Stressed and Slacking, but Oh So Thankful!

So I know, two weeks have snuck by me AGAIN with no posts. This time, though, it is because of my technological deficiencies! I am usually really good with figuring out technology and things on computers, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload some of my freebies I wanted to share with you! I am hoping this linky party will help get my blog on the map so maybe I can get a blog tutor!! LOL!
Things have been so crazy around here and I am so sorry I keep ignoring my blog responsibilities! I haven't even had time to stalk my favorite blogs!! So of course I was late to the linky party, but I still wanted to link up with Rachelle at What the Teacher Wants to write what I am thankful for! I also just saw Oh Boy Fourth Grade's linky party and wanted to link up with her! So check them both out! :)
 From about October 1-December 25 is my absolute FAVORITE time of year, and I have a LOT to be thankful for! So here goes!

1.  What are you thankful for in your classroom?
I am thankful for my 18 kiddos who make everyday in my classroom exciting, challenging, and fun! They certainly keep me on my toes, but they are so sweet and are the reasons I LOVE my job! :)

2. What person are you most thankful for?
I have so many great people in my life that I am so thankful for {my family, including my gorgeous new nephew, my amazing fiance, my best friends, my coworkers, etc...) But this Thanksgiving the person  I am most thankful for is my little sister Becca. She is home from college for the holidays and I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed having her home! (Yes, I still live with my parents, but not for much longer!) She is my best friend and we are always joking around and acting silly together. This is her first year away at college, and while I knew I would miss her, I never realized it would be this much!! I am very thankful to have such a sweet, fun, and CRAZY sister in my life! :)

 3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?
This is a tough one because there are SO many blogs that have helped me out since I joined this world! But I would have to say recently my three would have to be:

The Inspired Apple
I just LOVE looking at at all of Abby's fun new creations, and dreamuing of the day that I could ever make anchor posters like hers (which is never! LOL) She is so creative and comes up with the best ideas! I have also bought so many goodies from her TPT store that have been HUGE life savers! Her Oh So Thankful November Unit got me through the entire month of November (especially this week with only having three days!) My kiddos LOVED all of it and I am so thankful to have found such amazingly creative resources!



What the Teacher Wants
I have gotten so many ideas from this blog and have already put so much of it to good use! These ladies are so talented and always have the cutest clipart on their worksheets, center ideas, etc... Rachelle's TPT store has also been a life saver! I use her Reading Responses like every week in my reading centers!


A Teeny Tiny Teacher
I am absolutely OBSESSED with reading Kristin's blog updates. They are not only helpful and informative, but also SOOOO funny! I have gotten so many cute ideas from here, and just love reading to see what she has to say each day!

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

I have to say, I have two. My main guilty (well really, not so guilty) please that I cannot live without would have to be Target. I could spend days upon days in that place. I grew up going with my mom all the tine, but my obsession just fully formed about three years ago. When I was in college, my roommate and I would go three to four times a week, just to walk around and look at ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! I just love their clothes, accessories, and housewares sections, but we would find ourselves in every single department, looking and stuff we would never need! When I graduated, I moved back to my hometown, which is where I currently teach. Are you ready for this? WE DON'T HAVE A TARGET HERE! I live in a very small town and the closest targets are 45 minutes and an hour away!! I was experiencing major withdrawals when I first moved back, but I go to visit my college friends so much, and 45 minutes really isn't that far when a trip to Target is involved! :)


My other {extremely} guilty pleasure would have to be the show, Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family. I know, I know. I am 24 years old, still watching a show targeted toward 16-17 year olds. I can't help it! From the first episode I was hooked! It has such an interesting mystery involved and I love watching it to try to piece the puzzle together each week! It's currently in between seasons, and comes back in January! I can't wait! I know, I'm ridiculous! :)

