Teacher Mom

What I did on my Thanksgiving Vacation

2011-12-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

Jimmy, my mom, and I went to Dallas to see the Cowboys play against the Miami Dolphins.

Other than it being really cold, we had a GREAT time!

The stadium is beautiful and the Jumbotron screen is ENORMOUS!!

Sadly, the Dolphins lost in the last minute of the game.

The drive to and from Dallas wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be and we even did some Christmas shopping on the way home.

A Christmas Survey

2011-12-22T18:07:00.000-08:00

I found this Chrismas survey on one of my new favorite blogs A Teeny Tiny Teacher. I love to read about her adventures with her class. I admire her enthusiasm!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Wrapping paper for most things - isn't that kids enjoy the most - ripping the paper off??

I do use some bags - but mostly ones I am recycling!

2. Real tree or artificial?

We have had an artificial tree for the last nine or ten years. However, two strands of lights are refusing to work so I have no idea what we will do next year. A new artificial tree seems so expensive until you compare it to what a real tree costs each year.

3. When do you put up the tree?

We usually put it up sometime during Thanksgiving weekend. My husband assembles the tree and I fluff the branches and then the kids do all of the ornaments (except for a few old, breakable ones).

I am really excited to say that Jules, our 1 year old lab, has done REALLY well with leaving the tree alone. (But now I have totally jinxed myself I know it!)

4. When do you take the tree down?

I don't have a set date but usually not too long after Christmas. I like to have all the Christmas decorations down and put away before going back to school but we go back really early this year so I don't know!

One year I actually took it down Christmas night after everyone else was asleep!

5. Do you like eggnog?

NO! I am not an egg person at all!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Hmmm . . . I am not sure. Cabbage patch dolls, a bike, and a walkman are all in the running.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?

Yes, my mom bought me one last year.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My husband!

9. Easiest person to buy for?

My kids.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail, even though I usually don't send them. I would NEVER send them via e-mail!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Probably clothes that don't fit. Please don't try to flatter my by buying something smaller than my actual size. Actually, please just don't buy me clothes at all!

12. Favorite Christmas movie?

I am not much of a movie watcher and I probably haven't seen most of the "classics." I do love the Charlie Brown Christmas special and the old Rudolph, where the elf wants to be a dentist. I also really like Prep and Landing which came out a few years ago. And yes, I realize those are cartoons and not movies.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

It just depends but usually in October/November. I don't buy all year because people's wants/likes change. I do try to tuck away money starting in September though that way I am ready to buy gifts when the time comes.

14. Ever recycled a present?

I'll never tell. (But I'm nodding my head yes ok??)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Of course I love Christmas dinner and all that comes with it but my absolute FAVORITE food at Christmas are gingerbread men made with my friend's recipie - to die for! (Oh, and they are NOT iced. They have red hot decorations!)

16. Clear lights or colored lights on a tree?

Colored! I hate the hospital/security look of clear lights.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Silent Night
There's A New Kid in Town - George Strait

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home?

We stay home. We are lucky to live in the same town as both my parents and my in-laws.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes, but I have to sing the song to remember them all!
20. Angel or star on top of the tree?

We have a star that I don't love but I'm not looking very hard for a replacement either! LOL

21. Open the presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

As a kid, we always opened gifts from my parents on Christmas Eve and then Santa came over night and left his gifts under the tree unwrapped. None of my friends did it this way so I knew my husband and I were meant for each other when I learned that his family did it the same way!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?

Ummm . . . I hate that it isn't always cold for Christmas where I live in South Texas.

I also hate how I always felt that everyone else did Christmas better/had more fun/etc. but I have decided to let go of that and just do it the way *I* want to do it.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color?

I love a tree with all types of ornaments on it. I love the ornaments that my husband and I made as kids and the ones my kids bring home each year from school. My tree is a real mix of everything.

When I was growing up my friend had a cowboy tree that was adorable but it was like out of a showroom. I like the more homey feel of our tree.
24. What do you want for Christmas?

An iPhone - but I will be waiting until February to get it.

Corpus Christi Science and History Museum

2011-07-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to drop some work off at the college and buy my book for Summer Session II so the kids went with me. I think it is important for them to see where I spend so much extra time right now. They know I am going to college but I don't think either one of them realized what the college looked like or exactly how big it was.

After we ran my errands I took the kids to the museum. I think they really enjoyed it. They especially liked looking at all of the rocks from around Texas. They were creeped out by the boa constrictor skin and unimpressed by the replica ships of Christopher Columbus. (So was I for the record.)

I hope that we can do a few more day trips to Corpus this summer to explore some more of what it has to offer!

Run for your lives!!

2011-07-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we took the kids to Corpus to do some shopping and spend some time together as a family. We went to GattiTown and these vampire teeth were some of the prizes Garrett bought.

Be afraid, be very afraid!

2011 All Stars Opening Ceremonies

2011-07-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our team competed in the 2011 All Star tournament that was held in Calallen. We are so proud of our girls!

Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to work I go

2011-01-03T03:54:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day back to work after two weeks of vacation.

Vacations during the school year are great but boy, it's tough to get up at 5:00 a.m. after sleeping late for two weeks. And by late, I only mean until 8:30 or so. 8:30 seems really early until you compare it to 5:00 a.m.!

I'm excited to go back to work and see all of my friends, just like a kid I guess. However, I'm feeling guilty that I didn't go to school during my break to get my room organized and ready for the new year.

I have a lot of testing to finish up and then I need to get back on a regular schedule. It is amazing how much more productive I feel when I am on a regular schedule.

All ready for church

2011-01-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

I look at pictures like these and I wonder where did the time go?

I'm already off to a better start

2011-01-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Garrett got a motorized crane from Santa, along with a stocking full of goodies.

Meagan got an iPod Touch from Santa, along with a stocking full of goodies.

This is Jules, our new family member. She, too, received a stocking full of goodies from Santa.

How was your Christmas? What did Santa bring you or put into your stocking?

It was a slow year for pictures . . .

2010-12-31T07:51:00.000-08:00

This is the house we bought. It is 3 bedroom, 2 baths, 1500 square feet with a one car garage and a carport. We painted almost every room in it and have plans to do lots more. It also has an effieciency apartment in the back that we eventually want to remodel and make into a game room/family room of some sort.

Here are the kids at Easter.

Hopefully 2011 will be a better year for pictures since I got a new Kodak camera that I love already!

2010: Year in Review

2010-12-30T09:38:00.000-08:00

I've done this survey before. To me it's a lot of fun to see what other people have written and to look back at what I wrote in previous years. Thanks Linda!

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Hang on to your seats because there is a lot to this one:
Bought a house
Got a dog
Dealt with the medical community like never before

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn’t make resolutions last year.

This year I am resolving to not procrastinate about specific things: classwork for my graduate classes, doing laundry, and cleaning the house.

I also want to get all of my pictures backed up into an organized system and finally print some of them!
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My niece and a friend.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. My father passed away in June.

5. What countries did you visit?

None.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Freedom from debt. We would like to remodel/fix up lots of our house but I feel like I can’t put money into that with other bills to pay.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

May 25, May 31, June 3, June 8 - all relating to my dad

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Buying our first home, celebrating our 14th anniversary. I would like to tell everyone who said we wouldn’t make it - Look at us now!

9. What was your biggest failure?

Juggling time.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just a broken heart

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Our house

12. Where did most of your money go?

Just the usual bills.

13. What did you get really excited about?

Buying our house

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

California Gurls by Katy Perry because of kickball
Taps for my dad

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Ehh, it depends on the day
– thinner or fatter? fatter
– richer or poorer? Poorer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

taken care of myself - exercised, cooked instead of eating out

17. What do you wish you’d done less of? 

eating out

18. How did you spend Christmas?

Totally different this year - Christmas Eve at our house and Christmas Day at the in-laws

19. What was your favorite TV program?

There are so many! Bones, House, Grey’s Anatomy, The Big Bang Theory

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

Half Baked by Alexa Stevenson.

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Live Like Crazy
The House that Built Me

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

Easy A, How to Train Your Dragon, Percy Jackson

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

It was a terrible day and I turned 33.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

if I had taken care of myself

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Whatever was clean and fit

26. What kept you sane?

Mindless games on Facebook

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

You can do anything, if you have to.

Respect is earned by the life you live.

In Loving Memory

2010-08-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Kenny Moore Dixon

October 12, 1949 - June 3, 2010

Hello . . . Does anyone actually still read this??

2010-08-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Wow. It's been a while.

In the last two months my dad passed away, my father-in-law closed down his business after 35 years and had open heart surgery, Meagan turned 12, etc.

I don't even know where to start to catch up so I'm just going to start again and go forward.

Elizabeth

Garrett's sayings

2010-01-04T18:33:00.000-08:00

The day after Christmas he asked me where his crazy dough was. When I asked him what he was talking about he said, "You know - that stuff in the egg." He was talking about Silly Putty!

Just tonight he asked me if owls were awake at night and slept during the day. I told him yes that was true and that was called being nocturnal. His comment? Just like Santa!

I love the connections his brain makes - they crack me up!

Wow! I actually remembered my password!

2009-12-31T09:42:00.000-08:00

I know it has been forever since I've posted.

Hopefully I'll start posting again - at least every now and then!

I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Elizabeth

Absolutely Adorable

2009-08-10T08:04:00.000-07:00

I walked down the hall the other night and peeked into Meagan's room to see why it was so quiet in there.

This is why:

This makes me so happy.

I need an intervention y'all

2009-08-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the summer I went to Facebook on a whim. Jimmy's sisters were always talking about it and I was bored one day so I thought . . . What the heck? I'll give it a try.

Guys, I am addicted. My name is Elizabeth and I am addicted to Facebook.

I am admitting I have a problem!

(Hangs her head in shame) Facebook is the reason that this blog has suffered this summer. Summer, the time of year when I actually have time to post, had been stolen by Facebook.

Today Jimmy is gone to a softball tournament. Softball?? you ask. Yes, Jimmy is playing softbal.. (See you didn't know that because I haven't been blogging!)

I have GOT to clean house this morning while he is gone and I hope to be back in the blogging saddle tonight.

See you soon! (I hope - if Facebook doesn't call to me too loudly!)

Isn't that the same thing?

2009-07-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

The kids and I had a little picnic this evening just to get out of the house. (We didn't go very far. We have a cement picnic table in our backyard.)

After we ate, the kids wanted s'mores. I got everything out to make them and Garrett told me that he just wanted chocolate. I said ok and handed him his piece of chocolate instead of getting it ready to microwave. (Yes, I said microwave. We don't have fires around here. We do it the quick and easy way.)

Meagan got out the marshmallows and he told her he wanted one. She gave him one and he got ready to go back outside. That's when he asked for his crackers.

When I asked him what crackers he was talking about, he told me the ones like Meagan got.

Let me think about this - I thought you didn't want a s'more.

His answer? I want all of the parts. I just didn't want it hot.

Why didn't you just say so son?

Do you think she gets it from me?

2009-07-10T10:11:00.000-07:00

There's just no denying that she's mine. You want proof?

This exchange proves it:

Me: Meagan, will you please come here?

Meagan: sighing . . . Yes, mom?

Me: Will you please go check the mail for me?

Meagan: sighing . . . I guess (slipping on my shoes) I just wish that was really a question that I could answer.

She then heads out the door.

Total smarta**.

She's mine all right.

Meagan's New Haircut

2009-07-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

I finally had a chance to take Meagan to get her hair cut. Mari didn't cut too much off length wise but she added long layers to help the curl look better. (Wearing it pulled up into a pony tail all during the school year is hard on the curl.)

She then blow dried it with a diffuser. I love how it looks and so does Meagan.

I think it makes her look so grown up!

Eleven years ago . . .

2009-07-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from the family party we had for Meagan. Grandma Blair cooked fried chicken for everyone and then made homemade ice cream for Meagan.

Here's Meagan opening a gift from Nana Mary, Carlos, Crystal, and Bee and Larry. Lots of goodies inside!

Still pulling more stuff out . . .

Webkinz from Jimmy and I.

Meagan with Grandpa (my dad)

Happy Birthday Baby!

DARE to be a beautiful, smart kid

2009-07-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Meagan's school had an awards assembly at the end of the year. Here she is receiving an award. She was the third top reader in A.R. in the fifth grade, was the Top Lanugage Arts student, she made all A's all year, and she was recognized again for being in the Lone Star Challenge.
Fifth grade students also participate in the DARE program all year though their social studies class so they wear their graduation t-shirts to awards. DARE stands for Drug Awareness and Resistance Education. A local police officer comes into the schools and does lessons on drug awareness and resistance.

Meagan we are so proud of you!

A Little Survey

2009-06-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Updated to show my answers. (and Yes, I know it took me more than a few days. Sorry Cindi! You can see my friend Cindi's answers on her blog here. Thanks to Krissy who answered in my comments! I have been so busy with kickball - haven't I said that before? - but hopefully I'll be posting on a more regular basis now!)

