In any event, we are LOVING the mystery shoes. We can't wait for her to use them. And we send big love and thanks to the MYSTERY family members who sent them. We miss you!
Mystery Shoes
In any event, we are LOVING the mystery shoes. We can't wait for her to use them. And we send big love and thanks to the MYSTERY family members who sent them. We miss you!
Tooth? No... TEETH!
Guess what?
The new Ben Folds CD, Way to Normal, came out this week! Hooray! Buy it, download it, whatever... go get it!
Nothing Like a Good Book
So, there's this Siamese Cat, right? And he gets in trouble a lot, right? So his mom sends him to his room, and he realizes that he's not a Siamese cat at all... HOLY GUACAMOLE! He's a CHIHUAHUA! Insanity ensues, complete with a band of Chimichangos and a villian known as the Bumblebeeto. Ah, such the perfect book. And when you're having a day like I'm having, i.e., "Didn't I ask you to put that in your folder? Not your desk. Your folder." or "I've given that direction 5 times already. When will you follow it?" or "Is it necessary to sneak those bubbles outside to recess? Couldn't you just ask?"... well, you need some Skippyjon Jones in your life!
Reading this book is a rite of passage for my students every year. I pull it out at different times each year, depending on the group and the situation. Today it became the pick-me-up for a group of children who needed to do some laughing... and their teacher who desperately needed to hear them laugh. Our litte Siamese Chihuahua hero, in his muy, muy soft voice and best Spanish accent always makes my day!
Because of him, I can pick up, move on, and remember... they're children. They don't always understand. They won't always listen. They ALWAYS need to laugh!
Sooooo....
Not a whole heck of a lot going on around here lately. Yeah... HA!!
I'm back to work which means I have less time to snap endless pictures, cruise Facebook, and, of course, add to my blog. I'm just beginning week 3 of my return to the classroom, so all of the kinks have yet to be ironed out. I have 18 little bodies to learn about, to re-train, and to teach. I have one new teacher in my room with me for half the day, which I love. And I have one HUGE pile of stuff left by my sub that I still need to get through. Did I mention grades go out in 2 weeks?
Bella is growing, growing, growing. She has her (gasp!) 4 month appointment on Friday. She's really starting to giggle and grasp at things deliberately, and attempt to roll over. All in all, she's an incredibly happy baby on an incredibly easy schedule.
Some things to look forward to (I bow down to my BFF, the queen of lists...):
I'm back to work which means I have less time to snap endless pictures, cruise Facebook, and, of course, add to my blog. I'm just beginning week 3 of my return to the classroom, so all of the kinks have yet to be ironed out. I have 18 little bodies to learn about, to re-train, and to teach. I have one new teacher in my room with me for half the day, which I love. And I have one HUGE pile of stuff left by my sub that I still need to get through. Did I mention grades go out in 2 weeks?
Bella is growing, growing, growing. She has her (gasp!) 4 month appointment on Friday. She's really starting to giggle and grasp at things deliberately, and attempt to roll over. All in all, she's an incredibly happy baby on an incredibly easy schedule.
Some things to look forward to (I bow down to my BFF, the queen of lists...):
- Seeing Bella's aunts in a few weeks.
- Seeing Amy Ray in November (Hooray, Laura!!)
- Bella's first Halloween... she's dressing up as a female Gadget... black cat, ears and all.
- Halloween in general, which means pumpkin carving with the Clan at the Compound.
- Fall weather... open windows, chili, and socks. It's trying, it really is!
- St. Augustine after Christmas
- Christmas on the way... so, seeing Z's parents and getting our tree.
Not to wish the time away, but with the way the economy is slamming us, with the way the election madness is just dragging on and on, and since my husband had to drive around like a madman finding gas for my car on Friday... these little things remain a spark, a light in the distance.
There's not really much else to report, so I guess it's off to bed for me. Gotta be ready for those kiddies tomorrow!
The Twinkies
Before the wedding, we had an opportunity to meet L&J's new girls: Caroline and Lily. They were 8 weeks early... born about a week before Bella. Because they were early, we couldn't see them until recently. It was so much fun to hold them, though I know L&J are just exhausted taking care of their little girls. We're going to have our hands full when these girls start crawling... nevermind when they turn 16!!
