Sunday, December 20, 2009

Snowy Fun


We've had a very exciting weekend around here. Friday it started snowing at 9 am. School was released at 10 and I was home by 11! Since the buses ran it counts as a school day so we don't have to make it up. HOORAY!!!
Snow Anthony

Yes....that is a pregnant Snow Kyla!! Anthony decided it was only proper that we appropriately represent every member of the family! (Except that our future son is a snow person....and I'm pregnant, that's a little funny.)


Our wintery home!


Our future child!!!! And Snow Lile! How precious are they?!

Our sweet Snow family!!
We had alot of fun playing outside. Lile finally gave up and had to go inside. We picked her up for this picture and she was shivering! Our neighbors saw us outside and came over to have a peak. They said their curiosity got the best of them. I hope they last a very long time. We had 40 degree weather today so it started melting. But since it's packed so tightly, I hope the snow of our snow family hangs in there this week!

So it snowed all day Friday and we ended up with about 8 inches! We've not seen this much snow since I was about 8 or 9 years old. It's very exciting and soo very beautiful! During the snow adventure the wallpaper men came to remove the wallpaper from the baby's room.

This is the Lovely wallpaper before....all that painted texture. Yum.

This is what it looks like now. Yes, it's blue...but that's just what was behind the wallpaper. It still needs to be sanded and painted. We're going to do an Underwater Adventure theme with super cute sea creatures and such. I've gotta buy a piece of the baby's bedding so I can get some paint. Grandpa Carroll is going to do the painting for us, so we've gotta get some things together.


Monday, December 14, 2009

Busy People



Just wanted to show off some of our handiwork! We're up to 5 feet now and the next row is of accent tiles. It looks so good! I know we did it ourselves and we're proud parents of a new bathroom, but it's really nice! We're planning on getting lots more done this weekend. We didn't work on it this weekend b/c we ran away to Gatlinburg!
What a nice little seat that is! Thanks honey for working that in!
We're also getting ready to have the lovely textured wallpaper removed from the nursery. You have to picture this stuff. It's grass mat wallpaper....that's been painted. Yeah, just picture that for a minute. Yep, gross. If you run into it, or scrape your fingers against it you lose skin. Not ideal for small ones who fall down. Not only is it in the baby's room, it's down the hall, down the stairs, and in the mudroom downstairs. It's AWFUL! We've hated it since the day we moved in, but we knew we'd tackle it one day. We're so "home projected" out we just couldn't do this by ourselves, too. So there's a crew coming this week to remove the paper from the baby's walls. A very nice thought. And Anthony's dad wants to paint it for us, and he even wants to put up crown molding and do something really nice. So thankful we won't have to do it!

On top of all that we ran away this weekend to Gatlinburg, TN. We needed a break from the work at home and a chance to get away before the baby comes. We didn't want to travel too far from home in the 3rd trimester, which is only 3 weeks away! We stayed downtown Gatlinburg, since it's soo hard to park in that town. We walked around in like 20 degree weather on Friday night, bundled up with hats, scarves, and gloves. Oooh, it was soo cold. But the lights were beautiful and it was nice to be away. Of course I was AWFUL and didn't actually take any pictures! Except these:

Because I-40 is closed due to a rockslide we had to take an alternative route. We ended up driving the scenic route through Cherokee, NC to get to Gatlinburg. Just outside of town in Cherokee we saw some people parked in a random place. When we looked this is what we saw!!! I'm pretty sure they're elk! They're definitely not the white tailed deer we see here at home. They were beautiful! Just peacefully grazing on some yummies. They just stood there and ignored all of us. Of course, we didn't get out of the car, but some of the crazies behind us did. No way am I getting close to those wild animals. My dad always taught me a healthy fear of the wild. Look, don't touch.
Anyway, we had a great time and got some shopping done. We had hoped to see some snow,but no such luck. Just reallllly cold. We watched a really funny dinner show called "Hoot 'n Holler." We were served delicious baked ziti, manicotti, and chicken parmesan. It was yummy and the comedian was really funny. It was a cute Christmas show, with tons of laughs mixed in.
We also ordered baby furniture last week and went to pick it up tonight! This really feels real!! We're not setting it up until we have the wallpaper taken down and the new paint job up. However, my baby's future sleeping arrangements are sitting in the basement! What a feeling...

