vanillafrog's voice

the hairbrush song

2012-01-28T09:53:00.000-06:00

i have to go to ut tyler this afternoon to take my esl test. i haven't taken a test for anything in 10 years, since i took my teacher certification test. same place. i was a little worried because i took the class about the test 3 months ago, but i took a practice test last night and only missed 2 questions. and, it's not a test for anything i HAVE to have for work, just extra that will make my resume look better, it will make it easier to get a job somewhere else, and scheduling my students next year will be easier for admin. we finally got paid this week. i really wish they didn't even pay us early. that would be easier than going almost 6 weeks in between checks! Scout got his first haircut this week! not really a real haircut...Gram trimmed his curls off and straightened everything up so he looks like a little boy now instead of a girl or a little urchin! hair is just not going to be a big deal for us. he wants to grow it out, ok...shave his head, alright. you can always start over or wear hats! at one point, i had a tail, one side of my hair was shorter than the other, and i had lines shaved in my hair. i used to color it with markers. i had a blue streak in it. in college, it was dark brown, almost white, and then the same color as a dr. pepper can. and i probably didn't use a brush or comb for well over a year. K-dogg's hair has been shaved very short and he's had huge curls almost down to his shoulders. not to mention Gram's many different colors and styles! there's not much Scout will be able to do to his hair that would surprise us. anyway, i'm off to find something to eat. can't go in to that test on an empty and growling stomach!

Ten

2012-01-21T23:21:00.001-06:00

Ten things I like right now...The peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies my mom has been bakingWatching Scout discover new foodsIt's Saturday nightAll our laundry is doneScout walked the farthest he's ever walked by himself todayOKC Thunder keep winningIt's not too much longer before baseball startsChurch is tomorrow, I like watching Scout greet people and listen to the musicPayday is this week...finally!We cleaned out Scout's toys today and it looks much better!

Black hole sun

2012-01-19T20:32:00.001-06:00

Think I just lost a whole post...here's the short version...works is not a fun place to be this week due to cancer. It's been 9 years since my cousin, Bryan, was killed. I miss him, I wish he was still here to see his niece and nephew grow up. I hope we don't get any bad news tomorrow. When my phone isn't about to shut off...I'll retype my original post!

Purple Rain

2012-01-15T17:02:00.001-06:00

the golden globes awards are on tonight. i have seen 4 movies in the theater since Scout was born, harry potter and the deathly hollows parts 1 and 2, the help, and dolphin tale. dolphin tale was during work, too. the students that met their ar goals got to go to the movies and choose between dolphin tale and the smurfs. so, i haven't seen most of the movies that will be awarded tonight, but i'm an avid reader of entertainment weekly, so i do have some idea of what's going on! in honor of the big movies night, i'm listing my top ten favorite movie SOUNDTRACKS of all time. agree, disagree, marvel at my awesomeness, laugh in my face...i don't care, but feel free to add your thoughts and opinions!

The Big Chill
Jungle Book
My Girl
Reality Bites
Twilight
Dirty Dancing
Romeo & Juliet
Now and Then
Dazed and Confused
Blues Brothers 2000

This list is not really in order, that would be too hard!

Texas Flood

2012-01-13T21:59:00.001-06:00

Obviously, unlike my mom, the more stressed I am, the less I write and the less I eat. In the past two weeks one of my former students and another boy lost their moms to cancer and pneumonia. Another former student was shot in the face and the kid they have in custody is also a former student. Scout had a stomach virus and before it had even gone away he got double pink eye. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be the contagious kind. We don't know where he for it, but none of us got it from him! He didnt really eat for almost a week, but hes making up for it now! Coach Little passed away on Tuesday morning. There was a little confusion and drama with me taking off work for the funeral today. My annual evaluation at work was on Wednesday morning...I was not in much of a mood for that, but it turned out ok. One of my current students is having some major problems with some new medicine and the mom doesn't seem concerned at all. This morning was the funeral. I don't normally do funerals, but my dad was speaking at it, an it was Coach Little. I did pretty good at keeping it together until his son, Brad, got up to speak. He did a really good job. Tomorrow I plan to run away to target and eat some lunch, play with Scout, and enjoy the rest of our long weekend.

My mind's eye

2012-01-03T21:51:00.001-06:00

"borrowing" from my mom's blog...top ten things on my mid right now...some serious, others not at all!1. Coach Little- we'd have to go WAY back to when I was in 5th grade...for some reason, my dad and I helped them move into their house when they moved to Gladewater. We all became friends. Brad and I had several crazy youth trips together. The night we had a wreck on the way home from a Rangers game and I had to get rib x-rays...Brad stayed with me most of the time and got me a candy bar after the doctors said my stomach was empty. At out homes, my mom and Coach Little both woke up, knowing something was wrong, and were awake and waiting when we all started calling our houses! Coach Little was my 9th grade science teacher, I didn't learn a thing except that "a good research paper should be like a girl's skirt...long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting!" Alyssa and Bean spent HOURS swimming, laughing, and baking cookies together. Between Alyssa's wreck and their mom's death, they've been through way more than any family should have to deal with. And now this. But, the Littles are one of the strongest families I know.2. Scout has not been himself the past few days...we do not like teething around here!3. When he feels good, Scout is an awesome little kid and a lot of fun to be around! He actually clapped when he saw me this afternoon.4. I never thought I would be so excited to get new rugs for my kitchen...until they arrived today.5. I miss watching tv past 8pm and actually being able to hear it!6. Tomorrow is Wednesday! 7. My students have the weirdest and funniest conversations, unintentionally, when hey don't know I'm listening.8. I really want to go to a concert sometime this year!9. Getting paid early in November and December is nice at the time...not so nice during January! Really working on not shopping online or getting dinner out for a few weeks!10. I could really use a day at home all alone to get stuff done here...and watch tv with the sound up and no interruptions! Now, a shower one more trip through pinterest and Facebook...an I should be ready to sleep. And, yes, my alarm is set!

happy new year

2012-01-01T17:47:00.001-06:00

Scout would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

ch-ch-changes

2011-12-30T11:14:00.003-06:00

Changed my blog's look again. If you know about my recently acquired color obsession...you shouldn't be surprised.

faded from the winter

2011-12-28T11:13:00.001-06:00

after 5 days of celebrating, we are all tired and worn out. we are staying home today to play with new toys, clean, and undecorate the house. we may have to go out to find some food later. and of course, we have to call someone to get our garage door fixed...yea. i hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Scout's was awesome. he met his uncle j and was introduced to fudge, pretzels, and curious george. we got him a curious george doll and he loves it. it had to go everywhere with us once he opened it Christmas eve night and he sleeps with it. my aunt had no idea about the doll and she got him a curious george dvd! when bean and i were shopping on monday, i found a curious george ornament on sale. so, i guess this was the Christmas of curious george!

Home for the Season

2011-12-24T11:25:00.000-06:00


Scout and Bean!


he loves his musical santa at gram's


opening his birthday gift from aunt bean and uncle j

yeah, we've been a little busy around here. the week we get out for Christmas is always crazy. since we get out k-dogg and i went to his office Christmas party and my mom and i went to the ballet to see peter pan. it was awesome! peter pan is my favorite disney movie and i love the movie, finding neverland. one of my old students, her little sister, and their dad were all in the ballet. leslie was gorgeous as a mermaid and indian maiden, i wish i could flip and tumble like becca, and their dad was hilarious as a pirate! since then, we've been getting ready for my sister to come home for Christmas! they got in late thursday night. Scout waited as long as he could, but he finally fell asleep on my mom. he woke up and saw bean when we were getting ready to take him home, but he was not really awake and very confused. he got to spend all afternoon with her yesterday and finally met uncle j. first impression did not go well! Scout burst into tears when j tried to pick him up, but he was also tired and had a dirty diaper! he warmed up later when they played with his ball drop toy and uncle j taught him (kinda) to pull his finger...must be an uncle thing! k-dogg and i opened presents from each other this morning because we may not get another chance! Scout loved the box his daddy's present came in. when he wakes up from his nap, we're headed back to gram and poppa's for really good snacks, presents, and hanging out with aunt bean and uncle j. then we're all going to Christmas Eve service at church. i had to make a list last night of everything we'd need for today and tonight so Scout will have all the right clothes, diapers, toys, and gifts without having to come back to the house a hundred times this afternoon!

i'm sure there will be MANY more pictures after this weekend! Merry Christmas!

Do you know the muffin man?

2011-12-12T19:48:00.001-06:00

Well, in this case, muffin woman. I made 30 muffins last night for work...29 of them made it there, k-dogg had to test them for me. They were all gone by 10:30! And everything I was supposed to take to my mom's for Scout made it there. My kids did a really good job with the food drive. We beat our goal! We should find out tomorrow which class got the most. Scout had his one year checkup this afternoon. The doctor saw him before I got there. Everything looked good. He had to get 5 shots...all in his legs! Ouch! I don't even know what all he got, other than his flu shot. His MDO class has a little Happy Birthday, Jesus! party tomorrow! So cute! He has gifts for all the little girls in his class, he's the only boy, and his teachers. I hope he feels ok. Right now, I'll just be thrilled if he sleeps all night. He had us awake at 4:15 this morning, by the time he went back to sleep without crying...it was time to get up! Teething is not fun for anyone!

Too tired to think of a song that fits...and no, the tree's not up!

2011-12-11T20:07:00.001-06:00

Sundays should not be this tiring and stressful. Church and youth committee meeting til almost 2. They were fine. Then had to go to brookshires, which I always dread, to buy canned food for the food drive and muffin mix to make muffins for work tomorrow. The cans...no problem. My kids are really into this food drive thing and working really hard, that's great! The muffins are because my coworkers came up with the idea to have to 12 Days of Breakfast for the 12 school days before we get out. Sounds good, but every day people gripe and whine about how nothing is on their diet, it's not easy for me to get food to work, and I came home sick Thursday morning from something I ate at breakfast! Falalalalalalalala! Brookshires was crazy, I got in what looked like a short line, only two people ahead of me, and the man right ahead of me didn't have much. The girl in front of him was someone I went to school with. She actually paid with a check. Im not sure the girl checking had ever even seen a paper check before. She had to have someone look at it to make sure she copied all the info right! Then, they switched checkers on us and stopped to change out the cash drawer. Shouldn't they have closed the lane, made her finish the customers already in line, and THEN switched??? And since when do you put 10 cans in one plastic bag and make the customer carry it out? I would've done it anyway, but what are all those boys standing around for if they're not doing anything? So, I finally got home, and 5 hours later, I'm taking a break. Ironing, laundry, muffins, cleaning, changing sheets and hunting for pacis. And more than one dirty diaper! All with Scout having a fit if he can't see me every second he's awake because he's teething and doesn't feel good...and K-dogg asking me to bring him a gummy worm every time I get up or freaking out over Scout gettin in to something! Yes, nice, relaxing Sunday...for someone else, hopefully! For now, I'm going to go see if I can take a hot shower and go to bed early. Scout has his one-year checkup tomorrow, and I hate him getting shots even more than he does. Thank you for letting me vent!

manic monday

2011-12-05T20:00:00.001-06:00

birthday celebrating overload! did not want to go to work today. didn't sleep well at all because of all the stuff in our bedroom from Christmas decorations and when we "cleaned" the house for Scout's party! plus, it was so cold and wet today...my students were insane! so happy to get home with my birthday crew. yesterday, Scout slept ALL afternoon after church, was up about 3 hours, and then went to bed. in between, we tried to get a family picture on his actual first birthday. i think the only pictures of all three of us together are in the hospital when he was a day old, in edom for Gram's birthday in april, and at his dedication in may! after seeing these two pics, i know why! still happy to have a picture with my birthday guys!

i think i could sleep til Christmas and be just fine...or at least til Wednesday!

birthday

2011-12-04T18:06:00.001-06:00

hanging out with Gram after everyone else left

Figuring out the present thing

he was tired before the party started...he went to the IMPACT missions fair at church

101 Dalmatians

1 year old!

i LOVE this kid!

Scout and Poppa

he liked the bows

once he opened the alphabet train from K-dogg's aunt, he was done!

Scout and Scout

first time to eat cake!

he started sharing food this week


Scout loves his Gram when no one else is around!

