Another snow day?

Friday I

Today is our 3rd snow day of the school year! 

I am feeling very conflicted about it. Of course, I am happy any time to have a day off of school but at the same time....I have so much work to do!! 

(insert stressed out crazy face here!!)

Yesterday I packed up and left school before I heard the news that the weather was going to get bad so I didn't bring everything home with me that I needed to get my work done. We are having a crazy week at school with testing, a late start crazy schedule on Monday, and now this. Our concert is in 2 and a half weeks and I think it is now official that I have hit turbo stress mode. 

Okay, rant over. :o) 

I have been reflecting a lot this year on how working more has been bringing changes in my life and this is one of the days I definitely feel it. It is hard for me to adjust my schedule and get out of the routine but that is life and I better learn to live with it, right? 

So Michael and I are going to have a fun day playing play doh, cars, dancing, making music and when he is napping then I will whip out my school computer and get a little work done. 

Happy Snow Day! 

p.s., you are in for a treat- tomorrow I will be back with instafriday! That's right- TWO posts in one week!   

Instafriday

Happy Friday!

This week has seemed to fly by...a good thing! Things continue to run at top gear at school and my days are going smoothly. Busy is good! 

This past weekend I had a morning to myself as a got my roots done and hair trimmed. I read a big chunk of a new book and it was nice to be out of the house with some me time. Michael also got a new (short!) haircut and spent some time with dad running errands (and buying new underwear!).

 

 Michael continues to enjoy his new trampoline from Santa. We set it up right in the middle of our family room downstairs so he can hop around on it in the evenings before bed. It is doing a great job of solving the evening sillies problem! He is always thinking up some new game or crazy way to jump on it. And yes, we love Mike and Frank from American Pickers!

 I seemed to have picked up a chest cold this week at school and it really stinks. I feel like I am a first year teacher who is cycling through all the sicknesses again to build up immunity. Except instead of it being my first year teaching, it's my eighth year. :o( Luckily there is a pharmacy between schools and I am racking up points on my reward card!

 That's all for me this week...I just keep chugging along and I hope you are doing the same also. Have a great weekend!

InstaFriday

Happy Weekend! 

This has been the first week in a long time that I have been at school every day with students. A whole week! I did it! It actually was really great and I saw some great progress in my students. A definite win.

It has felt like spring here the last two days and I know it is just a mean trick but I've been trying to enjoy it anyway! I took another walk after school this week and it was just glorious.

I have been having a little book overbuying issue lately....it is all those darn cute Usborne books and Scholastic book orders!! I honestly think part of it stems from my guilt that I can't take Michael to the library as much anymore since I'm not staying home. It was one of my favorite things to do with him and each week we would get new books to take home. Now we get there probably once a month but it seems late going after school and it takes up almost our whole evening. So naturally I am making up for my guilt-ridden parenting by buying things....makes sense, right? :o)

I've been trying to stave off my own personal illness this week and I like those Airborne and Emergen-C packets. I actually think they taste great and give me a little pep! Hopefully its working...

Last weekend I finished this year's pages in my "life" scrapbook. I save Christmas letters from my favorite people and also my own and it is fun to look back on them after a few years. I printed mine off this blog so I would have a hard copy, just in case. You never know! I also bound up all my Christmas cards from this year so I can put them out again next year. It is so fun to look through all the beautiful photos and cards.

One of the reasons I feel like I haven't had much spare time lately is because I am getting back to the Y! I am trying hard but going in the morning before school and if I miss, going after school. It is hard but it makes me feel so much better- I sleep better, I feel more awake at school, I have more energy. It makes no sense, but I just got to keep trying to do it. Luckily I have discovered Pandora's Pop fitness station and it is awesome!!! I finally feel like I know what my students listen to now!

 

And finally, last weekend we had a donuts emergency after church. We told Michael he could get donuts at church and they were all gone so we had to go the grocery store instead. Michael was so excited and carried his own "black sprinkle" donuts in his own bag all around the whole store and in the car until we got home. He is just getting so big every day it just amazes me. Not the fact that he has an unhealthy obsession with donuts at an early age, but that he knows what he wants and is so independent these days.

