Feeling Appreciated Yet?

I'm so excited for this week for three reasons. First, we have field day today and tomorrow. Second, this is my last "teaching" week for the year. And finally, it's Teacher Appreciation Week! It's so fun to get a little pampered at school (and around town, although I don't know of any specifics yet).

I wanted to share two deals going on that you should check out. As you've probably already heard, Teachers Pay Teachers is having their big sale tomorrow and Wednesday to celebrate teachers. Most stores are set at 20% off, and then you can earn an extra 10% off with the code "ThankYou" at checkout. Load up those carts!

The second deal is a giveaway hosted by American Greetings. They are giving away three amazing prizes, and I'm so excited about them! The first prize is a $500 gift card to Staples along with a $30 Starbucks card. But the other two prizes are almost as great: $100 gift cards to Teachers Pay Teachers! I can't even imagine what I would buy with that. I could finally catch up on my wishlist!

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Enjoy all these special treats this week! You deserve them!

Sunday Scoop

The Teaching Trio started a new linky party today that's especially great for those of us who need a little more organization in our lives. It's pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just go on with it. Click on the picture to link up!

HAVE TO DO:
Our house hasn't recovered completely from us going back to work. Of course, I could be cleaning right now...
I finally got individual results for all the kids who failed last year's SOL (well, for one grade - my biggest case-load), but unfortunately similar items aren't already grouped. I need to sit down and sort them, then I have to make lists of students who struggled with each skill so we can start creating groups based on that. It's going to take a while. I probably should have brought it home to work on this weekend, but I didn't.
I can't pull kids until I have the forms, so this is important. But I also don't want the forms to get lost in the mass of paperwork that goes home on the first week. They'll go out tomorrow, and hopefully I can start with most, if not all, of my kids by next week!

HOPE TO DO:
I've only read The Giver once a few years ago, and I wasn't quite prepared for it. I actually didn't like it, but I'm pretty sure I will this time around, especially with Hunger Games and Divergent. I brought it home and just need to find the free time.
Yes, I want to watch football while my boys (including the hubs) sleep. Steven isn't really a sports fan, and Keagan is 2. I love football, so it will be fun to watch while I clean and do other things!

HAPPY TO DO: 
I did a summer committee for the state back at the end of July, but it takes about 4-6 weeks to get the paychecks in the mail. Mine came in earlier this week, so I have some extra play money after we split most of it into savings and debt-reduction. There are so many "wants", though, that I need to prioritize and price-check to determine the best way to spend it. It's burning a hole in my pocket!

As far as giveaways go, check my past few posts to enter for one of MANY prizes in my 1000 follower giveaway. Day 1's giveaway ends tomorrow night, and then they will all start closing out at midnight each day. Hurry before you miss your chance!

My BBB (Best Blogging Buddy) Andrea is celebrating 1500 followers today also, so go check hers out if you didn't get enough of your fill with my giveaways. Plus she's awesome and you'll love her, too!

And finally, I'm helping Kelly celebrate 700 followers. Who doesn't "need" an extra $25 to spend on TPT? Plus the list of products being donated is quite impressive!

1000 Follower Giveaway: Day 5

Today is the LAST day of new prizes for my giveaway, although you can still enter up to one week after each one opened. I have one more prize today, but I wanted to give you something that everyone could enjoy.

After reading comments yesterday on mystery recommendations, I saw that a few of you had the same thought that I did - I need something sports related.

I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things about fall is college football! I actually go outside on certain fall days (or even this afternoon) and think, "This is football weather!" I decided to make a freebie related to the best sport, although I think this is one that many of your kids can enjoy. Who doesn't like a story focused on the mascot?

Enjoy your freebie, and PLEASE leave me some sweet feedback!

For this final freebie, I want you to pin my freebie (you can just hover over the image and click on my pin it button) mentioning in the comment that it is FREE and then copy the link to paste into my rafflecopter. That's it! Just be sure that the pin shows my freebie, NOT the giveaway button. The winner will receive a $25 gift card to my favorite store, Target! Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

1000 Follower Giveaway: Day 4

Have you been enjoying this giveaway as much as I have? I feel like Santa, and I can't wait to pick some winners and actually send some goodies your way!

Before we begin talking about prizes, I want to remind you that today is the LAST day of my TPT sale, so go check it out! I also have been very busy updating products to have a cleaner look that matches some of my most recent items. If you have purchased anything from me, you might want to check it and re-download. ALL of my Literature units and Fall items have been updated, and I will have most, if not all, of my Literacy Centers completed by the end of the day!

Today's first prize is all from me. I posted my Mega Mysteries Pack over the summer, which is a bundle of all nine cases that I've created so far. It's priced at $30 regularly in my store (or $24 today before my sale expires at midnight), but I'm going to have TWO winners who will get it all!

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The next giveaway item comes from an adorable little etsy shop based out of Charlottesville, VS called Juju Monkee! She does the cutest stationary sets, and she's super sweet, too! Check out her teacher sets.

Aren't they cute? What's even better is that Julie is donating a set of the chalkboard stationary to one of my lucky readers! Will it be you?

This giveaway is open to US residents only.
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Don't forget to check out my giveaways from the past three days for even more chances to win!

1000 Follower Giveaway: Day 3

Day three is here, and I have more prizes for you to win! Don't forget that my store is also 20% through tomorrow, so make sure you get your shopping in before it ends.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This next giveaway is another really fun one that I wish I could win, too!