Scout's birthday is actually today, but we partied yesterday. That kid cleaned up, and in 3 weeks he'll do it again. He had fun at his party. He loved his cupcake and being the center of attention. We're not done celebrating...K-dogg will be 31 tomorrow! Yes, December is a little crazy around here...Scout's birthday, K-dogg's birthday, our anniversary, and Christmas. Hope I survive this year after year! I can't wait til he's old enough to understand all of this craziness!

happy birthday

2011-12-03T17:48:00.001-06:00

We had Scout's first birthday party this afternoon. I'll post more later...but I had to get my favorite picture on here. This is Scout and Poppa facetiming with his Aunt Bean! She got to see him eating his cupcake and he actually said "bye!" to her while she was sitting the a Starbucks parking lot out in California!

fur elise

2011-12-02T20:30:00.001-06:00

one of my favorite scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"

Schroeder:This is the music I've selected for the Christmas play.
[Schroeder plays Fur Elise]
Lucy Van Pelt:What kind of Christmas music is *that*?
Schroeder:Beethoven Christmas music.
Lucy Van Pelt:What has Beethoven got to do with Christmas? Everyone talks about how "great" Beethoven was. Beethoven wasn't so great.
[Schroeder stops playing]
Schroeder:What do you mean Beethoven wasn't so great?
Lucy Van Pelt:He never got his picture on bubblegum cards, did he? Have you ever seen his picture on a bubblegum card? Hmmm? How can you say someone is great who's never had his picture on bubblegum cards?
Schroeder:Good grief.

from imdb.com

my favorite Christmas show. i didn't ever think of myself as a big Peanuts fan, but i think i always have been. i had Snoopy toys when i was a kid, Scout's bathroom is decorated with a Peanuts shower curtain and huge poster, and more than one person has even said that Scout looks like Linus and Rerun!

photograph

2011-11-30T21:03:00.001-06:00

Scout had a photo shoot on Saturday for his first birthday. I wasn't sure we were going to get ANY good pictures because he was not cooperating for a long time. But, Shelby got some great shots. These are my top five! If you need pictures, Shelby Taylor Photography from Liberty City is awesome!

This was one of the last pictures she took, I like it because you can see all 3 of us, but it's obvious who's the center of our world!

love this face!

HEY!

So happy!

Helping redecorate!

my sweet potato

2011-11-26T11:11:00.001-06:00

hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving...this was my best one ever, thanks to Scout! if he made Thanksgiving that much better, i can't wait for Christmas! he was here last Christmas, but he was 3 weeks old on Christmas Day. we had spent a lot of time in those three weeks going back to the hospital and back and forth to the doctor's office because they were worried about his weight. i was still recovering from his delivery, we were all seriously sleep deprived, and my sister wasn't home. i don't even remember much of Christmas, but there are a ton of pictures of Scout! i'm thankful for the week off, next week is going to be crazy getting ready for his birthday party! can't wait!

pin cushion

2011-11-20T16:48:00.001-06:00

we've been a little busy around here! but, i've been keeping up with my thankful posts on facebook. and, i've been on pinterest a lot...when i have time to sit down. i already posted pictures of the wreath i was inspired to make by pinterest. last week i made a weekly calendar to hang by the back door.

all i had to buy was the frame. i think it was around $3 at walmart. i bought some dry erase markers, too, because all the ones i had at work are either fat or i used the school's money to buy them. i used scrapbook paper and taped it to the sheet that came in the frame. i already had the stickers in my craft stuff. i like it. gingham is not usually my style, but it fits in well in the laundry room. i need to figure out a way to keep the marker by the calendar. i had it set on top of the frame, but when i shut the back door, it fell off the frame and is now stuck between the wall and our dryer. i saw someone on pinterest used a binder clip, maybe i'll come up with something this week. this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. we are going to thanksgiving at my aunt's house. i get to take the sweet potatoes and the green bean casserole. hopefully, we'll get to watch part of the parade, too. i want Scout to grow up watching that, just like we did. i'm seriously conflicted about black friday this year. what's the fun in shopping at midnight!?!?! then again, i missed the last two years due to being in tokyo and being 39 1/2 weeks pregnant! i want to shop! Scout's birthday is in two weeks! can't wait to celebrate! he cut 2 new teeth this week. he's getting so big, way too fast!

we are family

2011-11-05T09:11:00.000-05:00

i have been posting one thing i'm thankful for each day on facebook. but, i needed to expand on here. i am thankful for the amazing support system Scout has. he stays with my mom while i'm at work. my dad meets us at the car, before sunrise, to get Scout out of the backseat. there's really no need for me to even walk in the house with them. they have their own morning routine until gram gets up. i usually don't even have to take anything with him. he has his own room, his own toys, food, extra clothes, and all those supplies that go with a baby. i get pictures on my phone throughout the day, so i never miss anything while i'm at work trying to teach and raise 43 other kids. for a long time, Scout didn't even realize that gram and poppa had their own house. he just thought he lived at both places with all 4 of us!

we had problem tuesday afternoon. Scout's gram had an injection to help her pain. the nurse had told her there was no down time. after she got the injection, they told her she couldn't drive or lift anything for 24 hours...Scout weighs around 23 pounds and can't walk yet. my dad and i had both already been off work tuesday, so we couldn't take off again. Suzanne to the rescue! She is the mom of our little friends, 911, doolittle, piggies, and violet. i called her at 7:30 and asked if she could keep Scout on wednesday. no problem. he has never stayed anywhere other than my mom's or MDO (which is only once a week for about 5 hours). i took him to their house wednesday morning, he went straight to her. then when she put him down so she could write her number down, he crawled off into the living room with piggies and violet. didn't even care when i left. he played all day, went to lunch at another house with more kids. never fussed or anything! he loves those girls and their momma!

this weekend is the holiday tea at church. i have decorated a table for the past 6 or 7 years. i didn't do it last year, i was about 9 months pregnant...but i was back this year. k-dogg took care of Scout most of thursday evening and ALL of last night while i was getting stuff together and decorating at the church. today, they are going to hang out at home while gram and i are at the tea. a lot of daddies can't (or won't) do that! k-dogg took care of Scout A LOT during the first few weeks of his life. i was worn out after such a hard delivery...and k-dogg and my mom just stepped in and took over. every other night for the past 11 months, k-dogg has been in charge of getting Scout ready for bed, feeding him the last bottle, and getting up with him in the middle of the night. it's not a big deal now, but for the first few months...that was huge! and, it was his idea! he wakes up with him at least once every weekend. he may not do everything just like momma, but he gets it done and Scout loves it!

happy halloween

2011-10-30T17:01:00.003-05:00

happy halloween from the first avenger!

i see red

2011-10-26T18:32:00.001-05:00

really, red ribbon week, jumpathon, benchmarks, birthday lunch, school pictures, and a field trip all in one week...the week before halloween? have they lost their minds???

glamorous!

2011-10-23T16:02:00.001-05:00

nothing too exciting happened this week. spent monday at a training class for the esl endorsement test. spent ALL day tuesday at school because of open house. sooooo not a fan of open house. stayed home friday so we could take Scout to the doctor...only to find out he's ok and we're doing everything the doctor suggested! yea! found some good stuff at goodwill yesterday and then had to get a flat tire fixed. most of the rest of my waking-but-not-working hours were spent wiping and sucking Scout's nose, watching the Rangers, grading papers, and trying to keep up with the laundry. this coming week is red ribbon week, school pictures, a birthday lunch, a dentist appointment, more Rangers games, going to the KC opera with school, maybe helping at a 5th quarter, and getting stuff ready for the Holiday Tea. plus...Scout's really close to walking and i swear you can see his third tooth about to bust through. yes...it's the glamorous life!

round and round

2011-10-15T18:34:00.000-05:00

this is the wreath i made in the past few weeks. styrofoam wreath form and yarn...didn't even use glue to hold it down, just tied a knot and started wrapping.

this is the finished wreath, hanging in my living room! it's way too small for my front door and i'm not sure how weather-resistant it is anyway. that's about half a thing (i don't know the technical term...skein?) of yarn. the variegated yarn makes it look like it was a lot more involved than it actually was! i used hot glue on the feathers. if i made another one, i would probably use a wreath form that didn't have flat edges, just to make it go even faster. what do you think?

behind blue eyes

2011-10-15T17:38:00.000-05:00

if i hadn't taken this picture myself...in my living room....i would swear it's a picture of me when i was his age! and did you notice how stylish his jammies are? the baby in the capital one commercial with jimmy fallon has on the same ones. they're from old navy and of course, they were on sale! i have a couple more pictures of scout to show off...bear with me!

These are not the greatest pictures, it's hard to catch a moving target! but, i wanted to show off his new pumpkin hat. it is so awesome and he loves it. he usually pulls hats off, but he left this one on for a long time. that's also not the cutest outfit ever...but we're in that weird time of year where it's cool in the morning and hot in the afternoon. he started the day wearing a long sleeve striped shirt with a car on it. that may be the only time he'll get to wear it. it's stayed warmer a lot longer than we expected it to, and he's already outgrowing some of the fall stuff we got in size 12 months!

the meeting at school went way better than i was thinking. i did not sleep or eat much last weekend. thank you everyone that prayed for me...it worked! i'm pretty run down this weekend and not feeling great. i think Scout has shared the mess he's had the past week. i also haven't been resting or eating right. i'm actually drinking water right now, trying to flush this stuff out and get hydrated. if you know me...you know i don't drink water much at all. i drank tons of it everyday when i was pregnant and almost completely gave up cokes. less than a month after Scout was here, i quit water and went right back to cokes. some people say if you quit drinking them long enough, cokes will taste strange to you and you won't want them. those people are crazy. i had to add a crystal light antioxidant pack to my water, just so i can drink it!

2011-10-08T09:13:00.000-05:00

please pray for me between now and monday morning. i have a meeting at work, that's all i can say right now.

hakuna matata

2011-10-04T20:52:00.000-05:00

can't say what i want to say, since i don't know for sure who reads this...just know i am really angry about something at work...and a bit bumfuzzled, too. prayers between now and thursday (or everyday the rest of the year) would be much appreciated! in other news...Scout turned 10 months old today! he has now been on the outside longer than he was on the inside! he is one of the cutest and funniest people i know. not just babies...PEOPLE. he's about the only thing that keeps me running for the hills. he definitely has enough clothes for the fall and winter...bout to get him some more converses. got most of his gifts bought, and ordered his new Christmas ornament last night. just gotta get his birthday party planned and done. his daddy wants a big extravaganza with all our friends and family. i want a very small affair with no friends, and if i'm being honest...i could do without a lot of the family! right now, i gotta go make sure i have pants to wear to work tomorrow and get a shower. i got a haircut this afternoon and all that loose hair is driving me crazy!

oh yeah, lion king on blu-ray was waiting by my front door when we got home!

slide

2011-09-30T20:36:00.000-05:00

stayed home from work today. yesterday i sat in an all-day planning session with someone that had a stomach virus. she's probably not real happy with me, i wore a medical mask all day! oh well, if you're not going to stay home from work and keep your germs away from me, i'm going to try my best to keep them from getting to me! by the time we left, i had an awful headache, so i took a sick day today. Scout was not feeling too good either. he's really close to getting a new tooth, you can almost see it under his gums. plus, his daddy, gram, and poppa have all had a cold in the past week. we were going to just stay home and rest, but we went to gram's so we could go for a walk. if you tried to walk by our house, you'd end up as roadkill! it wasn't blazing hot, and there was no one at the park, so we let Scout play on the little slide. he loved it! i did manage to rest, even though there was no nap involved. Scout plays by himself much better at gram and poppa's. he's all over the floor, mostly rolling a ball around, or unstacking his stacking toy. he does NOT like things to be stacked up! at home, he spends more time trying to get into things he's not supposed to play with than he does with his toys. i started working on the yarn wreath i'm making. i actually remembered to take a "before" picture! i'll post it with the "after" pictures when it's finished. not much else going on, the plan was to go to canton tomorrow. that will depend on how we all feel and if the weather cools down enough. if not...i think it will be target and hobby lobby! i'm actually almost finished shopping for Scout's birthday and Christmas gifts, thanks to amazon! but, i gotta get inspired for the ladies holiday tea in november.

for all the people wanting to see him on here because i'm off facebook!

gone

2011-09-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

i deactivated my facebook account. out of ALL the people on my facebook that i had no other way to contact...i wrote down 3 email addresses before i deactivated it...yep.

