Anything for my students...

I absolutely ADORE my students and will do just about anything for my them (or use as incentive for them to do their homework. hehehe). I've planned and chaperoned countless dances and events, held pj parties at my house, volunteered at a donkey rescue farm, participated in staff vs students sporting events, been "parodied" in skits, rapped (yes, I said rapped) to get them to memorize formulas or other information, AND dressed up for every spirit day for the last 5 years. That said, as I was attempting to pull together an outfit for "ancient civilizations day" at 5:30 this morning, I almost couldn't do it. That's until I thought of their disappointed little faces (disappointed at not seeing their favorite math teacher look like a fool) and decided to bust out my leopard leggings, brown tunic, fur vest, dinosaur necklace, pebbles hair and giant shell earrings and be a cavewoman. UGH!

Dave was still asleep as I was about to head out and I think he about peed his pants when he saw me leaving - he INSISTED on snapping a picture (while lying in bed) which is why this is such a flattering camera angle (hello, double chin) and lighting and why I look so happy (that was all sarcasm in case you couldn't tell).

When I got to school the kids were all dressed in their ancient gear and I was glad that I sucked it up and participated

Several things about the picture below...

1) Yes, that's me in the back and yes, I realize that I blend in with my 12 year old 7th graders

2) I don't know why one kid is dressed as a ninja or why he's pretending to slit the other kids throat

3) The kid in the bottom row in our MCA rugby shirt, has a nametag on that says "I'm from an ancient civilization" - how creative :)

This super sweet student spend ALL weekend making his own suit of armor (which you can't really see), complete with GIANT shield - too bad I can't get him to spend that much time doing his homework :)

This adorable girl has a sister named Madigan - how cute is that?!?!?! Tomorrow is "Medieval day" and I'm brainstorming how I can somehow incorporate a red fleece bathrobe and pj pants into my costume. :)

28 Weeks

I was 28 weeks on Sunday and I thought that this would be an appropriate time to post my very first belly picture! :) For comparison, this was me with Luke at 26 weeks...
Pregnancy is treating me well so far - Luke TOTALLY gets the "baby in mommy's belly" concept and he likes to show Mason his cars and sing his ABCs to him (all through my belly button). I was going to do that "list" thing that alot of prego ladies do every week (weight gain/cravings/etc), but since I haven't looked at the scale since finding out I was pregnant and my cravings are all pretty much the same all the time (meat, cheese, eggs and carbs) I think it may get a little bit repetitive. I remember Luke being more "active" at night, but this little guy has a party in my belly every night around 9:30. It's when I'm finally still and my food has all settled that it's time to rock and roll. He's kicking and rolling and punching and stretching A TON! Tomorrow is my glucose testing - wish me luck! Although most of what I crave is protein, I don't think I could live without my frosted flakes or Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Chunk ice cream, so I'm crossing my fingers for a good result!

"Look Mommy, I Scoot!!!"

Lilly gave Luke an awesome scooter for Christmas and we decided to wait until the Christmas craziness died down a little before having Haha put it together for him. Since then he's been "scootin'" non-stop! On this particular morning he was scooting in his pjs, bumble bee rain boots and no underwear. Yes, people - my son has an affinity for "goin' commando" (or as he says it pimando")
He's gotten better since these pictures were taken, but he was having a hard time standing up straight and scooting at the same time... he's use his foot to push off and then just leave it planted on the floor...

The problem with commando scootering when you are built like your daddy (without a hiney to speak of) is that sometimes your pants can become a little bit droopy...

... and you end up looking like a plumber :) Luke's scootering skills have improved greatly and he's now zipping around all over the place no problem. We can't wait until warmer weather is here (to stay) and we can get outside and scoot to our hearts content (with underwear on of course!)

McDonalds Party

Last Monday we headed to McDonalds to celebrate Jaxson turning two and Smith turning one. Rachel and I are hoping that ALL of our boys are going to be best friends as they grow up (and if they're not bffs they'll have to at least like eachother a lot since we plan on making them spend bunches of time together)
Happy boys - Smith and Nixon
I know that she has her eyes closed, but I wanted a picture of everyone and this was the best that I had of Molly...

Luke and Kensington were screaming into the tunnels and then telling eachother that their mommy's said no screaming :)

Ebby Lee looking ADORABLE :)

Luke-man enjoying his cupcake...

I LOVE this picture of Kensington... could she look any more pleased with herself??? (and her cupcake)

Luke Loves Sheaffer

I have been meaning to post this since the summer, but didn't have much luck posting it from my phone to my blog - that is until this weekend when I discovered that I could upload to YouTube super easily! YAY!

This past summer we spent TONS of time at the pool and Luke developed a special connection with Miss Sheaffer...

"Move It"

Luke Sings "I Love You"

Monkey on the Loose!

There's been a monkey on the loose at our house recently. He's elusive, quick and exceptionally hard to photograph. He's been caught jumping on and sliding down the lovesac...
Scratching his itchy tummy...

and doing LOTS and LOTS of playing (and mess making!)