That's all from me! Happy weekending!

InstaFriday

 

Happy Friday!

 

Michael and I are both home today. Michael was down with the stomach bug yesterday and so we are still taking it easy today. I feel so guilty for missing two days of school. Ugh. I hate, hate, hate feeling like I'm letting kids down at school. Luckily I haven't taken many days off this year and today we got an enthusiastic music sub to cover for me so hopefully everything goes smoothly.

 

 

 

Michael was feeling a little better today to work on some craft time. He really wanted to paint so we went for it. It was fun!

 

Last Sunday, we went to the this little skating pond (free!) in Boone to do a little family skate time. It was so charming and sweet and we just had the best time. Michael did actually skate a little bit on his own and we are so proud of him. Scott impressed the middle schoolers by whacking the puck into the net loudly. I embarrassed myself by falling multiple times in front of said middle schoolers but luckily after I told them about it at school no one said they saw me. :o)

 

 

 

 

It's been nice this week so I went for a little walk at my favorite park. It feels so good to be outside...cabin fever is a real thing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up two new movies at the library to view this week. The first is because I have a slightly unhealthy obsession with mob stories (Boardwalk Empire, halfway through Sopranos now). I was shocked to find out like all the cast members of Sopranos are also in Goodfellas so I thought I would give it a go. We're also trying to brush up on our Disney movies before our big trip in a few months! It is fun to see all the old movies again.

 

That's it for me! Have a great weekend!
 

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Liberty Bowl Trip

Over New Year's weekend, we headed to Memphis to watch the Cyclones play in the Liberty Bowl and enjoy the area. We were really on the fence about going....it seemed like a lot of driving, work and extra money. But then, right after the game was announced, Scott's aunt called us up and invited us to stay with her. It was the deciding factor! She was such a gracious host to us and we are so thankful that she helped make the trip possible. It was great to visit Memphis, but I think the best part of the trip was having an extended visit with her and staying in her home. We also crossed paths with Scott's cousin's family who was in town on their way back home and we haven't seen them for a few years. It was really, really great. 

I would say the second best part of the trip was hanging out with my little family and also seeing our friends. Isn't it true that it doesn't matter what you are doing, just who you are with? It was such a nice little trip. And now...I will bombard you with photos!

Daytime...and nighttime. 

We split the 10+ hour drive up into two parts, staying at our friends home in Keokuk the first night. Michael did great on this leg and it seemed to go quickly. It was nice to break it up and also spent some extra time with the new baby at our friends house! :o) 

The next day we go an early start and it was lucky we were prepared after our Chicago trip fiasco last summer because Michael had a real bout of car sickness on the way to Memphis. I just feel so sorry for the poor guy. I was ready with a bag in hand and Michael is getting pretty good at aiming in the bag.  :o( He still seemed in good spirits and even slept for a little bit. When we arrived in Memphis, we headed right to Scott's Aunt's house and settled in. It was great to be there!!

The next morning was our first outing to the Memphis Zoo. Did you know they have a giant panda?? It was my favorite thing at the zoo! We pretty much had the place to ourselves...the only people crazy enough to go to a zoo on December 30th when it is 40 degrees are obviously Iowa State fans!!

A family picture at the sea lion show just to prove that, yes, we were all there together. I'm trying to get better at this!

After the zoo, we grabbed a burger at Huey's (a Memphis staple, very delicious) and then Scott's Aunt took Michael back to her house for naptime while Scott and I headed to Graceland. I am so glad we bought our tickets ahead of time (thanks, Kelly!) because there is no way we would have gotten in that day, especially arriving after the entire ISU marching band!!

(we took this picture instead of buying the $25 dollar one they try and sell you...and yes, I think mine is better. Be forewarned, this is just the first of many self portraits!)

The tour was a really neat audio tour that you listened to through your own little audio player. I found it really informative, especially since I'm not really a big Elvis aficionado. I've been doing some reading since I've gotten home and he is really interesting to me. Maybe reading a biography is in my future?