A few doctor updates:
We had another ultrasound on Thursday, December 10. He's so cute! He was nodding his head like yeah! And he waved and kicked and wiggled. She just needed to get a couple more pictures, that's why we had another ultrasound. It was the first time the doctor measure my tummy with the tape measure. We were 25 weeks but measured 30 weeks. I asked if my weight gain was significant or if I needed to cut back, but no that's not it. So they're sending us to Charlotte this Thursday for a level 2 ultrasound. They just want to get some better pictures. Dr. said the measurement might be because the baby is very big, or because I have excess fluid. Either way, we're just going to check it out and get some really good baby pictures in the process. The doctor said we might even get 3-D images, too! How exciting! I'm sure everything is fine, but we'll see later this week.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Updates



Ok...I know it's not a very pretty picture, but look at that belly! This is from Sunday, 23 weeks!! It's very round, solid, and tight. One of my friends at school is also preggo...but 2 weeks behind me. Our body types are quite different and she has belly envy! She rubbed it on Monday and just sighed and said "I want one, it's so big and round!" That truly makes me feel good! I have to admit I'm pretty proud of it myself. It's only going to get bigger and I'm really looking forward to it.

If you haven't heard...it's officially a boy!!!!! We'll just ignore that earlier post about a baby girl. Evidently the umbilical cord was hiding a VERY important part! We have decided on a name, but I haven't unveiled it yet. We happen to love it (obviously) and hope you will, too. We go back to the doctor Dec. 10th for a follow-up ultrasound. The tech couldn't see everything she needed to see last time so we get to look at him again!! We don't mind! If it's still a boy *wink* when we look next Thursday I'll tell you all his name! You're gonna love it!

And an update on our shower! For the last two weeks we've been tiling! Hooray! We have used almost 3 boxes of tile and have laid up to almost 3 feet. The bench is finished and the bottom 2 1/2 rows are complete. It's very exciting! It looks soo good. I'm already pleased with it, and there's only like 30 tiles up! Can't wait till it's finished. I wish we could work on it more often, but we have to mix the thinset before we start, and it's impossible to save. So we can only make what we will use in the time we need it. Anyway...it's looking good. Pictures to follow soon!!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Shower update

Last time I posted info about the shower there were holes in the ceiling and bare 2 x 4s. Behold the shower now!!


Now the shower has a lovely corner bench and is fully covered in cement backer board and is ready for tile! We've bought all our tile and things and we're ready to get started...well we think we are! It's quite a daunting task, just getting started. We're only working on it Saturdays, and maybe one day through the week with all the stuff we've got going on. Just hoping it's done before the baby comes!!!! There's still a nursery to be worked on!

It's a baby!


My most recent preggo pic! 21 weeks, Sunday, November 15, 2009. There is a belly for sure! I'm in all maternity bottoms, but can still wear alot of my pre-preggo shirts and tops. Unless they're too short to cover the lovely panel on those maternity pants.
I've gotten lots of great maternity clothes from Kelly Wortman...and some from Alyssa at work. It's quite nice to not have to spend so much money on things you wear for only a few months! So thanks, girls!

Say hello to our tiny baby! We have had a total of 3 ultrasounds so far. One at the doctor's office and two from a friend at the hospital! It's nice to have connections!
Anyway...we know the sex of the baby but I'm not posting it until I get to see the whole family at Thanksgiving!! That's not too much longer to wait!
Seeing this baby on screen was incredible!!!! Just to see the chambers of the heart fluttering, the little hands and feet wiggling all over the place. Amazing...we are so blessed!





You'll all know what I am soon!!!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Anyone

Does anyone read this thing? Or am I just wasting my time?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Refrigerator Ridiculous-ness

Okay..let me start by saying this fridge was FREE.

So our friends in Boone, the Garners, had their kitchen remodeled in an incredible way! It's gorgeous and 5 star! So they got rid of all their old stuff and asked Erin if she knew anyone who needed a fridge. It's a black side-by-side GE Profile with ice and water in the door. A very nice fridge! So of course..."If it's free, it's for me" is our motto. And we volunteered to take it off their hands.

Ant's friend, Collin, agreed to go to Boone with us to pick up the fridge. Seeing as how I'm in the family way...I can't really help. Anyway, let's start with borrowing a big truck.

