Guess what my bloggin' buddy did!!

You will not believe what
Regina, my bloggin' buddy, did!

Click here to see what she did!

If you clicked above, you know.
If you just kept reading this post,
let me tell you.

She hit the $20,000 milestone on TPT!!
Can I get a WOOT, WOOT!

I am beyond proud of you sista!

How did that happen?
SERIOUSLY????

And....where did all of it go?

Oh, yeah.....
Clip Art.
Braces.

Classroom Materials.

Groceries.

Life.
...yah, life would be the most expensive one.

PLUS it took me over
2 years to do that.
2, not 5, 10, or 15 years.
You still did it.  All good!

Deanna Jump, I am not.

If you're wondering how I have the time
to teach AND make things for TPT,
here's my big clue to getting extra time:
I've completely done away with

household chores,
without hiring a maid.
Jealous much?
That would be yes!

My kids have had to

step in and help...

A LOT.

I remember having

The TALK with my older

three around a year and a half ago.

My cooking and cleaning

was NOT going to help

me bring money home.

If I could work on TPT items,

and they could work on cooking

and cleaning then we could maybe

get some extra money coming in.

This is not slave labor--

according to me.

According to them--

it depends which day of the

week you're asking them.

They ranged from 11-17 at the time,

so they were old enough to help chip in.

After paying the Darling Diva's

daycare (I hate that word,

I prefer pre-school) tuition,
True that!

and the gas to get me to work,

I was bringing home $500.00 a month.
Borderline criminal!

Ummmmmm........

How does that compute with

putting in 60-80 hours

a week at work?

Do you know that I accidentally

worked through an entire night

in my classroom one night?
You did what?!!  How do you 
"accidentally"
work through the night?
I get that you could always 
stay a-gazillion more hours
and never, like NEVER, be done.
But forgetting to leave?!

Talk about slave labor.

I didn't have everything finished until

3 o'clock in the morning.

Yes....you heard right.

3 AM. As in WAY past midnight.

So, I was FINALLY ready to go home,

and I heard voices outside of

my classroom.
I just peed my pants on your behalf.

Remember me,

the one with the outside

hallways...the open Florida school...

who's school has since then been

fenced in (thank goodness....no

more people walking through).

Anyway....back to my craziness:

It. Completely.Freaked.Me.Out.

I decided to stay.
Behind locked doors.

So, since I was still in my classroom,

I just kept on working.

And working.

And working.

Until 7 am when I felt safe.

To leave.

And go home.

To a furious King Common Sense.

Who made me swear.

To never do that again.

EVER.
Uh, Bobby would have been upset by 10 p.m.
10 p.m. was typical.
Worried sick by midnight.
He was used to the midnight blips.
Irate by 1:00 a.m.
I had actually lasted till 1:00 a.m. twice before.
Terrified by 2:00 a.m.
By 3:00 a.m. it would be his voice
outside my classroom doing a well-check.
Not just on my physical well-being, but mental!
Enough is enough sista.
Yes, you're right.
King Common Sense said the same thing
over, and over, and over again.
I'm finally listening to him.
No more late nighters for me.
I just go home now and get on the computer.

So, Daycare (Preschool) takes a chunk

out and so does my insurance,

but I know that many, many, many

other Americans pay daycare and insurance

and go home with a heck of a lot more

than $500.00 a month.
And their jobs don't
affect the future as much
as our's do.
Just saying...

That's $100.00 a week

in a five week month.

That's $25.00 a day.

Now with my BIG raise of .75%

that our district has given us after
several years of no raises at all,
Ouch!
(and yes, that decimal point is not a typo
or a dirt speck on your computer),

I can now say that I make just
about the same as I did before
since the price
of gas has gone up.
Has anyone else noticed that?
Uh, ya think?!
My children live under the fear
that their mother will actually
purchase one of the bicycle
carriages that we used once
when we went to the Miami zoo.
Ooh. No street cred for them in this ride.
Just saying...

Hollywood's nickname at school
is "The Amish One"
because according to him,
he's the ONLY kid at school
without a cell phone.
I'm sure that trading our SUV
in for this gas saving "vehicle"
will do wonders for his popularity stats.
I think I just heard him roll his eyes!

