Figure this Out!

I order pictures online quite regularly from two different sites. I had started to notice that one site is faster than the other, so this last time I ordered from both sites on the same day. They both shipped the same day.

One site ships from HONG KONG...the other MARYLAND. Guess which one arrived yesterday.

Yes, the one from Hong Kong. The one from Maryland came today!

Is that crazy or what?

Gettin' Sentimental On You...

I get asked this question a lot: "Do you miss teaching?" My best answer is NNNNOOOOO! I LOVE with a capital L what I get to do now more than anything I could have ever imagined! When I taught, I would dread Monday mornings starting on Saturday. Now, I look forward to each day and have not dreaded one in forever!

So, the other day I was at Kroger, and I bought one of those reduced bags of bananas for 99 cents. Once again, I thought I'd make some banana bread. I started looking for a recipe and found one. Then a friend e-mailed me and wanted a recipe I'd made for her when she had her baby. (I promise this is going somewhere:) So, while I had my recipe book out, I looked through it to see if I happened to have a recipe for banana bread. I didn't find one, but I came upon a recipe for Banana Muffins given to me by Kyle's Mom, 2000-2001.

I was instantly taken back to the year 2000, and Kyle bringing me a Banana Muffins in the morning...still warm from the oven. (It was my first year teaching, and my Kindergarten class was challenging to say the least. Let's just say that in my 6 years of teaching Kindergarten, I NEVER had a class quite like this one. I'm so beyond thankful that they were my first class. They broke me in good to say the least).

Kyle was the most spirited, SMART, energetic little boy I've ever met. He was a little bitty thing with the fire of a dragon. I have to admit that he was a challenge for me...along with the other 20 kiddos that made up that class. I loved him though and would have taken him home with me in a second...you know those kind of kids.

The thing that was so wonderful about Kyle (besides all the things I've already listed) was that his Mom knew him so well. When you called about something that had happened, she didn't get defensive or mad, she handled it because she knew her child SO well that she could see it! She was his biggest fan and advocate!

Looking back, I think about how she could have just run over me. She could have made a first year teacher's life miserable. She didn't...we worked together, we worked for Kyle. Hey, she would send me warm Banana Muffins in the morning if that tells you anything! I went on to have two of their daughters, too. They're the only family that I had three kids from, and I only thought I'd learned a lot from Kyle. Having 3 siblings in 3 different classes teaches you a lot about siblings. They all came from the same parents, but were soooo totally different. Their personalities, gifts, features were all so different. It's just amazing!

So, I guess deep inside I do miss teaching a little. I miss the Kyle's of the Kindergarten world and their parents. I always had the best parents to work with...not very typical. I learned so much about kids and being a parent that I'm very thankful that I got to teach.

Being a mom is hard, but so rewarding. It is hands down the most challenging job ever, but it is also hands down the best one! From now on, I'm not going to scream "NOOOO" when someone asks me if I miss teaching. I may say, "Just a little!" My job now though is to be Paul David's biggest fan and best advocate...and the new baby's.

Oh, and to make more Banana Muffins...they are YUMMY!

Haircut!

I've sat down twice today to blog, and both times couldn't remember what I was going to blog about! How sad is that???

I finally remembered...Paul David's haircut on Saturday!

So Paul and Paul David both needed haircuts, so we all went on Saturday. It was so crowded. I'll probably go during the week from now on!

Here's the before picture:

During...he'll sit on the board on the chair all by himself...such a big boy:

After:

She cut off a little more than I anticipated, and I was worried about the curls a little. Well, today the humidity has been about 80% and No worries, the curls are back!

Oh, and bravo to those that took the Photo Folder Challenge:
Jessica
Theresa
Sasha

Challenge

I was tagged by my friend, Piper, to do this Photo Folder Challenge...go to your fourth folder and post the fourth picture and tell about it!
This is Paul David (duh!) playing in the hot tub on April 19, 2009. It was still too chilly to get in the pool, but the hot tub on low was a great place to practice swimming for a toddler! Ooh, makes me ready for pool weather!

So, I'm supposed to tag others to play along, but I don't want to leave anyone out! Therefore, I'm tagging everyone who reads this that has a blog to play along! It was easy and fun...and makes for a good "down-memory-lane" post on an otherwise boring Monday!

P.S. I wish the 4th picture had been this one:
It's so much cuter, but at least you know now that I didn't cheat!

Fun at the Park!

The weather here was GORGEOUS! I think it was the prettiest day so far this year! We went over to our friends Mia and William's house, then walked to the park for lunch and play.

He will stand on one of these, but going up the steps to slide down scare him...what's up???

William sliding with his Mama!

Paul David in the tunnel!

William drumming in the tunnel!

Somebody was ready for a nap! Isn't that the cutest big bear?

We had such a great time just being outside! I just saw on Channel 11 News that today was a 9 if rated 1-10. Tomorrow's going to be a 6...aww man!

I've Made a Decision...

If I have a girl, I HAVE to have these for her:

Oh, my stars, I have always thought these are just the cutest little things. Then I saw a picture of a little girl baby on another blog in them, and I just swooned!

Rockets Game

Paul and I had the BEST time at the Rocket's game last night. I picked Paul up from work, and we headed over to park with our parking pass...oh, yeah! When we parked, we could see the entrance to Toyota Center...oh, yeah! So that's where all those women park that come to games with super high heels on...I've always wondered why they would wear those things if they just had walk as far as I just did. Now, I know that they probably had these fantastic parking passes. Oh, wow, how did get off on that!

So we go to our seats, which were on Row B on the FLOOR! Holy Toledo! The only way to get better seats than what we had would have been to be on the front row!

