Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Another Disney Day

 Waiting in line for the cars ride....Radiator Springs Racers.  Grace was terrified the first time we went and hasn't gone since.  Then she promised her daddy she would go (it was just me and the kiddos this day) and yet declared that it was the BEST RIDE EVER!!!!  Of course, the last time we went she wouldn't go on it again.  The pictures below was taken as we were getting on the ride. 



 Sleeping Beauty's castle.  This was the first time we had gone through it.  Not sure why we hadn't gone before but Grace loved it.  She looked at everything....of course Andrew read the story at each window.  That kid loves to read!

 Her favorite......Cinderella
 Usually Andrew complains about riding small world and the carousel.  Actually he thinks Grace's rides are boring!  This day he didn't complain and actually said he had fun!

 We went back that same week with our friends in the picture with Grace and Pluto.  It was fun having little ones around.  We went much slower and just enjoyed our time.
 This is Dale.  Chip had wandered off so now we know that Dale is the one with the reddish nose.  We got a lot of signatures and pictures this day! 

 Andrew refused to take any pictures.  He thought is was boring.
 With Tinkerbell.....one of my favorite pictures.
 We went last Monday with daddy and Grace has been wanting her picture with Lightening McQueen and Mater for quite a while.  She finally got her picture with Lightening.  Maybe we'll catch Mater next time.

 Waiting for daddy and Andrew to get off the Radiator Springs racers. 
 Just hanging out in Fantasyland and Toon Town waiting for daddy and Andrew again.  This time they went on Star Tours.

 She loves this cat and every time we go, we have to go see it in the store.  She really wants to buy it.  The tail is longer than she is tall!


Not sure when our next trip to Disney is but it will probably be in a few weeks on another holiday. 

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Mismatch, makeup, and paint

Is anyone even still out there?  Time seems to fly by and then I realize it has been 2 weeks again since I updated this.  Of course I don't have a lot to write about from day to day but a lot happens in 2 weeks!!  Let's see, Andrew had his first basketball game last Saturday and so far has made a basket in each game he has played in.  He moved up a level and the goal is now 8 1/2 feet and there are some big kids at this level.  I think it's 7-8 year olds but there are some big 8 year olds these days!  The kids have adjusted well to being back at school and back at Lisa's house in the mornings.  I haven't quite adjusted because there is just so much work to be done.  The first grade team plans together on Wednesdays but there are some big projects over the next couple of weeks and I am also rearranging the classroom that I am in and redecorating it.  I can't say much but I am (along with others as they have time) packing up all the stuff that is in the room that belongs to the other teacher and I am making it my own.  I've only changed one bulletin board and moved 2 tables and it already looks like a first grade classroom.  When I finish it I will add more pictures.  It looks much different than the other school that I was at.  This school was built in the mid 80's so it is very old and in desperate need of updates.  I'm finally used to the orange cabinets but believe me it took a while.  I wasn't sure if I could handle being there at the beginning.  I was really sad that I didn't get the job at Andrew and Grace's school and then here I was in this old school with kids that are really, really low.  Now, I can't imagine leaving!  I adore my kiddos now.  They are tough but it's been a rough year and I'm trying to turn it around.  They are already acting better.  They are smiling more and laughing and a few of them will even hug me.  The first week I was there they didn't smile at me.  I was so sad.

Anyway, moving on!  Many of you see my updates on facebook so you are up to date on everything and this may bore you ;)  well except the next picture!

 Scary?  Yes!  She had about $10 to spend and chose some little girl makeup in the toy section.  We are working on using less makeup although I assure her she looks beautiful! 
These pictures are from mismatch day at school.  Andrew wore 2 shirts that didn't match and then our awesome friend (babysitter) did his hair half mohawk, half combed down.  It was actually Grace's idea!
Here is Grace's mismatch outfit.  Not a single thing matched.....even her hair had one braid and one ponytail.  She looked adorable.  I didn't see her until after school and she changed before I could get a picture so when I finally convinced her to put her outfit back on she messed up her buttons but I guess it works for mismatch day also!
This picture is just because I thought she looked so cute that day with her braids!  We were in line waiting for Andrew to come out.  She comes out about 10-12 minutes before he does.  I will never understand why they come out so much earlier and just sit and wait for their parents to get there.
 This is the master bathroom and it was in desperate need of an update.  The wood cabinets were so dry.  It is hard to keep cabinets in good shape out here.  They dry out so quickly.  I used to oil them twice a year and sometimes more but it didn't matter.  So, over Christmas break I painted the cabinets.  I had painted the walls last summer thinking I would have time to finish when the kids went to school but I ended up getting that long term job so it never happened.  Also, last summer mom and I took the shower doors off and I am so much happier without them in there.  They were so hard to clean and just ugly.  
I painted the medicine cabinet to match the wall.  I really wanted to get rid of it but it didn't happen.  I'm going to frame that giant mirror and change out the light switch cover to white.  I really like the way it looks now.  I;m sure I have a before picture somewhere.  Maybe once it is complete I will add a before picture.  Next, I want to finish painting all the baseboards and doors white.  Everything in our house was a very ugly off white....almost yellow.  It drives me crazy.  

Well, that's enough for one post.  I have a lot of fun Disneyland pictures to put on here.  We went 3 times in the last couple of weeks and have quite a few character pictures.  Hope everyone is having a great new year!  I can't believe January is almost over! 

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Back to Life

Tomorrow (Monday) morning we are back to real life. No more vacation and sleeping in.  I have to get up super early and leave here by 6:30 and the kids go back to school.  Not sure I am really ready for tomorrow.  I'm kind of ready for our normal, yet want to stay home a little longer with my kiddos.  We had a really great week.  Of course, it's only 1 week and then we get a holiday next Monday to spend at Disneyland (with everyone else in So Cal)!  I have everything packed and ready to go but trying to get it all organized in a half hour before my students come in the room will not be easy!  I will probably be digging through my bucket a lot tomorrow trying to find everything that I need.  The teachers had meetings on Friday and I could have spent time in the classroom but I had already planned to take the kids to Disneyland that day so we went.  We had a lot of fun. I posted several pictures on facebook but for anyone not friends with me on there I will have to get the pictures of my phone to share with you.  We were there just over 5 hours and only rode a few rides but it was a fun day with our friends.  We went with a friend that has a 7 month old and a 20 month old so it was a slower day than we are used to but really fun!  We spent a lot of time at the beginning getting autographs from the characters that were out front.  It wasn't crowded when we got there so we saw as many as we could right away.  Well, I better finish this up and grab the papers I just printed and get them laminated for tomorrow.  Thankfully I bought a small laminating machine last year to use for teaching Grace at home.  I've gotten a lot of use out of it this year for school.

Have a great Monday and stay warm and safe!

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year



We had a great time on New Year's Eve.  We had some new friends over and the kids had so much fun!  We drank wine (well a couple of us did ;)) and played games and ate lots of food.  In fact, most of my other pictures show my messy kitchen and dining room table so I can't put those on here.  We were too busy having fun to clean up until after midnight!


The pictures are not the best quality since they were taken with my phone and rather quickly I might add.  Nobody was really interested in posing for pictures at midnight ;)
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