ARE YOU READY FOR SOME .....?

Are you ready for some football?? Dancing With the Stars?

Layton would say yes to the first line.  And OH HE_ _ NO to the second one.  Actually, I've see him sneak a peek at my DWTS when he thinks I'm not watching him.  He secretly wishes he could shake it with those super buff dancers!!
Too bad.  You're stuck with Aharwelltheteachermom who could probably use the DWTS diet!

I'm going to have to type quickly, because I don't want to miss the Season Premiere!!  I'm not invested in the contestants yet, so I need to go 'get to know them'.  :)

Honestly, I really don't watch too much TV.  But I have my must watch shows:  Here they are in no particular order....

DWTS  (Dancing With the Stars)

Grey's Anatomy

The Bachelor

That's about it.  I'll throw in a Big Brother (super cheesy, but mindless entertainment)

and a Jeopardy here and there.  I AM the current Jeopardy champ (in my household).  Whattt??? 

Oh yeah, I'll catch the first 5 minutes of Entertainment Tonight or E! News.  That's all you need is the first 5 minutes.  After that, it's just the same old Kardashian selfies and sightings crap.  

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Subject:  TPT 

I worked on my Writing FREEBIE over the weekend, but..... it's still in progress.    I want to add some finishing touches....(like pages 17-25)!! 

Being a mom of three kids, and a full time teacher makes me a little tired.   This is what I look like by 7 pm every night (minus the tailored suit and perfect makeup).   However, I fight the fatigue and stay up with one eye open, like a warrior, until 11pm or later every school night! 

 Wow!  This lady looks much more put together.  

I have gotten up and down at least 37 times during this blog post.  So much for DWTS!  

Between cooking burgers on the grill, whipping up a fabulous sweet potato salad, corn on the cob, and baked beans, signing reading logs, letting the dog out (in the rain), and many other interesting daily duties.  I  guess it will have to be DVR'd.  Is that a word??  DVR'd...??

Well you know what I mean.  Taped, recorded...TEVO'd!!

I'm super ADD, which is great for multi-tasking, but horrible for focusing.

Which brings me to my last point..tomorrow's my BIRTHDAY!! 

Thank you for stopping by!  Goodnight friends! 

Psalms 84:10

Southern (Florida) Living

In honor of receiving my new issue of Southern Living magazine, I decided to replicate the apple cake on their cover!  Okay, replicate is a strong word!  

Whatever....

My kids wondered why mine didn't look like the cover. 

 "It's because mine is more natural and rustic looking!"  I told them.  

It really was delish!  Even my (mostly carb free) husband ate some! 

By the way, I always start my diet on the same day!

TOMORROW! THAT'S RIGHT.

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I'm kind of surprised that I even found my pots and pans

 to cook this masterpiece in!

We just moved houses last weekend.  I am SO happy the move is behind us!

Now we can spend time unpacking and trying to find matching socks and clean underwear! ;)

My husband loves the new house, well living room to be exact.  (He's from North Carolina, so he calls it a 'den' (said with a very southern drawl, which sounds like 'dan' from this

 Michigan grown girl.)  It's super cute tho....

He can't wait to hang up his 3D TV over his big screen TV!  Oh, and  I must be feeling really nice, because I even told him that he could hang his Torry Holt jerseys in that living room! 

 Crazy yes.  But Torry would be proud.  

I will try to let him enjoy his man cave and try not to look too closely at his mess  stuff. 

 (At least until football season is over.  Oh and basketball season.  

Then it'll be time for some spring cleaning Mr. Harwell!)

Goodbye Torry, hello eBay.  Who wants to buy a jersey?  J/k 

I'm also trying to squeeze in some time to create resources for my classroom!  (And then sell on TPT once I get it just right!)  I'm working on writing center prompts that include pictures, a word bank, writing lines and a reminder to check for capitals, punctuation, complete sentences and spacing.

So check back for those next week!  I'm using them in my writing center starting tomorrow!

I want my students to enjoy going to the writing center and getting creative! 

My boys actually choose writing center at choice time!  I love it!

Click on my store name below to see check out my resources that I use now!  

Aharwell

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy (almost) Fall! 

Ps.  My 14 year old son, Ben, 'proofread' this blog.  He prefaced it with, "is it full of dumb mom jokes?"  Then after he read it, he said, 'it's good mom.  I'm proud of you.' 

 Whether he was kidding or not, I'll take it! :) 

Romans 8:28

New design alert!! (And a Freebie!)

This is my first blog post with my new fancy blog design!!  Eeeeekk!  I love it!  It's shabby chic meets simple mom.  Thank you to my designer, Laine Sutherland from, A Little Peace of Africa!

She is simply talented!  

Now I'm BIG TIME! Okay, not really, but now I can have Linky Parties and Blog Hop and do all the things that real other bloggers do ! ;)  

So, I am 8 days deep into teaching first grade....I promised myself that this year I would 

spend the first few weeks REALLY teaching and practicing procedures, rules and routines.  It needs to be first priority.

Yes, we need to remind them to flush the toilet, wash their hands (with soap and water), and other fun topics to keep the classroom  ***and toilet*** running smoothly!!

My intern, the beautiful Christina, helped the students brainstorm good classroom rules.  We did this on Day 2. 

So by Day 3 (or maybe it was Day 4...insert very tired face)....

I presented the class with a revised version of the rules.  

Now they will behave perfectly!!  (Right??) 

Grab it here for FREE! :)

If you use it and like it, please leave positive feedback!!  Thanks!! 

Each day with my new babies runs a little more smoothly!  Having set expectations from Day 1  Day 2, is super important!  I have some energetic boys and I will be working hard to channel their energy in a positive and productive direction!!  

