Resolutions for 2017

Few things keep my attention for extended periods of time. Surprisingly this blog has kept my attention but it has been neglected sort of like me.

I realized not so long ago that I have let a few things that go that really bring me joy. I have made a few resolutions for 2017.

1. Blog once a week.
I really enjoy writing a little about nothing and maybe keeping you all updated in the process. Hopefully you all will get caught up on the house project (see the first sentence of this post). Cody has done a lot of work and it is really beautiful. I am lucky to have such a handy husband.

2. (Re)Learn how to do my make-up and hair
I used to enjoy doing my make-up and hair. Then I birthed children, time got short and worst of all my skin changed and my usual rounds of concealer, foundation, then powder actually made me look OLDER (insert sounds from an Alfred Hitchcock movie). This week I signed up for Ipsy. It is a monthly service that sends you 5 make-up, skin care and hair care products. I read a lot of reviews before deciding on Ipsy and hopefully I am happy with it. I plan on reviewing some items here and maybe you all can help me out by letting me know if the look works or not because that is also a weakness of mine. Putting together out fits is another doozy, which is why I have yet to try Stitch Fix.

3. Finish the masters degree
Oh, you didn't know about the masters (not golf)? It is in Curriculum and Instruction and is Digital Teaching and Learning from K-State. I am taking 2 classes this semester (starts Jan 17) which is 6 hours and then I will take three classes, which is 7 hours, this summer. That is right - I have lost my ever loving mind!

4. Do something with the masters degree
Two things have been on my mind and heart professionally (FCS teacher retention and open education) but that is a post for another week.

House update 10/10

** I thought this post was posted, but I saved it as a draft. Sorry!**

This weekend was a full one! We had lots of quality family time, a kids birthday party, 125th anniversary of our church and working on the house.

Progress as of 10/10 is as follows:

        

We have scraped ALL the texture off of the ceilings with help. Wall is out and encased again. A family friend, is doing all the sheet rock and ceiling work.

Cody and I went to the city and purchased lights, ceiling fans and vinyl flooring. Cody is an excellent truck loader. I did not think he could do it. I was so wrong!

                       

Cody had to do a little work with the heating and air because we are getting new units. He took the old equipment and water heater out, then fixed a small problem with the floor. I am excited to see what the utility room will look like when the new flooring and equipment are in. 

The kids are having a great time playing at the new house. They are enjoying the construction materials and being very creative. 

We bought a house!

As most of you know we have been looking for a house for some time. It started almost two years ago when we tried to buy a house in the country just north of town, then we decided to build, and then buy a different house, then build again and then we found this great house in YC. We aren't thrilled to be in town but we are in a quiet little neighborhood with wonderful neighbors. Wednesday I got word that we could close as early as Friday.

I will try to update often when we make changes to it. Of course I didn't get a picture of the whole front so that will have to come later. 

Cody opening the front door! 

 

Living room has a fireplace. You can get to the hallway and the kitchen from the living room. We are thinking of taking the wall out between the living room and hallway. 

The kitchen is in great shape. It is small but there are two closets in the hallway and one will be my pantry which means I will have just as much cabinet space as I do now. 

The cabinets are original to the house but have been refaced. They are in very good shape. 

Sliding glass door out to the covered patio off the kitchen

The main bathroom. That sweet 70's linoleum really gives it some personality.

Furnace/laundry room. Nothing too fancy but it does have an outside entrance. Cody can come right in and put his dirty clothes in the washing machine. We are both happy about that. 

Our bedroom. The walk in closet is nearly the size of the bathroom in our current home. It also has a full master bath. 

Carly's bedroom has a large walk-in closet as well. This girl needs it - we are so blessed with so many hand-me-downs and aunts with exceptional clothing taste. Not to mention the dress up clothes! 

Aiden's room has a much smaller closet with a sliding door. His room is just a smidge smaller than Carly's, but it is just as big if not bigger than the room he and Carly share now. The closet is larger than their closet now. 

I love the dark trim and that it is continuous through the house and matches! So many of the homes we saw did not have matching trim, doors or woodwork and that is irritating to me and would have been a lot of work for us. I am very happy this house is well matched. 

Outside -  The back of the house, looking south. The lattice needs to be taken down and the yard cleaned up. 

More of the back yard looking from the side of the patio into the back yard. The plants around the trees are somewhat overgrown but it has sat unkempt for over a year. You can tell the previous owners took pride in their yard and had a lot of perennial plants. We found some onions along the back fence, but no asparagus.   

From the far edge of the yard looking west at the house. 

The garage is very large. I think it could fit two cars but I bet we only put one in. 

This week's progress 9/25:

House purchased.

I have removed the apple boarder from the kitchen and the flower boarder from the main bathroom. 

