A "broken" nose!

It looks like both the kids may be trying to fight off a cold. Since yesterday, Tripp has been walking around saying "Uh oh, Mommy, my nose is broken!" He can't breathe out of his nose.....so to him, it's broke!

What a hottie!

Joey got glasses about 3 1/2 years ago so that he could see things far away. Well, this week he decided it was time to get contacts. I have to admit that I LOVE it! I've gotten so used to seeing him in glasses that it's taking me some time to get used to him not wearing them anymore but he looks so good! I think it makes him look younger to not have them on and (as corny as it sounds) it's reminding me of when I first fell in love with him. Since most of my posts are about our kids, I thought I would dedicate one to my hot husband! :-)

Thanks to my wonderful brother and future sis-in-law, Joey and I were able to go out dancing last night with a group of friends. I can't remember the last time we went dancing and we had a blast!!! AND, we stayed out until almost midnight. I know we haven't done that in over a year. It was so nice to have some time alone together and relieve the stress of the last few weeks on the dance floor!

(p.s. Today is the final curtain and picture hanging day, so pictures of the house are coming soon!)

Closer and closer to a year....

Growing up so fast......

It is amazing to me how fast time goes by. Makinley is 11 months old today and I really can not believe it. Each night as I rock her to sleep, I look at the pictures in her room of her in the hospital and it blows my mind that it was 11 months ago. I'm having an even harder time with her growing up than I did with Tripp and I know it's because she is my last (or at least that's what my husband says!) I've begun the planning of her birthday party and I know the day will be fun, yet sad. I really wish there was a bottle big enough to put both of my kids inside and seal it tight! Their innocence and sweetness right now melt my heart each day. I know the "big, bad world" is out there and I want to protect them from it for as long as possible!

I knew it would be tough.....

to blog once I went back to work! Working full time and taking care of two kids is no easy task! Add moving on top of it and it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. We will spend our first night in the new house tomorrow night and I am SO excited! I can't wait to get all of our stuff in there and situated.

School has gone really well this week. I've been pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, I definitely have those few that are going to be a challenge behavior wise. BIG TIME. But, I'm enjoying the independence level and the fact that school is an old hat for these kids. I didn't tie shoes all day and they are able to read something when I write it on the board. My schedule is really good too. I have a 1 1/2 hour block of Language Arts first thing in the morning, then specials, lunch, Social Studies, recess and then a 1 1/2 block of Language Arts in the afternoon. Our specials are 50 minutes each day so that's been really nice. Plus, I get a 3 hour break each day from those that give me a fit behavior wise in my class! In my afternoon class, I have some special ed kids so I have 2 other teachers in the room with me. It's been really cool because we are able to spend the entire time in small groups. Each of us takes a group of 4-5 and teach a lesson and then rotate. It gets a little old repeating the same lesson 3 times, but we are able to keep a handle on behavior problems this way.

My kids are doing well. The transition to staying at a sitter full time was hard on all 3 of us and there were a lot of tears shed on my end. A LOT. But each day has gotten a little easier. I just have to accept that no one is going to do things with them exactly as I would. The lady keeping them is wonderful and I can tell that she really loves my kids. Tripp calls her "grandma". :-)

I'll do my best to get pictures of the new house up as soon as possible!

A new school, new grade, new year....

One day down.....179 to go! It will be interesting to see what God has in store!

The fourth grade team! The girl right beside me in black is my parapro....she is wonderful!

It's officially ours!

We closed on our new house yesterday! We are really excited and anxious to get moved in. The painters came today and painted both kids' rooms, the dining room, kitchen and master bath. We had already painted the master bedroom (or I should say the builders did). I will get pictures up soon but probably not until all of our furniture is in. It looks beautiful and I'm so grateful for such an awesome house. I plan on making many, many happy memories there!

On another note, one more day of preplanning and then school will start. Preplanning has been quite overwhelming but I'm starting to feel a little more sane. I had no idea how much I was going to feel like a first year teacher all over again. I'll try to get pictures of my classroom up soon too!

Steal of a deal!

Notice this post isn't about school! That's because it is overwhelming me so much that I don't even want to type about it! So, instead I'm going to talk about my GREAT deal today at Target. Christen and I went shopping to use our "Sonny Money" for school stuff. Well, while we were there I saw a Britax Marathon car seat on the clearance rack. I've been wanting a Britax Marathon for Makinley but they are SO expensive that I didn't think I was going to be able to get one. They are normally around $300 or so full price. Well, this one was marked down to $188. I called my mom b/c she had planned on buying Mak's seat for her birthday. $188 was definitely more than she was going to spend but I thought maybe between the two grandma's we could make it work as her birthday present. When I got up to the register, the car seat was only $130!!!!! I was extremely excited!!! I can't believe I was able to find the car seat that I have been really wanting to get her for that cheap! Now, we still have to buy Tripp one, but I've decided to get him the Graco Nautilus. Although, I do wish that they had had 2 of the Britax ones....I definitely would have bought both. It's like my mom said, Jesus knew I needed something to lift me up this week and He brought it in the form of a car seat!