Sweet Teacher Appreciation Gift Basket

May 4th-May 8th is Teacher Appreciation Week and if there has ever been a profession that should have a week of appreciationm it's is a teacher. In my opinion, these men and women are saints. They teach our kids, care for our kids and dedicate their lives to teaching others. I could never be a teacher. I do not have the patience to teach. It takes a very special type of person to be a teacher! I am super appreciative of Adrian's teachers. He is not easy and she handles him and 19 others like a pro. My friend asked me if I would help her out and make a little something we could gift the second grade teachers this week to show how much we really appreciate them. I know teachers like to have a little stash of treats at their desks so I decided that a small basket of sweet treats would be perfect!

This is the easiest gift basket I have ever put together. I had to make 4 baskets and I didn't want them to be huge so I purchased little loaf containers at Michael's and a variety of chocolates in 0.55 oz packages. I also purchased different kinds of Mentos, just to include some sort of candy.

Then I just added a ribbon and a tag. I made the tags a little oversized (so it looks cuter!) and attached them with hot glue. VOILA!! super easy and cute gift basket!

FREE Sweetest Teacher Printable Labels

Wanna make these for your kids teacher? GREAT! I have the printable for you, just click here! I told you this was super easy and i know your child's teacher will love them. I can't wait to give Adrian's teacher and the other 2nd grade teachers their lsweet baskets tomorrow!!

A Simple Way To Give Extra This Holiday Season! #ExtraGumMoments

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ExtraGumMoments #CollectiveBias

It's November! I'm thrilled. It's officially the holiday season, at least for our family. I've already started planning our decorating, parties and holiday meals. I also use this time of the year to teach my kids about appreciation for others and being grateful for what they have. I want them to realize how much others do for them and to take a moment to say thank you. Every year, starting November 1st, we work together on little "thank you" baskets that we hand out to various people in the community, a simple way to give extra.

On Saturday morning, we went to the store and picked up all the supplies we needed: Extra gum in yummy flavors, apples, cookie baking supplies and a cute basket. 

Adrian wanted to include his favorite cookies in the basket so we spent Saturday afternoon baking batches of chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal raisin cookies.

I decided that our first basket would go to the office staff at his school. Most people remember to give thanks to the teachers and principal, but who really remembers to thank the staff that is there day in, day out making sure the school is running the way it's supposed to? We assembled our basket with cookies, an apple and a couple packs of Extra gum. Then, Adrian wrote a nice note to include in the basket:

" To the office staff,

Just a little something to thank you for all you do! We are very grateful for you!

                                                                                                Adrian A. and family"

He insisted on carrying the basket into school this morning!

The school office was packed this morning, but we just waited ont he side until everyone was done getting their passes and documents. Then he handed the basket to the secretary and said "This is for you, thank you for everything!"

She was so surprised and even got a little misty-eyed. She said no one had ever done anything so sweet before. Adrian was so pleased with himself and even caught a little smile on his face as he headed to his classroom. I know this little token of our appreciation made their Monday morning!!

For more ideas on how to "Give Extra" this holiday season, make sure to check out Extra Gum on Facebook and Twitter!

Volunteering In The Classroom

If there is one thing I love is volunteering in Adrian's classroom. It's a great opportunity to show him that being involved is important. Teachers have lots of fun ideas but with limited time and budget, it makes it hard to get those ideas off the ground. In come the classroom moms. I take every lunch break and day off of work that I can to volunteer in the classroom. I've being doing it for the past two years and it's really so fun. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, another one of the second grade class moms asked if I could come in and help her decorate the classroom doors for Halloween and take fall pictures. I was there the next morning ready to create!

There are 4 second grade classrooms so we decided to have a Mummy Door, a Monster Door, a Frankenstein door and a Dracula door:

 This is Adrian's classroom door:

The kids are thrilled with their doors. This even created a rivalry with the first grade classrooms who later decorated their doors as well!

We also took fall pictures of the kids. We asked for donations of fall items from the teachers and other parents and created an adorable setup:

Here's Adrian's pic so you can see how cute they looked. I am currently putting them in decorated frames so the kids can take the pictures home to their parents next week!

I;m already scheduled to be back in the classroom on Halloween for trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving and a "create goo" science experiment! 

Do you volunteer in your child's classroom? What fun fall stuff do their teachers have planned?

