Monday Made It!

Last week I kinda cheated on my Monday Made It post - I posted photos of things I didn't make...  Well, this week, I actually have two things to write about that I did make.

I made this christening gown last fall for Olivia's baptism.  She was too small to wear the family gown that my mother made back in the 1970s (Isabella wore that one.)  Depending upon when Amelia is baptized, I may need to make an even smaller gown.

Here's a close-up of the lace.

I entered the gown in our county fair, and happily won a first place ribbon!  (And, $5.00.  Woo Hoo!)

I always take a first day of kindergarten picture of my kiddos.  It is so much fun to see how they change and grow throughout the year.  BP (before Pinterest) I simply took pictures of the Kinders standing in front of a bulletin board.  Well, now that it's AP (after Pinterest) I decided that I needed something much cuter for that first snapshot!  Here's what the little darlings will hold while I photograph them on their first day of school.

One last picture...  Here's Papa holding his newest little granddaughter.  She looks extra teeny in his big arms!

Now it's your turn to share what you have made!  Hop over to 4th Grade Frolics and link up!

        

                                              

PS  If you haven't found the Indiana Teachers' Back to  School Blog Hop, click HERE to start.  The giveaway is over, but there are lots of great freebies to gather and new blogs to follow!

My Newest Granddaughter & Giveaway Winner

I have to lead off this post with a picture of my newest - and teeniest - granddaughter. Meet Amelia Grace, weighing in at a mere 6 pounds, 1 ounce.  She literally slipped into this world - Emily had a super easy delivery after what seemed to be a never-ending day of labor.  Both Mommy & baby are doing well.  Yay!  Another little girl to love!

And, the winner of my 200 Follower Giveaway is Pina D.  Congratulations on winning all of those wonderful products!

PS  Don't forget to hop onto the Indiana Goes Back to School Blog Hop to collect some amazing freebies.  You can start with my post:  HERE  Cycle back to me to be sure you don't miss a thing!  (And, I'd really appreciate it if you would follow my blog & "Like" my Facebook page. Thanks!)

                                       


                                        

Indiana Goes Back to School Blog Hop

Yes, it's that time of year when thoughts begin to lean towards school.  With that in mind, a group of Hoosier teachers have gotten together for a Back to School blog hop.  In it you will find lots of great freebies to help you to get ready for the new school year.  Click on the link at the bottom to go to the next blog.  Be sure to cycle back to me to be sure you have snagged all of the goodies.  (There is a giveaway at Primary Inspired that you don't want to miss.)

First up is my freebie.  It seems that you can never have enough alphabet activities in kindergarten.  The kiddos never seem to tire of them.

Click the picture or HERE for your freebie.

Next on the hop is a quick plug for one of my paid products.  Because of all the new accountability requirements I found myself bogged down by data, data, data.  I had countless binders that held different things, and felt totally overwhelmed.  I decided that I needed a better way to organize all of that data, so I created some chevron & flower binder covers.  I hope to organize all of my required information in a fun & colorful way this year.  Check them out at my store & get your own set while they are on sale.

 

On sale 7/27/13 - 7/29/13

And finally. here's the link to your next stop on the hop: The CraZy School Teacher 

                                                        
                                       

                              

Miracle for Mendy

                             

I recently spotted a Facebook request for donations to be bundled into a fundraiser on Teachers pay Teachers to help a young mother who was injured in a car crash.  I was happy to donate to the project which was organized by Evelyn Stevenson.  Please visit her blog, and go to her TpT store to see the wonderful bundle of products.

Here is what Mrs. Stevenson wrote about the bundle:

"This bundle was created as a fundraising project to help Mendy Brockman and her family. Mendy is a young mother in her 30's with four small children ages 6, 4, 3, and 19 months. A few weeks ago Mendy and her husband were in a car accident. Mendy was left paralyzed from the waist down and partially paralyzed from the neck down. She has movement of her upper arms but only a slight movement of a few fingers on her right hand. We are praying that she regains the use of her hands. Her family faces tremendous financial difficulties. Her house will need to be remodeled to make it wheel chair accessible. They will need a vehicle that can transport a wheelchair. Plus they have tremendous medical bills to face. Please consider purchasing this bundle to help this family. ALL of the funds raised from this bundle will go to her family."

