Finally!!!

So we finally heard on our house that we have been waiting on since May, and WE GOT IT!!!! I am so excited, I can hardly stand it. It has been a really long wait and very trying at times, but I am so thankful that we got it. Now we have about 3 weeks to pack our house and move. I can do that right?! I am not even about to complain about all of the other things I need to do at the same time, because I am just so excited that we are going to be buying our first home, and it is perfect!

Hannah loves the backyard. Every time we go to the house, she just runs around and around singing and dancing. Who needs a swingset right?

So I got these pictures from the listing site and this is obviously not our stuff, but you can at least see the house.

I say the yellow walls could stay for a while, but Chad says no way!

The red walls are going to have to go! It's a little too intense for me, but Chad thinks they are kind of nice! I think we'll just repaint the whole downstairs!

Thankful Thursday

I know that it is Friday and I haven't been Thankful for a couple of weeks, but I have been really busy lately. Which brings me to what I am thankful for. Last night Chad turned on a couple of his CD's and we just sat on the couch listening to music. Hannah started showing off his skills as a dancer. It was so funny and entertaining. This morning I am thankful for a happy, energetic 3 year old. And I am also thankful for taking a few minutes to slow down and enjoy dancing with my daughter.

Thankful Thursday

So a lot of my friends that blog do something once a week where they share some kind of insight or memory or something cute on a specific day. I really like Thankful Thursday as a way to reflect on things you are thankful for at least once a week. I have wanted to do it for some time now, but every time I think about it it's like Friday or Saturday and Thankful Saturday doesn't really sound that great. I don't know how good I will be at this, but I will do my best and if I forget, feel free to let me know and keep me in line.

Today while I was on my run I was thinking about what I am thankful for and I really kept thinking that I am thankful for outside recess. I know you were expecting something more meaningful for my first post, but really there are some of you out there that would agree that outside recess is really meaningful.

Yesterday was our first inside day and can I just say it was less than desirable. By the end of the day I just wanted to lay down and cry. Actually I think I did. So today when I went to school and I didn't see that red flag out in front of the school that is a symbol of my fate, I couldn't help but be excited. So today I am thankful for outside recess and a short 10 minute break to regroup.

Her Part 3

So it's been a while since I have posted anything about Her. (If you have missed previous posts regarding Her, you might want to look back a few months) Mostly because she was gone for quite some time. I thought she was probably going to be gone forever. No Way!! She is back with a vengience . Hannah talks about her all the time, and we have learned a few more things about her. (If I am confusing you and you are wondering if I am talking about Her as a pronoun, or a proper noun, I don't know what to tell you. It confuses me too, and I am a school teacher.)

Anyway, here are the new things we have learned.

1. Her is naughty and a brat (Hannah's exact words)

2. She likes to cut peoples hair (what I mean by this is she likes to cut Hannah's hair)

3. She has wings on her back that allow her to fly over houses. (She was nice enough to give Hannah a pair as well.

4. Today is her (pronoun) birthday.

5. She isn't allowed to go to preschool anymore because she doesn't let Hannah play with the other kids.

If anybody out there has any advice for me on imaginary friends, please share. I am having a difficult time dealing with Hannah blaming all her naughty choices on Her. I don't want to squash her imagination, but at the same time she needs to be accountable for things that she does. HELP!!

Halloween Pics

I know it is a little bit early for Halloween pics, but I just wanted to get it done before my life got too crazy. Also, Chad's folks are coming for a visit in a couple of weeks and I wanted to be able to give them their pics and not have to send them. Anyway, I don't have to make excuses about why I am excited about Halloween do I? So here is the cutest Cinderella you will ever see. Well at least I think so, but I am a little biased

Finally a New Post

So you are probably thinking there should be some great story to go along with this post and the fact that I haven't posted in over a month, well the truth is there isn't. Life has just sort of kicked me in the butt lately. I don't have or should I say make the time to do things I really enjoy doing like updating and checking all of your blogs. There you have it that is my big excuse.
Anyway, school started at the end of August and it has been a lot of fun. My class is great, very smart and cute kids. I have been having a lot of fun exploring with them and feeling like I know what is going on this year. It is always hard, however to remember from year to year that they really are babies and need reinforcement for everything. We have all been adjusting fine and I am looking forward to a great year.
This weekend Chad and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe how time flies. We have had a great time and thanks to our friends Nisha and Adam for letting us stay in their timeshare! We have spend the last 3 days in St. George and driving into Zion's National Park. It has been a lot of fun and a much needed trip of reconnecting. Thanks mom and Jaci for looking out for our sweet Hannah so that Chad and I can spend time together.
Coming Soon!! The top 10 of the last 10! I have to really think about this one! Narrowing it down to 10 will be difficult.

My Sweet Husband!

My sweet husband is always thinking of me and trying to make my hectic life a little bit easier.  Last Christmas he gave me a gift certificate to the spa and I finally decided to use it.  For my birthday I decided to go and get some Botox injections.

