Alternate Life

That's right... I have an alternate life... an alter ego, if you will. :) On World of Warcraft haha One of my friends plays a lot, and he suggested I try it out. So, lo and behold, they are offering a 10 day free trial. Which clearly means, after 10 days I will add the full version and play, because I played yesterday and I'm addicted!!!!!! I blame my friend!

Other than that I went out last night with my little bro (cousin Craig) to see him while he's in town before he heads back to St. Louis, MO for seminary. I can't believe he's been in seminary a year! Time sure does fly! But this is a good thing, because it means he's going to finish faster than I realize, and hopefully move back to TX to preach. That'd be nice. I hope he marries the girl he met there and is dating. She's fantastic. She joined us last night, and I already love her like a sis!

I can't wait for tomorrow!!! I'm taking Dustin to see Toy Story 3, and while I think I would've rather seen the Shrek movie, he is COMPLETELY excited that he and I are going to go hang out together and have fun and it's TOO CUTE! I'm ready to buy him some Sour Patch Kids and popcorn and have a fantastic little adventure.

I also really need to go up to the school so that I can check out my *new* room and move some things over. If I were smart I'd go both tomorrow AND Thursday... but UGH... that requires waking up early and going to the school around 9am... that's early for me as of late.

Ah well... that's life! But I AM excited to make my curtains for my WINDOW in my classroom... and also to make the little pouches for at student desks! WOOHOO!

And Oldie But a Goodie!

Thought I'd share one of my favorite blogs from 2008...

Jeremiah

Yesterday and today I've picked up Dustin from daycare and taken him home to his parents (because their work schedules are both weird at the moment... and he's only temporarily back at his old daycare before starting a new preschool program... had to get some medical stuff cleared away first, tho).

Yesterday we had the usual type of conversation... it was comprised of him telling me how his day was (IE: lying about taking a nap... making up OBVIOUSLY false things, like riding in a cop car and getting handcuffs put on, etc.) and asking me what the animal cracker shapes were from the little kid-size bag I brought for him (I always bring him a snack of crackers or something when I pick him up from daycare).

Today we had a similarly interesting discussion. He asked again what the various animals were... except today before he'd ask me, he had bitten off the head... I guess he was trying to see how good I would be at identifying headless animal shapes! Each time I would hear, "WOOK, CHACHI!!! What's THIS one?!" excitedly shouted from behind me. Then I asked if he took a nap today. "Yes, ma'am... I took a nap." So I asked, "Dustin... did you REALLY take a nap... or are you just telling me that when you really just laid there and didn't sleep but had your eyes shut?" "Uhhh... I'm just telling you that... I didn't really sleep." (HAHAHA I laughed hard when he said that... it *was* pretty funny!)

Then as we turned onto the street to get to his subdivision he started talking about Jeremiah... at first I thought he was talking about someone from daycare that he met... so I asked,
-"Do you know Jeremiah from daycare..?"
-"No... that's not how I know Jeremiah."
I asked a few times, "Who is Jeremiah, Dustin?" more because I was scared he was going to say some man that talked to him, or something.

But as we got closer to the entrance to the neighborhood he pointed to the left and said,
-"That's where she lives!" And I asked,
-"Where who lives?"
-"Jeremiah... that's where she lives!" (Sidenote: He was pointing to a soccer field/church field/church/parking lot) And so I said (to clarify with the 3 year old, of course!)
-"She lives there.... SHE? Jeremiah... SHE LIVES THERE?"
-"Yup... that's where she lives..."
-"Jeremiah is a girl?"
-"Yup"

I l-l-l-love that little booger! (it's l-l-l-love because we've been trying to help him enunciate his l's lately)

Break, and other things...

Well, I'm on Spring Break... and I'm enjoying it quite a bit! I've pretty much caught up on my DVR stuff (YAY!) and started off my break with a busy weekend. Dustin's 4th birthday party was Sunday... I agreed a while back to make cake for it. So, Thursday and Friday I spent my evenings making icing. I made a total of 5 batches (4 white, and 1 colored black) I was going to be icing nearly 100 cupcakes shaping them as 2 black/white checkered racing flags. I'm happy to say that they turned out REALLY great!



We had a blast! His NASCAR birthday was a big hit, and the kids all had a great time racing the course Damian mapped out in the power wheels that were there! One of his Tball teammates (the only girl) even wore a hot pink racing outfit! lol It was adorable!

So, yesterday (Monday) I spent the day recouperating from the weekend... which was a whole day pretty much comprised of baking cupcakes and then a day doing the party! Monday my internal alarm clock went off bright and early at 6am... I managed to get myself back to sleep...! And then proceeded to nap on and off all day in between watching shows on the DVR and reading my book!