We borrowed my grandpa's big grey truck. One I haven't ridden in since high school. It's like a 1980's model Ford. On the outside the paint job looks great and it sounds really good. Ant looked in the truck bed and realized it was rusted in so many places he could see straight through to the ground! The whole back end of the bed was a giant line of scary rust! Not to mention you have to pump the gas before it'll crank, and there's only two seat belts. Dad says it'll make it up the mountain, no problem.

We get to Boone without any trouble. We get to the Garner's w'out any trouble. The fridge is DISGUSTING! Mel hasn't cleaned it out yet and it's stinky and gross. So we (they) get the fridge all wrapped up on the hand truck and lift it into the truck bed. Then we realize there's a 5th wheel in the middle of the truck bed. You know...a big ball sticking up in the middle of the bed. So we have to borrow several of the Garners for help and finally wrestled it over the ball and get it secured. Not an easy task. I believe it took 5 grown men. So we get back in the truck and head back down the mountain. Again, an uneventful ride. Although there was a chance of running out of gas....there's two tanks on the truck and we were running below E in the tank we were using. Nice.

Ok...we get it home and it's just me, Ant & Collin. We call Ant's uncle Phillip. Again, the wrestling of the fridge over the 5th wheel then off the tailgate. This fridge is a monster! Huge and tall and heavy. Our entry is a split foyer, steps going up, steps going down, w/ a wall in the middle. Nice usually, just not when you're trying to move a monster fridge! We end up getting the fridge on the landing, then realize it won't go up the stairs b/c of the door. A) take the door off its hinges B) close the door to maneuver the fridge up the steps. We choose choice B. But the door won't close b/c the fridge is too big. We have to hang it off the lower set of stairs with Collin holding it up until we could wiggle the door past and close it. Keep in mind that the fridge has been unplugged hours before...meaning it's been leaking the whole time from the melting freezer. Yeah. We have to remove the pictures, mirrors, and candle sconces from the walls and unplug the wall flower. The fridge makes it up the stairs, but won't fit in th first kitchen door...so we have to move allll the furniture in the living room to roll it over the carpet...leaking. We got it. This took about 6-7 hours of our Saturday afternoon/evening. We left it there till Sunday afternoon.

Now Ant decides to measure it one more time to make sure it'll fit. It won't! He's so mad!! We measured, of course, before we picked it up...but I neglected to measure the bottom of the hole, where the molding is. Yeah....that takes over an inch off the space we have. Nice. We peeled the molding off the wall...not pretty and still had to FORCE it into the hole, scraping paint off the wall as we go! But at this point the fridge is still disgusting! I spent almost 3 hours scrubbing, spraying, washing, rubbing...layers of sticky gunk, kool-aid spills, and dog hair! EWWWWW! Ant helped with the drawers and such and we manage to clean it up. I reallllly regret not taking a before/after picture of the fridge. You really wouldn't believe this thing! We plug it in, shove it in, and wedge it safely in it's place. As we begin to load food in from the old fridge we realize the ice maker isn't making. Now, the old fridge had been hit by lightning and the ice maker didn't work. So we've been using ice cube trays...which I HATE! I didn't trade a fridge that didn't work, for a fridge that didn't work. SOOOOO mad at this point! Ant says the fridge isn't leaving..it's now a permanent staple in the house! We also forgot to plug the wall flower back in and Phillip had laid it on my $500 coffee table. Just so you know, fragrance oils remove stain and varnish from oak coffee tables. Yeah...ultimately pissed off at the fridge at this point!! My poor table now has two nasty circles that are a totally different color. Gross.

Well, after returning all the food, moving the old fridge downstairs, moving everything around, cleaning the house and mopping the floors and returning the hand truck we borrowed we were EXHAUSTED! Turns out the ice maker does work, as does the water in the door. It's in there, although I don't think it'll ever move! I like the shelves, the lighting, and the storage! My hands and feet were very, very swollen from all the hard work..hours and hours of it. I rested the rest of the night with my feet up and went to bed early. What a disaster of a weekend! I totally expected it to be an easy-peasy pick-up and delivery, no sweat. Boy, was I wrong!

Moral of this story: Always let your husband measure where your new fridge should be before driving and spending hours picking it up.

