A big start for the summer!

Josh and I have been looking at a house in Bronte, and we made an offer last week. However, they did not except (which was expected because we offered way lower than the asking price). The house is Josh's dream house, which means it has a huge back yard, a huge garage, a nice yard, and its brick. It's not necessarily my dream house per say, but I do like it alot, and with some work it could easily become my dream house. The reasons I like the house: huge garage, nice yard, brick, a bathroom in the master bedroom, storm cellar, large living room that is open to the kitchen and an office area. On the other hand here are my setbacks: small kitchen, paneling in the living room, kitchen, and hallways. Only a shower in the master bath (no tub), and no fence around the Huge backyard.

All of the things I mentioned that I do not like can be remedied fairly easy except maybe the size of the kitchen.
Another set back is that I will be driving back and forth to San Angelo for work because there are not any openings in the near future at Bronte for a K-4 teacher.
However, the biggest reason I am willing to make this move is for my children. Even though Maddie is still several years away from starting school, I want to make sure that when that time comes we are settled in a house we love and not forced to pick one because we have run out of time.

This may or may not work out, but I have faith that whatever happens is for the best. We are going to put in another offer tomorrow and see what happens.

In hopes that they accept our offer we decided to go ahead and fix all the things that we have put off in this house since we moved in. Since we moved in this house in 2006 we have fixed the shower and painted the back bathroom, replaced the carpet, and put on a new metal roof. Those were things that had to be done. The other things that I have wanted to change were not really necessary, but more cosmetic for the most part. However, I think that if we go ahead and fix them we can sell our house quicker and for a higher price if it comes to that.

Here is what we bought at Lowes yesterday: stove top, oven, shower head and faucets, sink faucet, front and back door, tile, paint, and many other items. The list of to do projects has already started, because I painted the front door and Josh replaced the sink faucet. Wednesday Dusty is coming over to take the old door off and put the new one up. The biggest project will be the bathroom, but I have to take down the wall paper and we have to take the tile off the wall, then we will replace the pipes, shower head, and faucet, then Dusty will come back and put the wall back up and tile it. Then I will give it a fresh new coat of paint. I bought a pretty blue color for the top half of the room. We are not putting the back door up until we move because our current door is equipped with a doggy door for Chief. The appliances had to be ordered so they will be installed in about 2 weeks. I also plan on painting the kitchen, hallway, and our bedroom.

So in conclusion, my summer has started off a very productive and expensive one! Josh is taking before and after pictures on his phone so I will show the final products as we go.

And the race is on!

Not litterally cause I havent ran in quite some time, lol.

The month of May is probobly the busiest month of the year for me. There is SO much stuff that has to be done at school, but alot of it cant be done till last minute. For instance, our school will be hosting summer school, so we have been told that unless we want people messing with our stuff that we should have everything packed up in boxes by the last day of school. Please explain to me how I can teach with my stuff all packed up. I guess since we have to go to work the Saturday after the last day of school for staff development from 8-12 I will spend the rest of that day cleaning my room and packing it up. We took the 1st grade to the Abilene Zoo today and that went pretty smoothly I would say. All 61 students were pretty excited and I would guess at least 1/2 of them had never been to a zoo. We also got to ride in the charter buses, which I know none of them have ever done, because our class was the first 1st grade to ever get to ride on them! As fun as it was I am glad that I can knock one more task off my list.


Here are the things at work I still have on my to do list

scan pictures and make them into a power point by Friday

finish summer school paperwork

plan End of Year party

meet with my new First Grade team tomorrow

make a school supply list for next year

clean, reorganize, and pack up my classroom

end of year report cards

get things ready for 1st grade awards ceremony

plus countless other little things that I cant even think about right now because I am so overwhelmed :)

all of these things must be done after school and on weekends because we are still teaching, hoping to get just a little bit more information in before they leave us.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that is there is only 12 school days left until summer break!