I found this over at A is for Beautiful and thought it would be fun to answer.

You can leave your answers in the comments section or do a post on your blog. (Who I am lying to? I have no readers who are going to be bored enough to actually do this in writing! :)

1. summer television: waste of time or guilty pleasure? Umm, I watch TV all year long. I consider it cheap therapy!
2. baked potatoes: butter, sour cream, bacon bits, chives, cheese? any or all? Everything but sour cream
3. Facebook: must-do or proud resister? I have an account but am not addicted or anything.
4. coupon clipping: yes or no? Yes. When people buy the paper and give me coupons.
5. babyback ribs or key lime pie? Both, of course!
6. Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune? Jeopardy. It comes on at 1:30 here so I Tivo it and watch it when I get home from work.
7. ocean waves or lazy river? Lazy river
8. pickles: dill or sweet? Depends on what I'm using them for.
9. the economy: still ick or rebounding? Who knows?
10. eBay or Craigslist? eBay
11. Mexican food or sushi? Mexican Food
12. Edward, Jacob, or who cares? I'm obviously out of the loop. Who are these people??
13. pregnancy dreams: annoying or humorous? Humorous, it's the only time in my life that I could remember by dreams - because they were so weird!
14. summer thunderstorms: music to your ears or pain in the rear? Music to my ears!
15. online games: good way to pass the time at work on a Friday or who has the time? Fun way to avoid housework - no access to them at work.
16. So You Think You Can Dance: addicting entertainment or yawn? I've never seen an episode.
17. beach or mountains? Mountains
18. hardback or paperback? Paperback
19. Pepsi or Coke? Coke
20. Ellie or Josh? any bets? Again - who??

I'll post my answers in a day or two.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Jimmy! You are the best father that we could ever ask for.

We love you!

A new summer do . . .

2009-06-20T07:24:00.000-07:00

Garrett's hair had gotten pretty long (well, for him anyway) and he had fun making it into a mohawk in the bathtub. Jimmy and I had decided that he could have a mohawk for the summer. (Not a complete mohawk - we were just going to leave the center longer and the sides pretty short.)

However, when I took Garrett to get his hair cut he had changed his mind. He decided he just wanted the front of his hair to stand up.

So here he is with his new do for summer.

I should have taken a picture of him standing sideways so you would really be able to see the front of his hair spiked up.

***Hair update: Garrett let me put gel in his hair and spike the front of it for only one day. After that he refused to let me touch it. Sigh . . .

Taking a deep breath . . . .

2009-06-07T06:30:00.001-07:00

Here's why I haven't been blogging:

Friday was the last day of school for kids and Saturday was the last workday for teachers for the 2008-2009 school year
Reading Specialists are in charge of organizing summer school for all of the elementary schools in town
Meagan finished her first year of middle school
Meagan's birthday is coming up in just a couple of weeks
Garrett finished kinder - sob, sob
I helped to make a scrapbook for a staff member who left our school after 8 years
I finally moved all of my stuff out of my old classroom
I spent about $2500 (not my money!) on books/supplies for next year
our kickball team had 5 or 6 games in last three weeks
our kickball team won the last 10 games they played
our kickball team won their 10th straight game in the bottom of the sixth inning to become the JUNIOR CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I've been a little busy. I have kept up (well, a little anyway) with my Twitter posts so I will have to reread them to work on blogging all of the things that have been going on around here the last couple of weeks.

All I've done the last couple of weeks in my house is the bare minimum. You know, washing spoons as we need them, making sure we have a clean uniform for both kids for the next day, making sure people have socks and underwear, and washing our kickball uniforms repeatedly.

Today I am cleaning house and then going to a meeting with Jimmy to pick the ALL STAR JUNIOR TEAM! Because, as the coaches of the team who won FIRST PLACE! we get to coach the All Star team and take them to the state tournament in Austin, Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. But, I promise, I will try to start blogging with some sort of regularity (is that even a word?) soon.

(I'm a little excited about winning first place in kickball - just in case you can't tell.)

Mmm, Mmm, Good

2009-05-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

I found this new granola mix at Wal-Mart a while back and it is terrific!

It is the perfect mix of granola bunches, dried golden raisins, dried cranberries, sweet slivered almonds, and roasted whole almonds.

The only problem? The packages are kind of small and there are only five packages in a box.

Planters, in case you are listening, I would like to buy this stuff in a big bag!

Dirt . . . It does a body good

2009-05-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Nana Mary bought this outfit for Garrett and boy did she hit the nail on the head!

Garrett has not wanted to take the outfit off since she gave it to him.

Lucky for him, he met his A.R. goal last week and was able to wear regular clothes to school on Friday.

Nana also bought him another cute pair of khaki shorts and a striped shirt that will be perfect for this summer.

Thanks Nana!

Bronze, Silver, Silver

2009-05-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the cookie - competing makes a kid hungry!
For most of the school year Meagan has been studying for the Lone Star Challenge. If you are familiar with Academic Decathlon or Pentathlon, it is very similar. It is the comperable activity for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students.

If you are new to all of this - think athletic decathlon but with academics instead. Students study information on a given theme and then compete by testing in several subjects: math, science, social studies, reading, and essay. To complete the whole contest there is the Super Quiz event. This is a relay race of sorts but instead of running laps, students are answering questions.

The theme this year was Pop Culture of the 60's and 70's. Cool - in my opinion anyway.

Meagan won three medals: Bronze in essay, Silver in Individual Super Quiz (she got four out of her five questions correct), and Silver in Team Super Quiz.

We are so proud of you Meagan! Keep up the great work!

Water Balloon Fight

2009-05-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that Jimmy and I are coaching kickball again this season? We coached last year and finished the season in 6th place. (Out of 9 teams - not great but not awful either. We were new to the whole coaching thing and we had some issues with the girls working together as a team.)

Anyway, we are called The Rockers this year. To start off the season we beat the Stingrayz. It came down to the bottom of the sixth inning. We had a two run lead . . . and we let a runner score. A few tense moments later we got the last out and were 1 -0. We were on top of the world because the Stingrayz were in 2nd place last year.

In the next two games our team did not fair as well. We lost to the Cyclones by one run. Even though we lost we were happy with how the game went. Our girls played really well and didn't make any major mistakes. Considering that the Cyclones were in first place last year (they only lost one game the whole season) we were happy.

The third game - our girls just gave up. They were down by three early in the game and never rallied back. We were disappointed in how they lost - not that they lost.

The fourth game was a tie. We played hard to the bitter end but just couldn't score another run to win the game. Even though we tied, our girls were back!

Game 5 - we were set to play the Heartbreakers - who are now 4-0. A good friend of ours coaches the team so it was going to be especially interesting to see who would win.

Jimmy promised the girls a water balloon fight if we won the game. (Can you finally see where this post it going??) Needless to say, WE WON!!!!!!!! and the score was 14-3. Our girls took an early lead and never looked back.

It took Jimmy and I over an hour to fill up the balloons with water. Needless to say, the kitchen floor is pretty clean now from all of the accidents that we had filling them up. I am sad to say that it only took minutes for all of the balloons to be history! However, the girls had a great time.

Just for the record, we won our next game so our record is now 4-2-1.

On Monday we start all over again with the Stingrayz. I know we can beat them again!

GO ROCKERS!!!!!!!!!

Surfin' U.S.A.

2009-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night Meagan performed at her school's P.T.A. program. They sang four songs: Let It Be, Surfin' U.S.A., a song in spanish, and another song that I can't remember right now.

I took this picture before we left the house.

This one was taken in between songs.

And here's one of Garrett. He did well during the meeting. I let him look through the pictures I have saved on my camera. That kept him quiet for, oh, two minutes or so. He watched the kids sing and stayed near his seat the rest of the time so I was happy.

I just wish he would lose this fake smile thing he has going on lately.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

2009-04-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Well I don't know if that's his name or not but this little guy was in my yard on Saturday night. We've seen rabbits before, especially in the spring time. I took pictures of this one because Garrett has been on a rabbit kick ever since Easter.

The Dolphins say hello

2009-04-18T19:55:00.000-07:00

On Friday I went with kinder to the Texas State Aquarium.

Perk number 723 about my new job - no field trip to take every year.

All good time was had by all but boy do field trips wear you out.

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night we colored eggs as a family. Thanks Grandma Silly for boiling the eggs and buying the coloring kit! (I was really lazy so there are no pictures of us coloring eggs.)

The kids went to bed anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

Meagan woke me up at 7:55 on Sunday morning. "Mom! Can we see what the Easter Bunny left us?"

The bunny left Meagan a horse Webkinz and the High School Musical 3 DVD. He left Garrett a horse Webkinz and a play set with an airplane and a boat.

After all of the Easter basket excitement, we went to church. We were joined by Grandma Silly, Grandma Blair, Darla, Ashley, and Joey.

After church, Grandma Silly came back to our house.

These are the baskets that she made for the kids. Aren't they cute?? Each one had a Webkin in it along with some eggs, some candy, and some other goodies. The kids were really excited about the chalk. It came with 3D glasses and other tools to help you draw. (Garrett's "smile" is driving me crazy.)

Grandma Silly and the kids
After that we went to Grandma Blair's and had an Easter egg hunt.

I love the look on his face in this picture. He had just found a prize egg with money in it.

While the kids were hunting eggs, Grandma Blair was making lunch. We had homemade fried chicken and all of the trimmings. Yum!

Las Vegas Day Three

2009-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

On our third day in Las Vegas we went over to the New York New York. Tina was determined to ride the roller coaster that is on top of the building. I wasn't so sure about it and Jimmy certainly wasn't going to ride the thing.

My indecisiveness about the roller coaster didn't matter after all because it was only 9:30 in the morning and rides didn't start until 11:00.
We decided to do some more sightseeing and you know . . . walk some more. As we were leaving the New York New York Jimmy decided that he had walked enough and went back to our hotel to hang out.

Tina and I set off to explore.

We walked down to a CVS because I already needed water and chap stick. (How come I can never remember to bring all of the little things like chap stick with me??) When we were paying for our water this lady walked up behind me. Me, being the wary traveler that I am, glanced back to see who had walked up behind us. I thought in my head that wow, that lady really looks like Juanita (my mother-in-law/Tina's mom) but I didn't say anything. Tina, not being shy at all, turns around and sees her and says, "Wow! You look just like my mom! Can I take your picture?" The lady pretends like she doesn't hear her and looks the other way. Tina continues to talk to her and the lady continues to ignore her. I finally finish paying for my purchases and get Tina to leave the store. I guess that old wive's tale about everyone having a twin is true. Juanita - your twin was in Las Vegas when we were!

We passed lots of hotels (they all start to blur together after a while) and finally end up at the Bellagio. We walked through the casino. I was looking for two of my friends who were in Vegas at the same time we were and staying there. I didn't see them. Tina then wanted to find the wedding chapel to see what it look like. Well, we obviously went the looooong way around. It took forever to find the wedding chapel. It was pretty but actually really small. (Tina says the one at the Luxor is actually lots fancier but I don't know because I didn't go into that one.)

We kept walking . . . . and walking . . . and walking . . . and came upon the most fabulous chocolate shop. They had this huge fountain of different types of chocolates running into the gorgeous pools. They also had a fabulous Easter scene set up - bunnies, eggs, etc. that was adorable. Tina and I couldn't resist the temptation so we bought chocolate dipped strawberries and various other goodies.

We walked some more and finally came to the Conservatory. (This is the whole reason I wanted to come to the Bellagio in the first place.)

It was breathtaking. See for yourself:

It also smelled heavenly. We spent almost half an hour in there looking at all of the different types of flowers.

We were exhausted by that point and so we took a cab back to the hotel. We had planned to walk down the strip some more and go eat at Margaritaville but the timing just didn't work out. Oh well, there's always next time right??

Once we got back to the Luxor Jimmy, Tina, and I went back to the New York New York so Tina could ride the roller coaster.

Long story short, I rode the roller coaster. And then I felt sick for about an hour.

We went back to the Luxor and rested for a while and then I went to the Bodies Exhibit. Neither Jimmy nor Tina had any desire to see the exhibit so I went by myself. It was horrifying and fascinating all at the same time. I highly recommend it. Jimmy went to the Titanic Exhibit which he said was really good too. I would have liked to see it too but we were running short on time.

By then it was time to get ready for the last show we were going to see. We went to see:

Not Fantasy!!! We went to see Carrot Top. The show was really funny.

This is Tina with Charlie. Charlie does an opening act before Carrot Top's show. It was neat to get to talk to him. Tina was looking for Carrot Top at the clubs in the casino and spotted Charlie instead so she went up to him and started talking to him. Again, never shy, that's Tina!

Early the next morning (although thankfully not as early as Monday morning) we flew home to Texas.

