Oh.My.Word.

Oh my goodness I am falling into my old habits of posting every 3 weeks! Let me sum up my life right now for you in 3 words...Wedding, Wedding, and WEDDING. Between bridesmaids dresses, and bridal shows, photographers, nd not to even mention the whirlwind that was wedding dress shopping {which I just got back from and am EXHAUSTED}, I have been a total ball of stress slash craziness! So this post is basically to apologize for my slacker-ness (Is that a word? It is now.), and to tell you that I PROMISE I wll get my life together tomorrow. I started the Clutter Free Classroom Project, and have lots of pictures and info to share with you! I feel so far behind and it's starting tostress me out, so I promise I will get my life together this week and share all that I have to share with you! Just wanted to let you guys know I am barely still alive!

Hope you guys had a wonderful long weekend! {For those of you that had long weekends, the rest, I just hope you had a good weekend!!! :)}

Much love,

Versatile Blogger Award!

So, I can't believe it and have no idea why, but I have been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award! A huuuuge thank you goes out to Sara S. from Smiling in Second Grade for the award!
It's getting to be past my bedtime, so I'll get right to it! :)

Here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who presented the award to you and link back to them.

Thank you so much Sara S.! Go check out her blog! It's super cute!

2. Tell seven things about yourself.

1. I have the mind of a seven year old...literally. I fall asleep to the Disney Channel every night and...I don't have kids so I have no excuse! Lol

2. I have been dating my fiance since I was a freshman in high school.

3. I want to open my own dance studio someday or be a high school cheerleading coach. {Part time, of course! I will always be a teacher first!)

4. I hate gum...it's basically my kryptonite.

5. I am terrified of candy wrappers, ESPECIALLY gum wrappers. Seriously, the sight of them makes me want to puke.

6. I have the weirdest memory on Earth and remember things in extreme detail. I can remember exactly what someone was wearing on a specific date 5 years ago, or what exactly how old I was when songs came out.

7. I have a SERIOUS shopping problem!

Ok...so I realize that my seven things make me sound like a complete FREAK, but at least now you know me a little better :)

Ok, so I'm really NOT as weird as I sound...I just have several...quirks. :)

Pass this onto 15 newly discovered blogs and let them know they've received the award.

Connecting the Dots: A Kindergarten Blog

  

Bee the Change



Ok, so that's not quite 15 but I honestly don't know of any more blogs that haven't already won the award, and like I said...It's past my bedtime!!!

Once again, thanks to Sara S. and thanks to ALL of you who support and follow me! :)

Much love,

Clutter Free Classroom Project

Happy New Year everyone!! I am sure everyone is suffering the same "back to school blues" that I am! Today is my last day of actual break, and then tomorrow we have professional development allllll day long! Don't get me wrong, I love getting new ideas and getting fun techiques and methods from a professional, but if I've gotta get up early, dress up, and be at school all day, I would much rather be teaching! However, I am SUPER pumped that I got my report cards and permanent record sheets done BEFORE break so all I really have to do is plans and my newsletter! {And yes, totally waiting until the last minute on that one!}

Anywho, I am very excited to be a part of Clutter Free Classroom's Clutter Free Classroom Project. I have been needing to declutter my classroom ALL YEAR! I know, you're thinking, "how much clutter can a 2nd year teacher possibly acquire??" Trust me, A LOT. That crazy 3-and-a-half week period between Thanksgiving and Christmas break was SO hectic this year, that I let my classroom get TOTALLY out of control. It's been driving me insane, so I am SO grateful to have found this challenge!


I think this will be a fun way to help motivate me to get my life in order!! There will be organizational challenges every Sunday and linky parties every Friday to share!! What a fun idea!!
For more information, visit the Clutter Free Classroom Project, where there is plenty of helpful information to join!

Well, that about does it for today, I am going to go bask in my last few hours of break by watching one of the MILLIONS of season dvds I received  bought myself for Christmas! :)

I hope you all had either a great first day back, or are enjoying your last few hours just like me! And if today is not your last day of freedom, well then...I hate you.
*TOTALLY* kidding, but seriously, I'm super jealous! :)

Much love,

11 in 11 linky party!!

