"I should have never left the house".....

This is what I was saying to myself yesterday as I was tyring to find a way into my house!

Here's the scoop:

A comedy of errors-
Saturday evening we (me & the boys) went over to Nicole's house for a "widow's night" since both of our hubby's were in Green Bay watching the Lions make history(in 22 degree weather).....and BAD history at that, the first time ever an NFL team has finished the season 16-0, meaning 16 loses and 0 wins, correct me if I'm wrong, but it was some horrible statistic like that I'm pretty sure. (Didn't know I new so much about sports...uh?:) Poor Lions! Anyways on with the story.... So, we have a fun filled night at Nicole's, the boys watched the intolerable Speed Racer movie once again, ate cheese popcorn, and jumped around the living room like two hyeena's until bedtime....Nolan and Hudson sat staring at each other aimlessly, chewing on toys, & crawling around (Nolan that is...) just being curious 7 month olds. Later after the boys went to bed and Nicole's nieces got picked up we scrapbooked and chatted till' waaaaaay past my normal bedtime, but it was much needed on my part, I think I might be getting back into the scrapping mode! YAY!!

Okay, fast forward to Sunday 9am., after leaving Nicole's. I thought it would be nice to get home nice and early, take a shower/get ready, get the boys cleaned up and let Nolan take his morning nap, get all of us ready to be on the road by 12pm. as we had to head out to Sterling Heights (1hr. 45 min. drive) for a family Christmas Party..... thinking 3 hrs. should give me plenty of time right.(?) Hmmmm... So, I thought. I drive up to my house and I was thinking - I'm sure I left the lights on outside the garage, as this is a habit of mine, so when I get home I have lights when it's dark. No lights on. Then, I push the garage door opener and it doesn't work.....hmmm? I continue to press it another 5 times like a moron thinking if it didn't work on the 2nd try it'll surely work on the 5th try. Duh! So, no lights, no garage door open, and guess what.... I have no house key... I tend not to carry one since I usually open my garage door and leave the house door to the garage unlocked or I'm with my husband who has em' on him. At this point for some crazy reason I start to get ticked off at Don....thinking something had to be wrong with our garage door...like it needed a new battery, or it broke, or a fuse blew, or something happened that just had to be his fault and if he wouldn't of told me to just lock the house up and come through the garage none of this would be happening damn-it...thanks Don!!! (Am I the only insane wife who if something happens it somehow has to be the fault of her husband, even if he's out-of-state....I know, I'm crazy I tell ya!) So, I tried to get in through a few windows...they were locked, tried ALL my doors hoping I left one unlocked-Nada! Finally, I called my parents & my mother-in-law to see if they had spare keys....nope. And this is when I find out from my MIL we lost electricity from the wind storm the night before(Ooops, sorry Don, not your fault). The one that kept me up 1/2 the night & I was already going on only about 4/5hrs. of sleep anyways...... niiiiiiice, I'm locked out AND sleep deprived, trying to figure out how I was going to get myself and kids ready for this party with no way into my house, no Christmas outfits from the Gap/Macy's for the boys to wear, no clothes for myself, and no Christmas present to take for the gift exchange! *Mind you I have a 3 yr. old & 7 month old, so anywhere I go I pack almost everything but the kitchen sink! How the hell am I gonna pull this off? Needless to say, the day is NOT going how I planned! UGH! We eventually head over to my parents house get unpacked and I rummage through our overnight/yesterday clothing figuring out what I can possibly put on my kids, then I rummage through my Mom's emergency clothes she keeps for the boys and find them a half-way decent looking outfit...but, it's definitely not the cute Gap & Macy's outfits I had bought for them....waaaaah! Then I attempt to find a sweater to wear from my mother's closet......let's just say we're not exactly the same size, plus she has no curling iron and my hair is....well, let's just say it's untameable without an iron! We head out to the Christmas Party and I'm feeling and looking like a hot mess, stressed out from being in the car with a toddler, 7 month old, & my parents for 2 hrs., and no husband to vent too, but..... we still had a great time (okay, I did after a strong glass of wine, or two :))