I can't wait to go on vacation again!

Las Vegas Day Two Contined

2009-04-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me next to a giant coke bottle. This was outside the Coca-Cola store. As I said in my last post, I was so grateful to find a real coke in Las Vegas. I could have kissed the machine!
We walked farther down the strip sightseeing and having a good time people watching. It was St. Patrick's Day so there were plenty of crazy things to see. (Now that I think about it, there's probably always crazy things and people to see in Las Vegas - St. Patrick's Day or not.)

We ate lunch at P.F. Changs on the strip. These were crab won tons that were really good. The fried rice was also really good. It had lots of veggies in it that I really liked. My entree wasn't great but Tina's chicken was really good.

After eating lunch we walked around some more. (I know I keep typing that sentence out but if you go sightseeing in Las Vegas, plan on doing a lot of walking!)

We went into a Field of Dreams store (sports memorabilia) and went past the Sony store. There was a giant playstation portable on the front of the building.

We then walked back toward the hotel. We stopped at the MGM Grand to see the lion. He wasn't impressed with all of the people who were gathered around to watch him. He basically just layed there. I did buy a cute magnet for my fridge at home. It has a lion on it and the words Here human, human. I thought that it was really funny.

We played the slot machines for a little while and then headed back to the hotel.

We rested for a while and then got ready to go to our next show.

What show did we go to you ask?

(insert picture here)

We went to see Criss Angel.

It says insert picture here because you are not allowed to talk pictures during the show and I am too lazy to find a picture of Criss Angel on-line.

The show was called Believe and it was really cool. I had never seen any of his shows so I really enjoyed it. I know that some parts of the show have to be illusions but the execution of the show is flawless. You cannot tell how he is doing them. The show also had Cirque de Soliel elements in it.

After the show we went to eat at Dick's Last Resort. All I'm going to say about that is that you have to be in the right frame of mind to eat at Dick's or it is going to be a really frustrating experience for you. My burger was good though.

Las Vegas Day Two (Part I)

2009-04-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

Update: For some of you who are wondering, Tina is one of Jimmy's four sisters. She went on the trip with us. She isn't pictured in this post but she was in the last post - the picture with the drinks.

Now for the next Vegas Vacation installment:

Jimmy and I were up early on Tuesday of our vacation due to our early bedtime the night before. (We are probably the only people who went to Vegas and were in bed before midnight.

Anyway, we got up early and went to the food court to eat breakfast. (Starbucks has really good oatmeal, by the way.)

After that Jimmy and I went down to the casino to gamble while Tina got ready for the day.

Jimmy sat down and played video poker and I wandered around until I found a slot machine that only took 50 cents to "fill up." (I don't know what the correct term for this is. My mom always told me to fill up the machine. In other words, play the maximum bet. She's been to Vegas lots so I followed her advice.)

Since it was so early there were hardly any people around. I picked a machine based on the fact that is was only 50 cents to play and that there were no smokers playing nearby. (I know that these are funny criteria for most people - but they worked for me ok?)

I put in a $20.00 bill. (Do you know how hard it was for me to do that? It takes me an hour to make $20.00!) Before I knew it, all of my credits were gone.

I reluctantly put in another $20.00 bill. Once again, I was down to almost no credits very quickly.

I had $1.50 in the machine and had already decided that when that was gone so was I.

I pushed max bet and to my surprise this came up:

This was the top prize for the machine I was playing. I looked up and saw that I won but it really wasn't registering how much I had won.

Just then a drink girl came around. "I won!" I told her. At this point I thought I had won $400.00. Come to find out, 4000 quarters is a lot more than $400.00! (Yes, I'm a teacher. I obviously need to work on my mental math skills.)

The look on Jimmy's face when I told him how much I'd won was priceless. I wish I'd taken a picture of it.

I carefully filed away my voucher for my winnings and we went out to sight see.

Here we are in front of the MGM.
We spent over an hour in this store. It was four stories high. It had some museum type parts which told about the history of M&M's and how M&M's are made. It had tons of really cute merchandise to buy too.

(It was also next door to the Coke-a-Cola store so it contained a vending machine that sold Coke! The Luxor only sells Pepsi so I had been drinking Sierra Mist. I had a terrible headache from a lack of caffeine. About an hour after drinking my coke however, I was just fine!)

This was up in the museum area. As a teacher I couldn't resist taking a picture of this little diorama. In case you can't read it, it says "I will not melt in the hand." Adorable!Here's my picture with the big blue and red guys.

Las Vegas Day One

2009-04-01T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me, Jimmy, and Tina. We flew out of the Houston International Airport. We had to get up at 3:00 in the morning so that we could get to the airport on time. Never again will I book a flight out at 7:00 a.m.

Since we left SO early, we arrived in Vegas at 8:20 a.m. We took a shuttle bus to the hotel but had to check our bags since it was too early to check in. We were starving but no one was serving lunch yet. We wound up eating a second breakfast at a restaurant inside the hotel.

We walked around a little, gambled a little, and were then able to check in. We went to our room and took a nap to recover from our early arrival time.

We stayed at the Luxor on the strip. Here's a shot from inside the hotel. We stayed in the pyramid portion of the hotel. It was very cool inside.

After a nap we were ready to go. Jimmy and I took a cab to Treasure Island (stop laughing - the two hotels are pretty far apart and we were still really tired!)

At Treasure Island we stood in line for almost an hour to pick up our tickets to Mystere, which is one of the shows that Cirque du Soleil performs.

We ate dinner at Kahunaville where Tina bought me a drink that was larger than my head!
This was a huge seafood appetizer that Tina and I shared for dinner. The grilled shrimp were fantastic
The waitress was sweet and took this picture for us. Tina wanted to have photographic proof that I actually had a drink.

We still had a little time before the show so we went to the casino and gambled a little. I won some quarters but the drink had obviously gone to my head because I was unable to convert the number of quarters I won into dollars. A text message to Veronica later and I knew that I won $18.00. However, by the time she got back to me I had already lost it! Oh well, easy come, easy go as they say.

Mystere was AWESOME! I had no idea what to expect out of it and it was breath taking. I am really glad that we went to see it.

After the show Tina persuaded us to walk back to the hotel. "It's not that far," she insisted. We walked by the Venetian and saw the gondolas and by the Mirage. The volcano was erupting but we were too late to get a spot up close enough to really see it.

We then started walking back to the hotel.

We walked . . .

and walked . . .

An hour later we stopped for a bottle of water and I drank half of it in one drink.

We proceeded to walk some more.

A total of an hour and a half later we were back at the hotel.

So many people told me that the hotels were not as close to each other as they seemed, and you know what???

THEY WERE RIGHT!

Oh, well. It was really neat to see everything all lit up at night. However, due to some construction, you could only walk on one side of the street at some points so it was pretty crowded.

When we got back to the hotel we gambled a little and then turned in early. (Is it considered jet lag when you fly somewhere with a two hour time difference??)

Meagan Competes and Succeeds!

2009-03-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon Meagan competed in her first Bible Drill competition. She earned a rating of Superior. We are so proud of her. She has worked very hard all year to learn all of the books of the bible, lots of scripture references, and being able to find any part of her bible in less than 10 seconds. Her skills amaze me. I am proud of the hard work she has put into learning all of this new material. I also want to thank the wonderful people who organize all of the Bible Drill activities at our church. Miss M, Miss S, and Miss W your hard work is appreciated!

Meagan will continue on to the Association Drill in a few weeks and hopefully on to the State Drill next month. We know she is going to do a great job!

We're Back!!! (said in a sing song voice)

2009-03-22T19:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in forever (my mom has reminded me of this EVERY time she talks to me) so here's a quick recap:

March 9 - 13 The last week of school before spring break is always crazy. I can't even remember what I did to tell you the truth. Oh yes, I remember now . . . the weekend before (March 7th) my DI team competed in their regional tournament. Meagan and I left the house at 5:45 AM and didn't return until 8:00 PM. Yes, you read that right. We were gone from the house for a total of 13 hours! My kids did a GREAT job, even if they didn't win a medal (sniff . . . sniff . . . sniff) I thought we were all done with DI and then come to find out people from Central Office were coming to school on Friday morning to watch my kids perform . . . when I hadn't planned on my kids performing. Anyway, I freaked out and then got over it and the kids did their play again. And everyone loved it. Big sigh of relief. Crisis averted.

This week was also Texas Public School Week. I had helped my counselor and principal put together a calendar of activities for the week so I was busy all week making sure we were ready for the events planned for each day. Monday was simple - kids wrote about what they wanted to be when they grow up, Tuesday seeds were planted, Wednesday college t-shirt/field trip day, Thursday made a graduation hat out of 500 cupcakes, and Friday we planned a picnic. Did I mention that a front blew in on Wednesday night bringing rain and temps in the high 40's??? Needless to say, the picnic was shot. I delivered fruit cups and decorated water bottles to each teacher and collapsed in my room in the afternoon and waited for the day to end.

Why did I want the day to end you ask??? Because we were going to VEGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and I needed to pack!

Garrett's PTA Program

2009-03-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

In Februrary the kinder and first grade studnets performed at the school's monthly PTA program.

Here's a picture of Garrett at our house before the program. I got some really cute ones during the program but there were too many other kids in them to post them on the internet.

The kids sang three songs. Garrett's favorite was the Groundhog Hop. It's a really cute song about the groundhog seeing his shadow.

Garrett LOVES music and Miss Y. Thanks for all of your hard work!

Playtime at the park

2009-03-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

At the end of January we had a beautiful weekend. Meagan was gone to Bible Drill so Jimmy and I took Garrett to an elementary school near our house. We went to practice shooting baskets for basketball but when we got there we discovered that the school removes their rims during the weekend. (Bigger kids will come along and hang off of the rims and ruin them.)

We walked a couple of laps (all of our elementary schools have 1/4 mile tracks) and then played on the playground equipment. This is the school where Garrett went to prekindergarten so these are his old stomping grounds so to speak.

I played around with my new camera some more. I'm getting better with it but I'm still no where near where I would like to be with it. I have learned to be more patient between pictures so I'm getting better pictures now.

These pictures turned out nice because of the bright sunlight. (Well, in my opinion anyway.)

The Young Scientist

2009-03-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

I mentioned in a previous post that Garrett had won at his school's science fair. Well, I finally found the cord to the camera so here are the pictures.

If it hadn't have been for Garrett constantly nagging me, I probably wouldn't even have done a science fair project with him. At his school entering the science fair isn't required until you get to second grade.

Anyway, he kept nagging me and so the week before the science fair we put together a project. He made a ramp out of a piece of wood and two different boxes. We measured how far his toy car traveled with both ramps. He had said the higher ramp would make the car go farther and he was right.

It was so cute to watch how serious he was during the actual experiment. He got a piece of paper and wrote down the numbers off of the measuring stick after he let each car go down the ramp.

His project will go to the district science fair at the end of March. All six of the elementary schools in our town send projects to the district science fair. Winners from the district science fair go on to compete in the Coastal Bend Science Fair which takes places in a large city about 45 minutes from us.

We will just have to wait and see what happens!

Amazing Coconut Pie

2009-03-01T10:44:00.001-08:00

This is one of the desserts I served at the Pampered Chef party that I had on Thursday night. (I also made a Pineapple Upside Down Cake.)

Everyone really enjoyed it. I had a living room full of people and we had a good time.

I also got lots of free stuff for hosting a party. I'll do a post on those items when they come in.

For now here is the recipie for this amazing pie:

Amazing Coconut Pie

(found on the back of a Baker’s Angel Flake Sweetened Coconut bag)

Ingredients
2 cups milk
¾ cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose baking mix
4 eggs
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/3 cups coconut

Directions

Place milk, sugar, baking mix, eggs, butter, and vanilla in blender container; cover. Blend on low speed for 3 minutes. Pour into greased 9 inch pie plate. (I spray mine with Pam.)

Sprinkle with coconut.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes or until center of pie is set and top is golden brown. Serve warm or cool on wire rack. Store leftover pie in refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings.

Where did last week go?? and a Birthday shoutout

2009-02-23T03:49:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on Twitter my title will sound familiar to you.

I looked at the calendar the other day and said wait . . . it can't already be Tuesday. And then a couple of days later I looked again and said wait . . . if it is Friday, where did Wednesday and Thursday go??

Needless to say my new job is keeping me really busy.

I am having a Pampered Chef party on Thursday so this week I am going to have to say no to the TV when it calls my name and actually clean up this mess I call a house.

What was I thinking when I said I wanted to have a party?? I just couldn't resist the siren song of all of those new products in the catalog as they chanted Buy me - buy me. Since I am not independently wealthy, a party is the only way to go.

Jimmy was a huge help in getting the kitchen done yesterday. What would I do without you babe??

My awesome mom has also volunteered to come over and help me get the house into shape. Thanks Mom!

