Still Here

Long time, no blog.  Todd and I have been so busy since the holiday season began.  We hosted Thanksgiving at our house - a sort of an open house style Thanksgiving - and had about twenty (20) people in and out through the day.  Then my great Aunt Rita passed away.  Then it was time for Christmas.  Between Christmas at my Dad's, starting our own, new Christmas Eve tradition, Christmas at my Mom's and trying to relax before New Year's Eve . . . it was 2012!

Starting January 2, we went back to school for what is always a crazy, stressful second semester.  Todd started his last semester of graduate school, I had a hysterectomy, the dogs destroyed all but one of our last living throw pillows, I hosted a gold & silver party (friends & I made great $$$), we saw my Dad & Marilynn perform in a local play, and best of all . . . my brother was FINALLY discharged from the hospital just three (3) days shy of six months there.

And WOW ---- it's February.  Todd is already in the throes of grad school, I'm taking a long time healing, the dogs are awesome as always, and we are patiently waiting to hear from our agency that a birthmother would like to meet us and allow us to adopt  her baby.

Nope . . . . . . not much going on around here!  Let us know how you all are doing (if you're still here!).  I'll try to get some pics uploaded of our latest life happenings.

Kristinmas Krafting

I got a wild crafting hair last week and made these little wall hanger thingies from some wood blocks I found in the garage.  With some sanding, painting, papering, modge-podging, gluing, glittering, and more, they are a fun addition to our holiday decor.  They are cuter in person than they are in the pic.

I am stealing this from Kristin (who has a really cool name that's spelled right), who stole it from Stacie, who stole it from Danifred, who in turn stole it from Rebecca. this is not a true "steal" because I've changed my answers . . . also because I'm desperate for blog fodder as well!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping paper but aren't gift bags SO easy???

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial.  This southern girl is used to a good ol' plastic tree that doesn't make me sneeze or drop needles every-freaking-where.

3. When do you put up the tree? Todd the Christmas Boy has to have it up the weekend after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? If it doesn't get taken down the weekend before we go back to school, it might as well stay up until summer.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, with lots of rum.  Todd?  not so much.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?  I don't remember having a Christmas where I didn't have an awesome, favorite gift.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, we have a couple of them.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Probably my Dad and Marilynn or our teenage nieces.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Todd.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?  Mail - even when they're late.  :)

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The first thing that comes to mind are some of the gifts from students, but I also know how excited they are to give me the treasures they do.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually after Thanksgiving.

14. Ever recycled a Christmas present? No

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? the candy my mom makes

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear!

17. Favorite Christmas song?  "Oh, Holy Night" is the first that comes to mind.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home 

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes, but I won't list it here in case you decide to steal from me.  :)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Had an angel my grandmother gave me, but she is so fragile that I've put her elsewhere and now have a bow.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?  The stress of having everything together can be a bit much.  The past few years, the sadness that comes with missing loved ones.

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? None really.

24. What do you want for Christmas this year?  I told Todd that all I want is a baby.  Since they aren't sold on amazon, I have a Kindle Fire or tablet on my B list.  I still want a baby.


Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and make the time to remember that we celebrate Christmas because God gave us his Son.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Our tree has been up for two weeks, but I finally got around to attempting a bow tree topper.  Even after watching a youtube video on how to make tree topper bows, I still really needed my Mary or Aunt Rita to do it for me since it's a pretty scary looking bow.  Oh well, the tree is READY!

Time to wrap the gifts, wait for Santa, and celebrate Christmas!

Outed

Todd and I have been keeping this secret for years, and we finally let it out at our friends' Halloween party last night.

We are mobsters.  The whole teaching thing is a ruse.

Halloween

I know . . . I'm going to be murdered in my sleep by Pippin and Steve.  Todd just rolled his eyes and looked at me as if I was a crazy woman with my hair on fire.

Pipp was happy being a sweet banana split - and SO CUTE!!!  She ran around with a big smile on her face and even posed for a few shots.

Then she tried on Steve's submarine costume (after he ripped it off & ran around with it in his mouth).  She kept posing and smiling, posing and smiling.

After Pippin tried on both costumes, Steve became jealous and succumbed to the fun.  This is the only photo he let me shoot while facing the camera.

