6 Hours, 38 Minutes and Counting...

It's almost the New Year. Almost 2007. This year has whizzed by and it feels like so much has changed since this time last year. We're in a nice home instead of the tin can we called an apartment, I'm teaching middle school again, Mason just turned 2, we're much more active in our church and I'm a year closer to 30. Yikes.

I think that since we made the early New Year's Resolution for Mason to quit the binky, I think it's only fair that I stop chewing on my fingernails and the skin around them. We'll see how that goes.

Happy New Year, everyone! Don't party too hard tonight! And let tomorrow be a restful, happy day before returning to the new adventures that await you in the year to come. Ta ta for now.

The shirt says it all

Look at it closely. Around here, we agree that it fits Mason. But maybe we're just playing favorites. :)

Bye Bye, Christmas

Christmas is over. And there's no signs that was even here, at least not at our house. We took down all the decorations yesterday, including the outdoor lights and the Christmas tree and all the greeting cards. I even organized the wrapping paper bin and put all the Christmas stuff at the bottom (got some 50% off at Kmart and Target yesterday, for next year!). It was time. And I just threw away all the Christmas dinner leftovers, from when the in-laws were here. We went to Fry's and bought a bunch of healthy food like fruits and veggies and Lean Gourmet dinners. No more crap. We've been eating out a lot and eating a lot of sweets, and it has got to stop. Let's just say, it was tempting to pull out the maternity pants, cuz my regular ones have been getting a little snug lately. Time to do something about it.

And I put away Mason's Gap shirt with a Santa hat on it, since I'm positive it won't fit next year and I probably won't dress him in it anymore this year.

Finally, this is the last weekend before school starts back up again. At least we also get Monday off. That makes next week short, which helps with the transition back to the academic world, for all of us. I'm sure I'll be dragging my feet on Tuesday morning, since I've been enjoying sleeping in, lounging around the house, getting some reading and movie watching done, and most importantly spending lots of quality time with Mason, but I'm ready to return to work. There's been times during the break where I've been bored out of my mind. I'm used to working. I haven't always liked it, but it's what I'm used to. Now granted, I am already excited about taking next summer off to be with Mason at home, I'm ready to return for the second half of this school year. The sooner we start, the sooner summer will come, right?

So, goodbye Christmas, hello New Year! We plan to start fresh and try our best to be healthy and put effort into being good people. I wish everyone out there in the cyberworld a Happy New Year and hope you all have a renewed perspective and high hopes for this upcoming year!

This is a Binky Free Zone!!

Goodbye binkies. You were well loved and will be missed, but it was time for you to go. Mason called you "gingy" and needed you for naptime, nighttime and any other time he felt he needed extra comfort over the past 2 years. But the last of your kind was thrown away on Wednesday and we haven't looked back since.

Mason's had a little trouble settling down and going to sleep, but there haven't been a lot of tears. No tears at all, really. He just wants to lay or sit in his crib and play and sing and look at books, instead of sleeping. We have to keep going in there and telling him to go to sleep and eventually he does. I can deal with him playing in his crib when he's supposed to be sleeping, because at least he's not screaming like a Banshee. And at least we're still getting a full night's sleep.

I think this is pretty accurate

Quite Empathic You are 80% empathic!

You are definitely empathic a lot of the time. You may not always get it right, but you're pretty good at telling what someone's feeling. You make an effort whenever possible. You don't necessarily want others to know how you're feeling yourself though. You're the kind of person who cares a lot about those around you, and don't necessarily have to know someone to worry about them.

My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender: http://www.okcupid.com/"> alt="free online dating" src="http://is3.okcupid.com/graphics/0.gif" border=0> You scored higher than 99% on empathy

Link: The Empathy Test written by Audryn on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Our big boy

Our son is two now. Wow. I can't believe it. It seems like I was saying, "He'll be 2 the day after Christmas" for so long, that it kind of just crept up on me. We took him to his 2 year check up at the doc today, and he's 27 pounds, 35 inches tall. He's healthy and right on track, thank the Lord. I just can't believe he's not a baby anymore. It's a blessing and it's part of life, but this is one of those moments where you realize that time slips away so quickly...

