January CURRENTLY

Oh My GOSH
HAPPY 2014...
it is 12:22 am here deep in the heart of TEXAS
as you can see we had BIG PLANS to bring in the new year!!!
HUGE!!!
anyways we always celebrate NEW YEARS like a bunch of blue haired grannies...
not Golden Girl Grannies...
tired old grannies...
we usually just stay at home or go to my mom and dads (about 5 blocks away)
so to keep with tradition we went to Mom and Dad's house
we actually did our Christmas too because...
long story SHORT
my little family of 3 spent the real Christmas DAY with the FLU BUG!!!
oh what fun!!!
so after our required quarantine
we did our family Christmas today!!!
Although I missed my big family Christmas,
where EVERYBODY comes over to my Gpa and Gma's house
 and maybe I cried a little
OK I cried A LOT
but in the midst of my TEARY blurry vision of watching Hawaii Living for the 5th time...
I realized I am blessed to spend Christmas with my little family of 3...
even if we were also sharing Christmas with a SWINE VIRUS...
we were together
and some can't say that
I was being a baby... selfish really!!!
so I got over that and
I continued to disinfect hubs again... he had it the worst
AND I may or may have not sprayed him with lysol as he slept...
SHHHHHH!!!

OK that is enough about us...
I know what you are waiting for....
CURRENTLY!!!
so this month's CURRENTLY is sponsored by:

have you seen Sue's blog...
it is full of GREAT science projects and ideas!!! I spent a few hours in there wishing I was in her class.... so much fun stuff going on in her classroom...
LIKE THIS

click on pic to head to the blog and read more about this

this experiment is wonderful...
OSMOSIS... is amazing...
this blog post has lots of pics to explain the experiment and lab papers to help you analyze your results
SO FUN!!!!

IF YOU LIKE THAT
you will LOVE this too....

here is what is included in this pack...
-Dinosaur Power Point, 11 slides
-student worksheets
-Cool Dinosaur Facts
-How Fossils are Formed Student Worksheet
-Fossil Scavenger Hunt Activity 
-Directions on how to do a mini- dino dig using bins with plastic dinosaurs or laminated dinosaur pictures (included in packet) Your students will love digging for dinosaurs! This activity teaches them how to chart and graph their data. Excavation chart and bar graph student worksheets included
-4 types of fossils (true form, mold, cast, trace) student worksheet
- “How to make an amber fossil” activity using just glue and a worksheet!
-“How to make a trace fossil” activity using coffee clay
-“How to make a mold fossil” activity using homemade Play-Doh
-“How to make a cast fossil” activity using Perfectcast. 
-Photographs of my students' work included.

looks like a perfectly prehistoric thing to get...
click on pic to go there!!!

and the last thing... 

so cool 
an activity that challenges your kiddos to build a bridge to help the gnomes
the kids are transformed into engineers
anything that challenges kids thinking and has GNOMES is an A+ in my book!!!

thanks so much to Sue for sponsoring this month's CURRENTLY!!!



and now for JANUARY's CURRENTLY...
brought to you by my BLOGGY FRIEND...

if you remember my mama was stuck between 2 designs for the December CURRENTLY...
so she said I should use this one for January 
and I always listen to my mama!!!

some of these are pretty self explanatory
like listening... hubs was hungry
loving... my OLW is FORWARD... keep looking forward... don't look back... don't dwell...keep your eyes on the goal... move forward
thinking... I love my life
wanting.... my house is a mess... with Christmas and Sickness it looks like Mr. Clean + Legos blew up in my house
needing... I am in charge of a PD for the Mon. we get back... have I started on it YET...
ahhhh NOPE... there is always tomorrow
or the next day
memory... my memory for this Christmas is the FLU!!!

and now it is your turn!!!

The only rules I have for CURRENTLY is
follow the RULE of 3
which is
once you link up... you must goto the 2 blogs before you and leave a nice meaningful comment and then goto the one after your link and do the same...
PLEASE leave meaningful comments :) share the love and spread the love
and the other rule is....
your link in the linky party should go DIRECTLY to your CURRENTLY POST in your blog...
not your store, not your products, not your generic blog address... it should be your CURRENTLY POST url

ok I think that about covers it...
and if you need to know how to do this....

here are some links....

a PDF for Mac
http://chickadeejubilee.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-currentlyand-tutorial-hopefully.html
IPAD and IPHONE
http://reyesremarkablerants.blogspot.com/2013/03/currently-march.html
Power Point
http://albuquerqueamysfirstgraders.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-currently.html
VIDEO
http://confessionsofateachingjunkie.blogspot.com/2013/03/march-currently-with-tutorial.html
PICASA

http://teachertothecore.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-do-currently-using-google-picasa.html

OK now it is time to link up!!!!