So I am LOVING all of these linky parties because it actually gives me a chance to participate in this lovely community since I am incompetent and can't get my you-know-what together to upload my documents!! I also love it because it gives me a chance to get my blog out there because, as you can see, I'm a little lacking in the follower department!

Anyway, enough of my pitty party. I am linking up with Kristin over at A Teeny Tiny Teacher, and Hadar over at Miss Kindergarten for their 11 in 11 linky party!




Here goes:

11. Favorite movie you watched:
This is a really tough one because I am obsessed with movies and saw SO many good movies this year! However, I have to say, my first favorite would have to be The Help.

This honestly miiiight be one of my favorite movies of all time! I read the book this summer and was SO pumped when I heard it was going to be a movie! I seriously spent all summer looking forward to this movie and I was definitely NOT disappointed! I am always nervous about books that become movies because sometimes they turn out realllyyy badly. But this movie matched up almost perfectly with the book and the casting was SENSATIONAL! Ok...you get it. I love this movie. Moving on.

10. Favorite TV series:
Again, another hard one because I have sooo many shows that I watched. And let me tell you, my TV show list is preettyyy comparable to that of a 17 year old girl, so I will go with the least embarrassing one.

Ok so I realize I am WAY behind the times seeing as how this show came out when I was a senior in high school, but I just recently started watching this show last week and fell in L.O.V.E.!!!! My brother has been telling me to watch it for like the past 6 years, but I just never got around to it. So last week while babysitting my amazingly precious nephew, I decided I would start watching season one on their netflix. OH-EM-GEE I am now OBSESSED! I just love how it's a sitcom with all the funny, lighthearted, sometimes dirty humor, but it's also kinda like a drama because the episodes follow each other! And trust me, the LAST thing I need is another show seeing as how I already have like 50 I watch every week. Ok, maybe not 50 but I have at least 2 on every night, {sometimes 3} Except Thursday, that's my night to catch up on all the shows I didn't have time to watch during the week! :) Anyways needless to say, let's add this one to the weekly line up because I LOVE it!!!

9. Favorite restaurant:
Easy. It will and FOREVER be:

My roommates and I literally used to go here like 3 times a week. There was even one girl who worked there that knew me when I came in and knew EXACTLY how much sour cream I liked in my burrito bowl. {Which, let me say, is A LOT} Of course, I love food, so I have a lot of restaurants that I LOVE, but Chipotle will forever be my all time fave...even though starting Monday I am giving it up for 10 months until after the wedding :(

8. Favorite new thing you tried:
SUPER easy! BLOGGING!! I have really enjoyed getting to "know" other teachers in so many different areas and have loved getting so many fun and exciting ideas to try out on my firsties! This has definitely made my year so fun and creative and I look forward to everything that is to come in this sweet little bloggy community! Thanks to everyone who has viewed and commented on my blog to help me feel included! My New Years Resolution is to figure more out so that I can begin to give even half as much as what I have swiped borrowed from everyone! :)

7. Favorite gift you got:
Definitely going to have to go with my most favorite thing in the world....

BOOTS! I am super obsessed with boots and that's basically all I asked for this year! {Besides sweater dresses, my other obsession} I got three pairs for Christmas and bought myself another pair yesterday with a gift card I got! The pair above would have to be my favorite that I received though. My future mother-in-law got me these and I absolutely LOVE them! :)

6. Favorite thing you pinned:

LOVE these! I think these are super cute and I am hoping that my wonderfully talented friend who teaches 6th grade at my school {and who is also making my wedding cake} will love me enough to make these for favors at my wedding! How complicated, messy, impossible, CUTE are those??!

5. Favorite blog post:
This shouldn't be hard seeing as how I don't have that many!
I like my Pumpkin Parade post because I think that idea {Thank you, Lauren is SUPER cute and I am so pleased with how creative my kiddos got with them!!

