Frozen frenzy!

Disney released Frozen on November 27, 2013. Our lives have not been the same since! My girls love the movie, the characters, and the songs. I have heard Let it go more times than I can count. Thankfully, Frozen is a great movie and the girls are too busy to watch it often.

My husband's cousin, Abbie, is a 1st grade teacher. Abbie blogs and creates great teaching resources on teachers pay teachers. She created a Frozen inspired 1st grade reading activity pack for her classroom. I asked Abbie if she would throw one together for Maddie in kindergarten. Maddie loves it! Maddie wants to do the activies on a daily basis!

Maddie has always been very eager to learn. She is excited to do any kind of flash cards, worksheets, or learning activities. Ella, is a different story. Ella prefers to just have fun playing and pretending with her toys. I appreciate that and I have realized she wants more engaging activities. Ella is going to be a hands on learner. She wasn't interested in learning how to spell her name until I made up a song for it. She still sings that silly tune when writing her name! When Ella saw the Frozen activities Maddie was doing she was jealous. Abbie agreed to let me steal the idea and do a pre-k edition. It's amazing how much more exciting things are when you throw Anna and friends on a counting activity!

Abbie's blog and teachers pay teachers store is tales from the first grade.  You can find a ton of 1st grade and kindergarten resources through her.

http://talesfromthefirstgrade.blogspot.com/

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Tales-From-The-First-Grade-By-Abbie-Jinnings

Just in case you have boys or even girls that aren't so Frozen crazy. I have also created a Toy Story themed pre-k activity pack. below are the links to both

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Frozen-in-Pre-K-1664925

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Toy-Story-in-Pre-k-games-and-centers-1704132

We are gearing up to put our home on the market. We are going to throw moving in the mix of 3 kids, 2 dogs, traveling, working, school, weddings, birthdays, and side projects we are both working on. 2015 is going to be a wild ride! I know all the hard work will pay off in the end. We just have to stay focused and be patient. Easier said then done I am sure!

Brownie Batter Dip

        Another snow day school cancellation in the Midwest! We are all under the weather at this house so the cancellation was actually welcomed this morning! Tuesdays and Thursdays are super busy around here! Ella's preschool starts at the same time as Maddie's school. The schools are about 7 miles apart which makes those mornings very busy. I was very happy to stay inside and nurse this cold. 

        We had a substantial snow storm over the weekend. The predictions were over a foot of snow and to start late Saturday night. Snow storm + regular weekend grocery shopping + Super Bowl Sunday = a packed grocery store!! I had to stop at Kroger and it was crazy! Only 3 carts were left in the cart corral when I walked in. I wish I could have avoided it but I was over due for some groceries. I am that person who panics for milk before a snowfall! Trust me, my life would be miserable if we ever ran out of milk! All 3 of my girls drink pretty much nothing but milk. 

        Justin had a request for nachos for Super Bowl food. I had a craving for Brownie batter dip. Snowed in with my family and comfort food sounded amazing after a busy week. Below is the recipe for brownie batter dip. It has become a family favorite. You can use graham crackers, pretzels, bananas, strawberry, or vanilla wafers to dip. 

Brownie Batter Dip:

8 ounces of cream cheese (room temp)

1/4 cup butter (room temp)

2 1/2 cups powered sugar

3 tablespoons milk

5 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Beat together cream cheese and butter until fluffy

Add 2 1/2 cups powered sugar and 3 tablespoons of milk. Beat together until smooth. Next, add cocoa powder, flour, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth, scraping the bottom and sides to fully mix together. 

Good news! Some friends and I have come up with some football freebies for you! I want to thank you for following my blog and also celebrate how many times I have blogged so far in 2015!

Thank you!

Whether or not you are watching the big game today, and no matter who  you are cheering for, your students will love these FOOTBALL THEMED FREEBIES!

Please just do me a huge favor.

I know that you follow my Teachers Pay Teachers store (at least I hope you do, so you don't miss any of my goodies!) I also have a feeling that you might follow Abbie Jinnings and Allison Stuckey's TPT page since I mention their work a lot! 

Please be sure to FOLLOW everyone who has left freebies for you on my post today. They are all my personal friends and have just started out posting their amazing work on TPT. Please help them out by following their TPT stores and watching for all of the future products! After you download their freebies, just click FOLLOW on TPT. :) Thank you so much!

From Stuckey in Second:

From Tales From the First Grade by Abbie Jinnings:

From Fables from the Kitchen Table:

From Michelle Meyer:

From Hostler's Third Grade Thinkers: