It's Been A Good One!

2009 has been a good year! I don't think I have the energy to do a run down, so I think I'll just leave it at that. I am blessed beyond belief!

Today has been a hectic one (I hope this isn't a glimpse of what 2010 is like...I couldn't handle it!)...started off nice-breakfast with a friend, but spiraled out of control-comments from my kiddos that brought on mommy guilt (isn't it the WORST?!), rushing to the bank to get more money for my bridesmaid dress, more on that later, rushing to the hairdresser to get my hair colored, again! And then over to a friend's house to spend the last night of 2009.

Finally, when we got there I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief...whew! The boys had fun together, and so did the adults.

Wish we would have gotten a picture of the other side of the table...it was a hoot! Wouldn't want to have spent it any where else :)

EUREKA!!!

My jewelry, the dresser, my mom, and myself have been having a war. My mom and I were so frustrated with the top of my dresser. There sat my jewelry looking rather smug on a dust covered dresser. A couple of days would pass and I'd reach for a necklace, only to find it tangled up with five others! After awhile, my mom (and a friend) threatened to buy me a jewelry box!! Thankfully I talked them out of it. It looked like the jewelry and the dresser might prevail...UNTIL...one of my facebook friends had a great idea to hang her necklaces on a tie rack!! Way to think outside the box Jenny :) BUT WAIT...the story doesn't stop there...oh no! After the Christmas festivities had died down on the 25th, and due to the fact I got three new necklaces, I decided to get creative, or practical, or frugal, or white trash...you pick. Anyway, I had my lovely husband put about 13 nails in the wall behind our bedroom door so I could hang my necklaces! Ha ha jewelry and dresser!! Take that.

Christmas

Well, another Christmas has come and gone, and this one was not short on memories.



I love these two pictures. If you know anything about our boys, you'll know that they all three very rarely stop and have a conversation. This just made my heart melt...I couldn't figure out if they were talking strategy or just shooting the Christmas breeze, but it made this mom so happy!

Christmas Eve and Such...

The festivities have begun, and unfortunately are about to end :( We made our annual trip to Nashville to eat at Rainforest Cafe and visit the lights at Opryland Hotel. You can see some pictures over here at my mom's blog. Everyone had lots of fun, and always looks forward to that tradition.

This morning we went over to my in-law's house for breakfast. We really enjoyed spending some time with them, and of course the boys enjoyed the gifts!

When we got home, Kevin and I cleaned the house...well, we straightned, vaccumed, shined the bathrooms and kitchen! I wish I could just snap my fingers and keep it this way!! Lord knows that's not going to happen with this family.

Tonight we met my parents and my brother and his fiance at Rafferty's. The food and company were good. It's always nice to eat and talk with family. No pictures because everyone was too focused on keeping the boys "together"! They were wild tonight!! After dinner, we all met over at church for a Christmas Eve service. I'll leave you with pictures of the rest of the night's activities.

I believe the boys are wrapped in a blanket of anticipation tonight!

I'm Baaack...

Whew...winter break has begun and I feel like I can breath a sigh of relief! School ended with a flurry of activity. You could read a glimpse of it over at Amy's blog. While, my afterschool activities were a little different, every night seemed to be filled with something. From Alex's preschool program, to meetings with principals! It was full...and now to balance that fullness, we are going to hopefully have some quiet time. My hubby and I rented some movies tonight, and we hope to snuggle on the couch (under my blanket I took when we played Dirty Santa @ our school Chirstmas party!!!) and get caught up on some movies!!! Hopefully I'll be back soon with a present/wrapping post! Hope you are taking the time to enjoy the holiday week too.

Saturday Running...

Saturdays can go two ways in the winter months...1. Loafing around the house, kinda dull, borderline boring OR 2. Jam packed with running errands, getting in and out of the car, and spending too much money. This past Saturday leaned more toward #2.
My main mission was to get my hubby out of the house and to the dr since he has been coughing for weeks and weeks!

No, those aren't all his...6 of them are mine...yes, 6 of them! It's been an interesting week, and no I am not going to blog about it!

But anyway, our first stop was the Train depot.

We did actually make it inside the depot. The boys really enjoyed looking at all the trains, but especially enjoyed the table set up with trains they could actually touch!

Our next stop was the KY Museum on WKU's campus. Admission was free and it was Christmas themed. Dylan was excited to see the Civil War exhibits and talk to the civil war soldier! Landen just soaked it all in...

While Alex watched Big Red dance a jig!

