In-suh-lay-shun

As some of you know, Christmas break is a great time to get things done after the wonderful day of the 25th has passed. So, Joshua and I have been getting to work on the house. We were given some used blow-in insulation since it was still good. We decided to put it in the attic yesterday. This may sound silly but I had no idea how messy that stuff is. It's only recycled paper...but oh my does it make a dusty mess! Here are some pictures of what we looked like after the project was completed. Let's just say this house has taken away any chance of me being called a "girly girl."

The Christmas photo

So we attempted to make the perfect family photo for this year's Christmas cards. We soon realized that trying to get a good picture of me, Josh, both dogs and the kitty was just going to be too difficult. Just when we thought we could do it, one of the dogs would lie down or the cat would jump off my lap or Joshua couldn't get in his seat at the right time before the timer on the camera went off....etc. Let's just say it was funny after a while. We finally decided to take a good one of the pets together, and use one of the both of us together seperately but on the same card...and we did. The End.

(Some of the trial pics are humorous so I will post some soon.)

The movie "August Rush"

I must admit that as of tonight, I have seen this movie twice in the theater. First, Josh and I went for the matinee showing before Thanksgiving, and LOVED it. Josh jokes that he even got teary eyed. (Maaaybe it's not such a joke?? Who knows.) But, it is the best movie we have seen in a long time. We told Leah and Andrew all about it, made them want to see it and saw it again tonight with them. I hate spending money on movies, especially at night but this movie is actually worth it. The music is incredible and the story is original and sweet. I must say that I would recommend this movie to you if you haven't seen it yet. I think I want the soundtrack now...

Meatball Sub anyone?

So last week...Friday of all days...one of my students got upset with another one at lunch and threw her plate full of marinara sauce/meatball sub leftovers at him. Yes, this was a first for me. I think I can go a long time without having a meatball sub. The End.

New Teacher sets off fire drill

Today, around 10am, the fire alarm went off. So, the entire school heads out into the blistering, freezing WIND to find out it is not a drill. Either someone pulled the fire alarm or something really set off the alarm. Someone notices a window open in the upper school building. I look up and realize it is Joshua's room. Then I remember him telling me about some of the experiments they have been doing lately....I begin to wonder. Meanwhile, we are all standing outside freezing for 30 minutes. The administration was at an off campus meeting. Therefore, we are all left outside, waiting for someone who knows how to turn off the fire alarm to go ahead and do it. The fire trucks finally arrive, and we learn that it is safe to return inside. Amidst flying rumors, some involving students' coats on fire...I learned the truth. My hubby's class was in fact doing experiments. They were burning magnesium metal and oxygen. Well, two of the students happened to be directly underneath the smoke detector. So, this caused the fire alarm to go off. Now, it is really funny. It makes for a great story....right?

Ahhh...today

So the students have had a HORRID day which has made my day not so great as well. However, there have been some people to make this day brighter for me so I wanted to share it. My wonderful husband brought me my favorite holiday drink from Starbuck's...decaf chocolate peppermint mocha with soy in case you were wondering...and bought me my favorite kind of chapstick. In case you do not know, I HAVE to have chapstick on my person at all times and today I did not. So, he used his valued free period to go to Ingles since we had no lunch food and bought these extras just because he is that wonderful. That made me happy.

Then, there is another cutie pie who brightens up my day. He is a second grader who comes for tutoring. Today, it was noisy in our classroom due to chapel music going on in the next room. He told me he was "vewy distwacted." So, he grabs two tissues, puts them in his ears and says "Okay, now I am weady." I wish I had a picture.

It is nice that even on bad days, there are people there to make it brighter. Thank the Lord!

Not in any order

Okay so to clear up any confusion....
my children's book list is in no particular order. I just jot them down as I think of them.
Thanks for the suggestions you've given so far!

I Heart Children's Books

Well, as some of you know and some of you may not know, I LOVE children's books!!! I took a children's literature class in college, and our professor would read children's books to us in class, give recommendations, etc. It was fabulous! So, my love for kiddie books grew. Now my wonderful friend, Leah is having a baby soon so my children's book fetish has finally come in handy. So, she recommended that I create a list of kiddie books I would recommend. If you would like to see it, scroll down. It is down there. I have not listed ALL the books I enjoy because that would take me a long time, it would be lengthy and then I would not have more to post. But--please give me more recommendations. Obviously, I do not know of all the fantastic new books out there and I know there are oldies I may not know about so tell me what you like!