During the warm up:

Luis Scola...Amanda and I decided
that we wanted to give this guy a pony tail holder in the worst way:

Yao...you would not believe the fan following from China this guy has:

Paul got to toss a warm up ball back to Yao!
Check out how huge he is compared to this relatively tall guy:

This is Brent Barry...he asked us what kind of camera we had:

GAME ON:

This the mascot Clutch who was sitting on this guy. (Only people from Houston will get this) Clutch went and started getting the metal poles from one of the curtain dividers and bringing it to him. He ended up with two or three, and then I saw him give Clutch some money...a $2.00 bill. Odd??? Later on, Scott, Amanda, and Paul figured out that he was the C & D Scrap Metal Guy...duh, the $2.00 bill should have been the first clue!

The Rockets stomped the Nets 114-88!

A Huge thanks to Scott and Amanda for thinking of us and letting us use these AMAZING seats!

********Lots of Reading to follow that really has nothing to do with our fun, just our camera experience last night**********

So, we were pumped about being so close to the action and taking some pictures. Before I left, I reread the Toyota Center camera policy. This is copy and pasted from their site:

Cameras, Video Cameras, Audio Recorders
Professional cameras are prohibited at all events in Toyota Center unless accompanied by an appropriate media credential. Cameras containing lenses ( not to exceed 4 inches in length ) with no flashes may be allowed for some events. Video cameras and audio recorders are prohibited in Toyota Center unless specifically approved. Please check in advance by calling 713-758-7200.

So, our camera is not a professional camera, and I measured the lens...it was exactly 4 inches. I took the smaller one, too, just to be on the safe side. We decided to leave the little one in the car, and if they didn't let us in with the other, then we would just go back to the car and switch them out.

We go through the bag check line, the lady measures the lens, and says, "You just made it!" Yay!
We were happily taking pictures when the usher approached me after the first period, and says that she thinks our camera may be the one they're talking about...huh??? So, then some Toyota Center guy comes over and tells us the lens is too long. We said, no it's 4 inches, the girl measured it when we came in. He asks if it gets longer. Well, yes it does. Then we're going to have to check it...we say, we had it checked at the door. This goes on a couple of minutes because he means check it at guest services, we mean check it like get it checked. Finally, he says, or you can put it away. We just do that with the promise from the usher that we can get a picture of the two of us later if we don't extend the lens out. It was disappointing to say the least. If we'd known that when we first got it checked, we could have gone to the car and switched them out.

Now, I ask you, does that statement above on the Toyota Center's website lead you to believe that the 4 inches is extended? That's not at all what we got out of it, but maybe we're missing something. It was just upsetting to me because I felt fussed at, and I don't like feeling fussed at. (I do like fussing, though...ODD) Besides, really, for the amount of money someone paid for us to sit in those seats, you'd think they'd let us do anything we wanted down there! Oh, well, lesson learned.

Ponytail, Where Are You???

I have a little rant to get out of my system.

On December 3rd, 2008, I went to get my hair cut. I told the girl the same thing I always tell them when they ask how I want it..."As short as you can get it, but long enough that it will still go in a PONYTAIL!" Oh, no problem. I think I may have even asked for LONG layers.

She starts cutting, and I don't know what happened! It would NOT go into a ponytail to save my life though! UGH! It was okay, though because it was winter and not really ponytail weather.

So this morning, I decide it's ponytail time again for me (my hair looked really bad). IT STILL WILL NOT GO INTO A PONYTAIL AND STAY! It's been 2 1/2 months...plus I take prenatals that make things grow faster. What's up????? It's getting to be a little frustrating!

With all that being said, I have loved my haircut. I just need it to go in a ponytail...soon!

No pictures today, but I will have some for tomorrow! Paul and I are headed to the Rockets game thanks to some friends, and we have AMAZING seats! I'm so excited, not because it's basketball or the Rockets, but because the seats promise to be AMAZING! I hope my pictures prove the AMAZEMENT!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Children's Museum

Today was our playdate Friday with my friend, Amanda and her boys. We planned to meet at The Children's Museum for some fun! Unfortunately, Amanda had to back out, but Paul David and I went anyway! The two of us had a great time. The Tot-Spot is being redesigned, so it was closed, but the rest of the museum was awesome. I know most of it went way over his head (and mine, too, sometimes), but he still had fun playing!

Right in the entrance, there was a train with the wheels and a brake to play with. Yes, we spent the first 20 minutes playing in the entrance:)

We finally moved on and found some cars on an air hockey table. We had fun pushing them and banging them into each other.

I thought this was so cool. They had air coming up through the cones, so the balls would float in the air. It annoyed Paul David because he just wanted the balls.

Hey, there's two Paul David's...wouldn't that be fun?

He LOVED this one. You put the golf ball at the top and it rolled down, then jumped like on a ski slope.

Outside, they had some cool water stuff going on.

OK, I could have looked at this thing for hours. It's made out of telephones. So cool. Of course, I barely got this picture because I was chasing after a 2 year old. He wasn't as interested in looking at the Phone Robot as I was! If you click on it, you may be able to get it bigger to really see what I'm talking about!

Back to the train:

Giving the train a hug:

Back to the Golf Ball area. Most of the stuff in this room used golf balls.

They had the spiral thing that you put a golf ball at the top and it went round and round to the bottom. Well, I put 4 of them on at a time, and Paul David thought it was great:

Aww, me and my little man:

We had the best time, but we really missed our friends:( We're hoping we can go back before they stop running their special (those of you in the area---until the end of February, it's only $3 per person). I'm kind of toying with the idea of getting a membership (starting March 14th, it's $7 a person...and Paul David's a $7 person). I think it would be an awesome place to go during the HOT Houston summers!