I've Been Boo-ed! Now Grab a Treat!

I've been boo-ed! It couldn't have come on a better day than today!  It was just a looong day that required lots of STAR(s) (That's Conscious Discipline language for Smile Take A deep breath and Relax!) I felt like Ms. FrAzzle all day long when I'd rather be Ms. Frizzle! Thank you for making my day, Barbara at Grade ONEderful! You are a wonderful friend and seemed to know I needed a bright spot today!!




Want to join in the fun? Well if your reading this and you wanted to be boo-ed and you haven't been..I'd be happy to add your name to my list! First read the rules:



1. I love all things pumpkin when it comes to things to eat. I shared this before, but I think it is worth sharing again! My famous chocolate chip pumpkin cookie recipe is awesome! It is such a nice treat with a cup of coffee for breakfast or fresh from the oven dipped in whipped creme!

2. Here is a peek at a Halloween subtraction worksheet you can use! Click on the picture to get your own!

3. Here is an activity for your Working With Words center to use during October. I hope you like these adorable graphics by Digital Bakeshop. I think Jaime is so talented. I love using her art work! I'm so thrilled that you can get downloads instantly, now! Sometimes I get an idea and I just can't wait to get going on it!! 

4. I recently bought a bunch of stickers from Carson Dellosa. I am tickled pink by there support of Breast Cancer Research. I'm so thrilled that I'm GIVING AWAY a gift certificate for $25.00 and a product worth $25.00 from their website. PLUS I'm throwing in a cup of coffee from Starbucks...cause I love coffee!! Don't forget to enter to win!

Now I get to boo some people! I love all these people and they have become my friends! Thank you for all the tricks and treats your blogs have given me! I can't wait to go knock on their doors and say, "BOO!"

Laurie @ Chickadee Jubilee

Sue @ SOS Supply

Dana @ Fun in First

Maggie @ First Grade and Fearless

Maria @ curiousfirsties.blogspot.com/

Chrissy @ Read Write Sing

Mrs. Leeby @  Learning With Mrs. Leeby

Please go check these blogs out they will leave you feeling treated and NOT tricked!

STAMINA!

Don't you love that word? I fly through the classroom singing "STAMINA!" quite loudly! I leap to the top of tall buildings singing, "Stamina!" I'm saving the world with....You guessed it, "Stamina!"

That is my favorite word lately. I find I use it not only in reading, but in math, Circle Time, Handwriting, and Coffee Break  ( I don't really have one of those!) I'm encouraging my little owls to use STAMINA! They can't wait to find out at the end of the day who is "Stamina King" for the next day. They trust me enough now to know that one day they will be "Stamina King, or Queen" for the day! They know I will do whatever it takes to make them successful Staminators!

Is this owlet not the cutest? If you look closely you'll notice his
crown is on upside down!

What do you do to build stamina in your classroom? Do your children love to fly around the room looking for a place to read to self singing "STAMINA?" Do they attack their Word Work with STAMINA? Do they read with their partner with STAMINA? Do they work on writing with STAMINA?

My children are asking me if I could do some laundry with STAMINA! So, I have to fly up and down the stairs carrying loads of dirty  clothes  that weigh more than I to be rescued by the washing machine. First I have to give you some awards that I created just for you...with STAMINA! I hope you can use them!  

Thank you, Carson-Dellosa

for your contributions to 

Breast Cancer awareness! Please 

check out my Give-Away and help

support companies doing good works!

Bosom Friend Give Away!

See if you can follow this train of thought...
Today in church we sang "Children of the Heavenly Father." I have always loved this song, but now it holds a special place in my heart because it makes me think of the student I lost this summer because of a brain aneurysm. Malauri's favorite song for chapel? Children of the Heavenly Father. Now I know she is with our Heavenly Father and Heaven seems more like home because she is there. However, the reason this song was her favorite is because it contained one of her favorite words...bosom. Yep! I said it, "bosom."  My children and I now sing the word "bosom" so loud, in memory of Malauri, that people sitting in front of us turn around and look at us. We try to look very innocent and look at the people behind us.

I started thinking about the word bosom and that made me think of my friend Laurie. She is my bosom friend. Her blog posts are some of my favorites to read and re-read. We share so many likes and had a similar upbringing. Even though we are separated by years and miles I still feel like she is one of my besties! My family thinks I'm nuts because I talk about her as if she lives across the street instead of across the country! Life is really more fun as a nut anyway. Watch the video above to see more about bosom friends from a favorite show of mine...and Laurie's! If you have never seen this mini-series add it to your list of must sees! (Go say "hi" to Laurie HERE!)

Are you still with me? Thinking of Anne Shirley and bosom friends made me think of bosoms. It is time for me to make an appointment to get my mammogram and maybe even save my life. I have friends and family members who have struggled with breast cancer. My mother and one of my sisters have had to deal with it. Two of my friends are finishing up chemo and reconstructive surgery. I have a friend whose husband had breast cancer and survived. Because of our awareness and our ability to talk openly about breast cancer more and more people's lives are being saved. On going research and awareness has helped us battle not only breast cancer but other kinds of cancer as well. 