Cody has removed the hot water heater, furnace and A/C. He also has a plan to fix a spot in the floor of the furnace room and to take out the wall in the living room. 

Stay tuned for the updates! 

Just like a CEO

Teachers are like CEO's in a lot of ways. 

Point #1 We work a gazillion hours. 

     My first year of teaching i kept track of how much time I spent at school or home working. I averaged 42 hours a week, if I worked 49weeks a year (holidays and vacation of the typical American) but I don't. I am contracted for 181 work days. 

Let's do some math : 42 hrs x 49 weeks =  2,058 hours. 

181 days (my contract) x 8hrs (7:45 -3:45)= 1,448 hrs 

Whoa, so my actual work hours are over my total time...when did I do the rest of it?

Evenings, weekends and summers. Yes, I spent 610 hours out side my contract time that is, theoretically, 3.3 additional hours per contract day. 

But teachers have summers off.

Yes. We get paid terribly but we get TIME. Unfortunately a lot of that time is spent planning, attending conferences and professional development. 

CEO's work a lot of hours, they get lots of time off, but they get paid significantly better. 

Stay tooned for the next installment of how teachers are like CEO's  

My 2 cents and what Aiden is up to.

So KU and K-State played a basketball game. K-State won and the fans got suuuuper excited and rushed the court. In the process some people got bumped and poked and prodded.

I.do.not.feel.sorry.for.you.

Having had my fair share of collegiate sporting events in which KU and K-State fans were present I have to say that you are not angels either. I have been spit at and had beer thrown at me. Also, I have been to actual sporting events in which I was for reals nearly crushed.

2006 World Cup.. You want to talk crazy fans, go to a game with Italian soccer fans! WHOAH!!

STOP WHINING KU fans. You knew this was going to happen because K-State fans do this all the time, do I like it, no, but I am not an authority on these such things.

K-State fans. My team, my love. You are embarassing us. Keep your excitement in check and make a pretty banner or go to Aggieville later. Stop rushing the court you look like a bunch of idiots and you are knocking people over. We used to be known as a helpful and kind campus. You are making us look like jerks, get it together.


So KU and WSU played a basketball game. WSU won and the fans got suuuuper excited and rushed the court. Wait...no they didn't.

You know what did happen? Nearly all the spectators of the game saw Governor Brownback in the crowd and booed him. Hmmmmm, it takes a lot to get two teams on the same side of an issue.

Aiden is crawling and cruising and in general just moving around like a 10 month old. He tries to eat everything and if he sleeps all night he is out and if he doesn't sleep all night neither does anyone else.

He loves corn and steak.

Playing with Sis.

Showing off his big boy haircut. 

An open letter to the lady behind me in Wal-Mart

Dear Lady in Walmart with the super nice clothes, annoyed expression and tappy foot,
I did not appreciate you tapping your foot while I was explaining to my toddler that the cashier would give her the finger nail polish right back.

I did not appreciate your annoyed expression when the cashier said "Hello again! Another cart full tonight?" and then when I replied "Yes, these groceries are for me, the others were for work."

I did not appreciate your exquisetly outlined red lips being pursed as you glanced at me.

I did not appreciate the way you were brushing your jacket lapel and glancing at us as we tried to hurry.

The tears were on the edge as my infant began to fuss in the car seat.

Your tappy foot got more tappy.

You even sighed once.

Inconveniencing people is one of the things that worry me the most, being a bother to others is something I go out of my way to avoid.

So as my toddler was lifted out of the cart so the last bag could be placed in and I reminded her for the third time to "hold on tightly to the cart because there are lots of cars in the parking lot" I was surprised by you.

You put a hand on my elbow, saying very gently and quietly "I remember those days. It gets easier."

Then you smiled a genuinely kind smile.

I am not sure if your tappy foot and annoyed red pouty lips were a figment of my imagination but I am 85% sure your words were not imagined.

I appreciate you now. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mom who will keep her own tappy foot in check

Thanksvember

It is Thanksvember again!!!!  In case you forgot what that is you post something on your FB wall each day in November. Except I do it here.

Day 1: Husband. Cody is a pretty BA guy. He provides for us however he can and he takes risks. Starting your own business takes some serious balls.

Day 2: Kids. Our children are my world. Sometimes our world makes me crabby and have a stuffy nose, but usually it is just sunshine and rainbows and unicorns.....more about the unicorns later.

Day 3: Hot tea. Mild obsession, mmmmmm...maybe? Okay, yes! I love hot tea in fruit flavors- but not cherry, bluck! There 8th something do relaxing about a nice warm cup of tea and a good book.

PUPPIES!!!!!!!!

Maggie is our first child, we love her through and through. We love her when she gets in the trash, when she digs holes in my flower bed, even when she unexpectedly has puppies.

What? Is this an episode of "I didn't know I was pregnant?" Pretty much.

