Resolutions for 2014!

Today I am linking up with A Peach for the Teach for her fabulous linky party of Resolutions for the new year. Here are my resolutions for 2014:

Personal:

My goal is to organize the house and keep it organized so it does not stress me out. This one I started a little early. For the past few days we have been decluttering and reorganizing. I figured while I had the time off it would be a good idea. We have thrown away seven huge trash bags full of junk and have boxed up five big boxes of things we will sell in the spring. We plan to have a yard sale. For now it is being stored in the basement. Things are looking so much better and I would love for it to stay that way. We coach track in the spring and things get really hectic during that time so it would be nice to not have things so cluttered. On top of that my hubby will have four jobs along with still being in school so he will be very busy, but you have to do what you have to do to provide for the family. I plan to use Home Storage Solutions 101 52 week organizing challenge and 15 minute mission calendars to help me out. Hopefully this will be successful. If you are interested head on over to Home Storage Solutions 101 to sign up for the newsletter and to get your free calendar.

Professional:

I would like to go to some trainings this year on Whole Brain Teaching. I have really gotten in to it lately, but have still not been to a training. My goal this year is to make it to one. I would also like to go to some trainings on using the iPad in the classroom. I am going to one in January, but I would like to attend a few more this year as well.

Classroom:

As I said earlier, I have really gotten in to Whole Brain Teaching lately. I would like to start implementing it more effectively this year. I let it slip the first part of this school year so my goal is to get back on track for the second half and to start off next school year right with it. I truly believe it is a phenomenal teaching style.

Blog/TPT:

This year I would like to blog at least once a week. During the school year I have a hard time blogging so I am trying to make this goal reasonable. During the summer I will be posting more than once a week. As far as my TPT store, I would like to post a new product at least once a month during the school year and maybe once a week during the summer.

Just For Fun:

I used to run all of the time as my stress reliever and I enjoyed it so much. I would love to get back into it and start enjoying it again. I think it would make me healthier because I could go out and run on my bad days. Plus it would get me back in shape. I am not fat, but I miss my muscular arms and legs. And I miss those abs...lol! We'll see how it goes!

Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!!!!

13 in 13

Today I am linking up with A Teeny Tiny Teacher,  Miss Kindergarten,  and Dragonflies in First for their 13 in 13 linky party.

So without further ado I give you my 13 in 13

This one is definitely infinity scarves. I have fallen in love with them lately! I was just at my Grandma's house yesterday and my uncle suggested that she make me a scarf to match my bright neon socks. I said I would absolutely love that and then I mentioned that I would love it even more if it was an infinity. Guess who is going shopping for supplies to make me one? That's right, my grandma! I sure am spoiled.

This one is hard since I didn't watch too many movies this year. I had to go to my AMC Stubs to see what movies I even watched this year. I have to go with The Lorax since I am so obsessed with Dr. Seuss; I wish it had been more like the book though.

This one is a favorite to watch with the hubby.

That one is hard. I don't like to eat at the same place a lot. My favorite is always changing based on what type of food I am liking at the time. Right now I would probably say it is Montana Mikes since I love some steak and potatoes! Yum!

That would be Whole Brain Teaching. I have not been the greatest at it, but what I have done, I have loved. My goal is to be better with it the second half of the year. I hope to one day be implementing it fully.

That is between two gifts either my purple North Face jacket or my binding machine that does the spiral binding. The jacket is so soft and warm. It fits me perfectly and is so comfortable!

The binding machine is a heaven sent. I have so many ideas of things I can make, but first I have to get some bindings...lol.

Oh my that one is hard. I am addicted to Pinterest. When I get on there I spend hours on there. I have over 3500 pins. I can't narrow it down to just one, but I love all the pins I have found on Whole Brain Teaching.

That would have to be this lovely:

Pencils, Pencils, Pencils! Oh My I Am in Teacher Heaven!!

Reviewing the Classroom Friendly Pencil sharpener was so awesome! I love that pencil sharpener and thanks to my review opportunity I was able to convince my principal to buy them for the whole school. Unfortunately that meant I missed out on getting a pink one, but there are extras so if mine needs replaced I can get it in pink.

