Hello! I'm Jennifer from Herding Kats in Kindergarten. I currently teach 1st grade this year, but my heart is in Kindergarten! Most of the products in my TPT store are geared towards K-1st and I always try them out with my own little guinea pigs first - my 4 children ages 13, 11, 8, and 6 and then my fabulous firsties. My class runs the gamut of super high and super low, so I am always working on products that are differentiated so that I can meet the needs of all my kiddos. Please stop by my blog and say hello! or leave me a note on my Herding Kats' Facebook page :)

 

Every time I tried to sit down and think of my favorite things for the Holly Bloggy Gift Exchange, that song from "The Sound of Music" would go through my head:

"Girls in white dress, with blue satin sashes, snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into spring, these are a few of my favorite things!"

Of course, that was not at all helpful in coming up with this post, or my giveaway idea! Honestly, it was really hard to think of something that was truly one of my favorite things and that others would love to win in a giveaway. I love to read, but my favorite paranormal romances wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea. My favorite cds are a mix of Glee and country favorites, which also wouldn't have a wide following. I usually don't get treats like Starbucks since I'm trying not to break out my fat jeans this winter. Hmm, this giveaway is hard!

Then my daughter came to me and asked for a "Girls Day Out". We do this every few months - I leave the boys home with daddy and my daughter and I spend the whole day together - shopping, eating and having a great time. We try to find different places to eat in our little town - like The Tea Room which serves on fine china and has 100's of different teas, sandwiches and pastries or The Silver Spoon which serves rustic, country fare with huge dessert portions. Then we hit the mall, Hobby Lobby and Hastings. Right before we go home we stop off at Atlanta Bread Company and get some freshly baked cookies - my favorite is the chocolate toffee cookies - yummy!

Part of our experience is always stopping at Bath & Body in the mall. We slather on hand lotion and sample all the new fragrances. We stock up on mini hand sanitizers and sniff all the candles. I hem and haw over which scent to get for my little ladybug scent portable that's clipped to the sun visor in my van. Basically, its a half hour of sensual bliss!

And, I bet a lot of you are like me - hesitant to buy something indulgent for yourself since it seems like there's always a child in need of new shoes or a special outfit for a choir performance, or maybe your class is out of dry erase markers and construction paper, so you put off the scented body lotion and bath gels in favor of something more practical. It's kind of sad that we always put ourselves last on the list, when if we take care of ourselves a little more, we would find we had more to give. So, in the spirit of "Take care of yourself so you can take care of others." I am giving away a $25 gift card for Bath & Body!

 

Best of luck in all the giveaways and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, that your class is more nice than naughty and that you get a free snow day (or two!) this winter! A great big thank you to Caitlin and Sarah for allowing me to participate in the Holly Bloggy exchange and giveaway!

So we all know that Bath and Body works is a great gift but this is a gift certificate for you! To pamper yourself! Woo Hoo!

Remember: You MUST be a Holly Bloggy Christmas participant to enter. (I keep getting entries from those not participating.) Here is what you need to do to win:

Follow Herding Kats in Kindergarten's blog - Leave a comment
"Like" Herding Kats in Kindergarten's on Facebook - Leave a comment
Follow Herding Kats in Kindergarten's TPT store - Leave a comment

The giveaway ends tonight at midnight! The winner will be announced on Saturday! Good Luck!
 

Giveaway Winner

So excited to announce that Kelly from Beg, Borrow, and Steal is the winner of Giveaway #2! I will sending your information to Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade!!! Congratulations!

 

Check back tomorrow for another giveaway!!!

Winner and Giveaway #2

Yay! Congrats to the winner of Mrs. Leeby’s giveaway - Kelly from Thirsty Firsties! YAY! Thanks to everyone who entered! You will LOVE today’s giveaway!

Hello, I'm Jennifer from Rowdy in First Grade, and I'm addicted to online shopping! There. I said it. Whew! I shop a lot online. Don't get my wrong- the mall is my happy place, but there is something about shopping in your pj's that's very appealing. One of my favorite site's is Erincondren.com.

Are you familiar with Erin Condren products? If you aren't then prepare to be obsessed. My addiction started small. I bought the teacher planner. The teacher planner is AMAZING! It has absolutely everything you need for planning, grading, calendars, etc. Then I just had to have an iPad folio. Now I have holiday labels, note cards and wrapping paper. I'm trying to justify why I must have an acrylic tray! (Surely I need it for something, right?) During the holidays we think of others, but lets face it- we teachers work hard and we love to treat ourselves. So I'm giving away a $25 gift card to Erin Condren! Happy shopping and Merry Christmas!

Jennifer

Rowdy in First Grade

 

Seriously??? $25 for Erin Condren?? WOW!!!! Merry Christmas to 1 lucky winner. Are you ready to enter?

Remember: You must be a Holly Bloggy Christmas participant to enter. This means you have HBC 2012 partner and are currently working on a gift to send to them! :)

Here is what you have to do:

Follow Rowdy in First Grade's Blog - Leave a comment

"Like" Rowdy in First Grade on Facebook - Leave a comment

Follow Rowdy in First Grade's TPT store - Leave a comment

 

The giveaway ends tonight at midnight! Winner announced tomorrow!!! Have fun!

 

 

 

 

My Favorite Things–Giveaway # 1

EDIT: Sorry! It seems there were some problems with the rafflecopter this morning. I have tried to fix it, but no use. So........to enter please look at the bottom of the post and do each and leave a comment. The giveaway has been extended until tomorrow night!!!



