Yes... I'm giving into to marketing...

Or so it seems as I've already changed my blog to a Christmas theme. :) It seems to get earlier and earlier every year that we start seeing Christmas items going up in the stores... I can usually avoid those temptations as I rarely shop (Brian's lucky in that respect). But ALREADY, the Christmas commercials are on tv, and since we DO watch tv at our house, we can't escape!!!

We're gearing up for Thanksgiving with a long 5 days weekend and already have Christmas on the brain. I'm having the kids circle things they want in catalogs to get ideas, but I've already got some ideas. Marley is desperately wanting a new bed (as she rolls around so much that the toddler bed is not cutting it)! So she may get an early gift. Not sure about Jaxon yet... and since he can (and often does) read over my shoulder I couldn't write about it anyway. :)

We are FINALLY getting a family portrait taken as well, so I know our moms will be very happy with that! :) Anyway, it's a cool, rainy day and we're just hanging around the house- I'm on here updating stuff, Brian is watching football next to me, Marley is napping and Jaxon wants me to come play a game with him so I'd better run. I'll post again soon!

So I'm bad at updating my blog apparently...

I've been busy and feeling kind of crummy overall lately so I've not been updating or scrapping or doing much of anything I guess! You know when you get so busy that when you have some downtime, you just want to hang out with your family and veg? I'm there!

Jaxon and Marley both had their first field trips this week and they had a great time. Jaxon went to the Austin Children's Museum and Marley's class teamed up with mine to go to the DinoLand exhibit at Zilker Botanical Gardens. They both had fun and at long last, got to ride the school bus which they were very excited about.

I hope to be back to update soon!

Halloween, tee ball and... oh yeah... DSD!

I guess it's been busy around here because I've not posted in a month and a half! Here's a quick review: PEAR is going great- we're having fun and the kids are making tremendous progress. Jaxon is enjoying school and got the "Spotlight Stallion" last week (school recognizes one child in each class for doing a great job, showing school expectations, etc.) Marley is having a blast in her class too and is now trying to sign as she speaks. Unfortunately she talks as much, as well, and as fast as mom so the signing will take some time to catch up! :) Brian and I went to a party for Lindsay's birthday and had a good time, we've been enjoying attending all of the UT home games, and the kids enjoyed going to a "pumpkin patch" at Red Barn Gardens.

Now for the end of this month:
First we had Halloween- Jaxon was Peter Pan (which he picked because Marley was going to be Tinkerbell) but oddly it didn't come with a hat so I was stitching one the night before- the green felt doesn't match his outfit, but it had a red feather so it was ok with Jaxon. Marley ended up with 3 costumes: Tink, Sleeping Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland. She decided on the latter and if I do say so, she IS Alice and was adorable. We met up with our new neighbor and a few more neighbors down the street for trick or treating and had a blast. We went around for almost an hour, so there are lots of treats to be had at our house!

The next morning was Jaxon's semi-final tee ball tournament. 9am the morning after Halloween- talk about rough. Our team played pretty well, but lost. Of course, had they played fair it may have been different. Hang in there while I step onto my soapbox for a moment... the other team has to rotate players, but they just barely squeaked by that rule by rotating their best 3 players between pitcher, first and home. Those kids could catch hits, throw like big kids, etc. I KNOW that when they get older, you play the position you are best at, but 4 and 5 year olds? How will the other kids learn if they aren't allowed to play all of the different positions? I'd rather lose and have my kid learn all the positions... and as it turns out that is what happened. I think we ended up 3rd in the league, but Jaxon had fun and really is learning the game, so we're very happy. They got a trophy, which is his first one, and he's so proud! :) Ok, off the soapbox...

We had planned on meeting my parents out at Sweetberry Farms in Marble Falls, but when I came home from the game, I had a TERRIBLE headache and felt kind of sick, so we're going to reschedule. Anyway, I came home and turned on the computer to check e-mail and realized it was DSD (Digital Scrapbooking Day)! I knew it was coming, but I guess with everything else going I'd forgotten about it. I rarely shop anymore (for anything really), but couldn't pass up some of the deals going on... so be on the lookout for more layouts coming soon. :)

Marley began asking to watch Santa movies this morning (even though he terrifies her) so I think we'll be more than ready for Christmas this year. :) I'll try to be better about posting updates too!

Busy, busy...