Easy Fundraising For Your Child's School With Labels For Education® #Labels4Edu #cbias

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc., and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone! #CollectiveBias #Labels4Edu

My son goes to our local public school. I love the school and always try to help out as much as I can. I was so glad to hear that this year, the school signed up for the Campbell's Labels for Education® program. It's an easy way to help the school raise funds for items they need just by purchasing your everyday kitchen staples. From soup to cereal to popcorn and yogurt, your kitchen is probably full of eligible Labels for Education® items!

I went online to the Labels for Education® website to see which items on my grocery list have the labels. It turns out most of them did. I also found coupons for items I was going to be purchasing. Talk about awesomesauce! Then, on my weekly grocery trip to Winn-Dixie, I picked up all my items. I did notice that the Labels for Educaiton® items were available in every aisle. The labels are on the following products: Campbell's, Prego, Swanson Broth, Danimals yogurt, Pop Secret Popcorn, V8 Fusion beverages, Emerald Nuts, Post cereals and many more!

The labels contain points on them. Some products labels are worth 1 point, some are 5 and there are even products that have double points. Our school's goal for the 2014-2014 school year is 50,000 points. 

I purchased 9 products that had the Labels for Education® on them and those 9 products totaled 21 points! 

Now to get Adrian to clip all the labels and then I will drop them off at the school's main office. It's that simple. There are 38 weeks in the school year and if we drop off 20 points a week, that's 760 points from our family alone. There are hundreds of families in his school. If most of the families help out, they can reach that 50,000 point wish this school year and be able to purchase all the items on their wishlist!! This is also an easy way to ask grandparents and other family members to help out your child's school using products they are probably already purchasing!

Want to help out even more? Enter the Labels for Education® Grand Stand for School Sweepstakes going on now. 1,000 schools will win $1,000 and one of those could be your child's school! I already entered and have asked all our family members to enter as well!

Do you collect Labels for Education® for your child's school?

Braided Top Knot Hairstyle for Girls #NoMoreTangles

Disclosure: This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® and Latina Bloggers Connect.

If you have a daughter, step-daughter, niece, cousin or little sister, then you understand me when I say "hairbrushing is like pulling teeth!" Amberly has this gorgeous thick, straight super long hair that she hates brushing. It's naturally tangled, ALL THE TIME. I feel bad for her because I know how much trying to untangle hair hurts but it has to be done. I grew up with the old notion that "beauty is pain!" but I don't want that for her so when I was contacted to try out the JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® line of hair products, I jumped at the opportunity!! I knew that these would be the perfect products that I could use to create my favorite little girl hairstyle: the Braided Top Knot!

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A Braided Top Knot is so perfect. It's two trends in one: a top knot and braids. It's perfect for these hot summer days and great for keeping hair up and tidy during school.  It's also super simple to do and looks so adorable on little girls!

First, I had to try out the products. Remember, I didn't meet Amberly until she was 5, so I never went through the baby hair stage with her. Since I've known her, she has had long, thick hair. I just used my regular shampoo and conditioner on her hair. Then, I tried out the JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® 3-step system: 2-n-1 Shampoo & Conditioner, Leave-in Conditioner and Detangling Spray. I washed her hair and added the Leave in Conditioner. Next step: Detangling!

Honestly, I sprayed the Detangling Spray all over her hair and brushed the tangles out in about 5 minutes! No crying, no screaming, no arguing! So easy!

Now onto the tutorial. This is a super easy and quick hairstyle for girls. All you need is a comb, 2 hair ties and a couple bobby pins. I added a bow, it's not required but I am bow-obsessed and Amberly always wears a bow!

Step 1: Gather hair into a high ponytail, as high on top of her head as you can get it!

Step 2: Loosely braid the ponytail. Then GENTLY pull on each section of the braid to make it look a little thicker. You don't want to pull the braid apart.

Step 3: Wrap braid around base of ponytail. Do not tighten, wrap loosely.

Step 4: Tuck hair tips and loose strands into bun. Pin in place. You can add as many pins as needed. I used three. 

Step 5: Add a bow, ribbon, scarf or leave as is! Now proudly show off your braided top knot!!!

Here's a close-up shot. Notice it doesn't have to be a perfectly tight ballet bun. This is a loose top knot.

I really loved the 3-step nourishing system from Johnson & Johnson. It makes it so easy to brush Amberly's hair now and maybe she will be more open to trying new hairstyles!!

The three-step regimen is essential for maintaining healthy-looking and nourished hair.

