Ok, it's official. I need a 12-step program!!!

Ok, so, Stud and I made a trip to my favorite store in the world, otherwise known as Walmart. I should be completely embarrassed to admit it, but....I came home with this:

I know, I know, I know!!! I'm such a psycho! I can't believe it, either. But, let me try to defend myself here, and explain how I rationalized this purchase.

A couple of years ago, when they came out with this, it was $75. The double crock was $50. I ended up getting the double (with some Christmas cash from my parents) but have secretly been wishing I had bought the bigger one. Well, then this past holiday season, I saw the triple crock for $50 (I think at Sam's Club?) and I was pissed all over again that I didn't get it.

Imagine my delight when I spied an end-cap of these beautiful babies at Walmart with a giant price sign hanging about it that said.....ready? $25!!!! No, I'm NOT kidding!!!! I went online to price it at some other places and found this at the Crock Pot website. Can you even BELIEVE the deal I got?! I can't, either!

But, holy crap, what have I done?! I can't even figure out where to store the other 9 crock pots I have!!! To help me feel better about not getting the triple crock, I kept telling myself that I had nowhere to keep it anyway. Jeez, wait til my mother hears about this!! She's gonna really give it to me. That is, until we have a big family party, and it's exactly what we need for the buffet. :) I guess my weekend project will be to figure out which closet in the basement I'm going to clear out and turn into a Crock Closet!

Even I can't believe my luck...

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Do you remember how freakin' excited I was about my great find the other day? Well, take that excitement and multiply it times ten!!

I went downstairs early this morning to clean up the mess Stud and his buddy left from hanging out last night. I saw my new toy sitting on the island, still in it's box and figured, since I'm washing dishes anyway, why not open it and give it a quick wash.

I opened the box and saw this:
"What the hell is that?" I wondered. Well, hot damn!!! Look at what it was!!!!
A Little Dipper!!!! I'm getting all excited again just writing about it! Apparently, I didn't really look at the box when I bought it.Here's my beautiful new crockpot.
And, here is Mama and Baby. Aren't they adorable!? I can NOT believe a snagged the BOTH of them for 7 bucks!!! Woo hoo!
Just for shits and giggles, I used my black and stainless coffee cup today. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that I'm a dork, thanks for asking!
I took a quick glance around at all the other things in my kitchen that now match. Here's my espresso maker, and next to it, in the corner, my thermal coffee carafes. Oh, and I just noticed my papertowel holder matches, too. Now I'm wishing I had picked up the black coffee pot instead of the white. :(

My Jack LaLanne Power Juicer,And, last, but CERTAINLY not least, my Keurig machine!I almost wish I would have listened to my brother when he tried to convince me to get stainless appliances. I just couldn't see spending the extra money on appliances for the kitchen in my basement. But, they sure would have looked nice...

Hey, whatta ya know? A post about school!

The other day, some of the babies were working with white boards during centers, and one of my super stars brought this over to me. Of course, being the bitch that I am, the first thing I did was chastise him for interrupting my group. (Rule #1 of center time - DO NOT interrupt my group!)But, a few minutes later, when we were ready to switch, I told him to bring it over so I could see it.
Translation: My teacher is sweet and good, and mad, but good. She gives us new stuff, problems, math stuff. My teacher really loves to sing, sing, sing.

How smart is this kid?! The last line made me laugh out loud. Funny cuz it's true!!

I discovered a few new teacher blogs this weekend. There were a couple of 1st Grade blogs that I found particularly interesting. Mrs. Larremore over at Chalk Talk posted about these Word Helpers that she found over at Sarah Cooley's blog, First Grader...at last! I immediately set to work, making a set of my own.

I also put together a power point slide show, that I plan to show the babies tomorrow. From that, I printed out a page with all the slides, that I plan to copy for them to keep in their homework folders. This color copy will stay at my group table. I plan to make a few more to keep in some of my centers.

Look what I bought at Sam's Club!! This is the first time I decided to do something completely frivolous with my $100 supply allowance. This laminator was $99.98. It's something I've always wanted, and after the past few months of HELL, I decided it was time to treat myself to something nice. (Yes, only a nerdy teacher would think THIS is a treat. What about it?!) It came with 50 different laminating pouches; 10 ID badge pouches (complete with clips!), 10 5"x7" pouches, 10 'menu size' pouches, and 20 letter size pouches. For another $20.68, I picked up a pack of 200 additional letter size pouches.

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I quickly laminated the 6 posters I made with my Word Helpers, although I've decided to call them Reading Buddies. I can't wait to hang these up near my small group table tomorrow, and introduce them to the babies. Thanks, Sarah!

One of the "projects" I plan to make with my new laminator (woo hoo!) is dry erase "boards" for the kids to keep in their desks. This laminating film can be written on with dry erase markers, so I'm going to put a piece of cardstock in the pouch and laminate it. Oo, wait! I can put lines on one side for them to write on, and leave the other side plain for them to draw or whatever. Now I'm excited!

Oh, AND I'm even more excited about this....Pissed Off posted about these amazing Dry Erase Crayons from Crayola the other day. Hallelujah! What the hell took so long for someone to come up with these!! Do you have any idea how many markers I've had to throw away because the babies either pushed the tips in from writing too hard, or they didn't cap them correctly and they dried out? These things aren't cheap. Sure, I've bought the cheap ones from the dollar store, but they don't last.

This year, for the first time, I put dry erase markers on my supply list for parents. I decided to go with a very nontraditional list this year (you know, to go with the nontraditional grade!) and asked for dry erase markers, sanitizing wipes, index cards and hand sanitizer. The only 'supplies' I asked that the babies have are 3-5 sharpened pencils and crayons. That's it. I have scissors and glue, and I don't allow the babies to have markers. (Occasionally, we use markers for projects, but if they have them in their desks, they try to do EVERYTHING in marker, which means my desks, chairs and students also get covered in marker!) I told parents that they should have scissors and glue available at home for homework and projects, but please don't send any to school. The more they have, the more they play with. I know, I'm mean. Eh, I'm over it!

Anyway, I think if each of them had a personal dry erase board and crayon in their desk, there would be a whole lot of writing going on, not to mention the number of trees we'd be saving! (That one's for you, Suz!) I'm a little too excited about this now. I will be bringing card stock to school with me tomorrow to put in the copy machine to put the lines on one side. I'll probably bore you with the finished project later. You've been warned!