Happy Graduation Season … to ME!

April 2, 2013 By 16 Comments

Did you know graduation season is coming up? I am really excited about this year’s graduation season … specifically the May 18th day because that is when I will officially graduate from Virginia Tech … for the second time. This time I will have completed my Master of Arts in Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on Instructional Technology. whew! Did you catch all of that? yeah it is a lot of words for a degree that focuses in using technology for learning strategies .

For me this day in May comes after three years of hard work. You see, I think like an engineer not like a teacher. I don’t write ten page papers … I write bulleted lists and one sentence testable requirements! This degree has been a bigger challenge than I could have ever imaged when I took it on three years ago! So after all of that time, some celebrating might be in order. Maybe a backyard BBQ? Maybe a little afternoon party that obviously includes kids activities in the yard? I really don’t know but I do know that I have loved look at graduation announcements. Did you know that Tiny Prints  offers Graduation Invitations, Announcements and Gifts?

This is one of my favorites since I really don’t need my thirty-something face plastered all over my graduation announcement! What do you think?

Chalkboard Graduation Announcement from Tiny Prints

Remember that Tiny Prints Graduation Announcements and Invitations are quality you can feel! Oh and if you aren’t the graduate, don’t worry! Check out Tiny Prints Gifts that include personalized notepads, mugs, iPhone cases, notebooks, personal stationery!

We are excited to offer a giveaway to our readers for $50 off your total order at Tiny Prints! Good Luck!

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Supporting the Virgina Tebow Bill (Homeschool Sports Participation)

January 18, 2013 By 3 Comments

Do you live in VA and homeschool? If you do, you need to read this!

We don’t homeschool but we fully support the decision to homeschool. We know it is the right decision for many families and who knows, maybe one day it will be the right decision in our family. We do have a built in High School teacher! ;)

Our Delegate, Rob Bell, has introduced a Virginia version of the Tebow Bill to the Virginia General Assembly. This is his second year trying to get this bill passed. He needs help!

What does this bill do? It allows homeschooled kids to play sports in the public school district they live in! Want more information? Check out VirginiaTebowBill.com!

What help does he need from homeschoolers in Virginia? Here is what Del. Rob Bell sent out in his email …

Dear Homeschooling friend:

I wanted to give you a heads up that the “Tebow Bill” will be coming before the House Students and Early Education Subcommittee for a vote at 7:30am on Thursday, January 24. This will take place in the 5th Floor East Conference Room in the General Assembly Building in Richmond.  (Any information about previous dates is no longer valid.)

Please contact my office at (804)-698-1058 orRob@delegaterobbell.com if you would like to come and testify.

Even if you do not want to testify, I hope you and your kids will still come show your support! Please find directions to the General Assembly Building and information about visiting the Capitol here.

I also strongly encourage you to contact your delegates and senators to let them know your support. You can find your legislator here.

Sincerely, Rob Bell

Maybe you can’t head to Richmond, VA on January 24th … You can still sign the Petition on VirginiaTebowBill.com to show your support!

** Please note this is not intended to be a political debate but informational. This is our personal opinion and we have no connection to this bill besides residing in Delegate Rob Bell’s district.

Filed Under: Kids, Simply Family Tagged With: , , , ,

#BagItForward School Supply Shopping

July 24, 2012 By 16 Comments

Before I could even think about the list for our kids’ back to school shopping, there was a list sitting at the church entrance a few Sundays ago. The list had items that are being requested by GRACE (Greene Alliance of Church and Community Efforts). They do a drive each year to help children in need in this small community. When I say small, I mean small (2 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 high school.) The community is near a great area of development but it is still a farm based community that is mostly rural. The reduced/free lunch number of students at Grace’s elementary school is over 50% so the need is GREAT here! (This is publicly available information.)

All that being said, we were thrilled to participate  in the #BagItForward event where we shopped and donated items on the Back to School Donation Drive Shopping List. We had already set a budget for our donation shopping so I combined our donation with this opportunity to make a great impact! You can see the full shopping trip and delivery to the donation location in our G+ Photo Album.

I excited to find the Elmer’s Back To School Supply List Stand right inside the front door at Walmart …

Then I found a small display of the Elmer’s products …

I love the purple disappearing glue sticks, how about you?

I kept looking around and was amazed at all of the new Elmer’s products available!

I made it home and Brian helped sort through everything so it could be packed up to be delivered!

The kids were so excited to see the box of school supplies our family was sharing. (Yes, we talk a lot about sharing!)

Then they were off to take it to the donation table …

The little helpers got to work adding the items to the donation table …

 

 Doesn’t that make you ready find a Back to School Supply Drive in your area? We hope it does!

To help with all of your Back to School shopping for your kids and the donation drives in your area, Elmer’s has created a great new app! Head over to 1st Day App Download to check out the app yourself! Plus while you are at the 1st Day App page you can enter to win a trip for four to Disney World thanks to X-Acto Desinger Series and Walmart!

Plus you can get a free 5 x 7 digital print in August from Walmart! In August, just visit the Walmart Photo Department in-store or online at Walmart.com/photo for details.

About the 1st Day App …

  • It is FREE!
  • It is a mobile phone app and website built to capture treasured photos and memories from the first day of school.
  • It allows you to personalize photo memories with quotes or captions and organize them by date, child and album.
  • It allows you to organize photos by child, using colors and tags.
  • It allows you to journal a school year of memories and share them with the classroom, family and friends as a slide show!
  • Plus all photos are housed in a secure online environment on the 1st Day™ microsite!

Need another reason to check out and use the 1st Day App? For every photo uploaded, Elmer’s will donate one product to The Kids in Need Foundation (up to 200,000 products)!

You can find Elmer’s on Facebook to keep up to date on their latest promotions and products. If you are on Twitter, be sure to follow Elmer’s on Twitter and maybe even tweet them a picture of what you find when you are shopping!

Want to find out more? Check out BagItForward.org and follow Bag It Forward on Pinterest!

What is on your kids’ Back to School supply list? Is your family contributing to a location Back to School Supply Drive? Leave us a comment and let us know!
NOTE:  I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and and Elmer’s but all opinions expressed are my own.  #BagItForward #CBias #SocialFabric

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Wordless Wednesday: Kindergarten Graduation

June 6, 2012 By 22 Comments

On Monday, Grace’s school had their Kindergarten graduation ceremony (the last day of school is today). She was so happy yet was not in the mood to take any nice pictures. We didn’t fight it. oh well. (Sophie is in the back of this picture as an added bonus!)

 


I just noticed she wore the same dress her first day of Kindergarten! So funny she picked the same dress both days!
Do you have a Wordless Wednesday post? Let us know where it is!

 

Thanks for visiting this week!

Filed Under: Kids, Memes, Simply Family, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , ,