Another Couple Meme

What are your middle names?
Andrew & Marie

How long have you been together?
We were together 5 1/2 years, got married, and we've been married for 10 months.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
2 years

Who asked whom out?
Neither, it just kind of happened, and then he told me he was falling in love with me, and that was it!

How old are each of you?
I will NOT reveal the ages, however, he's 7 years older than me.

Whose siblings do you see the most?
His, they live closer than mine.

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Kenny's messiness. Wait, that's what's hardest on ME! Hehehe. I don't know, that's hard to say. We really agree on most things. I'll keep you posted on this one.

Did you go to the same school?
No, we grew up hours away from each other. I'm GLAD I didn't know him in high school or even college. I would have NEVER gone for him!

Are you from the same home town?
Nope

Who is smarter?
Kenny. He's a business man who can wheel and deal with the best of them!

Who is the most sensitive?
Me!!!!

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Outback Steakhouse....yum!

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Florida

Who has the craziest exes?
Not me!

Who has the worst temper?
Kenny BY FAR!

Who does the cooking?
Me, only sometimes.

Who is the neat-freak?
Duh, me!

Who is more stubborn?
I am!

Who hogs the bed?
Kenny & the dog when she's allowed to sleep with us.

Who wakes up earlier?
I do. Kenny doesn't go to bed until I get up in the morning.

Where was your first date?
Kenny snuck me into the movies!!!

Who is more jealous?
Kenny.

How long did it take to get serious?
We were always serious.

Who eats more?
Since I'm the pregnant one, I do.

Who does the laundry?
I prefer to do it all!

Who's better with the computer?
Depends on what we're doing, I'm good with Microsoft stuff and Kenny's better at internet stuff.

Who drives when you are together?
Kenny!

Wedding Survey

This is a survey for all of you married folk. Fill it out & don't forget to tag other married couples on your friend list. Don't forget to tag back the person that sent it to you.

1) When was your wedding day? April 26, 2008

2) What day of the week was it? Saturday

3) Did you get married in a church? Yes, our church.

4) How many in your wedding party? I'm not even kidding about this, but we had 26 people up there with us!

5) Where was your reception? A big place close to home!

6) How many guests were invited to your wedding? 330

7) How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal? 7 months.....after dating 5 years, no need to wait!

8) Who did you hire as your photographer & videographer? Someone local....AWESOME work, pricey though:)
9) Did you have a DJ or a band? Yes!

10) Did your father walk you down the aisle? Of course!

11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? Girls wore red strapless gowns and the boys wore black tuxes with mossy oak camo vests and bow ties...they looked awesome!

13) Did you have a Bridal Shower? I was lucky enough to have two of them!

14) What type of limo did you get? We were surprised with my BIL's bright red Thunderbird!!

15) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? Ladies went to Bahama Breeze for dinner & drinks and then a dance club with a live band which ROCKED!! Gents went downtown to the casino after playing 18 holes of golf.

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? White strapless gown with pretty crystals all over it, black tux (he owned it already!!) with a mossy oak camo vest

17) How was the weather? 60 degrees and sunny

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? Oceanfront condo in South Carolina

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? EVERYTHING!

20) Funniest thing I remember from the day? Kenny auctioned me off at our wedding reception....I brought $250 from the best man to dance with me!

21) How long have you been married? 10 months

No really tagged me for this, I stole it, but I'm tagging Tasha, Lindsay, Stacey, Tana, Bethy, and Krystyn!

Vacation Day Tuesday

I was reading my pregnancy weekly update this morning and this is what it said:

Hi Lindsey,as you progress through your second trimester and your belly grows, you may begin to feel less and less comfortable, more swollen, and out of breath more quickly. Remember to always pay attention to how you feel and slow down or take a break if you need. You've still got a long way to go in your journey towards motherhood - there's no need to push yourself to exhaustion!

I can't believe how accurate it is! I have been uncomfortable for a couple weeks now, and out of breath a little bit too. Whenever people ask me how I'm feeling, I usually answer with "fine, just uncomfortable." That's the best I could come up with....guess I'm right on track!

I love vacation. LOVE IT. I did nothing on Valentine's Day (Woo-Hoo!) and then on Sunday and Monday I worked in the basement putting things away, dusting them off, throwing things out....Today I'm spending the day with my mom for her belated birthday. So it will be nice to leave the house, but I have to admit that I do like being home every day and just working around here. There's so much still to do before June with the basement project and moving things around that I am perfectly content to be here! And Kenny loves it that I'm home too. So does the dog. She's on my heels ALL DAY LONG!

It's amazing the stuff you find in boxes you haven't opened in a couple years....pictures of people from your last life, students I barely remember their names (I've been teaching 7 years now!), pics of Kenny & I when we looked like babies (it seriously wasn't that long ago), family, college days (again, not THAT long ago). And then the STUFF I found. Oh the stuff! Every time I go through it, I throw more and more away, but I can't just get rid of it all at one time. Sentimental reasons keep me from pitching it all.

I'm off for a fun mom-filled day!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

This year Kenny & I decided to go out to dinner Friday night and beat the Valentine's night rush when everyone is out to eat. So we enjoyed a quiet dinner (as quiet as it can be with Kenny) at a small family place 2 miles from home. It was YUMMY. I had potato pancakes. AWESOME! Anyway, then we went carpet shopping again for the new room in our basement (not much luck there) and then home to watch a movie on the couch. It was the perfect evening. Kenny even fell asleep before I did, which never happens. He did surprise me earlier with flowers even though I said NO FLOWERS this year. He just couldn't resist. They are gorgeous! However, his gift from me was to clean out his truck this morning before he woke up. Easy task, right? Wrong. Here's the where the drama starts. Kenny's truck is trashed. Not only dirt, food wrappers, and the junk that accumulates when you work from your truck most days, but also dog hair. Eck. So I knew it was going to take a few hours. But since he sleeps late on the weekends, no problem. I got up at 730 and walked outside to start in on the cleaning project and there was 2 inches (or more) of snow. Hold crap. That's okay, another obstacle, no biggie. I emptied out all the trash and the stuff that wasn't trash into garbage bags and put it in the house. Then I got all the cleaning products, more garbage bags and paper towel and went to the car wash where I could use their heavy duty vacuums. Once I got there, I stepped on a ketchup packet that fell out of his truck and it squirted all over. Lovely! After that crisis was adverted, I started vacuuming....and realized the vacuum was not taking up the dog hair. I came prepared with this big sticky sheets that my MIL gave me earlier. They are supposed to pick up anything. Didn't work. The upholstry in the the truck isn't regular fabric and it's not leather, it's some kind of slippery crap that holds every piece of dog hair and lint imaginable. I can't stand it!! And even if you just spill water on the seats, it leaves a water mark. So needless to say, there is still some dog hair, but he's so used to it (mostly in the back seat) he won't even care. Then I started WASHING out all cupholders, surfaces, glass, whatever, you name it, I cleaned it. Keep in mind IT'S STILL SNOWING. So it's a bit challenging! Then I went to Walmart to get some new heavy duty truck mats (he was WAY over due) and a plastic bin to keep papers and all his junk organzied in the backseat, and out of the dog's grasp too. On the way there, I run out of gas. AH! Luckily I was yacking to N who immediatly came and saved me from distress. Another crisis adverted. So then she follows me to Walmart where I get everything I needed for the truck including windshield washer fluid (I stole his this week for a refill on my car) and some Valentine chocolates, and some confetti hearts to put in the truck too. I get home and it's still snowing!!! Ahhhh! I can't catch a break today! Normal people would pull into their garage right?? Not me. Our garage is our storage unit at the moment. So I kept on cleaning things in the snow. The truck looks pretty good. I couldn't get all the little things, you know how commercial vacuums are so big and you can down in those crevices in vehicles...who makes those crevices anyway?? What a pain! The truck looks 100 times better, especially with candy and hearts all over it!!! We exchanged sappy cards last night and his was still in the truck, so I set it out with the candy too. Oh yeah, I filled up his gas tank on top of everything else!! So that's my Valentine's Day story. It's now 11:30, so it only took me a couple hours....not too bad considering all that! He's still sleeping and he knew he was getting something this morning, he just had no clue what it was!!

