Preschool Portions

You know those beads that link together? Well we have about 40 of them in the nursery at school. One of our favorite things to do is squeeze them and have them suck onto your face. Today we were able to get 6 on my face. New record.

A Time to Shop

Black Friday, what a night! It is really still Thursday and I am almost done with a lot of my Black Friday shopping. Most people don't like the sales starting on Thursday night, I love it! I can get regular sleep, and am not out when it is the most freezing.
For the past few years I've been going to Park City with my mom and little sister. It's become a beloved tradition.
The first store of the night was Old Navy. I got jeans, slippers, and a ring for $14.07. Thank you Black Friday, thank you.

A souvenir

I'm not a big souvenir person. I rarely buy a snow globe, t shirt, key chain, or stuffed animal. Today I was cleaning out my car and found this snow globe. Last month while I was student teaching in a fifth grade class a little girl went to New York and brought me back a snow globe. I had only known her for maybe 5 days and she bought me a little gift.
This is what I love about teaching. You mean the world to these kids.

Slacker To The X

So I don't know what my deal has been. I'm being so lazy about blogging. I have had nothing to do all summer and I can still tell myself I don't have time for it. But, sadly, I still haven't done much worth blogging either.
I need to learn how to create photo collages for effectively for moments like this. The only way I know how takes SO MUCH TIME!
So I'll give a quick run through of my summer.

Hannah had her birthday.

Hannah and I went up to Park City, did a little shopping. Then we went out to dinner at the Provo Towne Centre, but while waiting for others to arrive Hannah, Britney and I rode the carousal. It was definitely fun!

Then a few days later we went camping. I have no good pictures of the camping trip. They were all taken by Sam. I have yet to even see them!

For the Fourth of July I went to Moab with my mom and two of my nephews to watch my brother-in-law do the firework show. It was pretty fun, we went to the National Park, but didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch. I have lived in Utah my whole life and still have not really been to Delicate Arch! One of these days...

I spent a lot of my summer visiting Trae. One trip I brought some faux glasses for us to play with. He looked so adorable!

We had fun playing at the pool, too. He is growing up so much and is just getting the cutest personality! I love that little guy.

We finally returned to our traditional Bear Lake trip. Though it was drastically interrupted when my mom got a KIDNEY STONE! Luckily my sister and her family was coming up the next day, so my brother-in-law took my mom home and my sister, her two younger boys, and I stayed and played for a little while. We were not good about taking pictures.

The boys loved getting buried. I didn't get as tan as I was hoping, though. I was good and didn't put on any tanning oil, just sunscreen. I'm not tan, but I also won't get skin cancer. Guess I made the healthier choice...

School started!

I had my mom take a picture of me like she did when I was little. The lace on my backpack, I added that myself! I am so proud of myself. It looks so adorable! I actually am loving school! My professors are all really cool, and since I'm in my major now I'm loving most of the content I learn. It's awesome.

Yesterday I went to the Riverwoods to see their Chalk the Walk event. They had tons of artists making big chalk murals in the parking lot and a percent of the precedes went to a school for autistic children. It was pretty cool. There was even an owl one! I would like to point out, I hopped on this trend before it was even a trend.

They aren't quite as cutsie as I like them, but I loved this one. It was a really cool event.

We also went to my parents' new house yesterday to check on the progress.

I got to stand in my new room! the first picture is through what will be a sliding glass door to the outside, the second is through the regular door from the hallway. At first I was really bummed about my parents moving, but I'm excited now. This house is going to be really cool. And I'll have a walk in closet! Too bad I'm basically grown...

AHHHH!!!!!

Today I scared the pants off a child at school today. Now, before you think I am mean teacher, let me explain. Yes, I scared him on purpose. But, no, he wasn't one of my students. He is one of my co-worker's sons. He is eight years old. There is an unspoken knowledge that we are in a scaring contest that shall last a quarter of a decade. The night I first met him was at the Christmas party we did this year. He scared me so bad, and continued to try to scare me throughout the rest of the night. I saw him today for the first time since that night. The first thing he says to me, "I remember you, I scared you really bad!" I knew I needed to scare him, and scare him bad. We were at the park and he was going down the twirly slide, I crouched down and waited. He had NO idea I was there. His mom was standing facing the slide, and she was excited to watch me scare him. When I saw his feet get to the bottom I popped out and shouted a loud quick, "AH!!" Oh boy was he scared! It was awesome! Probably one of the best scares I've ever done. I know to watch my back the next time I see him, though.

The Best Two Years

 Today is the 2nd anniversary of when I met Chris and Dani (Trae's parents).

I was terrified. I remember thinking, "What if they don't want a baby that looks like me?"

Well they were delighted when they saw him for the first time at the ultrasound.

And their families were quite thrilled, also.

I got to know Chris' sister, Ashley, and her kids pretty well.

And we went to an adoption conference. Dani got to feel the baby kick, after much effort on my part!

We went shopping, and apparently did a bit of modeling.

They visited me on and off in the hospital.

And even on the hardest night of my life they still got me laughing.

We then kept a friendship.

And continued hanging out.

They even let me take on some "mothery roles."

We play.

We take poorly lit photos, very rarely though.

And we go to Thanksgiving Point more than any other group of people I know.

Sometimes I envy them. Sometimes they make me cry. Sometimes they make me angry.

But I love them every minute, of every day.

They are my son's parents, and I could not have picked two people better qualified for the job.

They are two of my very best friends. And I am so glad they are in my life.

Preschool Portions

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that many of my stories about my preschoolers are about the same children. There is a boy, Dylan, who has eyes that will melt your heart. He is quite tiny for his age, he's easily the smallest in the class, but not the youngest. He has an adorable little laugh and thinks everything is funny. He is the one who gave me the rose on Valentine's Day. Today he didn't feel like sitting on the rug for singing time. That is fine as long as they stand with a teacher. I was sitting in one of the miniature chairs we have for the children and he was leaning against, standing between my legs. He was bouncing his head on my chest lightly, which is very normal for preschool age children to do. Now, it is no secret that I am...well endowed in that area. After a couple minutes he turned and looked at me, held ten fingers toward my face, and grabbed my chest saying, "Squishy!!" I pulled his arms back saying, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no Dylan." With a very shocked look opn my face. That only encouraged him. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to redirect a three year old from groping me. Can't wait for tomorrow!