Hoping your day ended better than mine...

This is the view of how my day ended... That would be my blue pathfinder being towed away. After a very long day, I had my facial appointment at 4:00. Luke went with me, and after we had parked and I opened my door, a lady pulled right into the spot next to me and smashed in my door. So to make a really long story short, first we waited 30 minutes for the police who were maybe a fourth of a mile down the road, then I had to talk to insurance for what seemed like an hour, then they connected me to a tow company, so we waited for them for 20 minutes, all the while with the two kids there (Marc arrived with Mia). What made me more upset was that the lady who hit me had been able to drive away an hour earlier, while I was stuck waiting for someone to take my car. I realize I didn't get a photo of the door, which I wish I had, but it wouldn't shut by like a foot - so dented and smashed into the hinges that it just bounced back. Fabulous. 

Soccer and Silly Kids!

I have lots of random photos to share from the past few weeks.

Ta Da!!

My students - Valentine's Day Party

Luke's class came to my room to visit. They were having their fairy tale ball and were all dressed up!

This girl LOVES her yogurt!

We couldn't resist the temptation of these freshly dipped strawberries at HEB!

This year Luke is a Charger for soccer. He enjoys playing so much more than last year, and actually runs after the ball. He is #8 in the yellow shirt right by the coach.

Officially a soccer mom now that I have my matching T. 

Taking care of a runny nose while watching "Loo" play soccer

Ready for his first game!

Marc's birthday dinner at Fish City Grill

Marc

I realize when I read Nancy's comments that I never told everyone the latest news from Marc's tests. We believe everything is caused by his rotator cuff. He has some stretches to do (which he hasn't been doing!) and in a few weeks, if he's still as bad, he will go to an orthopedic at the hospital to get it checked out. Hopefully it's not in need of surgery, and will heal with time.

Luke's Tree

A few weeks ago, Nonno came to watch Luke while we had a day off and Marc had one of his tests at the hospital, and brought him a fig tree. Everyone got in on the action of planting the tree- even Molly! And then there's a random photo of Mia's first corn on the cob experience. For some reason, I feel that's an event worth capturing on film!

Fairy Tale Ball

I have a lot to post, but haven't downloaded photos or thought much about posting during the craziness of the past weeks. So keep checking back the next few days to see what's been going on in our lives the past weeks. For now, I will share with you photos Luke's teacher sent me from their Fairy Tale Ball. Last Friday, her class was to dress up as nice as they could and they learned how to dance and they had a ball in the afternoon. They'd been studying all kinds of fairy tales. I missed the actual ball since my class was having our valentine party at the time, but I am glad because I have a feeling Luke wouldn't have danced if I'd been in the room! And Mrs. Gonder said he managed to hide in every photo of them dancing, but you can see him in some after he came through the line of kids.

Super Bowl Party - Minatrea Style

We had a pretty lame superbowl Sunday, but we were all together and happy, so I guess it wasn't that bad!
While watching the game...

Luke and Mia built things with blocks,


Luke read some books to Mia,


played with daddy's facebook pet,


while mommy read her latest Twilight book,


and daddy texted (probably Doug about sports...) while Mia finally layed down with him and relaxed.

