Bits Of Christmas...

A difficult thing about blogging for me is remembering to take pictures. I've never been much of a picture taker. Mike and I enjoyed Christmas with family and friends so much that we didn't take many pictures.

Christine and Alex definitely wanted to eat plenty of good Mexican food while they were in Texas. We ate pretty good during the past week or so.

Sadie definitely didn't enjoy the first round of Houston snow so the second and third round of snow in Dallas were met with much disdain. She slipped and skated across the icy patio, did her business in the back yard, and rush back to the warmth of the house.

It was the first white Christmas for many people! Most of it was melted by the end of the day but it was fun for everyone but Sadie while it lasted.

Sadie was very spoiled with gifts.

We had a great Christmas and hope everyone else did too!

Holiday Humor...

My mom has obviously been working hard at the office today...

Santa's Cookies

School Stories...

We love sharing our entertaining episodes from school but unfortunately we haven't been able to write about much lately. The holiday season inspires students to have such off the wall behavior that the interesting things going on just aren't family friendly enough to blog about. Though their behavior is sadly not so shocking to us, most people would be stunned.

Christmas Decorations and Snow!!!

One of the things we have been looking forward to as new homeowners is decorating the outside of our house for Christmas. We didn't want to spend too much money or be the crazy house on the street so we started with the basics this year.

I got to come home early on Friday because of the snow and thought it was a great time to take pictures of our decorations. Poor Mike had to work the entire day. As hinted at previously we decided on colored roof lights with a flamingo and palm tree combo. You can sort of see the snow in the picture. It didn't really stick.

Sadie was forced to investigate the snow for picture purposes but was not too interested.

She wanted back inside right away and shivered plenty to help her cause. I could tell she wasn't very happy with me the rest of the afternoon.

Here is our display at night. We'll probably think about putting lights on the bushes and doing some other things next year. I think it is a lovely first attempt.

Christmas came early for both of us. The decorations are sort of a Christmas present for me and Mike got a grill. Having a nice grill is another thing we were looking forward to as homeowners. I couldn't keep it a secret because I had to know exactly what Mike wanted. Mike fired it up for the first time tonight and we had some very tasty steaks!

Hope T-shirt

I'm not sure about other schools but I can tell you that past and present Baylor Bears love cute t-shirts and I am no exception. I also love supporting charities. When I see a cute t-shirt that supports one of my favorite charities I just have to get one. In this case the t-shirt is so cute that I just had to share!

A good friend of mine is participating in Relay for Life to raise money to help find a cure for cancer. Her team fundraiser is a holiday theme t-shirt that says "Hope". On the back, there is the option for it to say "With God all things are possible!" The shirts are $12 and all of the proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society. They make a great gift for family and friends! If you would like me to get a shirt for you please let me know as soon as possible and tell me what size you would like.

Thanksgiving Break Part 2 - 5

I meant to take pictures and blog each day about what we were doing during our break but it just didn't happen. We enjoyed having time to relax and see people we rarely get to see. Mike's family went with a traditional Thanksgiving lunch while my family opted for an easier to prepare steak dinner. We did a little shopping but weren't out in the wee hours of the morning looking for deals. Our visit to Dallas was short and we are now back home. Though we don't enjoy cleaning the house before we leave, it is always an amazing feeling to walk into a clean house when we return. We definitely have time to finish our outdoor Christmas decorating since we don't have to spend a lot of time cleaning this weekend. We were hoping to at least have the lights up before we left but weather and time became factors. It occurred to me during our drive home that I haven't even started decorating the inside of the house. Maybe we will get to that tomorrow. There are a few Christmas decorations that I still don't have. I have been looking for a wreath, stockings, and stocking holders but I just haven't seen any that I really like. I'm thinking about making my own wreath but would love some pointers first.

Thanksgiving Break Part 1: TYFLHCOLBHDDHTDOD

Today was Thanksgiving Break Part 1 and there wasn't any sleeping in. (Don't feel too bad for me...I got plenty of sleep over the weekend.) We had a few errands to run before the big event for the day. I designated today as Take Your Favorite Librarian Her Choice Of Lunch Because Her District Doesn't Have The Day Off Day otherwise known as TYFLHCOLBHDDHTDOD. Educators do love their acronyms...and meetings...but we'll discuss meetings another day.

The library is a magical place of happiness and joy where you and your friends can study a fine piece of literature.

Library displays are impeccably organized and have seasonal themes.

You might even happen upon a chinchilla while in the library.

Did I mention that my favorite librarian is thoughtful of her coworkers? Check out the available resources for those who might need a boost to get through a difficult day.

The library office is quite another story. Though tidy and well organized it is a place of chores such as difficult math computation that requires a calculator.

Look distraught all you want but those books won't put themselves into the system and onto the selves. I see long hours!

This is why TYFLHCOLBHDDHTDOD is such an important event. Look at those smiles!

Steven & Zoo Day

Last weekend Steven came to visit and went to the zoo with us.

Neither of them like having their picture taken. Steven had a Slim Jim for breakfast while Mike had waffles. (This is before I knew there was a waffle shortage.)

Sadie was very interested in Steven's breakfast.

I definitely would not want to meet a komodo dragon that isn't behind glass.

The giraffes were all out enjoying the weather.

