Welcome 2013!

There is nothing better than ringing in the new year with my hubby and girls.  We had a great night eating taco ring, playing tea party (they got a kitchen from Santa) and watching Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve.  Extra plus-no crowds to fight and no drunk idiots!

I'm kicking off 2013 right by joining up with Farley's Currently.

 

 Listening
I put my girls down for a nap and usually there is some chatter, but they took it to a whole new level!  I heard nothing but giggling for at least an hour!  Needless to say, no nap for them.

Loving
There is nothing I would rather do then spend time with my family.  We have been with our extended family over Christmas and have enjoyed many meals, playing games and of course gifts.  Being with them brings back all the memories I have of being a child at Christmas.  I want those same type memories for my girls!

Thinking
We started our school year with an Interim Principal and got a big announcement the day before break that we were getting a "real" principal!!!!!  It has been a difficult time for the whole staff, but now I find myself thinking a lot about what is going to change come Wednesday when we return!  Stay tuned for updates!

Wanting
Two words: NEW HOUSE!  We bought our house back in 2006 as a starter home.  It was brand new and I was in love with it as soon as I saw it.  I had no problem with the size when we first moved in, but 6 years and a set of twins later and we have outgrown it!  The girls' have a playroom (which is necessary for my sanity) but their toys still find their way all over the house.  I know now isn't the time for a move, but a girl can dream right???  To torture myself  I have been spending all my spare time watching HGTV and all their home shows.

Needing
The hubs and I completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University back in the fall as part of a small group at our church.  It was the single best thing that we could have done in 2012.  We learned that I am the nerd tight wad and Kyle is the free spirit spends at will. In my defense, I feel that I am a good mix of the two!  We start each month by setting up a budget and telling our money where to go, instead of saying 'where did it go?' which happened often to us!  Christmas has been much more pleasurable knowing we didn't overspend!!

OLW
Positive-I am the world's worst at being a Negative Nelly.  The hubs is always telling me I need to be more positive and look for the positive in situations.  I am really going to try to be more positive.  This OLW  can really be carried over to all areas of  my life.

Here's to a great 2013!  Head over and link up with Farley :)

Reflecting on 2012

I have been caching up on my blogs in my Google reader and came across Lorraine from Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies,  This year has been a great one for me professionally with my job change of becoming an Instructional Facilitator.  So I loved the idea of looking back at my first 12 post of 2012 and reflecting on how far I've come!

Here are my 12!!!!

1. Most Supportive Blogger Award- How fun to look back and see that Amber and Elizabeth are still my biggest supporters today!

2. Monday Night=Taco Night! Special night because Amber decided to join us and it became a regular occurance.

3. First Day Back Drumroll Please!!!!!! The day I got a extra suprise from Amanda!

4. Versatile Blogger Award More shout outs for my favs!

5. Best.Week.Ever!!! Another award!

6. Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!  The time I won the mack daddy award!!!!

7. Energizer Bunny An exciting day at Chucke Cheese

8. Currently January Linking up with Farley

9. So.Stinkin.Tired. A great day sharing what I did in my classroom with other teachers in my district!  Little did I know this would soon be my new job!

10. Hump Day Freebie! My flat and Round Characters posters

11. Whatcha' Eating?? Linky from my fav Ms. T

12. Boggle Queen an awesome post by my principal last year, Rebecca!  She is a jewel and hope to work with her again!!!

There ya have it!  2012 started out great, and I have high expectations for 2013.  

Head over and link up with Lorraine from Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies

Ringing in the New Year!!

It is hard to believe that it is already time to think about New Year's Resolutions!  I am usually very good at making them and horrible at keeping them!  I am linking up with Jen from The Teacher's Cauldron for her New Year's Linky.

First up is my personal resolution:  
SCRAPBOOKING!  I used to be so great at making pages and keeping up with the latest event, then life happened, AKA the twins were born!  I have all kinds of papers, albums, a cricut and lots of cartridges just sitting saying, 'we're waiting, come play!' Every time I attempt to start, something more important gets in the way laundry, cooking, cleaning I am called to do something else.  I love crafting and resolve to get back to that in 2013!  Hear that my Scrapbooking friends??? I WILL be coming to the next Scrapbooking night!!!  Can I bring wine?  Ha!

Second is my blogging resolution:
I want to be more consistent with posting.  I used to be pretty regular, but then with the job switch, I find it hard to have exciting things to blog about!  I am not in my own classroom, so I don't want to hurt a teacher's feelings by talking about their class.  No more excuses!  I WILL post more!