Today my cousin is coming over to play Wii and have dinner with my parents and I! I had initially planned on making chicken parmesan... but he apparently gave up all meat (other than fish/shellfish) for Lent! So, I asked him if homemade pizza would be good, because it's easy to make one veggie! So, here I am... I've mixed my dough... it's in the refridgerator resting. I'll pull it out of the box around 3pm so that it can rest/rise and then I'll get it ready along with the sauce and the pizza stone around 5:30. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! This is my first time using a pizza stone... usually I use pizza pans, but a pizza stone gives a crunchier crust... I'm excited to try it out and hope it bakes well! I even splurged and got fresh mozzarella and basil! haha I'm trying to baby him right now (this is my cuz that's like a baby brother to me... we grew up more like siblings because my mom watched him while his parents worked til he was about in middle school) because he and his girlfriend just split up about a month ago. They had been dating about 3-1/2 years... so he took it hard. She's just not at the same place in life as him (she's about 3 years younger than him... just turned 21). Anyhow... hopefully it'll keep his mind off things... although, he's already talking about dating again! I guess I'm more set in the single life than he is...! I like not dating and all LOL

Anyhow... perhaps I'll take some pics of my pizza later and post them... if I'm proud of it, that is!

May I just say...

That I am completely, utterly, wholly ready for Spring Break to start! I can make it 1 more day, right?! :( I'll update when I get home... lots has been going on!

***Update***

This is coming later than promised, but it's been a SUPER busy time! I'm working one-on-one again ya know...? And I'm trying to figure out why one minute he's totally normal and happy-go-lucky... and the next he wants to A) die/kill himself, B) kill someone else, C) just be outright defiant without provocation! Thursday my kiddo had a SUPER day... he got a 100 on his spelling test AND on his behavior chart for the day! I let him go to the prize box and he was really proud of himself, and I was proud of him, too! Friday he came to school a little late, and had a good morning... then he decided to play dodgeball instead of volleyball during PE and was using the other students as moving targets! He sat out. Then he came back to class, got right to work and cranked out a 2 page "friendly letter!" What...the...heck?! Then he didn't want to go to lunch, tried running off while in transit, and finally ended up in ISS for a 1/2 day because he punched someone in the face. Why, you might ask? Not because they said or did something to him... just because he wanted to. That's my work life... it's been hectic and crazy...!

Lastly, Dustin's 4th birthday is tomorrow!!! It's THE DUSTIN 4th00!!! We're going to have a blast...! Because of this I've been SUPER busy, because I'm making 2 black/white checkered flags out of CUPCAKES for his party. Each flag has 40 cupcakes! So I've been really busy making icing and coloring some black and all... and it's just been busy! In addition I FINALLY made an appointment to have Max fixed. I'm taking him to SNAP (Spay Neuter Assistance Program) on Thursday. They offer reduced price rates for services, and some qualify for free services. So I'm able to get him neutered for $50... which is about half of what I would've paid my regular family vet! I'm glad I was able to schedule it during my Spring Break!!!

And about my Spring Break, Kate... I'm NOT happy it's so early. I mean, I did need a break now that I've been working with this new kiddo... but I would've MUCH rather ours have been scheduled 2 weeks from now because it'll be a LOOONG time til we have another day off or 1/2 day or anything! :(

TBall Game

Today I'm going to a TBall game at 9... then probably grabbing some brunch... then possibly going to the teacher resource store... then I need to watch a heck of a lot of stuff off the DVR and attempt catching up...! I think I have like, 15 shows I need to watch... and a lot of them are hour long shows!

:(

I'll try to get a more substantial blog post in this weekend some time... but I may be glued to the TV (at least it's an entertaining alternative!)

HALF DAY!!!

YAY! Today we have a half day with the students (and we're having assemblies, anyway) then we get a nice hour long lunch, and then I get to come back and help in the front office... filing... again. ;) lol I'm bringing my iPod with me, though... so hopefully it'll go by quickly with some good tunes.

Other than that, this weekend is filling up a bit. Tomorrow Dustin has a game... then the school's having a fall festival from 2-5... Sunday I think I've been guilt tripped into making sure I go visit my Grandma.... so I'm (as usual) busy...

And I can't even sleep in tomorrow b/c Dustin's game starts at 9am... and it's going to be COLD!!! :) That's the only perk!

Jeremiah

Yesterday and today I've picked up Dustin from daycare and taken him home to his parents (because their work schedules are both weird at the moment... and he's only temporarily back at his old daycare before starting a new preschool program... had to get some medical stuff cleared away first, tho).

Yesterday we had the usual type of conversation... it was comprised of him telling me how his day was (IE: lying about taking a nap... making up OBVIOUSLY false things, like riding in a cop car and getting handcuffs put on, etc.) and asking me what the animal cracker shapes were from the little kid-size bag I brought for him (I always bring him a snack of crackers or something when I pick him up from daycare).