Success!

Over Christmas break we pulled the MULTIPLE bins of Luke's old clothes out of the attic and I sorted and organized them all while Dave and my dad created more floor space in the attic. It was so much fun to get to see all of the old clothes and "remember when" Luke wore them, so you can imagine my disappointment when a big amount of the newborn stuff (that I know was clean when I put it into the storage tubs) came out all yellow and gross. I started throwing the stained pieces into a big trash bag and when the bag was almost overflowing I decided it was ridiculous to just throw it all away.

After some googling I headed to WalMart and bought some OxiClean... I filled my washer with hot water and a BUNCH of the OxiClean powder. I put all the clothes in there and let them soak overnight. The next day we ran the cycle through, washed them one more time with regular detergent and laid them out to dry a bit before throwing them into the dryer (so the stains wouldn't set) . EVERYTHING came out and I as able to salvage all of this...

It was a project to cross off my list and I was so excited that it worked!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

On Sunday we attended a reception for Dave's Grandmas 90th Birthday. Lilly was there as well and was showing off her missing teeth (the two front ones!) and Luke was FASCINATED! So much so that out of the 8 pictures I took of them sitting together this was the best I could get. I don't know if he gets the whole baby/adult teeth concept, because since the party he's been saying "I need to brush my teeth so they don't fall out like Lilly's!"

I attempted to get a picture of Dave, his brothers, his grandma and the great grand kids - but between brotherly goofiness (Stephen wrapping his arms around Dave's waist, etc., etc., etc.) and Luke being extremely uncooperative (the party started at 2:00 and we stayed until around 3:00.... typically he would be napping from 1:00 - 4:00. PLUS, he had eaten about 300 grams of sugar between all the M&Ms he was swiping and the icing he licked off of his piece of cake) these were the best I could get...

Left to Right:

Jonathan (Dave's older brother) and his daughter Lilly, Matthew (Dave's younger brother), Stephen (his youngEST) brother, Dave and Luke (attempting to escape).

I think that this midriff picture might be the one I get printed and framed for Grandma, nice right?

We were really excited to get to share in this milestone with Dave's family and (despite the midriff, chocolate face and disheveled hair) will love having this picture for years to come :)

Goofballs

Luke loves him some Haha... probably because Haha is willing to play "pirates" with Luke. Yes, I said pirates. The "driving cap" (which is part of my Homecoming Week dress-up arsenal...good for nerd day AND senior citizens day) and fireman hat were actually pirate hats and the necklaces were their pirate jewels. :)

Awwww....

A couple of weekends ago when we had all of the snow, Luke was having a REALLY hard time settling down for his afternoon nap (probably because he kept peeking out of his window and screaming snow). :) After about an hour and a half of being in his room, but not sleeping, Dave went in there to "settle him down". I heard it get quiet, then really really quiet and so a few minutes later I went in and found this... Awwwwwww.... so sweet :)

The Graduate

This should have been posted before Christmas, but unfortunately when we got back from Lubbock is when the stomach virus struck and I had other priorities (like washing towels and keeping our house stocked with Propel).

My brother graduated on December 17th from Texas Tech with two Master's Degrees (his Master's of Architecture and his MBA) and we thought it was probably a big enough deal that it warranted a trip to Lubbock to watch him graduate :)

When we checked into the hotel (after a LONG drive) Luke was super excited to have some play time... and from the looks of things so was his Gibi!
Since I'd never been to Tech, Mark thought that he'd show us around campus... it was FREEZING and WINDY and as we were driving we noticed lots of students having their pictures taken in their caps and gowns. It turns out that Mark hadn't even thought about having his picture taken in his graduation gear (typical boy, right?!?!?!?!) so he and I hopped out of the car, ran around to some different spots and tried to snap some pictures. I didn't even have a jacket and he was in his jeans and t-shirt under the gown, but oh well.

After a few minutes of taking pictures we felt like our extremities were falling off from the cold, so we headed back to the hotel to change. After a few minutes of resting and scarfing down some pizza it was time to head to the stadium. The ceremony didn't start until 7:00, and Luke's bedtime is typically 7:30, so I came armed with what any good mom would - CANDY!

Diana (Mark's girlfriend) and Luke hanging out during the ceremony:

Mark's been living in a house with a few friends and so bright and early Saturday morning we headed to the U-Haul place to pick up a trailer to bring all his stuff back to McKinney. The place that was supposed to have our trailer didn't have it, so we were sent to this alternate pickup location... These pictures were all taken from the safety of the car - because there was NO WAY I was getting out :)

Eventually we got everything worked out at the U-Haul place and returned to Mark's house to load all his stuff up. Luke was adamant about helping....

It was a super busy and exhausting couple of days, but totally worth it to see Mark complete his degrees and wrap up that whole chapter of his life. Since graduation he's gotten a job at an architecture firm in Allen and is moving into his first (roommate-less) apartment this weekend. Congratulations, Uncle Mark!!! :)