Rainy Sunday

Hi everyone!

Hope you have had a good weekend so far! Ours has been a mix of busy and relaxing- perfect!

Friday night we went out to dinner at Red Robin. Now that Reagan is a noisy little bugger we figured we should go to a "family friendly" place. It was packed and they barely squeezed Reagan's high chair in .... he was so close to the table next to us he might as well have been sitting with them! He kept turning around and offering them his cheerios and toys. They were a sweet older couple (thank goodness) and ate him up. They offered him a french fry and played with him. I was beet red that he kept turning around and clearly prefered to be at dinner with them than with his Mom and Dad! haha.. Anyways, we made it through dinner and came home to crash and burn.

Saturday morning we drove to my older sister Jocelyn's house. She had been going through her kiddos old stuff and had boxes for me to go through for Reagan and my class. Reagan got some wonderful new books for his library as did my kids. I also got a bunch of Barbies and toys for the treasure box at school. Lucky little first graders! (Thanks Joc)

Saturday afternoon we drove to Nick's Dad and Stepmoms house. Reagan got some fun GPA and GMA time and I was able to get some new baby love! Their baby Cooper just turned 3 months old and is already getting so much bigger! Here are some pictures of the boys.

I am so excited for them to grow up as best buddies!

Reagan and his Grandpa Bruce
Reagan patting his Uncle Cooper's head

Reagan and Cooper (Reagan doesnt sit still for very long!)

Today is a rainy Sunday. I woke up and started to be productive.... putting away the new goodies from Jocelyn and trying to get more old stuff ready for our garage sale (in a couple of weeks). But its so hard not to be lazy in this kind of weather. Nick went with a friend to the gun show downtown... so Reagan and I will probably just clean house and play. I have a few errands to run and report cards to do....but we'll see how that goes!

Wishing you all a Super Sunday!

Another post?

Wow, 2 posts in one day? Lucky you!

Refresher- I teach first grade in a very needy school.

Every year I do a "Flat Stanley" project after we read the book. I buddy each student in my class up with a friend or family member of mine across the country. My first graders write a letter, decorate a Flat Stanley, and take a photograph of themselves. I them mail their letters across the country. My friends and family "take in" the Stanleys and document what they did with him. After some adventures, the Stanleys are mailed back to our classroom. It is always a highlight for my students and me!

This year has been fantastic.

We have received 13 back so far. Our Stanleys have traveled to California, Washington, Colorado, Wisconsin, Texas, Montana, South Dakota, Ohio, Florida, Tucson and even Australia! I will keep you posted when we get more back.

My dad even took a Stanley with him to the Superbowl a couple of weeks ago. He got Kurt Warner (AZ Cardinals quarterback) to take a picture with the Stanley. Pretty amazing , huh?

I have the most amazing friends and family! Love you all!

our wall thus far

Kurt Warner and Stanley at the airport

Top 2 Tuesdays
Top 2 Favorie TV Shows

Well, I must confess I am a bit of a tv addict.... er.... was.

But having a baby has actually helped tame this habit.

There is rarely a show that I can sit down and watch from begining to end anymore!

Poor, pitiful me!

Anyway.... my top, must - see shows are:

1) The Office

Seriously.. I kind of am obsessed with Michael Scott. I could watch our Office DVDs forever. Some family and friends tell me they dont understand the show.. and I dont understand them... what is not to love? To be completely honest- Reagan just grabbed the remote and turned the channel from the Olympics to the Office. No Joke. (For you office fans- its the scene where Jim is telling Dwight where he can by "Gaydar".)

2) The Real Housewives (all seasons!)

I love this show. Kind of obsessive. I love to see what they are wearing, how they do their hair, and how they decorate. Plus, the drama. They are so catty which makes for very entertaining tv. Who is your fave? I love Tamara although I def have Vickie moments... but I promise Im not that bad!

It has been awhile.... and some first grade giggles!

Sorry it has been awhile since I have last written!

It was a busy week.