I've been VERY busy so here's a quick recap of the month... more will come later! We're three weeks into school and we're loving our new PEAR program. It has been everything I hoped it would be. I had more families attend open house for the new program than ever before- it is so exciting to have such supportive families.

Jaxon and Marley are both enjoying school, though Jaxon is disappointed about the new playground. Apparently, it isn't as fun as his old one because it doesn't have a curly slide or balance beam. :) They both really like their teachers and are doing well.

Brian and I have season tickets for University of Texas football and we're thrilled to find out we have GREAT seats. Talk about a nice surprise! Of course, this weekend's game vs. Arkansas has been rescheduled for the 27th thanks to hurricane Ike.

Jaxon started t-ball this week. We had one practice this week- and amazingly all of the kids were having fun and learning for the whole practice. It lasted from 5:30 to 7:00, so I expected him to wear out and get whiny, but he loved every minute. Of course, chances are good that Saturday's game is going to get rained out, but if not, be on the lookout for our first game update. :)

I'll also be updating my blog with a new look (you may have already seen an update on my scrap blog). Got to run, but I'll be back soon!

Back to school!

For me at least! I started back to school for staff development this week and I've got to say, things are looking good. Usually staff development is a bit of a drag, but it's been good. Everyone I've met is excited to be opening up the new school and all have been very friendly. We're coming together from about 6 different campuses so there are lots of new faces, but we're all getting to know each other. Last night was the ribbon cutting ceremony for my school and it was a really cool experience too.

I'm excited to get started! But I do have "a problem"... I have SO MUCH room that I almost can't believe it! I have laid out my room and moved furniture back and forth AT LEAST 8 times by now. I think I FINALLY have it the way I want it now, but it was tough to figure it out. I still have lots to move in, planning to do, curtains to find, make, or find someone to make... but we're getting there!

Marley is going to have so much fun in her new class. She already talks about her "friends" and her teacher ("My teacher is Ms.____ and she likes me!") I really like the kindergarten team and I'm sure Jaxon will do great with any one of them. He's excited too, but I think at first it may be tough as he's used to being with me. It will be very good for him though and I know after a day or two, he'll LOVE kindergarten too.

More updates to come (especially now that I know a few of y'all actually read this thing)! :)

Summer keeps on flying by...

We've been so busy that the summer seems to be flying by. Jaxon is loving swim lessons and doing quite well. Marley is enjoying the kinder-dance camp we have her in and it makes me even more excited for her to start school- she's so ready to be part of a group.

I have lots of exciting changes coming up this school year and I'm actually ready to be back to work. I'm moving from PPCD at my school to a brand new elementary school to pilot a new cluster class called PEAR (Preschool Expressive and Receptive) Language. It will be an intensive program for language-delayed 3 to 5 year olds within the PPCD continuum of services. I am very excited, but of course, I'm also very sad to leave my old school and class too.

I'm used to dealing with students with varying disabilities- delays in language, social skills, self-help, fine and gross motor skills- and having to fit them all into the day. So now my focus will be primarily intense work on language skills. There is only one piece of "bad news"... and actually I'm not sure it's bad, I'm just selfish. Jaxon had been a peer model in my class for the past 2 years, which was great because he was in class learning, but still with me everyday. I was looking forward to seeing Marley at school too. But now, she'll be in the PPCD class as a model instead of mine. I think she'll do better in someone else's class, and she can still come for a 2 hour block into my room, I guess I'm just selfish! I'll miss seeing her with the other kiddos! Anyway, I need to be cleaning, so I'd better run. I'll try to update again soon. :) S

A little peek at our trip...

Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Back from a FABULOUS vacation...

We drove 11 hours (my kids first long road trip) to Ruidoso, New Mexico late last week and met my parents and my mother-in-law at a big cabin in the mountains for 7 days (it was supposed to be 10 days but we came home a bit early to recover). So it doesn't sounds like TONS of fun from that first line, but it was great!

The scenery was unreal and we had a gorgeous view of the mountains from the deck. It was dry (unlike the humid conditions I live in) and only got into the upper 80s (where it was record breaking heat for weeks at home). We went shopping, sightseeing, hung out in the hot tub, took the kids to the Smokey Bear Museum and FunTrackers (race cars, bumper boats, etc.), went golfing, gambled at Inn of the Mountain Gods, hiked (but only around the cabin as Lincoln National Forest was closed to due extreme fire risk) and just enjoyed some much needed R&R. I've got literally hundreds of photos to scrap from the vacation so be on the lookout! I'm still working off the rigged-to-work laptop, so all of those photos I mentioned are on my son's laptop. I'll get it from him while he sleeps! :)

I have joined a new CT, but since its not been posted yet, I can't say who yet! :) More to come...

