We are linking up with Teaching Trio today.

Since it is summer, we want to share with you a few of our favorite places 

to go at Walt Disney World!

We absolutely love it.

We took a girls trip to Disney in 2011.

The trip included me, my BFF, Laura, Lisa and Lisa's mom.

It was sooooooooooo much fun!

A topiary of Mary Poppins greets you as you walk into the gorgeous

Grand Floridian.

There is also a sweet little decked-out man who welcomes you to the resort.

And check out those hot wheels.

This resort is fancy schmancy!

Check out the elevator that resembles a gold bird cage.

All of the flowers on the property are simply stunning.

We dined at The Grand Floridian Cafe.

Check out the sweet Mickey Mouse made out of chocolate.

Nice touch, Disney.

Laura is the biggest Disney fanatic in the bunch.

I have lost count of how many times her family has visited

The Happiest Place on Earth.

They are headed back in October for Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party.

Laura loves walking up Main Street USA.

Cinderella's castle is an integral part of Main Street USA.

Laura says not to miss Wishes nighttime spectacular.

Star Light, Star Bright includes Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio, Cinderella,

Ariel, Peter Pan and Genie.

And, Tinker Bell flies over the park during the show.

Because Laura has been there so many times, she can plan a trip that will make your

visit to Disney World the best it can be!

Above she is pointing to the map, telling us where we will be going next.

Lisa loves Fantasy Land at Disney.

Fantasy Land is where you can soar with Dumbo, sing along with It's a Small World

and spin in Alice's teacups at the Mad Tea Party.

Lisa loves meeting and getting her photo with Disney characters.

Daisy Duck was even blowing Lisa a kiss goodbye.

Winnie-the-Pooh is one of Lisa's pals.

And watch out for Cinderella's evil stepsisters!

But Lisa loves a good laugh, so the stepsisters crack her up.

Now, check out who else linked up this month.

And join in on the fun.

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Amy

We hope you are enjoying your summer!

Laura is on her way to the beach for a family vacation.

Lisa is tying bows for me.   I am bow-tying-impaired.

So, I would love to share a special giveaway going on with with some of the Sparkies 

at A Spark of Inspiration.

Megan Wheeler,  of Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade and A Spark of Inspiration, went shopping.

And you can enter to win all of this......

Excited yet?

Head to Megan's blog to enter to win.

And I do mean win big!

Good luck!

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Amy

We are loving the Week 2 TpT Seller Challenge.

Dare to Dream!

So, my dream big is easy.   

I dare to dream that TpT helps with my retirement savings.

I am not ready to retire.   At all.

But we all know how pitiful teacher retirement is.

I would love to have a little freedom from a required second job after I retire.

I enjoy putting some money away for the day I am not getting a regular paycheck.

Laura's big dream involves transformation from Chip and Joanna Gaines.

You know them, right?

From the HGTV Show "Fixer Upper".

Chip and Joanna are close by in Waco, Texas.

And Laura would love to pay Chip and Joanna to travel a little further south 

and redo her home.

Dare to dream part 2!

And Lisa says she would like to pay off her car.

When did cars get soooooooooo expensive?

Lisa would love to pay off her car and have more fun money.

Lisa's fun stash could be her travel fund.

Or her shopping fund.

Lisa is a fantastic shopper with dynamite taste.

So, those are our dare to dream statements.

What about you?

Read more from the hostesses of TpT Seller Challenge.

And look forward to TpT Seller Challenge Week 3!

Amber at Peppy Zesty Teacherista.

Jen at Sparkling in Second

Ashley at Teach Create Motivate

And Emily at Third in Hollywood.

Read more »

Amy

Last fall, my first Speech Freebie was a desktop wallpaper designed to help you out! I absolutely loved it and used it ALL school year! I needed a change of scenery, so my 17-year-old daughter helped design a summery wallpaper.

My daughter (R) and I love blues and greens, and we have a lot of the navy/mint combos in our closets. I thought the mint green would be perfect for summer - mint chocolate chip ice cream, anyone? - and the navy border just happened. R put in a contrasting color for the background, added a texture, and chose the font. I probably would have gone with a white or gray background, but R said it was boring. I think she did great!