What do you think?

Just Kidding!! 

 My husband did get me a great gift, but no I haven't used it yet.  I actually got stung by 2 wasps at the same time on my lip.  Instantly my lip looked like this.  So if any of you out there want cheap (temporary) Botox, come to my house.  I know where there is a wasp nest.

What Chad really did for me for my birthday was he and Hannah made me a birthday cake.  It is the first time in 10 years that he has done that and it was really cute to listen to the two of them working in the kitchen together.  The cake tasted really good too.  

Thanks Babe!

I think she must take after her mother!!

So when I was little, I used to get lost everywhere; the mall, Sea World, you name it and I got lost there.  I even got lost at the Rose Parade in Pasadena when I was two years old.  I think when you are just as brilliant as I WAS (key word) you just have to explore your surroundings.  Well Hannah being brilliant herself started exploring her surroundings at the hospital today.  Chad and Hannah were visiting my dad at who just had back surgery and as they were getting ready to leave, Hannah took off and got lost.  Actually what she did was run down the hallway, push the elevator button, get on the elevator and down to the lobby all before Chad even got to the elevator.  In Chad's defense, he was trying to look after her and his grandma (who walks a little bit slower since breaking her femur); so he probably wasn't running as fast as he normally would to catch up with her.  

I don't know how long it was before they realized that she actually took the elevator and then made their way down to get her, but by the time they found her she was in the Security office and the hospital had called a code over the loudspeaker that is supposed to tell all hospital personnel to lock down the doors and not have anyone get out.  I guess it was pretty scary and I was glad that I wasn't there.

The best part was that later tonight I was trying to talk to her a little bit about what happened, and tell her that it was good that she found the security guard and told him her name, but I was also thinking I should teach her a little about strangers.  So I asked her what would she do if she was with the security guard and somebody she didn't know came up to them and told the security that they were her daddy.  She didn't quite get what I was saying, so I repeated the question wording it a little bit different; to which she responded, you mean like if a wolf tried to get me?  UHHH yea, cause there are wolves in the hospital!!  I guess maybe she's not so brilliant after all.  

Technology Wiz

Ok, so I'm totally not a technology wiz, but I can move my way around a computer pretty well.  I took a bunch of technology classes in college and learned a bunch of stuff that I can't even begin to remember.  So the other day  I was out shopping for my classroom, and I decided to buy a couple of portable CD players (yes they still make these) and do a listening center for the kids.  I have been wanting to do this for a couple of years, but haven't done it.  Then I got kind of depressed because books on CD are really expensive (about $10 a piece).  

Summary of Cost of Books on CD

$10 per book (32 books- 1 per week)= Total of $320.o0

Then somewhere from the back of my brain I remembered a class I took called music for elementary ed, which is nothing like what it sounds like it should be.  Anyway, I remembered in that class that we used a program called garageband and I was pretty sure you could use it to record your own voice.  I bet you can guess what I am getting at right.  So I went to WalMart and bought a microphone for about $10 (the cost of one book on CD).  I then searched on apple.com to see if there was some kind of tutorial on using garageband.  I know, I know I took a class, but do you really pay attention to a class like that, that you don't think you'll ever use.  So sure enough there was and I watched it about 3 times.  

Turns out you can create a podcast (whatever that is) and record your own voice.  You can even add little musical jingles (the kids have to know when to turn the page, right) and whala (sp) you get a recording of any book you want.  Finally you share the file to your itunes and then burn it onto any audio CD-R.  

It was like this program was made for this exact purpose in mind (I don't know what else you would use it for).  Lucky, Lucky me!!  Now my kids will be able to listen to any book that I have in our library in our listening center.  So for any of you  teachers reading this, there are great, cheap resources out there.  (And for those of you who already knew this, don't tell me, I want to brag for just a little bit)

Summary of cost of Make your own CD's

$10- Microphone

$20- 100 blank CD's 

Total = $30

The Harsh Reality of Money

Yesterday, Hannah was begging me for an ice cream cone at Old McDonalds.  I told her that we could go and get one but that she would have to use her own money.  (She has 4 dollars that my mom gave her clear back in March for her birthday.)  She was totally ok with this and we went on our way to go get ice cream.  Well later when we were all going to grandmas house, Hannah started totally pouting and complaining that she didn't have any bucks.  When Chad questioned her about it she told him that the guy took her buck and didn't give it back.  She was totally sad about it and didn't understand at all.  Chad tried to explain to her that thats what happens when you buy things, you give someone your money and you get something else in return.  She still kept saying, "He took my buck dad!  That wasn't nice, he just took it and didn't give it back."  She didn't want to listen to the fact that she got an ice cream.  There was no consoling her.  She was totally upset.  Maybe she'll end up being just like her dad with money, a total miser!

Lesson Learned:  When you spend money, you don't have money!!