Ant was so wonderful to help and to put up with this. There were a few times I felt like he was ready to throw in the towel, but he never did. A HUGE shout-out to him for this. And thanks to Collin for helping on Saturday & Sunday!

Baby girl...maybe?!

So last Thursday we went to the hospital and a friend scanned my belly to see if we've got a boy or a girl growing in there!! We wiggled and jiggled, twisted and patted, rolled and pushed....and still no go! The umbilical cord was in between Baby's legs! When we first started looking she was sooo sure she knew what the baby was. Then, the longer we looked the more unsure she became.
Although, they have really cool machines, now! She can show the blood flow in red and blue, that's how we knew it was the cord. But that's pretty cool....

However....my sweet friend who snuck me into the hospital for a super special scan now has me scared to death! She just kept saying "This is such a big baby! This baby is sooo big!". She measured the femur and just gasped! I don't know any measurements, but man, Baby sure looked big. She wanted to take a picture of the spine and kept saying she couldn't get the entire spine in one picture frame. Interesting! But Anthony just mentioned that neither of us are small people, so I guess we're growing a tall baby! Ant says Baby's going to be an athlete....if she's tall and skinny she'll be an awesome runner!

Sooooo...She's 90% sure it's a baby girl!!!! I'm super-duper excited! Here comes pink and bows and ribbons and black patent leather shoes!

Tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 12) we go for our official anatomy scan at the doctor's office. Hopefully the cord moved this week, with all that wiggling in there you'd think she's doing jumping jacks or maybe Irish dancing!

HOPE we find out something more definite tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 16, 2009

Watch me grow!


6 Weeks
Look at that....NO belly! All my pants still fit!



8 Weeks
Not much different, not much to see.

10 Weeks
Beginning to see a bump, but still not much...

12 Weeks
3 months down, 6 to go! All my pants still fit, but there's a tiny bump.


14 Weeks
Ok...it's official. I popped! Here's the belly...although now we're 17 weeks.
My pants don't fit anymore and I've had to move to maternity pants. But the problem with that is that they're all too big! So I spend my day yanking and pulling at them b/c they keep falling down! Soon enough I'm sure that problem won't exist.
I haven't felt the baby yet....I keep thinking of your post, Anna R., about feeling Tristan for the first time. The doctor said it might not be until 19 or 20 weeks. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!
I'm still bummed about having to wait 4 more weeks to find out the sex. I wanna know NOW!







Thursday, October 15, 2009

Doctor Visit

I went to the doctor again yesterday...

We are 16 1/2 weeks along....wow, 4 months! Just today someone mentioned that I was almost halfway there. That's a very interesting thought. It still feels like it's crawling by...don't get me wrong, I don't want to wish it away or rush it along, but it just seems like it's taking forever!

OK, doctor statistics so far:

16 weeks, 3 days
5 pounds gained
150 heartbeat
(178 last time)

That's about it. We talked about the flu...I'm getting a flu shot from the school system and the doctor's office should have the H1N1 vaccine within a week or two. They're going to start witht he 3rd trimester patients, then branch out to 2nd trimester. She hopes to get me in within that time.
We scheduled our next appointment...4 weeks! Such a long time, and especially this time since our next appointment is a BIG one! Our ultrasound!!! She wouldn't let me come in early, though it would be equally great between 18 & 20 weeks. She's making me wait until 20 weeks for our next doc visit and the ultrasound. TORTURE! Just tell me already! I can't wait to start picking things out and buying stuff (although I'm sure Ant can wait!). Our appointment is not until November 12....forever away!
We'll keep our fingers crossed!
Also...a shout out to Tori for going with me to the doctor yesterday. If you didn't know, Tori's a nursing student at Lenoir-Rhyne and I'm her "pregnant guinnea pig" so to speak and she's doing a report on me and Anthony. Kinda fun if you ask me! Anyway, it was her first time hearing a baby's heartbeat and she thought it was super cool. Which it totally is. Oh yeah, and Tori is a super sweet girl and a very good friend! So thanks, Tori. It's so nice not to go alone!

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Lazy Saturdays

Well, we're both finally feeling better. FINALLY! That's really good news. It took Anthony a little bit longer to shake it than me, but I think we're pretty close to 100% again.