scream

2011-09-28T19:21:00.000-05:00

no real time to post today either, but i'm trying to stay in the habit. k-dogg was home sick today and yesterday...fun stuff. nothing serious, just a cold...which means he thought he was dying yesterday, but felt well enough to empty the dishwasher for me today while he was home! but, by the time scout and i got home, it was around 5:30, which is when most people always start feeling worse when they're sick. school was crazy today, all the math teachers were at a workshop. that means subs in every team! we're repaying the favor by taking a planning day tomorrow and letting them have all the kids on day two of half the teachers being out! the lady that subbed for my math teacher is way too old and too nuts to be working with 4th graders. i really feel bad about what happened with one of my students, but it was out of my control before i was aware of it. not much i could do, but i did talk to the mom. grades are due friday. if it's not blazing hot we may try to go to canton on saturday. gotta go watch survivor with my boys and then find something that will pass for dinner...or at least food!

sunday

2011-09-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

too late to blog now, i've been posting on pinterest and deleting albums on facebook. i may delete my whole facebook. or, i may just take a hiatus. i'm just tired of it. there are a lot of people i like keeping up with, but i'm tired of facebook being all up in my business! this afternoon, k-dogg, scout, and i went shopping together. that is the first time we have done that without my parents with us. we dropped k-dogg off at supercuts and went to old navy. scout got more clothes! like he needs them. then we went to target to stock up on baby food for the month. i try to get enough for a month all at one time so i don't have to worry about running out. i got a hilarious picture of scout while his daddy was looking at fryers. he was obviously so not into looking at fryers! it's on my phone, so i'll post it later. everything was fine until i had to change scout's diaper in the front seat of the car. he likes to flip over now, and he was really trying to get the coke can out of the cup holder above him. not fun when it's a smelly diaper, it's 99 degrees outside, and two guys are in their truck two spaces over watching the whole thing! but, we survived. i'm off now. gotta go get some sleep before i face my students.

arts and crafts

2011-09-18T09:35:00.000-05:00

went to the arts and crafts show yesterday. actually bought something this year! the show was MUCH smaller, but at least most of the stuff seemed to actually be handmade to some extent. the "food court" was pitiful this year, but i heard that was because no one was allowed to grill outside because of the burn ban. that makes sense! i got two bracelets for $2 each and a wooden sign that looks like a Texas flag and says "God bless Texas and its Rangers." a lady from work made the sign. i also have one that's just like it only it's white and burnt orange and says Longhorns! we are skipping church this morning. we went out to dinner with family members friday and saturday night...Scout needs to stay home and rest! i'm also skipping a baby shower this afternoon. we had a crazy week between the family dinners, pizza night at my school, and my mom and dad's house getting painted. i didn't get the baby's gift finished and i'm staying home to watch football, grade papers, and catch up on laundry. plus, if i have time...work on the baby gift and a wreath i want to make. won't be surprised if it's the grading papers i don't get around to doing! i'm going to try one of those yarn wreaths i keep seeing all over the internet...especially on pinterest. i bought the yarn, the styrofoam wreath, and some feathers to go on it. if i remember, i'll post pictures. i used to be much better about that! i also found out, if i make more, i'll buy the wreaths at walmart. $7.99 at hobby lobby...$4.99 at walmart! i've already started buying Scout's birthday and Christmas gifts. in the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas we also have Scout's birthday, K-dogg's birthday, and our anniversary! it's going to require some planning and shopping ahead of time. but right now...i'm off to another site to look for shoes for Scout. bare feet are fine with shorts and onesies...look a little sad with jeans and pants!

correction

2011-09-08T11:45:00.000-05:00

K was not skunk poo...she was piggies! went back through some old posts and found it. her sisters are 911 and doolittle. M never had a name...i'm thinking mrs. scout! jk...i'll have to think! maybe violet since that's scout's friend's name.

these are the scout and violet i'm talking about

september...by earth, wind, and fire (how appropriate)

2011-09-08T10:55:00.000-05:00

my 4-day work week turned into 3 days. i'm staying home with Scout today because my mom had a massage treatment done tuesday and after it was over the therapist told her she couldn't lift anything more than 5 pounds for the next 3 days. Scout weighs way more than 5 pounds...so, we're home. so far he has almost swallowed his paci clip, threw up all over his blanket because of almost swallowing the paci clip, and keeps trying to stand up without holding on to anything. now he's down for a nap! the past few days here in etx have been crazy with all the wildfires. family friends and church friends almost lost their homes. the twin sister of a kid i taught and her daughter were killed in the fire. we can't go out to recess because of a dense smoke advisory. not related to the fires, one of my students has been out all week and the rumor is that he fell off a horse. i know he had to get staples for something, his mom came to the school to get work for him yesterday. Scout started mother's day out on tuesday. first time anyone other than me, k-dogg, or my parents have taken care of him...or even changed his diaper. i know bean and my uncle have each given him one or two bottles, but other than that...he's always been with one of the four of us. he loved mdo. he's the only boy in his class with 5 girls. his friends, K and M, are there. but, they are older so he doesn't see them. it's been so long since i wrote about K and M, i don't remember their blog names. i think at one time K's name was skunk poo! long story, but i'm sure you can figure it out! i'm not even sure M has a blog name. she needs one though, because she's Scout's future wife! we took Scout to the zoo on monday. he loved being outside. the wind does crazy things to his little head of dandelion hair. he waved at the anteater, so i bought him a stuffed one. he also waved at the rhino and wrinkled his nose at it. he was probably surprised to find something that smelled worse than him! he loved the fish. i think we could've sat there watching them for a long time, but they're in the penguin house and it stinks, too! one of my kids i taught won his first college football game last saturday. he plays for the pittsburgh panthers. his twin plays for ulm. they did not win...or even score. but, they were playing florida state, who were ranked number 6. texas won! i'm thinking about going to my high school's homecoming tomorrow night. i love going to the football games, and i missed all last season because i was too pregnant! looks like most of the smoke should be gone and it's not supposed to be hot anymore. good time to go!

Scout and K-dogg watching the fish at the zoo

good

2011-08-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

Gee, it's been awhile since i've done the letter thing!

Grease...how many times can you watch the same movie? bean and i watched this movie over and over when i was in high school and college. we used to quote it all the time..."peachy keen, jelly bean!" she even dated the guy that played danny zuko in their school production! it's so goofy and cheesy, but it's nothing compared to Grease 2!

Good...the song by better than ezra...love that song!

Gray...i told my students on tuesday that gray was my favorite color and they were not impressed. one kid even said gray doesn't count as a color! i have a feeling he's not going to think much of my fall and winter wardrobe!

Grover...more specifically, super grover...the man, the myth, the legend! my real favorite superhero. and scout looks so cute in his super grover tshirt!

Gladewater...yeah, i know. there are many many places that would be much better to live. what can i say, you go with what you know. many of it's residents are seriously lacking "culture and refinement," the water is awful, it's small, having to go to the drugstore or grocery store in town is usually the last thing i want to do...but it's home!

goodbye

2011-08-14T15:27:00.000-05:00

These are all from 2006 and 2008! But, they are my favorite pictures of each one of the Alexanders. Chad in one of many embarrassing outfits he wore for VBS. Ashley in Mexico looking just like her momma. Kelly singing at IPB in San Buena. Ashton...how many missionaries have you ever seen with a paci? Austin asleep on my lap during Bible School in San Buena, right after we had had a conversation about how I knew him. FBC Lake Jackson is getting 3 of my favorite kids in the world.

shoulder lean

2011-08-13T12:04:00.000-05:00

my left shoulder has not been quite the same since i had Scout. it was a very difficult labor. his cord was wrapped around his neck and to try to get it unwrapped, they would shove pillows under me to prop up one side. when that didn't help him get untangled, they'd turn me the other way and start shoving again. in between, they'd literally lift me off the bed, shake me, and then put me back down. at the time i was on so much medication, had had an epidural, and was trying so hard just to get Scout here that it didn't bother me. after the pain meds wore off, i could barely move my left arm. it eventually felt almost normal again, but not the same. i was always pretty flexible. i could scratch my own back, zip up my own dresses...not anymore. it just doesn't work right. after holding and carrying Scout most of yesterday (i think he knows school is about to start and his time with momma is limited!), i woke up in the middle of the night in pain. i could barely get dressed, i can't hold my head up straight, and the left side from right below my ear down my shoulder and back to my elbow hurts! i took aleve and soaked in the jet bath, but then Scout wanted to be in my lap for awhile and now the pain is worse. my muscle relaxers and my ice pack are at my mom's house. this is not how i intended to spend my last weekend before going back to school on monday! but at least it's cloudy today, it's only 82...do you know how good that is!?!?!

superman

2011-08-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

i can't think of G words right now. my brain is consumed with getting my classroom ready before Meet the Teacher (or Beat the Teacher as our principal refers to it) and all things superheroes. i have the bat signal drying on my kitchen floor right now! it's going to go up in the front corner of my room above the refocus area. the refocus area is pretty much a better name for time-out. but we're supposed to name it something with even less negative connotations than "refocus area," so this year i'm calling mine "the bat cave." the only two superhero hideout names i could think of are the bat cave and the fortress of solitude. bat cave is the more positive of the two! i have so much to do before next thursday. i actually took Scout to school with me this morning to drop off some things to be laminated and pick up things to work on at home. my room is no where near ready, but i'm not spending my last few days off working in my room when i can be home playing with him! everyone at school kept saying his hair is so cute and they can't tell who he looks like. please, people...he looks like his momma!

this is me...

this is Scout...

this is me, K-dogg, and Scout back in May...

how hard is that? K-dogg has dark brown eyes and dark brown, almost black, hair. anyway, everyone also kept saying how chilled out he is and what a good baby he is, now that...he gets from both of us. his daddy is laid back, and from what i've heard, we were both very good babies! now if you'll excuse me, i have about 23 name signs to cut out for my classroom door!

free fallin'

2011-08-05T12:38:00.000-05:00

The letter F...I honestly haven't come up with much. I'll probably think of a lot later because I write these posts, and then I get this letter stuck in my head until I do the next one!

Franco...James Franco has replaced Brad Pitt at the top of my favorite actors list. I love his character on General Hospital. He was hilarious in Pineapple Express, I hope I get to see Rise of Planet of the Apes, and I loved Freaks and Geeks. Some of his other movies really are bad, but oh well. He's done all different kinds of movies, he's done tv, he's written a book, and he goes to college at some of the toughest schools in the country...for fun!

Frogs...I did a research report about frogs and how they're disappearing because people keep moving into their habitats for my Environment and Man class at UTT. After that, everyone in class called me the frog girl. Then, all my friends and family started buying me frog stuff. I have calenders, jewelry, pictures, and more figurines than I ever thought I would see of frogs! My classroom had a frog theme for a while. I try not to buy anything frog related now unless it just absolutely calls to me. The last thing I got was a pregnant Sprogz from my mom when I was pregnant with Scout. I already had the teacher, the bridesmaid, the hippie, and the graduate, so I had to have it! And, it turns out, Scout looks like a frog when he sleeps sometimes. I still like frogs, I just don't want them all over my house!

Fireworks...I like fireworks as long as they stay way up in the sky. Watching fireworks at the Rangers game is scary and I don't like sparklers or any kind of do-it-yourself fireworks. Maybe it's because the one time my parents let Bean and I hold a sparkler...my shoe caught on fire! We managed to see about 2 fireworks from Times Square while we were in NYC on the fourth this year. Sea World and Astroworld had pretty good fireworks. Our hometown does fireworks every year. It used to last about 5 minutes, but I think they're up to about 12 now!

That's all I have for now...maybe I'll think of some more things later and add them. For now, I'm off to the grocery store!

"E" Train

2011-08-02T10:43:00.000-05:00

it is way too hot outside. scout and i are hiding out for a few days. it's just too hot to get him out unless i have to take him somewhere. none of that has anything to do with the letter E though, so here we go...

i haven't been able to think of much for the letter E...

etsy...yes, i'm sure you all know what etsy is by now. i love it. i have lots of scrabble necklaces from there. i bought a bag to hold my plastic bags a couple weeks ago. i bought my mom's mother's day present on etsy, scout's first Christmas ornament. i try not to visit too much, i could spend some serious money!

Eric Clapton...so funny...i think he may be Scout's favorite singer! he really likes pretty much any music, but my dad started playing eric clapton and bb king for him from the beginning. when he stayed with my parents while we were in new york, they listened to his version of "how deep is the ocean" every morning. when i'm feeding him lunch, we'll listen to music on my computer, and if i play eric clapton, he starts dancing in his high chair. and his favorite song is "i shot the sheriff!" not your normal toddler tunes! everyone else in our family loves eric clapton, too.

Egg Cream...i had heard of an egg cream, but really had no idea what it was til we went to new york. it doesn't even have eggs in it! it is milk, soda water, and chocolate syrup. sounds weird, but it's awesome. i want to try to make one at home, but i'm sure it won't come close to the real thing! gem spa in east village supposedly makes the best in all of new york, so we were kinda spoiled by having our first egg cream there!