Christmas Questionnaire Party

I love a good linky party... 

when I saw this one I knew I had to join...

Thanks Michelle for such a cute idea for a LINKY!!!

Hot Chocolate or Eggnog? 

I love BOTH... but for the past almost 2 years I have only had WATER!!! Just water... not flavored water or carbonated water... just plain water.  I know... boring but I did it to be healthier and now I don't mind it!

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them underneath the tree? 

Santa left unwrapped presents in a chair by the tree when I was little and Bub gets the same.  He always gets one big gift, a complete outfit (undies and socks included), and a few little gifts.  His elf leaves him a bucket of small goodies and his stocking is usually filled with some chocolate and a new toothbrush.

Colored lights or white? 

WHITE!!! Last year we tried colored lights BUT it just doesn't give the sparkle I like!!! so we are back to white :)

When do you decorate? 

Over Thanksgiving break!

Real or Fake Tree? 

I am allergic to the real... so fake it is!!! For years, I have had my grandmother's tree and I love love love it 

BUT Hubs was tired of putting it together... 

it is truly an antique and comes in like 500 pieces (so worth it IMO) 

but then after putting it together (about 2 hours later) 

you have to put lights on it... 

that part does stink!!!

SOOOOOOOO this year we got a pre-lit tree with the understanding that in our new house we will put up both trees :)

What Tops Your Tree?

This is a fun question... 

my tree only has DISNEY ornaments ONLY!!! so my toppers have to be DISNEY... this year we have Tinkerbell BUT in the past I have had Ursula and Snow White... Ursula is my FAVE but our new tree is too close to the ceiling for her to fit so Tink it is!!!

Favorite Christmas Memories or Traditions?

Every year since Bub was born we go to the Hallmark store and he gets to pick out 2 ornaments... ONE has to be DISNEY for our tree and the other can be whatever he wants... the whatever ornaments go on his tree... this year he only wanted YODA on his tree sooooooo... we have a YODA tree :) 

The purpose for him picking two is so when he gets older and moves away... he can leave his Disney ornaments with me and he can take his tree ornaments with him :)

so his tree will be filled with childhood memories!!! 

Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? 

I remember getting a Dolly Parton Barbie... I loved that!!! 

 

Do prefer giving or receiving? 

Not gonna lie... I LOVE BOTH...

I love giving... I LOVE shopping for gifts and coming up with fun and unique gifts... I try to find special gifts for all of my loved ones... I shop all year long for Christmas gifts because you never know when you will find that perfect gift for someone!!! 

I also LOVE getting gifts AND I LOVE LOVE LOVE when that gift has lots of thought and care put into it... I put a lot of thought and love into my gift giving and I LOVE when I get that in return!!!

What is your favorite Christmas song? 

Baby It's Cold Outside

Candy Canes. Yuck or Yum? 

Not a fan of hard candy!!! I have a fear of choking and Bub is allergic to red dye sooooooooo YUCK I guess!!! 

Favorite Christmas Movie? 

Mary Poppins

For our class Christmas party... I forgot to bring Prep and Landing and I had Mary Poppins instead...

so I tortured my kiddos with a Disney Musical... they were ok with it... it was kinda funny!!! 

When we were leaving you could here a few of them singing... A Spoon Full of SUGAR....

Do you shop online or at stores?

BOTH!!! Amazon Prime is awesome for sending my out of town gifts and NO LIE I LOVE to SHOP SHOP SHOP... we live less than a mile away from a shopping center and it has all of my FAVE stores... TJ Maxx, Target, Hob Lob, and COSTCO!!! 

Photo Cards, Letter or Store Bought Card? 

Photo Cards... 

here it is...

front and back

that was fun!!! 

hope to see you join Michelle's Linky!!!

toodles 

FIVE for Friday on a Saturday

it is a Saturday
and I am late to the party but
I figured I better link up or I might not get to it at all...

so I am linking up with my buddy for

that about does it...
toodles
oh and go link up!!!

light the tree, family pics, and bugs

SOOOO

it has been a little bit since I was last with you...

what have we been up to???

you ask....

wellllllllll

Here are a few things...

my little town had it's very first tree light up...

it was pretty neat!!!

not like WOOOOOOOW!!!

that is blinding and oooh ahhhh amazing...

nope not tlike that... it was after all their first time.... so it was 

more like

OH that is pretty...

the end 

BUT

the tree is SERIOUSLY behind my grandparent's house!!!