One more thing....I mentioned in my last post about 2 friends that are battling cancer....here's the story of one of them...he stayed with us this week and this was taped right before he came to our house...get some kleenex!

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/show/segments/view/running-her-father/

Catching my breath mid-week

Holy cow does time fly! This week has already been a blur. Today was the 100th day of school, which in elementary terms means PARTY to the 100th degree! Everything is 100 themed at school, and tomorrow is our Valentine's party, well, sort of, because we're not going to be at school most of the day. My class is walking 5 blocks to go ice skating for a couple hours, and then 5 blocks back. If there's time to celebrate Valentine's day, fine, if not, even better. I'm not a party person at school! They are huge headaches! We have a professional development day on Friday which means no kids and then we're off ALL NEXT WEEK for midwinter break. Can you saw YEE HAW!?!?!?! I just have to get through tomorrow and the torture of walking with 6 and 7 year olds who COMPLAIN EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. I love 'em, I really do, but they do tend to drive me crazy, especially during weeks like this!

Kenny is still painting the basement....carpet man in coming tomorrow to measure, and then during my week off we'll be putting things in their places and MAYBE I'll get my space back in the basement where I can scrapbook. Lord knows once this baby gets here I won't have time for scrapbooking very often, so I really want to get to it now. Here's to hoping!

That's my midweek update. If you are doling out prayers, say one for our baby to be a healthy, happy little dude, and a couple more for two of our near and dear friends who are both battling cancer in its finest hour.

One Word Answers

Where is your cell phone? Desk
Your significant other? Sleeping
Your hair? Messy
Your mother? Honest
Your father? Dedicated
Your favorite thing? SewingMachine
Your dream last night? None
Your favorite drink? Powerade
Your dream/goal? Mommy
What room are you in? Office
Your hobby? Crafty
Your fear? Many
Where do you want to be in 6 Yrs? RightHere
Where were you last night? Inlaws
Something that you aren't? Patient
Muffins? Cranberry
Wish list item? BabyRegistry
Last thing you did? Dishwasher
What are you wearing? PJs
TV? Plasma
Your pets? Puppy
Friends? BEST
Your life? Expanding
Your mood? Fiesty
Missing someone? Mark
Drinking? Prego
Smoking? Ick
Your car? Teeny
Something you're not wearing? Socks
Your favorite store? OldNavy
Your favorite color? Green
When is the last time you cried? Friday
Where do you go over and over? Gym
My favorite place to eat? Outback
Favorite place I'd like to be right now? SC

Fridays are the best

It's Friday and I've never been so happy to sink into the couch and sleep. I have Grey's Anatomy all fired up on the DVR and the remote is inches from my hand. Do you really think I'll make it past the first 3 minutes? It's unlikely, but we'll see. I know it will still be there in the morning! It's been a crazy week around here. Kenny is still priming the new room in the basement as I type, and I can hear the roller on the wall right this very minute. He wants the carpet laid this week which means he has to get his butt in gear and get the blue paint (yes, I said blue!!!) on the walls ASAP. Then carpet. Then MOVE IN which I cannot wait to happen, because it means I'm several steps closer to getting my house back in working order. There is stuff everywhere, has been since December, and I think I've hit my quota this year of stuff taking over the house, at least until the baby (and all HIS stuff) arrive! That's the kind of "stuff" that I look forward to! Tomorrow entails a clean out (or shall I say relocate?) of the stuff in the guest room as we're having a guest this next week. It will quite possibly take me all day in there. But it needs to be done, because eventually that will be the baby's room, and the sooner I can get in there, the better. Kenny originally asked me to HELP him clean out the room because it's all HIS CRAP in there, paperwork, inventory, and just his STUFF that he cannot live without considering he's a packrat. I can't work WITH Kenny when clean-outs are done. He's too ADD for me and I have a system and he's just all over the place. But the man is smart, I'll give him that, because he KNOWS I can't help him with a project like that, I'll just end up either taking over or we'll argue about him not getting rid of anything. So I will just take over the clean-out before it begins, and I think he knows that, which is why he's a smart dog....he won't have to clean AT ALL!! But seriously, if it's to be done right, I'm the woman for the job...send him in there and it will end up looking like our garage...no thanks! The joys of cohabitating with a pack-rat! I'm just happy it's the weekend! Woo!

We're having....

A BOY!!!

That blue font actually says boy parts, but it's too small to read. You get the idea!!!

He was super hyper when we saw him on the screen, rubbing his eyes and flipping around. It was the first time Kenny got to see him so it was pretty cool. Then I went and bought this bib because this is what Kenny says just about every week....

Laced with Complaints

Caution....complaints are a comin'!!!!!!!!!

I had a hellacious (SP??) day at work. And it wasn't even the kids. It was the phone calls. From parents. Before 730am. I knew better than to answer the phone. I really did. But I answered anyway, and I paid the price.

Phone call #1:
Parent: Hi. ____ was absent on Friday and you didn't give him his test yesterday (Monday). Why not???
Me: (to myself of course....BECAUSE I HAVE ABOUT 3,000 MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO THAN GIVE ONE KID A SPELLING TEST!! I HATE SPELLING, IT'S NOT A GRADE, WE DON'T EVEN GIVE GRADES, LIFE GOES ON WITHOUT A STUPID WEEKLY SPELLING TEST!!!!!!!!). Oh sorry, things were hectic, you know how Mondays are. I'll take care of it today.

Phone call #2:
Basically it was more of the same "why didn't you????????" from a parent, the same parent who delivers their child to my room over an hour late EVERY SINGLE DAY and has no valid excuse other than they wanted to sleep in....kids do tell everything you know.

Encounter #1
As I'm speaking to a coworker in my classroom with the lights low (because if parents know I'm in there they come in, even before the time allowed, because I shouldn't be allowed any private work time EVER) what happens?? Oh, you guessed it, a parent barges is, interrupts with hands waving in the air and goes on to whine about how I gave her a wrong date on something that can be fixed in 2 seconds. It was SO NOT THAT SERIOUS PEOPLE.

And this was all BEFORE 730am. Hmph. So much for getting to work early and getting some work done. Yeah right. But that's how it is. It's never right for me to get any work done for my self or my class, make copies, make phone calls, return parent emails (yes, they get me there too) and the like. And the truth of the matter is, I LOVE my job, I LOVE teaching, I even love my students, well, most of them. Hehehe. But I don't love losing all my preparation time to freak-outs from parents on matters that are not crucial. Emergencies? Of course call and interrupt. Problems? Yes, call me! But a missed spelling test? Come on people! I'm human!

And then, to top off the day, another coworked reminds me at dismissal that I need to stay calm all day long for my baby. Yes, I know that in theory I should, but is that humanly possible when I teach 6 & 7 year olds? I mean, seriously? I do slow down, relax, have calming music on, and usually keep from getting worked up about things. I really do that, but once in a while, my undies get in bunch.