Before we have our first giveaway, just a reminder. All partners should have been emailed by now. Remember: Please send out this gift by December 10th WITH a tracking number! Be sure to take pictures before mailing it! Please email us the tracking number and pictures by December 10th! We have already received a few!   Now, on the the fun stuff!
The only rules for the giveaway are that you are a participant of Holly Bloggy Christmas 2012 AND that you follow the directions on the rafflecopter! Easy enough! We are so excited about our first giveaway sponsor!

 

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Mrs. Leeby is here with some gifts for you!

 

Merry Christmas and happy winter to this wonderful blogging community! I am honored to get to share with you some of my favorite things! Blogging has enhanced my life so much this year and I could think of nothing better than to give something back! Anyone that knows me, knows that I find a reason to buy an outfit at Target almost every week, would be the most boring teacher EVER, if I didn't get my coffee fix, wish I had a million to spend on TpT and LOVE to create items for my classroom and yours!

 

Without further adieu, here are a few of my favorite things that I am giving away:

 

1. A $10 gift card to Target - I'm sorry that this gift card is going to make you walk through the Target doors. You know you're going to spend over $200. . . and you only needed toilet paper!

 

2. A $10 Starbucks gift card- this one might last you two visits. Stay awake; our students need us!

 

3. A $10 TpT gift card- Whoop whoop!

 

4. My hot seller and favorite item in my store at the moment: Winter Wonderful: A warm bundle of worksheets, books, math and literacy fun

 

 

Good luck to you all!

 

Stay warm,

 

 

 

 

 

 

Told you it was awesome!!!! To enter just do the follow and leave a comment for each:

 

"Like" Mrs. Leeby on Facebook

Follow Learning with Mrs. Leeby's Blog

Follow Mrs. Leeby's TPT store

 

We will choose 1 winner tomorrow night and announce on Wednesday....where there will be another giveaway!!!! Good Luck!

 

 

 

Giveaway's About to Begin

Get ready! The Holly Bloggy Christmas giveaways are about to begin! We will run a giveaway for only 1 day! Yep...1 day! We will announce the winner the following day. You will want to make sure you are following this blog so that you don't miss out! The only rules for the giveaways are that you do as asked in the rafflecopter AND you are a Holly Bloggy Christmas participant. If you are not a participant, you are not eligible! Don't worry! You can join next year! The first giveaway begins tomorrow! It's a great one! Promise!

Partner's Sent

Just wanted to let everyone know that if you have signed up for Holly Bloggy Christmas 2012 you should have received your partner's information! Also, if you signed up to do a giveaway, you should have receive an email with that information as well!  We have over 60 participants this year and 10 giveaways! Remember that if you are interested in participating, you have until Monday to sign up! Just email us at teacherbloggerexchange{at}gmail{dot}com!!!

So start getting your Favorite Things ready for your partner and get them mailed out by December 10th! We will be looking for your emails WITH your shipping number AND your picture of what you sent! We can't wait to see all of the craftiness!!!

Holly Bloggy Christmas 2012

Hey everyone!  We are back for another exciting year of Holly Bloggy Christmas!

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

This year's theme is My Favorite Things!  Everyone will use their best Oprah voice and head bob and share a few of their favorite things with their partner.  {Unfortunately no one is going to give away a brand!new!LEX-USSSSSSS!  Wait.  If anyone out there is interested in giving away a luxury vehicle, please disclose that info in your email to me so I can select you a very special partner.}

<div class="Holly-Bloggy-Christmas-button" style="width: 150px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="http://www.teacherbloggerexchange.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j352/mspreppyblog/hollybloggychristmas1.png" alt="Holly Bloggy Christmas" width="150" height="150" /> </a> </div> <!--end button code box-->

Here's how this works:

-Sign ups close on November 26th.  Please sign up ASAP so you don't miss out!
-Email us at teacherbloggerexchange{at}gmail{dot}com with your name, blog address, mailing address, any allergies, and then give us a blurb about you to send on to your partner.
-International Friends: please let us know if you are not in the USA.  We love our overseas teacher bloggers and will do everything we can to pair you up with another foreign friend!
-We will email out partners by December 1st.  You will read over your partner's information and blog and then use that to send them some of your favorite things that you think they might enjoy too!  There is a $15 limit excluding shipping.
-Take a picture of your gift BEFORE you send it!  This is important!
-Wrap it up and get it to the post office by December 10th.  You MUST get a shipping confirmation number.
-Email us your shipping confirmation number by December 10th.  We HAVE to have this information! There is nothing worse than getting emails from people who sent their gift but never received their gift!!! If you are too busy, please opt out this year! There will always be next year!
-Write a post about your favorite things and why you sent them to your new bloggy friend.  Include the picture you took of your gift. Schedule it to post on December 25th.  We will have a linky party for everyone to showcase their gifts here on Christmas day!

If you are interested in hosting a Holly Bloggy Giveaway, please email us at the email address above with "Giveway" in the subject line.  We would like to try something different this year and allow people to guest post over here {complete with your blog button and links to your TpT stores} and give away one {or two!} of your favorite things.  It could be a gift card to your favorite store, yur favorite lip gloss, anything!  We have set a minimum of $10 value on the giveaway item.  Email us by November 26th if you would like to be a giveaway sponsor!

Alright!  I think that covers all of the details!  We can't wait for another fun Holly Bloggy Christmas with you fabulous people again this year! 

Ready, set, GO!