East Village...speaking of east village. it was my favorite place we went to in new york. central park was a close second. but east village is awesome. i already blogged about it, so i'm not going to say anything else. but if you ever go to nyc, you gotta get outta uptown and lower manhattan and go to east village!

daylight

2011-07-27T12:52:00.000-05:00

ok, first of all...i don't know how i did a list of things i like that start with the letter C and did not include Chick-fil-a! second, today's song title is by better than ezra, because i know reina likes them as much as i do!

D...this one has taken a while. but, i think i have enough to do a list!

Duncan and Durant...as i've mentioned before, i hear a lot of smack talk about my choice of basketball teams. i don't care. my favorite team for a long time has been the san antonio spurs, mostly because of tim duncan. because i think his days in the nba are numbered, i've been looking for a new player to watch. my pick is kevin durant from the oklahoma city thunder. and more importantly, he played for the texas longhorns.

Dressin' Gaudy...love this store, love the people that work there, love my peacock feather sandals i bought yesterday. i have been shopping here since middle school. about 90% of the time when someone asks where my jewelry is from, it's from here. the other times it's either from canton or etsy.

Digital camera...yeah, my brother-in-law will tell you i don't know how to work it right, and yeah, he's right. i don't care. i love my camera. i have a canon powershot s5. i know nothing about speed and aperture, and all that stuff. but, i do pretty well on auto and i like switching colors around! without our digital cameras, my mom and i wouldn't have THOUSANDS of pictures of scout!

Dramamine...i get motion sickness very easily! without this stuff, i don't know how i would've made it to tokyo, la, nyc, or mexico. it definitely came in handy on a 3 night trip to colorado in a suburban with my mom, sister, cousin, and my mom's parents! slept most of the way there and managed to tick off my mom's dad...score!

Dad...this is my dad. i believe his name has been changed to poppaboppa by my son, but he's ok with that. i didn't even try to find a picture of him without scout because i'd have to go back to before scout was born. scout likes most people. scout loves his momma, daddy, and gram. scout goes absolutely crazy bonkers when he sees his poppa! my dad is the absolute best man on earth. period. no debate or contest. so, if scout wants to hang out with him, follow him around, absorb his taste in music, he's not going to hear a no from me.

Disney...yeah, it has its critics. sure, they have made some stinkers. it doesn't matter. i love disney! we went to the disney store in times square and got scout patch from 101 dalmatians. he loves it. he wears shirts with tigger and patch. i'm not real big into the disney princesses, thankfully, i have a boy! my absolute favorite disney movie is peter pan. i really like jungle book, aladdin, fox and the hound, and finding nemo. except for princess jasmine in aladdin...those aren't really girly movies! my favorite characters are usually the little sidekicks. i've never been to disney world or land. hopefully, we'll get to take scout when he's older.

i'm sure i left something important off, oh well!

circle

2011-07-20T11:46:00.000-05:00

today is brought to you by the letter C...

Converse...i wore them in 3rd grade. i got more in 7th grade. the black pair i got in 7th grade is the pair i still wear! i have had turquoise, yellow, black, purple, color block, orange, and black, red, and white plaid. but, the ones in the picture are my all time favorites. they belong to my son, Scout. he's already outgrown this pair, but as soon as it's cool enough for him to wear shoes again, we'll get him another pair. we tried a pair of vans, my second favorite shoe brand, but his foot is too fat! the pair you see here will soon be getting a display box...right along with a certain pair of striped pajamas!

Coca-cola...i switch back and forth from coca-cola and dr. pepper every few years. but the more i travel, the easier it is to stick with coke...they're worldwide! this can is in russian because it was a special edition can for the olympics a few years ago. Scout loves coca-cola, too. he has no idea what it tastes like...but he can stare at a red coke can for hours!

California...no way would i ever live there. but the weather is much nicer, there's lots of stuff to take pictures of, and my sister lives there.

Christmas...always my favorite holiday, but SOMEONE made Christmas a little different this year...wonder who that could've been??? Scout was born December 4. He was a big baby when he was born, but then he lost too much weight and went back in the hospital less than 2 weeks before Christmas. we also had to take lots of trips to the doctors' office for weight checks. between that stress, the lack of sleep, and recovering from having Scout, i barely remember anything. this Christmas will be SO much more fun, i can't wait! and Scout should get his auntie for Christmas this year...they're supposed to be here!

Cookie Monster...i'm a bigger fan of oscar the grouch and had a big bird doll when i was little. but scout loves the cookie monster his great aunt gave him! i spent many mornings this past spring making cookie monster sing and dance for him while we were getting ready for school. and he loves cookies...how can you not like him?!?! at least the cookie monster i grew up with did. i hear he's all about the veggies now!

i have no idea how Scout took over my whole list of things with C...but it does make my blog much cuter!

bad

2011-07-18T10:07:00.000-05:00

so, onto the letter B...and yes, i did use a michael jackson song as my title again. it won't happen all the time!

Bean...my sister...and I forgot i actually have a picture where you can see her tattoo! it's a butterfly, so that definitely works for this post, too.

balloons...we have the balloon races near here every year. i think i've actually only been once when i was really little and then a few years ago with k-dogg and a friend. it's at the end of july, so it's always really hot and they have country bands play every year, so i don't like that. but the balloons are awesome when they are lit up. one year, i was driving to the church to leave for mexico early in the morning, and we got to see a lot of them in the air during the early morning race! i can't wait to take scout in a few years. we'll just leave before the music starts!

blues music...love it, love it, love it! kenny wayne shepherd is my favorite! and blue on black is one of my favorite songs.

baseball...more specifically, the texas rangers. but, i spent a lot of time at the ball park when i was younger for someone who didn't have any brothers!

blankets...yep, i make fleece blankets. at last count it was somewhere between 50-60. i like making them for babies, but i try to make them a little different. not all pastel blue and pink!

bears...yes, i may work at a different school district now, and have to wear shirts that say bulldogs. but, i grew up a bear, i taught bears, i will always be a bear!

abc...

2011-07-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

now that i'm done blogging about my trip, i need to start something new so i don't quit blogging again. so, i am kinda copying a meme my mom has been doing...but instead of doing a certain letter each day this month, i'm just starting with a and i'll do it when i feel like it. so A...

Audio Adrenaline...one of my favorite bands since i was about 14 or 15. love them...even though they aren't really together anymore, actually wearing one of their concert shirts right now

that's from one of their really old albums...but it's still my favorite!

asparagus green...that's the name of the color we used on the wall in Scout's room, so cool

Austin, TX...home of the Texas Longhorns

A Time to Kill...probably the best John Grisham book, and a really good movie, too

anyway, the perfect word for SO many situations

wow, that was actually kinda hard. probably should do that when i slept well the night before and haven't been busy playing with Scout, doing laundry, going to rescue my mom from being locked out of her house, and trying to redecorate/repurpose my living room while Scout is learning to crawl and rolling around everywhere!

summer in the city

2011-07-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

ok, last day and then i will be done with the nyc posts! wednesday was so hot! we thought we would be ready for it, the temp still wasn't as high as it was at home...but it was so humid and we don't walk around outside all day at home! i don't even know how we woke up wednesday morning after everything we did on tuesday. but, we did, and we went to chinatown. i'm not talking about canal st., where you go buy the fake illegal purses. i mean real chinatown. where we were the only white and english speaking people around for a few blocks. we started on canal st., you pretty much have to if you take the subway there. those people got on my nerves. you'd be walking down the street and this nice innocent looking lady would appear out of nowhere and whisper, "belts, sunglasses, purses. fendi, coach, louis." ummm, hello, i'm wearing a "hippie" skirt and my purse was on clearance for $15...do you think i want to follow you into some dark back room behind a wall in your dirty little shop to buy a bag that's still fake and illegal? sorry. and i have a real coach, thankyouverymuch. anyway, i didn't really like chinatown. after going to tokyo, it's like why bother. but we did go to columbus park and see some serious cards and mahjong games. that area is part of the five points neighborhood on which scorsese based gangs of new york...yeah, nice place! we ate some pork buns and a coconut roll at tai pan bakery. they were delicious and cheap! 2 buns, a roll, a coke, and 2 bottles of water for $8! we walked under manhattan bridge. and someone asked ME for directions! probably because we were the only other people around he thought would speak english...not because he thought i was a local! after chinatown, we went to lower manhattan to go on a tour of wall street. i wasn't expecting much from this tour, but it was actually really fun and i learned a lot. we saw the nyse and federal hall. we also saw the new building they are working on at ground zero. we also got to see trinity church while we were waiting for our tour. george washington went to church there when he lived there and alexander hamilton is actually buried in the church cemetery. after the tour, we made it back uptown and got ready for dinner. k-dogg had made reservations a month earlier at wd-50. it's owned by wylie dufresne. if you watch top chef, especially the season they were in nyc, you should remember him. so we got dressed up and rode in a taxi to the lower east side, passing the flat iron building. the food was amazing...the duck was the best meat i have ever eaten. we saw wylie! yeah, he actually cooks at his own restaurant...take that, bobby flay! it's definitely the most we have ever paid for a meal, but it was fun and something we'll never forget!

mahjong

oh, wow! these were great!

at columbus park

manhattan bridge

what the heck!

nyse

trinity church

federal hall, where george washington was inaugurated

bowling green park, one of the oldest parks in nyc

the famous bull

the new building

the flat iron building

k-dogg at wd-50

new york, new york

2011-07-11T10:33:00.030-05:00

day two was crazy! we got up early and went to top of the rock at rockefeller center. it's the only place in new york where you can actually see the empire state building. the views were absolutely amazing. you can see the brooklyn bridge, the east river, the hudson river, the statue of liberty and ellis island. i have already been to the empire state building, ellis island, and the statue of liberty...so we got to skip all of those places and it saved a lot of time! after we had seen everything from 70 stories up, we made our way to east village. we were signed up to meet a tour guide at the big black cube at astor place. it ended up being me, k-dogg, and a couple from london. the tour was awesome! not only did we eat a lot of great food, but our guide, susan, showed us a lot of important places and told us a lot of history about east village. i think my favorite things are the light posts covered in mosaics. they are by a homeless man named jim power. incredible artwork. we went to gem spa for an egg cream. a place i would never go on my own and a drink i would never have ordered...but i would now! we had fresh salami and spicy mustard at the east village meat market. wow! new york pizza, a cookie and ice cream from milk bar, a hot dog from papaya dog, treats from veniero's, an italian bakery that's been open since 1894. the weirdest thing we ate was borscht. beet soup at a 24 hour ukrainian coffee shop, veselka. it was so good, that as soon as we got home, i looked up their website to see if i could order their cookbook. it's on it's way from amazon right now! we saw a lot of cool things along the way. st. mark's on the bowery is the oldest continual church in new york city and the second oldest church in manhattan. webster hall , a farmers' market...in manhattan, cooper union, trash and vaudeville...i could probably go back to nyc and stay in east village the whole time! but then, k-dogg had done his research and found out that the harry potter exhibition was in town...oh. my. word. right down the street from our hotel...we saw tons of costumes and props from all of the movies...even the one that comes out this friday. if you are a fan of the movies or the books, or both, and you are going to be in nyc before september...you must go! it was awesome. but we still weren't done for the day. we went back to east village, to ippudo, for dinner. k-dogg loves ramen and had seen this place on food network's the best thing i ever ate. i had read that the wait to get seated was sometimes up to three hours...i was not excited. but we walked in and got seated immediately. k-dogg had ramen, i ordered a duck and eggplant appetizer. my food was good...but the ramen was crazy good! we went back uptown and ended up at central park. i could spend a whole day or two there, but we just walked around the south end for a little while since we were exhausted. we walked by the zoo...it was closed, found balto, the delacorte clock, and william shakespeare. for some reason, we decided to walk back to our hotel...all the way down 5th avenue. it was a lot of walking, but it was so fun! pictures to follow later today...scout is awake!

wow, about 2 hours and scout is asleep again! guess we wore him out this weekend...

top of the rock elevator

esb

statue of liberty and ellis island

k-dogg rotating the alamo cube in astor place

st mark's on the bowery

the clock at grand central terminal

delacorte clock

balto

new york state of mind

2011-07-08T19:06:00.000-05:00

i have no idea where to start talking about our trip, so i'll just start at the beginning. we got there monday, 4th of july, after sitting behind the most annoying guy i have been around in a long time. anyway, we stayed at the iroquois hotel on 44th street. right between times square and grand central terminal. yeah, pretty busy area! we dropped our stuff off and went out to wander around. the only things on our agenda that day were to eat a hot dog and see fireworks. we ended up on avenue of the americas (6th street) and found st. patrick's cathedral. then we kept going and found rockefeller center where the nbc studios are. later we were going to do the top of the rock tour, but they wouldn't let anyone else up until after the fireworks. we saw atlas and prometheus. even if you've never been to new york, i'm sure you know what those are. at some point, we got a hot dog from a street vendor, check! then we ended up in times square. i wanted to have dinner at hard rock cafe, even though it's a terribly cheesy and touristy thing to do. by then, we decided not to try to see the fireworks. it was going to be too crazy and crowded. we walked around times square for a while, and then right at one of the bigger intersections you could actually see a few of the fireworks. it was pretty cool to see them from there, check! we did everything on our list for that day and a lot more! day 2 was insane...so, i'm going to save that for another post. i'll shoot for tomorrow, but no promises because k-dogg plans on working in the yard and scout and i may have to go to target or visit gram.

right in front of our hotel

st patrick's cathedral...may be my favorite building in the world, and i'm not even catholic!

inside the cathedral

we didn't stay long or get to walk around because they were having a service

Atlas

Prometheus, where they have the ice skating rink when it's cold. right now it's outdoor eating

if you watch good morning america, this is always in the background!

i was taking a picture of the new year's ball and happened to catch a cool picture!

i was dress appropriately for hrc

wall of gibsons

hrc

times square

the infamous musical

fattest spiderman i've ever seen!

empire state of mind

2011-07-07T19:14:00.001-05:00

we got home from new york a few hours ago. i took over 400 pictures. they're all on my computer, but for now i'm just going to post a few favorites. no big posts yet...i'm too tired and i want to go play with scout.