Monday morning and we finally got electricity! Woo-Hoo! Let me tell ya, unexpectedly living out of an overnight bag for 48 hrs. with 2 small children, staying with my crazy, yet loving parents ;), and NO husband in sight is not my idea of a fun weekend! LOL! I think I was also a little bitter knowing that my husband was having a good ol' time drinking beer with his buddies watching a football game while I was a mad woman trying to hold on to the few shreds of sanity I had left.

Oh, and to top it off, I can't find my wedding rings...... hoping they're at my parents house!? Ha! Why the hell should I be surprised after the type of weekend I had?!

As, I was walking through the door this morning I was thinking to myself "I should have never even left the house this weekend"...... ever have one of those days/weekends/weeks, where you feel like you have a bad omen/karma? And all you can do is laugh because you think, could it get any worse, yet it's comical at the same time?!

Hope your weekend went a little smoother than mine :)

Aren't we the lucky ones....

Yes, we sure are. Santa made a grande stop at our house on *Christmas Eve*.... Donnie, Nolan, Daddy, & Mommy got all they could have wished for. And, but of course, we had two other fa-bu-lous Christmas's at Grandma & Grandpa Huff's house and at my parent's house (Grandma and Grandpa Senn's). These two little boys were/are spoiled..... I hate saying that, but honestly after seeing our trunck this evening on the way home aaannnnd realizing what Santa had already brought them at our house the only way to say it honestly is... spoiled! I figure that's okay you're only a little kid once in your life.... then the novelty of the holiday fads away, & it's less expensive for Santa now than when their teenagers...right! ;) Donnie definitely had a few "WOW! Factor" presents - as Don would say(that's a whole other story... as Don had to make sure Santa brought a "Wow! Factor" present...huh??). They were most definitely this and *this- *I was really impressed with this as we got it set up...very cool (Toy House...my favorite)! It was a lot of fun to watch Donnie this year as he is starting to really "get it" and have some concept of what is happening. Nolan, well, he was mostly interested with the bows and eating the wrapping paper...(I new we should have just wrapped empty boxes! LOL!) We were very blessed to have such a wonderful Christmas this year, as I know it's a hard time for many families struggling this holiday season, we are truly lucky. My one regret....we didn't make Jesus a Birthday Cake this year, that was one of my goals to do with Donnie, but plans for Christmas Eve changed at the last minute therefore changing Christmas Day plans slightly and we just didn't have time. Next year...it WILL happen (even if we do it on Christmas Eve), as I want this to be a tradition that I can carry on with my children. I do have to say, I think Donnie understood(to the extent a 3 yr. old can understand) some of the stories we read and talked to him about what Christmas is REALLY all about.

**Now for the few returns tomorrow....ugh! Wish me luck!**

Merry Christmas to all .... and to all a goodnight :) I'm pooped!

Randomness

A bit sad today.....

Something happened, not a BIG deal, but I was hurt by it. One of those things where maybe I'm just being too overly sensitive, but maybe not.? I feel as though maybe I did something to deserve it, but not sure what(?)(if I did, I didn't mean to)....type of situation. And if I say something and I didn't do anything I'm gonna feel stupid or too overly sensitive about it....know what I mean? Have you ever been in one of those awkward situations? It's not something I'm going to indulge with details.... I just feel a bit upset/bummed about it today.