I took some pictures yesterday and today...different families. But I wanted to show you my favorite one of Faith! She's such a beautiful little girl!




Now it's Saturday afternoon and I'm sitting here on the computer while Ant reads Dan Brown's new book on the couch. This kind of afternoon is the best...just laying around and being together. Most of the time we do this on Sundays, but today we just migrated towards the couch!



Anthony has been working diligently on our new bathroom. Here are some new pictures!




Yes..we now have a shower basin, the bottom of our shower. There is a drain and everything!







No, you're not seeing things. Anthony's head is hanging from the ceiling! We had to remove these 2x4s to get the new ceiling piece in. He's laying up in the attic among the insulation. Gross.






You should also notice the plumbing! There are pipes of all kinds! We've tested it and it officially works! So "technically" we could take a shower in there with the new pipes and the drain. But I'm not sure that would be good for the sheet rock.








Ta-da! Now there is no hole in the ceiling, the beginnings of a wall, and electricity for the ceiling light and fan! It's working... it's coming along! It's just a slow process. Ant took a couple days off last week to work on it, that's all the recent progress.



As of today he built the corner bench and we're officially ready to get our backerboard and tile! We're planning on picking up the backerboard and some more sheetrock so we can finish the wall and be ready to tile!!

Hooray!

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sickness during pregnancy

This sucks! I feel terrible this weekend! My head is full of yuck and my nose is terribly runny! I've been coughing and sneezing. Yesterday I had a really nasty fight with my gag reflex and I almost didn't win!
Today we stayed home from church so I didn't share my germs. But I won't be so lucky tomorrow. School is on Monday...and there's no money for substitutes. So I have to go to school.
Anyway, I tried Sudafed and Benadryl.....Benadryl knocked me OUT! but didn't help me feel better. Sudafed didn't do anything. I mean, nothing. Now there's nothing else to try. When you're pregnant you have such a limited amount of drugs to try!
I'm going to go take a shower to see if that makes me feel better. At least I slept last night....no promises about tonight!

I'll post more about the bathroom progress soon! Cute pics to follow!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Good News


Since most of you who read this already know....I figure it's OK to post about it, now.

But we're almost 12 weeks pregnant and nearly finished with the first trimester!!!! We saw the baby at 8 weeks on ultrasound. We couldn't hear the heartbeat but we could SEE the flicker on the screen. How amazing! It was 180 beats per minute. That's crazy to me.
I couldn't help but cry. What an amazing feeling to see that living thing you've created with someone you love so much. You just can't explain it to anyone else, you just have to experience it.
So our due date is March 28, 2010. Anthony thinks we'll wait till April.
We're also taking votes on the sex of the baby before we know! Ant says it's a girl, my mom has already bought dresses, so she's on the girl side. Erin says it's a boy (although I think it's just so she can buy everything green!). Amy hopes it's a girl....I too want a girl. But we'll be happy with ANYTHING as long as it's healthy.

Next Tuesday, the 14th, we get to hear the heartbeat for the first time! I'm sure that'll be the most exciting moment! We hope to find out the sex by Thanksgiving. Hooray! I can't wait to buy sweet, sweet things....no matter if they're pink or blue.

I bought my first pair of maternity pants today. Amy says I'll hate them before this is over! I finally found some at JCPenney that were long enough, everyone else things all pregnant ladies are 5 foot 6. HA! My belly has popped out and there's a definite bump there now. Anthony is so sweet and snuggles her every night and every morning before we go to work. But he keeps wanting to squeeze and wiggle it. And it's not very fun. It's uncomfortable. He doesn't understand....he says she likes it! ;-)

More to come...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

One down... 35 to go...

One week is totally finished!!!

We made it together through 5 whole days of school. There were definitely some bumps along the
way but sure enough, here we are. We're all alive and no worse for the wear. Besides being extremely exhausted after school I'm making it.

The child with autism is very tiring....and requires constant attention or nothing gets done. I can't do that, so Mom has to understand that he can't function in a reg-ed classroom. We'll see what happens. They're in denial about it.

My 4th grade team is really good I think. Our newest member has just slid right in without any trouble and we're working well together so far. I hope it stays that way!

Some of my munchkins are adorable and some would drive you crazy in only 5 minutes! It's totally amazing how that happens! There are so many kids in 4th grade this year that we're just full of them, and it's tough to move around the room, or get away from them!