4th of July in Rockefeller Center

30 Rock

St Patrick's Cathedral

Not a good pic, but it's the fireworks from Times Square!

a homeless man in East Village does mosaic art on the light posts

very good egg cream...although i have nothing with which to compare it

K-dogg at Top of the Rock

me at Top of the Rock

it was so awesome, if you're a fan...you would LOVE it!

the Delacorte Clock in Central Park

the bakery where we ate in Chinatown...no English except on the signs

the new World Trade Center

New York Stock Exchange

a bronzed casting of a root system from an oak tree that fell on 9/11 near Trinity Church, none of the churches or the historical cemetery was damaged!

serious cards and mahjong at columbus park in chinatown. it was part of the five points neighborhood that the movie gangs of new york was based on. we were the only tourists there!

more later!

flying

2011-07-03T18:05:00.000-05:00

had to steal this from my mom! it's my kid, so it's ok! tomorrow is his first 4th of july and his 7 month birthday. i'm sure my mom will have it all documented! i hate packing for a plane ride. i love traveling, just not the packing, making sure everything is where it's supposed to be so we have as little problem getting through security as possible. leaving from the regional airport makes this much easier. on the way home i'm always so tired that it doesn't bother me. i should be used to it by now. i've flown with k-dogg, alone, alone and pregnant (leaving from LAX was not fun!), and we've been to tokyo. i've been through the border in mexico with a huge group of people. but i will not relax at all until we are on the plane and in the air. last year at LAX, i actually threw my boarding pass away because it was in my hand with my bk leftovers! thankfully, i realized what i had done and it was right on top in the trash can. so, after i drop off scout ...i'm going to come home, finish packing, and clean house so it will be clean when we get back. my mom and k-dogg told me not to think about packing until scout was at gram's. so, i haven't packed yet...but i have a detailed list for my purse, carry-on, make up bag, and suitcase and all of my clothes are hanging on the closet door! :)

white wedding

2011-07-02T17:06:00.000-05:00

Ashton Gardens has the coolest chapel I have ever seen!

The brothers Perez

Lindsey and her dad

vows

my cute little cousin! he caught the garter and then when they were trying to take the picture, he kept throwing it to his dad!

me and k-dogg

k-dogg posing

we waved glow sticks instead of throwing rice...some people threw the sticks!

Our friends/k-dogg's co-worker/my cousin and his fiance got married last night. you should look up ashton gardens online. it is awesome. the whole chapel is floor to ceiling windows with wooden beams and it's surrounded by trees. very cool! the reception was a lot of fun. we actually danced...i got k-dogg to do the cupid shuffle! we stayed at the hilton garden inn in las colinas. it's very nice and right across the street from some good shopping and food! on our way home today we stopped by the outlet center in terrell. i don't usually like outlet centers. the ones here just don't compare to the one in camarillo, california! but, they are the closest place with an osh kosh and carters store. scout racked up and he wasn't even with us. apparently, he was out shopping with gram and poppa, eating at cracker barrel, and charming everyone he met! love that little boy. now that i have the laundry underway for our next excursion and have my wedding pictures on the computer...i'm off to pick him up...can't wait to see him!

invade my space

2011-06-26T17:01:00.000-05:00

did some major shopping yesterday. went by the mall to stock up on soap and wallflowers from b&bw. got lunch from chick-fil-a and for some reason decided to get a table in the food court instead of inside the restaurant. so, i found a table with six chairs. i could have been rude and sat right in the middle and spread all my stuff out, but i was nice and sat at the end in case someone needed to sit at the other end. sure enough, before i even have my food set up, a lady asked if she could sit at the other end of the table. yeah...the other END. she said she had someone with her, so i said fine. she didn't have one someone with her, she had FOUR someones. as in five people...they took over my whole table! how rude and sneaky can you be? so, after i crammed my nuggets and fries down and gulped my dr. pepper so i could leave MY table...i overheard her say, "wow, she ate fast and didn't say much!" anyway, i got the snoopy shower curtain i have been wanting for scout's bathroom. i saw it at target a few weeks ago, but decided to wait until after pay day. then i looked it up online and they were sold out! i went to the store yesterday and they had one left on the shelf! i'll post pictures when it's finished. i got the shower curtain and a new clock up, but that's it. i thought i had a red bathroom rug from when the bathroom was done in pirates, but i guess i threw it out. i already have a trash can and soap dispenser that will match. i ordered a poster for the wall this morning. i wasn't going to redo the bathroom, but i really don't think he will like the peach, gray, and black trees and birdcage that were in there. now it matches his room and k-dogg's office. and best of all...it's not frogs, ducks, or a sea creature theme! for some reason the stores think that's what everyone wants for their kids' bathrooms!

clean

2011-06-22T09:33:00.000-05:00

finally slept all night last night. feed scout around 9, but he threw up on me twice...carrots! got both of us changed and he was still in bed asleep by 10. i was asleep before 10:30 and woke up at 6:30 this morning when k-dogg's alarm went off! after he left i went back to sleep til 8. i think cleaning my room helped. i cleaned out my closet, got rid of all my maternity clothes, pulled out all the empty hangers. got all the laundry done and put away. moved the trunk in my room back to where it was before scout moved in our room. got rid of the huge pile of pajamas that wouldn't fit in my dresser. got the living room cleaned up. sprayed for bugs! and we're still going. i just got finished cleaning out our bathroom cabinets...well, mine. k-dogg uses one drawer and one part of a shelf! scout should be waking up soon, so i'm gonna get his stuff ready. no carrots today!

after midnight

2011-06-20T10:01:00.000-05:00

could not go to sleep last night. i played on my phone, i played the alphabet game in my head. i kept my eyes closed for two hours. i finally got up and took another allergy pill. could be a lot of things. i took a two hour nap yesterday and saturday. working in the yard saturday morning wore me out. i know those flower beds have not been touched in at least 2 years! Scout's getting a lot easier to take care of and i'm out of school right now, so i don't need as much sleep as i have been trying to get. and now that he's sleeping in his room, it's easier for all of us. gaudet's funeral starts in an hour. i decided not to go. it's just too much. between all the news coverage and the procession. i put my flag out, i'm praying for his family. and i'm staying home. but it was still on my mind last night. then, there's all the projects around here. i have blankets to make, a wreath to create, the regular housework, and i'd really like to clean out most of the house...ugh! 2 weeks til NYC!

dallas

2011-06-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

don't have much to say right now...just don't want that last post to be the first thing on my screen anymore. the mavs won the nba finals last night. i'm getting tired of reading all the posts on facebook. where does it say that if you live in east texas...you should automatically like all teams from dallas? i haven't liked the cowboys since i was a little kid and didn't really have my own opinion yet. even then i liked the oilers better, i loved the chicago bears, and it was a dallas cowboys cheerleader jacket i had...not one for the team! i don't have a favorite football team right now. it will depend on where (if anywhere) vince young ends up and if there's even a season. or i may go back to cheering for my bears. but, my second favorite team is always anyone that beats dallas! college football is better anyway. i never really cared one way or the other about the mavs when i was growing up. i'm kinda with chris bosh from the heat...they were not a good team and i was/am a huge tim duncan fan. my child has a spurs blanket...which we got questions about every time we went out with it this winter. i was a huge fan of basketball in middle school. my door was covered with pictures and headlines from the newspapers. that was the early 90's, so of course i loved michael jordan. my students are always impressed that i got to watch him and shaq on tv when he was the best and before shaq was old and hurt! then after jordan i liked the rockets and then the spurs. i have never liked the lakers. what they did to phil jackson during his last game as a head coach this year was disgraceful. and as long as mark cuban owns the dallas mavericks...i'll never like them. i did say last night that after watching the finals i like jason terry. but cuban and carlisle have a long way to go. my favorite teams are san antonio and oklahoma city. after that it's anyone that beats dallas or la. and i do like one team from dallas...I LOVE MY TEXAS RANGERS!

american boy

2011-06-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

not loving facebook right now. sitting on my couch sunday night, watching the heat beat the mavs again, hanging out with k-dogg and scout, playing on my phone because i think it's attaching itself to my hand, decided to checkout facebook statuses real quick. my friend, charity's, "my heart goes out to brad's family. thank you for paying the ultimate sacrifice for those of us back home..." my friend susan's, "rip brad gaudet. you did pay the ultimate sacrifice for all us!" really, a friend i've had for 20 years is killed in afghanistan and i learn the news on facebook! within an hour, about 2/3 of my facebook feed was about gaudet. the only ones not posting about him were my friends from work and church. i don't know who found out about him and how the news got back to gladewater so fast...but i hope i never again have to find out anything like that from a facebook post. i met gaudet at an end of school pool party when he was in 5th grade and i was in 6th. back then he went by justin. he was the first boy that was my boyfriend for more than 2 weeks in middle school. he is the only guy, other than my dad, that has ever bought me flowers. he started coming to my church with his mom and his little sister. my dad took us and two other friends from church to see audio adrenaline at the oil palace. when he started high school he decided to start going by brad. i could never call him that, so i just called him gaudet. when i was a junior, i babysat his sister everyday after school from the time i got out of school until whenever his mom decided to come home. he drove an old turquoise vw bug that broke down a lot. a lot of times his sister and i would have to go pick him up from football or basketball practice or take him to work. when he was a junior, he flipped off the camera in the football team picture and had to pay for everyone's retakes! he was a year behind me in school and after he graduated, i had started going to a different church and didn't see him much. i knew he had a daughter named tealie and he was in the army. i saw him on the news when he got in trouble for stealing some shuttle wreckage in nacogdoches. yeah, i'm not one to gloss over everything and conveniently forget stuff just because you aren't supposed to talk bad about people after they're gone. :) he wouldn't expect anything else from me anyway, we loved to harass each other! he found me on facebook last year and i knew he was in new york and had a fiance and was going to have a baby. addison was born in mid-may and gaudet got to the hospital while ginny was in labor. he got to spend about two weeks with them and then flew back to afghanistan right before memorial day weekend. now that i have scout, i feel so bad for ginny and addison. i can't imagine what that would be like. so, yeah, not a big facebook lover these days.

don't know why

2011-06-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

i guess today is a summer preview. since my mom decided to get all dramatic and faint yesterday :) i stayed home with scout so she could rest. i think it's absolutely insane that we're still in school anyway. scout actually slept in til 8:15...he's never slept that late before. he was up about 2 hours and then fell asleep again. woke up and ate and played with gram, then went to sleep again! on days when i have a lot to do at the house, this will be great. on days in want to go out and do something...he's gonna either have to wake up or sleep on the go! i ran out to get lunch earlier and when i pulled up in the driveway...the garage door would only open about a foot. i tried 3 or 4 times and each time it would open less and less. i have no idea what's wrong. i'm just glad my car was out of the garage when it happened so that i can still leave if i need to! i never had a garage door before we moved here and k-dogg didn't either, so we have no clue what to do to it or what to look for! anyway, i need to go finish a present for my friends that are moving to louisiana this weekend. i just wanted to post again before another 10 months passed!