Every pic after was only of his banana head, ice cream scoops, back and butt.  Wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that he ran to Dad and Todd said, "I know, buddy.  It's like you've had your balls cut off again.  I'm sorry."

For the record, *I* did not take him to have his balls cut off.  I stayed home and cried like a baby.

Up next: I'm dressing Todd up for Halloween.  Pics to follow, but he may pull a Steve on me.

Rewind: Easter 2011

April 24, 2011

Easter Sunday was spent with family and friends - good food, good wine, great company, and an Easter Egg hunt for the kids!

My baby brother and his family.
(Danielle, Aeva frowning, me, Will & Mike)

Lovely pic of my SIL and her Dad.

Family & Friends: Mom, Me, Noble, and Martin

Mom & Rick with their kids.

My Mommy and Me!

Preparing a plan to snag eggs inside and out!

Aeva cracking open some eggs.

Will smiles and says, "CANDY!"

We are blessed!

From Us to You

Sorry to neglect the blog, but we were so busy over the holidays and now full into the throes of our crazy time of the school year.  I did want to share our Christmas - turned New Year's - almost became Groundhog's Day - card.  :)  You can click to see it in full view!


Our last name (which I removed) was shaded behind our names, so you may notice some flaws around "Kristin, Mindy, Pippin".

Also included was our annual "year in review" on the back of the card.  Again, click for full view.

We hope your 2011 is starting off well and wishing you many blessings along the way!

Merry Christmas

We hope that you have a very, Merry Christmas. That you and yours are able to spend time together - loving, laughing, remembering, sharing, and experiencing the joy that the Lord has given us through His son.

Pippin and Steve wish you a Merry Christmas while hoping the abuse ends soon.  Mindy escaped the torture, but wishes you the same as well.  :)

Thanksgiving 2010

All I need to say is LOTS of amazing food and loved ones.  What else would Thanksgiving need to be????  The spread of food was enough to truly feed an army.  That's just how we do it.  There was turkey, ham, dressing, 2 gravies, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, blackeyed pea soup, salad, creamed spinach, jello salad, deviled eggs, and probably other stuff I can't even remember.  Other family members took photos of the spread, but they aren't good about sharing photos like I am.  (hint hint)

This year we enjoyed lots of family - my Mom & Rick, my brother Jeffrey, my Dad & Joyce, Pat & Linda (Todd's Dad & his wife), my brother Michael, Danielle, Aeva & Will, and Todd and I.  We also had two friends - Jeff, who rents from my mom & Rick, and Diana, a friend of the family.  It was wonderful to be together, enjoy all of the food, and count our blessings.



Jeffrey & Dad



Dad, Linda & Pat

 

Todd, official family carver of all birds and pigs.



Linda & Joyce being pretty while waiting on food.

 

Nobody was willing to quit eating & look up to smile.



Thanksgiving dinner is a serious affair for Mike.



Will (age 3 1/2) loves Thanksgiving!



My sister in-law Danielle.



Mom sneaks a taste.  :)



Papa & Aeva (now 7 1/2)



Linda & Mom (my Mom & stepmom in-law)

The Happy Couple

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and found the opportunity to recognize the blessings in your life.  As I've told myself and others, "Life doesn't have to be perfect for you to be able to count the blessings you already have."

Welcome Fall!

With the gorgeous weather and amazing temperatures we've had the past couple of weeks, I decided to do a little bit of "autumning" around the house.  Both Todd and I have been SO VERY BUSY with work, but we are enjoying the changing of the seasons.

I bought mums last weekend and can't wait for them to fully bloom.  Today I bought pumpkins and decorated them.  We can carve them if we want when it gets closer to Halloween.  They definitely aren't perfect, but I had a good time making them, so I'm okay with that!  Here are a few blurry shots of my handiwork.

July 4th Weekend

We took an overnight trip to visit Todd's cousin and his family this weekend, and this time the dogs went with us.  This was their first overnight trip together, so we weren't sure what to expect.  After the initial first few hours of wild excitement by our dogs and Michael & Cathy's boys, things went really well.

Best thing of all . . . the dogs are RACKED today.  It may take them a couple of days to recover.  :)

A Long Two Months

It has been a long two months since I've updated our blog.   So much has happened that I don't quite know where to start.  I'll try to give it to you in a nutshell, but it is still going to be long.

