Happy Mother's Day!

I am so blessed to be called Mommy by two sweet girls! Being mommy to Raegan and Kenley has truly been my most difficult, yet rewarding job. They keep me smiling and bring me joy daily. I couldn't imagine life without them! I hope all the mothers, mothers to be, and those patiently waiting on God to fill their arms with a baby have a amazing day!

My awesome husband made me fancy breakfast in bed!!! I may be a little spoiled!!!

Love my man!!! He knows how sentimental I am! He researched making these for weeks!!!

New charms for my Pandora bracelet! 

This week we also celebrated our moms in first grade. A big shout out to Christy and Tammy at Fluttering Through First Grade for creating this adorable Spa Mom! My kiddos did a great job creating them! We then had a treat for the moms of cookies and tea or lemonade. The cookies weren't just chips ahoy (those are delicious!) we served the special Peperidge Farms cookies!! It was a blast and the moms felt super special! God truly blessed me by sending me my dream job this year!

"Her children rise up and call her blessed." Proverbs 31:28

Vday Love

This Valentine's day may go down in the books as one of my faves!  The hubs and I decided we were going to get up early and make breakfast together.  Instead of waking me up, that sweet hubby of mine let me sleep in and began the cooking himself!  Yes, he is a keeper!!!!  He made me delicious crepes filled with Nutella and strawberries and topped off with  powdered sugar and whipped cream.  2 words: Da Licious!!!  (yes it is good enough to be 2 words!)

The hubs carved that large strawberry into the shape of a heart!

We gave the girls a crepe without Nutella.  Kenley loved the whipped cream and Raegan loved the strawberries.  

I then got my awesome gift from the hubs!  Something you must know about me is, I LIKE OLD STUFF! There I said it and its out in the open, judge if you must!!!  

My obsession is looking for new things that have an 'old' look to them.  I have filled my house with just such stuff.  It is my dream to one day have a brand new house that looks like an old 1800's farmhouse.  Did I just loose a few of you???  I hope not!  Anywho, the hubs visited my favorite primitive store and picked up these candlesticks!  I also got some candles that are on timers.  They come on at the same time each day! (that's not very primitive, huh!)

This is the first year I have not had a class of my own to celebrate Vday with and I was a little sad.  Instead I was able to visit all the classes and participate in many parties...SCORE!  Our school sold Candy Grams to raise money for a new playground and guess who got one....Your's truly! A kindergartner named Trevor sent it to me!  It really made my day and I almost cried when I saw it.  

To help share the love with my teachers and let them know how much I appreciate what they do for the kiddos, I made them a Valentine.  I used this awesome freebie from it is what it is, attached Starburst, and passed them out today.  Easy, Peasy!

If you are looking for other freebies for next year, check out this link.  I made these glowsticks for my kiddos last year..

My night is just going to keep getting better.  Instead of going out into the craze filled restaurants, we opted to stay in and have a steak dinner at home.  So not only do I get to avoid all the cray crays, its also cheaper!!!  I am also making Applebee's Blondies (my fav!) using a copycat recipe.  Here's hoping it is as good!  If you want this recipe, click here!

We are going to top off our romantic night at home by watching the movie, What to Expect When Your Expecting.  I have high expectations for this one, so if you've seen it and it doesn't meet those, please don't share with me!  

I will leave you with one last pic of my sweet girls playing with their daddy while the grill was heating up.

Hope you have been shown lots of love today.  What Vday plans do you have?

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!  

My Babies Are 2!

I can't believe my sweet twin girls are two! At this time 2 years ago I was in the hospital getting ready to be induced. That's right, my little sweeties had to be evicted!

Raegan Elizabeth was born at 5:55 weighing 6lbs 9oz, 19 1/4" long
Kenley Marie was born at 5:58 weighing 6lbs 2oz, 19 1/2" long

In honor of my sweet girls' 2nd birthday I'm having a 2 day sale! Enjoy 20% off at my TpT through Sunday.

Beyond Blessed!

So many of you know that I changed jobs this year and it hasn't always been the easiest transition.  When I applied for this job, God told me it was the right time, but over this year, there have been plenty of times I thought, 'what am I doing here??'  Well I got my answer Friday!  My daughter, Raegan is having cranial surgery on Wednesday and I have been telling my staff that I will be out for 2 weeks.  I have been busy prepping stuff for them while I am out.  I had no idea they were busy planning things of their own!  My Kindergarten teachers created 2 baskets full of things for us while we are at the hospital!  I was so overwhelmed that I cried right there!  They put in snacks and toys and a movie.  All kinds of things that we could need/want!  My First grade team and office staff also made a HUGE bag full of goodies.  Magazines and word searches, lots of munchies and my principal even baked a cake for us!