There ya have it!  Head over and link up with Jen!  

Bring it on 2013!!!!!!

Best and Brightest of 2012

I love a good linky, so I was thrilled to see Christina Bainbridge's 2012's Blog Best and Brightest in my reader while I was catching up on my fav blogs.  (There are over 1,000 in there!!! Someone has been neglecting their reader!) I began my blogging adventure as a requirement for a tech leader program in my district during the summer of 2011, but wasn't 'feeling it' until late 2011.  I have loved learning new things as a blogger and have grown leaps and bounds as an educator because of the journey.

Here are my blog's best and brightest!

Best Thing I did

I opened my TPT store in 2012!  I have to admit, I must have been hiding under a rock, because prior to that, I had only heard about TPT in passing.  I joined in late 2011, but didn't officially 'open' my store until Jan. 2012.  I had my first sale on Jan. 1 :)  It was the best thing I could have ever done!  TPT helped out with the twin's birthday and Christmas.  It is now growing our new Disney fund!  Can't wait to head there in the spring!!!

Best Post

Looking back at my bloggy year, my best post has to be My Heart Will Go On!  It was a post I did right after our day aboard the Titanic.  It was a great day and I love looking back at how much fun it was.  I absolutely love the Titanic and enjoyed seeing how excited my students were to learn about it.

Best Products

This leads me into my favorite product of 2012....My Titanic Lapbook!  It was neat to have an actual passenger who traveled on the Titanic for each of my students to become during our unit.  It was fun to make, and have gotten feedback that other's are enjoying it in their classrooms!

My most popular product is my Soil unit. It was one of my first products I created back in January.  I was and am still super proud of this product.  

  

Best Freebie Shared

I created a Reading Comprehension poster set and posted my Making Connections poster from this set as a freebie.  It was my most downloaded product and one that many of the teacher friends in my district ask for.

Best Bloggy Friends

This year has been a great year of many new bloggy friends!  I loved going to the Carolina Blogger Meetup and meeting so many bloggers I felt like I had 'known' for the past year.  Here are a few:

Amber is my # 1 bloggy supporter and real life friend!  We began this adventure together and couldn't imagine it without her.  I love getting together with her and bouncing ideas off her.  She has great ideas that she uses in her classroom.  

  Elizabeth was one of my very first bloggy friends who I actually met while at our Carolina Blogger Meetup.  What a night Amber and I had with her!  Note: Wine and bloggers make for an interesting night!  She has always been so supportive of me and sends me positive vibes.  Her products and blog are amazing! Kelly is another of my very first bloggy friends.  Even though I have never met her in person, I feel like I know her.  Her blog is super cute!  She always stops by to leave nice comments. Amanda is a jem and I absolutely LOVE her!  I will never forget one of the first giveaways I won was for one of her products.  I had a hard time choosing between 2, so she sent me BOTH! I was sold on her from then on :)  Over the past few months have gotten to know her better and my opinion remains the same!
Head over to Christina's blog to link up your own Best and Brightest!

Here's to 2012!

Its the End of the World As We Know It

Wow!  Where did 2012 go????  I can't believe my sweet girls are 2 now, Christmas has come and gone and we are getting ready to ring in a brand new year!  There are lots of 'end of the world as we know it'  type things happening as we say goodbye to 2012.

Were any of you following all that Mayan calendar stuff?  The Hubs and I watched a Nat Geo special on it (not that I believed the world was ending) and it was pretty interesting.  Glad that we all made it through that!

The Fiscal Cliff is another end of the world issue that is very concerning.  While our existence isn't being questioned, the possible tax increases are super scary.  I can't imagine having to budget $7 for milk!!!  I know there are larger issues, this is just one that I immediately saw affecting my fam. (not to mention all the taxes!!!!)

 What happened to the good ol' days where you could go into the Mercantile and get a peppermint candy for 1 Cent????  Oh yea that was in my Little House on the Prairie book I was reading HA!  I love all my modern conveniences, but LOVE thinking about life back in those times.

Well ready or not 2012 is coming to an end and 2013 is coming in with a bang!  To celebrate my favorite  REM Song, I am having an End of Year TPT Sale!!!

Thanks to Michelle at The 3AM Teacher for this super cute frame, Nicole at Rowdy in Room 300 for the font

What fun New Year's plans do you have?  The Hubs and I will be spending it with the girls, playing with their 100's of new toys!