On a more serious note....
and this is definitely
not to sound
all peachy preachy
because if you read our blog,
you KNOW that I am sooooo
not that person...
I would be remiss to not
point out the power of prayer.
I have a lot to say,
but I'll just say "Amen, sista!"
I prayed for a way to help make ends meet,
and Teachers Pay Teachers was shared
with me by a student teacher who was
shadowing my good friend, Ma Chérie.
I prayed for a way to somehow figure
out how to make my own clip art,
and 8 months later....
I got it...I finally got it!
Thank God Almighty....
I know how to make clip art at last!

I prayed for a way to somehow
get some kind of a blog rolling,
because Lord knows
I'm clueless on a computer....
I just pretend...A Lot.
As in: All.The.Time.
I am Queen Chaos
The GREAT Pretender.
Fake it till you make it!

Also--about blogging--
I never could understand how
the teachers who blogged had time for it all.
Teaching, being moms, having husbands,
making things on TPT and then
blogging on top of EVERYTHING else.
(AND can I say that many of them
are super cute and skinny to top it all off?)
I really didn't think I'd ever have
the time to blog. Like EVER.
Who knew that I could find it to be so therapeutic?
I can't tell you the number of times
this blog has made me laugh.
It's been a fun ride!
You may not think that I'm as funny as  I think I am,
but that's OK.  I can laugh at myself, and come
to grips with this crazy thing called life.
Win, win!

It also keeps me from paying a $20.00 copay
to lie down on someone's couch to share my problems.
That $20.00 is much better spent
on 4 of the 6 gallons of milk
my family goes through every week.
You should just buy a cow!

So, yes....I really did pray
for help in making a blog.
Stop rolling your eyes at me.
I know God has more important
things to do than help me out with
my minor problems.  But there you have it.
I pray about big things and I pray about little things.
I'm selfish that way.
 Somehow, by some small miracle,
Angela popped into my life.
Awww, did she just say I was
an answer to prayer.
Me=Beyond humbled

Hi, Angela!
I'm so glad I cyber met you!
Back at ya sista!

Prayer works.
Try it.
I think you'll like it.
Girrrrl, that whole
"God is my co-pilot" thing.
Uh, not so much for me.
He's the Pilot on my crazy ride.
I'm the co-pilot
praying constantly
for guidance,
direction,
and peace about this crazy world.
Thank you Jesus!
I think that's all
I have to say about that.
Word.

If you ever purchased something from my store,
I want to send you a big thank you!
 --Some Freebies From The Queen--
A+  A Queen....Three Graphic Organiers FREEBIE

 Have your students write 3 sentences about a queen:
A Queen is...
A Queen has...
A Queen can... 

 Choose the best lines for your class.

 Choose whether to print in color
or in black and white.

 Bubble Organizers For A Queen:

This set of graphic organizers
would be useful when reading fairy tales,
or when teaching about royalty.

 Write 3 things or 3 sentences about a queen.

My matching King Organizers can be found on TPT:

For all of my Spanish supporters...
Here's a freebie just for you!
FREEBIE: Una Reina...Three Spanish Graphic Organizers

Here's the matching King Spanish Organizers
on TPT just in case you're interested in having
your students write about a king in Spanish:
Un Rey es...
Un Rey tiene...
Un Rey puede...

My most popular item in my store is--

A+ The Gingerbread Man S.T.E.M. Activity:
Science, Technology, Engineering & Math

I'm posting it For FREE for the next week
or so, so get it while you can!
What a sweet treat!
I'm also going to give another
brand new freebie for everyone
who has ever supported me-- THANK YOU! 
I'm sharing my cute, little alien clip art
with all of you, because you're all
Out.Of.This.World! 
I can't believe how supportive
and kind you all have been!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Freebie: Aliens Clip Art
Thank You For Being "Out Of This World"
And Helping Me Make My First TPT Milestone!

 Last, but not least...
A BIG THANK YOU
to everyone who has left
positive feedback at my TPT store!
Your feedback has made me so "Hoppy"!

 
In the TPT milestone achiever post, 
I was listed as #7.
It was pretty cool to see my pic
listed on THEEE TPT blog.
Made me scream a bit when I saw it!
 It made me even happier to see my name
listed after the #7.  That's my number!

