Vegas..... Swag and Reflections

I am linking up with Mrs. Russell today over at Mrs. Russell's Room for some Vegas reflections! 

Overall - Vegas was a wonderful and humbling experience. I learned more about what it means to be part of the TpT family, laughed, cried, made new friends, and met some amazing people! 

Here are just a few things that keep replaying in my head ....

I need to keep doing my own thing. I tend to get very competitive and I can be very hard on myself when things aren't going so well. The reality is - I am a single mom, with a full time teaching job. My journey is different than others. My goals are different... I've done TpT for a very long time now - but after my divorce, I kicked it into high gear. My goals have been to keep my kids in the house they have grown up in, keep food on the table, pay the bills, and provide extras for my children {karate, ballet....} that I wouldn't be able to do on a teacher's salary. 

 So this should go without saying, but I need to remind myself. . . please don't think that I expect favors, or special treatment.... NOT the case... but just because I am super excited to meet someone - doesn't mean they are excited to meet me. We each have our own 'agenda'.... this played out very clearly during most of the Vegas trip. I have to keep this in mind as I proceed. 

I LOVED being part of the first TpT conference. 

But it was so overwhelming. 

So..... Very.... Overwhelming. 

I have a quirky personality. 

I am a dork. 

I am not a girly-girl.

I am SUPER sarcastic. 

All of these things make it hard for me to meet people and to be myself. 

I get very anxious and I am a people-pleaser. 

I WANT EVERYONE to like me.... but not everyone will.

This is hard for me to learn and remember without getting my feelings hurt. 

It has gotten better with age, but I am still {and always will be} a work in progress. 

Before I go....

Let's have a giveaway!

I got a LOT of AMAZING gifts while I was in Vegas. 

I can't possibly use it all, 

so I wanted to share! 

If you weren't able to go to Vegas.... 

or went and want more SWAG.... 

Enter below! 

And caring is sharing! ;)

{or is it sharing is caring?} 

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It's Giveaway Time!

In the past year or so I've met some personal milestones.... you won't see my name on any best seller list, but I'm blown away with the growth of my little page. 

I hit 700 followers in my tpt store last week! {what? I know.. still in shock..}

I more than halfway to 500 on my fb page 

Over 1000 followers on pinterest

AND

I have over 350 blog followers!

So...to celebrate....

I'm having a little giveaway! 

{YAY!}

The prizes: 

A $10 Starbucks giftcard

And one of the following....

A set of 25 personalized magnets from tea and coffee {$20 value}

OR

 $20 worth of items from my tpt store! :) 

There are a few choices for entry!

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Pin it to Win it, Big Sale, and Thankful on Thursday

I haven't had a Thankful on Thursday in a while… 

and it seemed super fitting to do it today :) 

SO….

I am thankful for my family, near and far!

NEXT….

Have you heard? Tpt is having a Cyber Monday and Tuesday Sale!

I am putting my store on sale Friday morning and it will last until Tuesday night!

TPT has an extra promo code for up to 28% off all your purchases Monday and Tuesday!

AND - don't forget to leave feedback! 

When you leave feedback - you earn tpt credits that can be used toward other purchases!

Special thanks to Jen Jones at Hello Literacy for the adorable button!

Want a chance to win both of my new units? Enter below!

Giveaway ends Monday! 

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Pin it to Win It! :)

I am giving away a copy (or a few) of my Spin and Graph {Thanksgiving Edition}

SO....

Enter below! :) 

And

Good Luck!

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Rake Up Fall Freebies Blog Hop

Grab your virtual rake and get ready to bag up some "tree-rrific" freebies! Just float through all ELEVEN blogs to catch ELEVEN fall items. In addition, every time you "fall-ow" a blog, you can enter to win the grand prize. It's a bushel basket full of October goodies. The winner will be announced next Friday, October 18.

You'll have to visit each blog to see the freebies, but here's a peek at the items in the grand prize. If you just can't wait to see if you'll win, you can click each pic to go straight to TPT and make your purchase.

I am ninth in this hop, grab my freebie to you!

\

Now like my blog and enter to win the grand prize.

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To keep filling your basket, go to the next blog:

octa....what?

How is it October already? 

I mean.... seriously? How does that happen? 

Let's start with a confession....

I have been a bad blogger.

There - I said it. Bad, bad, bad....

My schedule changed for the 5th time this year (I think....I'm losing track) and I'm a little stressed about adding new classes, meeting new kids, making sure my ownkids are where they need to be, finding babysitters for my kids b/c I'm working later than usual.... I thought being an adult would be so much more fun than this.... (when I imagined it in my head all those years ago...)

