Dreaming of a Shutterfly Christmas

I have been searching and searching for the perfect Christmas card this year. After browsing several blogs the other day, Shutterfly’s Christmas cards kept coming up as the hot topic. After extensive searching on their website, I have decided it’s virtually impossible to pick just one of my favorite designs! However, here are a few at the top of my Christmas card list:

This design is so simple, which I love. I can envision a ton of different photos that would look perfect on this folded card.

This is a flat card. I love it because you can add five images on it! All you have to do is drag and drop. It cannot get any easier than that! This one also matches my Christmas tree.

This might be my favorite… I love that it allows you to highlight the past year AND add three photos. I think I might be ordering these this year!
To find your perfect card, make sure and stop by their site to check out the hundreds of different images. If you are hosting a holiday party, you can also order some pretty sweet invitations.
I saved the best for last… if you are a blogger, click here! Shutterfly is having a special promotion… You could get up to 50 FREE cards!! For real!! Go check it out!

**EDIT**
I just got an email from Shutterfly!! I have received 50 free Christmas cards in their promotion! Woohoo!! Thanks Shutterfly!

Festive

I know, I know… I did it. I put up my Christmas tree. I just couldn’t help it. I know some of you think it’s blasphemous to put up Christmas décor before Thanksgiving, but it’s my house. And this is what it looks like!

A little blurry.. Sorry. I wish Bran would put lights all around the house, but he refuses. I will refer to him as Scrooge from now on!

Mason’s ornament and ours

Our stockings that are going to get monogrammed soon! We have three other stockings that match for our future kids. haha! I can’t wait to get those out in later years!

And that’s how our humble abode is decorated for this wonderful season of the year! I can’t wait for Thanksgiving this weekend. It will be great to eat some amazing food with my family!

Almost Done

This is has been a crazy week for sure. Last Friday my principal told me that a group of administrators from around the area as well as the creators of the Comprehensive Literacy Model from UALR would be observing my classroom on Tuesday. That made my stomach hurt basically all weekend. I was in a terrible mood… Sorry Mom. Monday was torture as well. Tuesday finally came. I had to speak in front of the group before they came into my room. I talked way too fast… but I just couldn’t stop. I bet they thought I was a young, stupid teacher. However, the observation went extremely well. I had a lot of positive feedback. My kids were amazed that 16 more adults could fit it our little classroom. They did so well. I was a very proud teacher, and a very relieved teacher after they left.
That night I had to go to the school board meeting. One of my kiddos was chosen as our Student of the Month. Needless to say, I took a double dosage of Nyquil that night and slept very well.
Wednesday night I stayed up to grade essays and to fill out my progress reports. My observer from the local university came today. She graded my Math papers for me. I was so incredibly thankful. I need an assistant. I would make an excellent assistant for other teachers.
Tomorrow I am having lunch with a group of teachers and our superintendent. It’s also Hog Wild About Books day at our school. We are supposed to wear a Razorback shirt. So I will be having lunch with the big guy in a Razorback shirt and jeans.
I have drank two bottles of Simply Orange juice. That is the best orange juice ever made. I accredit getting over this cold to that juice. It’s amazing.
Bran is taking me out of town to eat tomorrow night. We are going to eat at Chilis! I’m so excited. We haven’t made a trip to Chilis in a long time because it wasn’t in the budget. Since our truck is paid off now, we have a ton of extra money left in our budget. So we are going to have a date. Yea!

Our Nightly Entertainment

Our entertainment envelope is almost empty for this month, so instead of going to the movies, or bowling, or eating out, or any other fun thing, we bought a $4 pair of antlers. Introducing… Reindeer Mason!

Reindeer Mason

haha! I should’ve recorded the very first time we put the antlers on him. It was a million times funnier than this video.

Dear Mrs. Motley

I hear some of the sweetest, strangest, yet endearing words from my students. The following is a hysterical letter from a sweet and spicy girl in my room. I will call her T and will copy it word for word.
Dear Mrs. Motley,
I hope you know that when your coffen is burried in the ground and your bone dust is burried inside your coffen I will always be thinking about you. You are very sweet, Beautiful, skinny, and loving. You have improved my math, spelling, and writing by your teaching. Although we have had our downwords and upwords you are a wonderful teacher.
Yours to love and to hold,
T
P.S. Love the hair due!
Happy Early Christmas
Bahahahahaha! I am a little worried about me being dead in a coffin, but nonetheless, what a sweet note.

One Step Closer to Dreams Becoming a Reality!

My husband and I have talked until we are blue in the face about taking a huge vacation before having children. We have picked out several places we would love to see. We started with the most affordable…. a cruise. I’m sure cruises are fun. I would like to go on one eventually. However, I have seen so many pictures of over-crowded cruise ships that it was beginning to look very unappealing.
Which leads us to our second vacation idea. We thought about going to a beach somewhere in the States…. you know… Florida, Gulf Shores, the usual. I have been to both of those places, and they are so very pretty. We were, again, worried about the money.
The third spot we talked about was outside of the US… Cancun! I was all about some Mexico! I have been there as well and it was an amazing vacation with my family. My poor hubby has yet to see a beach, so I knew this would make a great trip.
Well then, we started thinking bigger… And started to forget about the money. ha! We wanted an experience that doesn’t come along very often. I have now been talking to a travel agent and tomorrow it will be set. Our vacation to…..

HAWAII!! Woohoo! So excited!