Mother's Day 2012

For Mama in Heaven
On this day I miss you so,
Your smiles, your laughter, your voice you know.
The advice you gave without judgement,
through all the years,
I'm so sorry I caused so many tears.
You were my hero through all the pain,
My guardian through the rain.
You took me in when I was only 2,
and loved me...nicknamed me 'Boo'.
I remember calling you and hearing
your final words, "I love you Casey",
and mine to you, "I love you forever and you'll be ok".
Although I will never get past the pain of your death Mama,
I know you've now found eternal rest.
Thank you Jesus for my amazing Mama,
I would be nothing without her. 

5/12/12

Where oh Where have I been this YEAR??!!

In short....BUSY...this year has brought its MANY challenges and I apologize for not "blogging" as I should...forgive me? OK, good, moving on. I have been wrapped up in the cRazIness of a full time (OK--more-WAY more than a full time classroom), Full time housing renos (more to come on that later), full time student (WOW seriously all this work?!), now becoming a JETS fan (GO TEBOW) and just being a wife and mommie the best I can. Lots of projects and DIYs to share with you all...thanks to my new addiction--PINTEREST...school's out in T-10 weeks...I can SMELL the saltwater already...CYA then peeps :) OH and the GOOD news? I am now HALFWAY through to my Ed.S degree...HOLLA!
God Bless <><

Menu planning....made E-Z

So you've all seen my blog "money saving tip" with my menu planning magnets on the fridge...and if you haven't you definitely need to check it out pRoNto! It has saved my family sooo much money each month rather than grabbing a quick bite at McDs. 
The next thing I needed to share along those lines is where I get the ideas for low point (WW) meals and how I plan it out. Well trust me it's no secret I dream up all these yummy recipes....boy what a deeeeelishious dream that would be! I use a menu planning site I happened across surfing the net late one night. It's a lifesaver for me...seriously...especially NOW that my husband and I are both back in school (teaching) and back in college (learning?)LOL! The site is www.E-Mealz.com and it's AMAZING! They have so many various menu options it's uncanny! And at a LOW cost of $15 every 3 months who can beat that...WITH a shopping list to boot! Seriously, check it out...it's worth EVERY cent I promise! Don't forget to put me in as a reference uwffrogagd@hotmail.com
Happy eating and planning! 
God Bless <>< 

Welcome...to the SWAMP

With a title like that don't you just WANT to come into my classroom?? Well, if you're one of my students you'll just LOVE it...ok, if you're a Florida Gator fan then you will just <3 Mrs. Stokes' Swamp ;-) I do have a way of converting my students, year after year. So this week was pre-planning AKA "meeting central and spend ZERO time in your classroom where you should" Anywho, wanted to share (thanks to the awesome CRICUT) some things I created this week for my classroom and kiddos...I was extremely apprehensive this year about all the responsibilities I will have...but couldn't ask for a better group...that's a blessing <><

Entry...love it ;)

My whiteboard yipeeeeee!

G.A.T.O.R.S notebooks for my students...stands for 

Gators

Always

Take 

Our 

Responsibilities 

Seriously

LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out!!

the inside...

<><

I've gone Cricut CrAzY!!

One of my *great* friends (did I mention how great she is) let me borrow her Cricut Expression machine for some lettering for my classroom...OMGsh...I had NO idea how awesomely fun & easy it is to do just about ANYthing for your classroom needs...labels beware!!! In the last two days I've probably cut over 100 letters and symbols...EVEN created an awesome name plate for my whiteboard using VINYL!!!! I couldn't believe how addicted I became within a matter of hours! This machine is a WONDER machine and the cartridges are endless!! This will definitely be my next purchase (after the 15th cuz that's when us teachers are paid...and I don't mean August) SOOO if you are thinking of a Cricut WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??!! It's well worth every single penny!!! 

Pennants for the kids' cubbies

Subject 'tickets' for the whiteboard-they have small magnets on the back

OM goooodness I LOVE THIS!!!!! Done with orange & blue vinyl

and this is ONLY the beginning ;P

God bless <><

I'm NOT ready...

Seriously though, I utter the words every end of summer...I think ALL teachers do...I mean, can it be so that there's a teacher out there that says, "Oh boy oh boy! New class with new challenges! Woo hoo I'm ready??!!" well if they're out there, I don't know about them ;) 
On another note Aug.15th (preplanning) will show up with it's ugggly ring (aka alarm clock) at 5:30am and there's nothing I can do about it. What I can do is set goals for myself and try to achieve each of them. Every year as an ESE teacher gets harder and harder for me. It doesn't matter what I think I need to be doing, God always puts me right back where He wants me. As long as I can realize I'm teaching His children and doing His will, I might rest easy at night. So with a happy outlook no matter what here are my goals for the new school year, which, by the way, will be my most challenging yet:
I will be teaching self-contained, resource, AND Read180...WOW
1. BE positive (no matter how hard that may be...)
2. Give it 110% (I always do..so it's a reminder)
3. Forget about challenges (behavior challenges are huge this year)
4. Eyes on the prize (in 2 short years my Ed.S Ed Leadership degree is done)
5. Ultimate goal: to lead tomorrow's leaders and inspire the children
6. NO work brought home (sayeth my hubbs)
7. FAM comes first, no matter what
8. Remember that my mama & daddy were so proud of me...they didn't see all it took to get where I am, but nonetheless, loved that I became a teacher <><

$$ Saving idea ONE

I am putting this post appropriately in GREEN because I do believe it will save us (and you) some dough :) I had step-by-step pictures of this process and unfortunately when I had to hard reset my iPhone they were lost in the abyss...oh well. Take 2. 
~*So I've taken a good hard look at the past 4 weeks and YIKES totally don't like what I have seen. We have literally spent hundreds on eating out and there's no good reason for it!!!!! I have GOT to get this under control and fast! My solution has been sitting by the fridge for weeks.
~* I ordered a die cut of a blank calendar for about $10, I also made a list of popular stuff we eat and used my much neglected scrap booking supplies to create cute little menus with magnets on the back for the calendar...I <3 this idea and PRAY that it gets my fam on the right (healthy) track and in the process save lots of $$$ 
Check out the finished product!!!!!

The letters were *very* hard to put up...but Tyler tried ;) Since today is Friday, I started my menu tomorrow, Saturday and planned for 2 weeks...EASY

...and here's a close-up...I really love this idea and hope you will too <><