On a related note, today is my mom's birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

I'm still alive . . . I promise

2009-02-15T06:09:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry for the week with no post. I know all of my readers (all 7 of you! :) were worried about me! I am feeling better - finally. I still have a little bit of a sore throat, congestion, and am coughing some but not nearly as bad as at the beginning of the week. (After typing that sentence, I'm thinking maybe I'm not feeling as well as I thought I was!)

Here's a bunch of random updates since it's been a week since I've posted:

Garrett won in his school's science fair and will proceed to the District Science Fair.

Meagan won in her school's science fair and will process to the District Science Fair.

Garrett scored a goal in his basketball game last week.

On Monday night I went to bed at 6:30 and for the most part slept all the way through until Tuesday morning until it was time to go to work.

I did not miss a day of work this week thanks to taking ibuprofen and Tylenol pretty much constantly. (Excuse me while I go have my liver and kidney function checked.)

I have not done the Wii Fit in over a week due to feeling like crap.

I have used BOXES of tissues this week.

I skipped dinner a few night due to everything tasting funny. I think it is all related to the sinus issues I was having. Unfortunately, I replaced dinner with ice cream a few times.

My wonderful husband has kept our household going while I've been going to bed early all week.

I did stay up late on Thursday night so I could watch Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover. I thought they did a good job with it. Jimmy tells me that Izzy and George and possibly the Chief are not returning next year. I am not sure how I feel about this.

At work I held my first meeting with the principal, a parent, and the counselor to explain testing to the parent. It went well.

I also learned how to do testing to determine if a child is dyslexic or not.

I have remembered how much of a dork I am. I love testing kids to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Thanks Dr. C!

My wonderful husband celebrated his birthday on Friday the 13th! Jimmy I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you!

I know that there is more that I wanted to say but right now I can't think of anything else. I plan on posting more on some of the topics. I have pictures I want to post but I can't find my camera cord right now. Did anyone see where I put it???

Not this again . . .

2009-02-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

I'm sick.

I have a sore throat and I can't breathe through my nose.

I have such a bad sinus headache that even my teeth hurt.

It all started last week. I got that familiar feeling that I was getting sick. I couldn't find my allergy medication so it got worse as the week went on.

Sitting at the kickball field today for team tryouts only made things worse. (The wind was gusting up to 40 miles an hour and dirt was flying everywhere.)

I have tried allergy medication, sinus headache medication, motril, hot tea, hot soup, using my Neti pot (gross but actully works) and I still feel crappy.

It is worse when I lay down. I look stupid sitting around with my mouth hanging open because I can't breathe.

Hopefully it will run its course soon.

Settling into my new job

2009-02-05T05:39:00.000-08:00

For the last two weeks I have been having classes and have gotten into a routine.

In the mornings I see 28 kids, ages kinder to second grade. I have 5 classes with six kids in each class. (Well one class only has four kids but I need to find two more kids to pull in. The class was full but then two kids checked out of our school.)

I see each group for 30 minutes and I have five minutes between each group to walk around and find my next group of students.

All of those classes take place from 8:15 - 11:00.

At 11:00 I pull in fourth grade students for testing. I am doing IRI's on them. An IRI is an Individual Reading Inventory. It is a test that can be used to find a student's strengths and weaknesses as a reader. It also finds the reader's various reading levels. Once I finish testing them I will start working with a group of them on their weaknesses.

I have lunch around 12:00.

At 12:35 I go into a third grade classroom to work with kids who are struggling with various aspects of reading. The third graders are getting ready to take the Reading TAKS test on March 3rd. If a child does not pass this test they will not be promoted to fourth grade.

They are given two more opportunities to pass the test, but once a child has failed the test, self esteem issues and test anxiety usually set in and make it even worse for a child who probably already struggles in reading. This is why the TAKS test is referred to as a High Stakes test.

At 1:30 I pick up a group of students for my dyslexia group. I use a program called Language! with these students that so far, I really like.

At 2:30 I have my conference period. This is when I gather all of my materials for the next day, make copies, return e-mails, have meetings, you name it and it gets crammed into this 45 minutes of the day!

At 3:15 the bell rings. Since I no longer have a class of my own I do not tutor regularly. I do step in and tutor for other teachers when they are absent or have to leave early. If I do not tutor, I continue to prepare for the next day, week, etc.

I also coach DI, which stands for Destination Imagination, at least one day a week after school. Our big competition is coming up in March so we will also be meeting on Saturdays to get prepared for that. The kids are having a good time and have really learned a lot. Regardless of how they do at competition, we have had a great year in DI!

I created my own lesson plan format to keep track of all of my groups and what we are going in each group. I also have to document skills the children are succeeding at and skills that the children are still struggling with. If students are struggling with a skill, I then have to find an alternate activity and reteach that skill. The results of that activity also have to be documented.

All of this is due to R.T.I. which is short for Response to Intervention. R.T.I. is difficult to explain. Basically, every child who struggles needs to be identified. A plan needs to be created for each child and that child's progress is monitored as they work through that plan. (See what I mean about being difficult to explain??)

Wow, this turned into a really long entry. Sorry about that!

Best Christmas Present EVER!

2009-02-01T05:00:00.000-08:00

I work with the best people in the world. Seriously. When I went to work there 10 years ago (in the middle of the school year) everyone welcomed me with open arms.

Our school secretary is the nicest, most kind hearted person you will ever meet.

She spoils my kids rotten! Even Meagan, who no longer goes to my school.

Before Garrett started kindergarten he knew he could always count on Ms. M. for a treat and a carton of chocolate milk.

Ms. M. bought the Garrett this gift for Christmas. It a full of little sticks and marbles that are magnetized.

Even though it was Garrett's gift, both kids have played with it non-stop since he opened it.

Garrett makes letters with the sticks, reins for his Webkinz reindeer, a racetrack for his car to follow - you name it and he's made it.

He practices patterning, his colors, counting, and he doesn't even know it!

Thank you so much Ms. M! We love you!

(She bought Meagan a really cute purse but I can't find the picture I took of it right now. Oops!)

I'm still here

2009-01-26T03:55:00.000-08:00

. . . just in case anyone is wondering.

I had a busy week at school. I tested almost 30 kids from three different grade levels.

I also met with the new teacher daily to make sure she was ready for the next day, had a parent meeting with third grade teachers/parents about the TAKS test, looked for/confirmed science fair judges, met with a reading consultant with third and fourth grades, tutored in a fourth grade class one afternoon, had DI practice, prepared materials for mocks TAKS tests, gathered materials for DI and took a field trip for DI.

On Saturday I took my DI kids (along with DI kids from 4 other schools) to Corpus for a field trip in order to get ready for the big meet in March. On Sunday I took it easy. I went to a friend's house and scrapbooked and then came home and scrapbooked some more.

Did I do any laundry?? NO. Guess what I'll be doing in the evenings this week? Mom?? Are you reading this? (Hint, Hint :)

This week doesn't look like it will be any better.

I have a meeting today after school to wrap up organizing the school science fair, I will tutor tomorrow, will have DI on Wednesday, and go to the doctor on Thursday after school. I also want to go to a Pampered Chef party Thursday evening. Mom?? Are you reading this? I'll pick you up around . . . oh, I can't remember when the party is. I'll pick you up at some point on Thursday evening!

The school science fair is on Friday so I'll be busy with that and I need to get classes started -today!

Oh, I have to get my personal kids' science fair projects going as well.

Who else is up for a busy week?

You have to see it to believe it

2009-01-20T17:00:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I went to Houston to visit with my old friends Crystal and Elaine. I have talked about both of them here before.

Crystal - Elaine - Me

Crystal recently moved back to Texas after having lived in Colorado for the past several years. Elaine has lived in Houston for a couple of years now. Elaine is an artist - check out her website here - and had a show opening in Houston last Friday night. It is located at the Art League of Houston in case you are interested. This show was like no other I've ever seen before.

Elaine's sculptures are of taxidermied animals (she rescues them off of eBay - she doesn't hunt) that have custom made crocheted sweaters. She totally outdid herself with this show - if I do say so myself.

Not only did Elaine create several new sculptures, she also created habitats for each animal/group of animals, had a gift shop, had brochures, etc. She created everything she would need for:

It was totally awesome. My pictures DO NOT do her exhibits justice. Part of that is my fault - new camera and all - and the other part is ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT WERE THERE! The place was SO packed Crystal and I couldn't even see Elaine while she was giving her artist talk, let alone hear her.

Elaine, I am so proud of you. I can remember how you wanted to be an artist even when we were kids. It isn't everyday when you have a friend who has followed her dreams. I love to tell people that I have this really cool friend who is an artist.

Congratulations - all of your hard work paid off!

(Do I sound like a teacher or what???)

If you can read this, thank a teacher

2009-01-19T18:24:00.000-08:00

I know these pictures aren't the best but I just had to have proof of what Garrett is able to do. Ignore my upside down name in black. He wrote his name and dog and log. Earlier in the evening he made dog with the magnetic letters on our refrigerator. I then asked him about making log. I was wondering if he could make the word family connection. He is doing great with rhyming so I want him to know that by finding rhyming words you have more words you can write.

He then wrote Go Go Go Fast. After he wrote it, he read it to me several times. Each time he read it to me he pointed to the word he was saying - moving his finger with each word he said. The rectangle is a period that got a little big as he was drawing it.

He wrote fast by saying the word slowly and stretching out the sounds. He did the same with dog while he was using the magnetic letters. He mixed the letters up and then respelled it without stretching the sounds out.
He then flipped the box over and wrote his sentence again.

Not bad at all for a kid who didn't know any of his sounds at the beginning year - not bad at all!

So, thank you Ms. P. Garrett loves you and learns so much every day. I can't even begin to tell you what a difference you are making in his life.

Earlier in the evening he pointed out commas that he saw on the TV. (They were showing a printed poster of some sort. I can't remember what for now.)

I won a prize!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-18T15:18:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I entered a drawing for a huge assortment of wedding scrapbook materials and I just found out today that I won!!!!!!!!

Dahrlin' at Hello Dahrlin' hosted the giveaway. Click on the link to see what I've won!

I can't wait to get the materials because ever since I started scrapbooking I have wanted to do a wedding album. I even started on one time and HATED the way it looked. Winning this package has renewed my interest in finally getting a new album and getting started!

Thank you so much Dahrlin'!

I'll post about the package when I get it and keep everyone posted on the progress of my album.

This one's for you Mom!

2009-01-16T17:54:00.001-08:00

I talked to my mom the other night and she let me know she wasn't happy that I hadn't updated my blog lately. She wants to see pictures from trip to Houston.

I will write a post about my trip to Houston tomorrow - I promise Mom!

I will give everyone a quick job update - how's that?

The new girl started on Monday. She went to training on Monday with the other two girls who teach third grade. I was all by myself and to be honest - I didn't know what to do with myself during my conference period!! The three of us are totally attached at the hip and are always together during our conference period. I went and did my work in the office just to be around other people!

When I talked to V and E about it they said I was missed at training too. It was vvvveeerrryyy quiet at lunch without me. At least they are thinking about me!

On Tuesday all of the third and fourth grade teachers went to training in Corpus. I counted wrong when I requested our table at lunch because I was still counting myself as a third grade teacher! (The training was good by the way. It was given by Barry Lane. He's written lots of books about teaching writing. He's funny and the day went by really quickly. If you are a teacher you know that is the sign of a good workshop - the day going by quickly.)

Starting on Wednesday Ms. S watched me and took notes. As we had time we discussed the plans she will be responsible for, the students, routines, etc. The kids were very receptive to her.

Today she was in charge for most of the afternoon and at the end of the day sat down with the kids and explained that on Tuesday she would be taking over. We have a workday on Monday. We (all four of us) will work together to get everything settled for all of them to start the new six weeks on Tuesday.

I know that Ms. S. is going to do a great job. The way that she works with the kids is excellent. We planned on meeting each afternoon just to make sure she is set for the next day.

My leaving third grade has brought lots of other changes to the other two girls as well. V is giving up planning her beloved math. E is giving up her safety net of planning science and social studies. I wouldn't be able to leave my class if I didn't have them there to step in and help Ms. S.

It's really starting to hit me that I am no longer a third grade teacher. A little part of me will always be a third grade teacher. I feel so strongly about this because of all I have been through in room 6. It's been a long road to get where I am today.

It's starting to dawn on other people too. L. an aide that has worked through thick and thin with me said, "Oh yeah, you won't be in here any more." She then gave me the best compliment she ever could. She told me she learned a lot from me. That means so much to me.

On Monday I'll start working in my new room.

I've come full circle. I will be in room 10 which is the first classroom that I ever taught in. I started teaching in January 2000. I took over for a teacher who needed to leave in December.

I don't have lesson plans due on Monday. What am I going to do Sunday night?? (Or should I say Monday morning at 5:00 a.m.?)