i can't explain

2011-05-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

hello???? wow, not a single post since august! i tried to post once. maybe in january or february...but it was from my phone, so it took forever and then something messed up and the whole post disappeared. so yeah, instead of being pregnant and miserable now i have an almost 6 month old little boy! his whole birth story would take way too long and between the 6 months that have passed and the amount of drugs i was on and pain i was in...it's a little fuzzy now. just know that he is the cutest, smartest, funniest person EVER! everything i went through was worth it to get him here...and i don't plan on ever giving birth again. we went with the apple green and black and white for his room. my mom and i did go shopping the day after my sono. he has more clothes than he will ever need! his name is not scout...but it will be on here. what else...school stank this year. but my last day for the year is friday and then we're not gonna talk about it anymore. anyway, scout is playing in his crib, which means he's awake...

it's not over

2010-08-10T11:52:00.000-05:00

finally went with a new look on my blog. some people thought the stripes made it too hard to read my posts! summer is almost over, my classroom is almost ready, we go back to work on monday. scout is kicking all over the place. he kicked the heart monitor yesterday at my check up! i think he already has more clothes than his dad! next month i have to take the glucose test and have blood work done. i hate having blood taken so i really hope the test works out and i don't have to take another one! i know i'll be getting all kinds of iv's and shots when i'm having scout, but that's different. i'll be preoccupied. i don't like going to the lab and having to wait for them to call me back so they can stick me. i am so ready for fall...these 100+ temps everyday are getting old! i have to go to the grocery store later, but for now, i'm going to go watch tv and try to work on getting my 14 glasses of water! really hard for someone who drank no water at all before she was pregnant!

bump in the road

2010-07-26T10:51:00.002-05:00

yes, i know...it's been a month since my last post. k-dogg was off work, and i can't sit in my computer chair comfortably anymore, so i didn't have much access to a computer. he went back to work this morning, so i'm in his office. july was pretty uneventful. usually, one of us is out of the country, or i go on a mission trip. but, no trips this summer with the baby on the way! when i went to california, k-dogg was still working. our youth group is in san antonio right now on their mission trip and the trip to mexico was cancelled anyway. we have tried out 3 restaurants that we hadn't been to yet. actually, i've been to newks, but i went alone so it didn't count. smashburger was pretty good. osaka was awesome and i don't know why we hadn't been before. i got pork katsu and fried rice. it's easier just to not even try to eat any sushi or rolls right now. most of the ones that are all cooked and safe for me to eat have jalapenos or avocado in them, so i don't even try for now. k-dogg made homemade gyoza last night! we had gyoza in tokyo and he has been wanting it again. we actually had some fried gyoza at osaka, but i had already bought him the ingredients to make it at home, so we had steamed gyoza last night. gyoza is basically like a dumpling and the kind he made had pork, onion, and cabbage inside/ he doesn't cook often, but when he does, he goes all out. besides the gyoza, he's made french onion soup and pasta from scratch! i have a sono appointment this afternoon. we should be able to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. we will post on facebook and everything. just don't expect to see any pictures online. i just think that's weird. same with the "baby bump" photos. my mom has some of me on her blog, but other than bean, i don't really care if anyone sees me. we didn't get very far at all on the nursery while k-dogg was off, but after this afternoon maybe i'll be more motivated. the nursery is going to be be black, white, and apple green no matter the gender. but, even with black and white, some stuff is definitely more girly than other stuff. tomorrow, my mom and i are going shopping. i think the suspense of not knowing has been bothering her more than us!

ventura highway

2010-06-25T11:55:00.003-05:00

going back to cali

2010-06-05T19:13:00.002-05:00

i'm leaving very early in the morning to go to the airport. 4 days of shopping, sightseeing, swimming, and hanging out with bean in california! i'm really tired right now after the district meeting this morning and working at the school for 4 hours with out any air conditioning! but, i'm completely moved out of my old classroom and everything is put away in my new room until after summer school. then i can go back and get everything set up. right now i'm updating my ipod and my phone, then i gotta go pack. i'm sure when i get home i'll have lots of pictures to share and maybe some stories!

back in the saddle

2010-06-01T17:57:00.002-05:00

ok, my mom and sister will not leave me alone about my blog...so, i'm back. since march 22, let's see...we found out i'm pregnant. i'm due at the end of november in case you're one of the last two people on earth my mom hasn't told! my birthday was two weeks ago. k-dogg got me a new tv and blu-ray player! my parents got me toms, and bean got me a scrabble necklace with van gogh's starry night on it! very cool! we still have 3 days of school left and i'm about to go crazy. i'm glad the kids that passed taks got a reward by getting out 7 days early. but this is torture having to stay 7 more days with the kids that failed or missed too much school. we're supposed to keep them contained and engaged. i've got the contained part down, but i'm not sure how engaged they are. we found out our new room assignments and teaching partners for next year, so maybe my kids can be engaged by packing my stuff and getting it ready to move two doors down the hall. almost all of my summer plans have changed. i'm still going to see bean next week, but i'm not going to youth camp or on any mission trips this summer. i was not happy about that at first, but at least i'll have a lot of time off to get stuff ready for school in august and hopefully get some stuff ready for the baby. we shall see!

birds

2010-03-22T17:57:00.003-05:00

saturday it was in the low 70s and sunny. yesterday it was in the mid 30s and SNOWING! as bad as this seemed to most of us that were wrapping up a pretty nice spring break, it must have caused major problems for the animals. i was on the couch watching tv and heard a noise outside. k-dogg looked out the window, called me to the window, and we saw this...

big scary black birds everywhere from our yard over to our neighbors' yard! on the house, in the garden, in the trees, and eating everything in sight! our patio was overtaken by little gray birds. they stripped the bird seed bell i had out there and dug through the leaves and the rocks! the big birds stayed out there for a few hours. it was wild!

Oklahoma!

2010-03-16T11:54:00.002-05:00

very good baseball player for an almost 3 year old!

i was just playing with the color swap on my camera, k-dogg said it reminds him of twin peaks

kinda creepy tree trunk
the real reason everyone goes on the campout...sno cones!
"why so serious?"

Comfortably Numb

2010-03-03T20:55:00.001-06:00

What is my family going to do if I ever start losing MY memory???

give me a reason

2010-02-21T20:37:00.003-06:00

I have to have a more recent blog entry than Bean...so, I'm blogging! not much has been going on. work is great. some mild craziness thursday, but nothing like what i'm used to from going and working at my old school. i had two students withdraw last week. it's a little calmer in our room now and my homeroom class is even with my other class, so that's nice. the snow last weekend was so much fun. however, i think i'm glad we don't have snow like that all the time. saturday felt like spring, so i went antiquing and burger-eating in mineola. i got a really cool purse. it's olive green, wooden, and has a big owl on the front! and it was only $8! pictures soon. speaking of pictures, my mom took some pictures of my house while it was clean! she doesn't clean my craft/computer room...so that's why there aren't any pictures of it.

this is our front door right now, but i'm changing it this week. i got the swag 50% at target's after Christmas sale and added the silver leaves, the icicles, and the sparkling dangling things. they were all half price, too!

this is k-dogg's office. he picked out the red paint and did most of the painting himself. i now know why everyone said not to do red. we love it, but it was really hard to paint with! my mom and i decorated his fireplace for him, but it's all stuff he either picked out or really likes...comics, pirates, squirrels, and a few other random treasures!

this is our living room. you can't see the stove, the built-in shelf, our massive dvd collection, or the built-in tv stand in the corner. i was thinking i wanted a new couch, but i waited so long that i'm thinking i'm ok with this one for a little while longer.

as promised, this is the picture of our new quilt. the green and khaki pillows are from target, the copper/orange pillow is from wal-mart, and the roll pillow is actually from our old bedding! doesn't everyone accessorize a beautiful pottery barn quilt with stuff from target and wal-mart :) if you noticed, we have the word peace all over the house. i don't think it's in either bathroom or k-dogg's office, but only because i haven't found the right thing for those rooms, yet! my mom did take pictures of my kitchen, but she didn't get my favorite wall, so i'm gonna take some more and add those later. for now, i'm going to go make a bologna and cheese sandwich and collapse on the couch. i have a workshop, a funeral, and taks training this week. taks writing is next wednesday. i can not wait until that day is over!

winter wonderland

2010-02-12T13:48:00.002-06:00

snow day! see bean, see what you're missing living out there in california! :)

switch

2010-01-24T18:37:00.002-06:00

it's hard to remember to blog when i'm hardly ever on my desktop computer anymore. k-dogg and i accidentally switched pillows friday night and my shoulder and neck are killing me now. we switched back this morning and my nap was much better. when he thinks his pillow is going flat, i buy him a new one and i take his. it works out quite well for me, but i think he really could sleep on anything! the knot in my shoulder could also be from stress, since the two aleve i have taken today haven't done anything. the idea that how well a bunch of 9-10 year olds do on a writing test has a direct connection to people's jobs can tend to cause a little stress. i still love my job, but i really wish taks had never been invented!

in other news...we got a new quilt for our bed right after Christmas. i like it much better than the covers we bought last year and whenever i get around to it, i'll post a picture of our actual room, but for now, this picture from pottery barn's website will have to work...

down on the corner

2010-01-04T16:47:00.004-06:00

ok, the end of tokyo...

i said on facebook that shibuya crossing is the busiest crosswalk in the world. just in case you didn't really believe me...here's a picture of ONE corner of the crosswalk! and on a thursday evening is not really the busiest time!
crossing shibuya crossing
shibuya 109...the craziest mall i have ever been too...about 9 stories high...4-6 stores on each floor...wall to wall people...only, there aren't really any walls...the stores wrap around the escalator that runs through the middle
this isn't the busiest we saw krispy kreme...a few times the wait time was at least an hour...that's like waiting to ride a good ride at six flags!
the front desk of our hotel
this was our hotel room from the doorway. you can see one side of the bed. it's a full size bed and it's against the wall on the other side! that table goes all the way across the room and there's a tv on the other end with a small refrigerator and hot tea maker underneath. i had to take my backpack off before i walked in the room or it would scrape against both walls at once!

this is the bathroom. you're not missing anything! the toilet was right up against the wall. when k-dogg stayed here this summer, he was in a single room so there was a window over his bed that looked into the bathroom and the door to the bathroom was see-thru!
you hear about celebrities making commercials and ads in japan for things they'd never do here (ever seen lost in translation or the episode of friends with joey's commercial for men's lipstick?) that's a billboard with tommy lee jones for a beverage company. we also saw beyonce on a bottled water ad and sarah jessica parker on something...i don't remember what it was

on the way to the airport
the Christmas tree at Narita Airport. our flight was at around 1 on friday afternoon. we flew about 11 hours, kyle drove us home from dfw...and when we got to our house it was around 1 on friday afternoon! i saw the sun set and rise within less than 8 hours. got to see it rise over the rocky mountains! and still went shopping on black friday that afternoon!

one

2010-01-03T17:30:00.005-06:00

yea, first post of the new year! i decided i better finish up my tokyo pictures before i go back to work tomorrow. (ugh) i wish we were off tomorrow so i could have gone on the girls' winter retreat in dallas. staying in a hotel and shopping at the galleria sounds much better than going to work on a cold monday morning! obviously, i needed to stay home and rest anyway. i got home from church and lunch and took a 3 hour nap! it messes me up when i sleep so long and then wake up and don't know if it's 4:15 am or pm! i finally decided that it was too light outside to be am...so i figured i better get up. k-dogg is watching the cowboys game (ie...snoozing in his chair) so i came in my computer room. my team is out of the playoffs, so they aren't showing that game.
Merry Christmas from Louis Vuitton!
we had 3 starbucks within about 2 blocks of our hotel. kinda weird, the only real difference was the menu and all the japanese customers. otherwise, i could have been in any starbucks in the states.
tokyo from the 47th floor of the municipal government building. when it isn't cloudy, you can see mt fuji. i think it's almost always cloudy though.
subway map...simple enough, right??
Christmas lights

zest cantina...texmex in tokyo. we ate here one night and it was pretty good. the walls were covered with texas license plates, john wayne pictures, and a buffalo and jackalope. the waiters wear jeans, cowboy boots, and western shirts. they just need some help on their portion sizes. a plate of nachos had about 7 chips and you don't get chips and salsa before the meal. we had a good time laughing at the people we saw drinking a bud light that cost $8 a bottle! according to k-dogg, this is THE meeting place in shinjuku...or was it shibuya? i don't remember where we were!
it looks like all these people are out really late at night, but it was probably only 6 or 7pm. the sun set at 4!
yes, it's blurry, but that's how fast you have to walk so those nice polite people in tokyo don't run you over!

blue moon

2009-12-31T13:16:00.005-06:00

there's a blue moon tonight. i heard it's the first one in 20 years, but not sure about that! ok, more pictures from tokyo...
k-dogg's favorite place on earth...Akihabara, the electronics and anime district in Tokyo

K-dogg in his version of disneyland...electronic stuff, video games, anime, and other weird stuff as far as the eye could see

I got bored in Akiba...so we walked around, found out that there was an old Shinto shrine nearby and away we went. K-dogg always wished he was a samurai! :)

We went to the aquarium in Sunshine City...I love this picture!