Some Fun Highlights:

Weds night we met with the realtor and signed the initial paperwork for the house (the house is now in escrow)... so now we are moving on to the next step and waiting for the bank to decide. The dreaded waiting game! But fingers crossed and lots of prayers! Reagan's first top tooth popped through which alleviated lots of pressure for him. Since the tooth has popped he has been sleeping through the whole night (which is wonderful)! Reagan also has started saying "Mama" for the first time. It is so special! I seriously can't hear it enough. :) Friday night I met with my girlfriends for dinner and laughs. There is nothing better than laughing with friends. I love these girls. The rest of the weekend included me working with my first grade team on curriculum mapping and sleeping- Ive been feeling under the weather again.... I cant seem to get enough rest!

First Grade Writing

So I was reading my class' "power writes" from this past week and I couldn't stop laughing out loud. Power writes help prepare them for our District Writing test when they are graded on the 6 traits of writing (in April). I know, I know- hard for 6 year olds... I completely agree! But regardless, I give power writes to have them practice writing independently for 30 minutes without help of a teacher. And here are some of the highlights from this week's power write. (The prompt was "Write a story about if you went to visit the White House).... I will leave the spelling and punctuation as is... for authenticity's sake!

I Fart by Jose

One day I went to the White House. We ate and herd a enormous fart! it stinks. I wondered if it was the presidents because it was a enormous fart? And then I saw Washington picking his nose. And Obama was useing the tolit. Abe was eating tamales. And I was farting and it was a fantastic fart! And it became a horeble day.

The Best Day by Sophia

Onec I was the president and I went swimming and I even went to the theaters. And watched the movie Bavafa. it was funny and after the movie I went to take my family for dinner at old country buffet.

The Best Visit at the Wit Hose by Anna

I swam in his pool. it was the best day avre. i evin got too go bollen (bowling). i evein soll (saw) his spesh (speech) too.

The First White House by Tanya

Once there was Brock Obomae and I met him. I sade to sleep at the white house. i herd it skairy and i feld something brithing on me. it was a goste. i ran to Brackobamae's room. He was gone. i ran to find him. He was trapped. i set up a trap. First i got some nets for I could steck up. Nets I got out some pen's. Last I got the goste. I helped the president. He was happy. The end.

The Valintine Day at the White House by Fiza

One day at the "humungous" white house! It was valintine day! I got a presdent for the presedent. He was shocked! He said in a nice voice "thank you". He gave me a present too! He mailed it to me. The present he gave me was great.

The White Housee by Maria

Once there was a white house. It was beautiful and whitish. did you know hoa lived there it was brokaboma. first i read about brokaboma he had a mother and two sisters ( i think she meant a wife and two daughters) . his mother was facktakular ( think fantastic and spectacular combined). brokaboma is hansum and sweet. he has a hansum white house. his sister is so beautiful.

My Valentines Weekend

How was your Valentine's weekend?

Ours was great!
Friday was a fun day to be a first grade teacher. We read valentines books, played games, sang songs, and exchanged cards. My kids were very thoughtful and random- but it makes it even more fun!

Saturday we met my parents and sister Meg at a great little restaurant called Liberty Market. We ate lots and laughed as Reagan at his blueberry pancakes for the first time.

Reagan with his present from Aunt Meg

Reagan and his Paka at breakfast

Then my mom and I drove to visit my friend Megan from the blog "Just One of the Boys" . She and I have been friends since we were in 6th grade and basically lived at each other's houses growing up. She just added another little boy to her family- baby Owen. He is precious and I was in love holding a baby so small!

Saturday night Nick and I got a call from my parents inviting us over to BBQ at their house on Sunday for lunch. They said they had a house they wanted to show us too. This was pretty out of the blue.... we always knew we would love to move to Scottsdale. My family and I are incredibly close and I always longed to live closer to them again. Turns out there was a house in their neighborhood that just went on the market for a short sale. The woman who owned it was an interior decorator had done some amazing things to the inside.

Sunday We ate a yummy lunch and enjoyed the beautiful AZ weather! We took some pictures and then walked down to the potential house. It is within a coldisac(sp?) so its not on a busy road - great for little Reagan! Also because it is on a coldisac the backyard was huge. It had a big grass area and lots of rocks for the dogs. It also had a large patio area where we could totally picture Reagan with a little basketball hoop and tricycles. (aww) So... we ended up putting a bid on the house and are waiting to hear. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers! And I will keep you posted!