I have been blessed beyond words by the kindness of these ladies!  I had no idea why God put me at this school or in this position, but now I know.  I needed them to uplift me during this difficult time in my life.  I should know by now that God knows everything, but I am still amazed at how He works.

My awesome church family have also been unbelievable.  Lots of cards and unexpected blessings.  In honor of all God has blessed me with, I am having a sale at my TpT!  Enjoy 20% off now through Wednesday.

If you remember, please lift up a prayer for my sweet Raegan on Wednesday as she will have her cranial surgery.

This is my sweet first born (by 3 minutes!).  Her smile makes me melt and her laugh fills me with unspeakable joy.

 I love this blogger community and appreciate all who will pray :)

Giveaway Winner and Summer Fun

So with my new job I get one less week to be at home with my girls (no extra pay either!) So we made the most of this past week and played hard all week.  We spent the first part of the week at the beach with my mom and my aunt (who lives down there, score!)

 Her first Pony Tail

Raegan sitting in a pool after high tide 

 Kenley preferred to play with sand toys

Back to reality and the fact that there would be no more beach trips before school starts :(
Thanks to all of you who helped me celebrate my blogiversary and entered my giveaway!  I have a winner

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Jennifer from The First Grade Dream  

Since so many of you entered my giveaway and showed me the love, I decided to give 3 more of you something from my store.  I used the random number generator for this one.  The winners are:

The Literacy Teacher at Reading Really Rocks

Meg at Third Grade in the First State

Denise at Yearn to Learn

To end my last week with my girls we met up with our favorite twin friends at the splash pad at our local park.  Raegan loves going to the splash pad and Kenley enjoys eating snacks while there!  It was only low 90's but it felt like 100!  They also have a train there and the girls called him "Tommy" after Thomas!  Everytime the train went around they would say "Tommy! Tommy!"  We did ride the train but no pics, sorry.  

Can't wait to see all my fellow Carolina Bloggers this afternoon!!!!!!!!

The Hills Are Alive With The Hunger Games

So I finally was able to go on my long overdue vacation!  Me and the hubs took the girls and headed up to Brevard, NC with the rest of my family.  This is better known as the land of waterfalls.  It is home to over 200 waterfalls!  We stayed at at awesome mountain rental house my mom found.  

It was perfect!

We spent time hiking in DuPont State Forest which is where scenes for the Hunger Games were filmed!!!!!  I imagined I was Katniss running through the arena and could imagine she and Rue moving about the forest.  I even saw a meadow where I could imagine her laying Rue when she decorated her with flowers.  

Triple Falls was one of the waterfalls seen during the scene when Katniss almost steps on Peeta when he is disguised.  

Bridal Veil is where Katniss found relief from her burns right before the Careers found her.  I love the hunger games and can't get over the fact that it was filmed right here in my home state! 

The Whole Fam at High Falls

Check out that Power!

While up in Brevard, we also visited Pisgah National.  I LOVE history and any time I can visit historic sites, I'm there!  We visited The Cradle of Forestry which is where George Vanderbilt (Biltmore House guy) started the first forestry school.  They had several historic buildings including a commissary, lodge house, school house, and a logging train!  They even had the original railroad which was built in the early 1900's. 

Raegan was ready to go logging!

Kenley in her logging gear

Me and the hubs on the logging train

Original Railroad Bridge

Driving the equipment

The Hubs

We also visited a picnic area that was right by the river where the girls could enjoy some creek stomping.  They loved getting their toes wet, but the water was FREEZING!  I did not get it!  

I was very sad to come back to reality and to top it all, I have to present all week at our districts Common Core Trainings....UGH!  I love presenting and helping in my district, but I do not like getting up way early especially when I cant fall asleep before 12!  

What vacations have you guys been on so far????

I'm Flashing!

So after much patient waiting, I finally got the call I have been waiting all summer to hear...I have a space at my new school!  And to make it even more worth the wait, its not a closet (like I feared!) its an actual classroom.  I will post pics later today.

In honor of my happy/sad day of moving my stuff to my new home, I am having a flash sale!  Everything at both my stores is on sale until tomorrow at midnight.

Pick up things for the new school year at my TpT or my TN store.  

Hope everyone is having a great hump day!  I'm heading out to vacation (finally!) tomorrow and can't wait to be in the mountains of NC spending time with my family.  I will leave you with a picture of what the twins have been up to this morning.

Coloring pictures of Thomas!