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-01-11T05:27:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday there was much whispering and giggling between Meagan and Garrett and much shushing by Jimmy. At 7:00, after asking the location of any glue sticks in our house, Jimmy and the kids disappeared into Meagan's room. Not one but two doors were closed in an effort to prevent me from seeing or hearing any goings on.

When I awoke Thursday morning and stumbled into the living room this is what I found:

My husband is truly wonderful. The gift means more to me than he will ever know. The fact that he took the time (over an hour) to make all of these letters with our kids and then stay up late to put them all in place means more to me than any gift he could have bought.

Jimmy, I love you and thank you so much for the banner. He also gave me a beautiful Willow Tree angel. My picture of it was too bright so it looks like a big blur. Digital photography hints anyone??

Here is Jimmy and I at my mom and dad's house on Thursday evening.

Here is me with my mom and Meagan and Garrett. Garrett was obviously not happy about having to stop playing with his friend and pose for the picture. Meagan, on the other hand, is a total ham.

Here is me with Nana Mary. If you read this blog regularly you know that Nana is the mom of my best friend from when I was a kid. She is a big part of our lives. Love you Mary!

Here is my with my friend Elice. We have known each 0ther since we were kids but in the last few years have become close friends. We scrapbook together and our kids are about the same age.

Here I am with the German Chocolate cake my mom made for me.

Despite feeling ill, my mom also made me a wonderful dinner. She made homemade roast with carrots and potatoes and gravy. YUM! Thank you so much Mom! One of these days I am actually going to learn how to make it myself. Garrett even asked me the next day if I knew how to make chicken like grandma did. I was puzzled by his question. He said, "You know, what we ate for dinner last night at Grandma's." I told him no, I don't know how to make chicken like that yet. (Especially since it was roast!)

You need to listen to this album

2009-01-06T05:00:00.000-08:00

The picture is a little small but this is David Cook's first album. And I LOVE it! Santa put the CD in my stocking. (How does Santa always know just what I want??)

What? You don't know who David Cook is? He won American Idol last May. You can listen to two of his songs from my music reader over there on the right. Just click on his name to hear his songs.

David was amazing to watch on American Idol. Week after week he would take all different types of artists and make their music his. Really. He made a Dolly Parton song sound AWESOME!

I love the entire album. That hasn't happened to me in forever. I usually buy a CD for one or two songs and never listen to the rest of the album because it just doesn't click with me. Not true with this one!

What are you waiting for? Go buy his album!

If you want to learn more about David Cook check out his official site by clicking here. There's even a blog that he writes.

Garrett the (Assistant) Builder

2009-01-05T05:00:00.000-08:00

Garrett received some Legos for his birthday. Here he is putting them together with the help of Jimmy. Garrett did really well looking at the instructions and putting the Legos together. He received a Batman set that came with Batman and Robin.

Cheesy smile for the camera "Hurry up and take the picture Mom, I'm busy here," he seems to be saying.

Trying out an up close shot with my new camera.

"Stop it already Mom!"

Here is he is laughing at something Jimmy said.

Some layouts I recently finished

2009-01-04T17:55:00.001-08:00

L - general pics R - opening gifts
L - pool pics R - water balloons

L - Waterburger Field Hooks game R - fireworks pics from after the game

L - dinner at Friday's R - Waterburger Field Hooks game

They are a little blurry. You can click on each picture to see it larger. They are also in reverse order so start at the bottom to follow the "story." These are the layouts from Meagan's 9th birthday. We went to Corpus on her actual birthday to the movies, to dinner and to a Hooks game. On Saturday she had a pool party at our house.

I am still learning how to use my new camera obviously. If I use the flash the pictures are clear and crisp. But when I do use the flash sometimes I get a shadow or a too bright spot.

Any book or websites suggestions on learning to use the manual modes on the computer??

Guess what I bought??

2009-01-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

So, I bought a new camera! It is a Canon Power Shot SX10 IS.

The main reason I bought this one (well other than the fact that I couldn't afford the one I really want - a Rebel) was that it has a 20x zoom.

It also has a burst option which allows you to push the button one time and the camera will take mulitple pictures. This is a great feature for sports.

Another reason I liked it was that it uses the same type of memory card that I already own for my Kodak.

I looked at a Kodak that was similar to this Canon but Best Buy was out of them and didn't know when they were going to get any more in.

The camera is a big step up from the Kodak I had. It has tons of features that can be used when you aren't taking pictures on auto.

So, here are my New Year's Resolutions (really it has to do with the camera - I promise):

I want to become a better photographer. I have this nice new camera with lots of options and now I actually want to learn how to use them!

Some people that I read regularly (their blogs that is) are doing something called Project 365. I originally heard about it from Janelle at My Life. It is a scrapbook where you take at least one picture each day of the year and then journal about it. If you click on her link you can read more about it.

I thought this sounded really cool but am totally overwhelmed at the idea of adding another scrapbook project to the ones I've already got going (and am totally behind on!)

Rachael at little bites of heaven has created a second blog where she plans to post her daily picture. I thought that was a GREAT idea - no paper needed! So, I may borrow her idea. The bad news? I already missed a day of taking pictures. I didn't take a picture on January 2nd!

I have some other resolutions but I am not firm on them yet - lets tackle one big goal at a time okay?

P.S. I went to work on Friday to start cleaning out my room/organizing and it was harder than I thought it was going to be!

My newly cleaned and organized scrapbook area

2009-01-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

Here it is!

This is in the left hand corner of our living room. Our living room is a long rectangle with four doorways. Our furniture is mostly on the right hand side of the room so that leaves room on the left for my stuff!

The table is a hand me down from my father. The blue organizer on the left is my birthday gift! (My birthday is on Jan. 8th, the same day as Elvis. Thank you, Thank you very much.) The white organizer on the right is a hand me down from my friend Elice. The green containers on the floor on the left are for my kids. I put anything in there that comes home from school, activities, etc. When I scrapbook about their school year I look through the bucket for things I want to include. I need a system for things that are too big for the scrapbook but that I still want to keep. Any ideas/suggestions??

The big black bag under the table holds all of my paper. It is sorted in various organizers/packages.

Yes, the table does block the front door but we never used it anyway.

Blue Organizer - top drawer - small punches, corner cutters, scissors, blades, adhesives

Second drawer - large and medium punches, chalk in the black bag (It is upside down so it doesn't dry out.)

Third drawer - stencils, cutting tools Fourth drawer - pens, open pages and page protectors

Fifth drawer - cutting patterns, personal trimmer

This is my ribbon drawer. Ribbon and journaling boxes/photo mats are kept in the small white organizer on the top of the table.
Here is a picture of part of my mantle. You can see all of the albums I own. The light purple one is Meagan's from birth to age 4. The red one is Meagan's for kinder to now (school stuff). The dark blue ones are family albums. The light blue one is Garrets birth to four album (I know I am behind . . . shh . . . just don't tell him!) The pinkish one is Meagan's own album. (Girl Scout trips, things she and I have done by ourselves, etc.) It doesn't make sense for Meagan to have two separate albums but I've already started them and they can't be combined so oh well.

So, what are your hobbies? (And do you have as much junk for them as I do??)

2008: The Year in Pictures

2009-01-01T12:35:00.001-08:00

As if my last post didn't tell you more about me than you ever wanted to know . . .

This post is our year in pictures. I got the idea from little bites of heaven who has a daughter and then toddler triplets.

For another year in pictures check out Kristi's post on her blog Kristi's Trio. She also has a daughter and toddler triplets.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

More than you ever wanted to know

2008-12-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

So, I read All & Sundry that is written by Linda. Each year she does this questionnaire and I decided to do it this year. Read on to find out more about me! (Like there's anything you don't already know about me!)

**If you don't read All & Sundry you should. She is a terrific writer with two ADORABLE boys. She also recently committed herself to getting healthy with amazing results!

**Feel free to copy this and do it on your own blog - or in the comments section of my blog. If you do put your answers on your blog, will you let me know?

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Got a job as a reading specialist, took the kids to Houston on vacation

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't think I even made any resolutions last year. I might make some this year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness

5. What countries did you visit?

None

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

patience with my children

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

several that are school related - July, November, December all having to do with changes

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting the new job!

9. What was your biggest failure?

not being patient with my children

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No, Garrett struggled with sinus issues though.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I'm thinking it will be the new camera I just bought but I haven't learned enough about it yet!
I dropped my old one : (

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Jimmy's for putting up with me!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

No one that I can think of.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills, eating out

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

My new job! Garrett and Meagan doing well in school.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

???

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? about the same
c) richer or poorer? about the same

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

exercise, try to stay organized

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

be negative/complain

20. How did you spend Christmas?

We stayed in town as usual and had my parents over on Christmas Eve and then went to Jimmy's mom's house on Christmas Eve and for Christmas Day lunch

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

I fall in love a little more with Jimmy each day. He is always doing something for me. I mean the thoughtful things that he does like bringing stuff to me that I forgot at home, making sure I unplugged the iron for me (I call him almost every morning to ask that question!)

22. What was your favorite TV program?

LOST, Bones, House (I'm sorry, was I only supposed to name one??)

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No

24. What was the best book you read?

Schuyler's Monster by Robert Rummel Hudson (I found his blog through All & Sundry too!)

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

David Cook

26. What did you want and get?

lots of stuff - hubby spoils me

27. What did you want and not get?

nothing - see #26

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

I'm not a big movie person.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 31 and I don't remember! I'm going to guess that we went to Chili's or my mom made roast and all of the trimmings - my two favorite dinner options. (In my defense my birthday is January 8th so I'm gearing up for my next one already. Last year's birthday was a long time ago!)

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

to stick to a healthier eating/exercise plan

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
What's clean and doesn't need to be ironed.

32. What kept you sane?

Jimmy

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

???
34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The election. It was very interesting to see so many people finally get involved with something EVERYONE should be involved in all the time (voting) Of course, I am a total loser when it comes to understanding politics but I do vote each time an election rolls around.

35. Who did you miss?

My friends Amy and Emily who moved away in last few years.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

??? I have no idea. I'm sure I met someone new this year but I am drawing a total blank!

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

See #38

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Home by Chris Daughtry - I tend to be a "grass is greener" type of person. I need to remember that what I've got is better than anything out there! (This is in relation to material things - nice houses, fancy cars, etc. The people I have in my life are more important that any of that stuff.)

My kitchen must hate me

2008-12-30T17:10:00.000-08:00

I love to cook but HATE to clean up.

Last night I made a Paula Deen recipe that actually did NOT call for a stick of butter. (If you've ever watched any of her shows you know that almost everything she makes starts with "melt a stick of butter" and then continues to be a high fat, rich something or other! The only thing I do different for this recipe is not cook it as long as it says to after adding the macaroni. I also add a jar of mushrooms (drained) because I LOVE mushrooms.

My kids even ate it!

I also made corn muffins from a box to go with the goulash.

As I was making the goulash I also made biscotti cookies from scratch. They are good but seem like they are missing something. I thought I would look around on the internet at other recipes to see if I could add anything else to them to make taste like the ones I buy at Half-Price Books.

Tonight I made hash browns (from scratch) for the first time ever. They were good but I think I started with too much oil so they were a little greasy. They were crispy on the outsides but in the middle they were mushier than I would have liked them to be. They did have a really good flavor though!

I also made waffles, bacon, and scramble eggs tonight for dinner.

Needless to say, my kitchen is a HUGE mess.

(I even had to wash forks so we would have something to eat dinner with tonight but shh . . . don't tell anyone!)

Christmas Day pictures

2008-12-30T12:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve Pictures

2008-12-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

I already wrote about our Christmas Eve but I wanted to show ya'll the pictures we took.

I finally went to my mom's house and burned the pictures to a CD. (Remember how I dropped my camera? Because of the screen on my camera being broken, all of these pictures were taken on her new camera. But don't worry, I also got a new camera. More about it later!)

My pictures of Meagan's baptism came out too dark so I am waiting for Jimmy's sister to send me the pictures she took.

The funny look on Garrett's face is partly his smile and partly his face being swollen. Thankfully, the swelling went down on Christmas day. He's feeling better now but still has lots of congestion. Darn those fronts!

Here are my parents with the kids.

Garrett shows off one of his gifts. It is a 60 piece puzzle of a farm scene. He was able to put it together all by himself today. Someone (not me bacause jigsaw puzzles drive me nuts!) has taught him the proper way to put a puzzle together.

Grandpa helps Garrett open a breakable gift. It is a figuine of a fireman.I have lots of other pictures but they are turned the wrong way right now. I'll post them as soon as I figure out how to get them turned the right way!

Profoundly Seth

2008-12-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

So, it's Christmas break for me and instead of cleaning and organizing my house the way I should be, I've been spending some extra time on the computer. I know, you are shocked at this revelation of mine!

Anyway, I recently found a blog called Profoundly Seth. I found it through the Not Me! Monday blog post on MckMomma's blog (click on the black and white picture on the right of the screen to see that blog).