If you go to Barnes and Noble, go to the back...I am with the kids, reading. The End.

My hair

So, I was not thrilled about my hair being highlighted the first time, so I went back to my fabulous hair dresser and she did it again at no cost. It is now a vibrant red, dark brown and blonde. I think it is fun. I have decided that I only live once, and while I am here I am going to have a good time with my hair. The End.

Haven't posted in a while...

I have not posted in a while, I know. My problem is that when I come home from work, I am exhausted. All I want to do is brainless activity which usually means that sadly, I am watching TV, and going to sleep. So, this is a boring post just informing you that I have nothing exciting to post about. I will work on it. Maybe I could just make Leah write some bloggy stuff for me. How about you let me know what you think I should blog about and I will.

If I had the guts...

So, if I had the guts, I would totally get a star tattoo and get my nose pierced.
Problems with this happening:

A. I am totally needle phobic, and must be laid down before a needle comes near me. (Smelling salts have been used, and they do work by the way....for like a week.)
B. I am afraid of piercing my face since I hate scars and I am afraid of getting one on my nose assuming that I eventually take it out. Will this happen?? I don't even know.
C. A goes with B...it is still a needle-like object piercing my flesh. (Yikes! Scary!)
D. Telling my children one day not to get a piercing in a weird place or a tat...cuz that will go over well.
E. Imagining myself as a 75 year old with a wrinkly tattoo and nose piercing.

Okay, so Leah...I know you are reading this. You inspire me. I am an inch closer to getting my nose pierced, but you are way braver than me. Good job.

My hair

So I dyed my hair. I really wanted it to stand out, be noticeable. I don't think it stands out and is that noticeable but I can't decide if that is really a good thing or bad thing. On one hand, I doubt I need to touch it up anytime too soon since it blends well with my natural color...so that is a money saver. But on the other hand, I wanted to make it totally different..no more blah hair. Well no one really said anything today, which was totally fine...I didnt expect anyone to notice really and to be honest, I normally do not comment every time I see that someone else's hair looks different. But, I did think it was so funny how one of my students noticed it right away today when I came into his class. That brightened my day. =) (Check my quotes of the week).

I love great deals!

So I thought maybe I should have a shopping section on here for all of you who love good deals. I myself love a great deal, and my mother thinks I find good ones, so I might as well write about them, right? So as some of you found out last week, Veritas has a HUGE flea market each year. People from the school bring in all of their stuff they don't want anymore, donate it to the school and the school sells it and raises money. Brilliant idea! (Whoever thought of it--good job.) So, this year I went of course, finding myself a few things. My favorite buy for myself was a pair of shoes (made in Germany--size 37). They are black strappy, open toed shoes that I think are cute...for a whopping $2. I made our friend, Leah go check it out since she is with child and needs child things. We went about an hour before it was over. The deals were amazing. By that time it was fill up a box for $2. Yessss! So we rummaged through what was left, found lots of childrens' books...and right before we left we found a wonderful baby chair/tray for eating. It was $5 reduced to $2. So we walked out with a chair and box full of stuff for a whopping $4. You can't beat that!

Bear sightings

So, Joshua and I have seen much wildlife since moving into our house last year. We have had turkeys, turtles, raccoon babies, a weird large bird, and groundhogs. But the most interesting creature we have seen would be the black bear. Last year, we had one visit us. He was a little older than a cub and destroyed my bird feeder. (Okay so it was really my mom's bird feeder she let me use...sorry, Mom!) This year as I was lazily lounging in my room, I noticed something black reflect in my dresser mirror. I got up and walked to the window and behold it was another bear. This guy or gal was larger than last year's visitor. He was a teenager/adult. He sniffed, saw us as we stared at him with our mouths gaping open, and moved along. He did a bit of yoga in my front yard, and then went on his merry way. If I see any more bears, I will let you know. If you come to my house, come on a Sunday afternoon. This is when they seem to enjoy coming.