Monday - Made It!

Once again I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday - Made It! 

First, I want to say how excited I am that I made it to 200 followers!  If you haven't entered my giveaway, there is still time.  Thanks to several generous teachers (many of them Hoosiers) I have lots of wonderful items to give away to one lucky winner.  Click HERE to enter.  (And, then come back to read the rest of the post!)



When a teacher or staff member retires she (he) receives a scrapbook filled with pictures to help her (him) remember the fun she had at Morgan.  I made this spread for my dear partner when she retired.  Because we are Kinder Divas, the pages had to be properly blinged out!  Her favorite color is purple, so needless to say I was thrilled when I spotted this sparkly purple paper at Michaels.  A few purchased embellishments and some I made on my Cricut, made the pages fun. 

The quality of this picture isn't too great, but I wanted to include this picture made by my mother-in-law.  (I know I didn't make it...)  She made this embroidered picture for us because it resembles our covered front porch complete with rocking chairs with an apple tree in the yard.

Here's another thing I didn't make.  My mother used to be a wonderful quilter.  She made quilts for major occasions in her loved ones' lives.  She made this for me in 1998.  It reminds me of vacations we took to Oglebay Park in Wheeling, WVA.  We stayed in cabins when we went back to visit my grandparents.  The three rabbits represent my three daughters. 

Here are my mother (right) and mother-in-law at daughter Emily's wedding three years ago.  It is hard for me when I visit my mother in a memory care unit to think that just three years ago she was still active and healthy.

OK, here is something I did make.  All these are now available on Teachers pay Teachers.  Nothing is more than $2.00, so it is an affordable to get some polka dot cuteness in your classroom.  But, if you want to try to get it for free, please be sure to enter my giveaway.  The winner will receive all of these products!

Monday - Made it!

                                   
I'm a little late with this post.  It took a lot longer than I thought it would to put together my wonderful giveaway.  I'm still so happy and thankful for the wonderfully generous bloggers who donated to my giveaway!

Anyway, that said, here is my really late Monday Made it:

 Isabella likes to spend time at Mimi & Papa's house (and, we like to have her here!).  Recently we worked on some paper cup flowers.  I found the kit at Target and thought it would be a fun craft to do together.  I was very impressed by her cutting skills!  (She's only 3!)  She cut the wide petals all by herself!

 "Baking" cookies with Papa.  Where were these break apart cookies when her mother was little?!?

I've been seeing wahsi tape pop up on Pinterest, and decided that I needed some of that beautiful tape.  On a recent trip to our local teacher store I spotted a basket brimming with rolls of beautiful tape.  I was so excited that I accidentally knocked over a display of pencils.  (It was a small display...)  I picked out two rolls that I thought complimented each other, and would look cute in my classroom, not really knowing what to do with it.  After a little thought, here are some ideas that I came up with.  Do you have any other ideas?

Before

No more boring binder clips for this girl!

Before

                                                                                   It will take a while, but my Focus Wall clothespins
                                                                                   are getting a makeover!

PS  Don't forget to enter my giveaway! 

200 Follower Giveaway!

Yippie Skippie!  I have 200 followers on Bloglovin!  Yay!  Thank you!  Wahoo!  

To say thank you for following I have put together an AWESOME prize package for you!  (I want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to all of the lovely bloggers who generously donated to my giveaway!  You ladies rock!)  Just look at the awesomeness you can win...

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here!

Click here or here!

OK,  I have bee so busy putting this together, I haven't gotten all of my products on TpT yet.  But, you can click here to see some of them.  I will have the rest up very soon... 

Good luck! 
a Rafflecopter giveaway


PS  The adorable flower border on the slides is from

A New Liebster Award!

Thank you to Carrie at Kindergarten in Ms. Horn's World for nominating me for the Liebster Award!
                                     
