December Calendar

Did you all survive the Black Friday shopping days?  My mom & I braved the crowds and shopped at our 3 most frequented shopping destinations...Tar-jay, Khol's, and the CRAZY HOUSE known as Toys R' Us!  Two of Noah's wish list items just happen to be the "Toys of the Year,"...thank you, Nickelodion commercials!  Now, if I can just keep him from watching new ones for, like 27 more days, we're good!  :)   


Is anyone else out there loving that crazy Target lady?  This is my fave commercial from the year and I CANNOT get, "Rum tummy tummy, Rum tummy tummy, Rum tummy tummy, ho ho ho!" out of my head.  My three-year-old is singing it now...geez!  

  

Anywho, enough about shopping...how about a freebie on Cyber Monday?  I just finished the Decemeber calendar and to-do-list.  Hope you like it!

December Calendar

Pardon Our Pixie Dust!

Pardon our "PIXIE DUST" as our blog gets a facelift!  


One quick announcement...to celebrate Black Friday & Cyber Monday, everything in our Teacher's Notebook Shop is 15% off until Tuesday, November 29!  


Click the pic below to go shopping!  We promise...no lines & no rude fellow shoppers, just a happy shopping experience! :)

Happy Thanksgiving {one last freebie}

Ok, so between baking, spending precious time with family, and shopping for Black Friday deals, we haven't had much time to finish our blog make-over, but we promise to get it done asap-ish!


So, I know this is kind of late, but if you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house and are planning to have a kids' table, here is a FREE printable set to welcome all those lil' gobblers to your home!  How much fun would they have with personalized spots at the table, fancy napkin rings, and water bottle wraps?  


You can even dress up your serving table and display your delish menu with this collection too!  Can I get a gobble gobble???   he he! 


I designed this collection last year for my party designs blog and thought I would offer it to all of you this year as well!  The collection includes...


-2" circle tags
-napkin rings
-2 5x7 prints {one blank menu & one welcome sign}
-water bottle wraps (or cut down to fit juice boxes)
-tent tags

Click the pic below to download!  

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!  May your day be spent with the ones you love counting your blessings and enjoying way too much yumminess...turkey and cranberry sauce, here I come!  Don't forget to wear your Thanksgiving pants!  {Anybody know where that comes from?}  

Cha-cha-cha...changes!

After many hours this evening working on our TOTAL BLOG MAKEOVER, we can now reveal to you our new name...(if you haven't already noticed it in the gray header bar above).  

Drumroll please...

We are now...

Playing with Pixie Dust

"where learning through play is simply magical"

The rest of our new look is coming soon!!! :)

Free Thanksgiving Clip Cards

Happy Sunday, Sweeties!  Here's another Thanksgiving freebie to let you all know how THANKFUL we are to all our lovely readers!  These are clip cards that can be used in a center or as a station for your Thanksgiving celebrations.  All you have to do is print and laminate the cards and set out a basket of clothespins or paper clips for clipping!  Easy, peasy!  

Thanksgiving Clip Cards

P.S. Stay tuned for some awesome changes happening around here!  Frogs, Bees, & Under the Seas is having a total make-over (with a new name & everything)!  We are super excited!  :)

Five Fat Turkeys Freebie

Inspired by one of our favorite Halloween poems, "Five Little Pumpkins," I made a little adaptation for Thanksgiving, "Five Fat Turkeys".  You can use this activity in a pocket chart, as a center, or on a magnet board.  I hope your lil' turkeys love it! :)

5 Fat Turkeys

Also, we are still waiting on our Jo Toes winner, TASHA, to get in touch with us with your email address!  You can leave a comment here if you like.  We're going to wait until Friday for our winner to claim her prize, & if we still have no word, we will choose another winner!  

Trips & Ships

Well....hello friends!  Long time, no post!  I'm back from my family vacay to Hawaii (otherwise known as paradise)!  My hubby had a business conference in Honolulu and we tagged along for fun!  So, for the past 10 days, I got to look at beauties like this...

Last Friday, we made the LONG trip (4 planes & 19 hours total) home from 84 degrees and sunny in Maui to 50 degrees and cloudy in good ol' Tennessee...ugh!  However, I feel so blessed to have had the chance to see such a beautiful place and do so many once-in-a-lifetime things.  Anyway, I promise to show more pictures when I get them all off our cameras. 

So, on our many flights (in between keeping Noah busy and happy), I took my computer and worked on a new Thanksgiving activity that I think will be a blast for your "Little Pilgrims"!  I call it the MAYFLOWER VOYAGE and it's basically an activity kit for a real-life Mayflower trip simulation.  It includes fun stuff like boarding passes, pilgrim costume templates, food ideas, and much more.  It is 14 pages and can be used in a preschool, kindergarten, or first grade classroom.  