Hope all stays well....

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Don't make me do it!

Ok....I just don't want to go. I could cry....that's how much I don't want to go. That's right, Meet the Teacher night is tomorrow night. That means I'll be at school all day tomorrow...from 8 -6:30 at the earliest, but more like 7. We'll get a short break for lunch at a local church, but other than that it's an all day thing. Open house starts at 4:30.....but here we go again....ultimately you ALWAYS have someone who's rude enough to come at 2, or even at 12. "Oh well..I can't come tonight so I thought I'd come earlier. Hope that's OK." So forget that my room's not finished, forget that I won't have changed clothes and gotten ready, forget that it's WAYYY too early....they'll be there anyway. In fact, one student's family actually came today..not for me, but for 5th grade. But I mean really.... it's NOT OK to come a whole day early. I mean really...we don't even have the class lists finished. Kids are still enrolling every day. Ridiculous.

So...if you couldn't tell I really don't want to go to work. I don't want to start back to school, and I'm not ready for the kids to come back. Not that any of that matters to anyone, or that anyone cares. The days will pass, the kids will come and hopefully Christmas will come early!

Monday, August 10, 2009

So, so sad...

This is my last week before school starts back! I have exactally one week before teacher workdays start and then I'm done for! Where has the summer gone? It might have something to do with how often I was out of town....but I'm not ready to go back!!! My room is a disaster and I'll have to go in a few days this week and get it together, or next week's workdays will be toast! They're always full of meetings and junk...never get anything done..then there's meet the teacher night! Yuck!!!! That is definitely the LEAST fun night of the whole year!
You have to get dressed up and smile and be friendly and act like you'll love their child no matter what! I mean, of course I will....but I mean, really. It's so awful for me and for them. It's not like I'm going to get to know them or learn anything about them that night that will be helpful or important. And they're not going to learn anything from me that they wouldn't have learned anyway.
This is just my rant....I'm sure there will be more to come as August 2oth approaches. Then school starts the 25....WOW! I don't even want to think about it anymore.

Saturday, July 18, 2009



Here are a few of the highlights from our summer vacation this year. We started in Washington, DC then swung by Williamsburg, VA on our way home. If you want to see all our our rockin' pics, click on the link at the end of this post!


This is the new FDR memorial. I know the girl is blurry, but it lets you get an idea of how big it is. It was beautiful! Tons of water and lots of statues.






"But I don't want to be a pirate!"

This was at the Museum of American History. If you don't watch Seinfeld, it's the puffy shirt Jerry had to wear on tv b/c he couldn't understand what the low talker said! Anthony loved it!!!













We got up REALLY early and got in line to get tickets oto go up in the Washington Monument, a first for both of us!

This is a view of the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, and the WWII Memorial in the foreground. It was really cool to get to go up there!













Pretty self-explanitory. We took a twilight tour to see all the monuments at night. It was great, we saw almost all of them and they were all beautiful in the dark with such dramatic lighting.











Anthony's such a pro at taking pics! He always makes me make the stupidest faces!

This is the ORIGINAL Wright Bros. airplane that flew at Kitty Hawk. Can't wait to show my kids this year, we study NC history in 4th grade.














We went to the Nat'l Archives and saw the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Bill of Rights. Pretty cool! However, this is all that's left of John Hancock's signature! If you want to see these documents in person you should hurry and go, they're disappearing and there's nothing we can do about it! So sad.









Fireworks on the 4th of July behind the Washington Monument. Beautiful!










Anthony checking out a tricetops skull at the Nat'l Museum of Natural History. Pretty cool place, but the busies museum we visited! Must have something to do with that movie!
















4th of July parade down Constitution Avenue. It was VERY long but had some neat balloons and performers.

If you want to see ALL of our fun pics click here! and here!!

There are also some pics of Williamsburg at the end of the 2nd album...just in case you're wondering where in DC those homes are located!!

