understand what our gallery showing is about. I think that in the future, we will definitely do this again :)

It's always exciting because each year I have NO IDEA what each child's project is going to look like. We invite all of the administration and at least one class from each grade level. Some of my girls come early each morning to help me out with things. Two of my students created a poster to display outside of our classroom welcoming the others to our Pumpkin Gallery.

The kids set up their desks with their projects, reports, and books out on display. We had TONS of visitors throughout the morning. The kids got a bit restless but overall, they were really proud of all the hard work they did and appreciated all the praise and excited faces from all of the other children.
Here are some of the pumpkins that were brought in..

Pinkalicious!

The Little Prince

Da Big Kahuna

Wilbur! Look how cute..this student even put the web that says 'some pig!' How creative :)

Roderick from Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Merlin

Happy

This is the Plumeria Princess



Overall, our Halloween day in school was a pretty mellow day since most of the day we were showcasing our work. The students then did oral presentations as they shared about their character and book they read. Today, they brought in some skittles and M&M's and we did some multiplication and division work with them.

I was so glad that I saved this for the end of the day...I made the mistake of allowing them to eat their candy once they were all done with their assignment. I could visually see them getting a sugar high. They started smiling a lot, wiggling in their chair, licking their lips, humming. HAHA I just sat in my chair and watched as I could see them getting crazier and crazier (yet trying to contain it because they knew there were still in class) and I was counting down the minutes till the bell rang! :P Hope you had a smooth week!! I took the day off tomorrow because I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. Yesterday, my throat was killing me but today it's a little better..I'm really stuffy and starting up a cough. I'm hoping that I can use the next 3 days to catch up on the 3 classes that I'm taking...and finish at least one of my portfolios! Wish me luck!!