Now onto my at home to do list for May:

• clean my house and my back yard as much as possible so we can build the cover to put over our deck as soon as possible.
• babyshower on Saturday
• Kenzies 3 month pictures and a birthday party on Sunday
• continue planning Mallorys bacholerette party and send out invitations
• get sizes for the other flower girls in Mallorys wedding to my Memaw ASAP
• hit up Childrens Place as soon as I get a chance to go to the mall since it opens tomorrow!!!
• celebrate Mothers Day with both families since on the actual day Josh was at work and we couldnt do it any other time until now.
• celebrate my 26th birthday (woo hoo, just so you know there is sarcasism in my voice)

So the fact that I have broke down crying twice in the past 2 weeks doesnt surprise me now that I think about it. Stress is not good for me, and I bundle it up till I explode, and then I take it out on Josh.

The good news is that I can scratch getting Kenzie's ears pierced off my list since we did that on Monday!

Here are the pics! Before, during, and After :)

Ive LOST it!

Literally I have LOST not one thing, but several things!

First off, (and most horrible in my opinion) I have misplaced my school keys. I had them at work on Friday and the only 2 rooms I went after I distinctly remember having them is my classroom and the lounge. Both of which I have combed over with a fine tooth comb and no luck. I am afraid they somehow got swept into the trash on accident :(

Also while we are on the subject of work related items, I have misplaced my name badge which i have to have on Thursday. We dont really wear them at school, so the only time I need them is when we go onto another campus or if we are required to have them to get in somewhere, which is the case on Thursday. (HA!!! Josh just found my badge as I was typing this! It was in my blue jean jacket in the closet!!)

However, I would not say these next two items are lost, but rather misplaced. I have seen them somewhere in my house, but for some strange reason cannot remember where. Firstly there is my James Avery heart bracelet that Josh bought me for my birthday last year I believe, and also my Zales cross necklace that Josh bought me for our anniversary also just this past year. ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know I will find them, but losing all these things in one week is frustrating!

It's making me lose my MARBLES!

The Good and the Bad.

What news would you like to have first, the good or the bad? Well I always like to get the bad over with, so here it is.

Kenzie will NOT take a bottle! I have been back to work 3 days now and she has drank 2 oz. one day, 1 oz. the next, and less than an oz. today. I feed her at 6:30 before I leave for work and then she basically doesnt eat again until I get home at 4:00. I am not sure what to do.....some people say that if shes hungry she will eat, well obviously not. Im not sure she really knows how to suck properly. She has never been able to take a pacifier cause she either spits it out or chokes on it, and she puts her hand in her mouth, but chews it more than sucks on it. Josh has tried different bottles, different places, holding her, not holding her, pretty much any idea that has been on the internet, we have tried it with no success. I ordered another kind of bottle today that I have read many good things about, so I guess we will just keep trying with what we have and hopefully the new bottle will work wonders. I feed her as much as possible when I get home and her last feeding is usually from 11pm-1am. I just hope this is enough for her to keep growing good.

Enough of the bad news....here's the good news!

Maddie I would say is officially house broken. I mean that litterally though, at OUR house she hasnt had an accident in 4 days I think. She goes by herself and even dumps her teetee into the big potty, wipes, and flushes. (I go in and clean her potty), and then she puts it back together. However, when we go to other places, we have no such luck. I thought it was because the pull ups feel like diapers, but we stayed at Lacy's house Friday night and took her potty and she wore panties almost the whole time. She had 2 accidents and never went potty. She just started crying and said "I just peed in the gwass (her r's sound like w's)" hmmm, maybe this will come with more practice at home?

More good news- Kenzie has finally started smiling! She has been doing the expected toot smile on occasion, but now it is the big bright smile that comes from me talking to her.....it melts my heart everytime!

And more good news- When I went back to work on Friday I was welcomed back with open arms and lots of goodies! On my desk was a big basket filled with scrapbook paper, a Circle E candle, and snacks. There was also some juice boxes, animal crackers, and sidewalk chalk for Maddie. awwww, I was so touched! Then as I was walking down the hall, a friend handed me a 12 pack of Dr. Peppers, then another friend handed me a pot of roses.....Then to top it all off I went to check my box in the lounge and there was a note telling me not to forget the bag in the refrigerator that has a prepared meal for me! SWEET! Mexican Dinner, rice, corn, salad w/ dressing, and a Halfmanns cake. There are times when the students drive me crazy, (lack of respect does that to a person), but I can honestly say that the people that I work with are so absoultly wonderful and I am very blessed to work with them.