Uncomfy

This has been a week of uncomfortable-ness. I mean physically, as in my ever expanding body. Always being weight challenged, I am forever conscious about how my clothes fit, look, how I feel about it, you know the drill. I lost about 30+ pounds 2 years ago and have kept it off successfully. Until I got pregnant, anyway, but that's to be expected. It's kind of hard to look in the mirror and remember that IT'S OKAY to be getting bigger, I'm suppose to outgrow my clothes and be like this. But it's still uncomfortable. I'm getting over it though, because I know the payoff is going to be awesome! Here I am, 19w2d.

I know I'm going to get much more uncomfortable as time goes on, right all you mommas? I'm still just getting used to it. About half the clothes I wear to work now are maternity, some are just loose-fitting shirts with a camisole under it for extra coverage, which has been pretty comfy so far. I'm sure I'll be shopping for more new BIGGER clothes very soon! And that's the prego update! Other than that, I'm still feeling really good every day. I just pray is stays that way as long as it can!

Chapped Lips

I should be fired from blogging!

My NEW New Years Resolution is to be a better blogger.

Time just gets away from me lately! Kenny has been so busy and I'm working with him on weekends and doing masters class stuff and trying to spring clean early. Why, you ask? Not really sure, maybe all the construction dust from our new room in the basement. I just feel like it needs to be done. I promised a video of the pup going crazy in the snow last week...here she is in all her glory, happy toting around a stupid pale...it doesn't take much to make her smile!

On the pregnancy topic, I'm still feeling WONDERFUL. I think I felt so miserable for so long that just feeling normal again is even better than I ever thought possible. I can't tell you how great it is to NOT have my head stuck in a toilet every day! I will do a couple prego pics this weekend. My excuse today is the camera is charging, that's the truth too. I will capture the moment this weekend though. I have some pregnancy questions for all you momma pros out there. I drink lots of water, especially now, and even though I use chapstick every single day, it's as if my lips aren't registering that there's chapstick on them and are constantly stinging. What is this??? Anyone ever had this problem? I put vasaline on them at night sometimes, but nothing is really working. I mean the chapstick works a little, but really, my lips are burning all the time from being so raw. Not fun. Any suggestions?

I'm off to work on masters stuff. Now that I have grown out of my regular pants, when I come home, I put on Kenny's favorite fleece pants and a big ole sweatshirt that he also loves....I think by the time I have this baby, I'll have taken over his whole wardrobe. He's isn't minding yet.

One more baby thing ('cause it's all I talk about apparently)...we are slated to find out what we're having NEXT Thursday...any guesses??

Inauguration '09

We are watching the inauguration in our class ALL DAY LONG today. My kids are at lunch and I just watched the new first lady give the former first lady a journal and a pen....THAT gave me goosebumps. No matter who you voted for or who you think should be president right now, I think you just can't help but be involved in the aiauguration today. My students are loving having the TV on. They got to wear red, white, and blue clothes today instead of their uniforms, and they are really getting into the history that is on TV today. Pretty cool moments, watching the kids get into it like this. THEY are giving me goose bumps!

I'm here!

I am still here, just buried in snow and masters class work. I knew it would be hard to go back to finish up the last semester, I just never knew HOW hard, and I certainly didn't count on being pregnant while doing it. That really isn't a good excuse right now, but it's the only one I've got aside from being busy with my own job and Kenny's too. I'm actually lucky, I'll be done with the regular assignments by March 18th. That's less than 2 months away. And then after that it's just perfecting my portfolio (I use the word JUST loosely) and turning that in the first week in April. I can do it, I'm so close, it's just that not being in this program for 2 years and going back, when I should NEVER have stopped in the first place is really kicking my butt. Ugh. Oh well, live and learn, right?

I've spent 3 days of this 4 day weekend working with Kenny, so today I had to crunch in hours of work. Not fun. Especially when the laundry pile is taller than me. Where's that maid I ordered?? Tasha emailed me to find out if I was still kickin' over here....I am!! I have a cute video of the dog in the snow I took just to post here....it's going to have to wait until after tomorrow when my assignments are done for this week. Then I can slow down for a minute. Whew!

I blinked and the week was over

Already the first week back to school is over with, wow, time does fly! It was actually a great week. My nausea has almost completely subsided and I haven't been sick in a while, things are looking good these days! I have spent most of today putzing around the house between cleaning, laundry, and the TV. I need to finish the cleaning and start working on masters stuff, since I re-enrolled for this one last semester and have to get my butt in gear and get things going with it. Ugh. Nice timing, eh? I enrolled BEFORE I knew I was pregnant. I suppose it's better to do it now because once the baby is here, I'm told I won't want to do it. I am done with this class in April, and I'll graduate with the masters degree in May, and I'll be one FAT graduate at 8 months pregnant!

Being back at work was actually nice, especially since I'm in a good mood because I feel great. Before Christmas, I was miserable there. I had zero tolerence for anything, and I felt bad but my students probably couldn't stand me then. They don't know I'm having a baby, I'll probably hold out as long as I can to tell them. They will go crazy when I do!

Things are really moving along in our basement....we have drywall! At least half of it's done, and Kenny went and picked out paint last week. I'll keep it a surprise until it's painted though, and I think this is one project I can safely say I will have nothing to do with the choosing of the paint AND the actual painting....it's all on Kenny! This is HIS thing, not mine! I'll just be glad when it's done.

My students begged me to let them make gingerbread houses this week. The week before Christmas they were all assigned a certain item to bring in and we were all going to make gingerbread houses...then we had that snowday on the last day before vacation, so we didn't get ot make them. So we did it on Tuesday. They turned out really messy but really cute. I have to thank Tasha for the idea. Her daughter's class did the same thing and she put the bug in my ear to do it. Here's how they turned out:

First Post of '09

It's already Day 4 of 2009! Happy New Year!

We were VERY lame on New Years. Evening is when I am the sickest, so going to our friends' annual New Years party was out of the question. We stayed home. I made homemade nachos and drank sparkling juice. At 11:45pm we drove to Kenny's parents' house to watch the ball drop with them and then it was lights out for me. Nothing too spectacular! But if I had to redo the evening over, I would have done the same thing. It was comfortable and relaxing.

On New Years Day we had a dinner for Kenny's parents....their wedding anniversary is January 3rd, this being their 53rd year of marriage! So I made them dinner and got them a cake....here they are....so happy and so cute together!

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Today is my very last day of vacation. I have to say this has been the most relaxing, PJ-wearing, hair-in-ponytail, stay-at-home-and-hide vacation I have ever had. I loved EVERY minute of it. I'm sad to go back to work tomorrow, as in any other end of vacation. But I do like schedules and routines, so it will be nice to have that back. I'm not looking forward to dressing up every day, ironing, dress shoes, and all that, but at least we have casual days every Friday and I can wear my beloved jeans (now maternity style).

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I visited my grandpa in the hospital a couple days ago. He and my grandma live in assisted living in a cute, teeny apartment and have been very happy there for about 5 years. My grandpa isn't seriously sick, but at 93 years of age, any sickness is an issue, and he was hospitalized just before Christmas. My grandma is able to visit him just about every day there too through the shuttle service or my aunts and uncles drive her. My grandpa was discharged yesterday, but not home, instead to a rehab place because he's so weak from being in bed for about 10 days. The problem is no one knows if he will be able to come home after that because he may need around the clock care. My grandma will not take that well, being without him, so when you say your daily prayers, say one for my grandparents. Thanks:)

Misc Post

Last day of 2008! No News Years Resolutions here.....I just want to keep what I have!