In other news: My shopping is DONE! Thank the Lord! I have my family Christmas party tomorrow with my Mom's family at our house, it's always fun....my family is LOUD & crazy(but, I love it)!! So, I'm hoping that will lift my spirit a bit. Planning, organizing, shopping, etc.... always a good distraction from "life". Oh, and Nolan is CRAWLING!! My baby is a moving machine! He started moving a few little inches a few days ago and in the past two days he's been ALL over the living room floor....it's too cute. I will officially say he's crawling for real...hand and knees, no army crawl (which Donnie did forever it seemed)! Of course when I saw him get in the position and actually move for the first time I felt like the only mother on earth who ever saw her baby crawl for the first time..... it's such a good fuzzy feeling inside! I love those moments! :)

Anyways, the kids are napping and I've gotta get two gifts ready for the Great Gramma's tonight, so I better get to it while the boys are sleeping.

Hope everyone is having a festive holiday!

My Boys

I could just snuggle this kid all day long.... he so soft & squishy! I just wanna squeeeeeeze him!! :)

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Uhhhhhh ..... thanks Don, for helping out with bath time while I'm at work. But, do you have to torture our son for your own personal amusement.?

Don has a love affair with the hair gel & our sons while I'm not looking........*Case in point* Nolan.

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Donnie in his own little world...... his "winter wonderland!" The boy loves the snow- thank goodness! .... my husband will one day have a built in snowmobile partner.

Ahhhhh.... shaving cream on the table, always a fun adventure for a 3 yr. old. Preschool at the Huff Compound..... scary! LOL!

Update......

Holy Mother Mary!! It's been AGES since I've last posted....

Updates:

• Getting ready for the Holiday's approaching.... Love em' & Hate em', know what I mean?? I'm a little 'ba humbog' this year, no particular reason why. (MUST get in the spirit for the Holiday's :)
• Headed up to the cabin this weekend..... main game plane = Christmas cookies (I know the Hubby is secretly wishing for 6 inches of snow to snowmobile ;) that should get me in the spirit.?
• Nolan has been getting into that crawl position, the one where his legs go under his belly, but then he's not quite sure what to do after that :) He's still an amazingly content little man, he's SO stinkin' sweet, love it! Oh, yeah... BIG NEWS ..... Nolan was Baptized last Sunday! I made him and Donnie wear matching outfits and they looked adorable I might add (yes, I was that mom, but I don't care these little sweater vests were A-dorable!)
• Had a night out with the hubs last weekend, Friday night dinner at Daryl's with some friends from out-of-town..... Mmmmmm, Daryl's is so good, I wish we got out to dinner more often, it was delish and we had lot's of laughs at dinner....good times!
• Donnie.... Total "Drama King" lately! Still not taking much interest in Nolan.... the other day he told me "I no have to like Nowan, me no like Nowan", just out of the clear blue for no apparent reason, I guess so I had no questions in my head as to.... "Does he or doesn't he.?" Thanks, for letting me know Donnie! ;)
• Trying to get out of the staff basketball game against the 6th graders at school....yes...Basketball Game! No, I didn't sign myself up, I was recruited.... that's because of my killa skillz of course! bahahaha! But, I am seriously getting nervous....this'll be an experience! Haha!

** More to come...sooner than later! Hopefully, with my chipper Christmas spirit in tow!

How cool is this??

So, I had a party last night... a candle/massage party. Just a simple get together (with about 20 people...thanks, Jacqui!). Don't ask me how we went through 2 bottles of wine in 1/2 hour, but I have a feeling it was a Friday night de-stresser, from all the hectic-ness of the work week. KWIM? And it wasn't a " product party", the type where someone gets up and does a presentation and you look through a catalog, order a few things, and try to get roped into having a party at your house. Not that those are bad (hell, I just enjoy getting out of the house :), but it was more or less me hosting a "get together" for my cousin who make soy candles, and a friend who is a massage therapist, and an excuse to have friends over for some wine and appetizers. Anyways, it was a lot of fun....the last person left at about 11:30pm., it ended at 9:00pm., needless to say I'm tired today...laying low. Okay, this really isn't even what I wanted to write about...... So, on with the cool info. I was listening in on last night.....