5. What are you most thankful for?

 So ordinarily I would say sweater dresses and boots, seeing as how as soon as the weather starts to cool, that is all you will see me in! :) However, this Thanksgiving I am going to talk a little more seriously. Our town has just suffered a huge tradgedy. A 17 year old boy was just killed in a terrible car accident about a week ago. Living in such a small close-knit community, this has affected so many people in such a tragic way. While I did not personally know him, a lot of people I am close with and care about did and are devastated. My heart breaks for them and I have been doing everything I can to be a shoulder to lean on during this difficult time. My thoughts and prayers are forever with his mother, family, and good friends. This has definitely put a lot into perspective for me. The cliche response when someone asks you what you are thankful for is to say "friends, family, life, good health, etc..." However, this year I am TRULY thankful to be so blessed with all of the amazing people in my life, and just thankful that I am alive and well and have such a great life. I am truly counting my blessings this year, because you never know how quickly they can be taken away.

Ok, so enough of my rambling! I really enjoyed reading what everyone is thankful for this year! I hope eveyone enjoys the rest of their weekend, and if anyone could offer assistance to help me get some freebies on here, as well as a TPT store started, I would really appreciate it! :)
Thanks!






 






 



Pumpkin Parade and Seeking Advice

Ok I know this is a day late, but as promised, here are my pictures from our Pumpkin parade! I think this is the absolute cutest project ever and all of my co-workers at my school fell in love with the idea as well! I have to give huge props to the parents who helped make these possible because let me tell you I would NEVER be able to come up with something as cool as some of these!! Anyway, here are a few cuties I thought I would share with you! There is more detailed descrption on Lauren's site Just Add Clipart, along with a parent letter to send home! Thanks again Lauren, and I hope you guys have as much fun looking at these as I did! :)

Being the huge Harry Potter nerd that I am, this was obviously one of my faves :)

See, I told you I would eventually get my life together! Ok, so it's still not quite what I would call "together", but its coming along! :) As if I'm not crazy enough, I am in the process of trying to ghet a TPT store together so once again, I have to cry out, HELP!! How does everyone make all these cute little worksheets and graphic organizers with such great fonts and clipart? Also, how do you get them uploaded? As you can see, my follower list is looking a little slim, so please spread the word! I would absolutely love some advice!! I am definitely hoping to get some of my work on here to share with you all and become an official part of the bloggy community!! Thanks so much and happy Thursday!:)

Slacker!!!!

Holy moly I cannot believe it's been almost 2 weeks since I have posted!! I have been super busy with school, as Halloween festivities came and went, as well as other exciting things going on! We finally booked a venue and date for the wedding, and I will OFFICIALLY be a wife on October 13, 2012! I am so excited! AND, as if that wasn't enough excitement to handle, my first nephew was just born on Friday! He is the sweetest thing I have ever seen and I have been obsessed ever since!! Needless to say, I have been super crazy with everything going on and I am so sorry I have been such a slacker!

Now, back to the real reason for this thing. I hope everyone had a great time with all of their Halloween parties/activities/fun! From the looks of it, there are some incredibly adorable ideas floating around that I can't wait to swipe for next year! :) I had such a great time with my firsties during all of our festivities! Our Halloween party was a success thanks to some super fabulous mom volunteers! We had a great afternoon full of fun activities broken up into stations, super cute costumes, and of COURSE, some yummy treats! We also got a chance to do our Pumpkin Parade on Halloween! I snagged this idea from Lauren over at Just Add Clipart, and just fell in LOVE! My kiddos got SO into this! I will post pictures tomorrow I promise! Thanks to Lauren for such a cute and creative idea! :)

This week we are back in the swing of things and starting in on some of our early November activities. I just bought the Oh So Thankful Actvitiy Pack For November from Abby's TPT store and I am SO excited to start it next week! There are some crazy cute ideas in there and totally worth the money! A big thank you goes out to her! I will definitely post pictures tomorrow, I just wanted to let you guys know that I am alive, and I promise to get this thing into shape! Also, any feedback you can give would still be greatly appreciated, and I am still looking for a creative fix to my chatty/messy children problem, so any advice would be fabulous!! Have a great Tuesday, and I will definitely post pictures tomorrow! :)