My best accomplishment I would say is taking the leap of faith to open up my TPT store. I have not been extremely successful, but I have not given up. I plan to work on many things over the summer to make my store better. I am glad that I did not let the fear of failure keep me from it and that I have not let the slow start get me down. I have faith that I will become successful with it in the future when I spend some more time on it.

That one to me is a no-brainer. It is one of the precious little one that has me wrapped around her finger lately. She has been the best blessing to my whole family. This is my first picture with her and despite all of the other pictures I have, it is still my favorite. Once she is a little older I am sure there will be ones that I like better, but for now this one remains my favorite.

This is kind of a repeat of the previous one. The day I became a great aunt is definitely my favorite memory. I never imagine I could love this little girl as much as I do. She is my world, my everything. I love getting to spoil her. Since I became an aunt at the age of four, this to me seems like to equivalent of becoming an aunt rather than a great aunt.

I have several goals. First of all I would like to get better at Whole Brain Teaching. I have been doing my research over the winter break and I am hoping to implement it better after break. 

My husband, father, and I all coach Jr. High track together and we have the goal of taking 15 of our athletes to state. Our first year we took 2, second year we took 8, and this year we feel confident in taking 15 with us. 

I also have the goal of blogging at least once a week in 2014. My last goal is to make my TPT store more successful.

This is an easy one for me:

I have a lot of hope for 2014. It's going to take a lot of hope to get all of my dreams to come true for 2014.

Christmas Questionnaire: A Little Seasonal Get-to-Know-Me Fun!!

I am linking up with Fabulous in First for a fun linky of getting to know each other in a fun seasonal way!

Without further ado, here are my answers:

Hot Chocolate or Eggnog?

Definitely hot chocolate! I love a nice cup of hot chocolate with gooey marshmallows in it! (Yum! This makes me want a cup now!) I cannot stand eggnog at all!

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

As I was growing up Santa set them out all over our living room unwrapped. I loved looking through everything and I did not ever care that they weren't wrapped. The hubby's were always wrapped so who knows what will happen when we have kiddos of our own.

Colored lights or white?

Man that sure is a tough one. I love white lights and then colorful decorations for the tree, but for outside I like colored lights. So I have to go with both...lol

When do you decorate?

Normally it is about a week after Thanksgiving before decorations go up at the house. Now my classroom is a whole other story. Those decorations go up the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Real or Fake Tree?

I definitely have to say fake. It is so much easier with our crazy schedule. Right now we have an itty bitty one, but one day we will have a big beautiful one.

What Tops Your Tree?

We have a tradition of a Santa hat. Our first year we didn't have tree topper so I set the Santa hat up top and we've been doing it ever since. I call it our Santa tree because we have the hat and then Santa bows. Plus our color scheme is red and silver. Definitely a Santa tree in my eyes.

Favorite Christmas Memories or Traditions?

As I was growing up my favorite Christmas memories are those of Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with my family! I am a huge family girl. I didn't care about the gifts, I just cared about spending time with my family, especially my aunt who is no longer with us. My new favorite Christmas tradition is my hubby and I exchanging pajamas on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition we will continue with our kiddos and add in a Christmas movie to cuddle up and watch. I also plan to do Random Acts of Christmas Kindness with my own kiddos whenever they come along.

Do you remember your favorite gift as a child?

I most certainly do. One year I asked Santa for a Lee Middleton doll. I loved how life like the seemed. On Christmas morning I didn't wake up to one, but two twin Lee Middleton dolls. I was beyond thrilled! I hope to one day give them to my own little girl. I know they are supposed to be collectors, but that is out of the picture after all the playing I did with them.

Do you prefer giving or receiving?

Definitely giving for sure! I love shopping and picking out gifts for everyone and then giving them. This year has been hard since our budget is tight, but I am still making the best of it because I love giving gifts!

What is your favorite Christmas song?

