Chuck E. Cheese

One of the best parts of being a teacher is that I get 2 weeks off for Christmas! In fact, my sister, brother-in-law and I were talking on Christmas day and they mentioned how they had to go back to work on Wednesday! I figured they'd at least get Wednesday off for people having to travel back home! I forgot that the real world picks right back up after the holidays.

So...all of that to say, Mandi needed me to watch Evan for a few hours today. Of which, I never turn down the opportunity if I can help it! The catch was, that she needed to do some work at home. Well, if Evan knew that she was home, there goes any work time she may have had, so I decided to take him to Chuck E. Cheese. He had never been before, so I don't think he knew what to make of it. He liked it and had fun although it doesn't really look like it. He hasn't quite grasped the concept of smiling for pictures yet!







Nutritious lunch: pizza and apple juice!




He won 90 tickets! He really liked yanking them out of the machines. So, with 90 tickets he got a keychain with a soccer ball on it and a Tootsie Roll.


He fell asleep on the way home. Can't wait to see what adventure comes next!!

Christmas Day 2007

What did we do on Christmas before there were kids?!?! I mean, really. I guess we just sat around and looked at each other. Today was no exception!

The day started early for me...6:00 a.m. I went over to my parents to make breakfast. I made these delicious blueberry blintzes. Then I took a nap until the Disney's Christmas Day Parade came on! There is nothing better than Disney!

Around lunch time, Mandi, Pep, and Evan came over for lunch. And of course, Evan wanted to tear into his presents as soon as he was done eating. Which was only a few bites. Most of us had just begun!

One of the highlights (if I do say so myself!) was a cowboy hat I made for Evan. And not just ANY cowboy hat. An authentic, home-made Stevie Ray Vaughn replica!! Here's a little background on why Stevie Ray is such a big deal for Evan. He knows EVERY move that Stevie Ray does on his DVD. I mean, EVERY move. Down to when he takes a water break!



Here's some more pics:



Then Matt & Tera came over in time for dinner and to open more presents. Blake walked in with his favorite Christmas gift:

This is Shiloh the beagle. He's so cute and tiny!

I think I know what Evan wants for Christmas next year!!

Here's how the rest of the day played out:





Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Christmas with the Cousins

Several years ago, we started a tradition that I have come to love at Christmas. We go over to my aunt's house and have dinner. And as the kids get older, they get more and more entertaining. Here's some pics of the night:

Wierd Post Update

So, I reluctantly took back the shirt (see below) today. I really liked it, but I could never wear it again! They took it back no problem and just credited my card.

Warning: Weird Post Ahead!

OK...this is perhaps the weirdest thing I've ever seen. Well, let me take that back...I'm a middle school teacher. Trust me, I've seen weirder, but this is right on up there.

I bought this cute shirt at the Gap a few weeks ago to wear the last day of school before winter break. It's green with a silver Christmas tree...if ya can't tell.


Well, when I got home from an exhausted day of candy cane filled middle school adolescents, I went up stairs to wipe off the day and brush out my tangled filled hair. To my utter dismay, as I lifted my arms to brush my hair, I was mortified:



Are you seeing what I'm seeing?! First off, let me say that I am NOT a sweaty person, so this is not sweat. (I can't say that enough, by the way!). And just for the record, those were NOT there when I bought it! What I figured happened is that my deodorant stained it this morning. Has this every happened to you?? Then, I immediately had floods of questions flow into my mind: Did anyone notice? Did I ever lift up my hands? Why me?? Why do bad things happen to good people???

OK...I feel better...ahhhhhhhhh

A Sisterchick Christmas!

My favorite Christmas party of the year was last weekend. The Sisterchick Christmas! We carefully plan the location, the food, and the theme of the gift baskets. It's a tradition almost 10 years in the making.

This year was at Amanda's house. The food theme was tapas and boy did we have enough food to feed an army! One of the highlights is the exchanging of the gift baskets. Past themes have been: room of the house (your basket had to be for a specific room of the house), color (everything in the basket had to be a certain color), movie (the basket had to be about a certain movie) and so on. This year's theme was personalized. We drew names on our cruise and each gift basket had to specific to that person. Of course, all year long we were trying to figure out who had who. (Unfortunately, everyone knew who I had!)

So, here's a little photo journal of that night:

Amanda had me! I got a cute Wonder Woman bag, some cool Sprinkles cupcakes, a way cool tripod for your camera that fits on a water bottle!, a cute cupcake ornament and to top it off...a stellar teacher necklace. See below...



Kristen had Amanda. Her gifts were all homemade! A homemade ipod koozie, a plate, advent calendar, scrapbook of Lydia, scarf. She is unbelievable.


Becky had Mandy. It was the gift basket that never ended! Please take a look at the wrapping :)




Mandi had Becky. Very practical stuff! As Mandi would say..."I stuck to the list!" [We all made lists of our likes and dislikes]


I had my sister. And what little sister doesn't want to be like her big sister?! The problem with me having my sister is that we both have similar taste, so practically everything I picked up for her...I got one for me too :) Merry Christmas to ME!


Mandy had Kristen. K-dogg, as she likes us to call her, is the craft expert, so Mandy got her all sorts of cute paper, punches, stickers and the cutest little pink and brown organizer!


And of course, our traditional group photo (using my cool new tripod!)


Can't wait till next year girls!

Christmas Tour of Homes

How much fun is this? BooMama is hosting a bloggy Christmas tour of homes. I was so excited when I bought my house b/c I knew I'd be able to decorate at Christmas time however I wanted to! So, now I get to share that with you:

When you first walk in, there's a shelf type thingy (for lack of a better word!) that I put a wreath, cross and a little snowman knick knack.


Then walk a little further and you'll come to my tree. I love my tree! It's white, silver and clear. On the counter thingy (I obviously need a little furniture education) next to my tree, I've got a giant ornament on a tray of little ornaments. I also put all my cards on there.


My mantle has 2 little stockings and a garland of white crystal thingies. I also have 2 vases filled with sliver and white ornaments.


Thanks for stopping by!!

Ornament Swap

I'm a part of a swap group over at Flickr. This month, we swapped ornaments and mine just came this week! My swap partner, Amanda sent me some really beautiful snowflake ornaments that match my tree perfect!!



Thanks so much, Amanda! I LOVE them!

Ooooh! I love these!!

Once again I've been tagged for this photo meme. Here's a little info. about me :)

1. Age at my next birthday…

2. Place I’d like to travel…

3. Favorite place…

4. Favorite objects…

5. Favorite food…

6. Favorite color…

7. Nickname…

8. Place I was born…