Oscar

We have a new addition to our family--a fish named Oscar. Brendan has wanted a fish for a long time. Tonight we were picking up a few things in Wal-Mart, and had split up. When I found my boys looking at the fish, I learned that Brendan had already picked one out to take home. I gave in and we picked out a bowl and decorations, and made sure Brendan looked at all the fish before picking the perfect one. He chose a beautiful blue Beta fish, and has been grinning ever since. Daddy helped him pick out the name. My child is racking up left and right this Christmas. Right now he's talking to his fish while he plays with the train. Too cute.

Dilemma Solved!

So, I have mentioned that our Christmas has been going by too quickly. I love to have something under the tree, but my boys think if presents are there they need to be opened. Well, my sweet husband surprised me with a wonderful gift today when I got home from work. (It was wrapped and under the tree, so of course we immediately opened it!) He bought me a beautiful train set to go under the tree! It was the exact one I had been looking at, even though he didn't know it! We went ahead and set it up tonight, and are planning to put some nativity sets under the tree as well. At least next year we might make it a little closer to Christmas before we open all our presents!

4 more days!!

Only 4 more days until Christmas Break!! I can't wait. School is becoming more and more insane with every passing day. Brendan is getting extremely excited about seeing all his grandparents (and getting lots of presents. What can I say? He's 3.) It will be good to spend some time with my parents. We don't get down there very often. Life just gets in the way.

Brendan was so funny today. This morning was rough, and it was a battle to get him dressed and to daycare. When we got home, I realized that his backpack had been in my car all day. I felt horrible! I said, "Oh, Brendan, I'm so sorry! Mommy forgot to take your bag in so you didn't have your sheet and blankie for naptime." He said, "It's ok, Mommy, just calm down. Calm down, it's ok." It was so cute, I could not stop laughing. He is growing up way too fast and becoming a little man. At least he's not ashamed of me yet. I dread when that day comes!

12 days until Christmas Break!

As you can see by the title, I am quickly approaching a nice long break. I need it so badly. This semester has been crazy with new administrators, lots of new kids, and then Joey's sickness. My grad school courses have also been insane--more so than usual. I am really looking forward to destressing for a couple of weeks before it starts all over again. The thing I love about high school is that you truly do get a fresh start after Christmas. New kids, new classes, new beginnings--but not a lot of new planning, thank goodness.

Our Progressive Christmas is progressing a little more quickly than I would like! A couple of weeks ago my tree was beautiful with lots and lots of presents underneath. Now it is starting to look bare! I'm still finishing up shopping, so it gets replenished a little, but my boys make sure it doesn't get too full! Since I like to see something under my tree, I think next year I'm going to put a train and other decorations under there next year. Then maybe we will get a little closer to Christmas before all our presents are gone! But, don't hold me to it--I just love seeing the presents under the tree!

Holiday Fun!

We had so much fun on Saturday! Joey had to get up early to go rehearse with the band for a couple of hours. Then around 11, we decided to go have a late breakfast/early lunch. We first went to Denny's, where of course Brendan wanted pancakes. But, there was a long line out the door, so we decided to go somewhere else. Since it was lunch time no one had pancakes, so we promised Brendan we would make him some that night. Later we went home, and Brendan opened up a present.

I should interject a little explanation here about our Christmas traditions. When I was growing up, my parents always let us open our parents the day we got out of school for the holidays. That also allowed us to put the real focus of Christmas where it should be. So, since we have had Brendan, we have a sort of "progressive" Christmas. He opens a present or two every day so he isn't overwhelmed with too many at one time. Plus, we get to see his happy little face get excited every day.

So anyway, I had bought him a little play-doh set to see if he would even play with it. He loved it! I played with him a little while, then he went upstairs to take a nap with Joey. I used that time to run some errands and buy more presents. When they woke up, Brendan wanted to play with some more play-doh, so we went to the store and bought a bigger set with more accessories. While we played with the new toy, Joey made our breakfast-for-supper as promised. We had pancakes and bacon that was so yummy.

Next, we set to work assembling our gingerbread house. Joey and I had never made one, and we thought Brendan would enjoy it. Brendan wanted to immediately eat the little gingerbread man, so we decorated him first. I snapped a quick picture before Brendan gobbled him up!