To get your own Organization Wallpaper for Desktops {Freebie}, head over to All Y'all Need to download. To install it on your computer desktop, keep reading.
* In Windows, find your screen's resolution. Click on the Start Button, Control Panel, and Display. This should show your screen's resolution. Mine is 1366 x 768. Now, go to the downloaded file of organizers and choose the one that best matches your resolution. Right-click on the picture, and there will be a pop-up menu. One of the choices is "Set Picture as Background". Click and voila!

NOTE: The organizer was blurry on my laptop. I ended up using the 1920 x 1080 resolution, even though that did not match my screen's resolution, because it was clearer.

* For Mac, go to Finder, System Preferences, and Displays. The display button will show the resolution. Mine is 1680 x 1040. I installed that organizer with no blurriness. Hold down Control while clicking on the picture. A menu will pop up that gives you the option to use the picture as the background. Just select that option.

Once the picture is installed, just move your icons into the appropriate box. Current Projects contains what I'm working on but won't keep on the desktop. This box usually contains FIE's and IEP notes. Once I'm finished with those, they get filed into the appropriate Documents file off the desktop. I like to call it - are you ready for this? - virtual crumpling. Because I have a NEED to cross things off my list and dump them elsewhere. It's a sickness.

Most Used is pretty obvious. Anything I always use - FIE templates, processing forms, etc., gets a special spot in this box.

Other - because there's always an other. This contains my technology stuff that the staff likes to have access to when they are working on my computer. More importantly, it holds the TpT products that I've bought and need to make. Once I make them, they get stored off the desktop in Documents. Are you sensing a pattern?

I hope this makes your life easier! Thanks for taking a look.

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Laura

I signed us up for the TpT Seller Challenge one week ago.

Makeover Madness, Challenge One, is what I am talking about today.

The instructions were to pick one product that needed a facelift.

So, I picked our product Orange You Smart: All About Fruits and Vegetables.

I did not pick it because the cover needed an update.

I selected this unit because it was two years old.

But the sales did not reflect that little detail.

And once I opened up the folder....oh dear.

Houston, we definitely have a problem.

The whole product literally screamed out loud, "Me, me, pick me!  Pick me!"

change number one:

The fonts were a problem.

Y'all know I simply adore fonts.

I adore KG Fonts, Cara Carroll's fonts, fonts from Graphics from the Pond, Rowdy Fonts.

I chose from the solid selections created by Jen Jones.

I picked Hello Best Day.

change number two:

The old product was great if you had an unlimited amount of ink.

Unlimited ink is not a reality for most of us.

change number 3:

One activity did not really fit.

It got deleted.

Moving on.

change number 4:

The sweeties love to graph info, especially if taste testing is involved.

Now, there is a What is Your Favorite Fruit? graphing activity.

Plus a What is Your Favorite Vegetable? graphing activity.

There are tally mark and bar graph versions for both.

change number 5:

The original product was not sharp-looking.

I was distracted looking at the product with the busy borders, competing fonts 

and mix-matched graphics.

All of the things that bothered went bye-bye.

Before preview in 2013:

After the 5 changes above, check out the After preview of 2015.

Join up with the following blogging organizers of TpT Seller Challenge.

They are fantastic!

Another Texas blogger!   Amber at Peppy Zesty Teacherista.

Jen at Sparkling in Second

Ashley at Teach Create Motivate.

Yes, she is a Texan, too!

And Emily at Third in Hollywood.

Off to get ready for Challenge #2.

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Amy

We are beyond thrilled to announce that we are joining the AMAZING Spark of Inspiration collaborative blog! We admire these bloggers immensely and can not wait to collaborate with them. Let the Spark of Inspiration Adventure Begin!

Check out our first blog post now! It includes tips and tricks from the three of us about taking a trip to some place that will enhance reading skills and spark imagination this summer....The Public Library! I know many of you are thinking, "Really??? The public library?!?" We aren't crazy! (Well, maybe a little) The public library isn't what it used to be and it's a perfect way for our kiddos to enhance their reading skills and avoid the regression. Click here to check it out! This is NOT your Grandma's public library!

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Lisa Faught

Do you see some of your favorite educators?   We do!

BIG thank you to the hosts of the Nashville Bash.

You will see them on the front row in their cool pink NashBash t-shirts.

LaToya blogs at Flying Into First Grade.

Greg blogs at The Kindergarten Smorgasboard.

