Busy, Busy, Busy

We have just been busy, busy, busy! I'll recap the weekend! On Friday night, I had the BIG SHOW! I coordinated our elementary school Variety Show. It was lots of fun - we had 37 kids performing in 19 different acts ranging from gymnastics to singing to dancing and much more. It was a crazy week with dress rehearsal on Wednesday, an in school performance on Thursday, and the evening performance on Friday! I was given a BEAUTIFUL flower arrangement for coordinating it - they look very pretty on the island.

On Saturday, we attempted to tackle the leaves that have overtaken our yard. We felt like we were fighting a losing battle as it was quite windy. We didn't get it all done, but it does look much better! After working outside, we went to visit some friends and had dinner with them.

Sunday, we made loads of Chex Mix! We are making treats for the other teachers at school and for MJ's class. We stuffed 140 bags of this stuff and tied a cute bow with leaves and a turkey attached! Then in the evening my mom and dad came over for a fondue dinner - YUM!

It was a great weekend and we are looking forward to only working one more day this week! Turkey day will be spent with my mom and dad!

EXCITING

Ok, so I have to share this small piece of exciting news - and no, I'm not pregnant! But this certainly comes in a close second!

For Christmas, we travel to visit MJ's family in Minnesota -it really is the only holiday that we get to spend with them, and it is a really enjoyable time for all! So, we've been looking for plane tickets for about 6 weeks now and the prices have been just outrageous. We're talking right around $450 - $500 a ticket - that would mean roughly $900 just to fly home. We were preparing for the worst and figured nothing could be worse than last year when we paid close to $1200 to get home for Christmas.

We have literally been looking for tickets EVERY DAY and hoping that they would fall around the $350 - $375 price per ticket. Well, today I found some for $359 a piece. I was very excited about the price, but the schedule wasn't the best. So, I headed to another website to check prices and WE GOT TICKETS FOR $480 TOTAL! THAT IS ONLY $240 APIECE!!!! We got both tickets for what one ticket was going for just yesterday!

We are so excited!!! Now we'll have more money for the annual Casino trip!

Wrapping up the weekend!

Well, we are wrapping up the weekend. I am sitting here putting the finishing touches on a paper about school funding in Minnesota for my class tomorrow night and MJ is getting her lesson plan book in order for the principal to review tomorrow as part of her evaluation.

We had a great weekend! Yesterday, since it was raining again, we decided to do our own little scrapbook store tour. We got online and found some that we had never been to and visited three of them. One we wouldn't go to again, one had super friendly staff but was not our "type" of products, and the last one was FABULOUS!! We fell in love - it is a huge store with tons of product and a wonderful cropping area! Then, of course, we had to come home and scrap some more. In the past 10 days, we have finished our pet albums, finished 2005, finished 2006, and started 2007 - of which we are close to completing - all we have left is Christmas. It has been quite an accomplishment! Now we just need to do 2008, Disney, and finish our cruise album. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

Today, we slept in and went to visit my parents in the afternoon. The dogs needed to go run and play, so it was good.

Now we have to gear up for a five day week - last week was only three days!

Free to a Good Home!

Single, Black Lab, male, 6 years old, 105 pounds

Likes to go for rides - especially to his Nana and Grampa's!

great lap dog - or so he thinks

Likes to be tucked in at night...

bed hog - usually comes to visit around 4:30 am

Very good at being naughty -

Knows that time - outs are to be taken on the stairs until his mamas tell him he can come down.



Ok, seriously, what is up with Willy?!?! He has been so naughty lately. Let's see, it all started a couple of weeks ago when he ate 6 1/2 pounds of candy while we were at work - just imagine the mess and smell of our house when we came home. Then, last week, he ate a whole bowl of Andes mints - wrapper and all! Well, today he got into the trash and dragged it through the downstairs. He has just hit a major naughty streak!

People don't believe us when we say he sits on the stairs when he has been naughty! I don't know how it started, but he seriously sits on the stairs, head peered over the banister, tip of his tail wagging until you tell him it's ok. So, if ever we come home and don't see a mess, but he is on the stairs - we know we have to go looking!

