Happy Birthday Emi!

We went to Merritt's friend, Emi's birthday party at Kiddie Acres a few weeks ago. This place has become one of Merritt's favorite places to go! Her favorite ride is the Merry Go Round and is our first stop each time we go.

All of Merritt's friends that go to daycare with her were also there to celebrate Emi's 2nd Birthday. Here is Merritt driving the boat with Liam taking it easy in the backseat.

Here is Trenton enjoying the Merry Go Round with his mom Kat! This mom and son duo are some of Merritt and I's favorite people! Everyday Merritt has to tell me all about Trenton before she can discuss her own day {I think he is her first 'bad boy' crush!!}.

Here is Merritt with her another friend Caius, she dragged him around to each ride she went to!

Happy Birthday Emi! We had so much fun celebrating with you!

Moving Days

This was the sight when I woke up, when I went to school, when I came home, when I ate dinner, when I closed my eyes in May and June.

In April, 2nd Grade asked to move downstairs because 3rd Grade was moving into the school from the portables. The reason we asked to move downstairs was for one and only one reason, the classrooms downstairs have a sink and water fountain IN the classroom! This is something I have truly missed this past year. We were told that we needed to have our classrooms packed up by June 5th so I got to packing as soon as I got my 25 district-issued boxes. At the same time, Beau and I decided it was time to move to a larger house to have more room for our upcoming addition. It was going to take too long to sell our house and find a new house so we decided to lease our old house and lease a new larger house to decrease my anxiety about moving before Ross gets here. The lease process happened very quickly and we had 2 weeks to find a house, pack and move. Thanks to family and friends, the boxes are behind me! I hope not to see another one for a long time!!

Excuse my Absence...

I am still here - I promise! Within the past month I have: * Ended the school year with my 2nd Grade students. * Packed up my classroom and moved classrooms from upstairs to downstairs. * Had to make some difficult decisions about Merritt's schooling for next year. * Packed a house that Beau, Merritt and I have lived in for the past 8 years. * Moved into our new house and unpacked more 'stuff' then I know what to do with. * As a gift to my computer, I gave it some kind of worm, so it has been in the shop for weeks while they work to get all my documents and {gulp} ALL my pictures {insert hysterical sobbing here when I thought I had lost every picture of Merritt I have ever taken} * Oh, and I am 8 months pregnant. So, I am back :) A little less stressed but doing many things that I will soon post!

Glucose Testing

This is the price I paid for enjoying a brownie the morning of my glucose testing a month ago.

When the nurse called to tell me that my Glucose Test results came back 144 and the average is 130, I told her, "Well, I have always been an overachiever." She didn't find me very funny. She told me I would have to come back and take another Glucose Test that meant not eating for 12 hours ahead of time, then drink the 'orange' and then wait to have my blood drawn 4 times.

This is my problem with the above mentioned: I am pregnant therefore I like to eat and so does the child inside me. The orange drink is BAD! The nurse told me that it had more sugar in it than 24oz. Mountain Dew. I have very tiny veins that roll and therefore when I have a nurse that doesn't listen to me about my veins, I get poked 10 times and in between each time the Nazi nurse says sorry, gives me a little smirk, and tries again. I do not like needles, I don't like blood.

Between the first and second hour, I saw the doctor. Love him! But when I sat up, my stomach felt anything but love at the drink I had to guzzle down 20 minutes earlier. He saw it on my face and told me, if I threw up, I would have to start all of again on a different day.... My love for him dwindled a bit.

The wait between hour two and three was excruciating and I am not being dramatic. I kept my eyes closed and practiced my breathing techniques. I had goldfish in my purse. I thought about the goldfish the whole hour... How could I sneak the contraband from my purse to take to the bathroom? Would anyone notice? Where there cameras {I looked and didn't see any but you never know these days}? Would it ruin my results? I can't do this again, so I waited. I felt as if I was on the Price is Right when my name was called to get the last vial of blood drawn.

Hopefully I win the Showcase Showdown prize of regular sugar levels when the nurse calls me this week!

Princesses on Ice

Princess Merritt and her Prince Charming walking into the Cedar Park Center. When we got out of the car, she looked up at the arena and asked us if this was the castle where the Princesses lived. We told her that this was the ice castle where the Princesses were going to ice skate! Merritt couldn't take her eyes off the Princesses on Ice. It was too funny because our friends next to us had popcorn that they offered to Merritt to munch on - but she didn't want to miss any ice skating so her hand would blindly be reaching out for the popcorn box. Here is Merritt and her friend Kate dressed liked their favorite princesses! Cinderella was the last Princess to skate and she came out in a beautiful carriage. Merritt stood on her chair to make sure she saw every glide, jump, and lift that she did! There was a little firework show at the end and we all cheered all the skaters!

Welcome to Seussville! Part 1

There were some up and downs, lots of smiles, and some tears... But what a wonderful way to celebrate my Little Lady's Third Birthday with friends and family! There is my 'big girl' with her marshmallow pop in her birthday outfit. Yes, she only had one outfit this year. I went with a red and blue petticoat and custom Dr. Seuss shirt from ETSY. The kids LOVED the bubbles! Here is Merritt and her friend Caius, who is a boy {and yes I do need to make that distinction}. They loved running around trying to pop every bubble that flew by them. It's my party and I'll cry if I want to... I will take the blame for this meltdown. Merritt was playing with all her friends when I decided it was time to sing, blow out the candles, and eat cupcakes. Merritt had a different opinion and cried during her birthday song, couldn't decide if she wanted me to hold her or go play, and refused to eat a cupcake {until later}. About 5 minutes later... back to playing. I love this picture with Merritt with her Daycare friends, Trenton, Caius, and Isabel. And of course, Beau was on slide duty {there were some accidents earlier in the day, so he got called into Safety Patrol}. When her friends left, Merritt curled up in Daddy's arms, watched some TV, and enjoyed a cupcake.

Meanwhile, my thoughts began to wonder.... What is the theme for next year?! Time to start planning.

Welcome to Seussville! Part 2

At any party, there has to be fun activities for the guests to do. There was going to be a range of ages from babies to 7 year olds to our adult friends. So my task was how to make sure everyone really enjoys there time at our home.

I put up a 'Photo Booth' for guests to snap a picture with the Cat. I love my cupcake wrappers as garland, adds some fun patterns and textures, I think. I also made a Grinch Toss Game with Cat in the Hat 'hat buckets' and Grinch bean bags. This is the kid version of the adult washer game that was nearby. The Hop on Pop book made me think of bubble popping, so we invested in a bubble machine! I can't even think about all the hot air I will be saved from blowing with this machine. Another tradition that I do around Merritt's birthday is take her handprint or footprint and make an art project out of it. Last year it was a Hula Girl made from her footprint! I spotted the Thing 1 and Thing 2 Handprints Activity from Mailbox Magazine and knew I had to include it. The body, legs, and arms was a little tricky - as you can see, you had to not paint one of the fingers and have the kids spread their fingers to make the bottom half of the Thing {easier said than done}. You can see from the pictures, Merritt has a playscape and play house that the kids can enjoy. Hope everyone had a wonderful time!!