And the winner is...

The winner of the Onlineshoes.com giveaway is...Lynn Bulk!

Congratulations!!

I will be contacting you soon to give you the details! Go ahead and look at Onlineshoes.com's Patagonia line and start thinking about what pair you want!

YAY for the giveaway!
(Sorry to post late- it was fall festival at school last night and got home late..eek! So sorry!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Feelin' Lucky?! Shoes and Conservation Giveaway!

Helllo blogland! GIVEAWAY DAY!


Okay, okay...so here's the deal...Onlineshoes.com has teamed up with me for an amazing GIVEAWAY!  And you'll NEVER guess WHO contacted me to be a Patagonia Advocate for Onlineshoes.com...Molly Mesnick! Yes, Molly from the Bachelor, now married to Jason Mesnick, also the Co-op Manager for Onlineshoes.com- how cool. {She gave me permission to post this little tid bit! However, you should have seen my nerdy e-mails asking her if she was THE Molly Mesnick...haaaa! How embarrassing?!} This giveaway's LUCKY WINNER will receive a FREE pair of Patagonia shoes of his/her choice...YES...ANY pair from Onlineshoes.com's Patagonia line! For every pair of Patagonia shoes purchased at OnlineShoes.com from 10/9-10/22, Patagonia will donate $10 to the Conservation Alliance to help protect wild places for their habitat and recreation values! Read all the way through to see how to ENTER!

Truthfully, until last week I was still wearing flip-flops to work {Yes, I wear them as long as possible and yes, we are allowed to!} and I just started wearing closed toed flats...and soon will have to get out my very warm boots & clogs to keep my tootsies warm and comfortable due to this quickly approaching cold weather in Kentucky.  But it's that time again where I am switching my wardrobe out and I DO LOVE getting out my fall boots. {I may or may not have worn them last Friday when it was 78 degrees...I just love fall fashion! and couldn't let them sit there in my (winter) closet any longer!} Anyways...I just received an amazing pair of Patagonia boots that are TO DIE FOR from Onlineshoes.com that I am itching to wear! They are waterproof (for when the snow finally does come-yuck, I'm not into that gray slush), comfortable and GREAT for those winter field trips! So excited about these beauties! As a huge Patagonia fan myself, I can speak to their comfort level - they are...on your feet all day, power walking to lunch, running back to the room because you forgot a paper for the office, pacing the room trying to find where you sat down your coffee- teacher approved...comfortable!

If you're in the market for a new pair of shoes for the season...check out Onlineshoes.com and search through Patagonia's section to help support the Conservation Alliance at the same time!  Again, for every pair of Patagonia shoes purchased as OnlineShoes.com from 10/9-10/22, Patagonia will donate $10 to the Conservation Alliance to help protect wild places for their habitat and recreation values! Since its inception in 1989, the Alliance has contributed more than $11.2 million to grassroots conservation groups throughout North America.  Alliance funding has helped save more than 29 million acres of wildlands; protect 2,700 miles of rivers; stop or remove 25 dams; designate five marine reserves; and purchase nine climbing areas. They follow a rigorous grant proposal review process that ensures their grants go to organizations that can succeed given the necessary financial resources. Click here for a list of our grantees.
 
So how do you ENTER THE GIVEAWAY...??!!Do the following by FRIDAY...
1. Follow my blog!
2. After a brief scavenger hunt... e-mail me (athomeinfirst@gmail.com) the following things:
   A. Tell me that you are now a follower!
   B. Tell me what specific colors the Women's Patagonia "Naked Maui" shoe comes in.
   C. Tell me the mission statement of the Conservation Alliance.
  The winner will be picked randomly by FRIDAY evening at 9:00 pm...good luck!

More links to enjoy...!

Patagonia

Patagonia Shoes for Women

Mens Patagonia shoes

All in great educator and shoe fanatic fun...enjoy! Can't wait to hear from you all!

BIG Giveaway Teaser & Open House...

Good evening everyone!  Today was parent teacher conference day and I am worn out!  Longggg day with parents and students, while also trying to prepare for my week with the kiddos! How is it that I can never catch up?! (Tell me I'm not alone?!) Two quick things to chat about before I retire to bed...