(A little bit of background info.) My mom used to do daycare for a lady in our neighborhood when I was growing up. She watched her kids from the time they were 3 months old - 5 yrs., when they started school. Through this we became great friends with the family and have stayed friends with them throughout the years. Well, of course the election was mentioned last night and Donna (the family friend) was telling us that her nephew from Ionia is Barack Obama's personal assistant! His name is Nicholas(not sure of the last name), and he grew up in Ionia, raised by a single parent, went to a community college for 2 years, then transferred to U of M, finished his undergraduate degree there and was eventually hoping to go to Law School. He was looking into Law Schools and from what she was saying is the Law Schools he was applying to are VERY competitive and EXPENSIVE! So, he decided to put a few years into just working and putting Law School on the back burner for a while. He moved to Chicago and while working at a Law Firm or City Organization(not sure which) in Chicago, he was introduced to Barack Obama.! Barack seemed to be impressed with Nicholas's character and ambition, and asked him to come and work on his campaign, eventually he become one of Barack's personal assistant's on the campaign trail. How cool is that!! I love the fact that he's just a small town boy from Ionia Michigan, an ordinary College Graduate (in debt) trying to make ends meet, working his way up in his field of interest, and now he has this awesome opportunity..... without even "knowing" the right people (for an in, getting your foot in the door)..... It's one of those "hard work really does pay off in the end" stories.....I love it! I can't wait to talk to my kids about it at school on Monday, it'll be my soap box speech... "you can be ANYTHING you wanna be stories, all you have to do is work hard", just listen to what happened to this small town kid from Ionia Michigan who was just an ordinary College Student a few years ago and now he's going to Washington D.C. with BARACK OBAMA, the new PRESIDENT of The United States!!! Oh, yeah I didn't mention that.... he's headed to Washington too! I don't think he'll have a problem getting into a competitive Law School now, what- do ya think? ;) I'm actually going to try to get a mailing address from her so my kids at school can write a supportive congratulations card to Barack! Yay!

I like this story, just thought I'd share some inspiration :)

A blur......

Okay, my weekend consists of:

• Laundry
• Feeding Family
• Grocery Shopping
• A Target run
• Picking up messes around the house
• Laundry, Laundry, & more Laundry

I feel like my weekends are such a blur and so monotonous, especially during the school year when I'm working full time. What do your weekends look like?

And yes, we had a fantastico Halloween- my son loves Dora & Diego, my kids at school have Spanish in my room twice a week, & I've become fond of saying a few Spanish words lately... I'm a dork, I know, is fantastico really even a Spanish word or did I just make that up in my head?! ha! Anyways, I will be posting pics. soon of my "three ninja"... aka: Donnie, & my son who gets the shaft....awe, Nolan - (I'll explain later).

Snakes and turtles and snakes and baby snakes and lots of animals....

When I got home from work today this is what Donnie told me him, Nolan, and Daddy did today. So, Don thinks just because he took them on a field trip once that he's gonna one up me in the parenting departement... sorry, babe ain't gonna happen! LOL!

Oh... you couldn't tell which animal Donnie was most fascinated with could you? :)

Here ya go.....

Okay, I told Nicole I would put these up.....she was asking about what people do with her pictures in their homes. Where they use them and how?? So, I told her I'd put mine up on my blog to show what I've done with them. And..... since I never show my house on my blog, you can have a little sneak peek of what my house looks like and my decor (not that it's all that special, but I know I love to see other people's decorating style....). here ya go.....


* This is my family room, just a corner of the room..... that had an empty space....my family room is laid out really funky!!


* These are pics. from our sun room, but we actually turned it into more a sitting room rather than sun room, as we liked it a little more "dressed up", especially since it has my favorite couch in the whole wide world in it :)....which was really the only place in our house that I was able to put it.

* This is the entry way to our house.... the foyer.

Pictures....pictures...and more pictures....

Attempt 1: Donnie to show his brotherly love....... maybe, possibly get a picture of the two of them together (has this ever happen before, no). Even stretching it a little by having Donnie hold Nolan..... Hmmmmm??? We're trying here, okay.