Click the picture below to see some sample pages from the kit.  As usual, for the introductory sale into the shop, it will be discounted 15% for 5 days (until Nov. 19).  So if you want to brave the open seas with your kiddos as they learn about life aboard the Mayflower, this is the kit for you!!! :)

Thankful Thursdays

Here's just a few things I'm thankful for today-

So super thankful that Daphne (whose been on vacation--in Hawaii for what seems like eternity) is coming home today!!

I'm very thankful for this little gadget---Pampered Chef food chopper--- I love to use on days that haven't been so pleasant---it's a definite stress reliever! 

I'm also very thankful for my parents whom are one of my many biggest supporters. They were both such great role models for me growing up and their marriage is inspiring to both me and my husband. God has truly blessed me with fabulous friends and family.

A month ago today I lost my grandfather. He and I were very close---he took me to all my piano lessons when I was younger and was so proud when I played at church for the 1st time. I'm thankful for the promise of Heaven and that one day I will see him again. 

Cupcakes for Everyone!!

Wow! We have reached 1000 followers! I must say that I am SUPER excited and blown away! So...I've provided everyone with a virtual cupcake....go ahead--sit down and indulge--they will not ruin your diet. Eat AS MANY as you want! :o) 

Click the above to start shopping with Savvy Chic

ALSO---to celebrate this WONDERFUL occasion I am offering all my FBU followers a 20% off discount in my store until Sunday (November 13th) If you would like to place an order---just use this special discount code--- FBUFRIENDS and you're good. I've got some of my Christmas cards up---but if there is something specific you're looking for don't be afraid to request an item. 

Come check me out for all your birthday, shower, baby announcement, and holiday needs!

Savvy Chic Designs

Jo Totes Winner!

And the winner is.....

Tasha who says: OMG! This is a hard decision between the Millie and the Rose but I think I would get the Rose in Pewter! Yep the Rose wins out!

Please email us for further details. Congrats!! You're going to LOVE LOVE your new Rose Jo Tote!! 

Teacher OVERLOAD

Ok, seriously. 
New Grade level
+New Math Curriculum
+Transition to Common Core
+New Teacher Observations
= Teacher Overload
I am completely overwhelmed and in need of a break, vacation, encouraging words....ANYTHING! Ugh. Well, one of the reasons I feel overloaded is I'm in need of some help from my fellow Kinder teachers out there. I'm looking for new ways to write my lesson plans---and truthfully I'm interested in anything. Could you please share?? I would be so GRATEFUL! 

Jo Toes Giveaway

Happy November to you all!  Does anyone out there like photography like I do?  Do you have a DSLR camera?  Well, every good photographer (or aspiring to be a decent one like me) needs a cute and girly camera bag, right?

For over a year, I had been wishing for a specific camera bag...from my favorite camera bag desiger...Jo Totes!  If you spend any amount of time in blogland at all, you know Jo Toes well!  I learned about them at The TomKat Studio, Less Cake More Frosting, and The House of Smiths (to name a few). The bags are made of leather, and look just like an oversized purse.  So, whether you need to take your camera with you on field trips, family vacations, or on photo shoots with your family, Jo Totes has the bag for you.  


The padded interior can be custom fitted not only to protect a camera and lenses, but also to accommodate and organize items like a wallet, music, phone, keys, cosmetics and more.  Padding is sewn directly into the interior lining on all four sides and the bottom of the bags. The bottom is also equipped with four metal feet to guard your bag from rough, dirty, or damp surfaces. Inside of each Jo Tote are removable pads which are completely customizable—you can use as many or as few pads as you wish, arranged in the way that best suits your camera, lenses, and other items. Each bag also includes pockets, strong and comfortable shoulder straps, a top-zippered closure, and a removable cross-body strap.

Look who's sporting their own Jo Totes bags!  Do you recognize any of these crafty ladies at a Creative Estates Conference?
From left to right:  Destiny (A Place for Us); Jen (Tatertots & Jello); Ellie G. (Less Cake More Frosting); Shelley Smith (The House of Smiths); Amy (The Idea Room) 

A few weeks ago, when I successfully finished my online photography workshop with Emilie, I rewarded myself with MY NEW CAMERA BAG...the Millie in gray!  I LOVE it already!  I've taken it to the pumpkin patch, to take Halloween pics of my boy, and to my mom's 60th birthday party! 

Jo Totes offers four beautiful camera bag designs...

The Betsy

The Millie

The Rose

The Tote

Here's the inside of the Rose bag.

Today, you have the chance to win the Jo Totes bag of your choice!  How AWESOME is that??? 

{Here's what you have to do...}

1. Make sure you are a follower of FBU!

2. Go to Jo Totes Shop Page and tell us which bag you would choose (and the color).

3.  Become a Facebook fan of Jo Totes.

***The giveaway will be open for five days and close on Saturday, November 5 at 9:00 pm (EST).  The winner will be announced soon after.***

Good luck, friends!