That is so cool!!!

My grandparents have lived there for almost 40 years and this is the VERY VERY FIRST

time the city has lit a tree and it is behind their house!!!

I get so excited because you can see it from the kitchen windows and 

that makes my grandma so happy!!!

Happy Grandmas are the best... especially when your Grandma is a precious as mine!!!

 so we tried to take a family pic...
too dark

 second time Bub is over it

and with a little bribing....
I got this one
Bub and my nephew K!!!

what else has been going on???

 Buck is ready for the Holidays!!!
he is looking super dapper in his RUN DMC (am I dating myself??) glasses
a bow tie and some festive holly for his antlers

BUCK also got his suitcase back from the FAB
Jo'mamma's Junk
she did an awesome job and now I have an extra swanky place to store all of his dress up clothes
seriously I am pretty sure BUCK is the best dressed Taxi Deer EVER!!!
I {puffy} heart him!!!

hmmmmm what else have we done???
We took our family pics with one of my friends
Nicole Hatter (look her up if you live in the San Antonio area)
she always captures us perfectly!!!
see....

 hubs is slouchy and I look like am way taller... thanks hubs... 

still love this pic though...

and and AND

this is an entrance to a public potty...

YUCK

if you know me 

and my GREMaphobia...

you know this was no easy task for me... 

AHHHHHH

 love his little shoe pic

 this is sooooooo my kid!!!

 and now I need your help...
I thought it was time for me to update my Oh Boy pic
soooooooooo
I had Nicole take some head shots of me...
I thought I would hopefully have one good one...
but I was pleasantly PLEASED to have a few...
which one do you think I should use for my blog and social media?
I kinda like them all
and so does my mama
and my grandma...
soooooo
I bring the question to you!!!
which one???

ok what else have we been doing...

well in class....

 my kiddos have been spreading RAKS

all over school

everyday we tape about 5 of these around the school
and do other random acts of kindness...
we also pick 2 teachers a day and if they have a class we put Hershey Kisses on their desk while they are away :)
we have also left quarters in the pencil machines
and given candy bars to teachers that do not have a class
my kids are LOVING THIS...
we even got a RACK too... we came back from PE one day and we all had candy canes...
they were super stoked about that!!!
we also set up a basket full of cookies in the office for the parents to take when they came in...
we bagged them and attached little hand made notes to them ... each of my kids made a tag that read...
we think our parents are really neat
hope you enjoy this little treat
MISS SHAWNA (the bestest secretary EVER)
said the parents were SOOOO excited and appreciative of the cookies...
I think we are going to do it again this week!!!
I love doing this with my kids because it really shows them it is more about the giving!!!

and what else....
we did Secret Santa last week and my final gift was THIS...
holy mustache batman
I LOVE IT!!!
the tin is from my parents
they appreciate my mustache obsession :)
I can't wait to start using this fabuloucity next week!!!
OH YEAH... (in your best Vector voice from Despicable Me)
OH YEAH

and 3 really quick things...
and then I am done

 had to whip these up for a friend of mine...
some of her kiddos are not being holly and jolly this season
soooo
we are Ho HO Hoping (got that from Tara)
that this will help...
they have to earn their party...
if they are not holly and jolly and display
action more fitting of the naughty list...
they will get a punch
they have to cash in their remaining punches to attend the party
and then "buy" activities and food with their remaining punches too
let's just say so far they are all on the NICE list...
YAY punch card
nobody wants to get punched!!! lol

 I have shared this before...
but I will do it again
I use these bugs when my kiddos take a test...
they each get a bug
and during the test they can BUG me one time
and ask me a question
when they do that they give me their bug...
it really makes them think...
do I want to waste a bug on this question???
and for those that don't use their bug they
get 5 bonus bug points added to their test...

and finally I leave you with this...

we had a craft that required glitter...
during break my teammate told me that glitter was invented by the devil
(obviously she LOVES glitter)
I told her I LOVE glitter... what does that say about me...

and then at the end of the day I found this.....
 I left the glitter collection plate out on my main table...
some of my boys were working at that table and at the end of the day I found it...
I kinda love it!!!
my teammate's response ... I TOLD YOU SO....
HA HA HA HA

ok that is about it...
I have caught you up...
this is my last week before break
YAY
it is going to be CRAY CRAY fo SHO
and I like it like that!!!

toodles

Random Acts of Kindness for Sandy Hook

As educators, we remember and honor our fallen colleagues and their students from Sandy Hook School.  We honor them each day in our classrooms in which we continue their dream of teaching our children.  We honor their memory with our service.  Join with teachers everywhere in committing random acts of kindness to show our love for Sandy Hook.