1)

Attempt 2: Maybe have Donnie hold his favorite Bunny while doing this (bribery).

2)

Attempt 3: Snapping real quick before he elbows Nolan right off the couch!

3)

Attempt 4: Forget the other one, I'll just take a shot of "the good son". My sweet baby, Nolan :)

4)

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Happy Fall

This weekend the boys were outside a lot with their Dad, enjoying the last of these semi-warm days in Michigan, all bundled up raking leaves..... ahhhhh, how I heart Fall in Michigan!

Nolan....5 months old

What a peaceful, mellow, and happy little boy you are. We always joke that when you smile (which is quite often), it's letting us know you are just happy to be in this crazy world we live in :) You are completely NOT high maintenance. You are content being placed almost anywhere...car seat, bouncer, walker, jumper...you name it, you're fine with it (usually). You only cry when you are hungry or extremely tired, and even then it's more of a whimper. At night, you often just make noises when you wake up....barely letting me know you're up and when I come in the room you're simply starring at the letters on the wall sucking your fist, with a BIG cheesy grin on your face.... you have then silliest, goofy grin when we get you out of your crib. You're such a people person, rarely do you not like it when others hold you. You've started mocking things we do, sticking our tongue out at you, chewing food at dinner....you actually move your jaw up and down, it's soooo stinkin' cute. Your the rolliest little chubba whubba boy, we can't get enough of those cheeks & thighs! Your Dad's favorite nicknames for you... "Rolly Noly", "Little Tank", "Spike", & "Mr. Happy"(BTW, he's completely smitten by you). You love being walked to sleep by your Dad.... he's got the touch. These are all the little things I want to remember about you at this age., I wish I could put them in a little "keepsake box" to pull out when I forget some of these important little moments, to turn back the hands of time.

** Now if we could only get your brother to feel the love like we do, we'd be one big happy family ;)LOL! Don't worry, he's gonna take to you someday baby boy....we hope! **

My favorite 8's

This looked like fun :)

8 Favorite Tv Shows
Curb Your Enthusiasm (Thanks...Ryan M.!)
Dateline NBC
The Office
Dancing with the Stars
Cold Case
Ghost Whisperer
Super Nanny
Design on a Dime

8 Favorite Restaurants
Daryl's
Common Grill
The Real Seafood Company
Yen King
Panera Bread
Klavon's Pizza
Outback Steakhouse
Red Lobster

8 Things I Did Today
Went to Family Worship
Bowling w/ Church friends (once a month)
Put laundry away
Ironed clothes for work in the morning
Played outside w/ Donnie
Tickled my "Little Tank"... "Noly Roly"
Visited my cousin
Read blogs

8 Things I Love About Fall
The start of a new school year!
Picking costumes for my boys
Leaves changing colors
Raking the leaves w/ Donnie & watching him jump in the pile :)
Fall sweaters & sweatshirts
Halloween Candy
That Yummy Cider drink from Beaners....Ummmm, I mean Biggby's
Football games (Go Titan's)

8 Things I Look Forward To
Starting & finishing a Master's Program (and the raise in pay :)!
Watching Little D go to preschool
More children...someday??
Family vacations up-north
Winter snowmobiling w/ my boys
Finishing our Dibble House Project
Christmas shopping
Nolan's Baptism

8 Things I Wish For
Our country to elect a new President, who will help our economy & make the right changes
The correct cause and diagnosis for Autism
Teen pregnancy to diminish over time
ALL children to be loved and cared for by their parents
Our country to be one of the top leaders in Education, not one of the last (besides the third world countries, how sad!)
My 5 month old to sleep a consistent 10-12 hours every night, preferably 8 pm-6 am :)
Healthy and happy children
A nice winter retirement/vacation home....somewhere warm! (not talking like Ganton's ...haha!)