The rules of the award:
So here is the scoop about this award: The rules for receiving the award are as follows:

- Link back to the original nominator's website

- You must post 11 random things about yourself

- Answer the questions the nominator set for you

- Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate

- Nominate 5 - 11 blogs (with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post

Eleven random things about me:

1.   My school "uniform" typically is made up of a pencil skirt, top, and a cardigan.  I wear pants of super cold days, but I love my skirts!

2.   I love blueberries.  We usually pick them around this time of year at a nearby farm.  Last summer I ate most of them, so we didn't have any to freeze to use for blueberry pancakes in the winter.

3.   I am terrified of spiders.  Creepy, crawly, way too many legs!

4.   I was born in West Virginia, but have lived in Indiana for most of my life. 

5.   I love Mexican food.  Yum!

6.   I have curly hair, but prefer to wear it straightened.  (I have a straight haired friend who wishes she had curls.  Go figure...)

7.   I was in 4-H as a child, and currently am a 4-H volunteer.  (My daughters were all very active in 4-H.)

8.   I cannot carry a tune.  Why do some people have beautiful singing voices, and I sing like I do?

9.   I like to do cryptogram puzzles.  I like crossword puzzles, too, but cryptograms are my favorite.

10. I get irritated if I don't win Scrabble.  (I'm not a sore loser, I just like to win that game.  lol)

11.  I will soon be Mimi to three little girls.  (We are on Baby Watch & jump every time the phone rings!)

Eleven questions from Carrie:

1. How do you balance your teaching life with your personal life? 

That's tricky.  It seems that my teacher brain is always working on something.  I spend lots of time with my family.  When I'm with them we try not to talk "school" (kinda difficult with my oldest daughter and one of my sons-in-law being teachers!).  The little girls help to keep schoolish thoughts out of my head!

2. How do you use technology in your classroom? Tell one great thing and one not-so-great thing (if there is one: what would you change about technology in your classroom, or what doesn't go the way you want it to, etc.).

My favorite techie tools are my Elmo and interactive white board.  I use them everyday in nearly every subject I teach.  We have two classroom computers,  which is great because our amazing computer teacher puts together a bookmarks page for us.  The Kinders know how to use it, and I don't have to search the internet for appropriate sites.  If I could change one thing, I would put 4 - 6 iPads in every classroom.  We have fifteen iPads in the library that can be checked out - which is better than no iPads - but, I would love to have my own classroom set.

3. How do you balance your spiritual beliefs with your teaching career? Do you talk about it? Keep them separate? How do you handle those tricky spiritual situations when you are confronted with balancing what you believe with what is okay to discuss in school. Maybe a student asked you a question or wants to pray aloud as a group. Have you faced this and how do you handle it (with poise and grace)?

I believe my spiritual beliefs shape the person I am, and how I conduct my life, both personally & professionally.  I have a quote by St. Teresa of Avila hanging on the bulletin board by my desk, and find myself reading it at the start of each day.  My school is in a small rural community that is pretty open to spiritual matters.  Being a public school, we obviously don't pray, but I don't feel nervous if a child asks a spiritual type question.

4. What is your favorite children's book? 

Hmmm... That's a hard one.  I love so many children's books!  One of my favorites is Three Hens and a Peacock by Lester Laminack.  It's a fun story written by an amazing author.  I've had the pleasure of attending two of his workshops, so my copy is autographed!

5. What is your favorite just-for-pleasure book or series? 

I have several authors I enjoy:  Sophie Kinsella writes very funny, laugh-out-loud books, Joan Hess writes funny 'light' murder mysteries, and my daughter, Emily Goodwin, (baby watch daughter) has written several good books.

6. What is your next step in this professional adventure? (Add your Masters? A specialty area? Move into administration?) 

My next step?  I have some graduate level credits, but don't really think I'll finish my masters.  (But, who knows?  Maybe I will.)  This up-coming school year I will be the senior Kindergarten teacher. 

7. Where did you go to college?

Boiler Up!  I went to Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.

8. What grade do you teach? 

Kindergarten!  Yay!  I love the Kinders.  I have also taught preschool, fourth, first, and was a reading specialist. 