APRIL

*Workworkworkwork - and more work.

That's all April is about for me. My fourth graders take the Reading & Math TAKS tests at the end of every April, and it was quite a task to fully prepare them this year.  Between teaching, planning, evaluating, communicating, reports, conferencing and meetings almost every day, April is tough.  April is also a lot of work for Todd, too, although he doesn't administer the actual TAKS test.

Good news though!  Todd's students did *awesome* on their EOC (end of course) exams.  His passing average was over 90% which is amazing!  I was so proud of him!  I learned at the end of May that my students did well on TAKS.  I was especially thrilled that 100% of my students passed the TAKS Writing test in April!  Over 1/3 of my class received perfect scores which thrilled me as well.

As far as next year, Todd will be teaching 8th grade Science.  This will be a positive move for him because the 7th graders he has this year will basically loop up to 8th grade with him.  I will continue teaching 4th grade, but I will only be teaching Math, Science & Social Studies.  This will be good for my workload, or at least I hope it will be!


MAY

May was tough - and that's putting it lightly.

* We lost my Grandma on May 6.  She had been on hospice since Christmas, and her health declined quickly.  She was a strong woman both emotionally and physically, and she could cook anything well.  Thankfully she shared her chicken salad recipe with me (from memory of course) several years ago, and I can now do one thing well that she could.  The matriarch of my Dad's side of the family is now gone, as is that entire generation.

A photo of us from ten years ago:

Grandma left behind four children, one preceded her in death just a month before, eighteen grandchildren, and even more great-grandchildren.  My Dad, Step-Mom, sister, and I traveled to Oklahoma for her funeral.  Here is a photo of a few of the grandchildren that were there:

* On May 8th, only two days after Grandma passed, our hearts were shattered.  I don't even know how to write this (and the tears begin), but we lost Mackey.  Our precious, cute, strange, goofy, sweet, boy had to be put to sleep.  It will be four weeks tomorrow, and Todd and I are still reeling from Mackey being gone.  Todd's best friend of 14.5 years is gone.  His ashes are home with us, where we wish he still was.  For being the calmest of our three dogs, it sure has been a quiet house without him.  The big dogs have felt the absence of his presence as well.  We are all still devastated and many tears have been, and surely will continue to be, shed.  It still doesn't seem real, and it seems like forever since he's been gone.

...............................................................................................................................................................

Now that I've dried my eyes (some), I'll continue.  May also brought us some proud moments and smiles.

* My sister, Cindy, was inducted into the Hall of Honor of the school district where she ran track and cross country in high school.  She was the first track star to be inducted.  Her beautiful and heartfelt speech had us all in tears.  A photo of her with a former teacher & coach:

Cindy, while giving her speech:

 

* I, along with my work team, took a bajillion (okay . . . maybe only 65) fourth graders to Austin for the day.  We met at te school at 6:00am, took chartered buses to Austin, toured the Capitol building, explored the Bob Bullock State Museum, and returned to the school about 8:30 that same night.  Talk about tired!

* Our niece, Whitney (a junior), went to prom. Luckily I was invited to take photos.  She was amazingly gorgeous, and I was so proud!  I can't believe how grown up she is now.  Man, I feel old.

With her date ("friend"), Alex:

A full-length view of her dress:

And with her double-chinned aunt:

* Todd finished his first semester of graduated school and did really well.  He is taking two other classes this summer, and has about a year until he graduated with his Master's Degree in Educational Administration.  I'm so proud of him!

* Our annual Memorial Weekend in Tyler with Todd's cousins was a wonderful time as always.  Although not everyone was able to join us, we still had family there from Boston to Colorado and all over Texas.  There were 24 of us, I believe; eight of whom were aged 10 and under!  Lots of fun, water, eating, drinking, and relaxing - just what we needed.





* And now, here we still are, in June of 2010.  Best of all, it is now SUMMER!  Ahead of us is work around the house (decorating, more landscaping, cleaning & organizing), relaxing, Todd's birthday, traveling to both coasts, and recuperating from a looonnnnggg school year.  For today, Steve sums it up for both of us :