Christmas Vacation 2008

Waiting for the fireworks to begin at Epcot

It's been a few years since they had their picture with Santa. I figured we needed one more for posterity.

I loved the Christmas parade at the Magic Kingdom!

After our tire was replaced we made it to Disney. It was 6 days of fun, fun, fun. We hit all the parks at least once, saw all the shows, and generally had a blast. I have many, many pictures to add to my scrapbook. We arrived in Siesta Key yesterday afternoon, Christmas Day. It is great relaxing by the beach and enjoying warm sunshiny weather. I am not sad about missing the ice storms (yes, plural). I am very grateful that mom and dad finally have their power back on. Well, I'm off to the beach. More blogs to follow. I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas.

Chapter 1

I think I may just write a book about our vacation adventures. Chapter 1 would be entitled Quick Getaway. Chapter 2, Narrow Escape. Chapter 3, Jackpot. Chapter 4, Danger on the Highway and Chapter 5, Night of Horrors.

And that's just our first day of vacation. I'm being a little dramatic of course, but it's been a very interesting couple days. Thursday the news was saying that a big ice storm was coming with chances of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice accumulation with freezing rain on top of that. I watched the radar, checked all the weather websites, and suggested we head out of town before it hit. The only glitch would be if the storm didn't come I would have to be to work the next morning. What to do? We threw everything in the car and headed south. We stopped for the night in Anderson where it was warmer and wasn't supposed to get any of the nastiness. Yet, it was close enough to head back in the morning if I needed to.

We plugged in the laptop and carefully watched the storm's approach. At 5:00 a.m. we were getting nervous because school hadn't been cancelled yet and forecasters were saying it would be warm enough to melt the ice by 10:00. 5:08 mom called to say school was cancelled, our gamble paid off. There was a huge cheer and we headed out. It was a slushy rain when we left but the temp was above freezing. We had rain through Nashville and then smooth sailing until...6 miles before we got to Ocala, FL where we planned to stay for the night, our back tire blew out. Luckily we were able to get over to the side of the road and after unloading everything from the back we found the spare and got that on. We slowly drove to the next exit, filled the spare with air and then slowly drove 4 miles down the road to the first hotel. Let's just say I won't be giving a 4 star rating. But we slept well and are now waiting for the tire store to open so we can be on our way to Disney.

More chapters to follow.

Hurry, Hurry Christmas Break

Sing to the tune of Winter Wonderland -
Children scream, they're not listenin'
When they go, we won't miss em',
In all of this pain, we try to stay sane,
Workin' in an elementary school.

Christmas comes; they're excited,
Though our nerves, they've ignited.
They're off of the walls; they run in the halls,
Workin' in an elementary school.

In the lunchroom, we can hear them yellin'
And we know that they are really wound.
Someone hits, the other says, "I'm tellin'!"
And that is when our heads begin to pound.

Pretty soon, we'll be restin'
'Cause our nerves, they've been testin'
We're happy it's clear
It just comes once a year
Christmas in an elementary school!!

Christmas Wreath

The last few years I've faced quite the quandry about the Christmas tree. Since we are in Florida over the holidays I am less motivated to put it up. I've basically done it to keep up the tradition and satisfy my Blake who loves the tree. This year I came up with a little compromise. Thanksgiving/Christmas was at our house so I wanted decorations, but the tree would have left less room for all the bodies that would be here. So I bought a wreath and decorated it with our most precious ornaments and lights. I love it! Scott and Ashley love it too, Blake is undecided. I just hope he won't need counseling later in life because his mom picked convenience over tradition. Oh, the guilt of motherhood. So, what's your opinion?

Thanksgiving Eve

Here is my class of adorable second graders. To celebrate Thanksgiving we made pilgrim hats and then the K-2 students had a feast. It was a lot of fun and very exhausting.