Pics from camping









We had tons of fun with everyone while we camped at the end of June in Blowing Rock's Price Park. The weather was perfect! And the kids were good, too! This was Elise's first camping trip, she did really well! We also rode the Virginia Creeper trail again. Fun!
Campers: Erin, Gary, Kyla, Anthony, Kelly, David, Will & Elise






Friday, July 10, 2009

Home Again

We just got home and are getting settled from vacation. We had a great time! It was nice to get away for a while and spend some quality time together and see some great things. I'm going to work through the hundreds (wink) of pictures we took this week and I'll stick some up here as soon as I see something that should be shared!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer....see you all soon!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Hooray for Conference!

Just a quick update!

Conference was wonderful! I met wonderful, beautiful women in my company and learned alot about myself and my business. I'm currently sorting through photos and will post TONS when I get finished!!

Hang in there!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

And so it begins...

Tomorrow I leave for Disney World!!! WooooWhoooo!!!!

It's Thirty-One's National Conference. If you don't know what Thirty-One is, it's a faith-based company that sells pocketbooks, bags, and home decore. Check it out at www.mythirtyone.com/kvance. There are some CRAZY cute things there for moms, friends, babies, and our newest catalog is just for teens! I Love it! Anyway....the conference is supposed to be really great. New products, new patterns and I get to see all kinds of wonderful women in my company. I'm excited!

Not to mention that it's at Disney!! Monday we're going to Hollywood Studios (previously MGM) for most of the day. The classes are from Monday evening to Wednesday. After that I'm meeting up with my mom. She's there with Marina & Anastasia....they're from Belarus. Mom is hosting them for 6 weeks...it's a church thing. So on Thursday we're going to Animal Kingdom. Of all the times I've been to Disney I've never done Animal Kingdom. It looks like fun.

So I'll be home Friday evening...then on Saturday we're going camping! We being me and Anthony, his cousin David and his son Will. I think Gary's coming too...and Erin's going to meet us up there for the campfire thing. We're going to Price Park in Blowing Rock. We're taking the kayaks and paddling around the lake. Then we're going up to the Virginia Creeper Trail to do the 18 mile trail downhill. It's really quite fun, and not daunting at all. It's an old rail road bed that's been made perfect for bikes. It's a great day activity. There are really cute shops along the way, and we always stop for ice cream and to play in the creek. Hooray!

When we get home from camping on Monday I'll have 3 days to wash all our clothes and pack again cause that Friday, July 3 Anthony and I are leaving for Washington, DC! We're going to watch the fireworks on the Mall! What a great experience. I think it's going to be awesome to see the fireworks at our Nation's Capitol! I'm sure it will be beautiful.

We're going to do all the usual stuff. I've been and Ant's been, but we've never been together. I love the art museums and such...but the monuments are my favorite. Thanks to Amy for checking out a wonderful book from the library for us to take with us!

We're leaving Washington July 8, then going to Williamsburg, VA for Busch Gardens! It seems we go there almost every year here lately. They have some awesome rollercoasters.

So that's my schedule for the next 3 weeks! Busy, busy, busy! I can't wait!

I'll post pics and info as soon as I get home and have some time!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

SonFest

WOW!!!

What a GREAT day! Yesterday was SonFest at Carowinds. It was crazy hot and terribly humid, but it was a really good day.
First we rode the Vortex, a stand up roller coaster for those of you not in the know. The line took about 45 minutes in the scorching sun but it was fun.
After that we went to see Brandon Heath at the ampitheater. He was great! He's such a great artist and so down to earth. While he was playing his set he said he was playing a song for a new friend, one he'd just met through email. So he plays this sweet slow song (that I hadn't heard before) and at the end he says, "this song is for Chris and Kayla...who just got engaged!" And they were like 5 rows up from us and we could see them! How sweet!
We went then to ride another roller coaster: the new one! Carolina Cobra. If you remember White Lightning from many years past you'll understand the way this ride works. It pulls you backwards up a hill slowly, then without warning lets you go SUPER fast and you go upside down 2 or 3 times and turn over...then you climb up another big hill. Once you're at the top of that hill it lets you go and you do the whole ride backwards!! Talk about being out of your comfort zone! You don't know where you're going or what's coming next and it's crazy!
Eventually we saw Third Day who was incredible! They put on such a good show and are so nice. I mean, we didn't meet them but I love what they had to say and how they said it. They just sound like down to earth guys...and their music is great. I really enjoyed them! I bought a pretty t-shirt, too.
tobyMAC was next. What a show! HIGH energy and wowooy loud! Anthony wasn't a huge fan of his kind of music...he's so funny! He said he must be getting old b/c he thought it was too loud! HA!!!!