Last night, after our contractor (aka Kenny's high school buddy) buddy left, we snuck down to the basement to take a peek at the progress. In all seriousness, I'm down there constantly with the washer and dryer, so I walk past the construction all day, but I really don't pay attention to it. I'm waiting for the finished product, if you know what I mean. Anyway, Kenny got EXTREMELY happy when he saw that the lights and electrical were done and immediatly ran upstairs to get the 15 lightbulbs needed to turn on the lights. See for yourself....

Please excuse the butt-sniffing dog in that picture, apparently she can't help herself! So that's the progress is the basement. I'll explain it to you, but it really doesn't matter till it's all done. This is one half of our basement, and it will be one giant office space for Kenny with a wall dividing his half of the basement (the finished part) from the other half, which may be finished too, after we assess the financial part in a couple months. Anyway, of his half of the basement, it's literally one giant room for his work space, game space (cause every dude needs that Boston Bruins pinball game, right?), and TV space, of which I am allowed to be part of...but ONLY the TV area, everything else is totally off limits to me....I'm not complaining. LESS TO CLEAN!!! There is a closet on his side, which you can see in the pictures, a HUGE closet for all his crap. It's also another bathroom possibility if we need one later on down the road. We have two full bathrooms upstairs, and in our small ranch home, that's plenty, but our wise contractor told us that another bathroom (or the possibility of it) is always a good thing. So that closet was strategically placed near the bathroom/water pipes for future use. Good planning? Of course! And that's what's happening in the basement right now. I'll spare you the pics of the other half right now, which is jam packed ceiling to floor with all our worldly (crap, junk) possessions. Oh and my craft stuff, that is the only stuff worth keeping.

And this picture is for my mom. She gave BB that Christmas squeaky toy as her present last week, and BB has never destroyed a squeaky toy, but she did that to this one! I just had to show my mom what her grand-dog did!! Excuse the messy look I have going on...I'm still on vacation. And pregnant, the sick kind of pregnant, so cut me some slack:) One question about that....I'm almost 15 weeks prego...when will the puking end??????????

Happy New Year! Be safe!

My 3 Christmases

And we're still counting....

So far we've had 3 of them....my inlaws, my mom, and my dad. Whew! Today we are traveling for one last party, the extended get-together for my mom's whole family. And then we're DONE! Here are some pics from our 3 celebrations so far....

Kenny's family:

My mom, my brother and me:

And my dad's family:

This year, Christmas was just plain fun. Not too much driving, I did a lot of cooking (but really, not that much) and hosting, but the good thing about that is when the party is over, I can go to bed! No driving home! We have a lot to be thankful for FOR SURE this year. My MIL, my mom, and my stepsister all slipped in baby gifts...they just couldn't resist! How cute. I know there is more to come as this baby grows too. Like I said, we have so much to be thankful for!

Here's one last picture of us. Merry Christmas again!

Merry Christmas!!!

Enjoy every moment!

Love,

Kenny & Lindsey

PS: Here are a few of my new favorite ornaments this year.....

Dad, Lights, and Bump

Yesterday my dad came out to our house to take me shopping for my Christmas present....at Homedepot! Oh yes he did!! He said he was going to get some ceiling lights for us AND install them....bonus! We had two rooms left to find lights for, so off we went. And these are the results....

The computer room (soon to be the baby's room)...

And then our bedroom light....

I love 'em. It just puts that finishing touch on the room. Thanks dad!

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Here's my attempt at a first belly shot. Ignore the baggy shirt (I pulled it tight so you can sort of see the bump there, and also ignore the dark circles and....you know why they're there. The bump is there, just barely!

3 Days Left!

Three more days until Christmas? Are you kidding? I'm done shopping and wrapping, I just can't believe the big day will be here in three days and then it will be over. Just like that!! Every year it amazes me how much time we spend getting ready for Christmas Day and then how quickly it comes and goes. Kind of like a wedding day. Heh. We have several Christmases to have this year, and they won't be over on Christmas Day, which I like because it spreads the holiday out to just more than one day. We actually are having two Christmases AT OUR HOUSE this year. That's right. And we don't even have kids (yet) and we live an hour from my parents...how lucky are we? We are having Christmas with my mom in the afternoon on Christmas Day and then with my dad on the 26th. Now, that's a lot of cooking and preparing for someone who doesn't do that on a regular basis, but I'm going to make it easy on my self....one meal is lasagna and the other is potato soup....I can handle those! I'm just thrilled to not be traveling on Christmas Day this year. On the 27th we are going to make a 90 minute treck to have an extended family Christmas party, but no complaints here, that one is long overdue and I'm looking forward to it. Really, this Christmas is going to be great!

I can't sleep in very well. I don't know if it's the baby not letting me sleep and preparing me for the sleeplessness that comes with motherhood or my body used to getting up so early for work. I just can't sleep in, as much as I want to! And the update on morning sickness?? Still there, still going strong, still unpredictable and pretty much all day. Ugh. I'm almost 14 weeks so I'm hoping that soon I'll get some relief!!

Christmas Came Early!

And in the form of a snow day!!! I am home today, first day of vacation unexpected!! Getting that call in the morning to just stay in bed is more than music to my ears, let me just tell ya. Most of the county knew yesterday that kids in every school wouldn't be going in today, and that vacation was coming early, but it didn't really start snowing until 430am, so it was kind of hard to determine if I should get up or not. Then the call came.....whew!! So I slept in big time, something I never do, and I'm still in my PJs. It's going to be a lazy day around here. Kenny declared this morning that he wasn't going to do anything today too. I think someone has the case of jealousy....when I get to be home, he doesn't want to work, heh, heh, heh! It's now almost 11am and it's STILL snowing, and it's so beautiful. We actually went out and bought a brand new snowblower last night at Sears and Kenny put it together and when he gets up I'm sure he'll be outside using it. It's much bigger than we actually need (you know how guys are about that kind of thing) but he is looking forward to using it!

In other news....

I'M PREGNANT!!!

I'm 13 weeks today! Due date is June 24th. I had an ultrasound at about 9 weeks and here is our baby....

And then at my appointment yesterday I got to hear the heartbeat again....what an incredible sound. I've been absent from blogging as often as I used to because I've been incredibly sick every single day. Ugh. Not fun, but ALL for a good cause!

11 Days 'Til Christmas!

I'm another year older....ah! Oh well. My birthday was on Wednesday and I celebrated on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with friends and family. I'm so spoiled. But it was great!!

Yesterday I spent some time at Tasha's house just chillin' out. It's so relaxing to do that, it something that I don't think either of us get to do very much. Baby Ben is adorable, I can't believe how big he's gotten. He's got to be the happiest smiliest baby ever!! And when she says he doesn't cry, she means it!! He's the perfect little man!!

I stole this meme from Tasha, I may have done it before in previous years but I'm sure no one remembers:)

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Both, wrapping paper for those who open gifts at our house, bags for those whose presents we have to deliver.
2. Real tree or Artificial?
When I was a kid we cut down our own trees from our farm, but since college, artificial!
3. When do you put up the tree?
It gets earlier every year! This year it was Thanksgiving Day.
4. When do you take the tree down?
After the new year.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Love it! But don't drink much of it, stomach ache central!
6. Favourite gift received as a child?
There were so many toys....pound puppies, my barbie dream house, my little ponies...
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Kenny. He never tells me what he wants, only that he wants to keep what he already has. I end up buying him practical things and nothing fun.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
My mom. She loves everything I do!
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail!!
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I don't think there was one.
12. Favourite Christmas Movie?
Charlie Brown's Christmas, and Frosty.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Usually December, but every year I swear I'm going to start earlier.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Of course!
15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas?
We don't have a food tradition, it's always a surprise. But I guess Christmas cookies are something I always look forward to.
16. Lights on the tree?
Duh!!!!
17. Favourite Xmas song?Favourite carol?
O Holy Night.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Both.
19. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
I tried this last year and failed:)
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Nothing....it broke and we haven't bought something new yet.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Kenny cannot wait until Christmas morning, so both.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Traffic & parking.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
My ornaments aren't themed, most of them are hand-me-downs from when Kenny and I were kids, plus we have bought some news ones along the way. Our tree is pretty eclectic!!