8 Favorite Things

I've been tagged by Holly (whatever that means) so here goes:

8 favorite TV shows I love to watch:

• Friends,
• Mad About You,
• My Boys
• Everybody Loves Raymond,
• Frasier,
• I Love Lucy,
• the Dick Van Dyke show,
• Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders--making the team (don't ask me why, I don't know)
  
  8 favorite restaurants:
• Carrabas,
• Cebollas,
• Panera,
• Lonestar,
• Club Soda,
• Casa Grille,
• Munchie Emporium (the new one on Dupont)
• Don Chavez
  
  8 things that happened yesterday:
• drove Blake to school--carefully, due to icy roads
• taught 2nd grade,
• cleaned and organized my classroom until after dark in preparation for a district-wide principals meeting being held in my room the next morning,
• met my husband for dinner at Lonestar,
• helped Blake with homework,
• grilled Ashley on her new beau (Dave, we'll need a background check),
• checked emails,
• fell asleep watching t.v.
  
  8 things I am looking forward to:
• a four day weekend,
• Thanksgiving with family,
• Florida,
• Disney,
• Colts game,
• Christmas,
• sleep,
• retirement
  
  8 things on my wish list:
• Three day weekends
• Cruise with husband
• New dining room set
• Ballroom dancing lessons with Scott (yeah, that'll happen)
• Free time to read or scrap,
• Blake would not procrastinate projects till last minute
• Ashley will get in to BYU
• A trip to visit Holly (Holly, we should combine our visit with our cruise wish)
  
  8 people I am tagging:
• Susan
• Suzy
• Suzan
• Carlene
• Summer
• April
• Macy
• Joan

Bolt

The four of us splurged this afternoon and went to see the Disney movie Bolt. It was so good. I didn't have high expectations and was very pleasantly surprised. We will definitely have to add it to our movie library. We went to Carmike so we could get their caramel popcorn, that stuff is addicting.

Left the theatre and took Blake suit and shoe shopping. The boy is growing like a weed. I just bought him new shoes at the beginning of the school year and he's already outgrown them. We had to get school shoes and church shoes. He, of course, is loving the fact that he's hit a growth spurt. I just hope these new shoes will last him until the end of the school year.

Cotilion

Tonight our Young Men and Young Women had an old-fashioned cotilion. It was wonderful. The mothers came with their sons and the fathers came with their daughters. The Deams taught us how to do the Fox Trot. It was so much fun! Blake's not quite ready to dance with girls (I keep telling myself), but he's well on his way to being the next Fred Astaire. It was heart-warming to watch Scott and Ashley dance together. The next time that happens will probably be at her wedding reception.

Our Week in Review

We have had a very busy week with parent-teacher conferences, show choir performance, orthodontist, and Halloween. Thank goodness for the extra hour of sleep due to the time change. Here are some pictures to help chronicle our week. Enjoy!

Trick-or-Treating with friends. Ashley and Blake went begging for treats with Juli and Greg , Kaye , and Tyler. They brought back quite a haul.

Blake went scavenging through old costumes and came up with this Ninja costume.

Princess Ashley ready for a night out. Notice she is braces free!!! There was much rejoicing in the palace.

I mostly took videos of the performance, but here's a still shot of Northrop's Villes de Filles show choir.

Ashley and friends also went down to Indianapolis to the new Lucas Oil Stadium to watch the state finals marching band competition. Unfortunately she forgot her camera, so no pictures. Homestead came in 4th!

No Church Today

We got a call this morning that there was no water in the Huntington Chapel and so church was cancelled. Luckily, we got the call while I was working on my talk (I'll finish it later). So, we went to 2nd ward's sacrament meeting today. It turned out it was their children's sacrament presentation. We got to watch my wonderful nephew Alexander do his part. They were all so cute. It was also nice sitting with my mom, my two brothers and their families. A whole pew filled with Ashby's (and Brauns)!

The Harvest is In

After weeks and weeks of being a farm widow, the harvest is finally complete. Note that I didn't say they were done farming--Scott is always quick to point out that the farmwork is never done. However, there won't be such a huge push with late nights and breakneck pace. We even might get to go away for a weekend sometime soon. I love the farm, but it can be exhausting. Scott loves it though and would gladly give up his day job to farm full time. Thanks for all the prayers for rain during the summer and prayers for Scott's safety this fall.

The blahs

Not quite sure what the deal is, but I have a serious case of the blahs. Extremely tired, no matter how early I go to bed. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. Just want to curl up with a good book and pretend I'm not home. I miss my friends that have moved away. I miss my friends from the school I was at the past two years. I miss my sister Holly. I miss having Scott home. Boo hoo! Poor me. I think I'll go eat worms.