Jaxon starts swim tomorrow and tennis soon- and Marley will take her first class ever: Kindertots dance! Expect LOTS of pics from that! :) S

We're having fun already and a week of "firsts"

We have had a good time this summer and its just started. We have been playing in the yard with the sprinklers for a couple of days which is about all you can do in the Texas heat. It's been a record month for high temps here so water-related activities are good!
Brian and I wanted to take Jaxon to see Kung Fu Panda, but when we started talking about it, Marley kept piping up "I want to go too with my Jaxon!" So even though she's a bit young, we decided to take her along to her first movie. Jaxon was COMPLETED engrossed in the movie and devoured an entire bag of popcorn single-handedly! He later said "That was AWESOME!" Marley was... well... at her first movie. She attempted to sit in the seat but then when it started to pop up a bit, she said "Ahh! It's going to rock me!" like a rocking chair I guess, and that was the end of sitting in her own seat. She went from Daddy's lap to my lap and back again probably 20 times. She kept asking "What his name?" not referring to the movie but to the man in front of us. She was much more interested in the theater experience than the movie, but that's to be expected.

Today we went to get Marley's first haircut. Jaxon always had such a hard time with them and since she's a girl, I'm growing her hair out anyway, but it was WAY overdue. She did great and they both look cute! Check it out below.

Make a Smilebox photobook

4 more days of school!

So, maybe I did fall of the face of the Earth, but I've been busy! The last month of school is ALWAYS hectic and this year is no exception. I'm up to my ears in paperwork and have even brought some home in the hopes of getting it all done without having to work after school is out. I really need to get my room in order so I plan on weeding through things as well if I have the time. If you're not a teacher, you may not know that in addition to all of our other end of the year stuff, we have to completely take down the room. Nothing is left out unless its boxed up or shut away the cabinets so it takes some time.

We are getting ready for "potty training" boot camp style around here. We have 2 weeks after school is out before we leave for Ruidoso, and I'm hoping to get her trained by then. She's an all or nothing kind of girl apparently, so I'm going to have to go cold turkey on diapers and go straight into undies to get her trained. She'll tell me as she's going, instead of beforehand, and is definitely ready, just stubborn (I blame daddy for that trait! Ha ha)! She's already learning how to push her brother's buttons, but for the most part, she follows him around like a puppy dog. Anytime she gets something, she says "And one for my Jaxon..." or if we go somewhere, "Jaxon is coming too..." She just adores him.

My laptop had an accident and the screen cracked inside. :( Another reason I've been away. I tried using Jaxon's laptop, but it's slow and frankly, he wants to use it! I figured out how to hook up my old flat panel monitor to the laptop and that's what I'm using now. It's not pretty, but it works.

Jaxon is still blowing us away with his reading and I can't even rate what level he's on now because my materials don't go past second gade. He's a smart one (and I'm not just saying that because I'm mom). He is still big into his games, but not to the point of obsession like he was before (mainly because we don't let him). One day, he was playing one of his favorite PS games "The Incredibles 2: Rise of the Underminer" and I walk in to the credits rolling. I ask what happened and he says "I finished it." I thought maybe he he exited the game on accident and pull up the menu to find he had completed the game. He says "Mom, I already told you I finished it." Well of course you did. That's 3 games now that he's completed- he is quite the gamer. We are working on sports in the hopes of improving his muscle tone as he's a skinny string bean right now and he can't wait to get started!

Well, I need to get around- I'll post again soon (and hopefully it won't be a month away)!

I did not fall off the face of the earth...

