We love weekends! (pt. 1)

The three-day weekend started off really s.l.o.w. Matt was out of town Friday night for a UIL thing, so after Avery went to bed around 8, my evening consisted of wedding shows, Oreos, Facebook, texting Matt, and grading TKAM projects.

Avery doesn't yet understand the concept of sleeping in on Saturdays, so we hung out for awhile before heading up to Rockwall for Kendra and Carlos' wedding.

 

"Stop taking pictures of me, Mom. I'm busy."

 

New haircut!

Coming in the next installment: THE wedding!

Ramblings.

Lots of thoughts. Here I go.

I hate not having a camera. My phone camera is completely subpar, and since I sold our old camera, I've been totally missing out on a ridiculous amount of photography opportunities. Go figure. So Monday night we bit the bullet and ordered our new point and shoot, and it shipped yesterday. Yippee! We should have it hopefully by this weekend.

Speaking of weekends, the last one was awesome. I met a friend from high school for breakfast on Saturday morning, had a Target date (with myself, ha!) that afternoon, went to a relaxing Sunday School get together that night, and then on Sunday we had no plans.That never happens, so it was a welcome break. Then on Monday night I went to see Letters to Juliet (cute, but nothing spectacular) with the girls in our Lifegroup. I know Monday's not part of the weekend. I don't care; it was fun.

Avery's getting her top teeth (or just tooth? I can't even tell) and they are thisclose to breaking through the gums. She's been a lot fussier than usual (not that I blame her because that can't be comfortable), but fortunately for us, "fussier than usual" isn't that bad because she's usually so laid back. Anyway, apparently today she was just not. happy. I got an email from the day care asking if I had any Tylenol or Orajel I could take up there to give her because she wouldn't "eat, drink, or be merry." (I love our day care. Seriously, they're awesome.) Since I'm such a Supermom, of course I had some in my purse, so I ran it up to there so she'd feel better and all would be well. Except I'm not Supermom, which meant that I could either wait a couple hours until Matt had his conference period to take her some meds, or I could skip lunch and run home to get some right then. I opted for the latter option. I made it home and back in record time and walked in to her room while she was "napping" in the swing, but she was just whimpering and looking so pathetic, and I almost lost it right then because I hate it when I'm not there to make her feel better. A baby dose of Tylenol and three teething tablets later, she was back to sleep. Fortunately my fourth period is absolutely angelic (well, for sophomores at the end of the year), so it didn't even matter that I made it back to school 5 minutes after the bell rang.

I miss my husband. Our schedules have been completely out of alignment for the past few weeks. When he's home, I've got commitments. When I'm home, he has commitments. I'm really ready for summer. We'll be busy, but at least we'll be busy together.

Diapers are expensive. Carrie Underwood was the best American Idol. Glee is getting on my nerves a little bit, but I keep watching it because I love Idina Menzel. I have too much work to do right now to be blogging. My house is a wreck. I have get to babysit sophomores at their field day tomorrow (don't ask me, it was a TAKS incentive), which means I'll be outside all day. I burn really easily. I need to memorize lines. My sister's home for the summer! I really need to get to work now.

On that note, I'm out.

Friday Five: Matt Edition :)

1. I'm very thankful that he didn't get sucked away in yesterday's tornado when he was outside taking pictures of it.

2. And I'm SO proud of him! Last night was the last choir concert of the school year, and his mixed choir was amazing. By the way, his choir was the only choir from our school to win sweepstakes at UIL this year (even the varsity choirs didn't get it). He works so hard and does a phenomenal job with his kids, and he doesn't get nearly enough credit for it. Did I mention I'm proud of him??

This is my Matt-in-a-Box. I don't know. It was a choir thing. They're weird. :) 

3. So he got a much-deserved day off today. He even got to (kind of) sleep in!  

4. And he gets to have a testosterone-filled evening at our youth group's Nerf War tonight. Even if he does end up just being the referee. Watch out, kids, he's sneaky!

5. I've been super-sensitive lately and have been totally misreading his usually-funny jokes, so things have been abnormally tense between us. But I love him more than I love Blue Bell ice cream (which is a lot) and can't imagine my life without him. 

On a non-Matt-related side note, I'm so excited about this weekend because I'm meeting my sweet friend Kati for breakfast on Saturday morning at Cafe Brazil and some of the ladies in our Lifegroup are going to see Letters to Juliet on Sunday after church. And of course, I'll get lots of time with my precious baby girl and the aforementioned goober. 

This post is linked up with Company Girl Coffee. 

Well that was fun.

Passing periods are crazy at the high school. They're even crazier when the cool-as-a-cucumber associate principal frantically comes over the loudspeaker yelling for everyone to take cover because there's a tornado forming right above the school.