Let me tell you why
#7 is my lucky number:

1.  My K team at school is going to do
my whole set of STEM activities
at the end of the school year.
We're going to make a STEM K Camp
out of them and do one per day.
Thanks to the dreaded Polar Vortex,
we're in school for
one.week.longer.ugh.
I am SO going to do this in June!

A+ 8 Compiled S.T.E.M. Activities

2.  My principal is looking into making
our elementary school a STEM focus school,
and has asked me to help out.....
you know that I am ALL over that!
Rock on with your bad self!
Regina=Trend Setter

3. Ma Chérie and I are flying
out to Vegas together to go to
the I Teach K Conference this summer.
Eight years ago, when she joked about us
going...we never ever in a million years
thought that we'd actually go to a
Kindergarten Conference in Las Vegas.
It was the running joke--for YEARS.
Kindergarten Teachers in Vegas....Ha, ha, ha!
As in--THAT'S never going to happen.
Guess what???!!!
The tickets are bought!
The hotel is reserved!
Yowzers!
We're actually going!
I just cyber-pinched you for effect.

4.  I'm going to the TPT Conference
in Vegas at the end of that same week!
That means--I'll be in Las Vegas
for a whole week with no children!
Of course I'll be the one in my jammies
by 9pm looking out my hotel window
at the Vegas Strip, but I will actually be there!
Ma Chérie will be sipping and floating at the pool
while I attend the TPT Conference.
Can you say: True Friend?
She's willing to hang out
for a few extra days while
I attend another conference,
so that I don't have to fly back by myself!
Actually, flying doesn't bother me,
being a former flight attendant.
Just don't ever use the blankets or pillows on a plane.
EVER. You never know where they've been. Seriously.
Don't trust that hypoallergenic looking plastic bag.
It's all an illusion. Trust me.
It's the driving,
not the flying that gets me.
I hate driving.
I do it,
but I don't like it.

5.  I'm going to FINALLY
meet my blogging buddy
Angela for the first time......
EVER!!!!
WOOT WOOT!

6.  I'm going to present my STEM activities
at the I Teach K in Orlando, Florida this November!!!!
You're so grown up!
Once again.....how did THAT happen?!!!! 
Between a recurrent, niggling thought
in the back of my  brain,
Angela pushing me--
in a good, positive, supportive, and consistent way--
 to present, and then Runway
(the beautiful, supermodel teacher at my school)
suggesting out of the blue that I should start presenting...
I figured, this is what I should be doing right now.
Yup...I was stubborn.
It took me a while to get THAT message.
It was a message that I didn't really want to hear or heed.
Notice...I completely IGNORED it when it was
only coming from my own head.
It took 2 other people saying the
SAME THING to me for me to finally say,
"Enough already! OK! I heard You!"
See, this is why I don't typically
share my religious side.
I'm not very conventional.
As in everything else in my life,
I'm a little wackadoodle.
But it's all good. I got the message.
I need to be presenting.  I'll do it.
I just really hope I don't embarrass myself!
If I do...I know Who to blame!
Just kidding!  I take that back!

7.  I'll have 2 Vanna Whites in the forms of
 AttaGirl (Angela) and Ma Chérie who are both
going to the Orlando I Teach K Conference for moral support.
That's what friends are for!
All I have to say is that you had better show!
Aw snap!  Did she just smack talk me?
I am #7 and I believe in miracles.
...and I am one of #7's biggest cheerleaders!
I mean this whole bloggin' adventure started
because I was cheering her on.
Can I get a Woot Woot!
Angela deserves much more
than just a Woot Woot!
SHE is the funny one. 
SHE is the one who needed
a place to house all of HER hilariousness.
SHE is the one who spearheaded this blogging business.
SHE is the one that allowed me to join HER blog.
SHE is the one who insisted that I get Pinning.
SHE is the one that suggested I go to Vegas.
SHE is the one, who insisted that I start presenting.
SHE's already emailing me information on the Orlando hotel.
What-to-the-ever!
You're the meat and potatoes.
I'm just the sprinkles on top.
I'm still focusing on Vegas...one major hurdle at a time.
I'm not quite ready to project my thoughts to Orlando.
After July, I'll be all over the Orlando Escapade!
I'm just AttaGirl's sidekick, along for the ride!