It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

But I am still behind, as usual. :) The Christmas letter is in the works! It will be there...better late than never. My goal is to send it out before Saturday. I know, such a HIGH goal. :)
Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Glamour Girls

Mairzey and her BFF Caroline had a great time dressing up for a Hollywood themed birthday party.

Don't they look gorgeous!?!

We love you Webb family!

Snow in Texas! Feb. 23, 2010 Flashback

What a FUN day! We all had a great time, even heading outside at each of the schools to let the kids enjoy the rare sight. One girl I teach with has lived here 29 years and had never seen it like this! I kept the window blinds open at school and let the kids just aww when it was falling quickly and heavily.

Poor Brody was sick that day. He enjoyed making snow angels and playing with Scatcher in the snow.


Mairzey and Sadey realized that making a Snow Lady, yes she is a lady, was lots of fun. We pulled out our snowman kit from NY and they made this cute thing.


Later when everyone got home, we drove around the neighborhood and saw snowmen in every yard. We then went sledding and had such a fun memorable day!

February Flashback...Brody's Baptism

Brody had a special baptism. His grandparents attended from both sides of the family. He also had his Aunt Krissy and cousin Spencer come all the way from Maui!
We love him and are very proud of him!

February Flashback...Pinewood Derby

I finally got some pictures downloaded from the past year. I had no idea how many pictures those tiny cards can hold. I will give you a glimpse of our goings on here and there from the past year. First up...Brody's first pinewood derby. Feb 2010 AND his first true ingestion of peanuts, thus the lips are a little large. :) He handled it OK with only Benedryl. Luckily there was a doctor close by with what he needed if it got worse.
Brody took 3 place if I recall. He just turned 8 and they let him join in the fun. He did awesome and will only get better. He loved trying to figure out how to get a fast car. Meet the Deadly Viper...

Happy Halloween!

It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's a 39 year old Me!

Aaaaaa!


Kidding...Happy Halloween All Y'all!

Updates

We're here...we're alive...we're busy as can be!
We celebrated Mairzey's 11th birthday yesterday, homecoming for the older 2 kids, soccer and baseball, blown tire, flat spare and a broken shoe while out and about all within 24 hours! Todd and I have never been so busy. It's so fun seeing each of our kids become unique individuals in all aspects of life. We have decided that having another driver soon will be very welcome! :)
Pictures will come soon...I have a ton from the birthday party.
We love you all very much!

They grow up WAY too fast!

I feel bad for not posting these months ago when I got them.
Better late than never. Thanks to Nick for the wonderful pictures!

5th grade prep...

So doesn't everyone do this the day before 5th grade starts?
Don't forget to EAT the cucumbers too Mairzey! :)

Good-Bye Summer!

I start back full time tomorrow.
Kids all go back next Tuesday.
Good-Bye Summer! I will miss you!

I am in love...

This is my new love.
We enjoyed our time together today.
In fact, the Brody man said, "It is shiny Mama!" I am not sure which troll took a shower upstairs in my kiddos bathroom but he left a HUGE dirty tub...the kind on TV in the before picture. I would hate to admit this if it weren't for the fact that it was a troll that made the mess, of course.

This stuff is amazing!!! I seriously sprayed and watched it drip off! I did scrub the tub with a brush but nothing like I have always done! My arms aren't sore an ounce!

I finished upstairs and then quickly ran to see what my glass shower would do. Then I ran out of steam. I did spray the door and it is as clear as the day we bought the house!

I LOVE this stuff!

What is your favorite cleaning supply???

Attempt at being a Chef

I think TV makes you think you can do anything. And sometimes you really do make something or do something you couldn't do before. Well...this was NOT tv. I got a recipe, 5 star by over 50 people even, that involved salmon (yum!), honey (another plus), and some cedar planks (completely new to me). I wasn't patient enough to wait for Todd to get home so we could use the grill outside...which I HIGHLY recommend. :)

The picture above resembles what came out of my oven each time I opened it. I had my front and back doors opened, fans going full blast as well as the vent. This was all in addition to my arm flailing in a circle with a dishtowel in hand to steer the smoke away from the smoke detector. Are you picturing it? I did recruit Mairzey for the arm flailing for a little while.

In the end...my attempt at making Rosa's salmon tacos almost hit the mark. Next time, I will make the salmon on the grill, not cook it quite as long, and make my fresh mango salsa instead of buying it. But close made for a yummy meal!

Anyone have tips for using cedar planks with a broiler? Or an exact recipe for Tia Rosa's Salmon Tacos?

It's Great to be a GREAT!

