Saturday, November 1, 2014

Which Superpower Would You Want??? I KNOW WHAT I WOULD WANT!!! {& November Currently}

Last Saturday I was working in my classroom and my daughter asked, "If you could have a superpower what would it be?"  That was a SNAP to answer...simple...I would want to freeze time for everyone & everything else and let time move just for me!!!   I am ALWAYS feeling behind!!  It is a big reason why I have not posted here like I would love to do...school, family, & my health need to be TOP priority.  Even those things I can't seem to find enough time for.  I so frequently think about things that I would like to share here, but I just can't find the time. 

Yesterday our school was blessed to be a part of Walmart's Teacher Reward Program.  We had employees from the Walmart Transportation Center visit us after school.  They brought us a special cake, lots of candy, and then drew 20 names for $50 Walmart Gift Cards!  My name was the first drawn! :D I didn't waste any time purchasing items for my classroom.  Priority number one...lamination sheets ,{I love my personal laminator~~ great investment!}
goodies for our pumpkin book reports {more on that in just a bit} & some alphabet beads for some future word work activities!  I think I did pretty good...look at the balance left on the card! :)






We have been sharing part one of our monthly book reports this week and today we did part two...fun & crazy.  This is month we did Hope King's  Trick or Treat Pumpkin Book Report.  This is the 4th year I have used it and my classes always love it!  The first part the students do at home and then present to the class.  They have a Trick or Treat Bag {I provide them with a small paper bag, but they may use a bag of their own if they choose to} and inside are the Treats~story elements on paper candies:


The second part of the book report we did yesterday in class. {I began this post yesterday} The students transform their pumpkin into one of the main characters from their book.




Now, the finished characters!! :)






November Currently! {was so excited my buddy from the TpT conference, Kelly, is this month's sponsor!!}

Listening~~my daughter is watching Ghost Buddies on Netflix & our dog Sparky {3/4 Chihuahua 1/4 Dachshund} and our new dog Snickerdoodle {3/4 Chihuahua 1/4 Terrier} are still adjusting to each other...some times they are playing and sometimes Sparky has too much of Snickernoodle & lets him know who's boss!

Loving~~Nexus Font is a WONDERFUL program for a font-a-holic like me!!  About a month ago I had well over 1,500 fonts installed on my computer; now I have 700, and yet I can use those 1,500 + any time I want to using Nexus Font!!!  I also have them grouped by designer, here's a shot of it!
I am so in love with Kimberly Geswein's fonts!!!  So far I have one commercial license, but I am sure many more are in my future!!!  Also, you can now download all of Hello Fonts with one download, once again I have them all...will probably be purchasing some of the licenses as I begin to have some sales!
Anyway, the way Nexus Font works, you keep your fonts in folders on your computer or flash drive, load them into the program, open the program, then open Word or Powerpoint & BAM! your fonts all show up and you don't slow down your computer by having them all installed!!!

Thinking~~There is so much I want to and need to do...I need to keep chugging away...{praying I'm not chugging away to the wee hours of the morning...even though, PRAISE GOD, we have an extra hour tonight!! :) ~time change!}... Keep telling myself..'I think I can...'

Wanting~~I have a desire to make this whole TpT thing work.  I do believe I have been blessed with some good ideas and I feel I am putting in quality products...NO sales as of yet, but I know blogging is part of the equation and I just can't find the time to do it the way I want to...after all this is the 3rd day working on this post!  I want to place some new things I have created for my class into my store...I really believe they can be a benefit to others in their rooms as well.  There are so many reasons I want this to work...I admit the self esteem thing comes in to play, but tomorrow is Orphan Sunday and I really do believe God has placed this on my heart and I have committed to have 5% of my profits go to Orphan Care starting with going to Village of Hope in Guatemala. Unfortunately 5% of $0 is $0! Guatemala is the focus of the official Orphan Sunday video...

GUATEMALA RISES from Christian Alliance for Orphans on Vimeo.

Another reason is to find a way to help our financial situation...here's some vulnerability...our family has had many challenges in the recent past.  My husband was a general contractor & quite a few years ago he was working out of our home...business was booming..we needed to move the business out of our home...we took out a loan...and over the next year & half everything went crashing down...the economy in general {horrible for contractors}, an employee who stole from us, several clients who decided not to pay, {one through legal means we recovered most of what was owed to us but not before it had huge negative impacts on our situation}, and my husband ended up with back surgery...we had to surrender a truck we had, moved out 20 miles from town to property that his family had owned & had been abandoned for a long time & rented out our house in town...he did get a job at the army base here and things were looking better...then a year ago...more problems with his back, this time due to job responsibilities...long story short {if you can call this short} he ended up loosing the job because he couldn't perform the duties of the job...& on top of that our house in town has not been rented since February...I am fighting back the tears as I write this...I KNOW God is in control & I want to do whatever I can to make our situation better...so I need to get more quality products in my store & get my butt in gear advertising and focusing {without loosing focus on my day job or family!}...okay, enough about that!!!

Needing~~see above...I know I am blessed in MANY ways & in this month focused on Thanksgiving, I want my heart to be focused on what I do have, not what I don't!!! God never changes, whatever our circumstances, He is ALWAYS good!!

Reading~~ Thrive, by Mark Hall lead singer of Casting Crown...GREAT book lots of highlighting in my Kindle in this one!!  The Family of Jesus by Karen Kingsbury, my favorite author...The Love Dare...slowly starting, but moving forward...God blessed me with a wonderful husband but the challenges of life can take a toll on a marriage, and this is my first time reading A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom in my class, my good friend & coworker of 25 years gave it to me when she retired...she read it every year to her class.

I hope to be back this week to post about and get into TpT AR management goodies I created for my class, reading log genre cards, & teacher tags {got permission this last week from the blogger who inspired me to sell them}

Have a blessed November...Hope to be back SOON!!!

7 comments:

  1. Love your book report and pumpkin characters! So cute!

    Heather
    Mrs. Bucaroff's Fantastic Fourth

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Heather! Just left a comment on your post! :)
      Thanks,
      Nancy

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  2. The pumpkins are adorable. Also, I have never heard of Nexus fonts but it looks like I need to check it out. I also love fonts but right now it is crazy town on my computer. There is no real rhyme or reason to my organization. Good luck with Teachers Pay Teachers. It is a work in process I am finding. Keep chipping away. :)

    Krystyn
    Ms Richards's Musings

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  3. I love fonts too, but I have no where near as many as you do!

    Keep plugging away with your store. My first year I made $64. Now...well...I usually make more than that in a day. It takes a TON of work, but it's worth it!

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  4. Sounds like some good books to read! I'll have to check a few of them out! Keep up the hard work on your TpT store! It will pay off in the future!

    What I Have Learned

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  5. Hey Nancy,
    I'm in Southern California, North County (which is about 30 minutes North of downtown San Diego. We are going to the Anza Borrego Desert also known as Ocotillo Wells. We go dirt bike riding out there. Well the kids do, lol.

    Heather

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  6. Congrats on your Walmart win! It looks like you spent your money wisely! I love the way your students' pumpkins came out! I may have to try that next year. Thank you for the mention! Just keep swimming - YOU CAN DO THIS! I can't wait until the next conference! We will definitely have to have dinner again!

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