The blog tells the story of Seth who is profoundly deaf. His mom writes about her life with him and his brother and sister. Seth is a candidate for a cochlear implant.

I have been interested in implants since hearing about them on ER (Ok, Ok, I know TV shows are not good medical sources, anyway) and reading about a micro-preemie twin who has an implant on a different blog.

Also, I'm nosy and reading other peoples' blogs allows me a glimpse into their lives okay??

Anyway, check out Profoundly Seth! She's currently hosting a give away to celebrate her site receiving 10,000 hits!

Watch out Chef Duff

2008-12-28T15:48:00.000-08:00

Mom came over last week with one of those pre-made gingerbread kits. Even the icing was easy to make - all you had to do was add water.

We started at the top of the house where Garrett insisted on making a pattern with the gum drops.

Grandma Silly

(my mom)

A pastry chef in the making??
Meagan has a try with the icing. She realized that it isn't as easy as it looks!

Brotherly and Sisterly Love

Please ignore all of the junk on the desk behind the kids!

Our finished gingerbread house
We copied this wreath from the picture on the box - not exactly the same - but close enough!
Thanks Grandma Silly!

We had lots of fun!

Christmas Day

2008-12-26T05:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day was also really good at our house.

Meagan woke us up at 6:59. "Mom, it's seven! Can we please get up now??" (She was under strict orders to wake us up before she went into the living room to see what Santa left her. A few years ago she woke up, took all of her stuff to her room, and was getting toys out of their boxes before we woke up!)

Garrett was still asleep so we left him alone and went with Meagan into the living room.

She was thrilled with her gift from Santa. (I would be too for that matter!) She received an iPod Nano and an iTunes gift card. Her stocking was also full of goodies. She got a High School Musical 3 game for her DS, some bangle bracelets, socks, some candy, and lots of other little things.

In his stocking Jimmy got a new equipment bag for kickball, some duplicate line-up sheets for kickball, Reece's Peanut Butter cups, and other odds and ends.

In my stocking I got new socks, the new David Cook CD (which is awesome!), some new pens, an iTunes gift card, some candy, and various items.

Garrett finally woke up around 8:00 or so. Santa left him a silver Nintendo DS and a Mario game. In his stocking he got an M&M racing game for the DS, a cover for the DS, a small lego kit, and lots of other goodies.

I made homemade biscuits and bacon and eggs for breakfast. After we ate Jimmy broke out the Batman Lego game for the Wii that the kids got the night before and I spent a while on the computer figuring out how to download music into the iPods Meagan and I received. Meagan bought Taylor Swift and Jonas Brothers songs with her iTunes gift cards.

We went to Grandma and Pawpaw Blair's for Christmas lunch and enjoyed visiting with family. We also opened our stockings that Santa and Grandma Blair fill for us there.

Elaine came by and visited with us before she went back to Houston last night. (She is very busy with preparations for her show which opens on January 9th.

I also talked to Crystal who is in town for the holiday. We made plans to get together today.

All in all, Christmas was great!

I'll post pictures once I have a chance to download them from my mom's camera.

2008-12-25T15:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day here at our house.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church for the evening service. Meagan was baptised along with another member of the church. It was a beautiful service and, of course, I cried. My mom and dad attended along with Jimmy's mom and two of his sisters and their families.

After church we went back to our house and opened gifts with Grandma Silly and Grandpa. Garrett received lots of Batman goodies and Meagan was thrilled the money that Grandma and Grandpa gave her. The money is for her to go shopping for clothes.

Mom and Dad gave me my very own mixer! (I guess Mom is tired of me always borrowing hers!) What I am very impressed about with the mixer is that Mom and Dad went to Wal-Mart on Black Friday to buy it. If you know my dad, you know how amazing that is!

Jimmy gave me a beautiful Willow Tree angel "Mother and Daughter." He said he felt it fit the theme of the evening.

After a dinner of assorted snacks/finger foods went went to Grandma and Pawpaw Blair's house. We opened gifts there (I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble :) Can't wait to go buy some new books!) Meagan and Garrett got lots of toys and Jimmy got an Astros t-shirt and Miami Dolphins salt and pepper shakers.

All of Jimmy's sisters and their husbands and Jimmy and I do a gift exchange. We call it White Elephant. Everyone draws a number and then you open gifts according to the number you drew. You can also "steal" other gifts that have been opened before yours. I came home with $20 in lottery tickets and Jimmy came home with a serving platter that can be kept warm. Of course, Jimmy and I agreed to trade gifts when we got home :) He won $14 off of the lottery tickets.

We got home really late and tucked our kiddos into bed. Garrett was feeling really miserable. He had sneezed and blown his nose ALL DAY and his eyes were almost swollen shut. Whatever blew in with the latest front REALLY bothered his allergies. Wait until you see the pictures - he looked terrible. He even took a nap during the day on Christmas Eve. When he fell asleep I knew he was feeling bad!

Chocolate Pixies Before and After

2008-12-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Baking update:

I forgot to take a picture of the dough before I rolled it into balls. The dough is really thick and chocolatey. You roll it into balls and then roll the balls in powdered sugar.

After you bake them they look like this. Yes, they are extremely messy. My table is still covered with powdered sugar.

Sorry the pictures aren't straight. I dropped my camera the other day and broke the screen. It still takes pictures (obviously) but you can't see what you are taking a picture of until after you download it to the computer.

I still need to make more gingerbread men at some point today. They are Jimmy's sister Tina's favorite cookie.

This post has nothing to do with Christmas

2008-12-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Jimmy recently coached winter kickball for the first time. He coached with another kickball friend of ours. (Neither one of them had enough girls for a full team so they combined the two teams.) I didn't do much coaching wise this time because I was busy taking Garrett to soccer practice and such.

This league is run by the Boys and Girls club - not the Little Miss Kickball organization. Each girl gets to kick no matter how many are on the team and you can sub players on the field every inning, not just at the 4th quarter. No official score was kept and there were no rules other than three strikes and you are out and three outs in each half of the inning. A total of five teams played in the junior division. All of the teams except one were coaches that we played with in the spring league.

Meagan had fun and even scored a few runs this year. It was very different playing in the winter instead of spring/summer. We actually wore sweats and jackets to the games for the most part! It's also more difficult to practice when it gets dark at 6:00!

These pictures were taken right before the last game of the season.

It's starting to smell like Christmas around here

2008-12-22T07:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the kids and I made some cookies to take to their teachers at school. We made gingerbread men, chocolate pixies, and forgotten cookies.

I made the dough for the gingerbread men and rolled and cut them out. Once I put them on the pan Garrett placed the eyes and buttons on them.

We gave away (or ate) all of the gingerbread men so I plan on making some more in the next couple of days. Next time I will try to get an "after" picture when they come out of the oven.

The chocolate pixies went so fast I didn't even get a single picture of them! They are these wonderful brownie like cookies that you roll in powdered sugar before you bake them. When you bite into them, powdered sugar falls everywhere. I also made the dough for these cookies and then Meagan rolled the dough into balls and then rolled the balls in the powdered sugar. I did the actual baking.

The forgotten cookies are super easy. They are meringue cookies with chocolate chips folded in. I don't like them but several people at work do so I made them. They are SUPER easy to make (especially if you borrow a big fancy mixer from your mom like I did) and take next to nothing to make. To make 45 cookies you only need 2 egg whites, a 2/3 cup of sugar and one cup of chocolate chips. This year I used the mini morsels since the cookies themselves are pretty small.

I plan to make more cookies today. I LOVE biscotti and have wanted to try to make it for years, but I have just never gotten around to it. I am going to make plain almond biscotti. I love to dunk it in my hot chocolate. Of course, it is going to be 80 degrees here on Christmas so I don't know if I'll be drinking any hot chocolate. Why can't the weather get the message that I want it cold on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, not two days prior??

I'll post later with a baking update!

Holiday Crafts

2008-12-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

Mom bought Garrett and Meagan these cute craft kits for Christmas. Garrett's kit contained magnets for the refrigerator. He had a santa, a snowman, and a penguin. He really had a lot of fun gluing them together. He was able to do most it all by himself.

Meagan made ornaments for the tree. She had a snowflake and a wreath. She got to use glitter so she of course had a lot of fun!

Thanks Grandma Silly!

Happy Anniversary Jimmy!

2008-12-21T05:03:00.000-08:00

Twelve years ago today I married the man of my dreams.

He was 21 and I was 19. I was a college sophomore, commuting one hour each way two days a week for college and working five nights a week at the local bowling alley. (Which incidentally, is where we met. My mom actually met Jimmy first and introduced us.) Jimmy was working six days a week for his dad at his service station.

We had been dating for four years. Our first date was on November 14, 1992. I was 15 and he was 17. We went to the movies.

During the movie we were shushed by the people in front of us for talking. After the movie, he took me home. We then talked on the phone for most of the night.

We were married in a baptist church surrounded my friends and family.

I know that many people thought it wouldn't last.

Nine months later when I was a college junior, I found out I was pregnant with Meagan.

When Meagan was 18 months old, I graduated from college with a Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. I took several tests and became a certified teacher.

The stars must have been aligned correctly because I had a full time teaching job lined up the day I crossed the stage to receive my diploma. I was the first person in either of our families to have earned a college degree. I like to think that my parents' (and a lot of other people of course) dream came true that day.

Two weeks later I began to work at the school where I still work today. A few weeks after that I started school once again. This time my goal was to earn a Master's Degree in reading.

On December 6, 2002 our son Garrett was born.

On December 14, 2002 I crossed that stage once again, this time earning that master's degree.

Two days ago I was promoted to Reading Specialist.

Dreams really do come true for those that work hard and are willing to sacrifice things like free time and fancy cars and Jimmy was always there working (at work and at home) to make sure I was able to fulfill my dreams.

It hasn't always been easy but I always knew that I could do whatever I set out to because Jimmy was there behind me, standing just off stage, supporting me.

He is quiet to my constant chatter. He is patient and calm to my hot headedness. He puts clothes in the dryer for me and washes dishes and bathes kids and gives them medicine and brings me lunch and helps me grade papers (red pen only for him please!) and a million other things that I know I am forgetting here.

The point of all this? Jimmy, I love you and my life would not be complete without you. You are the reason I am who I am today and for that I will be forever grateful.

Thank you so much for being a wonderful husband and my best friend.

My new title shall be . . .

2008-12-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

Reading Specialist!

I got the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got the news yesterday. My principal called me into the office at 2:00 or so and gave me the news.

When we go back from break (January 5th) we will start interviewing people to fill my teaching position.

Once the district hires someone, I will team teach with that person for a week or two and then get started on being the Reading Specialist.

We have two weeks off for Christmas so I plan on going in and organizing my room and packing up some of my stuff to get it out of the way. I won't pull everything that is mine out of my room right now. For one, I have no where to put extra stuff and two, it wouldn't be fair to my kids to take everything that they are familiar with away from them.

Hopefully by the end of January I can have classes of my own started. I am really excited to work with kids from all of the different grade levels. I have spent the last 10 years working with 8 -10 year olds and think I will really enjoy the change.

I will be working with dyslexic students using the Language! program that our district has adopted.

I don't know what room I will be in now. Our old specialist used part of the computer lab but that isn't the plan for me. I think we are going to move some things around in another room to give me a new classroom of my own.

I am really excited about it but I don't think it is going to totally sink in until I actually start setting up my new space and setting up groups and lessons.

I know that leaving the classroom full time is going to be hard. I cried on Wednesday when one of my students moved to Houston so I can only imagine how it is going to be to leave 19 of them at once!

I am also going to REALLY miss my teammates. I have posted before about how well we work together.

The good thing is that I will still be on the same campus. The more I learn about where I work the more I am convinced that there is truly no place like home.

Gulp . . . I hope I don't regret it . . .

2008-12-15T20:08:00.001-08:00

I just submitted a proposal for a reading conference in April. This conference is held each spring at the college that I graduated from. The man that talked me into getting a master's degree in reading is now running the doctoral program at this college. This is the college that I would love to go back to and attend the doctoral program. I actually enjoy going to school and attending class. I'm a nerd like that.

I think the proposal I typed up sounds good but what will they think?? I usually don't care too much about what people think but these are people that I admire for their education and impact on the reading community. My former professor is a past president of the International Reading Association. He's well known far and wide.

I haven't done anything with the college for the last several years because of my commitment to my school and kids. Lots of activities that the college does are at night or on the weekends. I tutor two to three days a week after school and on LOTS of Saturdays. I have been away from the academic side of my life for several years and lately I really find myself missing it.

One of the consultants that I work with through my school is currently working on her dissertation at the college so I love to talk school with her.

Maybe I'm finally ready to jump back into the world of academia.

Playing around with the self timer on my camera

2008-12-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

So what do you think?