My brain is getting foggy.  I think I need a 'brain break'.  Thank you for stopping by! 

Grab your FREEBIE and have a fabulous year!!

Matthew 6:33

Visit my store starting Monday, for a 20% off discount!! 

Sale starts tomorrow!  Yay! 

 I can't wait for people to see what I have in my store! 

AND.... I am even MORE excited to buy resources from my favorite peeps!!

   Cara Carroll   and Babbling Abby ! 

B2S (Back to School)

Yep! It's that time again!  TPT (and I) :) are having a back to school sale!  Every product in my store will be 20% off Starting August 3rd-4th!

As a first grade teacher, I am constantly teaching, reviewing, checking and rechecking the students' sight words with them!
I put this together to help the process go smoothly.  The students REALLY enjoyed it!

I used this last year, but am adding MORE to my lessons and resources.  I am in the process of finishing a fabulous sight word pack.   It gives the beginning reader  a sentence to go along with the sight word so they can see it used in context.
There are only 10 words per page to make it a 'digestible bite', not to overwhelm the student.  ***Marzano would be proud!****
Ps. This is Domain 1, DQ (Design Question) 2, Element 9, 'Chunking Content into Digestible Bites'.
:) You're welcome!

I am soooo excited to be getting a blog makeover next month!  It's going to be HUGE!!!
So stay tuned for that.

Also, I just returned from the WINDY CITY!!  My sisters, mom and I met downtown for some food and shopping!  I am going to sift through my pictures and airbrush my wrinkles out before I post them.
 LOL...JK on the airbrush, but I will use filters and work my magic!  
BTW...That was Oprah's trick...great lighting.  It does wonders!  **Don't judge ;)

Talk soon.  Thanks for popping in.
~Aharwell

#TPT2015

I’m on my way home from an inspirational TPT conference.  As I say goodbye to Vegas, I am getting ready to say hello to a new way of looking at TPT.  For those of you that didn’t get an opportunity to attend this year, I will share what I thought (or at least remembered:) about it! 

First off, I was very impressed with those fellow sellers that were smart marketers, whether they passed out cards attached to M & M’s, or large buttons and shirts, it got my attention right away!  I would definitely make a large button to add to my attire if I were to attend again!  (Zazzle is the place to get them!)  

Next,  I was extremely impressed with Chris Kesler, from Kesler Science.  He was the very last session that I went to and O.M.G!! Soo glad that I did!  He didn’t mess around.  He laid it all out with information galore and exudes an energy that I need to bottle and sell!

I also want to give a shout out to my favorite seller/blogger/teacher, Cara Carroll!  

When I saw her sitting in the hallway right before the presentation, I said, ‘Cara!?’ like I knew her and asked to snap a quick pic with her!  (hello stalker!:)  She was completely adorable, just as I had hoped.  *sigh*

Another person that I couldn’t wait to see was the one and only, Deanna Jump!!  She is high energy and her partner Dee Dee Wills is hilarious and together they’re just awesome!  

They shared ideas about creating and little techy tidbits as well!  

I also discovered that TPT was not the ONLY conference at The Venetian.  The UFC was there as well.  I did get a picture with a UFC fighter as I was headed to get my morning coffee and croissant.  *No picture due to my bed head! *

 His name is Shawn Jordan and was a total gentleman.  I think he inspired me to change my logo and TPT name to Aharwell, The Savage! (Just kiddin')

Two more A. Mazing things we did:

1.  We went to Giada's restaurant.  It was beautiful and delish!!

2.  We were Mariah Carey groupies and her show ROCKED!  Yep, that's right.  Her voice is like Butta!  Mimi does NOT disappoint! 

Well, as I check my emails, it dawns on me that Staples and Target have ‘Back to School’ ads that make me want to run out and buy folders and begin labeling and planning my first week.  These are the big questions for me to ponder,  red or blue homework folders?  Orange or green ‘Finish Folders’?  So many decisions that I can’t wait to make!! 

 I'm leaving you with a few pictures from my awesome trip!  

Not your typical hotel! 

Makin' it Happen at Mariah! 

My bestie and me at The Venetian

Welcome to Giada's!

Check out one of my FREEBIES to try in your classroom

(or give them to your kids for practice this summer!) 

Either way, enjoy.  

 Click here for this freebie!!  

Thank you for stopping by!  :)

~Angie Harwell 

'The Candle'

Oh wow!  No blogging for a whole month!  I guess it's time to come out of hibernation!
Spring has (almost) sprung and I am LOVING my new Bath and Body Works 'Island Magarita' candle!  You really should go run out and buy one or two right now!..unless, you have a husband that doesn't appreciate a good sale.

So,  Layton and I went to Blu Sushi for the Yummiest meal ever!  Here he is, posing with sushi.  

Sugar mama rolls! 

before...

Then, here we are looking all happy, BEFORE Layton discovered how much money I spent at Bath and Body Works on the above candle. 

He just doesn't get it...However, I did walk away with the following: 

~Two tropical 3 wick candles, 4 smelly hand soaps, and a bucket of goodies.  Smelling good isn't cheap! 

You DO NOT want to see his 'after' face.  ;(

The moral of the story for me is:  Don't shop with your husband! 

Spring break 2015 plans: 

-I am planning on creating more Teacher Pay Teachers products over the break, and just recharging before going back to work.  I know I will be a better teacher, wife, mom, sister, friend, blogger... :) once I get a few good days of coffee and The Today Show!! 

-Taking my 15 year old to get her wisdom teeth pulled! *Ouch* 

-Thanking God for His blessings! :) 

 Enjoy your week, your family, your sweet smelling candles, and thanks for stopping by my world. 

~Aharwell