pride goeth before the fall

I somewhat take pride in the fact that I have never called in sick to work in the 5 years I have taught at CMS. However, today that streak came to a screeching halt. I am SICK. I am dreadfully SICK. I can not remember a time when I have felt as bad as I do right now. My only saving grace is that I am not running a fever or Mr. D. would have admitted me in to the hospital for sure. I have a horrible head cold.... and chest cold too I guess. I feel as though I have no energy what so ever. In fact, I slept in my bed for 19 consecutive hours today before I got up and made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I was awakened a few times by the ringing of my phone or the texting of people simply in shock that I was out sick. I have been out of bed for about 3 hours now and in that time I have taken a shower, and a nap and had some dinner. I turned on the computer to help to keep myself awake. I am holding off waiting until it's time to take my night time meds and go to bed. I may be down for the count tomorrow too. Mr. D. is on germ patrol and currently has our sheets in the wash. He is keeping a safe distance and germ-x-ing up at every opportunity he gets. Hopefully we can keep this contained to just me. I only hope that my sweet Henry didn't get any of these germs.

Thanksgiving

If I were to make a list of all of the things I am thankful for today, thanksgiving would be over before I could type, edit and publish the list. But I will tell you this. I can not remember a Thanksgiving where I have been more happy. In the last 31 days, my life has gone into a whirlwind. In the next 74 days, it will turn into more of a whirlwind.

We are adopting a baby girl!!

We are using this Thanksgiving time of the year to share the news with all of our family and friends. We are so happy, and overwhelmed, and thrilled and nervous at the same time. My cheeks hurt from smiling.

We are truly thankful!

things to do, things to do, things to do

I am ticking things off my list as fast as possible, but I still feel as though I have a million things to do before Thanksgiving. So, if the blogging is sparse this week, please forgive me.

the turkey sweat shop

Once upon a time, Kate had a dream. She dreamed that all of the children in the Blue Class could create beautiful centerpieces for their Thanksgiving table. After she woke up she rushed to find a paper and pencil and sketched out the vision she saw in her dream.
Being an efficient task master she made a chart showing everyone what needed to be completed. She worked feverishly to prepare the project. She cut 30 milk cartons open. Through trial and error, she learned quickly that tempra paint flakes off of milk cartons. She then spray painted 30 milk cartons brown. The eager children gathered around to hear of their assignments. Cheerfully, they colored tail feathers with markers.
They gladly colored tail feathers with crayons and then oh so carefully glued on the prefect feathers.
They used water colors to create the most beautiful wings.
They painted little heads with brown paint.
Her helpers spent countless hours cutting wings and feet. They assisted in any way that they could to help Kate's dream become a reality. Kate continued to work hard and would only breaks now and then to eat cupcakes.

Kate constructed turkey necks and beaks.
The children's work was quickly sorted into their respective milk jugs.
Then, while the children rested Kate quickly used the hot glue gun to connect the heads to the jugs.
She glued on their feathers cheerfully even though at the same time she was burning off her finger prints as well.
Before long Kate dream became a reality and the children all cheered. They were so very thankful to have such beautiful centerpieces for their Thanksgiving tables.

WAKE UP KATE!! It didn't go down like that at all!!

In the real version there are 29 kids at least half of which were borderline sick and extremely cranky.

In the real version there were pauses for potty breaks and potty accidents.

In the real version there was more complaining, mass chaos, and disorganization due to lack of places to put mass amounts of things to dry.

In the real version there was lots of spilling of water and lots of dripping of paint.

In the real version we went through 3 boxes of wet wipes.

In the real version my classroom is down to two aprons and everyone needed one. For some reasons it seemed like everyone chose this week to wear their brand new fall clothes.

In the real version some children complained and asked as though they would develop carpal tunnel syndrome from coloring the feathers.

In the real version the children not only glued feather to the paper but also to their hands, and their clothes and to the table.

In the real version there was a methodical step by step process that the children would complete in sequential order. Work ethic is already recognizable at this age. There were kids who diligently work to completer their task early in the week. These children will grow up to be your efficient workers. There were a few kids who flat out refused to work on the project all week only to later cry that they didn't have one. Those children will grow up to be your procrastinators. They then did all of the work in one day.

In the real version this project is not totally complete and we will probably still be gluing on heads and wings until the last minute school is open.