Anyways, here's our big boy at Nana and Papa's house on Christmas Day (with his new Elmo music player), and the awesome cake that Grandma made for Mason's birthday:

Christmas, Part 3 and Mason's Birthday, Part 2

We are enjoying our visit with my parents. We arrived yesterday and had a nice Christmas. We opened presents and then had a pleasant dinner. Of course, we all made out with awesome gifts. I got cozy jammy pants, fuzzy socks and a warm robe (I should be nice and toasty during the winter!) and together we got a Target giftcard and a Barnes and Noble giftcard and a wicker ottoman. My hubby got the two Pirates of the Carribbean movies. Mason is set for toys and clothes and books for awhile, between Christmas and his birthday. Today, my sister, her husband, their two kids and my nephew's girlfriend came over, and there were more gifts. And more cake eating. Let's just say, we've decided to be gluttonous until the New Year. There's no sense in fighting the temptation, and besides, there's just too much good food around to resist!

Anyways, it's been a good one and we are thankful of how well we've been taken care of by both families. And I think I'm ready for Christmas to be over. It's my very very favorite Holiday and time of year, and I look forward to it starting right after Halloween, but I'm done. We've had 3 Christmases and 2 birthdays for Mason. That's enough. I'm sure we'll still keep the lights and decorations up until New Years, but after that, it's all going away. And we're moving on.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable one and remembered the reason for the season. Lots of love to my dedicated readers (there are maybe 3 or 4), and I will write again when we get home.

Christmas, Part 1 of 3

So, yesterday my hubby's family (sisters, their hubbies, kids and his parents) all came up. It was a little stressful getting the house ready, but after everyone was here, it was nice. It's that warm and fuzzy feeling of having family together, with the laughter of children and people snuggling together on the couch. We had the fireplace going, the Christmas tree on, candles lit (but sitting way up high), presents covering the floor and people everywhere. We ate and ate. And ate some more. And my mother-in-law always makes cookies, rice krispy treats and fudge (chocolate and peanut butter) every year. Oh my lordy, did I eat a lot. I just kept grazing! And of course she gave us a platter of the goodies to keep.

And then there was Mason's little birthday party yesterday afternoon. His grandma made him a Veggietales cake (our son's obsession) AND we had pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie. Yikes. The party was fun though, because his Miss Cindy and her family came over and he got all kinds of neat toys. He's set for awhile, that's for sure. I think after we are completely finished with Christmas, I will put half of his toys away and trade them out later. No sense in taking up the whole living room, especially when he doesn't play with that many at a time. It's like having brand new toys every couple of weeks!!

So, Part 2 of Christmas will be tomorrow. Just us three. We'll wake Mason up early, do Christmas with just our little family. I think Darth Tater will be his favorite, since loves Potato Heads.

And Part 3 will be later tomorrow, when we head down to see my family. My brother is in town and my aunt will be there and possibly one of my sisters and her family. We'll see. I was kind of sad that we had to split up the Holiday, but now I realize it's better this way. It splits up the gift-giving, which is less stress on Mason (and myself), and we get to spend a little more quality time with both families. Should be fun.

Hope everyone is having a pleasant Holiday so far, and that the next couple of days will bless you and make you feel warm and fuzzy. Merry Christmas!

Have a great one, everyone!!

Merry Christmas Comment Graphics

This one's for you, Mrs. Bluebird!!

Merry Christmas Comment Graphics
I don't know about you, but we've tried putting Charlie in a sweater, and she just glares at us and runs away. I don't know what her problem is! :)

Things My Students Have Said Part One or Teenagers are Common Sense Deficient

If I had thought of this 5 years ago, I could probably write a book. And even if I had thought to do this from Day One of this school year, I'd still have a hefty list. But I didn't. So, here's what I came up with for most of this semester. Enjoy.

Top 13 (couldn't narrow it down to 10) Things My Students Have Said:
13. Do you have to pay to vote?
12. Can you vote more than once?
11. (When I asked what my student that was assigned Cupid knew about the topic) Cupid was a baby or something, right?
10. Is it a law about wearing white after Labor Day?
9. The difference between a crocodile and an alligator is one's female and the other's male.
8. (In October) Isn't it St. Patrick's Day? I'm not wearing any green!
7. (In November, the week before Thanksgiving) Isn't next week Christmas?
6. All the Presidents have been assassinated, right?
5. (One of my students, talking to me) Did they call you Mrs. Lionhead when you were in school?
4. Who's Saddam Hussein?
3. (While watching a story on Apache Indians in Arizona) What country are those people from?
2. (While watching a news story on U.S. Soldiers playing with Iraqi children) Isn't it dangerous for the kids to play with the soldiers? What if they shoot them?

And the number one quote out of one my ACTUAL student's mouth (who said quite a few of the above genius phrases), is:

1. There are women in the Army??

And how are you doing?