Ahhhhhh *a good sigh*

Just a quick post.... to show I really haven't fallen off the face of the earth!! I just started working again....Ha! Story of my life. But anyways, quick update.

• I'm LOVING, LOVING, my job, SO glad I bid on this position. It's been a LONG time coming..... I feel like my old self again, enjoying teaching, enjoying my staff members/principal, enjoying my kids, putting that extra effort in to make it a great year..... I do believe in "Karma", wait...(ewww....I guess maybe I did something really bad last year...hmmmmm? haha!) Well, this year I couldn't be any happier :)
• Had open house tonight at school. Went really well, Don brought the boys by to say hi, meet my kids and principal.... Donnie had a little melt down, don't really know why?? Fun times let me tell ya! ....more on that later.
• Went out to Outback Steakhouse this evening afterwards with a few teachers.....YUMMO! Nice to actually eat a warm meal with grown adults.
• Sitting here putting a mini-schedule together for my cousin who's watching the boys tomorrow..... the only person Nolan really cries with, it's SO funny I have no idea why?? She's a little loud & crazy(so am I at times), but super good with kids & completely in love with my boys and for some strange reason Nolan always cries & won't look at her....he'll practically break his neck when she's holding him to look away...hehehe! This should be interesting, I don't know if I'll call and check in or not, I'm thinking I might be safer to just let them be and then ask when I get home or not ask.??
• Oh...LORD, I almost forgot... having some interesting house decisions. Val came over the other day to look at our house & give Don a little info. on the current housing market (I'm sure you all know that was real positive ;) To make a loooooong story short my hubby & his Dad bought a foreclosure, remodeled the entire house, put a new kitchen in, new bathrooms, etc ..... pretty much gutted it. Do you see where this is going....? Yup... my "salesman" husband is always looking for a way to make some a few extra $. At any rate.... we'd like our house to go up on the market soon (2-3weeks).... right after we have our bathroom redone in the next week or two, Lord knows we don't do our own home projects (unless it's just painting). Ahhhhh.... my life w/ Don will never be simple he's always got an idea floating around in his head. Can you tell I'm sort-of numb to this whole selling and moving process? Yes, it's a big decision, and yes moving is a pain, but to us it's just another move and it's just another house & it won't be our last (I already can tell you that .... this next house won't be the house we stay in forever, I've got some plans of my own for our future home ;). But, I guess to us a house is "just a house" I mean I love our homes, but I don't really get attached to them like other people do.... and it's probably because I'm married to my husband so I know what's in store for me...LOL!

**Okay, enough babbling, I'm off to bed ... night!! TGIF. YAY!**

"Chunk-a-roo"

Nolan
(aka: "Chunk-o-love", "Little Tank", "Nowan" (little D's version for Nolan))

Stats:

* 4 months

* Weight: 15 lbs. 8 oz.

* Height: 25 in. long

* Demeanor:
Nolan at this stage is a little gem. We just can't get enough of those squishy cheeks, silly grins, rolly thighs and perfect contentedness. He is just a big ball of love, literally and figuratively....
He's started rolling over, getting excited about things, laughing at his crazy brother, and snuggling up with mommy on the couch. Nolan is seriously just a wonderful baby....I mean it when I say wonderful. He rarely cries or gets upset, he sleeps 8-10 spans at night, takes decent naps, and is pretty darn content doing almost anything....go with the flow type of baby. All I can say is Thankyou Lord in heaven!! After Donnie I could easily see myself with an only child..... but, I never knew what the "good" baby was like.... and boy is it WAAAAAAAY better!! LOL!

**I'm ready to be a mom of three............ someday!!!!**

Just a quick update....

