little guy

Hello friends! Can you believe that Christmas is only a week away? My school doesn't let out for vacation until Friday, so I'm sure it's going to be a wacky week. Since I said last post that I love Christmas, I have to say, even though work-wise December was an extremely hectic month,  I'm so happy to be working as a teacher. Those little kids & their Santa-loving ways just crack me up. My shopping is all done, everything has been delivered, everything has been wrapped. Am I the only one who's checked the weekly cable listings to find out when the best christmas movies are on? A Chipmunk Christmas is on at 8:30 tomorrow night. Sadly, Prancer is a no show on cable networks. Bummer. Let's resume cheerfulness-

I would like you to meet Little Guy:

He is my tiny surprise tree {so unexpected & appreciated} & I love him dearly. So do my kitties Igby & Rugen... particularly his water. I'm filling this tree stand up like it's my full-time job! Little Guy was decorated by 3/5 of my little ones. The 3 that are able to walk, of course. I had to make do with some sparkly ribbon for a topper because it was way too cold to stand outside in my storage unit to find all my decorations. This little owl ornament was made by my sister. She made me a Stitch ornament one year, but I fell down the stairs & broke it. He had clay ears & everything!

Kyleigh was singing the whole time because that's what she does, "Christmas! Christmas! Gotta add one more christmas! Don't break my heart, Christmas." Luckily, no lights were harmed.

Adriana was reattaching all of the ornament hooks that fell off, mediating fights between Kyleigh & Liam when they wanted their ornaments in the same place, and making sure each and every one of the glittery ornaments were used. Much eggnog was had.

Liam was hanging each ornament very carefully on the garland at the bottom of the tree, which caused it to fall off the tree and for him to realize that when they all fell together it created room for more ornaments. See how proud he is?

Now it's time for a tree skirt & all the presents.

In other news, I realized today that I missed the most recent ebew event. Sequins and sparkles?!?! Can it really be true? I think I should make up for this by wearing only sequins & sparkles for the rest of the week.

Christmas Police

I have always loved the idea of Christmas. The music, the tree, the parties, the decorations, the food- it's all just so wonderful. I anticipate buying treasures for the people who matter the most to me & can never wait for them to open them on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. 

That said, it's also important to note that I am completely obsessed with the tree. I stick to all pastel ornaments, or all red/white/silver, or my plan for this year: peacock themed. The thought of rich purple, teal, greens, & golds make me want to swoon. I even went so far as to buy lights especially for this last year, but my plan has been thwarted. This year, I will be spending my first Christmas with little ones. My niece & nephew (Kyleigh & Liam) will be here and so I will have a child-friendly tree. This, of course, means multicolored lights, homemade ornaments, and 2 tiny bellies filling themselves with eggnog while we decorate. 

One thing's for sure, I can't wait to see their little faces when they wake up in the morning and see that Santa Claus has visited them {and also a valid excuse to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas and giggle wildly}.

In other news, while I've been absent from the blogosphere my sister Heather gave birth to a baby boy.  In case you're counting that's 5 tiny children to love. 

Welcome to the world, Kieran!

Just a Snapshot

I apologize for neglecting my blog. There’s no real excuse for it other than I just haven’t felt particularly inspired to write about anything. My summer days have been spent watching my niece & nephew for 8 and 9 hours a day. I love them dearly and they’re full of spirit and hilarious quotes, but I don’t want to dedicate weeks worth of posts to their adorable antics. I’ve also been a little down lately trying to figure out my job opportunities for next year {there don’t seem to be any!} so thanks for sitting tight & waiting so patiently.

Here is a snapshot of my days that you missed:

Summer School

I’ve been teaching a summer class/author study on Kevin Henkes. It’s 4 hours a day and I love the program. It’s a nice break from the rigorous schedule I have all school year and I get to teach a new crop of kiddos.

The Littles

My days have been spent with these little cuties. They are completely fearless and everything is an adventure. Particularly swimming. We’ve been sticking to the sprinkler & dumping buckets of water on one another.

Treats

We’ve been busy making treats around here. With temperatures up over 100, it was impossible to even think about preheating the oven to a million degrees. We settled on popsicles- my goodness I almost forgot how much I love frozen treats.

Oh and who could forget swimming and organizing? I wonder if there's a way for me to swim while organizing...

Lookbook: Yesterday & Today

Even though I posted about cupcakes yesterday, I should still have posted yesterday's outfit. Whoops. It was a Liberty of London for Target gem that I picked up to wear to a bridal shower. I almost didn't buy it because all the reviews said that if you have wide hips they'll just look bigger. I took the chance & bought it anyway. I'm glad I did, it's a fan favorite.

I went with another dress today. So far in this little endeavor I haven't strayed into the realm of creative and I'll have to remedy that. Summer has been wonderful for rolling out of bed and spending the days doing arts & crafts, reading, watching teeny bopper shows, and hanging out with my amazing little niece & nephew. These lazy days don't really lend themselves to much more and I love it. The next thing on my agenda is to get some sun on those extremely white legs of mine.

Kyleigh decided that she wanted to guest pose for some photos today. My sister Terri made the bracelet I'm wearing & I couldn't get any good pictures of it, but I will. Oh will I ever.

The Cupcake

On April 18th, my beautiful little niece Kyleigh turned 3 years old. Before she was born, I called her the little cupcake. I knew she was going to be something special. I didn't get to see her on her special day and she was {and still is} sick with the flu. :( I can't wait to present her with the gifts I got her, she's going to love Love LOVE them.

This little Osh Kosh number from Target and a two-toned bubble dress which has a cuteness that can't be captured by a picture.

This barbie bike is super amazing. There are cupcakes images all over the seat. There's a basket AND a bell, and the icing on the cake is that it has a little bike for a Barbie attached to it. Attached, I tell you! If this doesn't make you wish you could fit on a 12-inch bike, I don't know what will.

Without further ado, I present to you: The Birthday Girl.

In other news:

Look what I got! The world's most amazingly ridiculous shower cap.

Another Year Down

Bike: awesome. Basket: awesome. $5 book sale at the library: awesome. Pink shoes: awesome. Sexy white socks: most awesome.

Despite the scare of my life, my taxes are filed & I can officially say I am getting back a meager amount.
Meh. On the other hand, that little, "Your taxes have been filed for another year" message from TurboTax brought great joy to my life and a weight off my shoulders. They had better be done, according to my friendlings I missed free cone day at Ben & Jerry. ::mumble grumble::

The scare came when I thought I had lost one of my W-2 forms. I wouldn't get a new one sent to me in a decent time frame under normal circumstances, let alone 5 days before taxes are due. I knew I had put it somewhere safe though. After all, I may be known to store my social security card in my napkin holder on occasion, but I am less scatterbrained about my other important documents.

Last week, my friends welcomed their handsome little gent into the world and last weekend my adorable little nieces spent the night. We went bike riding, enjoyed the IMMENSELY wonderful warming temperatures outside, made homemade donuts {with applesauce instead of yogurt} and ate breakfast out on the deck. Did I mention that we watched Anastasia 3 or 4 times also? It might be an exaggeration, but who knows. My soon-to-be-3-year-old niece is obsessed with that movie.

I also discovered a most glorious new game. Glorious is code for: Game that doesn't take a long time to play and I can crush my opponents at least 1/2 the time. Ubongo Duel, I am giving you my game-loving heart... for the time being. Scrabble Apple may nab your place in the spotlight at some point.

In other news, now that the weather is finally warming up, I can take some pictures and get this blog really rolling.