We have tried for 5 years to breed Mags to no avail. Then she is with her buddy Bo and wouldn't-ya-know she has puppies.

We noticed she was getting fat, but she tends to do that in the summer when Carly feeds her the other half of her PB&J or 15 dog treats because mom is in the other room feeding Aiden and can't see what she is doing.

Then she was under the porch two days in a row and Cody noticed she was lactating. Oh snap.

Two days later Cody noticed green ooze, called the vet, rushed her up there and one emergency c-section on our beautiful Mag-Pie later, 4 little black and white puppies joined our family.

Because I am supposed to

Guess who is a rule follower?
Yeah, me...unless it is grammar and punctuation. Then I make my own rules !!!!!

Sometimes rules are hard to follow, like when my daughter doesn't want to pick up her toys or sit still in church. Those are really hard because they are things that we are just supposed to do - if we leave the toys out someone might step on them in the middle of the night while going in to feed Brother.
We must sit still in church because if you stand in the pew you can fall down, also your noises make it hard for the elderly woman behind us to hear, even though she tells me EVERY WEEK that she loves it when you sing at the top of your lungs to words you don't know.

Now it is my turn. Lesson plans. Bluck!

After teaching for 6 years I have to write out formal lesson plans and it makes me absolutely batty!

Not because I think I am better than lesson planning but because in the hour it takes me to just write them out I am thinking about how I could be rocking my babies, or doing dishes or folding laundry or snuggling my husband. My time is already thin, using it to write out lessons is frustrating.

I feel like my time is better spent doing other things because I already have course outlines that are aligned to the standards. Why do I have these? Because that is what I was taught to do in college and those were the rules and that is what I am supposed to do.

So I sit and type and want to cry the entire time, but I do them, because I am supposed to do them.

The next time I tell Sister that she is supposed to sit down and be quiet I am going to hug her extra tight and hopefully she knows just how deep my understanding of her frustration goes.

Smiley Man

This little guy is all smiles these days. He weighs 15 pounds 7 ounces and is 26 1/2 inches long. He is wearing 6-9 month onesies and 3-6 month pants. He laughs at sister and loves to sit in the high chair. He watches you eat and loves rice cereal. He is beginning to nap longer at a time in the afternoon. He is "talking" and "squawking". Aiden has also found his feet recently. While they can't quite get to his mouth he does hold on to them and roll from side to side. He is not rolling from back to front yet but it will be soon, front to back is mastered and he doesn't stay on his tummy for long when he has decided enough is enough.

Bacon and Blue Onions

A new love has found it's way in to my life. These bacon and blue cheese onions. They are so stinking easy to make and so incredibly fattening tasty. I am not a photog, so don't judge the image below but it is my own.

This recipe is from http://www.jamesandeverett.com and was found on Pinterest.

The original post can be found at http://www.jamesandeverett.com/whatscooking/2012/09/23/grilled-blue-cheese-bacon-stuffed-onions/

Bacon and Blue Cheese Onions

4 onions, sweet. I used Vidalia 
1 stick of butter softened
4 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
2/3 cup blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tops and bottoms off of the onions and peel the outer dried layers off.

Scoop out a portion of the insides using a melon baller or a small spoon. I used my strawberry huller from the Pampered Chef and it worked great, this product is no longer available, but the Core and More is. Be careful not to dig down too deeply

Mix all filling ingredients together and stuff in the cavity of the onion. Press it in really well so that the cavities are completely full.

Wrap in aluminum foil and grill on a medium heat for 30-40 minutes. We did just 30 because we thought the heat was too high, but 10 more wouldn't have hurt. Let the onions steam for just a little while and be careful when opening the foil.

Oh man were these good. My husband sure can man a grill!

Story of my Life

Often posed is a question of imense imprtance. Who would play you in the story of your life?

This came up when I watched The Vow a few weeks ago and then learned that it was based on a real story. I could total pick Channing Tatum for a husband.

In the story of your life you always pick a famous person that you like. I would pick a mash up of Zoey Deschanel and Jennifer Lawrence.

Quirky, witty, pretty, kind, amazing hair and wicked awesome fashion sense. I have half of these traits, the other half I aspire to.

Then I got to thinking how unremarkable my life has been and how no one would want to make a movie about me. It made me sad for a minute and then glad as I realized that most movies are based around a central crisis.

 The Vow = amnesia and almost loosing the love of your life

The Notebook = spending a few years almost marrying the wrong person because your mother kept your real love's letters a secret, just to end up with dementia and not remember your husband.

Love Story = Find true love, become estranged from your family, become reunited only because your true love is dying.

Why was I glad? To have the story of my life made into a movie it would require loosing something dear to me. I have the things most dear to me very near me, they are healthy and happy and while we do not live a glamorous life it is pretty good.