I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to my sweet, sweet friend, Tori. She opened my eyes to most of these wonderful musicians and without her musical education I wouldn't have known as much about them or about their wonderful songs. So, thanks Tori! I thought about you all night last night...I just know that you would have loved it!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

School's out for summer!!!!

HOORAY!!

Do I really need to write anything else?!

Now just two more days of workdays. I can handle that. Gotta clean up the junk and rearrange some stuff. Then help my friend Michelle move rooms.

Just gotta say I'm a little nervous about next year's kids already! I just found out yesterday that now I'm going to be teaching the EC kids next year. (Exceptional children for those not in the know.) These are the lowest of the low performing kids. I don't know how to do that! I don't know how to teach kids to read...I know how to help them learn to love to read.
Ugh..
Also, there's an autistic child who also has ODD (oppositional defiant disorder). Can you see me and that in the same room together?! Not sure what's going to happen there. Pray for me!

Will post again soon with summer plans!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

I think I can, I think I can...

Only 3 1/2 more days of school!!!! Tomorrow is the last Friday of the year! I'm so stinkin' ready to be OUT!!!!! 
Disney World, here I come!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Blahhhhh

Just blah...that's about all I have to say today.

I'm done..

I'm done with everything...

EOGs...

School...

Laundry...

Budget cuts...

You name it...I'm finished.

I'm all given out...I've got nothing left.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Master of Technology!!


Hooray! It's official! I'm a Master of Technology!!!!

If only I could get my pay raise now!! I'm so sick of hearing about budget cuts!!





This is about half of my cohort...the awesome half!

Check out my super cool hood!!


Thursday, April 30, 2009

At a loss...

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I tell you this...
My dear, dear lifelong friend, Jessica Wentz, lost her battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma today. She has been fighting this for 2 years and it's been a good fight. I love her like a sister and I'm not sure what I'll do without her. She was a truly remarkable person who lived her life to the fullest, loved with all of her heart, and would do anything for anyone.
She loved Tommy, Macy, and Thomas..and the rest of her family...with all of her heart. She will truly be missed...for she was adored.
She has touched so many people for Jesus through this terrible disease. I know that's part of His plan and I am thankful for that.
This has been terrible news and especially hard for me today. I am in Morehead City, NC with my 4th graders on a field trip and will not return home until Friday evening, late. It's a terrible feeling to be this far away from my friends and family at a time like this. My mom called me today with the news, and I know it broke her heart as much as it did mine. Jessica was like a sister to me....we've been friends since we were in middle school together, about 12 years old. We went to middle and high school together as inseprable best friends, and then continued on to college together at ASU. She wanted me to be a better person...she always saw the best in everyone. What an angel she is.
All day I've been thinking of that Mercy Me song...I Can Only Imagine...
Jessica saw Jesus today.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Hooray!!

My last grad school class is going on as I type!!!! Well I say it's going on, but not much is happening, ha! I can't wait to be finished with this! It's a shame I'm not finished with my work, yet....
Can we all say hello to a 10% raise?!?! Hooray!

Monday, April 20, 2009

WOW!

Our Bahamian vacation was wonderful!!! We spent Sunday driving to Florida and then Monday morning laying around a wonderful pool at our hotel. We got on the Monarch of the Seas around lunchtime so we could enjoy our first yummy buffet. We set sail on Monday around 6 pm. We were supposed to visit Coco Cay, Bahamas on Tuesday, Royal Caribbean's private island. But the winds were too high to tender in safely so we spent the day at sea....crusing in beautiful blue-green waters. Wednesday we were in Nassau..lots of fun stuff there, like forts, snorkeling, a pirate's museum and so much more. I'll write more later....
Thursday we made it into Coco Cay and spent a BEAUTIFUL day on the beach and snorkeling for hours! Pictures to come.
We had to get up early on Friday and off the boat...sad...but then spent the day at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. The Hulk is a great roller coaster!
Saturday we spent the morning at Downtown Disney, just hanging out and enjoying the sights and stores.
We got home Sunday morning around 1:30 am. What a not fun ride. 
Anyway...we had a great time and we all have beautiful brown skin...except for Anna! Our poor fair skinned friend!