Next we decorated the house. Brendan enjoyed helping me decorate the roof. Joey did the front of the house and the tree in the front. We thought the finished product was really cute!We also watched Kung Fu Panda while we worked.

It was a fun day, just spending time together as a family. You can't ask for more than that.

P. S. I'm still trying to figure out how to post pictures and stuff. Hopefully my blogging skills will improve with more practice!

Black Friday

Today, we took part in the Black Friday melee for the first time. Joey went out last night at midnight to catch the sales up at Tanger. He says he got some pretty good stuff for me from Old Navy. I got up around 3:30 this morning and went up to Wal-Mart to try and catch some of the deals there. It was insane!! People were already lined up and staking out the merchandise they wanted. But, you couldn't touch any of the sale items until 5:00! It was so crazy, and there were so many people that you couldn't even move. I scoped out the store, trying to devise a plan of attack, but finally gave up and just camped out near the movies since there were several we wanted. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in the whole experience, because I didn't get what we really wanted. But, my endeavors later in the day were a success and now I am almost done with all my Christmas shopping. They are even wrapped and under the tree. Now, if I can just keep Joey and Brendan away from them until Christmas...

We had a fun day, but I'm glad my time of fighting the crowds is over. I don't think the Black Friday thing is for me, after all.

7 Things about me

I was "tagged" in a friend's blog to post 7 things you may not know about me. This could be interesting because people who have known me a while probably see me much differently than the people who have only known me a short while. Anyway, I'll try and make this interesting...



1. I have a job nobody else wants...and I absolutely love it! I teach kids in Alternative School, which means they have been kicked out of their old schools for one reason or another. A lot of people run away screaming at the thought of spending their day with "those" kids, but I love them. Every day is interesting, and life is never dull! Besides, they really are not bad kids once you break through their tough exterior. They are children who have lived incredibly hard lives and just need someone to care. Happily, I fill that role.



2. My husband and I only dated 1 and a half months before getting engaged! We had known each other for 3 years, and had been pretty much inseperable friends for 6 months prior to dating. Our first date was on Nov. 14, 2001, and Joey proposed on Jan. 4, 2002. We got married on June 1, 2002, and the rest is history! My friends at the time thought I was crazy, but when it's right you just know it.



3. I am extremely territorial, and can tell if something has been moved, even slightly, in my home or classroom. It is almost like I mentally take inventory of everything without even realizing it. Some might call this OCD. I prefer to think of it as being overly aware of my surroundings. ;-)

4. I have a photographic memory, and believe I have passed this trait on to my son as well. Ever since he was about 2, when he gets new movies he studies them very carefully. Later, he can call each one by name even though he has dozens and dozens, and many of them are plain grey with silver writing. This trait of mine also contributes to number 3--I have a mental picture of how things should look and immediately notice if something is out of place.

5. Even though I was a big tomboy growing up, I competed in Miss Georgia between my freshman and sophomore years of college. I still find myself jumping between girly-girl and backwoods country girl. Most of the time I fall somewhere comfortably in the middle.

6. I love reading, but hate to re-read books. Once I have finished them, I just don't get any pleasure from reading them again. I thought this would be a problem for me, since I am an English teacher and inevitably read the same books over and over, sometimes multiple times in the same year. Surprisingly, it doesn't bother me if I approach it with my students in mind, and attempt to find something new to point out to them. We'll see if this perspective continues after a few more years of teaching!

7. I have come to the realization that I am becoming more and more like my mother everyday. Both in the wonderful ways, and in the ways I had hoped to avoid. I have come to terms with it, and begun to embrace it because when you get right down to it, she is one of the most amazing human beings on the planet. I could do a lot worse than be a tiny fraction of that!

Ok, now it's time to torture 7 other people!!

1. Heidi H.
2. Stacee A.
3. Kristie W.
4. Amy H.
5. Blair R.
6. Kit K.
7. Erin D. (You need to start a blog so we can keep up with the baby when he gets here!)

Ok, I surrender...

Well, I finally decided to start a blog. I've been toying with the idea for a while now, and several of my friends have encouraged me to join the blogging world. Hopefully this will help me keep everyone better informed of the things we have going on. I admittedly stink at keeping in touch with people and giving them updates on Brendan and our lives. Maybe this will be an improvement. Be forewarned, our life isn't the most exciting one, but I'm pretty fond of it. :-)