4. Best accomplishment:
Ok, this is going to sound SUUUPER lame and reflect on how sad my life must be if this is my biggest accomplishment this year, but trust me, this is big for me. Ok, so I'm sure I had other accomplishments this year, but this is the biggest one coming to mind right now. I FINALLY parted ways with all most of my old Vera Bradley purses/wallets. I have a very sick huge obsession with Vera Bradley and have collected an unimaginable amount of it over the years. To most people, this probably wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that I am super weird and won't reuse a purse after I have exhausted carried it. The other problem is that I have refused to get rid of them, thinking mayyybbeee I'll reuse them someday {I NEVER have}. This has caused for a huuuge mess in the top of my closet. So, this year, I finally couldn't take it anymore, and took them to school and gave/sold them to my co-workers. They loved it, and now my closet is one step closer to being clean! Like I said...seems lame...but huge accomplishment in my world! :)

3. Favorite picture:
Ok, I am going to have to cheat on this one because I take SO many pictures!!!





Sweet baby T :)





2. Favorite memory:
November 4, 2011....When my sweet baby nephew was born!


1. Goal for 2012:
Ohhhh I have many....
Get organized
Eat healthier
Start a TPT store
Learn how to make cute little units and post them on my blog
Get in Shape
The list could go onnnn and onnn!!!


Well thanks for stopping by you guys! I know I said I probably wouldn't be posting on here much but I couldn't pass up this linky party!! Head on over to Kristin and Hadar's blogs and link up!!

Wishing you all a very happy, safe, and SUPER fun New Year!! :)

Much love,

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday and got to spend lots of time with friends and family. I had an AWESOME two days and am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in my life.
This is just a quick post to link up with Caitlin over at Ms. Preppy and tell all about her Holly Bloggy Christmas that I participated in! I had so much fun with this, from entering all the giveaways to sending my present to my secret pal, to opening my AMAZING present yesterday from my super awesome secret pal! I have to give a HUGE shoutout to my girl Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants for her AWESOME present she sent me!

I can't wait to put this up in my classroom and am just AMAZED at how talented she is! I can only imagine how time consuming this was to make! This is super cute and my kiddos are going to love oohing and ahhing at it everyday! Especially my girls! :) Thanks again Rachelle!

And a HUGE thanks goes out to Caitlin and Sarah for organizing this whole thing! I am sure it was A LOT of work and I think it was a huge success! Thanks again girls, I had so much fun with it!!

So, since we are {hopefully} all on Christmas break this week, I will be taking a little break from my teaching blog. However, now that Christmas is over and New Years is just around the corner...the wedding planning will officially begin. So you can check out my new blog Soon to be Mrs. C for all of the updates!!
Thanks so much for all of your support and I hope you guys had a fantastic Christmas and a very Happy New Year!!

Much love,

WHEW!!!

So...I am FINALLLLLLY out for break!! And let me tell you, it is a MUCH needed break! Not that I don't love my job, students, or school...but a nice long vacation will definitely rejuvenate my nerves and allow me to be much more tolerable for the next semester. Yesterday was our Christmas party and let me just say...I felt as though a small hurricane blew through my room. It all started right after lunch when we had a SUPER awkward speaker come in and talk to our kids about being in Afghanistan. Now, he would have been humerous had he been speaking to a group of college or even high school students, but for K-6...totally inappropriate. So that was super uncomfortable, and then coming back to the classroom was when the chaotic mess  party began. We had an overwhelming amount of treats sent in, so you know the kiddos were WOUND.UP. I definitely couldn't have gotten through the madness without my super awesome parent volunteers. They broke the kiddos up into groups and did 4 different stations.
I have to give a HUGE shout out to my girl Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants, for sharing her gifts for her Parent Volunteers. This was a HUUUUGE life saver as I have some really kick-butt room moms and other moms who come in to help! Thanks again Rachelle!
 It all worked out great, except for the following:
 1. The speaker took for-freaking-ever, so we were in a HUGE rush trying to get everything done..and let me tell you, hurry and 6-7 year olds DO NOT mix well.
 2. I accidentally forgot to go down to the fridge and get one of my student's treats he brought in, and he had a melt down at dismissal when he realized it.
3. the room was a H-O-T M-E-S-S when it was over