But I'm also linking up with Farley for her Currently.... OCTOBER....

Listening - That's right.... Imma Jack Johnson lovin, banana pancakes eatin', sappy chick....

Loving - see #1

Thinking - Man - I hate cooking... well... more the cleaning part.... especially after I've worked all day. 

Wanting - Hold Up - A WEEK OFF BABY!

(just a few more work hours....)

Needing - food. 

Han-gry = Hunger and Anger.... yeah - I'm not the most pleasant person to be around when I haven't eaten in awhile - OR so I'm told....

Treat - Keep reading! 

BUT - My super awesome (IRL) friend Stacy ...funky fresh firsties... and I teamed up for a giveaway - well - because it's FALL! Hooray!

What's not to love about fall? Football, fires, sweaters, boots.... (I was going to try to stick with f's but I ran out!) :D

$20 Starbucks Gift Card.... (ahm....I like pumpkin spice lattes.... just sayin')
Two units from me....

Two units from Stacy... WIN-WIN!

So - check us out and don't forget to enter! 7 days peeps, 7 days!

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Check out this giveaway!

Have you seen Laura Candler's Giveaway? 

Over 100,000 likes! That is pure craziness! 

I couldn't even imagine....

I have followed her for awhile, so taking part in this is a really big deal for me! 

(you remember when I confessed to being a big dork, right?) :)

Click on the jackpot graphic to go straight to her page..... 

WOW!

I am so excited to have one of my items in the $450 teacher material giveaway! 

Please - go enter!

(I am....) 

I mean, who can't use all those amazing teacher resources? 

Here is a picture of my item.... 

If you have purchased any of my non-fiction units, these are the same format - I wanted to keep them easy and friendly for all!

Run, Run! As Fast as You Can!

Hey friends!

I am a little late posting this....

It's been a crazy day!

My little man turned 4 today!  {WOWZA}

But - I have some GREAT news! 

Lisa at Growing Firsties is having an amazing giveaway - Oprah style!

She's on day 2 and I'm part of it! 

Holla! :) 

Go enter to win these fabu things!

Click on either screenshot to go straight to her day 2 giveaway post! :) 

How many more entries can we get in 4 hours? 

Challenge accepted!

Praise to the Fudge!

OMG. I am SO HAPPY to be finished with this book companion.... 

FUDGE-A-MANIA

I can't adequately express how excited I am to be finished! I was in high school when this book was published, so I never read it in grade school.... I missed a whole bunch of fudge! :) 

My second graders will be reading this when we get back to school so I wanted to be prepared for the first nine weeks! WHEW. I have comprehension questions for the kids, for the teachers.... a writing prompt, a graphing activity, journal ideas....

OH!

And a flip book of the story elements!

I have spent most of this week on FUDGE....

and I am so happy to be finished! 

Head over to TeachersPayTeachers to check it out!

Want one for free? 

Leave me some love and I will have my DD pick a lucky number when we get home...

Don't forget to leave your email! 

To celebrate... we are heading to IKEA today! 

I can barely contain my excitement.... 

Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils.... and a Sharpener...

Bouquets of Sharpened Pencils....

:)

Loved that movie, and love pencils too!

I was lucky enough to try out the Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener. Now I'm here to profess my love for said sharpener and to give one away! 

{I *might* try and get another one.... because my dd and I are currently fighting over the one we have.} 

Let's just say we love this sharpener so much - 

that it comes home with us every night...

and goes back to school with me everyday. 

Love? Yeppers...

This sharpener is pretty amazing. It's fairly quiet. It has a stopping mechanism (so the kids don't sit there all day - when the pencil is sharp - the guide is back to the beginning...) 

It makes a perfect point on ANY - yes - ANY pencil you put in it.

{I am a Ticonderoga snob...but this thing will even sharpen the cheap pencils}

It has two little black grips in the opening to hold onto the pencil as you sharpen and a clear shavings cup so you can see when it needs to be emptied. It even comes with a vice grip to attach it to my desk! 

I tried to tell my dd that it wouldn't come off my desk, but she figured that out pretty quickly. :(

She brings it home every night to sharpen her colored pencils. She even tried to hide it in her room. sneaky, sneaky... :) 

Watch this....

You can even register to do your own giveaway here! 

If you'd rather just buy your own - you can do that here! 

So - here are the giveaway 'rules'

1. Like Classroom Friendly Supplies...

2. Pin this Giveaway!

3. Become a Follower

4. Tell me which color you would like to have! :) 

Go Enter and Good Luck! :) 

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