I have the spirit!

Off to a Christmas party today!

This will be the first one of the season for us. I'm getting excited about it too! Even though we put up our tree last week and I've been doing some Christmas shopping, it just hasn't felt like the season yet. Now it is. There is snow and I love it!

The students have been EXTRA squirrely at school, which is to be expected. In my book that means KEEP THEM BUSY WITH MORE WORK. Can you tell my students love me? They lost their "Fun Friday" movie privileges last week because of their constant interrupting of the teacher, so they had to write instead that they would respect my rules. I'm so mean. But they need it. I promise. 2 more weeks of teaching before the break. I'm counting every single day down too. Woo-hoo!

If you aren't a daily reader of Tasha's website, click over there and give her some love. She and her family are going through a really rough time right now and I know she could use all the support she can find.

I hope you are all finding the Christmas spirit like I finally did this week:)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!

Oh I'm still here, just buried in totes and boxes....we're not moving, just finishing the basement. One. Month. Before. Christmas. O. M. G. I hate clutter, and as is just so happens, I married the MOST unorganized, clutter loving-stuff loving (and he fully admits it) man in the world. And we have a SMALL house. Less than 1500 sq feet for me, him, and HIS STUFF. When the basement project is finished (it begins Tuesday), half of our basement will be drywalled and carpeted, painted, and furnished as his office (it will be huge) and on one end a TV area, but not a family room, it will be more like his little space away from work, away from the first floor, and more importantly, away from me. And I mean that in the sweetest sense. Everyone knows a small house means you are constantly on top of each other, and having him work in this tiny computer room upstairs IS NOT WORKING. The room is always messy, I can't stand getting on the computer when the room is messy. I know it's probably OCD, but I can't help it. So all of this stress that I'm feeling from having boxes and totes EVERYWHERE and completely packed on one side of the basement leaving me only a small trail to the washer/dryer area is for a very good cause. Kenny needs a huge room to be a man in. To work in. To hide in. To be sloppy and messy and I don't have to see it!!!! Yay!!! I told him yesterday I wouldn't clean it unless he asked me to. He was thrilled AND SO WAS I. I just have to keep reminding myself the the next month will be complete chaos is this house, with extra messes and dirt and all that junk that goes with remodeling. There is light at the end of the tunnel. He is going to LOVE his new work space and so am I:)

Happy Thanksgiving a few days late. I worked with hubs most of the 4 day weekend so there was no vacation for me, but I'm actually happy to be going back to a normal routine tomorrow.

So if my posts are infrequent, it's probably because our computer room is occupied by too much clutter and I can't stand looking at it. Tomorrow is December 1st. Holy cow!

All Done with NaBloPoMo

I'm officially bowing out of NaBloPoMo. I don't normally give up on things, but this, I can't hack it! I tried, I failed. I don't even have a valid excuse why I didn't post on the 14th other than I just completely forgot again and was never even at the computer when I got home. And Friday? I just didn't post because I knew I was giving up. Sorry ladies! Too hectic. But of course I'm still posting in general, so it's not like I'm giving up completely. That, I won't do:)

This weekend, so far, has been nothing but running errands. Here, there, over there, across the street, and back again. I went to refill our ink cartridges at our favorite place, Rapid Refill. I got there, parked, walked up to the door, and BAM, they are out of business. I couldn't believe it! I was just there not too long ago! I was so sad. It only costs about $16 to refill our cartridges there, and at Ink Stop or any of the office supply places it's atill at least $30. I was so bummed to shell out $30. And even more bummed that Rapid Refill went out of business. So sad.

To equal out the sadness with something good, there is a new smoothie place that just opened by our house. It's call Tropical Smoothie Bar. I reeeeeaaaaally wanted to go there yesterday but Kenny wasn't with me and I knew it just wouldn't be fair to go without him since he is the king of smoothie drinking. The man lives for it. So when I came home I told him about it and I think we are going today. Yuuuummy.

I have a whole bag full of papers to grade this weekend. I'm not looking forward to it either. Ugh. I put it off and put it off. There isn't much to grade in first and second grade, most papers get checks or stars since there are not ABCDE grades on report cards until 3rd grade. But I still have to score their assessments and writings and so on. So that's what I'm doing. Conferences and the end of the trimester are NEXT week. Gulp. I'm nowhere near ready. Geez I'm behind everywhere!

Enjoy Sunday!

NaBloPoMo Day 13

I am a bad NaBloPoMo Blogger. I'll just say that up front and move on:)

Things have been very crazy around here. One computer between the two of us (soon his will be here) and the hubs works from the computer 24/7, it makes my computer time limited to BEFORE I leave for school, such as now. And the only reason I have time to be on it now is because my copilot is going to be late getting to my house this morning.

Yesterday there was a student council dance after school, called the Fall Fling. I volunteered to chaperone (along with several other teachers). I figured it's easier for me to do that NOW and not at the end of the year when it's hot and no one wants to be at school any longer than they have to. The dance was awesome, the kids had a great time and everyone behaved, even the teachers:) Our students wear uniforms, and they were allowed to change after school into different clothes for the dance, and so many of them dressed up....how cute! I have to admit though, I never knew how to dance that well when I was in elementary school. I can't even dance like that now!

In class today we are making landforms out of salt and flour dough. I've never done this before. Wish me luck. It's going to be messy and crazy.

This is my last day at school this week....tomorrow I go to a writing workshop about 4 miles from my house...how lucky is that??

Ooopps

Can you believe that I FORGOT to post yesterday? I just got up for work, and I'm getting out of the shower, and that's when it hit me....I FORGOT! So please, forgive me. I really truly did forget. I will post twice today to make up for it even though we're not supposed to do that. Forgiveness please??

Bye Bye Fall

The last few precious images of fall.....

I think autumn is over. I know on the calendar it's not yet, but it snowed last night and this morning. We were grilling hamburgers last night and Kenny went out and lit the grill, came back in while it warmed up, and when he took the meat outside to cook, it was snowing. Nothing permanent of course, but enough to let us know that yes indeed, it's here. Our drive to work this morning was ridiculus. My copilot referred to it as "snow driving amnesia." The crazies here in Michigan are known for that. It wasn't a blizzard for heaven's sake! It was snow flakes, that weren't sticking to the road! All that requires is SLOWING DOWN. We decided to leave this morning at 630 instead of 6am just to give ourselves a little more snooze time. Nice, eh? Not so much. We didn't get to school until 820am. We are supposed to be in our classrooms at 730, the children arrive at 8am. Oooops. It wasn't our fault, let me tell ya. We had to go so slow on the freeway going to work that it made us crazy. I'm not even sure what the problem was, but I can tell you it was someone OVERREACTING to the first snow of the year. Which does happen every year. AHHHH! Oh well, it was a shorter morning with the kids. The didn't mind. They were happily coloring in another teacher's classroom when I arrived. They were actually disappointed to see me when I came in to get them. Hmph.

NaBloPoMo Day 9

Got a computer virus. It's called AntiVirusPro2009 so BEWARE because it messes up your already installed spyware and it takes a genius (and a very good bestie) to get you out of the mess. So I'm currently at her house with my computer tower while she un-viruses my computer. I probably won't be able to post when I get home, so this is as good as it gets today!! Keep your fingers crossed that my computer is feeling better tomorrow!!

