Yesterday's picture....

I have been at the school I work at now (my only school) for 8 years now.  I really love working there and have made some really good friends in the process.  These 2 ladies that are in the picture with me are 2 of my very best friends that I work with.  I met them both the in the 1st 2 weeks- 8 years ago in August and we have been friends ever since.  Malisa, to my right, was the matron of honor in my wedding, and Jamie's family and mine hang out all the time (we have our 4th of July tradition, as well).  They are great friends and great girls and we all had babies around the same time 2 years ago.  Jake came 1st on August 1st, Theo was a little over 2 weeks later in late August and as you know, Gage was 3 months later in November.  Jake and Gage play together more often (he's been featured a few times) but Theo and Gage have only met once being that they live about an hour away.  This is the 1st time all 3 boys have been together and sadly, probably one of the last for a while.  I wanted to capture this picture, just in case.

Wordless Wednesday- The 6 of Us

Take 1:  Everyone's looking but Gage has his finger in his nose.
(Malisa and Theo, 22 months, Gage, 19 months, and I, Jamie and Jake, 22 months)

Take 2:  Much better of Gage but Jake's not looking

Thanks and Couch 2 5K Update

Thanks to all of you who have told me to get my tail off the computer and study.  I actually spent 2 hours last night with a practice test, so I felt ok about blogging today, although I haven't studied.  There are many things I need to blog about- our trip to the beach, our weekend and what's to come this summer, but for some reason I'm feeling stressed right now and can't wrap my head around blogging about these things.  I also have a WAY overdue blog post about Gage's dinosaur bathroom and his vocabulary.  Also, we had family pictures today- oh my, looks like I have posts for a good 2 weeks or so.  Anyway, I will leave you with this....

I completed Day 1 of Week 5 today without a hitch, I'm a little nervous about Day 2.  Supposed to rain the next few days, so shooting for Wed.

Have a great week!

What I should be doing...

We are back from the beach and had a wonderful time!  More on that later.  For now, I have about 8387 things that I should be doing, but one very important one.  Please, if you are a follower of this blog or even just come across it, I need a reminder from each and every one of you to STUDY.  See, currently I am a special education teacher who teaches math, but I am not 'certified' to teach math, other than in the 'special education' sense, meaning I can't have a class of my own of 30 general students.  In any case, that has been my goal for a few years and I am taking a test this summer (Praxis II) to fnish up my certification.  BUT, the test is in a month and I am not preparing for it like I should.  My plan was to study 2 hours a day for 6 weeks thinking I could get through all of the material I needed, but with the end of school, the beach trip, the Bachelorette, and the Couch 2 5K running program, this hasn't happened.  That's where I need you.....every time you read this blog, leave me a comment that I should be studying, maybe having my inbox inundated with emails will help.  Seriously, I gotta get a move on this thing.  Maybe I need a blinkie or some kind of gadget that reminds me every time I look at Blogger. Anyway, no more blogging for me until I have studied for 2 hours that day.....so, who knows when you'll see me next!  So much to do!  Have a nice weekend!

Couch 2 5K: Week 4...done

I cheated again, but again, I have a good excuse.  I have run the Week 4 routine 4 times, twice last week and twice this week AND I didn't walk at all when I was supposed to run AND I know Week 5 is going to kick my butt, so becuase I am comfortable with Week 4 after having done 2/3rds of it twice, I am moving on.  Good luck to me, I suppose.  I am pretty certain I'll have to repeat Week 5, with the 20 min. run...hah!  so might as well do that one 48485 times instead of Week 4 that I already know I can do.  Now, let's see if I'll make some time to run at the beach.

P.S.  I was going to run tonight, but the winds are 18mph and since I've done it 4 times.....well, I'm a cheater, what can I say?

Off to the Beach...

It's off to the beach for us in the morning.  It's Gage's time to spend time with the grandparents and my time to relax after a long school year.  If you don't hear from us before then, we'll see you Thursday!  Have a great week!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Gage's most favoritest Daddy ever!  Gage adores his Daddy and wants to be just like him when he grows up!  We love you and are lucky to have you!

May 2011

And it's here....

Summer Vacation, that is....oh how elated I am that another school year has come to a close and I get to spend 10 glorious weeks with Gage!  We don't have too much planned, but I'm sure it'll go much faster than I will like.  We do have gym classes and swim classes and 2 trips to the beach.  Hopefully we'll also catch some story times and some kids' concerts.  Who knows what we'll get into, but I'll keep you updated.

This week, it's a girls' night tomorrow (after Gage goes to bed), Father's Day on Sunday and the beach on Monday!

Why Why Why?

Why is it that every time I prepost something, it doesn't actually post but goes to draft form instead?  I used to be able to prepost with no problem.....grrrr....another Blogger glitch?

Wordless Wednesday- 1 year ago

Exactly one year ago today at 7 months.  I can't believe my baby is 19 mos. old

Couch 2 5K: Week 4.5

Yes, it's true, I have to do another week over, due to more heat advisories and thunderstorms.  However, the good news it that I have done 2 days of Week 4 and am trying for 3 days of Week 4 this up and coming week.  I was hoping to one day catch up with my virtual running buddy, but it looks like she remains a week ahead...rats!  I will say I have made it through both of the Week 4 days with no walking when I'm supposed to be running, so I'm proud of that!  I didn't think at first I could make it, but I did....yesterday, I ran/walked a total of 2.5 miles.  I'm not sure exactly how much of that was running, but I guess it gives me a good gauge for the future.  I am pretty sure I run as fast as a normal person could walk, however.  And tonight's run I think was pretty much identical to last night's- neither faster, nor slower. 