Sick as a dog

It started Wednesday night and I'm still under the weather (it's now Sunday morning). Let's just say I've had the intestinal flu and leave it at that. I was off two days from school and if I don't start feeling better within the next 8 hours it will be three days. As long as I'm horizontal I'm o.k. Thank goodness the kids are fairly self-sufficient at this point. The good news is I've had a lot of time to watch HGTV. The bad news is that now I want to do a total house and landscaping makeover.

In retrospect

In retrospect to my previous blog, I think my adrenaline got the best of me and I allowed it to overshadow a wonderful conference weekend. I loved being with my family and watching conference. I love to hear the words of hope and comfort and peace. It can make for a long weekend watching all sessions, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Watching the Colts with Blake is my tradition with him, while watching Saturday sessions of conference is my tradition with Ashley. The four of us tuning in together on Sunday is the best! What a blessing it is to have a living prophet in these perilous times.

Brackett is our hero!!

Blake and I are huge Colts fans and the game today was AMAZING!! After spending the day watching conference we had dinner and watched the game we had taped (thank goodness for DVR). It was looking pretty bleak, but then the AMAZING play by Brackett turned our frowns upside down. (My loud reaction is the reason Scott won't take me out in public to watch a game. ) What an amazing game. Down 27 to 10 in the last quarter and we win it in the last 3 minutes 31 to 27!! Brackett is definitely our hero. Of course Manning, Addai, Wayne, and Clark weren't shlumps either.

Night at the Ballet

The Fort Wayne Ballet provided tickets to the staff at our school for their Fall Showcase. I was able to get enough for the YW to attend. None of us had ever been to the ballet and it was a lot of fun! The dancers were wonderful and it was a great night, and a great experience for all.

A Camping We Will Go

Last night we had planned a YW campout for our girls at Chain-of-Lakes. Cars packed and ready to go we learned that one of our Priesthood leaders could not attend. So with a few frantic phone calls and noone to fill in we moved the venue to our backyard (4 priesthood holders in a 1 mile radius). It was a perfect autumn evening to sit around a nice campfire. We shared lots of laughter and s'mores. Kara was our main source of entertainment. She has very gullible leaders who fall prey to her balderdash about 99% of the time. She had Carlene believing that her family had a goat farm and it was goat meat in her tin-foil dinner. I think tomorrow we'll have "the little boy who cried wolf" for our YW lesson. Sleeping was not easy, but from the snores keeping me awake it sounded like some were able to sleep. While our plans may not have been what we envisioned, we still had a great time (with flushing toilets!). Who's up for canoeing?

Beauty and Brains

My Ashley is not only beautiful inside and out, but she's also got brains. Tonight was the induction ceremony to National Honor Society. Way to go Ashley!! We're so proud of you.

Happily Ever After

Mom and Dad were married 44 years ago today. They have always been an inspiration to me. They have such a great marriage. Dad is very romantic and mom laughs at his jokes...it's a match made in heaven! Cheers to mom and dad with wishes for a happy eternity.

Attack of the Appliances

Less than 2 months after having to buy a new washer & dryer (which I absolutely love), I had to go out and get a new dishwasher tonight. Now granted, my washer was 17 years old and my dishwasher is about 10 years old so I shouldn't complain too much. However, my refrigerator and oven are wheezing in the background. I feel like they all got together one night and decided to stage a rebellion.

New Calling

I was sustained today as the new ward YW president. I am pretty excited about it. I haven't served in YW for many, many years it will be great spending time with Ashley and the other young women. My mom was my YW pres. almost the whole time I was growing up. I hope Ashley enjoys it as much as I did.

Blake and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Our story starts on a Monday, of course, when Blake wakes up to a sore throat. He of course lobbies to stay home, but mom and dad (the ogres in this story) don't detect a fever and send him to school anyway. We should have let him stay home because he got a detention from Language Arts. Now for a lot of students this is a normal occurence, for Blake it's a first and hopefully last. His dirty deed? Not bringing his book to class. An hour of detention after school tomorrow. We won't go in to details but the villain in this story is now the teacher. Fast forward to his last class of the day. Our hero decides to show his friend how wonderful his flexible glasses are and...you guessed it, they snapped! So, poor, poor Blake has to go home and tell his parents that not only did he get a detention, but he willfully bent his glasses in half and broke them. Luckily Dad, the savage beast, was calmed before he arrived home and a lifetime sentence to the dungeon was averted. As of two seconds ago Dad has become the hero and was able to solder the glasses back together. Did you hear the shout of HURRAH!!?