Recap of an eventful week

Still no photos to post... guess I'm too busy to ever think to pull out my camera and capture some moments. I promise some photos soon! This week was crazy busy, and I can't believe my weekend is more than half over. I don't feel rested and haven't accomplished much off my to-do list either. So, what's happening in our lives?
Monday - Did my taxes. Planned a possible summer trip to Philly and Sesame Place. Never been to Philly, the kids would love S.P., and one of my dearest friends lives close by and hopefully we could meet up.
Tuesday - My student teacher started. The next 11 weeks (1 week down already) may be interesting. I hate to say that she is old, and offend some of my faithful readers, but let's just say she seems old to just be student teaching. She has been an aide for 8 years at Marc's school, but he doesn't know her. My friend Jeff calls her "grandma"... not to her face of course, so that gives you an idea that she's a bit older. I'd guess late 50s or early 60s? Anyhow, she's very sweet, willing to learn, jumped in helping the kids at their seats, and said she's already learned a lot from a pro (I guess she meant me!) I see her being a great aide, but not sure about teacher. She is timid, and I am the very outgoing in my classroom and LOUD! :) I will say I felt like I was a great teacher all week since I knew everything I did/said was being watched carefully. Monday she starts teaching her first subject, then picks up one more each week from there. The part that's hard is that it's TAKS season, high stress teaching time, and I'm giving up control. Hope it all works out ok. Tuesday night there were threats of ice storms, so Luke's first soccer practice and Marc's game were cancelled.
Wednesday - We went to school. I say this only because everyone who reads this blog got to stay home! We had ice, but no cancellations. When the bell rang for school to begin, I was the only person there for 3rd grade -all other 4 teachers and our aide were still trying to make it to work! But at least we get to enjoy Good Friday off still! I have been going for a series of hydrafacials with microderm about once a week. The 6 sessions were expensive, but wanted to do something nice for myself! When I showed up Wednesday, they said the microderm tip was broken, but I got the intense facial still - for free! That's about a $100 facial free. Love it! From there we went to Marc's game -make up game from Tuesday. We got there at the half, and they were playing the best team in district, and one of the best in the state, and were doing so well! Then Marc got 2 technical fouls and thrown out of the game. Not so good. The team ended up in OT, a big shocker for everyone, and I had to do a play by play on the phone to Marc since he was stuck in his office. They ended up losing, but played great despite everything else.
Thursday - Luke had his first soccer practice of the year, and did so well. Played hard, talked to the coaches... and had a great time!
Friday - Another basketball game, and they pulled out a win. Still in the running for playoffs.
Today - Today's been a long, busy day. Mia has yet another "bug" and we spent the first few hours of the day changing diapers every 10 minutes. I managed to sneak out for a good workout and an hour of time to myself. Then Luke and I had a "date" -went to see Hotel for Dogs, and I actually really enjoyed it. He loved it. On our way home we noticed smoke near our home, and then I spent the next hour basically standing in the back yard watching a rapidly spreading grass fire burn out of control -about a mile from my house. And the part that made me nervous was that the only thing between the fire and our house was a road and a lot of dead grass and dried out trees. Nothing to slow it down if the wind turned our way. Later, Luke and I drove to get Chipotle for dinner and saw where the fire had burned. It had gone all the way across the highway and the grass in front of Mia's daycare was burned... so we're lucky her daycare is still standing!
As for tomorrow, I will find an hour to work out after church, but then it's lesson plans, putting away laundry, making lunches and ironing for the week, and helping Luke create his 100 day of school project. (and don't ask what it'll be... still not sure!)
My apologies for a long blog. If you really don't care what I did all week, then hopefully you just skimmed my detailed version.

more updates

Marc had his follow up appt yesterday. All his lab work came back great as did the stress test. The past few days he's had a lot of back pain now, and is walking at a nice angle, so they did a spine/back xray to check that out. He got some relaxers and we think everything was triggered by back muscles. If he still feels bad in a few weeks I guess he'll go back and try something else.

In other news, my student teacher starts Tuesday. I know nothing about her except that she's going through an alternative certification process and will be with me 12 weeks. I meet with her mentor Monday afternoon, so not sure what to expect. Just hoping she's easy to get along with and willing to jump in and help.

Marc won a game Tuesday, so right now he has a shot at playoffs if the team can keep winning. The big game against the arch rival is tomorrow, so that'll be a big deal.

Well, I got Mia to bed at 6:30 without screaming, so I'm going to take this little miracle as a sign that I have to get my kids' writing graded and get busy. Thanks for all the messages the past week while we were wondering about Marc.

Update

Sorry I've been an absent blogger all week... but it's been a long, tiring week. Most of you know by now that Marc and I spent Tuesday night in the ER. He had chest pains and numbness/tingling on his left side. I knew he felt bad because he missed a district basketball game to go. The ER doc did lots of tests but we left knowing nothing except it was a low likelihood of anything cardiac. Marc went to the dr Wed. and got thoroughly checked, but no real news there either. Today we went to Scott and White Hospital for him to have a stress test. Again, no real news, but they did say if it was anything bad, a dr. would have been called in. He has a follow up Wednesday, so we just wait till then. The problem, in the mean time, is that he still doesn't feel any better, and is starting to get pretty upset not having an answer or solution to his pains. He couldn't really coach his kids tonight at his game because he really needs to take it easy, so that just makes things harder on him. It will be interesting Wednesday to find out what happens next if there are still no answers, and he's still feeling lousy. So we're tired, a little worried, and I also had a super busy week at work that I just did my best to get through. So pardon my silence... not really having the time or energy to do much of anything this week. 