It just looks that way on the blog! :) So here's the month in review.
My surgery went well. I'm 15 days post-op and other than a little soreness, I'm fine. I feel much better than I expected I would. Brian was wonderful and took over for me completely so I could recover. He laughs and says "What did you expect me to do?" But really... taking over in every aspect of the child-rearing and running the house takes work! I only missed 3 days of work, but even after I went back, Brian took care of business around here. He is simply wonderful.
I had my birthday this month. The big 3-0. We kept it simple, just dinner and a movie, so I wouldn't go into shock or have a midlife crisis. Ha ha! Jaxon assured me that "30 is a lot" but that I'm "not old". :) I still don't feel like a grown up, let alone like a mom in my 30's (sheesh)! Ok... I need to stop now before I DO start to feel old.
We have had tons of birthday parties for Jaxon's friends (who are also students in my class) and the kids have had fun. Jaxon has started to think about his birthday since he'll "finally be 5". Last year, we went to a big place full of bounce houses and obstacle courses, but not sure what he'll want this time.
Summer is quickly approaching and I'm excited. Jaxon is going to be in tennis, swim and maybe flag football, but we'll have to wait until fall for t-ball. We are also going to Ruidoso, New Mexico with the family for a week and can't wait. The cabin we're staying in is gorgeous- I think cabin and think a little place, but it's huge. It's nearby the casino, horseback riding, hiking and the lake. I can't wait for that trip... of course, it'll be the kids first LONG road trip so it may be an adventure! I guess I'll dust off the DVD player in the roof of my van for this trip.
Well, it's already late and I need to head to bed, but more to come soon! :) S

Spring Carnival (as retold w/ Smilebox)

If you've not discovered smilebox yet, check it out! I am a self-admitted digital scrapbooking junkie and love to make layouts, but this is SO easy- just drag and drop- so even those of you who do not share my passion, can share your pictures in layouts. Be sure to click the "zoom in" to read the journaling and "zoom out" to turn the page. This is one of the Spring Carnival... enjoy!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

World Autism Awareness Day

Please spread the word! As many of you know, most of my students have autism, and it is rising at near epidemic rates, yet there are still many who know very little about it. Check out available resources, research and community support at Autism Speaks.

The busiest month is almost here

...which is both exciting AND stressful! Let's see... I'm getting blond highlights back (the old reliable) so my mom will be very happy. My sister and I were referred to as "Brownie" and "Blondie" respectively as children and apparently we need to remain that way. ;)

I have tons of meetings coming up too for my kiddos headed to kindergarten and end of the year stuff. I am also presenting a few trainings for staff and parents with my teammates which is giving me gray hair (now you see that my reason for the blond highlighting is NOT to make mom happy)!

Next week I have surgery which I'm only moderately nervous about, but I'll be sore and out of whack for a bit, and that has me more worried than the process itself. It's tough to tell the kiddos to go easy on mama or the teacher for that matter- I think my title should include "child wrangler" and "human jungle gym"! That week is also when Jaxon has kindergarten round-up and kinder buddy day which I'm excited about. I can't wait to see what he thinks about the whole thing.

The last but not least of the stresses... I turn 30 this month. Yes folks, it's all downhill from here. ;) I wasn't all that concerned about it until my friends kept reminding me about it... and now I'm thinking I'll make 30 fun. Maybe it'll be my year to lose those last 10 pounds I want to rid myself of, and get more organized, and I WILL do more for myself this year. So, if I'm not around much this month, you'll know why. Anyway, keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. I guess I should finish up my taxes... :)

Happy Easter!

Well this month has just flown by. Do I write that every month? It sure feels like it! :) We had our neighborhood Easter egg hunt today and will have everyone over to our house tomorrow as well. With Easter coming early this year, it snuck up on me so I've got eggs to color with the kids, laundry to do, need to get ALL of these toys put away, and make some pecan pie. Thankfully our moms are bringing almost all of the food so at least I don't have a lot of cooking to do.

And the next day is the 24th- our anniversary. We've been married for 7 years. It seems silly now, but when we were in college, I had it in my mind that I was not going to get married before I graduated. So we lived together instead all through college... don't ask why I was ok with that but not getting married, because it was basically just a test drive for marriage, but oh well! All in all, its been 11 years.

Wow do I feel old now! The big 30 hits next month, so I guess THAT is when I'll officially be "old". Argh... I STILL don't feel like a grown-up!

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great Easter and enjoys time with their families.

A new look

As most of you know, I'm a bit of a scrap addict (but at least it's all digital and I'm not freebasing on paper scraps! Ha ha!) I'm always coming up with stuff on my other blog and liked it's new look so much, that I made this blog to match. I just don't like the choices blogger gives you and would rather make my own. :) Anyway, it took longer than I remembered to fiddle with all of the html code (yes, I'm a geek)... so it'll probably stay this way for awhile, so I hope you like it!

Get ready for Spring Break!