Cindy is Exploring in Elementary.

Alexandra is Classroom Action with Ms. Jackson.

Dana is Common to the Core.

Friday was perfect night for a baseball game.

America's pastime with fireworks, GoNoodle sunglasses, Nashville Sounds win 

and nachos!

We really missed Laura this weekend.

Amy, Dana (she made the NashBash t-shirts), Lisa and Annie (soon to be Mrs. Ridgway)!

We met both of these at the Spring Teacher Blogger Meetup in Indiana in March.

Hey Y'all!

You know how much we love, love, love Jamie and Jodi.

Good luck on your upcoming presentation, friends.

Check out their blog Kinder Glitter Girls.

Teachers at the meet up also represented Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.

#NashTeacherBash is definitely welcoming to the other 49 states.

back row:  Catherine The Brown Bag Teacher, Jodi and Jamie Kinder Glitter Girls, Me,

Dana Common to the Core, Greg The Kindergarten Smorgasboard and Lisa.

front row:   Alexandra Classroom Action with Ms. Jackson, Megan Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade,

Annie, Stacy Simpson's Superstars, and LaToya Flying Into First Grade.

We were happy to meet a new Nashville friends Elizabeth and Lauren.

Elizabeth is an SLP and Laura was so disappointed she missed meeting The Speech Owl.

I tried to ask SLP-related questions about caseloads, assistants, therapy....

but I did not really know what I was talking about.

And we met Lauren at Teaching is a Royal Adventure.   She is a sweetheart.

And, naturally,  Annie is in the photo because she will photo bomb like a champ.

Or you can just invite her into the photo.

Whoo-hoo!

Lisa was thrilled with her epic prize.

If you read the blog, you know Lisa is moving to a new school 

and to PreK.

Look what she is bringing with her.....oh my!

ESGI stepped up BIG time and gave away....that's right....gave away

an entire free year to a winner.

But hold on, they also gave a free subscription to her team.

And you know EGSI is PreK-friendly, right?

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of Lisa's heart.

Check out all of these fabulous companies that donated prizes!

And GoNoodle thank you for the yummy lunch!

Teachers and students love GoNoodle!

Thank you to Scentos, Tallahassee Sunday, Melonheadz, Teaching In the Tongass,

Whimsy Clips, Chalk and Apples, Remind, Educents, TpT, Teacher Created Resources 

and many more generous donors.

The Library is the perfect place for me, right?

This library is located in the Gaylord Opryland Resort.

It was a great place to unwind with friends.

Sunday we ate, ate, ate and ate at Monell's.

Everyone gathered for a photo on the staircase.

It was sad saying goodbye.   Very sad.

Many hugs were exchanged.

We would like give a special thank you to Jim 'N Nicks BBQ Restaurant for lunch

on Saturday courtesy of GoNoodle.

Atmalogy was our meeting place for Saturday.  

Monell's was where we stuffed our faces on Sunday.

Then, I went back to Texas.

Fast as lightning the weekend was over.

Lisa stayed in Nashville a little longer.

She got a night out in Nashville with Stacy, Dana, Greg

and The Mister.

They went to Acme Feed & Seed.

I see a lot of smiles.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Amy

I am LOVING my new Sam Edelman sandals!!! They will be perfect for my summer adventures to Nashville and Vegas. I found these at Nordstrom. Click on the shoe! 

Who doesn't love a pedicure?!? Plus, this color looks great with my new shoes. :)

Two of my sweet students and their families surprised me with this gorgeous earrings! I will think of "Mess #1" and "Mess #2" every time I wear them. :)

I absolutely love this poem. Every year, I give it to my kiddos and try not cry while reading it to them. (Key word: TRY) This year was especially difficult to read because I am moving schools and will not see their smiling faces in the hall next year. 

Oh, the  possibilities! Saying goodbye to my kiddos, team, and home away from home was very difficult. I truly believe God led me to my school for a reason and I am so thankful for all of the special people he placed in my life. These past four years have been wonderful and I will miss my second family. I am excited to embark on a new adventure and create new memories in my new classroom. My new team is absolutely precious and I can't wait to work with them! Here's what my new home away from home looks like. I can't wait to turn this space into a place where laughing, learning, exploration, friendships, and memories are made. Let the PreK adventures begin! 

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Lisa Faught