I would take Zoey Deschanel's fashion sense and nice hair in a minute though.

We grew a people and stuff

I had a baby in May. Yes, my husband helped with the production of the baby and was present and accounted for at all important events, but the having of the baby was all mine. I take the glory, BAHBHABA! (imagine an evil laugh sound)

So we went to the hospital at 6 am. BOOOOO! Pitocin started about 7:45 and we were off and rolling. Great nurses as usual, and it isn't at all weird to have a high school classmate check your cervix, not weird at all.

About 10:30 the contractions started registering pretty good. Cody started to ask me intermittently if I was alright. He is such a sweetie. He was watching HGTV and I was half paying attention to it.

The other nurse knew the contractions were getting stronger, I was most definitely not as smiley as usual. 

At 11:00 I was checked and told that I was progressed to a 4, I asked if she could order the epidural. At 11:30 the most glorious person in the whole hospital arrived - the anesthesiologist.

This epidural was MUCH better than the last one, but this time my left leg fell asleep, weird. Just like last time I had a "window" which is a spot where you can still feel contractions. No biggie to me, I just wanted some of the edge off.

I am a sissy and turn in to an incredibly unpleasant person under certian circumstances - hunger, sleepiness and unrelenting contractions.

Cody's mom brought him lunch. Some of my friends have demanded that their significant others not eat during labor because they can't eat. I am not that kind of person, my husband also gets hangry (hungry/angry) and I wanted him perky and happy. Also my body is a total machine when it comes to pitocin, I just crank out that baby.

At about 1:00 the nurse checked me and called the Dr. The nurse was surprised my water hadn't broken on it's own. Dr. broke it and I got my push on.

3 pushes later and we had a baby with NO tearing....Dr. did make a comment about my lady parts and road rash but I am going to pretend that didn't happen.

Per the usual, the placenta took about 1000 times longer to expel itself than our cute little guy did. So in between the Dr. tugging on the placenta and massaging my stomach to try and coax it out, we all continued to cuddle the baby and watch HGTV.

Aiden Lee arrived at 1:21 pm, weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces and 21 1/2 inches in lenght. He is a heck of an eater and took right to it. We were able to come home just over 24 hours.

Back in the swing of things

School is starting again soon.

In some ways it is too soon -  I love spending time with the kids and I will probably be very teary the first day without Aiden and Carly. Thank goodness it will be an inservice day.

In some ways it is going to be glorious - I am NOT the stay-at-home-mom type.

Back up, did she just say "thank goodness for an inservice day?"

Yeah, I did, I would much rather cry in front of other moms that get it, than in front of my students on the first day of school.

Who am I kidding, my students all know I am ubber emotional.

So while I am getting back in the swing of things. My kids are too. Here are a couple pictures of Carly, Aiden and I swinging together. Finding myself on this side of the camera is strange.

 

 

Big May

Now that May is over I should probably say something profound about all the exciting changes around here but honestly...I just want a shower and at least 4 consecutive hours of sleep.

Why the sleep changes?

WE GREW AND BIRTHED A PEOPLE!
Welcome Mr. Aiden Lee

Aiden weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Then I got a new phone on our first solo outing. Mom watched the kids for an HOUR AND A HALF! I forgot US Cellular takes for freaking ever but I love my new phone so much that this is my first post via smart phone.  

And last but not least (drumroll please) the Ulrich family came to see Kansas. Anja, Andy, and Cassandra are here for a visit. We are so glad to have them staying with us. 

Are those bricks?

I have a thing for bricks. My home town has brick roads around the historic town square - they were there before the Wizard of Oz made brick roads and Kansas THE COOOLEST THANG EVER!

 
See those fancy brick roads, red brick not yellow.



  

No one ever notices that there is red brick swirling with the yellow - where they heck do you think the red bricks go? Home, maybe? Perhaps.

Today we are talking about different bricks. Ones that my doctor thinks are in my purse.

You see, I have had some weight fluctuation this pregnancy. The day I found out we were expecting I weighed 146 pounds. The day of our 12 week appointment I weighed 131 pounds.

(did you hear the whann whann whann sound effects?) 

So my doctor has been keeping this as a point of concern and monitoring it closely along with my blood pressure to make sure everything is going well. Blood pressure has stayed low, heartbeat strong, and while weight gain hasn't been as good as with Carly, it is creeping up. Last week I weighed 157 with 3 weeks to go, this week I weighed 165.

"WHATTTT?" That can't be right, I have been eating the same. Strange.

As I lay down on the table to be measured and hear Little Brother's heartbeat I realized what happened and started laughing.

My doctor asked what was the matter and I told him I knew why I weighed so much. Because I had gotten on the scale with my purse on.

He sighed, smiled and rolled his eyes "What do you have in there? Bricks?"