Saturday, January 28, 2012

Some Things You Should Know

1. See the Pin It button at the bottom of this post? Best.thing.ever. If you see something from this blog that you want to pin, just click that button. It will bring up pictures from recent posts. Choose the one you want to pin and it automatically brings up a pop-up window. From there you choose which board to pin it to and give it a caption. So easy. I think every website and blog out there should have this button! If you want an easy tutorial on how to add it to your blog, just click here.

2. Remember that iPod touch the Little Miss got for Christmas? Well, she had it for a total of 13 days. On the 13th day, she brought her little sparkly purse full of change in to the grocery store. And without my knowing, her iPod was in the purse as well. The purse must have fallen into the side of the front of the cart, because when we got home, we realized we hadn't brought it with us. We went right back to the grocery store and it was already gone. Who doesn't turn in a sparkly little girl's purse? Bastards, that's who.

3. We haven't had any freaking snow yet this winter. I live in a state that typically gets at least 20 inches of snow a year. This year? Nothing. I haven't had one single delay or snow day. At least one or two snow days would be nice. That's one of the unique things about being a teacher, you never know what your day may look like in the winter. It's always exciting to wake up and wonder if you'll have a delay or better yet...get an unexpected day off. But this year, it's been the same old dreary 40 degree days. Blah.


4. I turned 35 this month. 35 feels much like 34. But I do distinctly remember being in my early 20s and thinking just how old 35 sounded. Turns out I was wrong. 35 is very young.

5. The Little Miss and I went to our first Disney on Ice show last weekend! It was amazing! I think I may have loved it even more than she did! It was the Dare to Dream show with stories from The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Tangled. At the end of the show, they brought out ALL of the princesses! It was beautiful and wonderful. The Tangled show had a lot of trapeze/flying through the air stunts. Very, very cool.


6. While at the Disney on Ice show, we bought a bottled water. (Among many other things.) The guy at the counter said he had to take the lid from me. Apparently, ever since the ugly Ron Artest incident in which drunken idiots were throwing cups and bottles onto the court, they don't allow them anymore. I'm pretty sure a plastic lid the size of a nickel was not the problem. Nor do I think the Disney on Ice crowd would be throwing lids onto the ice at Mickey Mouse! But hey, who am I to argue with the concession stand worker?

7. We are well past the 100th day of school and to that I say, HALLELUJAH. This has been such a challenging year. I am so ready for a break!

8. For those of you considering buying a Kindle Fire, I say DO IT. I love mine oh so much. But, I have to admit, I rarely use it to read. It is very heavy and I do the bulk of my reading in the evenings in bed. I have kept my old Kindle for reading. Oh, and I just got a case for the old Kindle (it won't fit the new Fire) but it was only $1.21. It had been $33.99! Even with shipping, it was less than $7.00. Here's the link!


9. And finally, a request. My sister had a local photographer take baby pics when baby #2 was born. This picture is one of the finalists in a portrait photo contest the photographer is sponsoring.


If you have 2 seconds to spare, please go to the photographer's blog and vote for picture #3 of my sweet baby nieces. Spanks.

That's it for this FINALLY SUNNY Saturday morning! Have a great weekend!

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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Back at it

I went back to work today.

I missed many things like...

my Kindle Fire.

Facebook and Pinterest.

staying in my pajamas.

sleeping in past 5 a.m.

going anywhere I wanted, when I wanted.

playing games with the kids.

not thinking about lesson plans.

Starbucks.

What I didn't miss was seeing students today. I had the entire day to work in my classroom without the 30 distractions.

Tomorrow? Will be a different story.

But I keep reminding myself...the sooner we get back at it, the sooner the year will be over.

I hope.

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas

Another Christmas has come and gone. And I am settling quite nicely into Christmas break. Sadly, it isn't very long this year, but I am very thankful for these days. No alarm clock. No worrying about homework, backpacks, or lunch money. No concern for lesson plans or grading papers. Just me and an unlimited supply of coffee.

We spent Christmas Eve at my sister's house with her 2 babes. We had a delicious lunch and opened lots of presents. We made it home in time to get the reindeer food sprinkled and cookies set out for Santa. Favorite gifts: pink guitar for the girl and Lego farm set for the boy.