9. What grade would you like to try out or teach?

I'm pretty happy in kindergarten.  I've tried enough other things to know that my heart belongs to the little ones.

10. What is your favorite professional book that you've read?

I just finished reading The Daily5 for the second time.  I've only dabbled with it so far, but I want to put it in action this school year.

11. Do you do anything special for students for their birthday? If so, what?

I have a birthday poster where students' birthdays are displayed.  We sing "Happy Birthday," of course.  The Birthday Boy/Girl gets a special crown to wear all day.  So far, our school still allows students to bring in birthday treats.

Here are my questions for my nominees:

1.    What grade do you teach?

2.    What do you enjoy about your grade level?  What do you find to be frustrating?

3.    What is an average class size for your school?

4.    How late do you stay at school once the students have left?

5.    If you weren't a teacher, what would you like to do?

6.    Does your classroom have a theme?

7.   Do you have a Teachers pay Teachers store?

8.   What prompted you to start a blog?

9.   What do you like to do that is not school related?

10. What would you do with $1,000,000?

11.  What are you going to do once you are finished with this posting?

Here are my nominees:

A Sunny Day in First Grade

Always an Adventure in Kindergarten

Apples, Books & Crayons

Coast to Coast Kinder

Enchanted Kinder Garden

Fun in PreK-1 & Kinder

Hoppy in Kindergarten

Hurray for FDK!

Please check out these great blogs.  Tell them Linda at Kinder Doodles sent you!

After I posted this I got another nomination from Leslie Tally of Tally Tales.  Here are her questions for me:

1. Where is your favorite place to visit?

I love Disney World, and would have to say that it would be among my top choices if I won an all expense paid vacation to anywhere.  (I haven't been to Hawaii, but I would say that is one of my favorite places to dream about visiting.)

2. How do you like to spend a Saturday morning?

I love the fact that Saturday mornings have no commitments.  After breakfast, I do the puzzles in the newspaper - the cryptograms are my favorite - and generally be lazy until about 9:00.  

3. What is your favorite memory?

My favorite childhood memory is of the time my family went camping in Florida for six weeks!  (My poor mother...)  We (Mom, Dad, younger sister & brother, and I) were in a pop-up camper and traveled all over the state.  We had lots of fun and got to experience and see so many things.  About two weeks after returning, the pop-up was traded in for a camper with air conditioning and a bathroom!  

4. Why did you start blogging?

My teaching partner (and friend) were talking about all the wonderful blogs and she said that I could do it.  At first I wasn't so sure of my ability and didn't share the fact that I was a blogger.  But, now I happily tell people about my blog!  It has turned out to be lots of fun!

5. Coffee or not? If so, what kind?

Yes, please!  Starbucks Verona every morning (brewed at home).

6. What is your favorite book?

This is hard, there are so many great books.  I really loved When We Were Strangers by Pamela Schoenewaldt.  I also loved Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford.

7. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did that dream become reality?

I have always wanted to be a teacher, so yes, I guess that dream became a reality.  (I also entertained the idea of becoming a fashion or interior designer from time to time.)

8. Are you a pet-lover? If so, how many pets (and what kind) do you have?

We have had soooo many pets over the years, I guess I am a pet lover by default.  Most of the pets we have had were the result of daughter Emily's affinity with animals.  We currently have: two house cats (Ella & Sweet Little Kitty), Chihuahua Macie, barn kitty Clementine, and five horses (Mystery, Sundance, Bob, Alice, Spirit).  Also living in the barn are a slew of ferrets which belong to Emily, but didn't move in with her after she got married.  (PS  Don't worry about the ferrets being in the barn - they are in the heated/air conditioned tack room.)

9. What is your favorite TV show?

I really enjoy shows like American Idol & America's Got Talent.  I am sad that What Not to Wear is over.  And, it's a little embarrassing to admit, that if The Brady Bunch happened to come on, I would watch my favorite childhood TV show. 

10. Winter or summer?

Summer, definitely.

11. Share a great bit of advice you have received at some point in your life.

KISS! = Keep it simple, stupid!  I think people tend to make bigger deals of things that really aren't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.   And, sometimes (many times) simple really is better.