Naturally, I grabbed my kids who were right outside my door and already in the classroom and we huddled together on the inside wall.

Meanwhile, my idiot courageous husband was outside taking this picture:

Um, honey, next time please stay inside when there is a funnel cloud forming over your head.

Let me tell you how fun it is to try and keep yourself composed in front of your panicking students when all you can think of is your precious daughter who is a mile away in a very old building with 95 other helpless babes and this is outside their facility:

Okay, honestly, had I known then just how small the tornado actually was, I probably wouldn't have been quite as fearful, but come on. It was sunny outside and BAM. Duck and cover. Except apparently you're not supposed to duck and cover anymore. (I guess all those tornado drills in junior high were a waste of my precious awkward time.)

The tornado did eventually touch down, but it was in a field and only lasted for a little while, but holy chicken, I do not want to experience that ever. again.

Quiet.

I haven't really posted much lately, mostly because there's not much to say. Life has been more of the same: good, but really busy. Avery's been especially entertaining these days, and we've been enjoying lots of good family time.

But one of my students from last year was killed by an intoxicated driver on Saturday night. He was riding his bike with a friend when the guy hit him from behind and didn't stop. I don't think I've actually processed it yet because when the news update came on tonight I just started crying. It's impossible to grasp how and why these things happen, and I don't think I'm going to attempt to work through my thoughts/emotions using this forum. I can't even begin to imagine how his family must be feeling.

That's really all I've got tonight.

Friday Five: Skipping School

Since I'm not needing my days to carry over to next year, I decided to take advantage of my last possible day to miss school for the year (things get crazy after today!). Here's what my day off entails:

1. Garage sale with Whitney and Cody. Take two. We tried this a couple weeks ago, but it wasn't a huge success. This morning wasn't either, but I've at least got a little cash in my pocket. Maybe tomorrow will be better?

2. I'm about to do a little menu planning/grocery list making before I set out my plan of attack for the plethora of errands I'll be running. This is what I get for trying to fit everything into one day.

3. I am cutting off my hair. I called my amazing hair chica yesterday (shout out to Salon Willow!) to set up an appointment, and the soonest she could get me in was in like two weeks. No biggie. But then she mentioned that she might have something earlier if it was during the day. I went out on a limb and told her I was taking off on Friday, and as the hair gods would have it, she had cancellation at noon. Score! Here's what I'm thinking. I am beyond tired of my long hair. I want it short. But I don't want the instant regret that inevitably washes over me the second she chops the first chin-length layer. Is this a happy medium?

4. Pantherettes Spring Show. Our drill team is amazing, and the girls are just sweet as can be, plus they offered free tickets to all teachers this year. I'm actually looking forward to it! My parents are keeping Avery, so maybe we'll go for some coffee afterward or something.

5. The rest of the weekend seems promising (and completely busy, but what's new?). A preview: garage sale take three, trip to the vet, pick up the last piece of our living room set (finally), lingerie shower, choir banquet, open house for Kendra and Carlos, and I'm sure other grandiose events await as well.

I hope your weekend is fantastic!

10 Month Update

Better late than never, right? Here's what you're up to this month, Avery:

• You're getting SO big! You're 21 lbs now, wearing 12 (and 18!) month clothes, and still wearing size three diapers.
• Since you're such a "big girl" now, you've decided that you're just too cool for the exersaucer and door jumper. You used to love those things! Now they're just too restrictive for your unending desire to move.
• You are crawling like a champ and walking with help. You pull yourself up onto any type of furniture, and you're into everything, especially bags and door stops (you're fascinated by the springy noise!).

• It's getting warmer now, and you've discovered the wonder of a good fan. You just sit in front of them and take in the breeze. It's so stinkin' cute watching your hair go crazy while you bite your bottom lip. 
• You've had two double ear infections already, and you've got pretty crummy allergies. It's supposedly a pretty bad allergy season this year, so we'll chalk it up to that for now. 
• We still think you're brilliant. You love to say "boo" and crack up when we pop up from behind the couch. It's your favorite game! (Although pat-a-cake is a close second: you're a pro at rolling up the dough.)
• You understand "No," but you. are. a. stubborn. little. girl. I have NO idea where that aspect of your personality came from. Okay, fine. But stubborn little girls grow into strong women. We'll just have to work on the whole, you know, obedience thing. Those adorable little temper tantrums where you drop your head and just sob like the world is ending won't be adorable for much longer.
• You love love love music, and you dance and clap every time you hear anything that resembles a melody.
• You love bath time almost as much as you love music. You just splash and splash and crawl around chasing after your toy letters. You even brush your own teeth now! You screamed at me last night when I took the toothbrush away. I'm glad you understand the importance of good hygiene, but remember that obedience thing I mentioned earlier?