The pictures below are from the mirrored staircase leading to the basement- very entertaining!

I think our favorite room was the basement TV room. How cool is that?? A mirrored fireplace? Wow!

I felt like the tour left me feeling pretty sad. I didn't realize that Elvis was buried there, along with his parents and a marker for his twin brother who died at birth. I can see why for some fans it would be a pretty religious experience.

After our tour, we grabbed Michael and headed to Beale Street for the Liberty Bowl Parade and Pep Rally. It was....pretty crazy. We didn't hardly see anything but I got caught up later at home via the newspaper websites and youtube. So crazy!

Beale Street seemed really fun and probably something in my younger days I would have really enjoyed. It was definitely not for preschoolers like Michael but Scott and I did buy one HUGE beer to share for like $6. I should have taken a picture! We thought it was fun to see all the Cyclone fans and joked that it should be known as "Welch Ave South". ha!

Since we couldn't see too much of the action on Beale Street, we walked a few blocks to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel. So cute! We tried to wait for them to leave the fountain at 5 but Michael was getting worn out at this point.

We had a dinner reservation for our group at Itta Bena above BB Kings on Beale Street. This was really fun- again, thanks Kelly for making the rezzie. It was nice to get out of the craziness on the street and enjoy good food and company. Even the kids were good!

(photo credit)

The whole group. They had a great menu and it makes me wish we could do nice dinners out more often. Scott and I split an order of crab cakes and shrimp and grits. Why don't they serve grits in Iowa??

The next morning was game day!

Scott's Aunt very awesomely volunteered to watch Michael for us for the whole day and we are so thankful for her. He would have not had any fun at all. It was chilly and rainy and generally not his thing. However, Scott and I had a really fun time! We caravan-ed with a group of our friends from their hotel so we could all park together at the tailgate. I thought this was great, we wouldn't have to take our car - awesome. It was pretty funny though as we got lost from the caravan pretty much right way. We later regrouped and made it into the parking lot together and then Scott and I remembered we left our tickets in the car. :o( We had put them there so we would be sure not to forget them for the game. I think Scott was pretty upset at himself but luckily, our friend's uncle was coming to the game and lived in Memphis so he gave Scott a ride back to get them. Crazy thing- he lived in my hometown for like 13 years! And later I ran into a guy from my high school at our tailgate! What a small world! It was a really fun tailgate- my ideal tailgate where I didn't bring anything or do anything except drink beer. I guess I did bring Krispy Kreme donuts but I was the only one who ate them. I also think every tailgate should include donuts. Is that weird? 

Scott had a really fun little mini reunion with some of his college friends. One came up from Florida and one lived four blocks from the stadium!! Crazy!

(Rose, step away from the front facing camera...)

Well, the game was pretty terrible and the Cyclones lost. And it was cold and rainy. 

The bowl itself was very cool and it was especially cool seeing all the fans there. Halftime was awesome with the ISUCF"V"MB doing their Rush show again. The Temptations sang "My Girl" and there was a weird tradition of "America's Homecoming Queens" wearing white dresses at halftime. It was pretty cool that the game honored the 50th anniversary of St. Jude's and they had this big thing of all the kids they helped and a child cancer survivor sang the National Anthem. It, of course, made me cry.

Back at Scott's Aunt's house we enjoyed some delicious Memphis BBQ from the Commisary while we caught up with his cousin's family. The kids went to bed early and then we woke them up at 11:00 to watch the ball drop (eastern time) and celebrate the new year. Aren't those smart parents??

I didn't get a group photo of all of us but hopefully someone will send me one! Michael especially enjoyed playing with his cousin Dominic. Before he went to bed on New Year's Eve Michael said that Dominic was, "his best friend". :o) I thought that was so sweet. 

So there you have it....wow, this was a long post. We had a great trip to Memphis and although it was a disappointing end to the football season I'm sure we will forget all about it by the time September rolls around. 

Welcome, 2013 and Go Cyclones!!