My new favorite is "A Baby Changes Everything"; I first heard it last year when my mom told me about it and I absolutely fell in love with it. But truly I love all Christmas songs! I've been playing them lately while cleaning, taking a bath, or getting ready in the morning.

Candy Canes. Yuck or Yum?

Peppermint are all right, not a huge fan though. Now cherry is a whole other story. I love cherry flavored candy canes!

Favorite Christmas Movie?

Oh that is tough. I watch so many Christmas movies every year! I probably have to say either The Grinch or The Polar Express. These are shown in my classroom every year!

Do you shop online or at stores?

Definitely love both. There's not much around here so some of my shopping has to be done online, but I also love going out and finding the best thing for the people I buy for.

Photo Cards, Letter, or Store Bought Card?

Photo Cards because you get to see the family and they are always so cute!

Five for Fraturday!

I didn't get this posted yesterday because I was busy with a snow day and awaiting the arrival of that new great niece I've been so excited about!

Here is my Five for Friday (or Saturday):

After this head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to check out the other posts!

Here is the precious little girl who made her arrival bright and early this morning! 4:41 am to be exact; weighing in at 8 lbs 15 oz and 22 inches long! I love her to death already! This great aunt is super proud of her and her mommy (daddy too!)

We enjoyed our three days of RACKing this week. My students have loved doing these great random acts. Every morning they come in asking what our next one is. I only have pictures of the first two (Thursday was a little crazy with the winter weather hitting us and causing us to go home early)

This is our line of acts

Day 1- Be super sneaky! Leave a kind note for a friend without them knowing it is from you!

Day 2- Make a Christmas card for a teacher you have had in the past!

Day 3- Write a thank you note to someone who has helped you!

Johnathon Jr. Acklebottom the 15th decided that he wasn't going to be on strike anymore. He has been super sneaky though in hopes that the students wouldn't know where he was spying from.

He spent all day here on top of the board without being found (until 5 minutes left until bus riders leave). The next day he hid in a hole in the ceiling and hid in the candy basket (I don't have pictures of this either because of the crazy day Thursday).

My students got their assignment Disguise a Snowman and are absolutely loving it! A few snowmen have already come back.

If you want to do it with your students head over to TeachersPayTeachers to get your copy from 

The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher

As I said earlier I enjoyed my first snow day on Friday and from the looks of it we may have another one Monday! We will see!

Johnathon Jr Acklebottom the 15th Brought Some RACK to our classroom!!!

Johnathon got into a little bit of trouble last night. He was out exploring the room when the Grinch decided to tie him up. He didn't like the Christmas fun that had been brought into our room!

Before he was trapped by the Grinch, he did have a chance to put up a special project for the class. He put up a line of RACK (Random Acts of Christmas Kindness) ideas. One for each day leading up until break!

We got to open up our first one and complete our RACK task for the day!

The kiddos had so much fun trying to be sneaky leaving kind notes for their friends (a few even snuck into other classrooms when they weren't there; with my supervision of course)! They can't wait to see what tomorrows RACK is!

I will continue posting about the adventures of our elf and our adventures with RACK!

Meet Johnathon Jr Acklebottom the 15th

Our friendly little elf finally made his arrival today. He has been secretly writing my precious ones using his code name "Secret Friend". He decided when he got here that it was not Christmasy enough so he put up the tree and a couple other decorations. He left the rest for Mrs. Wells to do later when she has time.

Anyways the precious ones decided to give him the long name of Johnathon Jr Acklebottom the 15th. What a name!

Here is the full picture of the tree complete with presents that JJA (my abbreviation for him) decided to wrap up for the kiddos. We opened one today and it was one of the classroom's favorite Christmas books!

He also brought us this fun game to play. Each time they are not making smart choices a letter is removed. As long as the kiddos have the word Happy left at the end of the game they get to open a gift. He told me he got the fabulous idea from Stephanie over at Forever in Fifth Grade! So thanks for such a great game Stephanie!

They earned a pj day today that will be schedule for one day right before break!

And finally he decided that the tree wasn't the best place to do his spying so while they were at computers he relocated to our clear pockets!

Keep checking back to see what other adventures he gets into!