My Best Friend's Wedding.
We had a whirlwind weekend with M, K and their families this weekend as we celebrated their wedding! What a beautiful ceremony. So good to see my BFF so happy. So great to have K become part of our "family." We were honored to stand up with their families and support their marriage. Now... bring on the babies!!!
Some highlights from the weekend:
Aunt K blowing kisses to Bella while MamaG looks on.
Zach, looking quite dapper, and oh so happy, in his suit.
Picture time!
Julie AKA "Big Pink," stylin' and profilin'.
Pose much?
Let K eat CAKE!
Yep. That's me and my BFF!
Weekend at the Lake
Three Months Old!!!
Happy Birthday to... EVERYONE!
Happy Birthday to ME! Yes, this was the scene at the Compound yesterday. Sidebar: I really feel like I should explain a little... The "Compound" is the house where my brother, his wife, their five kids, and my two parents live. So, basically, aside from my sister's family, if I want to see the people I'm related to, I just drive 5 miles down the road, arrive at said "Compound" and BAM! there they all are. /end Sidebar. We celebrated 4 birthdays yesterday: PopPop Normy, Shannon and Eddie, and Me! You can imagine the part where we all sang "Happy Birthday to ..." went on for about a day and half. My lovely sister-in-law gestured to everyone, so that we would all stay synchronized together and not be at all confused as to why we were singing. This is why I LOVE my family!
Some cool new CD's from my brother, the arbiter of all that is cool in music. Can't wait to pop those puppies into the CD player today. Okay, who'm I kidding? They will be downloaded into iTunes and played thusly.
Highlights from Oregon
Some pictures from our two week trip to Oregon. Bella had a great time. She grew and grew and grew. I think the family enjoyed seeing her, too!
Her first hike.
Her first hike.
Meeting all the Oregon folks.
Celebrating two birthdays.
Thirty Years Later
Yep. Yesterday was the big day: my big 3-0! Hard to believe that I'm entering the fourth decade of my life, but harder to believe that I feel so young. When my brother and sister turned thirty (16 and 15 years ago, respectively), it seemed like thirty was OLD. Now that I'm here, I feel like it's so YOUNG. 30 is a good round number, and I know it's going to be a fantastic year.
M came into town 2 weeks ago for a long weekend... a kickoff to my birthday celebrations. It felt good to spend time with my BFF... talking about everything, solving none of the world's problems, laughing the entire time. She also got some much needed time with Bella.
We celebrated again while visiting the in-laws in Oregon. Grandpa spoiled me with one of Grandma's amethyst rings -- talk about speechless. And, Mom and Dad gave me some spendin' cash. Along with good food and good conversation, it was a great way to celebrate.
Zach, on the other hand outdid himself this year. Last night he cooked me dinner (something he never does) and then brought me to Costco to pick up this baby:
Hooray! So excited to play with my new toy. We're also planning a trip to Florida sometime this fall or early winter. Cannot wait!
On Monday I'm getting together with the Clan at the Compound for celebration of my birthday, the twins' 7th birthday, and PopPop Normy's birthday. Just a good old Labor Day cookout with the whole famdamily.
Yep. Thirty years old feels pretty good.
M came into town 2 weeks ago for a long weekend... a kickoff to my birthday celebrations. It felt good to spend time with my BFF... talking about everything, solving none of the world's problems, laughing the entire time. She also got some much needed time with Bella.
We celebrated again while visiting the in-laws in Oregon. Grandpa spoiled me with one of Grandma's amethyst rings -- talk about speechless. And, Mom and Dad gave me some spendin' cash. Along with good food and good conversation, it was a great way to celebrate.
Zach, on the other hand outdid himself this year. Last night he cooked me dinner (something he never does) and then brought me to Costco to pick up this baby:
Hooray! So excited to play with my new toy. We're also planning a trip to Florida sometime this fall or early winter. Cannot wait!
On Monday I'm getting together with the Clan at the Compound for celebration of my birthday, the twins' 7th birthday, and PopPop Normy's birthday. Just a good old Labor Day cookout with the whole famdamily.