• Busy, busy setting up my classroom..... I spent the last two days working in my room, literally working from 8am -3 pm - until the janitor kicked us out! I am thoroughly exhausted between trying to move furniture, cutting out posters, punching out letters, making name tags, cleaning dusty shelves, yada yada yada.... ahhhhh, just a few more things to do on Tues. after my kids leave and it will be pretty well completed. Then I'll attempt to really look at the 2nd grade curriculum and start to do my lesson plans..... that'd be nice !
• We've started our new schedule as of last week, Don staying home on Mon. & Wed. until 4, when I get home and then heading into work from 4pm-8pm.....which is working out GREAT!
• Don and his family have the new business up and running .... check it out here. YAY!!! Good job & good luck guys!
• Went and spent waaaaaay too much money at Kohl's (I love this brand) & T.J. Maxx today, but it felt great to shop, finally able to fit into a somewhat good size for me :)
• Trying to get some projects finished around the house.... putting up pictures from Nolan's newborn session (I know 3 1/2 months later... pathetic!), hanging new curtains, finishing painting a mirror, cleaning a few closets....fun, fun!
• Attempting to go to the park tonight and make it through the night to watch the fireworks, with a 4 month old and 2 yr. old I don't know it might work.....ha!
• Going to the pool tomorrow to enjoy one of our last few warm weekends around here until the Michigan Fall hits and it starts getting frigid... brrrrrr! But ..... I love Fall :)

**Have a nice and restful Labor Day weekend, I know I'm going to try!**

A million little thoughts

Tomorrow is my first full day back at work, technically, but it's actually inservices Mon., Tues., & 1/2 day Wed.- gotta love those, like I haven't sat through enough motivational speakers... and then we get a WHOPPING 1 full day to work on our classroom...... how nice of them :) But, at any rate I'm going to be gone until 3:30pm. now that schools starting. Anyways, I have all these thoughts rushing through my head.... like, are the boys going to be okay (and yes, I know they will), but are they gonna miss me & wonder where I am ...... I need to have everything prepared the night before for G-ma's, bottles washed, clothes layed out (Lord only knows what Don would put them in), my clothes ironed ..... diapers & extra clothes in the diaper bag .... should I pack Donnie a little lunch since the last few weeks he's been sooooo picky, I want him to eat, I mean who knows what if his G-ma's let him starve ..... where do I have to go when I get to Jackson High for the inservice, I mean there's gonna be a bazillion teacher's there ...... am I going to enjoy my new school this year ........ should I eat breakfast or just have a muffin there ..... where the heck is my travel coffee cup, I can't find it anywhere, all I can find is this stupid Wells Fargo Bank one with a country western mirage on it - SO tacky, I'll probably be stopping at Target to pick up a new one tomorrow.

Gosh can you tell that I've been off of work for the last 6 months, you would've thought this was my first time back to full time work in like 10 yrs.!! I'm such a dork! I have no idea why I'm so anxious. I'm usually pretty good with new settings and new faces, I've been at three different schools in three different years and adjusted fairly quickly..... okay, so last year, different story there was no adjusting, it was just pure misery.... UGH! I can't bear to think of that place again... Eeeeeek! But, as for the other school I feel as though I was part of the staff almost immediately! Let's hope it's the same this year. Wish me luck tomorrow and the rest of the week ...... I'm hoping everything runs smoothly. I'll fill you in later on this week!

I may be crazy, but......

• It's 2 in the afternoon and I could use a cocktail...... okay, so I plan on fixing one after this post!
• I'm considering bidding on a preschool position at my new school building...... remember the room I just spent two days getting ready for 2nd grade, buying a bunch of stuff from the teacher store - for 2nd. grade, and moving all my goodies in! Yeah, I'm considering moving my room and getting ANOTHER room ready for preschoolers....ha!
• I really feel like telling someone off....someone who is just plain annoying at times and completely ridiculous and just really irritating me ..... but, this may be a very bad idea, I'm pretty sure it is..... but, I have a big mouth and speak what's on my mind (most of the time). Hmmmmm, we'll see what my mood is like when I talk to this person next??
• I feel like getting a WHOLE NEW WARDROBE for school, I'm not too inspired by my clothing options right now. I have about 10lbs. to get to my pre-baby weight, therefore making it really hard to fit my fat butt into most of my old, pre-baby teaching attire..... which leaves me NO other option, but to go out and buy NEW..... right?
• My lovely little Rocco (our Yorkie), who once was my baby is turning into a huge pain in my a$$! He's got a little yappy bark that doesn't stop, it's just great when you have an infant trying to sleep, let me tell ya..... he has this mind set that he has the size and strength of a pitbull...... he sleeps in bed w/us & not only in bed, but on our pillows by the top of my darn head - I wake up to Rocco breath in the morning, how disgusting is that?....... Urrrr....he's just a nuisance lately.

