Five for Friday!

I am linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for the very FIRST time for the weekly linky:

And I am so excited to share what I've been up to this week! It has been a busy one.

We stopped by the house a few times this week to check the progress. Exterior brick and stone are almost finished and we should be moving in about 5 weeks from this Monday!

We bought a TON of new furniture for the new house and I am STOKED to have ordered this custom headboard for my new KING size bed! This is the one piece that I am just elated about. OH--and the new memory foam mattress that we ordered is going to be amazing as well. 

We spent some time with our sweet nephew today who lives in San Antonio. He is about 20 months old and is just SO cute!

Even our dog celebrated the 4th today! 

This was taken just before the storm got really bad today. We actually had several power outages and HAIL! Can you believe it? Glad we stayed in to watch the fireworks on TV this year!

How was your week?

It's CURRENTLY July!

I am usually that teacher who wants summer to last forever. Until the school supplies come out. And, then I get really excited to get to work in my classroom. BUT, not this summer. It's not that I want to go back to school. Let's be honest, this is only my 4th week of summer and I have had so many things for school that it hardly feels like summer.

Ok. Maybe I am being slightly dramatic.

Either way, here is my currently post for July!

So, as you can see, the reason why I want summer to hurry up and race to the finish line is because my HOUSE will be ready at the beginning of August and I just cannot wait patiently enough to move in and decorate!

Did I mention that we are starting our third month of living with my parents since we sold our house so quickly? Oh, I did? Must have simply slipped my mind :)

Happy July, everyone!

July Special in my TPT store!

Can you believe it is pretty much July? I have had 3 glorious weeks of summer and I am still cringing at the thought of moving classrooms in August. Some of you may remember that I moved campuses (my choice) in August of last year, and now I am changing rooms on that same campus. I didn't realize I was changing rooms until after I had packed away every. single. thing. into the cabinets in my old classroom. Oh well. Such is life!

I know that some schools go back as early as mid-July, so I wanted to do something special for the month of July ONLY! Remember when I put a bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers last summer that gave you access to every item in my store including future updates? Well, if you purchased each individual item from my store, it would total over $320!

For the next 31 days, it will be on sale for $99! After that, it will no longer be available for sale. I will convert it to a bundle that will not include future updates for free, and all future products for the 2014-2015 school year that I create will be available in a new bundle. Take advantage of this unique opportunity for the month of July ONLY!

Just click the image above to go straight to the product listing. 

Feel free to ask me any questions before purchasing, and happy shopping!

Catching up!

Wow, it has been a long time since I have blogged! I promise I haven't been sitting here twiddling my thumbs for the past (almost) 2 months. Do people actually do that?

Anyhow, I have missed many a link-up and currently and Monday Made-it because I just haven't had ANY time. I am in the middle of my third week off for the summer, and while I have enjoyed the time off, I have found other things that have occupied my time!

The last time I blogged was May 4th. That was the day after my husband and I moved out of our house and in with my parents. You see, over spring break, we went looking at model homes and decided at the end of March to sign a contract and put our house on the market. We figured we wouldn't sell right away and we would be able to stay in our house until school ended. WRONG! The day after our house went on the market, we had a FULL-PRICE CASH OFFER! On what planet does that happen??

And, they wanted us out in 30 days.

Did you hear me? THIRTY DAYS.

Panic sets in after the initial elation subsides. I looked at my husband and said, "we are going to need some boxes!"

And, boxes we bought.

No, don't worry, this is only 1/2 of what he brought home from the first trip to the UHAUL store.

And, we had to go back 2 more times. 

Seriously, whatever it takes to help you get through it!

This was taken the last night in our old house. Our sweet dog, Banjo, LOVES running around and playing catch in this backyard. He has adjusted pretty well to the sweet life at Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Anyhow, we packed for literally 30 days straight. Then, the day that the movers showed up, we found some more that we accidentally left behind. Really, what happened was the hubs was in charge of a few areas and I  think he just put those things in another closet to make it looked like he finished faster. I am on to him.  

I literally thought the boxes would never end. We had to put almost everything in storage since we were going to be living with my parents for 3 months. Here is what it looked like about 3/4 of the way full...

For those of you who are wondering the size--it is a 10 foot by 30 foot unit. And we FILLED it!

And, after going back the next day to get a few more odds and ends, we drove away for the very last time. This was my first house to purchase as an adult and I was so blessed to live here for 5 years. But, I am SUPER excited to move on to the next adventure in our lives :)

And, so it begins! Check out the lot for our new home! Estimated finish date: August 2014!

Stay tuned for more posts that detail all of the math that goes into building a house!