Today (Monday) Nick and I both have off work for President's day. We decided to take Reagan to his sitter's so we could celebrate each other and just be together. Sometimes you just need time without the baby to spend quality time with your hubby. We have had a lazy morning. Nick made me breakfast. We are going to go get our wedding rings cleaned and then have sushi for lunch. Honestly, not sure what else is in store- but just soo excited to spend time with my love.

I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend and feel as loved as I do.

xxoo

Wedding Wednesday!

So , for today's installment of the Valenine's Day extravaganza, we are asked to talk about our wedding and our favorite moments from it.... so here goes!

I was always one of those girls who dreamed of their wedding day. I couldnt wait to wear a princess dress, get all fancified, get married to my prince charming, and be surrounded by family and friends. After Nick and I got engaged (sorry I missed this day's entry ladies... but long story short it was Easter Sunday in 2005), my mom and I immediately started planning. We set the date for the following March- perfect Arizona weather (or so we thought).

We took tours of various resort and reception areas and decided on a resort so that my friends and family wouldnt have to drive anywhere after a long night of partying - they could just walk up to their rooms. We picked a large courtyard within the resort as the wedding ceremony site and picked the ballroom for the reception. I went to one bridal shop (the same one we had purchased my Cotillion gown from) and I immediately fell in love with a Romona Kevesa gown. It was huge and weighed a ton, but I couldnt wait. I got very long veil, got the princess jewelry , and the perfect Stuart Weitzman shoes. I knew it was going to be perfect. My flowers and linens would be various shades of pink (my favorite) and every little detail was covered.

But then, the day of the weddinng...... we wake up to pouring rain. It hadnt rained in Scottsdale in over 160 days and it chose to absolutely pour on our wedding day. I can remember everyone being frantic but not trying to upset the bride..... the resort was awesome and moved the wedding ceremony into a different ballroom. The florist was amazing and somehow made the ballroom look even better than I imagined the original plan to be. I can remember my mom driving us through sheets of rain to go get our hair done. (I think while we were all doing this, the boys were in the wedding suite drinking...typical).

Anyways- even with all the rain it was the perfect wedding.

The ceremony was intimate as I walked down the isle with my dad to a Spanish guitarist. My husband and I recited our vows (barely- I was a sobbing mess). The reception was equally fantastic. The florist/designer was amazing. He created candelabras for us and even named them after my mother ("The Victorias") haha... The DJ was perfect and evewryone from my 3 year old niece to my 88 year old grandaddy were dancing.

Here are some pictures and more memories!

Enjoy!

One of our tables and the candelabras

You may now kiss the bride
Cutting the cake

Surprising Nick with his "Greenbay Packer" groomscake

Some of Nick's fraternity brothers singing to me

My dad giving his perfect toast

Every bride's favorite pic- How manybridesmaids does it take to go potty?
With my beautiful bridesmaids

Tuesday's Top 2......

My Tuesday's Top 2 DREAM JOBS.......

For those of you that don't know... I am a first grade teacher and love, love, love my job. But my absolute dream jobs would be: 1) a talk show host (with celebrity guests from tv, movies, music, etc... how awesome would that be?) 2) a party planner (I would love to spend other people's money to help them plan birthday parties, holidays, etc.)

What would your dream jobs be???

Oooh fun!

So fun! I was just given a new blogger award from Katie at http://katiefinn411.blogspot.com/ .

Thanks blogger-friend! :)

"This award means you're really going places, Baby. You'll still be blogging about your great adventures 10 years from now, and I'll still be reading them. "

The Rules:
Link back to the blogger who sent you the award.
Post where you would like to be in 10 years.
Pass this on to 10 other special bloggers.

Hmmm... In ten years I will be 38. (Wow.) I will be happily married to my husband Nick and we will be surrounded by friends and family. We will still be living in Arizona. Reagan will be 10 years old (scary!) and will hopefully have a younger sibling. Nick will be in a career he loves and is successful at and I will either be teaching first grade (my fave grade) or being a reading coach at a school or a company teaching teachers how to be better teachers. We will hopefully be able to travel and experience everything the world has to offer!