● Step 1: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Shampoo & Conditioner leaves hair beautiful and 

easy to manage

● Step 2: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Leave In Conditioner controls wild frizz and 

tangles for silky, shiny hair

● Step 3: JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Detangling Spray instantly unlocks stubborn knots 

in wet or dry hair

SHARE YOUR CHILD'S BACK TO SCHOOL HAIRSTYLE AND WIN!!!

Share their Hair-Back to school Children Hairstyles #NoMoreTangles #sweepstakes for a chance to win $5,000!

Share their Hair! Do you want to send your child back to school looking their best? With JOHNSON’S® NO MORE TANGLES® Shampoo, Leave-in-Conditioner, and 

Detangling Spray, you can be sure that your child’s healthy, tangle-free hair will be the talk of the classroom. In fact, it’ll look so good that you might just want to show it off! Take a picture of your young scholar’s back-to-school hair style and share it via Instagram using the hashtags #NoMoreTangles and #Sweepstakes. One lucky winner will win $5,000, you have until September 15th to enter.

Do you have a daughter? Is it torture to brush her hair?

Back to School 2014-2015

Yesterday was the big day here in South Florida, first day back to school! Adrian had been dreading this day for weeks. He did not want summer break to end. Amberly and Gian were looking forward to school starting, they enjoy every minute of school. This year the kids went back as third (Amberly), second (Adrian) and first (Gian) graders. All big kids around here!

Adrian's first day pic:

JC and I both walked him to his class on the first day. He needed the help to carry all the supplies in that were requested by the teacher. It is the only day the school allows the parents to walk their children past the entrance gates. After that, they have to walk to the cafeteria themselves where their teachers pick them up around 8:20 am. 

We didn't make Amberly and Gian's first day this year so their mom sent us this pic. They go to a private school in another part of the city since they live most of the time with their mom.

Last Friday, was teacher meet-n-greet day at Adrian's school. Check out his excitement!

That is one super cute front door! I was super comfortable and not even a bit nervous about meeting his teacher once I saw it. I knew she would be great!

Now, I really could not have a sad, over it face in all my pictures so I told Adrian "We are not leaving until I get a happy picture of you!" and I got this:

Adrian's teacher is great and highly recommended by all the fellow teachers and past parents whose children have been in her class. I'm super excited for this school year!!

14 FREE Back to School Printables

August in Miami means lots of things: hot and humid days, more rain and back-to-school. We go back on August 18th and boy are the kids dreading it! I've purchased uniforms, back packs and school supplies so we are ready for the big day. This year Amberly, Adrian and Gian go back as third, second and first graders, respectively. I try to make their first day back special so we always take first day pictures and I include a special snack in their lunches. I love to use printables for their first day pictures. I've been scouring Pinterest for this year's pick and decided to round up my favorites from my fellow bloggers. These amazing ladies created these super cute printables and best of all, they are free!

Lauren created this adorable printable and a bunch of others that coordinate for a full back-to-school celebration!

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The uber-talented Jaime from iheartnaptime created this set of Happy First Day printables. 

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iheartorganizing has a great printable to get that back-to-school morning routine in order!

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I love sneaking little notes into Adrian's lunchbox. Here are some cute ones from makeandtakes!

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HowDoesShe has these cute signs for first day pictures! 

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Are chalkboards more your thing? Oh So Printable has first day chalkboard signs just for you!

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I Can Teach My Child has first day signs for the "big' grades: preschool, pre-k, 3rd and eighth grade!

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I Should Be Mopping The Floor created these printables that come in handy from Preschool through Twelfth grade. These are perfect for those moms that like to keep their pictures coordinated year after year! Also, these printables were our pick for last year's first day pictures! 

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East Coast Mommy created this adorable Grade 1, Here I Come printable!!

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I love this back-to-school survey created by Poofy Cheeks! Let's see if I can get my kids to fill it out.

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Kids bring home lots of paperwork and craft projects home from school. It's hard to keep things organized and that's why Thirty Handmade Days created these awesome school binder printables. Keep all the memories in one spot!

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Run With Glitter created these labels and I love them for Amberly to use this year. She would get a kick out of the illustrations. 

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Taking a test can stress anyone out. Encourage your little one on their first test with these awesome printables from Skip To My Lou. 

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I like to decorate my home for back-to-school and this subway art from iheartcrafting blog would be perfect!!

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When do your kids go back to school? Are they dreading it or are they super excited to go back?