Colors

Even though the wind was blowing and it was cold, we played outside in the woods today. I was thinking that it would be one of the very last days we'd be able to do that this fall, so we took full advantage. The leaves were gorgeous! You'll have to excuse the messy post-gym look I have going on.

We had a blast. Dog and all. How can you not love these colors? Fall in Michigan = BEAUTY!

NaBloPoMo Day 7

Ever have a day where you just can't wait to get home? That was my day today. I wanted to be home the second I left the house this morning. My kids were very antsy today, which didn't help, and I think it's a trail off from Halloween candy, the election, and the unexpected warm weather streak. They were ALL UP IN MY FACE all day today. I think I heard my name OVER 1000 times, not kidding. I love the kids, love my job, but today, I wasn't feelin it. We got through all our subjects, a spelling test, and even an extra grammar lesson. I even got them some extra computer time in the lab to type up some cute little stories (yes, 1st and 2nd graders typing on Microsoft Word, don't you love it???? I'm so proud!) and even a paragraph. We rocked out the work today. That's the best thing to do with students when you don't have it in you to negotiate all day. Work. And ironically, they LOVE it. They are really hungry to learn. And that's why I love it too. But I couldn't wait to get home. There was a line at the copy machine after school, and I FORCED myself to stand in it (that's torture on Fridays, let me tell you) so that my copies were ready for next week. I will really appreciate that come Monday morning. But at the time, I was all grumpy and grumbling in my head. I did finally get home. And oh was I happy. Weekend at last!

NaBloPoMo Day 6

I found this meme over at MaryLUE's....

1. Have you ever had a moving violation?
YES! I have had several speeding tickets and one no-right-on-red ticket. However, my record is now squeaky clean because it's been a long time with no tickets, and I intend on keeping it that way. Better insurance bills!!

2. Have you ever voted? How old where you the first time you voted?
Another YES! The first election I voted in was 8 years ago and I did absentee because I was away at college and didn't register in that town. That wasn't an exciting voting experience. I would have to say that 4 years ago was my first REAL in-the-poll experience.

3. Are you glad this election cycle is over?
I am THRILLED that it's over. I won't be watching the news for a week so I don't have to see the same footage over and over again either!

4. Do you have guilty pleasure? What is it (or are they)?
I have several, one of them cleaning (no big surprise there) and also watching reruns on the DVR of 90210, Matlock, and CSI. There are several others, but I'll leave that to the imagination.

5. What is the most embarrassing thing you have done recently?
I made a big deal about taking my shoes off at the doctor's office before getting weighed. I know, I know, it's not that bad, but really, I made it such a huge issue that looking back at it, my face still gets flushed. Ugh, sometimes I'm such a pain in the ass.

NaBloPoMo Day 5

Not much to say today.....
Very sleepy.....
Glad the election stuff is all over and done with.....
Time change still messing with me.....
More to say tomorrow.....

NaBloPoMo Day 4

My Election Day

• Up at 430am


• Out the door at 6am
  
• In line to vote at 615 (voting started at 7am)


• #4 in my precinct to vote (and very proud of being #4!!!)


• Out the door and in the car at 715


• Picked up my copilot at my house at 730
  
• Sitting in our first meeting at work by 815

Not bad, eh? I guess it pays off to get up early every day, because on days like this, it didn't even phase me to be functioning that early. I am every day anyway!! Happy Voting!

Squeaky Duck

Listen to my lab story. We went to PetSmart last week and stocked up on doggy stuff. Treats, toys, a new HUGE rawhide bone that takes her a while to chew through, and a couple other things. Kenny found a squeaky toy, it was a duck, which was a new concept because we've never given her a squeaky toy before. When we got home we immediatly got out the squeaky toy and threw it and told her to go get her toy....she ran over to it, sniffed, and whined. Our dog almost never whines or barks. Kenny worked with her this weekend and got her to fetch it like she does with the ball, but when she picks it up, she holds it very gingerly in her mouth and if it squeaks, she sets it down, and whines this weird sounding whine. I can't figure it out...is she playing the motherly role with the duck? Is she afraid of it? Does she think it's her friend or baby?? It's crazy how she reacts to it. This morning I turned on the light in her room (yes, she has her own room) and there was the duck in her bed. She wasn't snuggling with it, but it was laying next to her. Go figure. If only dogs could talk!

I'm getting up EARLY to vote tomorrow and hoping to make it to work on time. What are you doing? Voting before, after, during work, already voted, taking the kids with you (Tasha & Linsday)?? I'm curious! Do tell!

NaBloPoMo Day 2

I love the time change!!! This one I mean, not the spring time change. I love getting that extra hour of whatever I want today!! I remembered the time change last night, and there's only one clock in our house we have to manually change, everything else changes automatically (scary, huh???). I woke up (or rather Kenny's sleeping arm smacked me in the head) and looked at my alarm clock which still read 930am, and temporarily forgot about the time change. I sat down at the computer and saw the time and remembered instantly....YAY! It's only 830!! An extra hour! I know it's not something to really get THAT excited about, but I still am.

I will be raking today. It's not the fun kind of raking, you know, the big colorful leaves and huge piles, nope, it's the annoying skinny little helicoptor-like leaves that are just irritating. The street sweeper came by Friday, so I have no choice but to dispose of them myself today. That's what I get for being a procrastinator. But at least I will be spending time outside, which won't be happening much as the weather gets colder. So I'll take advantage.

I randomly found a JCPennys gift card on the computer desk that still had money on it. The gift that keeps on giving!! Bonus!! And I also found a bag of stuff from JoAnn Fabrics that needs to be returned, with the receipt (yay me), so double bonus. I guess I'll be visiting those stores today! I've also had a craving for Barnes and Noble lately, the visit where I find about 6 books I want to read and find a comfy plush chair to relax and lose reality in. Kenny and I used to do that a lot, and I miss it, so maybe I'll be visiting that store today too. A girl can dream.

NaBloPoMo Day 1

Here it is! The first NaBloPoMo post!! Last year I did it and I think I wimped out at the end of the month. This year, however, I'm committed. Which is saying a lot, because lately, I've been a very WEAK blogger. Here's to a new start!

Our Halloween party yesterday was successful. I've never really relied on parental help because 9 times out of 10 (NO offense to parents reading this, I promise) they are late, forget, or back out. I really mean no offense to parents at all, because I know life intervines and sometimes things just can't be helped. On the inside of a classroom, when students are in costumes, candy is present, and the kids are sitting there waiting, it gets very hairy when things don't go as planned. Which is why in the case of classroom parties, I have generally done them myself. This year, however, I had two parents volunteers who DID EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAID THEY WOULD DO. And I love them. So the party was great, yes, the kids were out of there seats and slightly out of control to an outsider, but in reality, they were great. And it even ended well, with only one girl in tears. Usually there are several who break down because they can't take the chaos of large parties like that. It was the best Halloween party at school ever. Thanks to the parents:)

I passed out candy last night (Kenny was here and helped like two times...he was working still!!!) at our house. Towards the end of the night, a kid in a gorilla costume, probably the best one I saw all night, came up and I opened the door with a handful of candy. The gorilla grabbed my hand and was trying to pull me out of the door. It was also growling at me. The dog was going nutty and I was yelling at Kenny to come and see this costume and he wasn't budging from the computer...so I had no choice but to allow myself to be pulled out of the door. There was a family standing at the end of our sidewalk watching this whole thing and laughing, so naturally, I though this was their kid. I asked them how much they had to pay their kid to go through this scary routine at every house and they just laughed. All of a sudden, the kid takes off the gorilla mask and it wasn't a strange kid, it was my mother-in-law!!! She totally fooled me, hook line and sinker!! And the funniest part was the dog knew it was her because when I think about how the dog was acting, she wasn't barking or acting scared, she was trying to jump and lick my MIL's face!! Crazy!! Sadly, I have zero pictures. I know, bad me.