Okay, I am awarding the following bloggers!

1. Taylor at Jimmy Choos and a Baby Too

2. Megan at Just One of the Boys

3. Jenny at The Olson Family

4. Kelsey at Seatle Smiths

5. Short Southern Mamma

6. Leslie at Lambert's Lately

7. Lianna at Growing Our Own Garden

8. Brit at Dave and Brit plus One

9. Lulu at the Dirty Martini Diaries

10. Lindsey at Learning to Be a Wife

Sunday's Valentine's Extravaganza

Mama M at http://www.blogger.com/www.fivecrookedhalos.blogspot.com is doing a week long Valentine celebration. I thought today I would join in on her fun!

Today, she asked us all to tell the story of how we met our true loves.

Nick and I met for the first time freshman year of college. I was friends with and lived on the same floor of the dorm with one of his fraternity brothers. One night I went to a party with him and met Nick. I referred to him as "red shirt boy". I thought he was hot but knew he had a bad reputation so flirting was the extent of our relationship. A few years later he began to really pursue me. He was the president of his fraternity and I was the president of my sorority so we spent more and more time together. I decided I was up for the challenge and thought I could change his bad boy ways.... I did, and the rest is history! We have been married for almost 4 years and have a beautiful baby boy.

Week in Review

Hi Everyone!

Hope you all had a great week! I can not believe it is February already...can you?

This week flew by.

My friends (who also happen to be teammates at school) and I were lucky enough to attend a 2 day conference . We saw a couple of great speakers and learned some awesome new reading strategies. (Aren't teachers the biggest nerds ever? We love, love, love to learn!) What else? I took Reagan to the dr. on Thursday after school .... turns out he has another ear infection and hasnt been sleeping because of it ... as well as the fact that he is getting his 2 front , upper teeth. Poor guy- his teeth are really causing him pain! Tylenol will be his new best friend. Friday was busy at work and crashed and burned.

Today Nick and I took Reagan to the zoo. We bought a membership but have only been twice in the last year. So we figured we had better make the most of it. It was a perfect day for the zoo. The weather was gorgeous! (sorry friends who are getting crummy weather!) We spent the entire afternoon in the children's area. We had a picnic lunch, went to the petting zoo, and saw farm animals. We went home for a quick nap and then my mom and sister came over. They hadnt seen Reagan in a couple of weeks, so they were eager to see him and his new "tricks". After hanging out, we all went out for some delicious pasta. As I type this, Reagan is banging on the metal trashcan like a drum, giggling like a wild man, and Nick is watching The Hurt Locker.

Here are some pics from our day at the zoo with our little monkey!

Happy 10 months Reagan!

Wow, I can't believe another month has flown by!

Reagan is 10 months old today!

I will do a quick list of his current favorites:

- loves hitting everything (including us and the dogs) with his bat

- loves walking/pushing his toys around the floor

-loves pushing in all of the chairs around the kitchen table

-loves to bang on the toilet (especially when Britney Spears is playing-no joke)

- loves to crawl-race us when we both spot something tempting (ie. the dog water bowl, etc)

- loves watching dogs (ours, the babysitter's, dog books, etc) and saying "dawww, dawww"

-loves eating mini pancakes and yogurt

Reagan- 1 week old

Reagan- 1 month old

Reagan- 6 months old

Reagan- 10 months old

Picture from him Valentine Cards!

Today I linked up to this fun Tuesday question... My top 2 movies of all time!

I love lots of movies... but chick flicks are def the way to my heart!

1. Fried Green Tomatoes

I love, love ,love this movie... I still can remember the day my family saw it in the theater- and we couldnt stop talking about it... (I was def in grade school)! I also remember walking out and the usher saying "The secret is in the sauce".. Classic.. I bought it when it came out on video and watched it all the time..... It is still a fave of mine and has so many good scenes... I def have moments I wish I talk like Idgie. A side tidbit- when we were younger- my mom got a personalized plate to say "Towanda!"
2. My second favorite is Love Actually. This is another one I could watch over and over. I love the characters, the love story, and the music. This is definately one that gets busted out every Decemeber!


On a side note- how hilarious is this picture? This was Reagan after dinner tonight!

Good thing its a bath night!