TPT Loves Teacher Sale

I'm sure you don't need another blog post letting you know about the TPT sale this week or that it is Teacher Appreciation Week for that matter, yet here I am letting you know anyway!

I have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. I love it because state testing is over, the summer is in sight, and I get to do more "fun" things than I would normally get to do during the year. I hate this time of year because although we have 5 weeks left, it seems like it will go way too fast and way too slow at the same time. I hate having to say goodbye to my sweet students after I have formed solid relationships with them all. Because they are 8th graders, I won't see them next year. I also hate HATE to pack, and we have to take everything off of our walls and pack it/put it in a cabinet for next year. With the amount of stuff I have, this gives me great anxiety.

I am currently in panic mode.

Not to fear! For the next couple of days, I will spend my time looking for some new resources to use next school year and to finish out this year. It is the perfect time to buy during the TPT sale! In my store you can receive 20% off plus an additional 10% off at checkout (must use promo code TPTXO)! The sale runs May 6th-7th.

Here are a bunch of other secondary sellers that have teamed up:

Happy shopping!

Spark Student Motivation - The Ultimate Puzzle

Happy Saturday! If you are like me, you had yesterday off for Good Friday, so it's a 3-day weekend! I am linking up with Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching for her Spark Student Motivation Saturday.

This time of year, I will do ANYTHING to keep my kiddos motivated! They tend to finish their work a little faster now that testing is over for math, and the end of the year is about 7 weeks away! Last week, I had some students ask for something to do after a quiz, and I told them I had some extra credit for them. "Sweet!" they thought...even sweeter when I gave them a 16 piece puzzle and told them to make a 4x4 square. When they did, they would get a free 100. I knew that it took me much longer than the 15 minutes they had left in class, but it had been done in under 5 minutes before. Or so I am told. I don't know if I believe it!

They started by trying to make a 2x2 and then add on to make a 3x3 square.

These boys got the hang of it quickly!

Until--that LAST piece didn't fit! BUMMER!

These kiddos refused to leave until it was finished--I had to write them a tardy pass when I finally got them to go!

Needless to say, no one has gotten it YET, but every free moment we have had they have worked on it! And that, to me, is a WIN!

P.S. In case you are wondering, I got these from a math conference, but I believe you can get more information/order them online here: http://www.theultimatepuzzle.com/

I was not compensated or asked to write this post. All opinions are my own.

Currently April!

Well, hello there! Remember me? I am so glad to find some time to blog again--it seriously has been too long. It's not that I haven't had anything to say...no, no, no, that is definitely not it. I have had way too much going on at school, commitments with things outside of the school day, and my own personal life that I literally haven't had a chance to breathe if it wasn't written in my agenda ahead of time. I might be a little dramatic. Or maybe not. But that is just the way things have been lately...Soooo:

I am so excited for the once-a-month-linkup that gets me back on track! Farley's Currently!

So, without further ado, here we go!

Some things are pretty self-explanatory, but let me go into some more detail here:

I cannot even stand that I am up this early. I really woke up at 5:34 (well, that is when I was frustrated enough that I was awake and looked at my phone). Friends, I cannot get out of bed FOR ANY REASON short of a fire during the week. I literally cannot make myself get up when the alarm goes off. But on the weekends, I am a bright-eyed birdie in the middle of the night. Yes, the middle of the night is anytime before 7 AM, just so we are all on the same page. I remembered going to bed thinking I wanted to blog today, so maybe this is a blessing in disguise. Hubby is still asleep and my sweet puppy graciously took my spot in bed when I got up. The things I do for others. I am a giver, I tell you.

I am loving that it is the weekend! Well, let's be clear, what teacher is ever sad to go home on a Friday? Not this one! April 1st and 2nd we had state testing (STAAR) for 7th and 8th graders. My kids took Math on April 1st. They all told me that it was just a joke and that when they opened their tests they swore it would say "April Fool's! You don't have to take the STAAR today!" I kept telling them in the weeks prior that, "Yes, you will take the test, the state doesn't make jokes, ever, and you need to be prepared." You should have seen some of them after the test. STILL shocked that they had to take it. I can honestly say I am glad to be done with it as the stress leading up to testing day was insurmountable. Now, I am just stressing about who passed and who didn't!

Another reason that I haven't posted in a while is because the hubster and I have spent the month of March looking for and signing a contract to BUILD A NEW HOUSE!!! Well, with that, of course comes the stress of selling the current one! More about that this week :)

After this week, I need a back massage. Enough said.

Although our work hours are 8:10 - 4:10, I usually arrive by 7:30 to get things ready before the kids come at 8:55. Because of the two "ice" days, we have to make one up on Memorial Day, and the other on June 6, so the teacher workday from June 6 was moved to June 7 :)

Until next time--Have a wonderful weekend!