The smallest of the elephants was ready to get up close and personal.

I wish the students at school were this well trained.

The flamingos were having nap time.

This bird seemed very Edgar Allen Poe though he is much less fierce looking when he yawns.

Zebras have always been my favorite.

The lions are always asleep.

The bears are pretty lazy too.

He looks so cuddly.

We all enjoyed our visit to the zoo on such a beautiful day!

Waffle Shortage!!!

Most of my life I haven't been much of a breakfast eater. This year I finally started eating breakfast regularly. One of my favorite breakfast items are the Eggo Nutrigrain Blueberry Waffles. A few weeks ago I started having trouble finding them at the grocery store. Last weekend we could not find any Eggos and the store brand had moved into their place. (Yes, I am a brand conscience person...don't judge.) I found out on the news that there is actually a shortage and it could last until summer! I guess I'll have to stick with yogurt and cereal.

"Leggo My Eggo! Kellogg Fights Waffle Shortage"

Uneventful Weekend...

After judging the past two Saturdays Mike was definitely glad for an uneventful weekend. We were excited to see that the iconic red Starbucks cups are available. Definitely another sign of the holidays! I'm currently enjoying their pumpkin spice latte. Many people look forward to the time of year when they are available so I decided to give it a try and love it.

After getting much needed haircuts we set out to find a place for lunch. Lately, we have enjoyed exploring the Vintage Park area. We decided to try Pizza Fusion and really enjoyed it! The atmosphere is really trendy and the food is great. It is a little expensive compared to most pizza places because the food is organic and the company is earth friendly.

After that we decided to get some frozen yogurt. While we were enjoying our treat, there was a bee under our table that was obsessed with a chocolate chip that had fallen on the ground.

We spent the rest of Saturday running our usual errands. While we were out Mike spotted our opportunity to own Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree. It was slightly tempting but wasn't worth the ten dollars so we took a picture instead. I'm not sure what Sadie would have thought of it.

When we were out shopping today we found another option for our front yard. I think this light up palm tree would look great with a light up pink flamingo next to it!

Substitute...

I'm always a little anxious when my classes have a substitute. Sometimes I'm not sure if I should feel bad for the substitute having to deal with the students or if I should feel bad for the students having to deal with the substitute. The good thing is that my students usually miss me and appreciate having me as a teacher...at least for a few days. I missed my classes this morning because I had a meeting and it sounds like they did well. There was a small issue with my newest student though. He is coming from a neighboring district and has had that 'I didn't want to move and I miss my friends so I'm going to sit here and pout' attitude. It is somewhat understandable because it takes time to get to know people and feel comfortable in your new surroundings but refusing to do your assignment is not an option.

New Student: I don't know what to write.

Student 1: You better write something! This teacher won't just let you do nothing. She'll check when she gets back and she'll be mad if you haven't done anything.

Student 2: I don't know what to write either. I'll just write random words to fill the page.

Student 1: I wouldn't do that. She'll be mad and make you do it again. Dude, just do your work!

(When I got to school I went to find the new student.)

Me: I heard you had a bad day in my class. What happened?

New Student: She wanted us to write something and I couldn't think of anything.

Me: Here's the deal...I left that assignment for you to do and you didn't even try it. You can take it home and do it for homework or you can work on it tomorrow and miss your library day. It doesn't matter to me what you choose but you will do the assignment.

New Student: I'll do it for homework.

Me: Good. Do you need help thinking of ideas?

New Student: No...I know what I want to write.

Sorry to Katie for threatening library time...at least he chose wisely!

Flag Football

During the last play of Mike's flag football game last week he got knocked over and someone stepped on his hand. It bruised and swelled immediately and you could see the pattern from the cleat that stepped on it. It definitely hurt but lucky there wasn't anything seriously wrong.

Sadie kept Mike company while we iced his hand with an ancient bag of frozen strawberries.

Eventually, Sadie realized there was food under the towel and attempted to have a snack.

Last week was quite busy and I am glad we didn't have to squeeze in a visit to the doctor. The swelling went down after a few days and the bruises are starting to disappear.

Random Collection Of Things...

Starting off our random of collection of things to blog about are some discipline moments from the end of last week.

Student 1: You didn't tell me I had to do that!

Mike: Class...show me how many times I have told all of you to do that using your fingers.

Student 2: You've told us to do that too many times to count on our fingers!

Student 1: Oh...

Me: Did you really just put your hood back on after I took it off you head?

Student: Go away!

Me: Are you out of your mind!!!

Student: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know you were a teacher!

Sadie isn't a fan of colder weather. It is barely starting to cool down and she is already shivering. Often times you can find her soaking in some sunshine when her thoughtful owners open the blinds. She is quite toasty afterwards. You have to love how some of the simplest things in life bring so much joy!

I agree that it is a little too early to start decorating for Christmas but I don't see anything wrong with starting to plan. We are excited about our first Christmas in our new house! We already have some decorations for the inside but this is the first time we will be decorating the outside of our living space. We started looking at our options for lights yesterday and decided we like the look of the large colored bulbs.

We would like something to decorate our yard but we don't want to go overboard either. I'm not sure if I want to admit it...but the front runner right now might be this flamingo with a Santa hat. We'll wait and see what our options are. Any advice out there?