I actually do kinda know someone in Tokyo. Cayce's family goes to our church and her husband was transferred to Tokyo a few months ago. We met up with them and they took us to eat at the restaurant that inspired the restaurant scenes in Kill Bill. We were sitting on the second floor right above the grill and all the stores and restuarants in Tokyo are hot anyway...I was about to pass out from the heat. That was the best green tea I have ever had! Someone really needs to introduce Tokyo to the idea of sweetened tea though!

Ueno train station...we were on our way to Kitchen Town and another temple Cayce had told us about. This was the only time we really had no idea where we were or how to get there!
But we found it! This was one of my favorite places in Tokyo. I got a lot of good pictures and there was a lot less English. We went to a shopping market kinda like the place we went in Piedras Negras near the border in Mexico. They had all the regular touristy souveniers you'd expect in Japan...but we were really the only non-Japanese people I saw for most of the day!

back in the saddle

2009-12-30T10:01:00.006-06:00

yes, i know, i've been neglecting my blog...sorry. i don't even know where to start back up. i guess i'll back it up to thanksgiving week when we skipped thanksgiving with our families and went to tokyo. yes, we went to tokyo the week of thanksgiving. and before anyone else asks; no, it wasn't for business; no, we don't really know anyone over there; yes, k-dogg just went there this summer; sorry, it really isn't any of your business how much it cost; no, i didn't miss a traditional thanksgiving meal; and yes, i'd go again! we had been talking about going on vacation that week. we both get the whole week off and between k-dogg's trip this summer and my trip to mission arlington, we didn't get much time off together this summer. we were originally going to go to missouri to see his uncle. then k-dogg got an email from expedia with prices for a flight to tokyo. he asked if i wanted to go and i said yes. so, the saturday before thanksgiving, we flew to tokyo. i kinda like flying. it's not really scary to me like it is for some people i know. however, 13 hours on a plane is too long! it's probably a lot easier to just post some pictures and fill in the blanks for you. i already put all my pictures on facebook...but some narration has been requested...

This is Yoyogi Park...with an authentic Japanese Red Maple! Tokyo has some really pretty sections...it isn't all just shrines and skyscrapers.
This is K-dogg at the first shrine we went to. A really nice older man told us that they were having a big festival that day. I'm not really sure what the festival was for, but they had displays of food everywhere. This ship reminded me of the floats in the Rose Parade...only with vegetables instead of flowers.

This is the first picture I took in Tokyo on our way to the shrine in Harajuku. While I was taking this picture, I caught an old man taking my picture. He tried to play it off when I saw him, but as soon as he thought I had turned around, he started snapping away again. All the girls and women in Tokyo wear dresses and skirts with patterned tights and really high heels, so I guess to see a white girl with short hair, wearing jeans, a sweater, and tennis shoes was picture-worthy for him. Not a lot of Americans go to Tokyo on vacation. The non-Japanese people we saw were mostly from other countries. We were asked if we were French, and I overheard some French, Italian, German, and some other languages I couldn't identify. The English I did hear definitely was not American!
This is the train. We rode it everywhere. Definitely not recommended if you are clausterphobic or don't like being up close with a lot of strangers, but it was pretty easy to figure out and a lot of fun.This is Hachiko. Hachiko was an Akita that belonged to a professor. The story is that Hachiko would go to the train station everyday to meet his owner after work. The professor had a stroke at work one day and died. Hachiko continued to go to the station and wait for his owner for 10 years until he died. It's a pretty popular story that you can google and read about. This statue is a well known meeting place at Shibuya Station. Ok, so, now that I started blogging Tokyo, I promise I will finish...

we wish you a merry Christmas

2009-12-19T10:26:00.001-06:00

Bean will be here in a few hours!

Rockin around the Christmas tree

2009-12-16T09:36:00.002-06:00

So, second time I have typed this...woke up late because I set the clock backwards when the electricity went out. Was trying to load 11 gifts in my car and dropped the big ceramic one on the garage floor. Got to work late and then discovered tha one of our little angels stole both of the gift cards my teaching partner and I got as gifts yesterday. Fa la la la la la la la la. But, tonight is the church Christmas party. I get to see the four cutest little girls in the world. We get out of work Friday, and Bean will be here Saturday! Joy to the World!

Christmas is Coming

2009-12-10T21:45:00.002-06:00

my sister will be here in about 8 days!

C'mon Yeah

2009-11-29T12:21:00.001-06:00

Tokyo was awesome and when i get everything washed and unpacked i'll write about it. but, right now, i have Christmas decorations to put up and laundry to do. oh yeah, and i have to go back to work tomorrow. if you haven't seen them yet, my tokyo pictures are going on my facebook.

meet me on the equinox

2009-11-18T21:09:00.002-06:00

i am so ready to see new moon, but we are waiting until we get back from our trip. by then it shouldn't be so crazy crowded with all the screaming, crying, sighing girls. speaking of the trip...since that's all anyone has been talking about around/with me lately...i am ready for it, too! not physically ready. i am still doing laundry and even though i have a detailed list of everything i need to pack...i haven't done it, yet. my friend let me skip out of youth early to come home and get stuff done. i have a load of laundry going, i contacted our credit card company, and scheduled our automatic payments so i don't have to deal with it when we get home. i got a cool passport cover. it's black and white houndstooth with red trim. i got a new adidas backpack, a new toothbrush holder, and some new comfy clothes to wear on the plane. i am not really looking forward to the 13 hour plane ride. it would be nice if i could read on a plane without getting sick! anyway, i haven't seen k-dogg all day; and i won't see him tomorrow because i'm going to see skillet and hawk nelson. so, i'm going to go watch wec fighting with him until i fall asleep.

Ten

2009-11-10T19:58:00.002-06:00

Ok, so, I'm blogging from my phone again. I was about to post from my computer, but my shoulder started hurting so I'm on the couch! It's been so long since I have been on here, I don't really know where to begin. So, I'm going to do a top ten list of things I like right now...

1. NBA season
2. The Titans have finally won two games in a row!
3. We get out next week for thanksgiving
4. We are going to Tokyo
5. That means no boring dinner with EITHER side of extended family!
6. It's the 12th week of school and the most discipline I have had to carry out is moving a kid to a different seat or making them walk during recess
7. The most stressful part of my job this year is getting grades into the computer and dealing with a couple "strong personalities"
8. Bean will be here next month!
9. I have no plans this week except for church
10. Everyone has peace ornaments for sale this season

ok, that's it...gotta go scramble some eggs and work on my Christmas list for k-dogg's family!

Still rainin'

2009-10-22T09:21:00.002-05:00

Finally have time to blog...from my iPhone while my students are taking a reading benchmark. Not in a very good mood this morning. Had to leave my car at church last nigh with a flat tire. K-dogg brought me to work and he was in a hurry, so I was trying to get out the door and slammed the door on my new ring. Now it's a little bent and one of the stones fell out. Really though, it's so big that no one will notice anyway! After work we get to go back to the church and change my tire...fun stuff. I hope the rain stops before then! I am so ready for this week to be over. Our district computers got a huge virus and were down for almost a week, so K-dogg had to work most of the weekend, he missed seeing To Kill A Mockingbird, and he has had a lot of late work days and missed meals. All while having a broken toe...ouch! The computers are about back to normal, so maybe he'll get to have a food weekend. We have plans to go out for sushi tomorrow night. He said I need to learn to use chopsticks before we go to Tokyo for thanksgiving! Saturday, I am invited to a pink ballerina birthday party for my favorite new 5 year old! That means I get to go shopping!!! Saturday night I am going to see leeland, Brandon Heath, and Francesca B.....yea!!! So, as soon as we get this tire taken care of...everything should be getting better! Next week is red ribbon week, the opera with the entire 4th grade, and right before Halloween. I hope I have lots of energy!!

intermission

2009-10-19T20:22:00.001-05:00

i know...i need to post...coming soon...i promise

appels + oranjes

2009-09-30T21:46:00.002-05:00

bean thinks i never post anymore...kinda true. by the time i think to blog, i'm either too tired or my computer is acting goofy. but i do have a couple of stories to share...

yesterday my kids were asking me. once again, why i don't have children. after one said i already look pregnant (won't be wearing that shirt for awhile!), and another said i should have kids so that when my husband leaves me i'll still have someone to hang out with at home...this little oddball says," maybe she'll be like johnny appleseed. he never had no kids. he just walked around the world planting apple seeds and no one bugged him." what!!?!?!?! i get the reason johnny appleseed was on his brain. they read about him in the library last week for his birthday. i do not get how he made that connection, though!

today my kids were making character bags. they were supposed to decorate the outside with words and drawings that would help others identify the bag's owner. they were supposed to put items that represent inside character traits inside the bag. so, our kid with a serious gas problem holds up his bag and says, "everyone will know who's bag this is..." he had written "has a stomach problem and farts and farts a lot!" he got to make a new bag since these will be out for open house, but i kept his original bag to remind me of my first year teaching 4th grade!

a lot of other funny stuff has happened in class, but i can't remember anything else right now. we just chased two pink lizards around k-dogg's office and the hallway!

too tired

2009-09-21T22:31:00.002-05:00

church, sleep, work, walmart, zone out in front of tv, sleep work, zone out or go out, sleep. work late, youth, sleep, work, meeting, football or zone out, sleep work, football or movies, sleep, shop or movies, and watch football...repeat over and over while puffing on my inhaler, using the neti pot, and doing anything i can to get rid of this mess...except getting enough rest.

please mr. postman

2009-09-12T22:12:00.003-05:00

i found out way more about my neighbor than i ever wanted to know. i stopped at the mailbox on my way shopping this afternoon. it was kinda raining and i was in a hurry, so i just grabbed everything at once. i wouldn't have even looked at the mail, but i noticed the red postcard that means you have an overdue water bill. we paid our water bill on time, so i looked closer. then i saw that it wasn't mine, it was a neighbor's. so i looked at the rest of the mail. none of it was mine...so i now know that my neighbor didn't pay the water bill on time, i know what kind of credit card he/she has, and my neighbor's son get a certain magazine from hugh heffner sent there even though he doesn't live there! way more than i ever needed to know! we ended up not even getting any mail!

truckin'

2009-09-08T18:41:00.003-05:00

School is going great. Nothing exploded in my car this week! Eventually, I'm going to get used to getting up early again. Then maybe I won't be so tired all the time. I go to bed at a decent time...I just have a problem not slowing down from about 6am-9:30pm most nights. I was supposed to rest all weekend, but I still went to the football game, Canton, HobbyLobby, and then went to see the Brad Pitt movie for the second Saturday in a row. Very good movie...very funny...definitely not for everyone, especially if you've never seen a Quentin Tarantino movie. Sunday, I didn't go anywhere except CVS and that was only for cokes and cold medicine. I really with the Texas game hadn't been on PPV this weekend. I would have loved to see them win that big and maybe see someone I know playing for ULM. I'm ready for cooler weather. It is too hot at recess and I like playing tetherball.

when the levee breaks

2009-08-31T20:16:00.002-05:00

so...the lesson we learned from this is not to leave a 12 pack of sprite in your car during the month of august. front passenger seat was soaked...almost all of the cans were either empty or just about to bust...and this one busted through the cardboard box and exploded all over the floor! i'm just glad i wasn't actually in the car when it happened. but it was a very weird sight to see when i got in my car after work last wednesday!

black light

2009-08-22T19:28:00.003-05:00

my mom colored my hair this afternoon. i have been using natural dark golden brown and eventually it always turns red. so, this time i tried natural dark brown...

can't sleep at night

2009-08-18T21:48:00.002-05:00

i promise i'll be back...right now i'm working at school all day...coming home and crashing. then i stay awake half the night thinking of everything i still need to do. i am worn out and the kids don't even show up until monday!