We then make a lunch stop at home and tried to hit the mall for a return...BAD idea! The lines were outrageous and our patience was thinning. We decided to go home and play outside (yes, in the 30 degree freezing weather!) Landen and Alex did 5 laps around the house and played out for about 10 minutes. Kevin hit the couch, and I made plans with a friend to gallivante that evening. All in all it was a packed day! But I wouldn't want to have spent it with any one else :)

*My mom and I saw New Moon (second time for me) this afternoon...it was just as good, or better, than the first time!*

Bliss

This break has been much needed, and much enjoyed! Thanksgiving was a great day spent with family. You can see pictures and read about it here.




Yesterday we took the boys out to Kevin's grandparents. We love it there for multiple reasons. We love to visit with his grandparents, and we love their acerage!!! The boys enjoyed their romp out in the woods. I got some pictures of them playing in the leaves, but was a little dissapointed with my camera :( Most of the action shots turned out blurry (like the picture above). I even tried taking them on the pets and children setting, but didn't work. I'd love to have a SLR, but not too crazy about the price!
Love the pictures of Alex and Landen...couldn't get Dylan to be still long enough to get one of him. I'll leave you with the picture of Kevin...

I am grateful for so much...I don't even know where to begin. My heart just overflows.

A Doozy of A Weekend!

First things first...New Moon came out this weekend, and boy were we ready! Friday morning we donned our t-shirts and came to school pumped! Our principal looked a little worried as we snapped a picture in morning assembly (see prior post). As my friend and I said, you gotta be excited about something! And excited we were! Some of us met early for dinner.

Then we rushed off to the movie at 7:30, even though our showing wasn't until 10:10. We were determined to get good seats! After standing in line for about 2 and 1/2 hours, we were on a first name basis with the manager, Trent! We couldn't resist taking a snapshot in front of the movie poster (ooohhh, I just get excited thinking about it!!!)

It was such a fun night with good friends! I am a firm believer in having some quality girl time!
In other news, a good friend invited us over to their house for an early Thanksgiving meal today. We gladly accepted, and I started making sweet potato casserole with my assistant after church. It was my first time making it, and I think it turned out rather good! We had plenty of food, as you can see. It was a really good time together with friends.

I am just so thankful that it's only a two day week for us! We all need a break...I need one to regroup and be ready to go full steam until Christmas break. I should go write up some lesson plans for the next two days, but I'm not...sshh don't tell! A preview for a movie caught my attention, so I bought the book at Wal-Mart this past weekend. I'm already 1/3 of the way through and am not disappointed! Have a great Monday.

More to come...

A Weekend in Review...

What a beautiful weekend! My father-in-law wanted our oldest to ride with him in the Veteran's Day Parade on Saturday. He was on cloud nine on the back of that bike!

My hubby went, while I stayed home with the other two and felt puny. All three of us were barking our heads off...which makes for a very fun filled day!

After a much needed afternoon nap on the couch (while my children did God knows what!) I woke up feeling a bit better and in the cooking mood. I had a wonderful quiche in Nashville, IN a few weekends ago, and was just dying to replicate it.

I didn't have too much luck, as the picture above shows. It was supposed to be a bacon, ham, apple quiche where the flavors just explode in your mouth...but it turned out to be a crusty spinach, forgot the ham, didn't put enough eggs, too hard apple quiche. The natives aren't too hard to please, so at least it didn't go to waste. Neither did this...

homemade apple pie, with crumble topping. It wasn't too bad for my first apple pie. We ended the weekend with playing hut, hut, hike (Johnson's version of football) in the back yard. Which always ends in us running after the boys, pretending to tackle them but ending up hugging and kissing on them...I love it! I'll have to post a picture for you visual learners.

Right now my head is swimming with ideas for school. I know it's going to be a busy week. I have another KTIP observation on Thursday, which will wrap up Cycle 1...WOOHOO! And we have a field trip on Friday to Mammoth Cave...which will be very interesting! Hope it's a great week for you too!

Doesn't this picture just perfectly exhibit God's artistic abilities? Just breathtaking!

Hate is such a strong word...

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a teacher...I used to line my stuffed animals up in a row and teach them what I had learned that day at school. I worked sooooo hard for eight, yes eight, long years to earn my degree and I graduated magna cum laude from WKU. Straight out of college I landed my first teaching job...woohoo! But KTIP sure is putting a damper on it!! What a pain...I go from this,

to this,

and then this,

Now don't get me wrong, it's not hard...just a bunch of time consuming busy work, which is not at all what I signed up for...oh what they don't teach you up on the hill! So y'all send me some prayers and good thoughts this week...I'm feeling a little stressed.