Valentines

Emily recieved her class list so she could FINALLY do the valentines we bought almost a month ago. Keep in mind it's Friday afternoon...Friday after a very LONG week at work...the last thing I want to do is write names on Valentines. But Emily does NOT like to procrastinate ANYTHING! Her teacher passed out the list, in her 10 year old mind, it has to be done NOW! (Never mind the fact that the Valentines school party is not until Thursday)

Yes she is 10 and perfectly capable of doing Valentines herself....my involvement comes from the fact that if Em gets to do her cards then Brinley HAS to do her card as well.

So we spread out our Valentines cards and candy and started. Brinley chose a very cute Princess and the Frog set...Emily chose the not very cute Wizards of Waverly Place (you may not know this about me, but Selena Gomez bugs the crap out of me) But they are the ones Em wanted...I only care about her happiness...never mind the fact that the darn valentine kit came with a poster and Em teased me she was hanging it on the outside of her door so I could see Selena's stuck-up expression EVERYTIME I WALK DOWN THE HALL! but like I said, I only care about her happiness.

Taping suckers on Valentines got to be a little too much temptation for Emily to handle, so she asked if she could have one. I said, yes and she began slurping away. I thought it was weird that Brin didn't immediately follow suit. So after a few minutes I was worried we were going to run out of suckers and Brinley wouldn't get one; I asked Brin if she got a sucker she looked at me and reached behind her and said, I GOT THREE! The stinker had made sure she had some for later!

Ramblings

Brin has not slept throught the night in over a week. One would think she is 6 months old and not four YEARS old. And when she wakes up, she wakes me up.

Laying awake at 3:30am makes me think about all the stuff I need to do; housekeeping, grading papers, my blog, housekeeping, shopping for school, shopping for home, sharing time, housekeeping. catching that darn mouse in my classroom, will we EVER get pregnant... Seriously...some nights I have to turn on my i-pod and watch The Office just to turn off my brain.


and since it has been over 5 months since the last post...I was at Monica's blog, looking at pictures of her new baby. And my blog is listed on the side and it stated "last post 5 months ago" How embarassing!


Here are the family pictures we took for christmas. I love how they turned out!

We had a great holiday season and hope you did too. Its a month late, but here's to 2010!

End of Summer

Well...it's official. Summer Vacay is over and I am back at work.
Good bye to:
SLEEPING IN
LAW AND ORDER SVU MARATHONS (and getting nothing done)
THE GIRLS IN THE POOL
LATE NIGHTS
EATING LUNCH WITH EM AND BRIN
SCRAPBOOKING OR SEWING WHENEVER I FEEL LIKE IT
A CLEAN HOUSE (ok-its not much better during summer)
READING A BOOK FOR PLEASURE
LETTING EMILY SNEAK IN MORE TV TIME DURING THE DAY (don't tell Brad)
MARIO PARTY WITH BRIN(maybe I won't miss that one!)

As much as I complain about going back,(and I will admit it, I complain, A LOT.)
There is something nice about the first of the school year...new supplies, new goals, new people, new ideas...
I complain, but once I walk into my classroom I am full of anticipation for the year. Lets face it -since I have to work, there is nothing else I would rather do. I love my job. I love that I get to teach kids. I love to see them excited about learning. I love to show them that there is more to food than cheetoes and dr. pepper. When a 16 year old makes his first yeast bread and tells me he wants to be a chef, I feel his excitement and share his joy that all the world has to offer. and I think what a miracle it is that a recipe can open his eyes to that.

So good bye summer...

But welcome back to school!
(i'll just tivo law and order!)

My First Quilt

The talented Camille amd Carrie are having a "parade of quilts" and inviting bloggers to show thier first quilts. So here is mine.
The pattern is from Camille's company (ThimbleBlossoms) and the fabric is Riviera by Connecting Threads. I had the top pieced by Christmas, but didn't finish the actual quilting until last month. I love it so much! It makes me smile just to see it sitting on my couch!


My second quilt is from the book JellyRoll and the fabric is Portabella Market by Moda. I like how it turned out. Its not as cheery as my first, but Brad likes this one better.
So what have I learned since completing my first (and so far only) quilts? Press. Press. Press. It really does make a difference.

still here...

Well...I guess I pretty much STINK at this whole blogging thing! Seriously, its been since December and its May...and people want me to sign up for Facebook?! Are you kidding!?!

So what have we been up to? Birthdays, Holidays, Soccer, Spring Break, heck, we even took the girls to DISNEYLAND and I didn't post a thing.

so here are a few pictures of spring 2009!

Emily had so much fun with Donald! (brin not so much. She was COMPLETELY worn out!)

How cute is this?!!! It is so sweet it makes my teeth ache!

We loved the beach! Em loves water, she would have stayed all day. Brin liked it, until a wave knocked her over. Then she was content to sit on the beach with mom. At one point she said, "Mommy, sand does not taste very good." no babe- it doesn't

On the way home, Brinley was in her carseat talking to her Jasmine doll and we heard her say: "I loved the beach! Until a wave pushed me and I got sand in my mouth. But my daddy saved me." Brad and I laughed about that for a good hour! (She did have a hard time standing up again because another darn wave would pushed her down again.)

Well, the school year is winding down..only 17 more school days left! I will be busy with State CTE testing, packing for the move to SHS, grading, and more grading. So I can't promise when I will post again.

I promise this summer...

I will update more...

if I do better in blogworld..

I may sign up for facebook...

but don't count on it ;)

Santa No No NO!

Our first visit with Santa took place at Middle Canyon Elementary. Emily went right up to him, sat on his lap, told him she wanted the Amercian Girl doll of the year, Mia, and smiled for my picture.

Brinley on the other hand, cuddled with dad the entire time we were in line. And then kept a death grip on my neck, lest I hand her over to the strange bearded guy.

She wouldn't even make eye contact with Santa, let alone tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Then I tried to get her to take a candy cane from him....any other time of year I would NEVER allow her to take candy from a stranger...Visiting with Santa is a strange custom.

Hodgepodge Tree

I love this time of year! I always have. As a teenager I would set up a mini tree in my room. (usually right after Halloween) I love that a radio station in Utah starts playing Christmas music on November 1st!

Being a home ec, crafty type gal, I love perfectly coordinating trees. You know the type where the ornaments all match, the ribbon all matches, the twinkling white lights, etc... The ones look like Martha Stewart herself decorated it. Strangely enough this has never been my tree.

As a child my parents would give each of us an ornament for the year. It usually represented something about us that year. There is a small pink Victorian hat box I got as teenager when I was going through a pink phase, there is a nutcracker from the year I saw the nutcracker, a homemade Strawberry Shortcake ornament from the year I was 7, I even have a Styrofoam ball with purple pipe cleaners that I made when I was 3! And if you know me you know there are a TON of snowmen ornaments!

I have continued the ornament a year with Emily and Brinley. Emily loves to look at her 10 ornaments and think back to the year that Barbie Princess and the Pauper was IT. Emily even has her own Strawberry Shortcake ornament (that year I tried it convince her Strawberry was IT) She has several princess ornaments and (of course) this year it had to be Hannah Montana.

Brinley doesn't have as many (she IS only 3) and naturally felt that the princess and barbie ornaments were hers. But she was so excited as we pulled her Elmo from last year out of the box. And she carried around this years ornament, Dora, till it broke!

So my tree doesn't match...its hodgepodge...a hodgepodge of all my memories...memories of childhood...when it was just brad and i...and now the collection of all the things Emily and Brinley cherish...I love my hodgepodge tree and all of the memories it brings...and I will take those over a perfectly coordinated tree any day...Take that Martha Stewart!