Today we had a similarly interesting discussion. He asked again what the various animals were... except today before he'd ask me, he had bitten off the head... I guess he was trying to see how good I would be at identifying headless animal shapes! Each time I would hear, "WOOK, CHACHI!!! What's THIS one?!" excitedly shouted from behind me. Then I asked if he took a nap today. "Yes, ma'am... I took a nap." So I asked, "Dustin... did you REALLY take a nap... or are you just telling me that when you really just laid there and didn't sleep but had your eyes shut?" "Uhhh... I'm just telling you that... I didn't really sleep." (HAHAHA I laughed hard when he said that... it *was* pretty funny!)

Then as we turned onto the street to get to his subdivision he started talking about Jeremiah... at first I thought he was talking about someone from daycare that he met... so I asked,
-"Do you know Jeremiah from daycare..?"
-"No... that's not how I know Jeremiah."
I asked a few times, "Who is Jeremiah, Dustin?" more because I was scared he was going to say some man that talked to him, or something.

But as we got closer to the entrance to the neighborhood he pointed to the left and said,
-"That's where she lives!" And I asked,
-"Where who lives?"
-"Jeremiah... that's where she lives!" (Sidenote: He was pointing to a soccer field/church field/church/parking lot) And so I said (to clarify with the 3 year old, of course!)
-"She lives there.... SHE? Jeremiah... SHE LIVES THERE?"
-"Yup... that's where she lives..."
-"Jeremiah is a girl?"
-"Yup"

I l-l-l-love that little booger! (it's l-l-l-love because we've been trying to help him enunciate his l's lately)

He's ready for baseball season! His Cubbies needed to hear this last night!

This was a little over a month ago when we had Daughn's bday party out at the Aquatic Center at Landa Park... Dustin is one of the coolest and smartest little guys that I know. He's 3 and he's a pretty good singer (he will randomly break out in song... my favorite is when he sings "You Are So Beautiful To Me")

Pirates, Pirates, EVERYWHERE!!!

Well, I haven't updated, but I've been keeping busy... Starting with Dustin's 3rd birthday party (A pirate party!) this past Sunday! It was a nice day for a party in the park and Dustin had a LOT of fun!


Dustin sitting by his cakes, not smiling ;)


Sneaking icing from the cake!


Dustin's Crew!


Cap't. Dustin holding us all hostage!


The outcome of a 3 year old's birthday bash :)

I spent Monday recovering, Tuesday mending a migraine, and Wednesday picking up Dustin from daycare and going to the playground in his neighborhood. Thursday and Friday I subbed all day at the intermediate school... That was fun... subbing right before Spring Break! ;) I'm ready to enjoy the week off, and hope to head over to Canyon Lake for lunch one day... :-D It's been ages since I've been out there, and I am looking forward to enjoying the scenery for a while... Next up for me? Getting through April and making it to May when I am going to Port Aransas for a week! (A more serious post not related to everyday happenings will occur sometime this weekend...)

The diet's going well... I've lost 18 pounds so far... not bad for a little over 2 months... :)

Funny 2 year olds' anecdotes

I was just thinking back today to a funny little thing that happened with Daughn's little boy Dustin who is 2 years old. One night I went over to their house to have some dinner and watch either Big Brother or Survivor (last season... not the current ones). Dustin likes technology, and thus likes to pick up anyone's phone that's sitting around and call people. On this particular night, he got ahold of Daughn's phone and called ME (I was the last call out from her phone and he hit buttons and ended up calling out to me again). So, I thought I'd play along, and I answered (mind you, he's standing right in the same room).

-"Dustin?"

-"Hi Chachi!" (this is what he calls me... although he can say Kelsie now... but still calls me Chachi).

-"HI DUSTIN!"

He looked right at me at this point and said,
-"NO! NOT YOU CHACHI! CHACHI ON THE PHONE!!!!!!"

Oh, 2 year olds... God love 'em! lol This brought a little ray of sunshine into my world today... which I needed considering I've had one of those bad luck days. I woke up early... ate some breakfast, got ready and headed out to Saturn to get my state inspection done (it expires this month)... YUP... apparently the guy had emailed me (probably about 30 minutes before I left) telling me they were booked up and that they weren't making appointments any earlier than Monday. I found all this out when I got there... the only glimmer or good luck in the situation is that I get my state inspection for free. :)

I feel a strong need to get out to the lake and take some photos and just take in the scenery out there. Perhaps some time this week. I definitely don't want to wait til Spring Break as MANY kids from all surrounding areas of the lake will be there... I'm not a crowd type of person. Anyhow... back to reading my book and preparing for tomorrow's subbing (I need to fix up my cover letter and resume to leave with the principal).