• You're eating lots more table food now; in fact, you really don't like it when we feed you anymore. You'd much rather do it all yourself, Miss Independent. Oh, and your favorite foods are peas and cheerios. Weird combo, but it's healthy I guess!

You're growing up so fast, but we're loving every minute of it. We love YOU, sweet girl!

Mommy and Daddy

Playing Catch Up

Do you ever get the feeling that you're always behind on something? To-do lists, bills, laundry, cleaning, the list seems to be endless. I'm at the point right now that I need to find balance. I'd much rather spend my free time cultivating my relationships with my husband and baby girl than conquering the unchecked items on my multitude of lists. However. Those items need to be addressed too, right? Soon after Avery was born I found out the importance of paying your water bill on time. (Oops.)  A messy house is not conducive to relaxing as a family.  We have to have clean clothes to wear. I must visit the grocery store every now and then so we can eat. That's kind of important. So how does it all mesh? That's where I'm at.

One of the things that has been pushed aside for the time being is my computer time (and I've been thankful for the "break") and, as a result, my blogging has been neglected as well. So here's the quick rundown for those who are still following:

• Avery hit the 10-month mark on May 3! I'll post the monthly update soon. Well, before June anyway. 

• We had a garage sale with our neighbors Cody and Whitney a couple weeks ago, but the weather was iffy, so we didn't have a ton of traffic. Whitney's trying again this weekend, and I already took off work on Friday, so I think I'll join her. This stuff has got to go!

• The church officially hired a nursery coordinator! I'm so very thankful that that area of children's ministry has been lifted from my load. My friend Kyndra is now in charge of the little ones, so I'm now able to focus on the preschool and elementary age kids. I'm currently working on finalizing curriculum for the fall and finishing up some summer plans, and I'm excited about what God's going to do in the lives of these kids! I've been watching some Children Desiring God conference videos (put out by Desiring God Ministries, i.e. John Piper=good stuff!) and I've really been convicted about the common vision in many churches to sum up children's ministry with the word "something" (i.e. Let's have "something" for the kids, or activity-orientation vs. having a goal in everything we do to ultimately spread a love and passion for the supremacy of God.). My hope is that our children's ministry will be done with purpose.

• We had our first read-through for our summer show, Little Women, last weekend. Oh. my. goodness. I'm so excited about working with this cast! It's going to be crazy putting the show together in one short month, but folks, it's gonna be good. If you're in the DFW area, mark your calendars for July 15-17 to come out and see it! 

• We celebrated Mother's Day by going to the Ranger game after church with my family. (Is anyone really surprised?) Matt packed a bag of baseball game necessities (trail mix, peanuts, coke, etc.) and surprised me with flowers. It was perfectly low key and awesome. 

Haha, the crotch-hold is cracking me up. She's a squirmy little girl!

• I played my last indoor game (for awhile anyway) last night. We ended up pulling out the championship with a 10-6 win. Yours truly scored 5 goals. No big deal. HA! That was a very big deal because I am not typically the goal-scorer. I'm usually the one taking people out in the defensive third. Okay, I'm done bragging. Thanks for letting me get that out there. :) 

Sorry for the lack of pictures; I have been really bad about getting them from the camera to the computer (much less printing them!). The ones I included only exist courtesy of my awesome blossom sister. We've also decided to get a new camera. Nothing fancy, just a nicer point-and-shoot. Ours is okay for taking "say cheese" pictures, but it just doesn't cut it with action shots, which obviously doesn't suit our needs with a very mobile 10 month old! Now I'm on the hunt for a Canon something or other that Allison recommended.

We're heading full-force into summer; I cannot believe we only have three and a half more weeks of school until I'm a full-time stay at home mom! The rest of May is just as hectic, but hopefully the updates won't be quite as sporadic. Happy almost-summer!

Not Me! Monday

In true Monday fashion...

It was not me who yesterday ate no less than four slices of banana bread, a chocolate twist donut, two mega cookies, a cupcake (plus batter!), a huge plate of nachos (taco meat, guac, salsa, and cheese), plus a cheesy, buttery, Italian lunch. I obviously realize I'm not sixteen anymore and my metabolism isn't quite what is used to be, so I would never sabotage my efforts to lose the rest of my baby weight.

It was also not me who stayed up too late last night. Again. I know the reason I've been so exhausted is that I haven't been getting enough rest, so I know better than to stay up until midnight when I have to be up early the next day.

When I set a goal for myself, I complete it. That's why it was not me who didn't finish last month's scrapbooking challenge. I'm determined to be finished with Avery's first year album by her first birthday, so of course I would stay on top of things.

I love my mom. I love Matt's mom. That's why it is not me who hasn't even decided what to get them for Mother's Day. I'm much more prepared than that.

What have you not been up to lately?