This month has flown by! I swear I feel like I say that all of the time, but with 2 little ones it really does fly. We've been busy getting ready for spring, but Texas weather proves to be tricky this year. It's warm and gorgeous one day, and then some cold front blows in and puts us in the 40s again. We just planted our beds out front, and thankfully we got it done on a nice day, because today we had rain ALL day and it's 36!!! Can you believe it's that cold in March?
Brian started a new corporate sales account manager position and seems to be enjoying it. He was ready for a change, but not really ready to leave Dell, so I'm glad this has worked out for him. My work is about to come to a screeching halt as Spring Break starts after school tomorrow. WOO HOO!!! :) I have no plans other than hanging out with the kids and having a fun and restful break.
I also have lots of CT stuff and ADSR layouts to work on so check out my other blog for pics soon!

Ladies and Gents, we have a Wii!

Jaxon has seen the Wiis before, but after watching Luke play yesterday, he was really wanting one. I know they were near impossible to get around Christmas, but its mid-February so I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find. So we went out this morning and no one had it, no one knew when they would have it, no luck at all. This was bad news since Grandma B. had graciously offered to buy it for us (a few hundred bucks is nothing to shrug at, you know). Then Brian called his mom, Grandma Schock, and asked her to look around on her side of town. After a few phone calls, 2 or 3 stores and someone double-checking in the back, they were able to find it. They picked it up for us and then Brian met his dad at Golf Galaxy to shop and pick up the wii.
So I set it up (you know I'm the techie nerd around here so I get to hook up everything). Jaxon started playing Wii Sports Boxing and LOVED it! I've got some great pics to share that'll be coming soon. Then Brian tried it out and he liked it too (he wasn't sure he'd like the wii, but I think he's already found how fun it is). So we've been playing Boxing, bowling and now golf for a couple of hours already! :) This is really good news since the PSP had to be sent off for warranty service. I see a new addiction in Jaxon's future and maybe Brian's too!

February Update

Well we've all had "the crud" at my house. Coughing, congestion, overall yucky stuff, but not sick enough to really warrant a trip to the doctor. The weather was starting to get nice again, so I was hoping that may help us get over this junk, but now a cold front has come in and it's getting down into the 30s at night. :( Hopefully we'll all be 100% again soon!

Valentine's Day was fun. Jaxon loved signing his name on all of his valentines. Marley just happily carried around the extra "Balentimes". I got Marley a princess puzzle and lollipops (she's got a sweet tooth like mama) and Jaxon a snake (one of those cool sand filled ones, not a real one) and books. I've not really screened him, but he is reading on at least a second grade level, so of course the books I got he read immediately. I'm thinking about beginning to read more complex books to him aloud to continue to challenge him... I don't want him getting bored in kindergarten next year.

Anyway, Brian and I were not going to "do" Valentine's Day. I really see no point in going to dinner and having to wait for 2 hours (WITH a reservation) to eat. And good luck finding a sitter, right? So Brian comes home from work with a new Sony Cybershot H3! That's great... our camera died and we needed a new one, I was eyeballing DSLR-like cameras... but it made me feel TERRIBLE. I didn't even have a card for him. He says he doesn't care, it's my day, etc. but I feel awful. So I called my mom and she's available to watch the kids next weekend for us so we can go run around and do whatever we'd like for the weekend... I guess a late gift is better than none.

If you follow my digital scrapbooking stuff, you know I'm counting down until ADSR3 starts and with the new camera, we're back in business with NEW pics to scrap! :)

Back just in time for the Superbowl...

Well, most importantly, we are back from Kansas and Grandma's service was lovely. We got to spend a lot of time with Brian's aunts, uncles and cousins which was really nice as well. She was such a wonderful lady and it was great to think back on her life. We flew in during a snowstorm (they got 5 inches that day) and I was in shock. We don't "do" snow in Texas, and on the off chance it does snow, it lasts a day at best. It was 15 degrees when we flew in...eeek! Anyway, luckily it warmed up some ("warmed up" for Kansas is in the 40s by the way)! So we're glad to be back in Texas! :)

We made it home just in time to watch the Superbowl (thanks to TIVO we could rewind the first 5 minutes we missed and catch up during commercials) and the GIANTS won!!!! Since our teams didn't make it, Brian and I were both REALLY rooting for the Giants, but didn't think they'd be able to win. As the game went on and they kept sacking Brady and doing well on offense, we thought "Well this may be a game"... but holy moly they WON!

Well, I'm off to update my scrap blog then hitting the sack as I've got lots of sleep to catch up on. Talk to everyone soon!