Just sayin hi

Last week was very busy, and I'm gearing up for an even busier week starting tomorrow bright and early. No photos opportunities happening unless you want me to take a photo of Marc cleaning the house or me grading papers. That's about all that's going on right now! Last week Marc won a great district game, and has two more this week and we're really hoping he can pull off wins for both. Then I think next week is the first of the big game vs. the arch enemy of Heights. This coming week is the last week of the semester, so I have to give 3 big tests, finish grading, do report cards, and permanent records. I'm tired already just thinking about it.
Have a super week everyone... will try to update again next week.

Holiday Photos

A lot happened the past 2 weeks, so rather than telling you all about it, I'll let the photos and captions speak for themselves. 

Christmas Eve (do you notice Mia's black eye?? Day care incident)

Cookies and Milk for Santa - well, just one cookie since Luke said he gets them at every house and doesn't need to be fatter! Plus, 8 carrots - one for each reindeer.

Christmas Morning

Carsyn and Jenna at my house

Little Old Lady, sporting her new shoes and purses

Luke got a golf club from uncle Michael!

Mia at the end of our Davis family Christmas last Sunday

Luke and Jenna at lunch at Cheesecake Factory

Austin Arboretum

Waiting for the pizza guy at Brenda's

At Brenda's

New Year's Eve - kids got to be the band for a few songs

Cheers!!!

Ft. Worth Stockyards New Year's Day

This is when I knew it was time for Luke, Mia, and I to head back home to Killeen

Three Christmases

Well, all of our Christmas celebrations are over. The kids cashed in with tons of great gifts, and I didn't do so badly either! Marc got his 2 framed Houston jerseys and seemed happy with them. After many trials and tribulations, Luke's trampoline was put together and has been enjoyed by all the cousins and even mommy! (Check Amy's blog eventually for a possible photo of me in action!) The Ohio clan arrived Friday night and tomorrow we take off to Brenda's for a few more days of family time. Today well all went to Austin to the Arboretum, and it turned out to be a gorgeous day for some outdoor shopping! We ate at Cheesecake Factory, and I got to spend my big Sephora gift card -and my best purchase was Smurfette brand glitter eye liner. Fabulous. We hung out at the fountains there, that someone had filled with bubbles, and grandpa let Mia slip a bit and she went face first into the bubbles! 

Marc is away at a tournament so we won't be seeing him all week, but we'll enjoy these last few days with the rest of the fam.

Photos will come over the weekend... until then, happy new year everyone!! 

My 12 favorite things about Christmas this year

12. Listening to Luke singing Christmas carols (even in the shower!)

11. Plugging in my new skinny, prelit tree every night

10. Picking out the perfect ornament for each of my kids

9. Starbucks eggnog lattes

8. Shopping shopping shopping!!

7. Two weeks off of school

6. Falalala Lifetime - Christmas movies all the time!

5. Making cut out cookies with Luke... and eating them too

4. Helping the kids make their Christmas lists, making sure to guide Luke to pick the things I already bought!

3. Getting cards with photos of everyone's kids, especially since I haven't sent any out yet!

2. Waiting to see if Marc is as excited about his gift from us as we are to give it to him!

1. Impatiently and anxiously awaiting time with family, especially my nephew Jacob and niece Jenna that we haven't seen in a year! Can't believe I haven't seen those two in so long.

updates

seems like several things have happened the past few days and need to blog it all before i forget! it's late, i'm tired, so sorry but no photos added tonight.

1. yesterday was party day at school. luke and i got to wear pjs all day and watch polar express, so that made it even more relaxing! got some great gifts from students this year including a dillard's gift card which i may use to buy a fabulous mascara that vibrates! what will they think of next??

2. mia had her party at school and stayed healthy through this one!

