Wind and Waves

This morning (after a huge breakfast!) we headed to the beach. It was a beautiful sunshiny day.....but windy...oh so windy! And if that wasn't bad enough, the wind was freezing cold! Nonetheless, Dennis and Hunter played in the ocean waves while the rest of us stood on the cold sandy beach freezing! It really was a lot of fun watching Hunter run toward the waves and then run as fast as he could to keep from getting wet!

Hunter trying to run from the waves.

Goofy Baylee! She's a complete riot!

Sweet Kayla - a.k.a. the Textomatic!

Gotta love those dimples!

Baby Book

Here is our baby book! My mom got it for us and it is soooooooo cute!!!! I can't wait to start writing in it!

My sister and family arrived around 9pm last night and it has been non-stop excitement since they arrived. I don't think we went to bed until after midnight! Currently Dennis is playing catch (in the house!) with Hunter...what a nice uncle. Anyway, this morning we went to the farmer's market and bought some really good green beans, blackberries, raspberries, tomatoes, peaches, and a purple pepper for Baylee. Then we came back home to refuel on grilled cheese and off to the mall we went! The girls got really lucky and were able to find some cute jeans and tops and Hunter found an awesome paleontology kit at the toy store. And then off to Target for some last minute things. We had hamburgers from STARS (which are the best!) and now we're just relaxing while the girls are watching the Simpson's movie in the theater room. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but I know it'll be a blast!!!!

My sister!

MY SISTER IS COMING OVER TOMORROW!!!!! We're so excited!!! She hasn't been over here in quite some time so she hasn't seen our new house. She's bringing the girls and her son too which Dennis is looking forward to taking to the Bounce O Rama in the mall. Hunter will be 6 in November and he is a bundle of energy!....Plus he has the cutest dimples that just melt your heart! Now that we have a bigger house (twice as big as our other house) there will be plenty of room for everyone. I'm so excited I don't know if I'll be able to go to sleep!.....I think the baby is excited too because she's kicking the heck out of me while I type this! Tomorrow can't come soon enough!

A cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal please!

All I wanted this morning was a cup of coffee and a bowl of honey nut cheerios! I was so tired from a horrible night sleep I just wanted a coffee to pick me up....but oh no, too many carbs because I like to add milk to my coffee (I'm not the crazy type who likes my coffee black). Then I'm totally craving cereal and going through cereal withdrawals at the same time and for a preggo lady that is not a good combination AT ALL! Plus, to add insult to injury, there was a huge miscommunication at work that got me all upset. So to say the least I was a bit teary-eyed this morning and just wanted to crawl under a rock. I seriously hope I sleep well tonight. I may not be able to have my cereal, but a good nights sleep will curb my coffee craving.

Sweet dreams!

Sweet Old Lady

I was in Walgreens today picking up a prescription and walking in front of me was a VERY old couple. They were so cute! The husband (and with the assistance of a cane) was helping his wife walk at an extremely slow pace. Amused as I was, I halted my pace in order to observe them a little longer. As the husband waited at the counter, the wife took a seat in the little waiting area (it's more like a waiting wall, but I digress). We weren't there for more than a few minutes when the sweet old lady asked if I would like to sit down.....in her chair! I couldn't believe how sweet it was of her to ask that, when clearly she needed the chair WAY more than I did! I said thank you, but I was just fine standing....and I couldn't stop smiling for the next 30 minutes or so. That lady just made my day. Just so sweet and adorable! I'm not much up for strangers touching my belly, but anytime a sweet old lady like that wants to.....it would be my pleasure! She never did, but you could see the joy on her face when looked at my 29 week pregnant belly!

Can I go to bed now?

After being on summer vacay for so long and just lounging around the house, I'm exhausted after only a half day of work! It really was a full day as I didn't leave until 3:45 but the kids got out at 1pm. Oh and of all days, it had to rain this morning! Luckily, it didn't seem to have much of an affect on the students because from what I heard, all the classes were really well behaved......eerily so in some cases I guess.

Even though I was completely exhausted when I got home, someone needed to make dinner. Today is Monday which means Dennis goes bowling with some of his co-workers (male bonding is important ya know). Anyway, I was moving so slowly it took me at least 30 minutes to prep dinner! I decided to try a new recipe from one of the diabetic cookbooks I checked out last week and it turned out pretty darn well! The original recipe was "Ginger Stir-fry Beef" but I opted to make it with chicken, cut down on the ginger, add garlic, and more broccoli......and my oh my was it delish! Dennis will have some mighty fine leftovers for lunch this week!