The kids got up uber excited on Christmas Day. Santa had come! Favorite gifts: iPod touches!


We spent the rest of Christmas Day with 2 sets of aunt and uncles, relaxing, eating, drinking wine, opening even more gifts, and drinking wine.

I had 3 things on my Christmas wish list: a new camera, Kindle Fire, and Keurig. And I am pleased to report that I am very lucky (read: spoiled) and got them all!

We spent our first day of Christmas Break running errands. We spent Tuesday at home playing our new Wii games. We visited my sister and the babies again yesterday. Today's plan? Going to the movies to see the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie.


Ahhhh. Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas Break?

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Card Photo Shoot 2011

I took advantage of a mild day last month to take pictures of the kids for our Christmas cards. We went to a local park, walking trail, railroad in the middle of nowhere, as well as our own yard and barn. They all turned out so well, we opted for a collage photo card. Here are some of the best ones of the day!









I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Stitches

The day we brought the Little Miss home from the hospital, exactly 24 hours after delivery, daddy and not-quite-2-year-old-Cole were playing and bouncing on our bed. Meanwhile, I was on the couch involved in one of many marathon nursing sessions. A few minutes after the play began, I heard a thump and much crying from the little boy. When daddy carried him out, blood was pouring from his head.

Grandma and Daddy loaded him up, took him to the ER, and brought him home with 3 staples in his head. I stayed on the couch with the 24 hour old baby and cried my eyes out.

8 years have passed since then and except for routine doctor appointments and one scheduled tubes/adnenoid surgery, Cole has needed little medical care.

And then this happened.


Cole and daddy were on the farm early in the day, gearing up for a long day of harvest. The last day of harvest for the year. They were making feed for the cattle, as most mornings begin. Daddy was scooping ground corn to put into the feed mixer. Unfortunately, Cole leaned in to get a scoop just as Daddy was lifting his shovel up.

Forehead? Meet shovel.

When Daddy raced up the road in the truck, carrying a crying Cole through the door, I assumed he had gotten in trouble and was being dropped off. (You see, spending time with mommy on the weekend is the worst punishment he can receive.) Imagine my surprise when he turned around and his entire face was covered in blood!

After an initial gasp, I took him into the bathroom and cleaned him up. The gash was small but pretty deep. I took him into urgent care, blood all over his coat, his lips blue from the children's Advil I gave him on the way.


Several numbing shots (OUCH!) and 2 stitches later, we were on our way to the local farm supply store for a new John Deere combine toy for my very brave boy.


He's excited to show off his war wounds at school tomorrow. And I am very relieved it wasn't any worse!

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Wednesday, November 2, 2011

My Messy Moments


With a little boy whose favorite things in life are dirt, mud, and manure (in no particular order) life gets pretty messy around here on the farm.


Few things make this kid happier than a huge dirt pile to play in.







And then momma gets her messy moment. Seriously? You want me to wash these?


But that's nothing compared to a fun-filled day of working in the cattle barn.


That ain't dirt, my friends.


But the thing is...I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything. Not the dirt or the mud. Not even the manure. Because this face?



Makes it all worth it.


I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls. To learn more about the messy moment program, check out www.BleachItAway.com. Sharing your story on the Clorox fan page gets you entered for the chance to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can grab a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Who is this 8 year old and what has he done with my baby?

We celebrated the little man's 8th birthday this weekend!



We had a party at our house with 10 of his friends.


They rode pedal tractors.



Played in the dirt.



Ate cake.


Opened presents.


Played kickball, cornhole, and dodgeball.


We had a pumpkin ring toss, pumpkin seed race, and even pumpkin bowling with toilet paper ghosts!


After the party, we headed to my parents' house where we had been hiding our gift to the birthday boy.

Could it be?


Is it really what I think it is?


Yes! A 4 wheeler! Woo hoo!



He is SO excited about his new 4-wheeler. Now he's one of the big guys.


But he'll always be my baby.


*sniff*

Happy 8th birthday, my little man. Momma loves you more than you know.

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