We had to try about 5 times to get this one and people were getting frustrated so I stopped with this one.

We went to church this morning - which is why we are all dressed up on a Sunday morning and my hair is done and I have make-up on.

After the service - which was very moving for me - I always feel like Brother R. can read my mind when he preaches - we talked to the pastor about Meagan being baptised. She has been wanting to for a while but I have been a slacker mom. Anyway, she will be baptised on Christmas Eve. How perfect is that? Like Jimmy said, I can't think of a better time to do it.

I am now doing laundry and trying to keep the kids quiet so Jimmy can watch the Dolphins. They are in the running for first place in their division which is FANTASTIC seeing as they only won one game all of last season.

I also need to do dishes so I can roll out, cut out, and bake the gingerbread men I want to send to Meagan's teachers this week. I borrowed my mom's heavy duty mixer and made one batch of dough last night. I love how all of the spices make the kitchen smell. I'll try and post some pictures of them when I am done with them - if anyone of them make it long enough to be photographed!

100th Post?? More job ramblings . . .

2008-12-14T05:33:00.000-08:00

Who knows?

Anyway, I am still waiting for news about the job.

Let me fill in a little information about the job that I interviewed for.

About three weeks into the school year our Reading Specialist was moved to central office to fill an open position in the testing department. As soon as I heard Mrs. S. would be leaving, I called my principal and let her know that I was interested in the job and that I have a Master's Degree in Reading and hold a Reading Specialist Certificate in our state. (She's new to our campus this year and I wasn't sure if she knew I had a Master's Degree.) I then contacted our personnel director and let him know of my interest in the job and sent him an official letter of interest with an attachment explaining my degree/certification.

Over Thanksgiving break I saw in our local newspaper that they were advertising for several open positions in my district. The Reading Specialist job was one of those positions.

When we got back to school after the break I called the personnel director just to check in and see what was going on with the position. He said that my principal should be holding interviews soon and hopefully a decision would be made before the Christmas holidays.

The very next day the secretary told me that my interview was scheduled for Thursday morning (the next morning!!) at 9:00!

I went home after school and couldn't focus on anything!! I brushed up on my dyslexia information and read some interview questions on the internet (you can find anything on there I swear!) and redid my resume. I finally went to bed around midnight. Walking to bed I remembered about some experiences I had working at the college that I did not include on my resume, so I set the alarm for 5:00 a.m. I woke up with my alarm and redid my resume.

I feel that the interview went well. At first my heart was pounding but as I started answering questions I relaxed. There was one question that I felt I really didn't have a good answer for but as I answered the next question it helped answer the other one. (I have NO idea if that sentence makes any sense.)

That was on December 4th. I know there were several other interviews.

Tomorrow starts the last week of school before the holidays. I would LOVE to find out before the holidays so that I can either move my stuff around (if I get the job!) and get my room ready for a new teacher to come in and take over my class (sniff, sniff, I can't imagine leaving my kids) OR so I can cry all of Christmas Break and adjust to the fact that someone else will be the Reading Specialist! :(

If I do get the job I will be working with small groups of kids who are at-risk in reading. I will be working with kids from all grade levels K-4 and with teachers to help them help their students. I will still write lesson plans but instead of lesson plans for whole group lessons they will be for small groups. I will also work closely with the teacher who takes my place to get her settled in and make the transition a smooth one for my students.

Pins and Needles

2008-12-10T19:36:00.001-08:00

First of all, I am totally confused about my number of blog posts I have done. My archive says I've only posted 98 posts but when I log in my number reads 100. So, anyway, my last post might have been my 100th post or my next post will be. Whatever.

I decided to post tonight because I noticed I had 10 hits today! So, I guess a few people are actually reading my blog. If you could, I would LOVE for you to leave me a comment. Just click on comment under the post and follow the directions. You can click on anonymous if you do not have a blog or blog profile of your own. Thanks to Cindi for always commenting! You can check her blog out at Another Day in the Life which is listed on my blog roll on the left hand side of the screen. I would also love it if you added yourself as a follower. You can also do that on the left hand side of the screen.

So, now onto real news, Garrett's party at McDonald's was okay. Garrett was cranky because he fell on the slide and hurt his arm so he was shyer (is that a word?) than usual. The seating area that was reserved for us was really sunny and bright so not many of my pictures turned out that well. I don't think I took any pictures of the kids actually playing in the playground area. I have no picture of Garrett blowing out his candle because he didn't blow out a candle. This is because his candle broke as he was handing it to Jimmy to put it into the cake. (It had broken earlier in the day and I managed to fix it but Garrett dropped it again and it didn't survive.)

The great thing about the party was lots of friends and family showed up and had a good time (hopefully)! Garrett also got lots of great presents. He got some new jeans, a couple of shirts, a dart gun, some cash that he can't wait to spend, Hulk gloves, and Batman figures. I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. Thanks again to everyone who attended the party.

Now on to the pins and needles part of my post. Long story short, I interviewed for a new job last Thursday and I am still waiting to hear if I got the job.

I'll post more about the job in my next post.

100th Post/My Baby Boy's Birthday!!

2008-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

I can't believe Garrett is six years old already!!!

This morning Meagan and I were gone to a DI training in Corpus so Jimmy took these pictures for me.

I can't believe my baby has gotten so big! What is a mom to do??

I'll post more pictures tomorrow after his birthday party. We are having it at McDonalds.

Guess what we did tonight . . .

2008-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Okay, I lied . . . More about Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T08:13:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of Meagan and Garrett by the Thanksgiving display that my mom put up. I think it turned out really cute Mom!

As for Thanksgiving Day, it was really nice. Nana Mary, Crystal, and Mady came and we all had a really good time. Of course my kids fussed and acted like I was trying to feed them battery acid when given white meat turkey and green beans but oh well.

I was exhausted from crash cleaning the house (thanks Jimmy!) but now the house still looks pretty good, so it was all worth it. (Of course, if I had stuck with my plan to clean/organize one room a day I wouldn't have had to crash clean, but this is me we are talking about!)

It was a lot of fun to see my friend Crystal. She recently moved back to Texas and was able to come down for Thanksgiving. She came over for Thanksgiving dinner and then came back on Friday night just to hang out.

I also got to see my friend Elaine on Thanksgiving evening. I always go to her house to eat pie on Thanksgiving evening. Her mom makes the best Buttermilk pie. Yum!

To finish up Thanksgiving . . .

2008-11-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Here is Grandma Blair (Jimmy's mom - green shirt) and Grandma Silly (my mom - yellow shirt) and Garrett at the Thanksgiving Dinner done by our school. Parents are invited to each lunch with their children when the cafeteria makes Thanksgiving dinner. Thank goodness for grandmas because I do not like turkey, dressing, gravy all mixed up and the day is so crazy there is no way someone could cover my class for me while I ate lunch with Garrett. Grandma Blair and Grandma Silly have been coming to my rescue for many years now, first by eating with Meagan and now with Garrett.
Here's Garrett with his McDonalds - he takes after his mom and doesn't eat turkey/gravy/dressing either. Plain white meat for him, thank you very much.
I wish he would realize that this *IS NOT* a real smile.

Even the Tooth Fairy was strapped for cash . . .

2008-11-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Tooth Fairy left Meagan an I.O.U. the other night after explaining that it was a record breaking night for lost teeth in our town.

Here is an up close picture of her mouth. This picture was taken at her request. "Mom, you can write about it on your blog!" was her exact comment actually. It reminds me of when she was little I would tell her "You can write about that (whatever she was currently talking about) in Writer's Workshop tomorrow."

Don't worry about the I.O.U. Dad came through with a gold dollar coin that day after school.

Now she only needs to lose 2 more molars on the bottom and 6 on top and she will have lost all of her baby teeth. Where did my baby go??

A Real Cut Up

2008-11-25T07:11:00.000-08:00

Quick! Hide your stacks of paper. My son is on a cutting and gluing (is that a word?) kick and no piece of paper is safe. He is also obsessed with having me draw him Christmas trees so he can color them in and add ornaments. (And then cut them out and glue them to another sheet of paper. Layers are obviously in for him.)

He refuses to color in coloring books most of the time. He would rather use of stacks of paper for the printer. I told Jimmy that I think he would probably be thrilled if we bought him a ream of white paper, a pad of construction paper, a new pair of scissors, and some glue sticks for Christmas!

On a Christmas note, I am DONE! shopping for my kids. Family and friends are up next.

Well, I do have to shop for my kids for my parents. My mom has NEVER been a fan of shopping so most years my parents give Jimmy and I money and we shop for them for Meagan and Garrett. I also wrap the gifts - another holiday chore my mom is not big on. But, she makes AWESOME cookies and pecan tassies - things I DO NOT like to do - so it all works out. Plus, I get to pick what my kids get. No complaining here!

Garrett has also learned how to whistle. I think it's cute but also annoying. I hate stray noises that I can't find the cause of.

He is also singing this really cute Thanksgiving song.

"Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Mr. Turkey says. Please eat pizza not me."

There's more to the song but I can't remember it all right now.

Meagan is using up boxes of Kleenex with her latest cold/allergy attack/whatever. So, of course the nasal congestion has brought on the cough that will not end. It is a dry, annoying cough (and if it is annoying to me I can only imagine how she feels about it) that probably will not quit until I give in and call the doctor for a round of oral steroids. I treat it with albuterol/Xopenex for a couple of days and it that doesn't work, then I call the nurse line and she talks to me and then to the doctor and then they call in the prescription for me. Thank goodness I don't have to drag them to Corpus every time.

Garrett is also congested and blowing his nose frequently but he is not coughing as much. They both have a check up with the pulmonologist on December 2nd, so hopefully we can take of things here at home until then.

My Thanksgiving cleaning plan (also known as Oh crap! People are coming over and I'd better do something to make the house presentable!) is not going as well as I would like it. Who woulda thunk? I guess for the plan to work a person actually has to detach themselves from the computer and do the cleaning tasks on the list. Even if the list is just in the person's head.

Yesterday I cleaned out most of the shelves in the frig - just the bottom drawer and bottom of the fridge to go - and cleaned out a kitchen cabinet. I sanitized all the shelves and walls and organized my millions of throw away containers that I use for taking my lunch/storing leftovers. If something did not have a mate, it got thrown away. Which guarantees I will find the mate tomorrow. Ah, such is life.

On tap for today: finish the fridge, clean out the oven, do laundry, grade papers, and finish the dining room. The kids did a great job in the dining room yesterday. Garrett cleaned up the aftermath of his latest cutting spree and Meagan took all of the junk that didn't belong in the room to the appropriate room. She also did a great job on her room.

I do have laundry going already this morning but that is about it. I'd better get moving!

I'm also going to take the kids and my niece and nephew to see Madagascar 2.

I've been given an award!

2008-11-23T12:24:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately I don't know how to get it on my blog! Cindi gave me the award. She is a friend that I met on teachers.net She is also a teacher. You can check out Cindi's post (and my award!) here.

Thank you so much Cindi! I have really enjoyed reading about your two boys and your life!

Thanksgiving Break is here!

2008-11-23T12:06:00.000-08:00

We had a crazy week at school. Wait a minute . . . they are all crazy. Let me say that we had a crazier week than usual at school this week.

Here's some of what went on this week:

Working from 8:00 - 10:00 P.M. on Monday night (and then grading at home until midnight) on grades that were due on Tuesday morning at 8:00 A.M.
getting to school on Tuesday morning at 7:00 A.M. to finish grades (Mrs. T. is NOT happy when you submit late! :)
Third grade held a parent meeting about the Reading TAKS test on Tuesday (only 10 parents showed up BOO!)
I attended a science fair planning meeting on Tuesday
one of my co-workers was out a couple of days (her poor baby has RSV and TWO types of flu)
we had almost 300 parents join their children for Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday (thank goodness I didn't have anything to do with it except turn in the money my students brought it)
Holiday picture day on Friday
wearing regular clothes on Friday (not me, the students . . . they usually wear uniforms),
early dismissal on Friday (a first for us for Thanksgiving. We've only gotten out early once before on the day of Thanksgiving break because the high school needed the buses for the the football team)
a student brought cupcakes on Friday for her birthday, etc.. etc., etc.
finished up benchmarking (we test at the end of each six weeks on science, social studies, math and reading usual bubble sheets that the teachers have to check by hand before turning in - but I'm NOT complaining - bubble sheets are much better than our own grade/analyze by hand method)
be depressed about benchmark scores
take care of field trip details for my DI team
Staff luncheon on Friday (thank goodness we drew paper goods this time)
turning in all of the end of the six weeks paperwork that was due
handing out Book-It pizza coupons to students for November
trying to download new curriculum for the third six weeks (our internet has been on strike at school lately and these documents have tons of pages so I am NOT going to print them at home!)

I am grateful for the whole week off for Thanksgiving. I plan on working in my room some to get ready for the three weeks that we have in December. Time is flying by and the TAKS test will be here before we know it. There is NO time to waste (not that there ever is).