Happy Halloween!

Poems

Today was an interesting day. I have been working on poems at work with the kids. We've done the rhyming ones, roses are red, violets are blue and they end it on their own with some goofy rhyming words, we did haiku poems and even cinquains. Today they did acrostic poems. You know, the kind where you write your name down the side of the paper vertically and then come up with a word or phrase for each letter of your name. I did my name as an example on the board....and I let them come up with the words and phrases:

L is for looney

I is for intelligent (I fed them that one)

N is for neat nick

D is for dark (I have no idea where this came from because I'm SO NOT)

S is for silly sometimes

E is for energetic

and my favorite, Y is for yellow hair

They weren't too harsh. I was thankful we didn't use middle names, because that would have required an M and I'm quite sure they would have said mean. Because I have been now for about a week. As I've said before, this class is wonderfully brilliant, and oh-so-irritating at the same time. But I still do love them.

Tomorrow is the last day of sanity, maybe. Friday, quite obviously Halloween, will be filled with costumes, runny makeup, too much candy (not allowed to eat it at school mind you), cupcakes, punch, meltdowns, a spelling test at some point (I hope), an extended recess, the Charlie Brown Halloween movie (can't remember the name), probably some more meltdowns at some point over lost/stolen candy, and me running to my car at precisely 330 and driving home to either drink a beer or go to sleep, whichever happens first. I love holidays at school. Love 'em! So I will be getting as much work done at school tomorrow as I can with the kids. They will have zero down time and as much work time as I can get out of them, because they won't be doing much of any work on Friday. Whew.

What I am looking forward to is carving pumpkins with Kenny tomorrow night and passing out candy on Friday to the neighborhood kiddos. That is always fun! I might even try to sneak a costume on the dog!

Where do weekends go?

Where? One day here, and 4 hours later, GONE! You blink, it's over, and you are back to work! Friday was wonderful, it was a professional development day so there were no kids at school, and we actually had worthwhile meetings and learned things! It was very enjoyable. And they fed us breakfast and lunch too. That was an extra bonus. Friday evening I went with my inlaws to see our nephew's last football game. He's graduating in the spring so this was it for his regular season. He is AWESOME. I didn't know how good he was! Plus it was fun being at a high school football game again. I haven't done that....since high school! I loved going when I was in high school, and being there on Friday night brought back many fun memories. There's a certain smell of a high school football game....cold air, slightly rainy, popcorn, the crowd, the announcer...it was just like I remember it. And yesterday I did a lot of computer work for Kenny and then I went to work with him. That's always a nice change of pace on the weekends. It is NOTHING like my work, and I don't have to dress up! Today I'm going to meet my mom at my brother's place and go out to dinner for his birthday. I haven't seen either of them in a couple weeks so I'm looking forward to that. I wish my laundry would magically do itself while I was gone...anybody have any advice for that? Heh. I'm really going to have to get geared up for NaBloPoMo that's starting on Saturday. I haven't been a very good blog poster lately....I'm going to have to step it up! Is anyone else participating?

I'll leave you with some animal humor. I wish I had pictures, but Kenny was too tired to get up and take them. I was sitting in "my" chair last night, a very comfy overstuffed leather recliner, and I had a blanket and a pillow, so chances are I was falling asleep there. The dog isn't allowed in the livingroom, and the chair is right where the carpet in the livingroom meets the hardwood floors. She was on the hardwood, puts her paws up on edge of the chair. Sometimes she will jump in the chair on my lap (she's no lap dog either) for a little while, but then get right back down. Not last night. She jumped into my lap, all 62 pounds of her lab self, nestled in on my legs, and fell asleep. A little while later she stretched her head out on my chest and that's how she stayed most of the night....how sweet! Like a baby, she just wanted her mama!!

Happy Hump Day

Halfway to the weekend!! Actually, it's more than that now. Tomorrow is the last day for kids this week. Friday we have a professional development day for staff, so we'll get to leave work at 3pm. No dismissal for 30 minutes, no anything, just getting to walk to my car and leave! That's the best kind of Fridays...except for payday Fridays of course.

I have finally figured out why things aren't running super smooth in classroom yet this year. I am embarrassed to admit that it's taken me this long in the school year to pinpoint the problem. Here's the situation: I have advanced kids, 8 first graders, 9 second graders, and I have the kids for both grades and then they move onto the 3rd, 4th, 5th grade advanced classroom next door. My second graders obviously know how things work in the room because they were with me as first graders. I never have to worry about them....they are my rocks. Usually the first graders are fidgety for a couple weeks, because even though they are advanced, they are still babies. All 8 of the first graders, as much as I love them, drive me crazy every day. They are STILL constantly out of their seats, running up to me to ask questions (they usually can figure stuff out on their own, they just like the attention), blurting out when I call on someone else, interrupting me ALL THE TIME. Can you see why I'm so irritated every day???? I mean this goes on ALL DAY LONG. They get the punishments I give...no recess, phone calls home, no Fun Friday, no special activities....they don't care! I don't mean that they don't care about what I'm saying or teaching them, they just accept their punishment, do the time, and go on about their business of driving me up the wall. And again, they are GOOD kids, I mean loving, sweet, cute, smart, all the things that make it hard to get mad at them. But they are making me crazy. And here's the whole point of why I'm babbling...when they were in kindergarten, their teachers (and I probably would have done the same thing they did) overlooked their fidgety-ness and interrupting because these kids are mostly very well behaved and get exceptional grades, so if they were out of their seats or blurting out, it wasn't that big of a deal. And, if I had them in my kindergarten class, I would have probably done the same thing. But here I am dealing with it now, and it's not pretty. I should say I'M NOT PRETTY at the end of the day. Around 1pm I'm wanting to throw the towel in. Of all the things they do, it's the interrupting that gets me. I can't tell you how many times I have to stop talking/teaching because they are interrupting me. And then as I start talking again, so do they. AHHHHHH! I really love these kids, all of them, and they are probably the smarted bunch I've had yet, but OMG I'm going nutty! So with the help of my parapro I am cracking down. They are losing a lot of privilages, such as classroom jobs that THEY LOVE, and so on. I really hate to do that, because it teaches them responsibility, but I have to do something so that I make it to June!

Enough about work....my 6 month wedding anniversary is Sunday. Yes, I'm one of those people who knows that, but there's a reason for it. Our dating anniversary is also Sunday, October 26th. When we picked our wedding date (we only had 3 weekends to choose from), we decided on April 26th, and a few days later I realized that it was exactly 6 months from our dating anniversary. How crazy is that? So we've been celebrating our dating anniversary for 6 years, hence the reason I am acknowledging that it's our 6 month wedding anniversary. Are you confused now? I hope I didn't lose you on that, but all I really meant to say was that it's good to be a newlywed and I love being married!! Living together first for a couple years helped us have a great beginning to our marriage. I am so glad things worked out the way they did. I always wanted to be married earlier than we were, but in all actuality, it was PERFECT timing. I wouldn't change a thing! Here's to the next 6 months....and MUCH longer!

And to all the Grey's Anatomy fans....what are your thoughts on the show this season? I'm still undecided. It's good, but it just isn't great. What are you all thinking?