In the real version, the turkeys are beautiful and the kids are so proud of them. We wouldn't have it any other way. I love my job so very much! What an amazing week we had in the Blue Class!

photo proof

I am working on my (possibly never ending) photo scanning project this morning and I just had to share this with you. It's is photo proof that I have had a friendly nature right from the start. This is my hospital picture.

I'm saying "Hey Y'all. Glad to meet ya!"

It's National Adoption Day

If you are looking for the usual light and breezy blog entry, check back later. This blog entry may be a little deep for you. I have more great post coming up later in the weekend. There will be one the Thanksgiving turkey sweat shop (A.K.A. my classroom) and another entry on how one pair of my new shoes has already been ruined. Both are guaranteed to please for the light and airy lovers!

For everyone else:


Today is National Adoption Day. Please take a moment to read this inspiring blog's post on Adoption Day. I do not personally know the author of this blog but she has served as an inspiration though out our adoption process. She's been there and her information is invaluable to me. I do not often blog about our adoption on this blog. It is not to say it's isn't important or in my thoughts. I more use this as a haven for the fun and light side of our lives. However, in honor of National Adoption Day and all of the adoptions that will be finalized today, I share our journey with you.

This journey is not one we initially started out on. But, as you will read on Joy's blog, our plan B was the original Plan A. Mr. D. wonderfully put it into perspective one day when he said that "our plan to have a family never changed, just the plan of arrival."

Like most couples I am sure, we dreamed of our family together long before we were even married. 8 years ago we through caution to the wind and waited to be expecting. We weren't trying to, but we weren't trying not to. Life around us continued to go on and years would pass with no change. Of course we weren't concerned at first because this is how it happened, you got married and had a baby. Why would our path be any different? Historically, we were both over achievers, so of course with would happen for us. In retrospect, we were both foolishly assumed that our lives were going to work out exactly that way wanted it to.

We had other things to occupy our time. We had careers to build, a house to pick our and purchase, friends to make, trips to take, a life together to enjoy. We bought a house with plenty of room of our growing family. We stored in the attic the baby furniture from a friend that would be perfect and save us money when it was time. The child who slept in that crib is almost 8 now. The crib remains in it's original resting place in our attic. We can't even remember exactly what it looks like.

We had other things to occupy our time. We dealt with the sickness and death of my Father. We had a new puppy... a sick puppy who we would call the million dollar dog before he was even a year old. Imagine the money we would have saved if Shane had been out of Veterinary School at that time in our lives. I quit a job that I had grown to hate and started a job that isn't really even a job at all. It is the most amazing thing I have ever done with my life, and they pay me.

Fast forward... Five years ago we entered the world of medical testing and insanity. We were referred by my OB/GYN to the Reproductive Endocrinologist. We referred to him as Dr. Ego because he was never shy about telling us what a reproductive God of sorts that he was. And he must have been because he had boards and boards filled with babies. He even had the boards sorted by single births, twins, triplets, quads and maybe even more. I don't know. Mr. D. would race past any board that had more than single births on it, so I really didn't get a good look. Dr. Ego was offering hope and we stood there with open pocket books waiting to buy some. We had testing which was invasive and humiliating. Diagnosis: no medical reasons as to why we aren't conceiving. This is important to know because still to this day some people "blame" me. I could make your head spin by some things that have been said with to me, to Mr. D. or about us. I could write a book, but I won't. Just know that no one is to blame, it is no ones fault, a classic case of unexplained infertility.

I spent 13 months with Dr. Ego. Here is how I would say most of the appointments went.

Me: taking off work and wait anywhere from 30-60 minutes passed my appointment time to be called back. Once in the room waiting even 20-45 minutes more.

Dr Ego enters. Chart in one hand, shaking my hand with the other. Then he was say things like "are you pregnant yet?" or "I see you aren't pregnant yet". Those seemed to be his go to phrases. Then he would look at the charts and say one of two things. He would either say to try the Clomid again at the same dosage, or he would increase the dosage. Then he would say a phrase that Mr. D. and I would recite in unison when we would discuss the appointments later. "I will see you in six weeks and try to be pregnant by then".

Then I would go to the window, and try to not think about how much I was about to pay for my 5 minutes with him. The only real variation would be if Mr. D. attended the appointment and then the time with the Dr. would be much longer because they would talk about sports and other boy stuff.

We stayed far longer with Dr. Ego than we should have. We didn't know better because after all, he had the bulletin boards filled with babies to prove he knew exactly what he was doing. Mr. D. made the decision to leave, I followed in step. Dr. Ego was quite charming and entertaining, but the truth was a year later we hadn't tried anything new. We realized we were getting no where and were treated more like a number than a patient.

