The 2nd Grade Chick

There is an outlet sale from a fellow kinder blogger, Tiffany, at this link.   Go quick!  I just bought to little mod bags for the girls' kindles.  Another utility organizer tote because I use one for school and empty it out every time we travel with food (love to put cans of pop or coffee cups in the pockets).  I finally got a large utility bag for our trunk and I got a small one for our living room.  This is my form of H-E-A-V-E-N.  Now somebody take my credit card away.  I have also spent money at Gymboree, Children's Place, Amazon (of course), and TPT.  YIKES! However I did sacrafice.  I wanted to buy this bag too and didn't.  You can tell my husband that.

Mrs. Smith is having a Top 3 of 2011 Linky Party and I think it is BRILLIANT! Here are my top 3! Journeys lessons turned poetry notebook--I'm worki... Sep 24, 2011, 6 comments 268   Pageviews Add peace in your classroom instantly!-Compliment ... Oct 29, 2011, 3 comments 132   Pageviews 10 math things to do with old calendars!--I am th... Nov 23, 2011, 1 comment 114   Pageviews So the first one I am really excited about.  It will be my 52 page, differentiated, nursery rhyme, alphabet poetry notebook that I am going to work on this summer.  I simply am not efficient enough to put this together and stay sane before that.  I started and had to quit but it is coming, I promise. :/ The second one is my baby.  A very simple way to add peace in the classroom with compliments.  A must on a Monday morning, especially after a really long break, or when the kids are at each other's throats.  Sometimes I have to remember to take my own advice! And the third

I have a new home project blog.  Please follow me over to

I loved  this post from Precious Post!   It inspired me to search for other WOHM blogs.  Then I discovered there are not many out there!!  Is it because they have no time to blog?  But teachers blog.  I also have a question I need answered for the teacher mom bloggers.  When do you blog??  How do you organize your time?  I do OK, and get by but I hear from  a lot of my teacher mom friends the same thing.  I am too busy for....  Followed by, in a whisper voice, "I'm wearing my husband's underwear because I don't have any clean."  My New Year's Resolution is to declutter 15 minutes every day.   I read blogs for inspiration.  I love my blogger friends, they do inspire me but a lot of them are SAHMs (which I love, adore and am a teensy, eensy, weensy jealous of).  A lot of them are teacher moms who do way more than me in their classrooms.  HOW DO YOU DO IT?!  and some of them are just humorous.   So I decided to host a Teacher Vacation home project linky party.

I hope everyone of you has a restful Christmas vacation and a wonderful 2012!  I am expecting a lot of changes to my blog in 2012.  I love to blog about my home life the most, but blogging about school inspires me to be the best teacher I can be.  Therefore I am hoping to separate the two blogs and opening my Teachers Pay Teachers store this summer.  I decided to table it for now because I was simply running out of time and I am still struggling to balance it all.  My hope is to be able to provide HM Journeys printables and to team up with a talented co-worker.  So stay tuned for exciting things to come in 2012........

THANK YOU Kinderdi  and Kinder Kids Fun  for nominating me for this reward!  This award is for newbies, and its goal is to spotlight up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers. If awarded, you must: ♥ copy and paste the award on your blog ♥ thank the giver and link back to them ♥ reveal YOUR top five picks and leave a comment letting them know Here are my picks : The Teaching Bank Oh my little Classity Class Sub Hub Herding Kats in Kindergarten Cole's Little Pups What a fun way to visit new sites and get to know what other teachers are doing!!

Oh how this linky party has made me laugh so far!   Reagan from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and  Amanda from One Extra Degree have both shared their top ten reasons they know Christmas is near.  These lists so reminded me of my last crazy week that I didn't have a hard time coming up with my own!   10.  You hear yourself say "Leave the stray dog alone and get safely inside!"  Of course no one listens to you.   9.  You hear yourself say "No wrestling in school!"  of course no one listens to you.  8.  You hear yourself say "Get out of the puke and go to the office!"  followed by "Get out of his way!"  followed by crying and gagging from the other children, followed by "I'm bleeding."  Followed by "That is not blood, that is not an emergency, you just witnessed a true emergency!"  followed by "please stop crying and gagging and eat your cheeze-its!" 7.  You hear yourself say "Where are you

Do you have school next week?  Don't forget about shaving cream.  My favorite part of shaving cream writing is that the kids are glued  act like they are glued to the desks.  It is good for about 15 minutes of table time. You can practice writing anything!  As seen below...

I owe a lot to  Fran Kramer from Kindergarten Crayons .  First the little dots on her readers taught my 3 year old how to track words on a page.  Find this paper book on her blog  here. and now, thanks to her I Have, Who Has  cards, she is reading and recognizing numbers 1-30! Fran, you are reaching out to more than just the students in your classroom.  THIS is the beauty of the blogging community! :)

My three year old, J, went from counting and recognizing 1-10 to counting and recognizing 1-24 in one day!  Today we put up the tree and advent calendars and she is studying those things!  We have three.  The first one you can find on pinterest here.  I think you can find this one at Oriental Trading Company.  and this one is a magnetic, add a piece a day, nativity scene one.  I'm so excited J is counting and recognizing to 24!!! and I am enjoying the tree my girls decorated for me.  Can you tell with the ornaments at the bottom?  Happy Holidays everyone!