3. the kids and i went to killeen high school to watch marc's game. this is the school where a few years ago HUGE fights broke out and it was scary. it's not the team's fault, just the fans who get worked up with two killeen schools play each other. anyhow, the game was great, but they ended up losing at the very end, not that i saw the end. with only seconds to go, someone threw a full bottle of gatorade from the upper level that bounced off the rafters and hit my shoulder and luke's head. he was crying so hard and i knew it hurt because my shoulder hurt! if looks could kill, the kid (age 18ish) would be dead after i stared him down. i've never come close to being in a fight, but i was ready to run up those stairs after him. i call it my  "mom rage" that came out. i think the cops got him, but they couldn't prove who did it so they took the 3 guilty looking ones out. you just don't mess with my kids. and luke had a nice lump on his head as a souvenir. 

4. today marc and i went to april-dawn's wedding. she was my roommate about 10 years ago and played piano at our wedding. we didn't head to the reception because we really didn't know anyone else, but it was great to be there and see her so happy.

5. we had a family dinner out tonight. may not seem like much, but with our busy lives and 2 little kids, we haven't been out anywhere that requires a waitress in months! we've been wanting to go to cracker barrel since it opened a few months ago, and it was worth the wait. i think we all agreed that it may have been our best meal in a long time - plates were scraped clean, we were eating off everyone else's plates, and the kids were so well behaved! and all for $24. not bad.

oh, and if you're checking your mailbox for a card from us, stop looking... i just didn't get with the program this year and cards are not headed your way. doesn't mean i don't love and miss you all though! 

Fa la la la humbug

What a day. It seems like everyone at work today was a scrooge, making the rest of us who thought we were happy feel like scrooges too. I thought it was tis the season to be jolly... anyone else finding a lack of "jollyness" out there this year? Everyone seems so grumpy and moody. Last night was my school party and I wasn't able to go since Marc is out of town and I had no sitter. I was upset till I found out there were rude comments still being said today over the staff gift exchange, of who didn't get what they wanted. Come on people, they were $10 gifts. Who really cares what you left with? So now I'm pretty glad I stayed home in my PJs making goodie bags with the kids. I, for some crazy reason, agreed to make them for Luke's class, Mia's class, and my class... so now Luke knows that 13+18+20=51 since that's how many we made last night.  My kids at school today were crazy, and I'm starting to buy into the "full moon effect" on kids... has anyone else checked out the moon last night and today? So cool. I even saw a man stopped by my house snapping a quick photo. Go out and see it tonight if you haven't yet. 

In other news... Marc is still out of town at a tournament. I feel bad for him, missing 2 days of school, only playing one game a day, getting a good night's sleep in a hotel, spending most of today shopping at a nice mall in Dallas area. The kids and I have to clean the house and cook tonight since I'm hosting my third grade teacher party tomorrow night. We voted on a soup and hot drink party, trying to force ourselves into the holiday/cold weather spirit. 

Well, not much else to say. I should have some photos to post after this weekend. You aren't missing much - right now both my kids are a mess from dinner, and Mia is burping while Luke is repeatedly saying "fart fart fart" while eating. **Sigh** When did Luke become such a boy???? 

Back to work

Well, back to work tomorrow morning. Thankfully the break seemed long for once. It's sad though that I'm still on Thanksgiving break, and I'm already counting down to Christmas break.
Here's my week in review:
1. Went on Wednesday to Marc's game- first one I could go to and their first win.
2. Spent Thanksgiving in Bryan with Marc's family -ate a lot, read a lot. Good times.
3. Brenda's family was at my house when we returned Thursday night and stayed till Saturday morning. She and I spent about 6 hours out Friday morning, WITHOUT KIDS!!, shopping and going to the Sami Show. I spent way too much money, but it was all worth it!
4. Saw Twilight Friday night with Brenda -now waiting for the second one to come out.
5. Marc went to Houston to a game Saturday with his dad so the kids and I hung out all day together, and had a really good and relaxing day. Luke and I watched Iron Man last night together too.
6. At the TAG convention, I got 2 caterpillars to grow to butterflies. They turned to chrysallis', and the first one hatched (is that what it's called??) Friday and the other one came out this afternoon. So we have 2 butterflies, and we'll probably let them go tomorrow. In all the times I caught caterpillars at home and put them in jars with sticks, I never did successfully grow a butterfly, so I was as excited about it as Luke.

As I prepare to head back to work tomorrow, I leave you all with this thought - 15 school days until a 2 week break! :)