The Lesson Plan Diva has the CUTEST line of teacher tees (I've searched around, and I'm convinced hers are the best), and she is offering winner's choice of one shirt. Here are some of my favorites, but please browse because there are TONS!

  

And here are some fun ones for the gym:

   

**For this giveaway, you must be a U.S. resident.


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1000 Follower Giveaway: Day 2

Welcome back! I'm so stinkin' excited about this giveaway and the fact that I can offer up something new for you every day! Don't forget to go back and enter yesterday's giveaway if you haven't already. Each giveaway will be open for a week from when it posted.

I also have my entire store 20% through Friday to celebrate since not everyone can win, so be sure to check that out!

Today's prizes are:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am also giving away TWO 3-month subscriptions to the FarFaria reading app (available for iPad, iPhone, and Android)!

This app was created for families with children ages 2-9. It has over 750 stories available and adds 5 new stories each week. With the free version, you can download one book per week. This subscription will give you unlimited access to the entire library!

I have begun playing around with it and sharing with my son. His favorite books are the Find it! books under Preschool Playground. I realized after doing the Find It! Halloween book that this will be a fun way to teach Keagan themed vocabulary (skeleton, bat, etc). He was sold and cried when I had to take my phone away.

You know that kids already love technology, so this is a great way to work in some quality reading time!

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1000 Follower Giveaway: Day 1

Graphics by Megan Favre (I Teach. What's Your Superpower?)

It's here! It's here! I cannot believe that two years ago (almost to the day) I began this little blog bringing over a few followers from my personal blog (The Dalton Gang). It has grown so fast, and I'm truly blessed to have so many amazing followers!

I have some great things planned for you because you really do deserve it. Since not everyone can win, I'm also going to have my entire store 20% through Friday (since you can only run a sale for 4 days apparently), and I may have one or two other little surprises later on in the week. We'll see what I can put together.

Anyway, here are the prizes for today. I'm so excited that I wish I could win these, as well!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On top of all that, Classroom Friendly Supplies is donating one of their amazing pencil sharpeners to my giveaway! They have a ton of great colors, and I promise you'll love it!

**This giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.
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Currently September and Some Exciting News!

I'm SO glad to have a quick day off before the kids start tomorrow. Perfect timing to do Farley's Currently! 

Listening: Steven took Keagan to see Ghostbusters at the movies for the 30th anniversary, so I am enjoying some "me time" watching Safe Haven on Netflix while I check blogs and get things ready for my giveaway that starts tomorrow!

Loving:  I reached 1,000 followers while I was on vacation a few weeks ago, so I spent last week getting things together for something amazing. It all starts at midnight EST!

Thinking: Tomorrow is the beginning of my 9th year of teaching. Of course, in my new position, the first week of school is a lot easier. My craziness begins the second or third week, when I start pulling groups.

Wanting: I always love buying new clothes. Nothing specific, though.

Needing: I just finished sorting all of the fantastic sellers who donated to my giveaway into days and have created the images (just finished that), but I still need to do the rafflecopters and set up the posts to go live at the right times. It's going to be a 5-day giveaway, so at least I can just do one day at a time.

3 Trips: Europe is on my big list, but specifically London and Italy. I can't choose just one place in Italy because it all seems so gorgeous. As for Alaska, I really want to be able to go whale watching, and Alaska just sounds so beautiful! Of course, I hate cold so I want to go when it's the warmest!


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Okay, I've mentioned it all over, but here are the details. I will be holding FIVE days of giveaways (and some may have two chances to win) from Tuesday-Saturday. Each giveaway will run for one week before closing. Be sure that you're already following me so you can see them go live (midnight EST) and have the best chance to win!

Thanks Megan (I Teach. What's Your Superpower?) for the awesome clipart/background!

Now go link up with Farley by clicking on the currently above, then come back at midnight when my celebration begins!

Five for Friday 7/11

Wow! I feel like the weeks are starting to fly by, and I don't want that! On the flip side, we've been making the most of our summer and have done quite a lot this week.

We had a very fun 4th, beginning the day with a little trip up to a nearby train town for their quirky walking parade. We went last year and had a blast, but it wasn't quite as good this year. Still, Keagan was thrilled to see 5 trains pass through!

Later we went swimming, and someone's becoming fearless around the water. Uh oh!

Last Saturday, we made a trip down to Williamsburg. Keagan was thrilled to see the horses. Steven and I remembered why locals hate summertime down there. TOURISTS. EVERYWHERE. Traffic was terrible, and it was so busy. Still, Colonial Williamsburg was nice to walk around once we got there.

During the weekdays, we've been filling up our time with play dates. I'm loving being able to get together with some of the moms from our new church and start to build relationships. And Keagan is loving having other kids to play with during the week.

This week is all about the deals! Tuesday was IHOP's 56th anniversary, so we met up with a group of about 24 others from our church (including kids) and all got short stacks for $.56!

But today is the deal I've been waiting for...Cow Appreciation Day!!

Keagan and I have done this one for the past two years, and of course we're going again today! I think we finally got the trick of the easiest, best cow costume!

And finally, Cassie from Funky in Fourth is celebrating her 100 follower giveaway with some amazing prizes! Her blog is precious, so please go check it out and send her some love!

Okay, time to make some cow costumes! Maybe I'll even share the pictures later!