If you are thinking of doing this, again, I recommend a running podcast that tells you when to run/walk, I also recommend mapmyrun.com if you don't have some sort of GPS that'll tell you how far you've gone. It's really easy to use, you just have to remember your route and it'll at least give you a good idea of how far you've run.  So until next time....I will try to run Wed. or Thurs., I'm taking tomorrow off!

Happy Birthday Uncle B!

Us and Uncle B, Xmas 2010

Today I want to wish my brother, Brian a very Happy 36th Birthday!  Sucks not to ever get to spend it with him (he lives on the West Coast), but hopefully we'll see him later on this year.  Have a great one, Brian!

Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend my parents came to visit and to spend some time with Gage while Mommy and Daddy had some alone time together. The original plan was to go to the Kenny Chesney/Zac Brown Band concert at FedEx, but Mommy is cheap and kept slacking on buying tickets, until it was too late. In any case, Luke and I found other things to do while Gage got to spend some QT with Nana and Granddiddy.

Friday night they arrived before Gage went to bed and he screamed 'Nana' when he saw my Mom. Oh, the blessings of Skype! I love that he can see her and talk to her, even between visits. Anyway, Friday we just played a bit before bed and Luke and I visited with my parents after Gage went to sleep. On Saturday morning, Luke and I went to look at cars. We're thinking of getting a new car this summer, both of our cars are getting older and they are both paid off, so we're looking to upgrade. Don't get me wrong, I have NO desire to make a car payment again, but if we ever have any more children we're going to need a bigger car. We had 4 in mind.

Kia Sorento

Ford Flex

Honda Pilot

  

Toyota Highlander

We only got to test drive 3 out of the 4 and I could go into a whole other post about our choices/decisions, but this is more about getting the opportunity to spend some time childless.  Anyway, it was pretty fun to go car shopping again and I'm sure we'll end up buying something within the next few months.

 

The more exciting part of the weekend came later that evening.  Back in March, during March Madness, Luke and I didn't enter any pools, but we still wanted to fill out a bracket, so we decided to bet each other. Needless to say, I won!  hah...I always win!  Anyway, Luke owed me dinner at The Melting Pot, although I had no idea when I was actually going to be able to cash it in....Enter:  grandparents! 

OMG!  It was fabulous!  I had only been there twice before, since you know it's not just an every day restaurant, but I forgot how yummy it was!  It really was nice to get to go out to dinner w/ just Luke and not worry about what Gage was going to eat and whether or not we could entertain him while we ate, etc.  So a big thank you goes out to the grandparents for giving us this chance.  And if you've never checked out The Melting Pot, you MUST, but again, for a special occasion.  They actually have a Ladies Night, a Military  Appreciation Night and they had a Teacher Appreciation Night for pretty good prices.

After dinner, Luke and I got to see a movie too! What a treat!  How often does that happen?  We went to see Bridesmaids....and it was hysterical.  Definitely a must see if you can.  I think Luke laughed way more than me!  Anyway, overall it was awesome to get to go out to a dinner and a movie and test drive some cars every now and then!  I just got around to posting this now.....the last weeks of school are always crazy and I've been way tired.  Graduation was tonight and I was at school from 645am- 745pm and I'm worn out!  Only 5 more days before I get to spend the summer with my little man! 

 

Wordless Wednesday- Sleep

This is what time I got up Tuesday morning, thanks to a teething child and one who is smart enough to know that if he screams long enough, Mommy and Daddy can't ignore him....I need sleep and sleep needs me.

Couch 2 5K: Week 3

Success!  I finished Week 3 w/o a hitch.  Given I did all 3 days in a row- it was when I had time, still, I finished them and I felt pretty good.  I'm not gonna lie that 3 mins. at 1st was hard (how pitiful is that), but I do feel like by today's last interval it didn't seem so long.  We shall see how this next week w/ 5 min. intervals goes.  Until then....I will update soon on our wonderful weekend w/ the grandparents and my countdown to Summer!

Finally...beach pictures!

Here are pictures from our weekend in the OBX a few weeks back.  We beat the Memorial Day traffic and ended up with gorgeous weather.  One of my very best friend's from high school and his family came down to visit and Gage and Caleigh had the best time playing!  Then our computer died and I couldn't post so here we are now, a few weeks later with pictures...  WARNING:  This is picture overload!

Gage (18 months) and Caleigh (2.5)

Momma's little surfer boy

Caleigh and Gage digging for sand crabs

Gage and Daddy

Gage holding his first sand crab

Grrr...why are these pics so blurry??

Happy Birthday Bennett!

I feel like I haven't celebrated any birthdays lately, so today I'd like to wish my good friend, Bonnie's little man a very HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!  Happy Birthday Bennett!  I hope you have a great one!  I'm sad to say I haven't seen Bennett, or Bonnie, for that matter in quite a while, but nevertheless I hope it's a memorable day and I hope to see them soon!