 1. Tomorrow, I will be having a BIG giveaway from Onlineshoes.com! A FREE pair of Patagonia (YES...Patagonia!!!) shoes will be given to a very LUCKY winner! Onlineshoes.com has pages of choices of Patagonia's - flats, sandals, boots, and more...if you're the lucky winner you may choose ANY pair on their site! $10 from every Patagonia purchase from  10/9-10/22 on Onlineshoes.com will be donated to the Conservation Alliance. Stayed tuned as to how to "enter" my giveaway and learn more about how to help protect natural places for their habitat and recreational values through the Conservation Alliance! :)

{Hint: You will need to be a follower of mine to win...so go ahead and follow me now! ;) AND it has a little something to do with someone from "The Bachelor"...yes, THE Bachelor...YES, I speak the truth.}

2. We had open house a few weeks ago and I just wanted to share a few photos!   Some day I will start blogging about my classroom adventures in real time...but I'm not that good yet. ;)

Parent Survey about his/her child.

I had each student's table spot decorated with his/her photo, science work, and a survey that parents were to complete.  Students "graded" the paper the next day to see how well their parents knew them! (Great idea borrowed from a co-worker!)

Hallway bulletin board- I created birds with a variety of scrap book paper and wrote student's names on the wings. I then hot glued clothes pins to the birds and then to the board. If I do say so myself...they are ADORABLE! I will try to get a closer picture of the birds next time! I plan on simply changing student work throughout the year- NOT re-doing the whole board...once the year starts that board is the least of my worries. ;)

 

Thanks for reading...come back tomorrow to see how to enter the FREE pair of shoes giveaway! Toodles.

Classroom Reveal...About time, right?!

Holy cow, I definitely receive the worst blogger EVER award.  I suppose I did too much, too soon...I thought I was ready! Ha! Anyway...here are some of the photos of my classroom, finally.

My room!

IKEA pillows, FACE (CAFE) Board and painted shelves! A colleague of mine handed me down this adorable rocker, too!

Target chairs and bean bags, IKEA table, big lots rugs

Self-made job chart, FREE on my TPT page!

Our cozy carpet area.

Wooden houses that I painted to match my room! Each house has a student number on it on a clip so each student may switch out his/her own work! The banner was purchased at MeadowsBrook on etsy.

Hobby Lobby fabric curtains, sewn (with glue, ha!) by yours truly. :)

Not sure why this one's blurry...but...I painted wooded circles and put scrap book sticker numbers on them!

Cara Carroll's rhyming phrases - love 'em!

 I bought these letters at Hobby Lobby and covered them with scrap book paper - I ADORE them!

 My lovely reading/writing table - my kiddos have been using it and LOVE it! Perfect size for them.  They have also been using it to play math games. The lamps were purchased for $2 something at a thrift store and how cute are they now?!

 My book nook area - kind of over flowing with "reading rugs" but my students use them every day during read to self time.  My students each have a reading spot that rotates daily which keeps them excited each day! (I have a student switch the chart each day - so it's easy peezy!)

Book boxes from IKEA

 

My students use their book boxes EVERY day for read to self time!  We are up to 18 minutes...almost there! (This picture is an OLD picture of our stamina graph...!)

 My students will be using these Beanie Babies (cleaned out from my mom's basement...yes, they are all my personal treasures from childhood and yes, I thought they would be worth big bucks one day...) to read to during read to self time! I also plan to use them for a writing activity during Daily 5's work on writing time!

 Gray bins being put to use to hold math and literacy games/activities.

 Katie King's word wall packet - LOVE it!

 I purchased this raggedy mirror at a thrift store for nothing and turned it into a motivational tool!  My students walk past the mirror every day- I try to use it to build self-esteem and keep them believing in themselves!

IKEA stools at the reading table! LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM! They slip right under the table to get out of the way when not in use.

My "desk"/ tiny table/ computer hub behind the reading table...I just love my cozy corner!

Even chevron on my morning message...

Made to match Cara Carroll's math notebooks! I used a think dry erase board and hot glued it to the bulletine board

Our calendar area.

Already dirty, of course, but cute none the less! Purchased from LoveyDoveyCreations on Etsy!

The ugliest part of my classroom... a sink from the 70's. But hey, I'm happy to have one in the room!

My lovely Keurig...this sweet thing keeps me goin'!

My teacher board is already full of deadlines and important information. Gotta love the $1 board though with a stenciled blue bird.  ;)

"Math About Me" was completed the first week of school. I left them hanging for open house because they're too stinkin' cute.

Katie King's math sheets were used for morning work until the 20th day! Pencils and supplies stored in my $1 Target bin finds. LOVE them!

 Well, that's all folks! ;)  'Bout time right?! I hope to be back at it again in the next week!