Below is a little video I took of him tonight with the tip of his tail thumping away. You can just tell in his face he is saying "sorry, mom, really I am!" Sorry that half of it is sideways - I guess you can't turn the camera when taking video. You get the idea though!

He seriously cracks me up - it's a good thing he is so cute and loveable!

Remembering.....

I think that it is really important for people to pause and remember our Veterans today. For many years, they have fought to keep our country safe. Whether or not we agree with war, we have to agree that it is important to honor our Veterans. They serve our country in good times and in bad and they fight for the freedom that we are so priviledged to have.

This post is in honor of my Dad - a Vietnam War Veteran, who to this day still suffers the effects of the war he fought in almost 40 years ago. I am not sure how anyone could endure the horrors of war and come out on the other side as an amazing human being -- well, my dad did! He is one of the most kind and caring men that I know and he has loved my mother for more than 37 years. He is an incredible father to both my brother and I. He is a hard worker, and has the determination and will to accomplish anything he sets his mind to.

Dad, we remember you and all veterans today - Thank you for fighting for our country to preserve our freedom and allow us to live a privileged life. You are an incredible husband, father, and friend!

Happy Veteran's Day!

The Kindergarten Genius!

So, as you saw from Saturday's post, we had our favorite five year old Olivia here with us over the weekend. While we were making pretzels, Olivia was wowing us with her intellect. She was very proud of the fact that she could skip count. Now, as teachers we were very excited to see all that she had been learning in Kindergarten. We figured we would definitely hear her count by fives, or even twos. Well, one should not assume those things as you can see in the video below. I guess she was right - she certainly was skipping numbers in her counting!

Today is a fabulous day as it is parent conference day. That meant that we went in to work for a few hours and got to leave early. We also got to go in jeans and a sweatshirt because I have no conferences with my position, and MJ got all of hers done last week. We both got some work done, and then went out to lunch and we mangaged to be home about 2 1/2 hours earlier than a normal day. The best part is that we have tomorrow off too because of Veteran's Day! The plan is to tackle some scrapbooking tonight and the leaves in the yard tomorrow!

Another.....

another month

another temperature drop

another visit from af

another time my body has failed me

another hope lost

another dream shattered

another wish.....gone

another two months until we can try again

another $500 up the whoohaaa

another sad day

another disappointment

another "why us?"

another "when does it get to be our turn?"

another summer without a baby in our arms

another negative

Sleepover and pretzels

Well, we have our favorite five year old Olivia here for a sleepover tonight. We picked her up earlier and have her until tomorrow. We had lots of fun earlier tonight making chocolate covered pretzels. They are really yummy - we just had one for a "bedtime snack". Below for your viewing enjoyment are pictures of the process!

1. Make sure the pretzels taste good before making the molds.



2. Count out six pretzels to use in the molds.




3. Melt the candies - squeeze them to make sure they melt evenly.

4. Squeeze a bit of chocolate in the mold.


5. Roll the pretzel in chocolate.


6. Place the pretzel in the mold.

7. Finish covering the pretzel with MORE chocolate.

8. Add sprinkles for good measure!

We had a very busy day today - lots of running errands, etc. It was very productive though!

On the TTC front - I was feeling very positive and now not so much. I know it is still early - today is 9 days past the IUI, but I'm not feeling a thing. My temp seemed to drop a little bit this morning too. It didn't drop significantly, but if I were pregnant, it actually should be rising a bit. MJ is definitely still more hopeful than I am right now, and I hope she is right here. We'll just have to see how it goes. We'll know one way or the other in the next few days. Keep your fingers (and toes) crossed!

AGONIZING!

That is how this two week wait is going! The time is passing so slowly, I can't stand it! I just want so badly to be pregnant! I tested this morning to make sure the trigger was out of my system and it is. So, now when I start testing this weekend, I'll know that the results are the "real deal". So, now the time passes with many wishes, hopes, dreams, and fingers crossed. We are half way through - we can make it through the other half!