Busy Weekend

Mike and I have had a busy weekend! Saturday, Mike cleaned out the garage and put up all the summer stuff for the winter (bags, camping stuff, my bike, etc), and I cleaned up the plant beds. I began taking down the fence for our garden, but my stomach started to hurt from all the bending over, so Mike finished the job for me :). Mike also hung the outside Christmas lights.

Sunday, we both worked on putting plastic on the windows.... I know it looks so classy :/, but it really does keep our horribly insulated, drafty house a lot warmer in the winter, so its totally worth it. We also put up the Christmas tree, and I made chocolate chip cookies and homemade cheesy potato soup.


Potato Soup with bacon, cheese, and sour cream--amaaaazing!

Our tree--the cats think that the ornaments are fun dangling cat toys waiting to be knocked off the tree. (And I feel dumb admitting this, but I just learned how to spell ornament--I honestly thought the word was ordament, with a D sound, I have been saying it wrong all my life :/,--Mike teaches me so much ;)


This is the new ornament that my parents brought to me on Friday when they came to visit my classroom. Its me and Mike, having a baby :)

Our lovely plastic--it really does work!


Our outside Christmas lights


And finally, relaxing on the couch with kitties in our laps :)

12 Weeks

I am nearing the end of the 1st trimester, and looking forward to the 2nd trimester with its promises of less nausea and more energy :) I can't wait!

I am beginning to develop a small bump--here is the picture, and I promise not to show my bare tummy every time--I just did it this time because you really can't see it when I'm wearing clothes, and I am just so happy its there, I can't help but show it!


I am not quite into maternity clothes yet, but Maurene and I went shopping on Sunday and to get me started so I am ready for when my clothes stop fitting. Here are the things we got--4 pairs of "school" pants, 1 pair of jeans, and 3 shirts.


And this is the cat that made it difficult to take pictures of my clothes because he so desperately wanted to be in a picture. So here's a picture of Charles.

Our Baby

We're having a baby!

Mike and I went to the doctor on Monday for our first prenatal visit, and we got to hear our baby's heartbeat and movements on a Doppler monitor. The doctor told us that everything is looking and sound great. I am at 10 1/2 weeks right now, and due to have the baby around May 30th. The timing should work out nicely with the end of the school year, giving me an extra long maternity leave for summer :) . . . (that is, of course, if everything goes as scheduled--which I know doesn't always happen with babies or school years).

I am beginning to feel a lot better as I am getting closer the the end of the 1st trimester. I have been nauseous since week 3, and the last 2 days I have felt the best I have felt since September--Mike and I even went on a date last night because I finally felt like leaving the house for a meal. I have been eating a lot of fruit because that is one of the few things that sounds good too me... food in general just hasn't sounded good for the last 8 weeks--which is the complete opposite of how I usually am--I LOVE food, so it's strange to have the thought of food make my stomach turn for 2 months.

Other than the nausea, I have had the other typical pregnancy conditions--exhaustion and moodiness (mostly caused by the exhaustion and feeling nauseous for 2 months straight--and maybe some hormones too ;) ). My husband is a wonderful, patient person who has put up with my tired, crabby self, and I am very thankful for him! He has had PB & J for countless dinners because I didn't feel like cooking, he has run to the grocery store to get Mac & Cheese for me after me crabbing at him because there wasn't any in the cupboard when I thought there was, and he kept the house clean and laundry done because I felt like just laying around or sleeping. He really has been great through the whole thing, and I appreciate him very much!

In addition to my baby, my sister will also be having a baby in May, so we will be adding two more grandkids to the Gries family, who already has Ashton. For the Schimmel's this will be the 3rd grandkid--Isabella and Kaylen are both still under a year. And for the Entner's this will be the 1st grandkid. Our families are very excited, and so are we!

Sick.

I have been sick for a week now with a cold. I have felt absolutely awful this whole time--except for Wednesday--I honestly thought I was getting better Wednesday, but I was fooled. Since Monday I haven't been able to use my "teacher voice." I had a talk with the kids on Monday about my voice sounding funny and scratchy, and the rest of the week I had kids telling me that they thought they were getting a cold too because their voices were scratchy too--it was cute.

Normally I don't go to the doctor for a cold because I get colds all the time, I teach Kindergarten--it's going to happen. Thursday morning I was awake from 2-5 because I couldn't lay down and breathe without feeling like I was drowning on all the stuff in my lungs, so I decided it was probably time to go to the doctor for this one. Turns out I have bacterial infection in my respiratory system, probably from the cold (duh). I was given an antibiotic and sent on my way. I took a sick day half of yesterday and then today as well. Today is an inservice day at WM, so I at least didn't have to get things ready for a sub. I slept in until 11 today, and I am hoping the medication starts clearing out some of this stuff from my body soon. We are heading to Harlan this weekend for Ashton's 2nd birthday party, so I am hoping to feel better for that.

Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library

Today I had a moment of pure happiness. I was in the library with my class for their weekly check-out time when a student asked where the Corduroy books were. Mrs. Pelfrey, our librarian, was busy checking kids out, so I said I would look for the Corduroy books. I found the Corduroy book right where Mrs. Pelfrey said it would be, by the Don Freeman books. After I pulled out the book, I looked at the book beside it, and I saw the book Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library--I couldn't believe it!! I immediately pulled it off the shelf, and it looked just like I remembered it. When I was in about 1st grade, this book was my favorite book. I would check it out almost weekly from the New Park School library. I would bring it home, and my mom would say something like, "Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library, again?!?" I absolutely loved that book!! Until today, I had not seen that book in probably 20 years (I can't believe I'm old enough to say I haven't done something in 20 years). Like a child I got really excited and told Mrs. Pelfrey all about my find, and I had to check out the book.

This afternoon, I sat down with my class and told them all about why the book was special to me. We had a talk about how they have favorite books the like to hear over and over again, and Quiet! There's a Canary in the Library was my favorite. Then I read them the story, and it was just like I remembered it. I was so happy to read it to them! Later, I texted my mom a photo of the cover and asked her if she remembered that book, and of course she did. She asked if I told them about how much I loved that book when I was a kid, and I said of course I did.

I don't want to sound completely cheesy when I say this, but finding that book made me feel all happy inside. It just flooded me with memories of being a kid, and reading the book with my mom. There aren't very many things that can bring that kind of simple joy.

Life Lately

It's been a while since I posted.... We've been busy, but we haven't really been doing anything. Let's see... what have we been up to...

I tried a few new recipes, chicken tortilla soup, a sweet and snappy chili, and shrimp Alfredo with mushroom, and they were all amazing.

I have fallen in love with avocados. I mash avocados with chopped tomato and red onion, then mix in a little salt, and I am in heaven--I could eat the whole bowl every time I make it if Mike didn't insist that I save some for him.

The number of mosquitoes has finally dropped so it is once again enjoyable to walk the trails through the wooded area near our house. Mike and I went on a walk last night--I absolutely LOVE this time of year, the leaves are changing, the temps are cooler, and did I mentioned the mosquitoes are finally starting to die down.

I have a great class this year. I absolutely love my job!! Anyone who knows me knows I love my job. I am amazed all the time at what the kids learn and say. When the year started I wondered to myself how the kids make it so far by the end of the year, but they do, and my kids are already on their way. The kids have already begun reading books and writing sentences, and both are things that they weren't able to do a month ago.

Now after explaining how much I love my job, I am going to say that today was not a good day, and you will have those. Since the first day we have been talking about good choices and bad choices. Today there were a lot of bad choices--way more than normal. At one point I felt like giving the kids my crazy eyes and yelling, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" But of course I didn't, I just stayed calm and firm and let them know that their choices were bad choices. Every teacher has these days, and today was mine.

I have conferences next week on Monday and Wednesday (I think.. maybe its Thursday--I better check on that). I really don't mind conferences--I like talking to parents, and they go really fast because they are one right after another... the only downside is not getting home until 8:30 and then having to go back 11 hours later and teach again--I just end up feeling exhausted by the end.

The political people came knocking a few weeks ago to see if we were going to vote. I told them that I probably wouldn't in this election, and somehow the man talked me into signing up for a mail ballot--it was probably the most annoying mistake I have ever made. The candidates call all the time--seriously, all the time. I get several calls a day from candidates. I never answer them, so they leave prerecorded voice mails. We keep getting mail saying who we should vote for. I understand that I am an American, and this is my job, but to be honest, I don't want to deal with all the "I say this,and I'm the best candidate because..." and the "They are bad because" campaining that gets thrown at me all the time. I will make a choice based on research, not annoying phone calls.

And the new TV seasons have started... I am watching Biggest Loser on Tuesday and 30 Rock and The Office on Thursdays. We only get one channel--NBC--so we are limited to what we watch. We talked about getting cable again, but really, I just want to spend as little money as possible. I want to save for a house, pay off my car, and focus on bigger goals. We have Netflix, and that keeps us entertained for $9 a month--I think that's pretty good.

So there you have it. A bunch of brief updates about our lives. :)

More Owls

I kinda went nuts on the Owl Quilt this weekend. Since yesterday, I have finished the applique--all 16 owls and 4 trees! My machine was a champ!

These are all my owls (and yes, I know the picture is sideways--it's the right direction on my camera, it's the right direction in the file on my computer, but for some reason when I upload it, its sideways. I've done it 4 times--still the same sideways picture. Its staying that way, I guess)

These are the trees for the center.