PACKAGES & PRESENTS FOR ME???????????

This week was fairly rough on me physically.   Without whining Im having some health issues and have been running to doctor appointment and all that fun stuff.    I was in bed 2 days this week ( I know....completely unheard of for me)


But I was so pleasantly surprised all week by packages in the mail.  Now some were supplies that I ordered (its still a happy surprise for me).   Other packages were sweat surprises from my friends in blogland...now we always say bloggy bff but there ladies and really friends.   Even though we have never met, we talk online...comment on each other blogs, support each other in our Etsy shops and Im so grateful to have them as a support system.


Hey the fact that are just such freakin talented ladies is purely coincidental!   I roll with talented chicks what can I say!  Im not going to name all of my girls in the crew but theyre on my blog sidebar and they all know who they are!


Now Im gonna show some pics of my presents that I couldnt resist taking pictures of when I got them!

Look at the beautiful packaging from 58 & Grace...it would make the sickest person smile!

My vintage Scrabble pieces...she adhered them to an awesome Bingo card!  I have to order more for projects because I can touch this its two perfect....gonna take it out of the plastic and frame it! No......I really am....stay tuned for that coming up on the blog soon!

Here is the necklace I immediately made from the vintage game pieces I ordered from 58 & Grace. (yes sick and all...got up and ran to my table and put it together) BAM!

These babies came from Flutterby Kisses...I told her once that that fabulous butterfly charm reminded me of my logo with the script text background!

How freaking awesome is this, I love this and will now need to order many more!  How cute is my logo looking in there! 

This little vintage looking beauty is new from I Heart Rock n Roll   It reminds me of  old typewriter keys.  She made this for me along with these adorable earrings (photo not available here but definitely in her shop)

This actually was the first to arrive last week from Smitten By A Promise...I love this bracelet.  She asked my favorite colors and I told her to surprise me.....well she did a fabulous job I love it.   The beads are pearly white with speckles of gold.

I love all my bffs!   With or without their fabulous gifts, because they give me the most important thing......SUPPORT!   I try my best to support everyone, I don't think there is a need for jealousy or drama!

Well Im glad that the days in my sick bed were brightened by beautiful packages and warm comments ( you know I had my phone and was checking in on Facebook!

Stay tuned Ive got some big news about Tuesday!

-MJ

L7D 1ST GIVEAWAY.....MEET MY NEW BFF

Most of you probably know this adorable girl but I just recently had the pleasure of discovering her and her adorable blog.  It was when she did a post exposing herself explaining we should know a few things if we are gonna be her BFF.  Then she and invited  fellow bloggers to do the same in an all out BFF partay!   I met some great girls and more importantly MOMS!

Her name is Ashley and her fabulous blog is called Little Miss Momma  http://littlemissmomma.blogspot.com/.

Her personality is as bright as that smile

HOLIDAY GIFTS....ON A BUDGET

As the mother of 5 children I am very appreciative of the time and effort teachers put into their jobs.  I was a pre-school teacher myself for awhile.   However as I stated I have 5 children so that's ALOT of teachers.

My pre-schooler has 1 teacher, 2 aides, 1 therapist in her class....TOTAL 4 gifts!
and since she is special needs she has door-to-door busing with a.m. & p.m. busdrivers
so that means 1 driver and 1 aide both ways.........another 4 gifts.....TOTAL
 8 gifts!


My 4th grader has 2 teachers and 1 aide in her class......TOTAL 3 gifts!
she also has a math tutor who is also our karate teacher....TOTAL 1 gift!


Okay folks are we keeping up......so Im at a total of 12 gifts and thats not including my 6th & 11th grader who have 4-6 teachers daily but dont really do teachers gifts at that level (????) I dont see what the difference is but okay...kiddos.


Thankfully everyone of the teachers are female so I didnt have to find different things suited for male or female.   My solution........

Scarf with coordinated gloves & a handmade burlap reindeer ornament.

Here are the 12 gift bags & also the center bag are goodie bags for my daughter's preschool class

Now me personally I think the set is pretty nice......some people might think what I say next is cheap or rude but here it is.   They're from DOLLAR TREE...yep!    Listen, say or think what you want but 12 teachers to buy for is alot and I did the best that I could.   I bought a few sets for myself and for other family members.

New Jersey is an expensive state to live in and currently times are tough here under new goverment so every penny saved for us counts. 

I truly do appreciate all the teachers who educate children and the extra effort they put in as well.

ONE OF ' THOSE ' TEACHERS !!!!!!

My daughter a.k.a. Gab, who is a junior in high school (ugh I know...) has an awesome Health teacher this year that she is very excited about it.   I know this because on the first day of class she came home and told me all about her and gave me verbatim speeches of what this teacher discussed.

She is going to absolutely kill me for posting this picture...but I couldnt find any recent ones...this is from her facebook and the only one where she isnt wearing glasses or being completely ridiculous.


My daughter also has an amazing sense of imitation, she can mimic personalities and people.....she is quite good at it.  So she was very energetic and telling all the things this teacher would be teacher them this marking period.

What struck me in this whole performance is that she said the teacher herself said she was very "random" and the kids in the class are encouraged to ask her "random questions" and not feel embarrassed.  I thought this was a great idea, because you know at this age (15-17) things get weird and sometimes they dont want to ask their parents the questions.  So Bravo to her for putting that out there for them.

That evening I had back to school night and I went to the classroom and was the only parent there (shocker..I guess some parents dont consider it important to attend)  Whether it is Health or Math it important to be there.  Im more inclined to say Health is more important this is the teacher who will be teaching your children about Hygiene, STD's, Terminal Illnesses, Safe Sex, and a multitude of other important things teens need to know.

Back to classroom.....in walks this lovely blonde lady in a adorable green dress.  We introduce ourselves and then start on a 20 minute random conversation about everything!   We discussed heath topics, shopping topics, Craigslist and also a little bit about my daughter herself.  I told her everything my daughter told me and she said that was EXACTLY what she told them in class.  YAY.....MY DAUGHTER IS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE TEACHER...and not the iPhone in her purse, or the boy texting her, or her friends passing by in the hallway. lol

I wanted to help the teacher out, so I made her a Random Question Can!

This is the same project I made using the formula cans, just a larger size.  I decorated this one for Fall and accompanied it with a Fabric Pumpkin for her desk.

 I really appreciated her time at back to school night, she brought up some things even I didnt know about (health wise) and said she would be sure to pass it on to my daughter.  She is also the mom of 2 so she can relate to parent/child conversations in a real way.

Doesn't happen all the time, but sometime you get ONE OF THOSE TEACHERS!  I think Mrs. Strack is one of those teachers.

For those of you who arent on the East Coast, never the less New Jersey.  We have been hit really hard with budget cuts from our new governor.  He has hit our teachers and civil service workers throught the state (directly affecting my family in many ways)   So there were teacher lay-offs and teachers retiring left and right.  The fact that this teacher is in that classroom enthusiastic and willing to teach these kids some pretty important stuff means alot to me as a parent.

SO........HOORAY FOR MRS. STACIE STRACK....FROM WOODBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL!!!THIS JUST IN.......

My daughter just sent me an iPhone update from school (so not allowed)...lol    This is Mrs. Strack!