Going to be sore tomorrow!

I should be sleeping right now! We are going on a field trip to the apple orchard tomorrow and I need my rest, but here I am on the computer. GO figure.

My BFF Danielle and I have been taking cardio kickboxing classes at our gym lately. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then we work out other days on our own. Tuesdays classes are great. Thursdays classes are suicide. I mean it. The instructor does the boot camp at our gym if that gives you any indication of how tough he is. It's like he knows your weakest moments and chooses those moments to come and stand by you so you have no choice but to step it up. I got to punch him in our class tonight. He said to me, "You can't be tired!" Yeah right, after 40 minutes of hell I was dead on my feet but I didn't stop moving. Then he says, "Hit me, go on, hit me....." so I did. 16 times in the shoulder. He loved it. I never cracked a smile or even look at him in the eye. I was too afraid!!!! But I did hit him with the elbow jab that any of you who know kickboxing know the move. It felt good. Both classes are 60 minutes, and I admit that I can't work out on Fridays now because I have trouble walking after this guy's class. And I won't even talk about the abs and the pain there. But it's good for me, I know it, so I keep going. Maybe one of these days I'll start to see the results!

Now I really have to go to bed. I'll regret it tomorrow if I don't!

TGIF!

2 Days in a Row!

I said I was going to try to be a better blogger...and I'm keeping my word!

Today was picture day at school. You remember the days...the photo company comes to your school, usually sets up shop in the library or some large room, kids get called down by grade or even by classes to get their pictures taken, things go back to normal. Not this year, however. My school opted to go with a new picture company this year. Maybe it was to save money, maybe there were better deals, I'm not sure, I just know that it wasn't good. Our grade was called in at 830 this morning, the first grade to get their pictures taken after administration and the principals. So we take the kids in the auditorium and line them up, and then the photo person walks up to me and asks me where my cards are with the kids' names on them along with their grade and my name. Well, isn't that his/their job to provide those cards to the school? Yes, it is, and here we are WAITING IN LINE TO GET PICTURES TAKEN with no cards. How will they keep the kids' names straight? OMG is was a mess. Apparently they had the cards, but every child had the wrong teacher's name and the wrong grade, and it was a huge jumbled mess. It took 45 minutes to get it together when it should have been a 10 minute in-and-out deal. I think when we have spring pictures taken we will be going back to the old company. At least, if I were in charge, we would be. Happy Monday morning!

I promised some pictures of my brother's new puppy. Here she is! This is Lola and she is now 9 weeks old! I love the way she's leaning back trying to kiss my mom....so cute!!

And just because Kenny asked me to include this picture, I will. He loves taking cruel pictures of me just as I wake up.

Where have I been??

A whole week!!!!

It's been a whole week without posting for me!! Yikes! This past week has been super busy. Now that it's over, things around here can finally settle down. I feel like I've been riding a crazy rollercoaster since school started in September and I'm happy because it's slowing down.

Funny story:
My MIL went on a gambling trip to a casino (she does this often) with her aunt, who is almost 90. The two of them are great together...the aunt wears a hat that says "Dare to walk..." on the front and on the back it says "...on the wild side." That should explain the aunt's personality so you can get a clear picture for this story. Anyway, my MIL was supposed to be home at 530 on Friday night. Kenny called her at 2pm on Friday to ask her a question and normally when she answers the phone and she knows it's him calling, she answers all excited and "HELLO KENNY!!" This time, she answered in a whispered voice, and Kenny could hear bingo numbers being called out in the background. He says, "Ma, I thought you were going to be home at 530! Why are you still at the casino playing bingo??" She says, again in a whispered tone, "I will be home at 530." Kenny says, "How can you be home at 530 if you are still at the casino?" (the casino is 3-4 hours away) My MIL says "We're playing bingo on the bus....I gotta go." And she hangs up. So my MIL is now officially addicted to bingo. And I guess all the other people on the casino tour bus are too, because there's a surround sound bingo game going on to and from the casino! OMG!!!! She's so addicted!!!!!

My students are slowly driving me crazy. As smart as they are, I have never met a more talkative group of students in my life. I got to leave early on Tuesday last week because I had to help Kenny with something and I thought it was the greatest thing ever that I got to escape from prison (AKA-work) an hour early AND miss the whole dismissal process....such small things bring me the greatest pleasure!!

And that is what is going on in my neck of the woods. I promise to be a much better blogger this week:)

Cleaning Bug

Kenny and I caught the cleaning bug today. We cleaned the entire house AND the yard. I always clean on the weekends, and pick up during the week. I must have passed the cleaning obsession on to him recently because he was all into it today. I was in heaven, let me tell you! He only had one room to take care of, and it took him the same amount of time to clean the livingroom as it did for me to do the rest of the house, but I'm not complaining because he actually took everything off the shelves, dusted EVERYTHING in the room, moved furniture to vacuum under it, you know, the stuff that doesn't get done very often. Have I mentioned how much I love this man? And the yard, OMG for the last 6 weeks it's looked like red neck city out there. Ugh. Kenny "cleaned" out the garage the week before school started and things have been sitting in the driveway ever since. I gave up keeping it all together because it was too much for me, and finally he felt the need to take care of it today. I helped him since he helped in the house, which, BTW, has earned him browning points for about a month. Then, he mowed the lawn for probably the last time this year and used the blower with the leaves. I WAS SO HAPPY. You know cleaning is a slight obsession when you get this happy over things like this:)

In other news, my brother has an 8-week-old chihuahua. I was shocked!!! He came to visit today and he got out of his truck with this teeny thing in his arms, and I was like, "WHAT IS THAT?" and then our dog went crazy trying to get to the puppy. We put her in the backyard and took the baby puppy in the house.....so cute!!!! I could just kick myself for not getting pictures....she is still nameless, but she is so sweet.

I'm off to stake our my spot on the couch for Desperate Housewives...Kenny has taken an interest in the show (last season) and insists on watching it with me....but since it's MY show, I get the good spot on our couch!

October October October!!

I think this is my favorite month. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fall. I am currently loving the cold weather. Last night our neighbor was burning leaves (yes, it's again the rules, but whatever) and it smelled so good, especially with the crisp air. Then there's the promise of all the holidays, my birthday, and just a bunch of fun stuff. That's why I heart fall so much!

Back to what I said about loving the cold weather....I really do, but it caught me off guard last night. We still had windows open in our house yesterday. They have probably been open for weeks because it's been so nice in Michigan lately. I fell asleep on the couch last night and woke up around midnight SHAKING because I was so stinkin' cold. Kenny was working on the computer, and I sleepily got up from the couch and staggered down the hallway to turn the heat on for the first time this season. While I moaned and complained about FREEZING, I went to our bedroom which is on the end of the house, and it always the coldest room in the house. It was so cold in there!!!! I got in bed and realized a sheet, thermal blanket and comforter was not going to cut it until the heat was on full blast, so I begged Kenny to bring me a couple fleece bankets. I wrapped myself in them, THEN got in the covers, and was still convulsing from the cold....it was pathetic. It took Kenny laying on me to keep me warm for about 10 minutes and then I started to warm up. I woke up at 430am with a nice, toasty warm house, right at 75 degrees. I know that's too warm, and I probably turned up the heat too much, but I WAS SO COLD!!! Seriously, when I got to work my fingers were still cold. But even after all of that, I still love October!

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I need some advice from anyone who has ever made a baby ringsling....I'm making one for Tasha and I'm using a jersey fabric, soft with a touch of stretch to it. When it's folded properly, it's too thick for my sewing machine. Any advice?