But the real icing on the cake was this. Are you ready for it? I KNOW you will love this one.
I had a parent send in 16 UNSTUFFED treat bags, and 16 ring pops for ME to put in the bags. {Because I had all the time in the world to do that} Here's the best part.... I HAVE 18 KIDS IN MY CLASS!!! I only put the number of kids in our class on all THREE of my notes about the party I sent home at three DIFFERENT times. Now how in the WORLD was I supposed to tell 2 FIRST GRADERS, "Oh, sorry kids, you two don't get one!"
Yea...REAL awesome. Needless to say those treat bags/ring pops are still in my supply closet. Thank goodness the little girl didn't notice!

Ok, whew. Sorry, I just had to vent.
All in all, the party was a success, it was just CUH-RAY-ZEE. And to top it all off, my little girl I told you guys about left. :( Yesterday was her last day and I couldn't even get the words out when I gave her the little present we made for her. The real kicker though was her little brother. He is in Kindergarten and is the sweetest little thing you will ever see. So at dismissal, in the lobby, he comes up to me in his little pajamas (we had a school-wide pajama day) and says, in the CUTEST little hispanic accent, "Miss Sims I will mees you", and gives me the biggest hug ever. Broke my heart!! So obviously I was a mess after school.
Let's just say...a break will be superrrr nice.

So let me leave you with this little question...what would YOU do if a parent in your room sent in treats for a party and didnt send the right number?

I realize that being a second year teacher, this is probably the mildest thing to go wrong, but I am just curious to see if anyone else would have handled it better because let me tell you, I am lucky she didn't notice because if she had, things would have gone a liiiiitttllle differently. So please please please let me know what you would have done in the situation because I would just love hearing all of your feedback and ideas!!

I hope you guys are enjoying your breaks, or in some cases, last few days of school... I know you guys all need a break just as much, if not more than I do! Much Love to all!!



P.S. You should definitely head on over to visit Hope at Second Grade Shenanigans. She is hosting an awesome giveaway so go check it out!! :)

Currently December

Hello out there! I hope you are all enjoying your breaks as I am slaving over report cards, wrapping presents for my kids, and stringing ribbon through 18 ornaments that I immediately regretted doing as soon as I started!!!

Ok...I'm done venting...I am just soooo ready for a break! Can you tell?

So today was pretty much a whirlwind, as all we did was just play catch up on the things we didn't get done yesterday. There are just not enough hours in the day to get everything accomplished!! (Not that I want to add any on or anything, don't get me wrong!)

So tomorrow is our last day and I am super pumped because we have so many fun things planned! In the morning we are having a school wide sing along which is always cute! Then first grade is having a pajama party and watching the Polar Express while drinking hot cocoa, {of course!} In the afternoon we are having our Christmas party and my awesome parent volunteers are coming in to do stations again! This worked out so well with the Halloween party so I am very excited to see what fun activities they have come up with once again! Tomorrow will also be a sad day. One of my firsties is moving back to Mexico so tomorrow is her last day. :( I can't even tell you how sad this makes me because she is the SWEETEST little thing on Earth! So at the end of the day we will have a little send off for her. I had the kids sign a pillowcase for her so she can always have it to remember her first grade family by!

Ok...so enough rambling...on to the real reason for this post!! So pumped I finally figured out how to use one of Farley's templates so I can participate in the linky party!! :) Thanks so much to Jen from The Teacher's Cauldron for teaching me how to do it!!

So head on over to Farley's page and link up!

Stay tuned I will have pictures of our way cute Christmas activities we have planned for tomorrow! :)
Enjoy your breaks, or if you are still in school like me, have a great last day!!