All during this week, please promote the RAK on social media.  Use the hashtag:  #love4SH

CURRENTLY DECEMBER

What time is it????
Holy cow what a week I had...
I am sooooo sooooo glad I was off this week... more about that in the CURRENTLY...

Now let me introduce you to our sponsor...

The FABULOUS STACY
she is the fabulous Georgia Peach behind the ever so clever blog....

as always with CURRENTLY sponsors... they are asked to feature 3 things...

why 3...

because that is my favorite number...

good reason right???

alrighty mc muffin... it is time for Stacy's picks...

NUMBER ONE...

 I actually own this... she was super sweet and gave it to me... BUT little did she know I bought  THIS from her last year... and LOVE IT!!! it was GREAT during February!!! LOVE IT...
I love it... it is WONDERFUL... can you tell I {puffy} heart LOVE it... here is what Stacy has to say about it....

1)  My 8 Famous African Americans pack... perfect for anytime really but super helpful in February for Black History Month.  For each historical figure, you will find 1 graphic organizer, 1 page in the coloring book, a reading passage, comprehension questions AND a mini-foldable book that only needs 1 piece of paper!  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/8-Famous-African-Americans-Unit-515208

NUMBER TWO

HOLY COW this is so stinkin cute... 

look at those reindeer faces... 

CAH_UTE 

I do-NOT own this one... but believe me it is on my wishlist for the BIG sale tomorrow!!!

here is what the Stacy says about this....

2) Rudolph's Crazy Cousin Craftivity...  this combines a craft with creative writing.  "Rudolph's crazy cousin wants to help Santa. Do you think Santa should let him help out? Why or why not?"

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rudolphs-Crazy-Cousin-Craftivity-447353

NUMBER THREE

so sweet just like a PEACH...

Stacy's number three was to just provide a link for her blog or store...

I am going to do both...

here is her BLOG button...
click on it to head to her
FUNky FRESH Blog

and here is the button link to her store

Stacy was so nice to work with...

a pLeAsUrE for REALZ... 

thanks so much for sponsoring the December Currently!!!

***************************************

and now for what you have been waiting on... 

THE CURRENTLY winner...

I opened up a contest to mail me your template design for December's CURRENTLY...

my mama was the judge...

so the entries were mailed to me and then I forwarded them to Mama ...

she was so cute... 

she set up her own little folder to store all the entries in...

Mama was stuck between two... 

and it all came down to the last minute...

she knew if there was a tie

my co-workers were gonna get to pick...

being the fair and creative person she is...

and probably not wanting my co-workers to pick the winner 

she decided that there would be 2 winners....

one for DECEMBER and ONE for January...

and what Mama says GOES....

so here is the December winner... 

and you will have to wait for the January one...

most of my stuff is self explanatory...
BUT the eggnog thing...
well my Grandpa makes homemade eggnog...
it is STRONG STUFF..
I mean the liquor has to be poured into the mix so SLOOOOOOOOWWWWWW
as to not COOK the eggs...
WHAT!!!!
most times I DON'T drink it...
but I like the tradition of all of my fam
standing around the mixing bowl... watching and helping making the NOG...
NOG you off your ARse...is what it is...
the fun begins after the Eggnog is served...
ha ha ha...

 here are my grandparents with BUB
on Turkey Day...
he always wants to do a silly pic...
and of course they did it... they love BUB
and this is a NON NOG pic... so imagine the Christmas Funny Face Pic... with NOG...
can't wait
I LOVE THEM!!!

oh one more thing...
Bub has been sleeping in his bed...
YAY...
if you know me...
you know this is HUGe...
let's just say he has been with us since he was tiny...
DON'T JUDGE...
it was a win win situation and I have a HUGE BED...
are you judging???
well anyways...
he got a new bed and a new room...
so he was super excited and now he is sleeping in his own room and bed...
I think this is harder on me and hubs more than BUBS...

it makes it a little easier to know that Rita sleeps in there with him...
and that blanket is a blanket his Nana made before she passed away last Jan.
... and as a matter of fact...
Rita was Nana's too...


OK now your turn...

this design is by FAITH...
from
  

GOOD JOB FAITH 
and good job 
Mama... 
thanks to all that entered and thanks to my Mama... 
she was a great JUDGE!!!
and don't forget there will be another winner for January :)
MAMA SAID!!!

ok time to link up!!!
let's get this started!!!