I also need to clean my entire house because I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and some good friends of ours.

2008-11-19T05:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Garrett's last soccer game. His skills have improved tremendously and I am so proud of him.

Here he is kicking the ball to start off the game. It was WINDY and actually quite chilly for our neck of the woods!

Here he's watching to see if the ball is going to go through the goal. (His teammate W kicked it.)Obviously the ball went in!

Thanksgiving is on it's way!

2008-11-17T05:00:00.000-08:00

My mom put this scene together in her front yard. Isn't it cute? Garrett was thrilled to help her with the hay.

He was so proud of himself for moving the bales all by himself.

(Once again Meagan is not in these pictures because she is off at another activity. She is leading a very busy life right now and something tells me it isn't going to get any better any time soon! We - Jimmy, Meagan, and I - were at her kickball game the night Garrett and my mom set all of this up.)

I am excited about Thanksgiving because I am having it at my house. My mom, dad, Nana Mary, Crystal, Mady, and Carlos (maybe) are all coming. It's been a coulple of years since we've had this big of a crowd and I am looking forward to it!

Crystal is my best friend from when I was a kid. Mady is her daugher and Nana Mary is her mom. Carlos is Nana's significant other. (Significant other sounds weird but boyfriend sounds even weirder!)

Salazar Fall Fest

2008-11-15T17:25:00.000-08:00

The school that I work at has a Fall Fest every year. It is the major fundraiser of the year for our P.T.A. All of the teachers and staff come out and work various booths. We have great parents who donate all sorts of things and volunteer with us on the day of the event. It is like a carnival. We are known far and wide for our Prize Bingo. Some of those ladies come year after year, and let me tell you, they are fierce competitors! We sell all types of food. The grilled pork chops are the best! They have such a good smokey flavor. Yum! My grade level was in charge of nachos and Frito Pie. We also sold pickles, popcorn, candied apples, sweets, sausage wrap, and corn cups. We also had a cake walk, face painting, duck pond, ring toss, basketball throw, and a moonwalk.

This year we even had a clown. She made balloon animals. Here's Garrett with his balloon. Do you recognize what animal he asked for? Don't worry. I don't either. He told her, "I just want a plain balloon." Only my kid.
Grandma Blair trys to come each year. She tried several times to win a cake but it wasn't her lucky day this year. Meagan missed Fall Fest this year because she was at a practice session for Bible Drill.

Where do I start?

2008-11-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

We, as a family, have been SO busy the last few weeks!

Here is an update on each one of us:

Elizabeth - work is keeping me busy. We have begun after school tutorials, which are good, but make put me even further behind in getting home. At school we have begun switching classes. One person teaches Science and Social Studies and two of us teach math (one person teaches new concept and the other person reviews/reteaches previously taught material and problem solving.) This method has been very successful for us in the past. It is actually a relief to me because I don't leave every day thinking, "I didn't get to that lesson" or "I forgot to do that"

Right now the students are grouped by homeroom but last we will move kids around depending on their needs.
I am also coaching DI (Destination Imagination) so I meet with that group of kids on Mondays after school. They are a great group of kids, very self motivated and creative so it is a lot of fun working with them.

Garrett's soccer skills are really taking off! In the last three games he has scored at least once. He score three times in one game! Right now he is home sick. He had a fever last night and now has a rash all over his body. I took him to the doctor this morning and he said it was viral and could take 2 - 3 weeks for the rash to disappear. He also seems congested and is coughing some so we will have to see how it goes.

Meagan is also doing great. Yesterday she came home and told me that she made a 100 on her 2nd Six Weeks Math test, a 100 on her 2nd Six Weeks Social Studies test, and a 93 on her practice TAKS test in reading. She is juggling DI, Bible Drill, Kickball and Lone Star Challenge on top of all of the regular homework and reading that is required.

Jimmy is busy coaching kickball, picking up the kids, helping with homework, working with his dad, putting up with me . . . you know . . . all the usual stuff.

Who needs a knife when you have a drill handy?

2008-11-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

Grandpa assisted Garrett in decorating his pumpkin. Grandma Silly didn't want to scoop out pumpkin guts this year so she bought the kids decorations that stick into the pumpkins. Think of it as a Mr. Pumpkin Head. Each kit contained enough pieces to decorate two pumpkins so Garrett made a two face pumpkin. (He has been obsessed with two face things since watching The Dark Knight.) After his pumpkin was complete he reminded Grandma to turn his pumpkin daily. Hey, he's all for equality! Here is Meagan's pumpkin. She also chose to make a two faced pumpkin.

One afternoon after decorating their pumpkins, I drove the kids by Grandma Silly's so they could see the wooden pumpkins with their names on them. (My mom wanted to surprise them so she didn't tell the kids about them.)

I told the kids to check out Grandma's porch as I drove by. Garrett completely missed his wooden pumpkin with his name on it because he was checking to see if Grandma had changed his pumpkin around! Every time he talked to her on the phone he would check with her to see if she was changing his pumpkin each day!

Well, at least we will be safe at night . . .

2008-11-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

because nothing could happen to us with Super Girl and Batman watching on!

Thank you Grandma Blair! She made Meagan's costume for us at the last minute.

In early October Meagan had decided she didn't want to go Trick-or-Treating. She was going to stay home (with one of the grandmas) and give out candy. The church then sent out flyers about the Halloween Party that they would be having. Meagan then decided she wanted to dress up. Grandma saved the day and made her a costume. I give it two days before Garrett steals the cape for himself!

Halloween night was perfect! The weather (for once!) was beautiful. It was cool and a nice breeze was blowing. We took the kids to visit both grandmas and then dropped Meagan off at her church party. Jimmy and I then took Garrett to the fire station and trick-or-treating. We like to go to the new neighborhood that they built by Salazar (the school where I teach) I like it because the street makes a big loop. Most of the neighbors sit outside and give out treats and I get to see kids that I have taught in previous years. We ran into several of Garrett's classmates while we were out.

We then went to Nana Mary's house. She made us homemade sugar cookies. They are THE BEST! They are thin and crispy and best of all, have NO icing. I LOVE them! She also let us pick through her candy bowl. She had Milk Duds, Heath Bars and Reece's Pieces. Yum!

Garrett, Jimmy, and I then went to Chili's for dinner. Garrett ate well and the french fries were actually hot.

We got home and got Garrett in bed and it all went downhill from there. Garrett was up by midnight coughing non-stop. Jimmy got up with him and propped him up on the couch. Sometimes this will help the coughing slow down. Garrett went back to sleep around 1:00 A.M. and Jimmy got back into bed. Garrett woke me up around 5:00 A.M. complaining of facial and ear pain.

I missed a DI workshop I was supposed to go to and took Garrett to the pediatrician this morning. (He was already on a steroid burst for coughing.) He was diagnosed with a raging ear infection and the beginnings of a sinus infection. He did better today and is now sleeping. Let's hope he is able to sleep all night!

Aren't these just the cutest things?

2008-11-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

Grandma Silly (my mom) bought these for the kids. She displayed them at her house along with the pumpkins that the kids decorated. Ever since the kids were little she has taken charge of pumpkin carving/decorating. Thanks Grandma Silly!

Garrett's Kindergarten picture

2008-10-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you Ethan!

2008-10-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend when Jimmy was gone to Houston to see the Miami Dolphins, a good friend of mine came over. (Well, several good friends came over - more about that later.) She brought her two kids. Her daughter is friends with Meagan and her son is friends with Garrett.

We are always looking for things to keep the kids busy so we can scrapbook. The girls have started scrapbooking so they were busy with that. I suggested she bring Ethan's train set. It is the type of toy that is more fun with two kids to get out all of the pieces and then run the train around the track.

After the boys had played for a while, Ethan told his mom he wanted Garrett to have his train set.

Ethan, you are such a thoughtful little boy! Thank you so much for the train set. Garrett loves it and is playing with it all of the time.

Fire Prevention Week

2008-10-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I took the kids to the fire station. They were having their second annual block party to celebrate Fire Prevention Week. Garrett is just a little obsessed with fire trucks and firefighters, so needless to say, he was in heaven. Meagan thinks it's all pretty cool too.

The kids were allowed into the trucks and got to see them up close and climb on them. There were firefighters around to supervise and explain what various knobs and gadgets do. The firefighters went out of their way to make this an enjoyable experience for the kids.
Sparky the Firedog made an appearance.
E, one of the teachers I work with, was putting tattoos on children (okay, adults too) who wanted them.
Garrett didn't want to get out.
Here is Garrett with Sparky. Last year he didn't cry but didn't want to get near him. This year, before we even got to the fire station, he told me he would go stand by him and let me take his picture.
They had so many activities I can't even remember them all. Meagan is coloring a picture for the coloring contest.
Here she is throwing balls at the dunking booth.
There was a moonwalk, a cupcake walk, putt putt golf, a school supply give-away, take your picture with Sparky, lots and lots of information for kids and parents/adults on staying safe, demonstrations by the arson dog, free balloons, an ambulance for the kids to get into, Red Cross information, a crash simulator (to see the necessity of wearing your seat belt, free hot dogs and lemonade, and I'm sure I'm forgetting even more.

In the week prior to the block party the firefighters visited all the local elementary schools to explain what to do in the case of a house fire. They explained how to escape from a burning house safely, how the firefighters might look and sound a little scary, and how to make a plan to keep everyone safe after a house fire. Garrett came home reminding me to check the battery in my smoke alarm!

I would like to say THANK YOU! to all firefighters out there. You make our world a little safer to live in and you are not recognized enough for it in my opinion. Your willingness to go out into the community to share your message is a testament to how seriously you take your job and I thank you for it as a mom and as a teacher. You are all heroes in my book!

If you want to take 10 years off of my life . . .

2008-10-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

come to my room while I am teaching and tell me the nurse from Meagan's school is calling. Tell me that she fell and hit her head.

Needless to say, I ran down the breezeway and was so out of breath (note to self - exercise more) that I could hardly hear the nurse over the sound of my huffing and puffing, um, breathing.

Then she took ten more years off of my life when she uttered the words "possible concussion." Thanks, I didn't want to collect Social Security anyway.
Meagan fell face first onto concrete and got a nasty bump on her head and a scrape on her knee. Her thumb also hurt where her head landed on it. The nurse said her bump would have been much worse had she not gotten her thumb up and in between her head and the concrete.

I had to watch her for several signs that she had a concussion. I also had to wake her up twice during the night to make sure she was okay.

When I was taking this picture (above) Meagan said, "You're going to put this on your blog aren't you?" My kids . . . they learn so quickly. She even suggested a title for me "Girl has baseball, no, softball on forehead."

Thank goodness she was fine and showed no symptoms of having a concussion.

And on a lighter note, I will leave you with this picuture:This is just a cute picture of the mouse puppet Garrett brought home from school on Friday. They read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff. It's a really cute book if you haven't read it yet.

EnDyn Family Picnic

2008-10-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay, I know that I have been M.I.A. for a week or so, so I included lots of good pictures in this post to make up for it. I know you have all heard it before but I've been really, really busy. Life, you know, it just gets in the way of my free time sometimes. And that job thing Ihave, it really takes up a lot of my time!

The company that my dad works for had a Family Picnic last week. The kids went with my mom. My dad had to go out of town unfortunately. The kids had a BLAST! They were exhausted when they got home.

They got to ride horses,

go on a hayride,
and the activity to beat all activities (well, in Garrett's book anyway) GO FISHING! Mom and Dad bought him his very own rod and reel and tacklebox.

Garrett caught a one pound, 10 ounce catfish. "Mom, did you know that they have whiskers?" Garrett wanted to know. Yes, sweetie, I did.

Thanks Mom and Dad (and EnDyn) for making this a day that they will never forget.

Halloween is just around the corner!

2008-10-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

I bought this cat last weekend when I bought Garrett's Halloween costume. I thought he was so cute, I just couldn't resist!
I am going to put him on top of an antique armoire that I have in my dining room. I am also going to put these really cute letters that my mom made me with the cat. They are wooden letters that spell out Boo. She decorated them in Halloween paper, ribbon, etc. I'll post another picture when I get it all put up.

Something New for ME!

2008-10-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, I know that this isn't the best picture but here is a jacket that I bought for myself this weekend.

It is a deep brown corduroy (small cords) that is really soft. I love brown for things like jackets because I feel it is a very versatile color.

I think this jacket will look great with work clothes and will also look good with jeans on the weekend.

I saw it a few weeks ago and couldn't see spending $30.00 (I'm a cheapskate I know) on a jacket when it was still 100 degrees outside.

Now that we have actually had some fall weather, (well fall for us in south Texas - low 60s in the morning and mid 80s in the afternoons) I caved in and bought the jacket. It was also on sale for $24.00. I could no longer resist. I heard it calling my name and I succumbed to the temptation!