Carson Dellosa wants you to know that this year alone 226,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed. They are donating $1 from every online purchase to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®, up to a maximum of $10,000. This includes your purchases from carsondellosa.com and the Learning Spot™ Library. I want to help them reach their goal!

Click on the above link and go check out what they have to offer. If you've been teaching as long as I have you know that they create products that make our jobs easier and more fun! I'd like to get something for one of my followers to help Carson-Dellosa help fight bosom's enemy.

If you followed that train this far...WOW!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Currently: No Freebie and No Giveaway!

I did my first "Currently" last month...It was so much fun that I think I'm going to have to do it EVERY month. Thank you Farley for hosting such great fun!!  Farley is also sharing templates for all of our kiddos to do their own currentlies or currentlys . . .Grammar police help me out on this one! What a great idea for sending home as a family activity monthly, or to put in your writing centers.
So here's mine...

It is so cold that we have to run the furnace. At the football game last night we froze. Winter coats, blankets and hats were musts unless you are my 13 year old daughter and wearing a coat, even if it's below zero is fashion no-no. Blue lips must be the fashion with that age group!

I wish I had no place to go all day, but I will be going to a walk that honors the little girl my daughter was friends with and I had the honor of teaching who died of a brain aneurysm this summer. It has been a difficult time for our school, but we have gotten to the place where we can talk about her and laugh over fun times we had with her. I was blessed to know Malauri and my life is richer for knowing her.

Do you insist on your children using pencils? I've noticed that when I let them use markers they write more. They enjoy writing more. I rarely use a pencil anymore for writing. I do most of it on a computer. Why not give them a choice as to what to write with? I'm excited to try this out next week. Maybe you all already do that and I'm just figuring it out, but I'm pretty excited over this idea!

I think that these books by National Geographic are AMAZING! I would like them all. If you work for the company that makes these awesome books...I am accepting donations! I want all of them. I bought this apple book and used it during our apple unit. These non-fiction texts would be a great addition to any k-3 classroom or library. I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures in the book...

I found the mistake on my "Currently" did you? It's too late to do anything about it now!! 

Giveaways and a Gold Day!

I love Barbara's blog...Grade ONEderful! I'm not the only one. 500 other people love her, too! Now I have another reason to love it...She is having an amazing Giveaway and you don't want to miss out on it. Head over there now or read on...

Dana is a ball of fun, too! We once had a Giveaway together when we both hit 80, but now she's celebrating 500 with an amazing giveaway, so go enter...

I have to say one more thing...It has been an amazing week in first grade! I love my students. They are the sweetest kids in the world. I don't know why I always get such smart, funny and amazing students. Yesterday I was showing them how to do something with beads and all of a sudden I felt little hands behind me giving me a massage! It was so sweet. The  masseuse told me he wanted to stay in first grade forever. I told him that I did too! I'll share more about our appleventures later this weekend.

On Wednesday this week, we all made it to GOLD! Wow!

Join the Party...Have a Cookie!

I'm so excited that October is here! I LOVE fall and October has so much going for it! Who doesn't love Book Fairs, birthdays, crunching leaves, cool nights, Halloween and pumpkin cookies? I'm baking these delicous little morsels right now. I'm trying to become more well rounded, so I ate a whole sheet fresh from the oven with two glasses of milk to rinse them down!

Click the picture if you want the recipe! There won't be any left at my house by the time you read this post!

I found a fun Linky tonight and thought I would join the party. I'll even bring some of my cookies along! This Flashback Linky gives you a chance to look back over some of your favorite FREEBIES and share them again. I ran into an old FREEBIE of mine while wandering through the halls at TPT. I had made these Monster games this summer, but have never used them! In fact, I'd forgotten all about them! I'm using them tomorrow in my math work stations. I hope they work! 

Part of my FREEBIE is an I Have Who Has game. When playing with a small group, I deal the cards out to 3-4 players and the winner is the first person out. It is a lot of fun, once they get the hang of it. Then they can take the game home at the end of the week to share with their family. 

Click on the picture to get your Freebie! Go check out more great freebies at the party and don't forget your dish to pass!

Are You a Winner? Owl Book Freebie!

I found so many awesome coffee themed items at Target this
week in the dollar aisle!

Are you ready to be a WINNER? Well, if you didn't win the laminator give away, you still have a chance at winning some amazing prizes from Dana at Fun in !st Grade. She has %)...I mean 50 different items she is giving away! I donated a cup of coffee because as you know ...







Click on the buttone to head over to Fun in 1st Grade and spend the afternoon entering to win some cool and HOT prizes!

Before I show you the winners, I want to thank you for entering my GiveAway and give you a book I wrote about owls. It is kind of silly, but a fun way to have your owlets learn sight words and a couple of things about owls! I hope you can use it!

And the winners are...

Thanks you to everyone who played along. Thanks to MyBinding.com owls, Giveaway, laminatorfor being so generous to teachers! You are terrific!!