That's enough for tonight...I can barely keep my eyelids from closing. :)

Ahhh!!! I've got school tomorrow!!!

I can't believe another school year is upon us. My summer was definitely not boring like they have been in the past....it probably might have to do with my little bun in the oven. But as I planned out my wardrobe for the week (just like I do every Sunday during the school year) my pregnant emotions took control. First I couldn't find my red maternity shirt that I needed to hand wash and THEN I realized I only have six tops that fit me AND that I can wear to work for the next 3 months! Frustrated and envious of the clothes that I used to be able to wear, my wonderful husband is taking me to the mall in a little bit. Happy, but still emotional, I'm fighting those pregnant tears.

School and cup after cup of coffee go hand and hand, but for this school year, I will have to stay off of coffee island.....I know my students will truly be dissapointed! There's nothing like a caffeinated teacher first thing in the morning to get you going! Although, seeing all those exciting and eager faces those first few days of school, may just give me the boost that coffee island offers.

Oh, and for all of those you haven't heard, I have gotten the one pregnant malady that sucks beyond belief.....gestational diabetes. So for the past few days (and nights) all I can think about is carbs, carbs, carbs. And there's just something strange about seeing a pregnant woman checking out a South Beach Diet or Adkins book.

Well, here's to a new school year minus coffee island, carb central, and a closet full of clothes to wear! Wish me luck! :)

You've gotta watch this!!!

Okay, this is the funniest video clip ever!!! It's of Dennis's co-workers little boy. Dennis added a few sound effects to enhance the completely hilarious video. I warn you, do not eat or drink anything while you watch this.....I don't want anyone choking after all. ENJOY!

my oh my

What a day! Last night I didn't get to sleep until sometime around 2am and then I was wide awake at 5am! So rather than just lay in bed for the next hour and a half, I decided to get up and look through the cookbooks I checked out from the library yesterday. Thankfully I was pretty wide awake and full of energy all day until about 5pm when my eyelids began to feel heavy. I was mostly productive with getting my classroom ready. I put up my curtains and man are they bright! They are also much taller than my other ones so I think that is going to get some getting use to. By far I am not ready for school to start on Monday morning, but the majority of things I need to accomplish will need to happen when schools in session anyway. I tie up all my loose ends the first week of school so that when the second week begins it's practically hang-up free!

Well, the couch is calling my name and I must obey!

Library

Today I checked out some books from our county library.....something I haven't done since I was in elementary school! Sad, I know....but I really like to own books. I just love to look at them on my shelf to remind me of what a great read it was.....or how bad it was...but those are far and few between. Anyway, there are such odd people at the library....twitchy people, smelly people, fancy people, sleepy people......you name them, you could find them! I watched one guy who was falling asleep in a chair and every once in a while his head would fall back and he'd snap it forward again....his mouth was also slightly ajar too.....He made me laugh, luckily not too loud since I was in a library after all. I'm looking forward to the day when I can take our little girl to check out her very first book. I hope she loves them as much as I do!

Kim Sutton Rocks!

Today I went to a Kim Sutton workshop and it totally rocked! She's such an energetic person! I learned some great new things today and refreshed upon forgotten ideas. Fabulous!

Last Week

This is the last hurrah of summer vacation! I think I'll only be heading to school on Thursday...a required meeting day for all teachers. Last year it was a bit blah so I'm hoping they have something more exciting planned. Since we don't have a teacher store here, I've ordered all my stuff online and luckily the most important order (my lesson planner) should be arriving on Thursday. The school is still in a bit of chaos due to the construction in the main building. The teachers residing there will hopefully have access to their classrooms tomorrow....but the kitchen wont be ready for at least a week after school starts! So there will be a make-shift kitchen in the the staff lunch room which will displace all the teachers during lunch.......so looks like I'll be calling my room the party place until the staff room is void of the make-shift kitchen. I'm really hoping they will be able to move the laminator, die cut machine, and paper cutter from the computer lab and cafeteria back to their home in the basement of the main building.