We had a friend who knew about our situation and she was in somewhat of a similar situation. There were three difference though. 1) She got pregnant rather quickly once she started treatment and 2) She said she was treated like a queen and 3) She was PREGNANT. We jumped on that train and went to see what her doctor had to offer. I saw her doctor 1 time. She wasn't a reproductive endocrinologist but a OB/GYN with a specialty in fertility. I was then sent to her fertility practice where I never saw her again. My friend was right, they really treated me well there. The nurses did all of the work, and then I guess reported to her and she told them what to tell me and they would call me back. Don't worry, we still paid as if we had actually physically seen the Dr. I was a little disappointed when they first thing she suggested was a round of Clomid. I moved from Clomid to Clomid with Metformin to Clomid with Metformin with a low dose of an injectable called Follistim. She was treating me for PCOS, which I do not have but she wasn't sure what else to do. I only stayed there for 3 months because it became apparent that she didn't really do anything more than minimal treatments. I was then referred to a different Endocrinologist.

Once I got the referral I called my newest Dr. , I wasn't surprised that wait was a long one. That's just what we do, we wait. However, I didn't wait for long I asked to be put on the cancellation list and with in a week I was called with a cancellation. Sometimes when God closes a door he opens a window and my little window came to me in December, 2007. My co-teacher was on maternity leave and the substitute I was to spend the next few months with was an absolute Godsend. Not only was she fun to work with, but she had been THERE! She did all of this crazy stuff I had done! She was also a former patient of the practice I was going to. It was so nice to have someone to talk to who knew, not lots of people who knew someone when knew someone, but she actually experienced all of it.

The new practice was probably the equivalent to going from a coal mine to a palace. It was so nice, efficiently ran and had the NICEST staff I have ever encountered. Everything was so organized and state of the art. I saw the same nurses each time. My Doctor always saw me and we would meet with the both of us to discuss treatments before and after the treatment. Mr. D. and I both just loved him.

He had our records before our consultation and we could tell he had reviewed everything from the other Doctors. He was NOT happy at how long I had been on Clomid and some of the other things I had done. He went cycle by cycle telling us what he thought should or should not have been done. We was very hopeful and we decided moved on to more advanced treatment options. It is funny to say treatment when there is nothing to treat, but I can't think of another word increasing the odds. He would give us choices of which treatments we would take. At the end of each one, Mr. D. would ask- "Is this going to get us on 20/20?" If the answer was possibly, we would pass on that option.

We spent a lot of concentrated time really focused on getting pregnant at his office. It positively consumed us to the point of exhaustion. I started accupuncture which I loved. I actually miss going to accupuncture. In March of 2008 we were finished. Our final cycle was just too much on us physically, emotionally and most of all financially. The medicines I took that last time made feel horrible. I am sure I was unpleasant to be around and everything seemed to bother me. For those still reading who want the light and funny, here you go. My "A-ha" moment" came when one day I went to the staff computer at school and someone had downloaded a Garfield theme to the computer. Everywhere I tried to move the cursor, this little fish bones thing followed it around. I became so aggrivated and annoyed that I almost could not function. I swear I can not remember ever being so angry. I came home that day and said that would be the last cycle no matter what.

After that cycle failed, we decided to take a 2 months vacation from it all. After that time, we went to see the Dr at his office and we discussed many different option. We were told about the option of Embryo Adoption. His office had a waiting list and we were added to it. We had options. We had other things we could have done. We had agreed before hand that we would take the IVF option off of the table. Our main reason was that it was a lot of money for a chance when we could be spending that money towards a reality. In retrospect, the entire process had really just been about spending a lot of money for" a chance" several different times.

Basically you could sum up the science experiment on my body during that 2 years and 3 months as:

51 Doctors appointments
48 nurse appointments
130 pills of Clomid
20 ultrasounds
78 bloodtest
1 dye test
4 inseminations
24 injections
12 other prescriptions
18 acupuncture appointments
countless ovulation test and pregnancy test
countless dollars for parking
countless hours waiting in waiting rooms
and a whole bunch of money spent


We left that day and decided we would look more into adoption, either Embryo Adoption or by adopting a newborn domestically. In June of 2008, we started our new life of filling our what seemed like endless amounts of paperwork. In July of 2008, we told our parents of our plans. We hired an attorney who is well thought of in adoptive circles in our State. We were on a new adventure. We reconnected as a couple and enjoyed the time that not going to so many appointments freed up. I began to feel like myself again.