school

2009-08-10T17:45:00.004-05:00

i've been working on my new classroom. it's almost finished so here...take a look...

inquiring minds want to know

2009-08-05T09:33:00.004-05:00

so, i guess two weeks is bean's limit on waiting for a new post from me. i was gone for a week in mission arlington. we got home friday afternoon and i've been pretty much sleeping and working in my new classroom since then. i did have time for a really easy and cheap project. i found this metal pear basket on clearance at hobby lobby. it was originally $11.99 but i got it for $1.49! i didn't like the middle, so my mom suggested scrapbook paper. since i have a serious paper addiction, i didn't have to buy new paper. i just found some that matched my kitchen colors. traced the bottom of the basket, cut out the paper, and modpodged it. i didn't want it to look too perfect, so i did the top layer before the bottom coat was dry so it would wrinkle a bit. now it's looking cute on a shelf in my kitchen.

i also got this really cool rug for our bathroom. i guess you can still call it a rug. it's made out of river rocks. yes, that's our bathroom...with carpet. i don't know why they put carpet in the bathroom, i guess so my grandma would throw a fit when she saw it! but, the toilet and the shower are actually in a separate "room" in the bathroom and it doesn't have carpet. it's just with the sinks and the tub. we rarely use the tub, so it's not really a problem. i've got to go get ready to go work in my classroom...again. i am going to do a post about mission arlington, but it will have to wait. i want to get my room done this week so that i can at least take friday and tuesday off. my summer is pretty much over. i have a meeting at school monday and wednesday. new teacher orientation is next thursday and friday...and then inservice starts the 17th and that's it. eek!

watch the silverware

2009-07-21T18:54:00.003-05:00

ok, before i lose power...i wanted to post my newest project. i've been looking for something to hang on the wall between my oven and the pantry since we moved here. i finally found something...
i saw a set of fork and spoon pictures at pier one. i liked them, but they were $45 each. i kept walking around the store and found these napkins with forks, knives, and spoons on them. they were $3.50 each. i got the frames today at hobby lobby for $15 each. so, instead of $90, i spent $37 and i think it's a lot cooler looking and not as boring.

i was going to hang both of them by the pantry, but the frames were too big...

so, i put one by my microwave and cabinets. still close enough that you can see both at once. i have other projects i'm working on, but they are still "in progress."

round here

2009-07-19T20:28:00.002-05:00

have a few minutes to blog before army wives comes on. haven't been on the computer as much this past week since k-dogg got home from tokyo. he took a lot of good pictures and brought me some unique gifts. i got a copy of to kill a mockingbird in japanese! i can't read japanese, but i love that book. my parents have a huge to kill a mockingbird poster over their stove and we are supposed to go see the play this fall. i also got a crunching dog usb toy. it's a little dog you plug into the computer and it does crunches. totally useless, but really funny. i got pink headphones for my ipod, a book of reptiles and amphibians from the zoo in tokyo, and a knowledge charm from a shrine. oh yeah, and a little wooden frog from a hippie festival! tomorrow i'm supposed to finish my computer/craft room. my mom is coming over to help and my dad is going to install some new light fixtures. saturday morning i have to be at the church at 6:30 am to go to six flags and then on to our mission trip. i don't remember the last time i was at six flags from open to close. i'm ready to ride some rides and see kutless and tobymac in concert. i wish k-dogg was going, but he doesn't really like roller coasters, so it's ok. then i'm going to mission arlington as a sponsor for the youth's mission trip. i'll miss my friends and the kids at our sister church in mexico, but i won't miss the drive there and back or the smelly water! we're not going there this year because of the travel bans in the area for gang violence and n1h1 flu. but i still get to work with kids and probably use some spanish. before i go, i guess i need to go work in my new classroom. once i get back from arlington, i'll only have 7 days to get my room ready for school! so, my summer is almost over and i still have a lot to do. we were going to get a new couch soon, but k-dogg's car has been sick a lot. last week it had to get a new speedometer. i was driving his car to church and looked down and it said i was going 140+! then when i stopped...it said i was going 100. the bill was kinda funny. it listed the concern as a speedo hung on 100...that made the amount we had to pay just a little less harsh!

one week

2009-07-11T22:18:00.002-05:00

i'm in the middle of 4 different projects right now. i'm working on a blanket, a clipboard, a birdfeeder, and i spray painted a little vase i bought at goodwill today, but i'm going to have to go over it again. all in an effort to keep myself busy until k-dogg returns. and i already made another blanket and a flower arrangement for the front door and the topiary i showed here monday. i promise to post pictures of everything when it's all finished. the birdfeeder is just drying. i also spray painted some metal stars that i stole from a coach's classroom on the last day of school. he was fired a couple weeks before school was out, so on the last day we looted his room! they are going to look good in my new classroom, but they were dark/barn red and now they are silver. what else? my mom and i went to lowe's twice. i now have a nice new trash can and water sprinkler. we had been using what the previous house owners left here two years ago. i got a trellis for my out of control rose bush, it's in the ground, but i haven't weaved the rose bush into it yet. i've done more yard work this week than i've ever done before. all the stuff i have to move to my new classroom has been sorted, packed, labeled, and is waiting in the storage room. i watched the spiderwick chronicles, notes on a scandal, and the secret life of bees. i read same kind of different as me. the only thing i didn't do that i wanted to do this week was paint the wall in my computer room. i still have a day or two, so we'll see. it probably won't get done yet. all of my computer stuff is against that wall and i don't want to unplug everything while k-dogg is gone. and i still need to finish the bedroom. i finally got some stuff hung up, but it's still a mess. i don't think it's ever been completely clean and organized since we've lived here. i really want that and my closet completely organized before i go back to work. it makes it so much easier to get ready for work when i know where all of my clothes and accessories are placed. for now, i'm going to go change the channel on my tv...the nanny gets on my nerves!

summertime

2009-07-06T22:49:00.004-05:00

so, i've made it four days now. this morning i finished my ribbon topiary. i got the idea from today's creative blog when she was featuring whitney caroline designs. both of them are on blogspot, too. the one she did was red, white, and blue for the 4th of july, but i made one to match my living room so that i can leave it out longer. or at least it will match my living room when we get a new couch. i got all of the supplies at wal-mart. anyway, here are the pics.

it wasn't hard, it just took longer than i thought it would. i worked on most of it while i was watching my abc soaps and army wives. it was nice to take a break from the fleece blankets, though. my parents and i worked on my yard today. i got to ride the riding lawnmower while my dad used the push mower and my mom cut hedges and pulled weeds. i think i had the best job. it was the coolest it's been all summer, but it was still pretty warm. i have a headache now from the sun and the grass. tomorrow is a big trip to lowes. we need a rose trellis and a trash can, and some other things, but mostly it's just another diversion to keep myself busy. good thing my movies from netflix are supposed to arrive tomorrow!

Sunday!

2009-07-05T08:53:00.002-05:00

Yea, I finally got an email from K-dogg! If he had written it at home, I'd think he had been drinking, but he said the keyboards over there are really hard to figure out. The last two days have been extremely long and boring, but today is going to be a lot better. Made a new thing for our front door, ordered some more Scrabble tile necklaces from etsy. Church this morning, a nap this afternoon, and then the big ice cream social at church tonight. I don't actually like ice cream much, but homemade ice cream is a lot better and I like seeing what combinations people come up with trying to win the Golden Dipper Award. I hope it doesn't rain tonight so that the kids will get to play on the water slides. Ok, gotta go or I'll be late for church.

don't speak

2009-07-02T00:20:00.002-05:00

after reading my sister's post this morning, i was ready to go out to cali and dropkick her boss back to his home country. how can people be so stupid? bean is the best person at that place and to even say anything that makes her feel bad about her seizures when you don't know anything about them just makes me mad. not to mention that it's not really legal or ethical for him to talk about it anyway. that's what the ada is for. i know not everyone has a mom and a sister with neurological disorders, so some people don't think about what they are saying and how it can affect someone...but everyone should have common sense or manners. especially adults that are in a supervisor position in a business. just because she doesn't have grand mal seizures doesn't mean she can do her job when she's having seizures. most people would not be able to deal if they had to have epilepsy or ms. they don't understand them, they're ignorant about them, and a lot of times they say really stupid things as a result. good gosh, get off of facebook, your game, or away from the tv for 10 minutes and google something worth learning about. ok, i'll quit ranting now. most of the people who read my blog are more intelligent than the people that make these mistakes. most of you actually know my mom and my sister and know what both of them deal with in their brains. you probably know that i rarely discuss my sister's epilepsy or my mom's ms, too. but when someone is that insensitive to my little sister, i get mad. and since i'm here, and she's way out there...there's not much i can do.

think

2009-06-28T22:44:00.003-05:00

too funny...this came up as an add on my facebook page earlier. sorry it's so small. but it just randomly picked my sister, my parents, and my husband for it's iq test add and placed brilliant?, genius?, clever?, and dumb? under their pictures!

booster booster

2009-06-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

too tired from vbs for a real post. i am having a lot of fun with my 1st graders...it's just a good thing we only have 2 days left!

excuse me mr.

2009-06-20T18:16:00.002-05:00

father's day is tomorrow...not everyone can have the best dad in the world...bean and i already have him, but a lot of the men in these pictures are pretty close. there are more...i just don't have pictures of them. happy father's day to all the dads i know!

blank page

2009-06-13T11:49:00.002-05:00

not much to post about, but it's been a week. i got the key to my new classroom and figured out how i'm going to decorate it. already got some stuff from mardel and hobby lobby. i think i'm going to wait until it's decorated to say anything else about it. k-dogg still has two weeks of work, but he has fridays off so he was home yesterday. he woke me up because for about 10 minutes there was a chance he was going to have to go into work on his day off. then he spent the entire day playing sims 3. why did i buy that for him!?!?! i think i actually got a headache from watching too much tv, so i haven't been in the living room today. instead i'm importing cds to my ipod because i've had it 2 1/2 years and still haven't imported everything i want on there. i only have 1385 songs on my ipod right now. i'm going shopping with my mom soon. then we have family birthday dinner at red lobster later. k-dogg's family. i would get out of it...but my birthday is one of the ones being celebrated so i better go. bean will be here tuesday afternoon! yea! i wish she was staying longer, but three nights is better than nothing. my mom is making us take family pictures while they're here. everyone's so excited. i wish sarcasm carried through a computer better.

pomp and circumstance

2009-06-06T21:50:00.001-05:00

yesterday was a really long day. it was the last day of school and the group that i taught two years in a row graduated from middle school. i got to see the whole thing. the special awards were pretty funny. one of my favorite kids got the big student of the year award. i got lots of good pictures. the kids left at 1:30, but teachers had to stay until 6. that's just not right! i had to pack everything in my room and shove it in my car because i was determined not to have to go back up there next week. we got it all done. we had the wildest 7th grade lunch conversation of the whole year and some of the other teachers actually told us to be quiet because we were so loud. it was fun. i goofed off way too much, but i still managed to get out of there on time with everything. high school graduation started at 8. i have never seen a crowd that big at one of our graduations. traffic was backed up halfway across town and the parking lot was crazy. i'm so glad i had a seat saved. i hadn't been to a graduation at my old school since bean graduated in 2001. this one was special since it was the class i taught my first year of teaching. they were such a wild class with a horrible reputation that was pretty much deserved. but there are some really good kids in the class. the girl that gave the welcome was really nervous and welcome everyone to the class of 2009's "commencication." that was definitely entertaining. hearing the valedictorian say in her speech that her mother raised her to be a proper lady...and knowing that she's pregnant was pretty entertaining, too. as soon as the commencication was over, there were fireworks, so this class really did go out with a bang. it was fun. i didn't get home til midnight and didn't get up til 12:30 this afternoon. then i went back to sleep from 2-4:30. i think i was a little tired. i ended up skipping the foghat concert and my friend's dance recital and went to eat sushi with k-dogg. not a bad way to start my summer.

class of 2013

my boys that think they are so cool. they're in for a rude awakening when they start high school!

one of my favorite kids ever. he was in my class the first year i taught and still refuses to call me by my married name even though i got married over Christmas break that year. his little brother is the one on the right in the picture above.

i'm glad i got this picture, even though i don't know the kid. right after i took this, the teachers started taking up all the 2009 glasses!

the sky helped out by providing the school colors...orange and black!

i've known this kid since he was born and he was in my class my first year. he is having to bend down so that you could see both of us in the picture!

if you knew how hard it was getting the middle one to graduation day...you'd be smiling, too! i love my girls!