i should've been a great many things.

and staying updated on this blog is definitely one of those things as of late. so much has happened. sickness to the tenth power. ella's playschool christmas performance. christmas itself. brian's big 3-0. i should probably start from the beginning. and that beginning my friends shall be ella's playschool christmas performance. 

she belted out every song loud and proud. was the loudest shrieker (is that even a word?) in, we WISH you a merry christmas. knew her mark and did not deviate. cried when it was her turn to sit on santa's lap. and overall kicked serious christmas caroling butt. i was one proud momma. 

the jam.

there are several times throughout the day where i stop and reminisce on how great of a parent i am. like when ella calls me a butt. or when she is running around like a crazy person and doesn't listen. those times are the greatest of great. today was another such glorious moment in the glorious moment's of parenthood. while driving to costco and simultaneously singing christmas music at the top of our lungs, she stops and says quite matter of factly... 'mom can we listen to my song?' 'what song is your song,' i replied quite perplexed. 'you know, call me baby.' oh yes. that is my 4 year old daughter's song. how could i forget? 
so like any good, no great mother i turned it on and turned it up.
 '...ripped jeans skin was showin', hot night, wind was blowin', where you think you're goin' baby!' that is the jam. those are the times. just me and my girl. 

this weekend.

oh three day weekend where did you go? seriously, it went way too fast in my opinion. and the dread thought of upcoming parent conferences doesn't make me the happiest person this side of the mississippi that's for sure. ugh. actually double ugh. 
however, what is not double ugh is the amount of stuff i got accomplished the past three days. i went to church. got caught up on the 4 episodes of 90210 i had been neglecting. fought a cold. listened to captain whine. a lot.  oh--and did a little thing i like to call 'completely-overhaul-the-house,' which took me a cool 9 hours. a great many things i am, but one thing i am definitely not is a hoarder. i'm the antithesis of a hoarder. i'm a 'throw-something-away-if-i-can't-find-a-home-for-it' and if i need it later, then i'll just go buy it again. i was feeling overwhelmed with life, work, you name it...and boy, does a good 9 hour cleaning sesh make me feel a little lighter on my feet. (one thing i am is clothes sentimental! i got so upset cleaning out clothes they both couldn't fit in anymore! my littles are getting so big!) i digress. lastly, i crafted up a thankful turkey or two and finished the night off with....wait for it...mcdonalds and yogurt mill. college brianne made an appearance in all her glory. hurrah!

the difference a week makes.

this dude is 30 inches long, 21 pounds. waves buh-bye. found his tongue. and is starting to crawl on things. through things. under things. everything. 

the aftermath.

ella said she was sick of being a witch and made the executive decision to be a princess. captain was her dragon. ella cried. ella pouted. captain stared and took it all in. ella declared that she 'never wants to go to mommy's school again! the big kids are too scary.' i agreed. the face on ella in the last picture sums up the aftermath of our halloween. 

9er.

this man is a whole nine months today. 
he is the most giggly baby ever. his gut laugh is the best.
he has 5 teeth. 3 up top and 2 on the bottom. he hasn't gotten one of his front teeth....only one and the two sides ones. he's a snaggle tooth :)
he currently has a cold :(
he sleeps all night, 7ish to 6:30ish.
he is starting to feed himself and is getting a little less picky in the process.
he takes two naps.
he has the loudest high pitch scream that he uses to deter his sister's antics.
he wears 12-18 month clothing perfectly. 
he will wear 18-24 month clothing soon.
he army crawls like stud, and is dabbling in the legit crawling world.
he rocks.

halloween happenings.

i love halloween. i love the brisk air. i love the smell of fall. i love boots and cardis. i love dressing up. i love carnivals. i triple love pumpkins. (triple love = lots of love) however, i do not love people that steal pumpkins. seriously how lame do you have to be to steal pumpkins? i suppose i should get over it, but it's been 3 days and i'm still greatly annoyed. maybe by next october i'll be over it. nahhhh...who am i kidding?!?! i'll pray about it.

room crashing: pink zebra-licious.

pink. glitter. bright colors. more pink. zebra print. how can you go wrong with that combination? i mean, the more glitter the better. if it was appropriate to cake on the glitter eyeshadow and parade down the street, i would be first in line. let's be honest. this next room has all the components of pink zebra-licious perfection. i room-crashed my sister-in-law. she teaches third grade in a room with ridiculously tall windows. wall space is limited, so utilizing every bit of wall space and dousing it with cuteness is a must. 

her writing/whiteboard wall. i heart the glitter clothespins. neon glitter + mod podge. that simple.

in the world of painted stools, this one would be a looker. and the black and neon  chevron rug? cute cute cute.

 rhinestones are a girls best friend. 

 she painted and scrapbook papered this otherwise meant for tools chest. 

 the jewelry rack turn card chart is especially hip in its zebra attire.

and who doesn't need a lightbulb moment every now and again? this whole week has been one gigantic lightbulb moment for me :)

a blur.

life is a blur. a blur of pumpkins, family time, and fall. i love this time of year. i have always been a big fan of summer. funny how things change as i've gotten older. i am now proud to say that fall has stolen my heart. hands down best time of year. my slight obsession with pumpkins is inherited (much love to my mother dearest), but my affinity for pumpkin patches is something i have acquired independently. so far this year we have hit 3. 
school life is a blur as well. so many ideas and so little time. creating projects and having all 34 kids complete said projects takes tiiiimmmeee. holy geez. but we are hangin' in there. chuggin' along if you will. 
we have been struggling learning integers. i probably should clarify...some are struggling. luckily, we are fortunate enough to offer before and after-school tutoring, so there are definitely more and more light bulbs going off!

i used a manipulative to introduce positive and negative integer addition. worked like a charm. 

 

we have been learning via angry verbs and making connections. i stole the angry verbs idea off pinterest and made it my own. (seriously what don't i do with pinterest?) i honestly have no clue what the draw is concerning angry birds. dare i say i've never even played?! but considering the number of angry birds shirts and backpacks we have floating around room 33, the kids apparently have a clue in a major way. 

 buddies. i love buddy time. our latest greatest buddy art was a result of pinterest, and i am in love. bring on the halloween funness!