Thought I'd let you all know that although I'm already running out of things to do, I am enjoying Christmas Break immensely. It's been really nice not to rush in the morning to get Mason to the babysitter and to attempt to fill teenagers' heads with information they don't always want or care about. I've even slept in a little! (FYI: being a mother of a toddler, sleeping in is now any time after 6:30!) I've been to the mall, Target (a couple of times), to the movies (when we saw "The Pursuit of Happyness") and finished Christmas and Mason's birthday shopping. We've visited with friends, and I even met with a former colleague from the school I worked at last year and we chatted and ate at Olive Garden. It was nice.

The plan for the rest of this week is to clean and get the house ready for family, and then Saturday my husband's family is coming up to celebrate Christmas. I'm excited to have guests, but a little anxious about having 13 people here!! It'll be a nice time though, getting to visit with family and know that we don't have to pack up and try to cram Christmas AND Mason's birthday presents into our car, like last year. We're going to have the fireplace going, and it will be nice and cozy...

Christmas Eve, it will just be us, and we will go to church. Christmas Day, we're heading down to see my family, as my dad can't really travel yet. We'll stay there, have Mason's birthday on his actual birthday the next day, and then we'll return home on the 27th. After that, no real plans. And that's okay. I like being bored. It means I'm not working. And although I do miss some of my students a little, I like being home on a weekday.

Hope all is well with everyone out there. I will write again soon. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the time to post the "Things My Students Have Said" entry.

Tis the season...

...for talking to friends and family...

...and reaching for presents.

It's a Blizzard, people!!

Get prepared to be snowed in for days!! Hope you have supplies and warm blankets!! Good gracious, man! Get off the computer and get ready!!

Okay, just kidding. The first attempt at snowfall is going on outside right now. It's very sporadic. And slow. And not sticking. I just get excited when it snows. No snowmen or even snowballs today. Probably not until February, like always...

Don we now are gay apparel

"Now we are wearing happy clothes?" Is that what that song lyric means? Does anyone know?

The Pursuit of Happyness

Go see this movie. It's incredible. I liked Will Smith's acting before, but you'll be blown away by this one. If you know nothing about it, the main idea is that it's based on a true story about a guy who struggles to make ends meet, his wife leaves him and he has to take care of his son (which is played by Will Smith's real son), while trying to get a job and pay the bills. Go see the movie. Run, don't walk. It makes you realize that if you really want to do something in life, you can do it. No one can stop you. You'll leave with a warm feeling in your heart. But ladies, don't wear mascara. Unless it's waterproof.

Two more days...

At this time on Friday, school will be a half an hour from being over for two whole weeks!! Yippee!! I am so ready. I know the kids are too. We're all sick of each other. There's definitely an advantage to having kids for two periods for Language Arts, but there are days where I just count down the minutes. I've been doing that for the last two weeks. I swear, the kids (and myself!) check out after Thanksgiving. I just want to be home, snuggling with my hubby and little man Mason under a cozy blanket, watching a Christmas movie, and maybe even having the fireplace going, with only the glow of the Christmas tree in the background. Doesn't that sound nice? Forget about Spring Fever, I'm having Christmas Fever!! Luckily, tomorrow in all my classes, I'm showing movies of the books we've read (7th grade is watching "Hoot", and 8th is watching the 1953 version of "War of the Worlds"--the new one's a little too violent), and Friday is an Early Release. I just have to get my 7th/8th hour out of here today, and the next day and a half will be a breeze. At least I hope so.

I apologize to those of you who don't have a school-related job, and have to work next week and the week after. That sucks. I've been there. But for the sake of my sanity, and the sanity of my little angels, I'm glad I get a break.

I see Christmas lights

I can see colored lights in the frame of the window in here. I can see lights through the blinds, 2 houses down (and boy, do they have a lot of them, and one of those inflatable snowing thingies) and I can see the lights from our Christmas tree shining in the living room. Ahhh. I love this time of year...

Hope the season is warming your heart, like it is mine...

Bear with me...

I know, I know!! You don't need to start yelling at me or nagging me or ranting and raving about how nonexistent I've been in the past two weeks! Sheesh! School's been crazy, with Christmas Break approaching in one week (yeah, baby!), grades due soon, and all sorts of whatnots, that I just haven't had time on here to share my day. Sorry. I promise you'll most likely get a daily entry, starting a week from Monday. I'll be off for two weeks, with not much to do. So, I'm sure I'll get on here at least once before that, but you just need to be patient. I'm a teacher and mother with not a lot of spare time! We are having 3 Christmases and 2 birthdays for Mason this year, so it's a little hectic, with planning and coordinating. I hope everyone's able to enjoy the season thus far, and I will be back soon!