We went from wishing to maybe having a child to knowing that eventually we would be parents. We marked off the to do list and gathered the paper work together as fast as we could, but Adoption is NOT a fast process. We interviewed agencies. We looked on the internet for advice. We read books. We kept busy. We had our first in home visit with the social worker in September and our second visit in March. Our home study was officially approved and sent to the attorney in April of this year. By that point we had decided against a number of agencies and had made plans to meet with a consultant that Mr. D.'s Uncle had told us about. We flew to Florida in April and loved her from the get go. We hired her on the spot. Two days after returning from that trip we got a call that we were at the top of the Embryo Adoption list. At this point we already knew the path we were to be on, so we declined. We are very committed to adoption. We started placing our ads that month. We have continued to prepare. We are expectant parents. We no longer wait for the if, we wait for the when.

Since April we have been in around 90 publications advertising for our birth mother. We have had 17 calls that have range from absolutely crazy to amazing souls in need of help. Our eyes have been opened to so many things. One thing that never ceases to amaze us is that absolutely everyone has an opinion on Adoption. Some good, some bad, some quite shocking. Things have been said to us that would never be said if the child were growing in my tummy instead of our hearts. The adversity has only made us stronger as a couple and stronger as a family to be.


Through out the last 8 years we have grown as people in ways that we never knew possible. I could not imagine anyone I would rather be on this journey with that Mr. D. He is a rock and He never ceases to amaze me.

Through our the last 8 years we have had some really crappy time and some really amazing times. I like to believe that we laughed far more than we cried. When I look back on things and remember I really don't remember too many specific moments. It's more of a feeling of just remembering being with Mr. D. and the adventures we have had together.

Through out the last 8 years we have created an amazing support circle. There were days along the journey when there love and prayers were the only things that got us by. We have seen many babies be born. We have amazing friends and relatives who understand and let us love their children as if they were our own. And we do love them all. We have so many special children in our lives. They will be our child's friends one day. We have amazing people in our lives who call, email, send cards, or simply just check in on us. To all of these people we say Thank you. I can't wait for these same people to love our child the same way...... one day.


I wear this little pendant sometimes. It sums up the theme our lives have been following.


My sister-in-law Meredith chose a wonderful bible verse to have inscribed on the back. She has been always been very kind and supportive to us through out of our journey. It was only fitting that she had the perfect verse waiting to be inscribed.

1 Samuel 1:27.
"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him"

This has been our journey so far. We joyfully and patiently wait for the day when we become parents that we know we are meant to be.


Happy National Adoption Day!!!

OK- enough seriousness.............. back to the light and airy side of Sandy!

the boys next door

The boys next door are so cute that they are adding one more. Three little guys to come and play with me! It's a boy-- coming April 2010.

Today was the day.....

............. the Jessica Simpson Christmas CD made it's way into the player.

Also, note the clock reads 7:31 but it was really 6:31(that's AM folks) because I can't remember how to set this clock back and I am too lazy to get out the manual.

warning: so cute it may hurt your eyes

This is Kate's nephew Thomas showing off the little snow suit I gave him. Henry and Rylee have them too. Cute CUTE ccccCUTE!!!

Want to know something even more CUTE??? Her Aunt name is CupKate. LOVE IT!

The Nephew

Henry

Since Meredith stole a picture of Perrin off of Stephanie's blog, I stole a picture of Henry off of her blog. It's hard to believe that 4 months have passed since Henry was born. I think of him each and every day. I wonder how he is and what he is up to. He is growing so fast and I am so thankful that I will be getting to see him in just one short week. I know I will have to share with lots of people, but it is my hope to steal a few quiet moments with this little love bug. We have a lot of catching up to do.

photo scanning

In and effort to create a better archive, I have been scanning in some old pictures lately. So, dear readers, I apologize in advance for all that I will be sharing with you through out this process. However, here is one I scanned in tonight that I thought was really sweet. It's a Christmas pictures, but I can't wait for Christmas to show you. Enjoy.

my peeps

This is me with my peeps from back in the day.

sometimes you just can't wait

There is a dish the Mr. D. and I just love that is served at Thanksgiving. If we had to list our top 5 foods at Thanksgiving this would be on the list for sure. However, at Thanksgiving there is so many other things to choose from that by the time this dish rolls out our tummies are already overwhelmed. So, this is what I made for lunch today.