Mr. Rilus

Ms. Lexie and Ms. Sophie

Mr. Bradley, Ms. Makayla, and Mr. Jacob

What's so great about being a great?
* No matter what they do, it is adorable.
*They are the smartest kids ever...next to my own of course.
*They should each be modeling for GAP.
*They are perfect little angels...for all I know. :)
Wish I could see them more often!
I love being a great aunt.

Little Snack...

Holy Crap! These are YUMMY!

Good Bye to Friends

Shelley and Diana

Maddy and Mairzey

Lauren and Sadey

We moved here at the same time 4 years ago. Our girls matched up and became the best of friends. It was comforting to have friends who were also new and being initiated to the "Texas" way of things at the same time. New schools are hard enough but 5th grade is a tricky one. Here you are the oldest at the school. It really helped Sadey to have Lauren.
Our friends are now gone, on to new and exciting adventures. We wish them the very best and can't wait to send our girls to visit, wherever they land.
We went out to breakfast the very last morning they were here...had to drag out the week long goodbye process. Tears still came and we miss our friends a lot.
Good luck all of you!

Empty Bowls? No...Bowls of Memories

I was making some birthday and Father's Day treats on Saturday, dirtying many bowls, and I got thinking about my childhood. Do any of you have certain foods, clothes, or items that remind you of special things? While I filled bowls with all sorts of things, I started thinking about bowls that reminded me of my childhood. I couldn't find pictures of these but some of you may remember them.

* The BIG yellow Tupperware bowl - aka "THE SCRAP BOWL" "MOM'S POPCORN FLIPPING BOWL" This bowl was huge and for our family it sat in the corner of the counter on occasion. Because of living on a farm, we would scrape our plates into it instead of the trash so the scraps could feed the pigs. Yum, I know. :) When we didn't have pigs the bowl was cleaned and on Friday nights and Sunday evenings it was full of fresh popped popcorn. My mom would sprinkle on the salt and toss and flip that popcorn like a pro. No pieces would fall on the ground, it was amazing!

*The iridescent blue bowl - aka "THE JELLO BOWL" This bowl was used on special occasions. It was rather large for a jello bowl but with 8 kids in the family, large was a theme. The best was when my mom would whip us fresh whipping cream from the milk straight from the cow and top the whole thing with it. YUM!

*The silver bowl in the cereal bowl pile - aka "DADS CEREAL BOWL" My dad would eat his cereal from a larger than normal bowl. It was usually some shredded wheat. On occasion that same bowl would be used for bread and milk with white sugar sprinkled on top, or cake with milk on top, two of my dad's treats. The taste of either makes me think of him, especially with lemon cake and milk.

Just empty bowls? No, bowls of memories.

Anyone want a house?

OK...I have a deal for you. I have a house for sale in Tucson. It comes with 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, sprinkler system, open airy floor plan, weeds galore, dead landscape in the backyard, gross carpet from three years of 5 kids and some animals, and even a home full of said tenants with no lease agreement. They come with the deal since they won't seem to leave...oh, and don't like to pay. Hmmm....

Anyone? Anyone?????

I HATE being a landlord! :(

To parent or not to parent

Is it ever ok for someone else to parent your child?

While you are there?

Hmmmm....

Has this happened to you?

Please do share.

My Keys

I turned in my badge and keys today.
Summer has truly begun, even though it's raining.

No sneaking back into my classroom for things to organize.
No sorting books.
No grabbing one more thing to redo for next year.
I think it's good that I have to give the badge and keys up.
I hope the 84 kiddos whom I have taught can slip from my brain for a couple of months.

True relaxation.
Summer fun for the N kids...here we come!

Fabric Fanatic

OK...does anyone else "feel" the clothes they are going to buy? Especially baby clothes! I even catch myself smelling them on occasion, ridiculous I know. Todd thinks this is funny but fabric really does matter to me. You would think that linen, one of my favorites to wear, would not be found in my mother and teacher closet, but practicality really isn't the appeal I suppose.

I am looking for fabric to tie together my burnt orange (yes, I have orange couches...stop laughing, they're actually really cute!) and a good robin's egg blue or something similar. Upon this search I found an amazing fabric site. Anyone know someone coming here from Australia any time soon? haha I couldn't stop smiling. I want it all. I want curtains and pillows and aprons and quilts. ALL!!!!
Hope you enjoy, take a look. And PLEASE tell me if you find any fabric that has blue and orange together...oh, and isn't gross.
Thanks!

School's out, let the summer begin!

Hollywood in Texas

At school we have been busy writing books the last couple of months. We participated in a program where each child gets to become a published author of a hardcover book. With each first grader able to make a book, it was only fitting to show them off by having our annual Hollywood Book Premiere. We all came to school decked and had a fabulous time. Parents came in the afternoon and each child sat in the author's chair while I spotlighted him/her and each got to read a portion of the book. I was lots of fun! Here I am with my silly kiddos dressed to the nines.