2nd Grade is the Best!

Yesterday was my first day as second grade teacher and so far I love it! I have 19 adorable children in my class with 2 more coming in tomorrow. I get lots of hugs and love notes--I rarely got that from my 4th graders. Unfortunately, I was very sick last night due to the heat. I'm hoping for a cool-down very soon. Today they ordered my name plate for my classroom door. I'm official now.

Also, Bishop came to see Scott and I Sunday morning, always a nerve-wracking experience. So, new callings for both of us......

Off to school!

Tomorrow is my first official workday. It will be spent at the Coliseum with all FWCS teachers for a day-long inservice. After that our school is having a picnic for the families of our students. It's going to be a long day! Today was spent frantically trying to get my room ready for 18 second graders on Monday. So much to do, so little time. The best part of my day was going to the Teacher supply store--I love that place!! I'm doing a jungle theme, so all ideas are more than welcome. So far I've thought of "Wild about Reading". Somehow I'd like to hang something that looks like vines, maybe I'll check out the party supply store.

What A Race!

This is what the Olympics are all about! What a great race. Their expressions mirrored ours when we were watching. Unfortunately I had to go to workshops today and haven't been able to keep up-to-date. I'm preparing now to vegg in front of the tv so I can catch up. I hope your family is enjoying the games.

USA

I love the olympics, I love the opening ceremony, it is so impressive. I am so inspired by the stories of the athletes. I wish I could spend the next 17 days glued to the t.v. to watch every minute of it. Go USA!

Still Waiting

Still waiting on information so I know what I will be doing this next school year. Went over to the school today and they gave me a room number that I would probably be in. I checked it out and it's going to take a lot of work to get it all put together. I was really hoping to avoid this last minute stuff. HOPEFULLY, I will find out for sure tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath. There is no air conditioning at this school, which is kind of a bummer, it was very hot this afternoon. We're off now to buy school supplies for the kids.

Chicago Trip

The kids and I just returned from a quick trip to Chicago. Kind of a last hurrah before school starts. They each brought a friend which worked out great. We started with a visit to the waterpark in Merrillville and although it rained off and on throughout the day we still had a blast! I enjoyed tubing on the lazy river while the kids braved the wild rides. Once Blake's friend Taylor started turning blue from being cold we decided it was time to head to Chicago.

With Ashley navigating we arrived safely at our hotel. After checking in we proceeded to walk to Navy Pier which was a little farther than we thought, but we made it. The sights and sounds were fun, we especially enjoyed the view of the Chicago Skyline.

From here we took a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner.

Then we took another taxi to see the Blue Man group. Scott and I saw them when we went to Las Vegas this last spring and knew we had to take the kids. It was an awesome show! The kids loved it. If you haven't seen the show, it's hard to describe what it's like. It's wild, crazy, loud, and interactive with the audience. I was lucky enough to get this picture of Blake with one of the Blue Men.

We went back to the hotel and crashed, we were exhausted! Unfortunately Mother Nature didn't want us to sleep and unleashed an incredible lightning storm. The sound of thunder echoing off all the skyscrapers was weird. Luckily we didn't know until the next day that funnel clouds were spotted in downtown Chicago.

Bright and early we checked out and drove to the Shedd Aquarium. The beluga whales were amazing and the dolphin show was a lot of fun.

We then walked over to the Field Museum. So much to see. I loved the Egyptian exhibit. It's too bad my nephew AJ wasn't there, he would have loved the Dinosaur exhibit--he could probably be a tour guide with everything he knows about dinosaurs.

And finally we took a trolley to the Sears Tower, it was the last thing the kids wanted to definitely do before we headed home. I was a little apprehensive about being up so high, but once we got there it was great, no fear at all. It was an amazing view of Chicago, we were even above some of the clouds we were so high. I would definitely do it again.

It was a whirlwind of a trip, but so much fun.