Oh totally different subject and a FYI, if you ever find yourself setting off the detectors in the front of stores (such as Target) when you enter AND exit the building....check your jeans! I've been setting off the detectors at all sorts of stores around town not knowing what was setting them off for the past six months or so. Well, today Dennis and I tried figuring out what exactly was setting them off with absolutely no luck!.....until we folded laundry. When I grabbed my jeans to fold them I decided I would take a good look at them to see if there was something on them that would do it.......and sure enough, I found it! On the inside of my maternity jeans, down on the right side there was a tag that said "Remove before wearing and washing".....um I don't ever remember having to EVER remove a tag on the INSIDE of a pair of jeans. And inside that little tag was the little activator thingy to set off the detector and prevent you from stealing them! Crazy, crazy, craziness! So from now on, I suggest people watch out for this tag.....otherwise you'll have to endure the embarresment of setting off the detectors EVERY TIME YOU ENTER AND EXIT A STORE!!!! :)

Big Brother

The B-man is going to be a big brother to a little sister!!!!!! J and K found out this morning and when they called to tell us the news I was in tears before they even said what they were having! Then when they said it was a girl, the tears just came pouring out.....like big crocodile tears as Nancy would say. It would be exciting no matter what they were having, but since we're both having girls within weeks of each other, it's even more exciting!

Congratulations you guys! Dennis and I couldn't be happier for you!

Workshop Day 2

Same old, same old. It's unfortunate that the workshop was so blah. I was really hoping I would get a lot out of it. So today I headed down to school to put up a new bulletin board for the hallway. I wanted to make a swing with monkeys swinging on it, but it wasn't turning out the way I wanted so I made two trees and connected them with vines. Then I put the monkeys swinging from the vines with books in their hands. The caption down below then reads "Swing into Reading!" I should have a picture of it by the end of next week. In the meantime check out the pictures below:

Here is Dennis's quilt design! Isn't it super neat!

Okay, so here is my belly at 25 weeks. The picture turned out a little blurry and I'm extremely sleepy! I was actually ready for bed (contacts out, teeth brushed) when we realized we hadn't taken a picture yet. So I threw on my glasses so I could see where Dennis was standing and so I wouldn't look cross-eyed!....This is one of the very few pictures (if not the only picture) that anyone will see me wearing my glasses!

Workshop Day 1

A little disappointing I would have to say....although, there is one day left for me to change my mind. I've gotten some good ideas from today but time just dragged on and on. I really hope tomorrow will be a little more fast paced and energetic.

Tonight I made red beans and rice and it was really good! Maybe a little too spicy for me but pretty darn good over all. Dennis found a recipe online the other day and we thought we'd try it out. Next time I think we are going to add shredded chicken or something like that AND I will try not to make it as spicy. Odd thing is that sweetened ice tea worked better at cutting the spice than chocolate milk! You should try it sometime! :)

Fabulous Weekend

My dad and Chi-Sai came over this weekend to visit us and my baby belly. We had an awesome dinner at a local brewery and then went to the horse races the following day. Now I have never been to a horse race in my entire life and I had an absolute blast! It was sooooooo exciting and even though we didn't win any race, we still had a terrific time. I can't wait to go to another one!

Officially, there are only 2 weeks before school starts. I'm kinda not ready to go back but I have 3 workshops in the next two weeks and they ALWAYS seem to get me excited for school to start. I'm especially looking forward to the Kim Sutton workshop. Her workshops focus on Math and fun ways to get the kids into it and remember basic skills. It's going to be so much fun!!!! Tomorrows work shop is on differentiation and should be pretty good.

Today I worked on getting my chaotic room under control. I put all my desks back where they should be and located a missing bookshelf. I also ordered classroom materials and got some really good deals on the Scholastic website. I probably should head back down on Thursday to come up with a bulletin board of some sort. Wish me luck!

My Quilt

Isn't it bright! I just finished the top today and began working on the design that Dennis came up with. His will take much longer and require a longer thought process. Oh and I just finished making a peach pie! We're taking it over to a friend's house for dinner tonight. I can't wait!

Happy Birthday Nancy!!!!

I would like to wish my friend a very happy birthday today! As I began to write this post, I realized I don't have any pictures of her! So I searched her blog and found this picture that captures her oh so fun and happy personality! Because of the lack of photos and since she is the photography queen, it is my goal to get some crazy and wacky pictures of her before school starts! He he he. She is a blast to hang around with and I hope she has a wonderful birthday!