This is Kenzie wearing one of my favorite outfits handed down from Maddie

This is Maddie in the same outfit....they were both 2 months old in their pictures.

2 month checkup

We had Kenzies 2 month checkup today. She is growing so fast! She also got shots for the first time, and that wasnt pleasant (as expected) No matter how many times you see your poor babies get shots, it never gets easier when you see them screaming in pain. Well maybe a little easier since I havent cried since the first time Maddie got shots, but not much. Also Maddie unexpectantly got a shot as well, something she nor I was really excited about. She is now at the age when she sees the needles and knows whats coming...that makes it harder for me to make her sit up there and do it, because now she really knows Im helping them, lol. (I dont want her to think Im the bad guy). Both of them screamed bloody murder, and I just had to laugh. So for the good news...
Kenzies results Weight 11 lbs. 14 oz 75% 3 lb 4 oz gained from 1st month 40%
Length 23 inches 72% 1 3/4 inches gained from 1st month 60%

She still eats every 2-3 hours but sleeps for about 8 hours at night and she is starting to smile more often. Other than that there havent been many changes since last month.

I have to go back to work Friday and I have mixed feelings about it. Of course I would love to just stay at home forever, but I have actually enjoyed the time at home and it hasnt gone by too fast either. Im looking foward to going to work and finishing the last five weeks of school with a bang. There is alot to do when I get back so I think the 5 weeks will fly by.

We have been consistantly potty training Maddie finally, and it is going really well I think. Yesterday while Josh was at work she pottied several times and pooped once in her potty, she only had one accident all day long. So we are getting there for sure. Night time is another story. She is still in her crib (since she doesnt ever attempt to climb out), so she couldnt get up and go if she needed to. So I think that she will be getting a big girl bed sometime soon, maybe for her birthday. I also want to get her a swingset for her birthday, so she may be really excited this year, lol. As of now I still plan on renting the Bronte pool for her birthday again, hoping that this year we dont get rained out. As far as the theme goes, Im still not sure. I have several ideas but we will decide when it gets closer to August. I took some pictures of Kenzie in one of Maddies outfits, but I havent downloaded them yet. I will post pics soon.

2 steps foward, and 3 steps back

So for the first time, Maddie without being told, went to the bathroom and pottied all by herself! I was so excited!! Potty training has been the most frustrating thing thus far with Maddie. So I was absoultely elated when she did that all by herself. So that was the 2 steps foward.

Then after an hour, I told her to go to the bathroom and try to potty again. Then I hear the magical music that Maddies potty makes and got all excited, and ran into the bathroom (waking Kenzie up in the process). HOWEVER, when I get in there, Maddies panties were still up (and on correctly) which was the first thing that caught my attention. Then I noticed there was no teetee in the potty, but there were water droplets all over the potty seat....hmmmm.....So after a little prodding into my ever so smart 2 year old, I found out she took her potty apart and scooped water out of the real toilet to make her potty make the music, then she dumped it back into the toilet. ARG!

I have a feeling my sneaky little Maddie will be causing me many of troubled and worried nights when she becomes a teenager :(

My funny child

Not once but twice today I was doubled over laughing at Maddie and her comments.

The first one- I was trying to get Maddie dressed and her hair done before we went to eat with Lacy and Dusty...during which I had to set Kenzie in her swing. Well Kenzie did not enjoy being put down so she was crying. I was hurrying as fast as I could, and when I finished getting Maddie ready I ran into my room to change my own clothes. As I was going to fix my own hair, Maddie looked at me and says "Mommy, I dont want to hear Kenzie crying anymore!"

All I could do was laugh and tell her to cover her ears for a few more minutes, lol.

The second one- We finished eating at Rosa's and as you leave there is usually a basket with peppermints in it. I always let Maddie have one, however, the basket was empty today. So I told Maddie, "All the candy is gone, Sorry Charlie"....she says..." OOOOOH, Charlie ate them all?"

Once again, I just laughed and said I guess so.

I am so blessed to have such a funny daughter, who makes me smile every single day.