Yep. Thirty years old feels pretty good.
Waving from the Great Northwest
My inner LifeArtist was tugging at me today as I spent some time in Ali's hometown of Eugene, OR. We're out West visiting Bella's Grandpa, Grandma, and Great-Grandpa. It seems that we brought the heat and humidity of Atlanta with us. While it cools down at night, it is blistering in the sun during the day. Yes, I'm melting! However, Bella is having a great time. We're able to hang out on the lawn watching the wild turkeys and deer stroll by. It's quite exciting.
Today we visited the Saturday Market in Eugene. It is one of my most favorite things to do while we're here. Eugene is a college town, as well as a hippie town. Put those two kinds of folks together and you get one amazing Market. I think it covers 4 city blocks. We got some amazing photographs from a local photographer (I'll have to link to him later... I don't have his card right in front of me...) as well as some tie-dye for the little girl. When in Rome...
After graduation, M and her girlfriend, along with Z and I spent 2 weeks out here. Of course, we visited the Saturday market. We were impressed by many things: the great art, the digeridoo (sp?) guy, M's allergic reaction to the fresh produce and flowers... and the open breastfeeding that occurred on the green. OY! I mean, I'm all for breastfeeding, but is it necessary to pop your boob out for the world to see and feed your child as though no one is watching? Yeah. No. Well, I got to do some feeding of my own today on that green --- quite covered up thankyouverymuch. But I remembered that fun Saturday we had eight years ago... one of those "you have to laugh or you'll cry" memories. And smile I did.
No fun pictures in this post, or others over the next two weeks, either, I'm afraid. We're rocking the world of dial-up out here. No cable. No DSL. Only the phone line to keep me connected to the Wide Wide World of Web. So... you'll have to have my thousand words to paint the pictures for you. Can you see the sweat dripping off my forehead as I type this???
Tomorrow Bella meets the West Coast peeps. Being as Z is an only child, we don't have aunts and uncles and cousins to meet out here... only the best kind of family instead: the family his parents chose as close friends. I can't wait to show her off and have her wow the masses with her amazing smile. Until then, I'm going to pour a HUGE glass of ice water, find the fan, and attempt to do some reading. Here's hoping I don't melt into the furniture never to return.
Send rain!
Today we visited the Saturday Market in Eugene. It is one of my most favorite things to do while we're here. Eugene is a college town, as well as a hippie town. Put those two kinds of folks together and you get one amazing Market. I think it covers 4 city blocks. We got some amazing photographs from a local photographer (I'll have to link to him later... I don't have his card right in front of me...) as well as some tie-dye for the little girl. When in Rome...
After graduation, M and her girlfriend, along with Z and I spent 2 weeks out here. Of course, we visited the Saturday market. We were impressed by many things: the great art, the digeridoo (sp?) guy, M's allergic reaction to the fresh produce and flowers... and the open breastfeeding that occurred on the green. OY! I mean, I'm all for breastfeeding, but is it necessary to pop your boob out for the world to see and feed your child as though no one is watching? Yeah. No. Well, I got to do some feeding of my own today on that green --- quite covered up thankyouverymuch. But I remembered that fun Saturday we had eight years ago... one of those "you have to laugh or you'll cry" memories. And smile I did.
No fun pictures in this post, or others over the next two weeks, either, I'm afraid. We're rocking the world of dial-up out here. No cable. No DSL. Only the phone line to keep me connected to the Wide Wide World of Web. So... you'll have to have my thousand words to paint the pictures for you. Can you see the sweat dripping off my forehead as I type this???
Tomorrow Bella meets the West Coast peeps. Being as Z is an only child, we don't have aunts and uncles and cousins to meet out here... only the best kind of family instead: the family his parents chose as close friends. I can't wait to show her off and have her wow the masses with her amazing smile. Until then, I'm going to pour a HUGE glass of ice water, find the fan, and attempt to do some reading. Here's hoping I don't melt into the furniture never to return.
Send rain!
Two months!!!
We can no longer, officially, call her a newborn. She's two months old now and growing, growing, growing! Here are some highlights from her 2 month photo shoot. And a shout out to Aunt M who suggested the monthly pictures to begin with: Word!