** I'm ready to skip to night-time.... husband home, mommy duty over, boys in bed, mommy w/a "special" beverage, ahhhhh...... the time can't go by quick enough today. **

No time....

I feel like the last few days I haven't had a minute to breath, let alone blog.....

I'm in the process of setting up my second grade classroom at Northeast Elementary and trying to find sitters here and there for my kids before I have to start back full-time next week (just teachers, no kids). And let's just say I'm THRILLED to be at this school, so far I've met a few teachers who have been more than helpful, super friendly, and have a sense of humor (which is SO needed at school)... the type of people that I would like to spend time with even outside of school -YAY!! I know it's going to be a much better year for me than last, I feel like it's a new beginning, and I'm going to remember why I became a teacher again (which I seemed to have lost somewhere along the line last year... UGH, it was truly horrible). I just have a really good feeling about what this year has in store for me, and let me tell ya.... I can't wait. The hardest part will be leaving my babies of course, but this year we're going to be lucky enough to have grandma's watch the boys only 3 days a week with Don taking 2 evening shifts at work and being home with the boys during the day..... ahhhhh *sigh* this is such a relief for me, especially having to leave my new little four-month old, at least he'll have some good one-on-one daddy time.

**Wiping my tears....Okay, I better stop with the guilty working mom feelings!**

Anyways, I'll try to check in at some point this week...... I've gotta go and finish watching the Summer Olympics, is anyone else hooked???

Our last HOO-RA for the summer

Vacation: Curtis, Michigan (The U.P. of Michigan)

• Absolutely wonderful, grande, great, fabulous!! Went by WAY too fast.....waaaah!
• We did a whole bunch of nothin', but playing in the water, laying on the beach, and sitting around the campfire at night, it was great.
• Donnie was in heaven..... he LOVED the water, LOVED the duck family that swam up for food every morning, LOVED catching Minos in the water, LOVED playing with his cousins, LOVED the fact that G-ma & Papa pretty much gave him whatever/whenever he wanted it..... what more could a two year old ask for?.... The kid was in HEAVEN!
• Nolan, as usually, was his charming little self, happy & content as a little clam :) Might I add Nolan accomplished a few milestones while up there.... 1) Slept through the night, 4 out of the 7 nights....8-9 hr. stretches (and still continuing). YAY!!!! 2) Rolled over from his belly to his back.... another YAY!! NOLAN!!!
• Don & I both enjoyed the last family trip for the summer until school starts... we ate too much, went to bed too late, got a little too much sun, bickered about the family just a little ....... All the things that make family vacations memorable :)
• Having older cousin's is the key to a GREAT vacation for parents of small children. The older cousin's were just old enough to want to play & watch the little one's (makes them feel like they have a responsibility, I love it ....remember those days.?)

Hannah & Jayla cheesing it up for the camera! (These two couldn't get enough "responsibility time" ;)


Look at those thighs.... chubba-wubba..... too cute!

Seriously Donnie, you NEED to come up with a new face for the camera........

Donnie liked to sunbath on the cement for some crazy reason....... and it's rare for him to have his diaper on, most of the time he opts for the o'-natural look (aka... buck-naked:))!

The day trip to Lake Michigan..... my gosh isn't the sand AMAZING on Lake Michigan!!

Our Curtis duck family :) We miss you.......