It is a cheese ring with Strawberry preserves. I molded it in a mold I found at the Grandmother's that Mr. D. said I would never use. Ha! I used it today. Anyway, it was SO SO So yummy. Here is the recipe I used.

8 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz medium Cheddar cheese, grated
One 3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 cup strawberry preserves

Wheat thins

Combine all ingredients except preserves and crackers in a food processor or electric mixer. Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. Scoop mixture onto a platter and mold into a ring formation (place a sheet of wax paper between your hands and the mixture to prevent melting and stickiness). Spread strawberry preserves into the center of the ring and serve with crackers.

It was delicious! If you are gonna use low fat cheeses or Mayo, don't waste your time. This recipe calls for the real deal! I am glad Mr. D. requested it. We bought the cereal this week for the annual making of the Chex Mix. We picked it up while we were at Costco yesterday.

It is 40 days until Christmas!

the great shoe emergency of 2009

I haven't told you yet- but I have been in a serious shoe emergency. For those who do not know me well, I am not a shoe-ee, meaning I am not one of those girls with a million pairs of shoes for every occasion. I rarely spend more then $40 on a pair of shoes, and the shoes I do have- I wear forever. Case in point, my black boots. Cute as can be, knee length black leather boots, one of the few shoes I paid a pretty penny for. It was love at first sight and they looked amazing. However, on November 4th, I wore them for the last time. I only remember this because it was the day of the teacher luncheon. When I got home, I realized that the leather in my shoes had cracked and it looked like gashes were all over my shoes. It was truly a sad day. I was pouting (yes, I will admit it) and when Mr. D. got home he said "well, they lasted for 6 years- I think you got your money's worth". He was right and then some. I guess this wouldn't be as much of an emergency if my sneakers hadn't gotten spray painted a few weeks back, and if my Lands End All Weather Mock found their way to the trash (YES TRASH! Not even to the Hannah Home!) for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons would be the bloody blisters on the backs of my heels. Another reason was that someone named Brady had obviously relocated the inner soles of the shoes. So, this left me with only a few pair of shoes as my options for wear. Seriously folks- I was in a state of shoe crisis. I have my brown shoes. Here is a picture I am almost embarrassed to even post, but what the heck. I made it small in case you are actually horrified. You can tell some shoe polish wouldn't be the worse thing to get out. I remember that I got them at JCPenny's at one of those buy one get one for a penny sales.

I have my rain/snow boots. I got these when I lived in Ohio (96-98). I actually wore these one day this week. If you got the rain front- you will understand.
My go-to croc flip flops. .... .. not actually weather conducive at this time.
And, my newest pair of black shoes, circa August 09. While the black shoes are cozy, wearing heels 7 days a week is not. Today, I was able to find not one, but two new pair of shoes to add to the mix. One on sale, one on clearance. Both together less than $50. Both pairs seemed cozy during the try on period, we'll see how they feel later.Hopefully, I will be able to have a little more variety in my wardrobe next week. As a bonus, I got my boots at a place where Mr. D. has a birthday gift card. Because I got my boots it put our dollar spending range to a point where we got a gift card to be used between Thanskgiving and Christmas. So, it's kind of like my boots were free--- or the shoes I find between Thanksgiving and Christmas will be. In additon to the boots, Mr. D. found an awesome new suit, blazer and belt! Gotta love a deal like that.

maybe I'm going crazy

Imagine if you will... I came home tonight and had a panic over the fact that I forgot to put anything in the crock pot this morning. I figured out how to cook the meatball subs on high instead of low and could still have them done in time. I started them, and went on with my housework (yes, we no longer have a housekeeper... :( I don't like to talk about it). 5 minutes later, Mr. D. just called and reminded me he has the work function tonight. I forgot it again! Maybe I am going crazy. I turned it all off and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. I don't know where my head is these day, but I am going to have to get my focus back!

who said....

Who said teacher work days can't be fun??????

Of course everything with Kate is just a little more fun!!!

OK- last post today I promise. Thanks for reading!!!

*disclaimer- I will never be featured in Southern Living for my bed making skills

Mr. D. spent some of his birthday money to treat us to this. It's a bed in the bag kind of thing. It included a duvet cover, 2 pillow shams, 2 euro pillow shams* (which we don't have Euro pillows yet, so *not pictured) 2 decorative pillows and a bed skirt. It looks amazing with the "new" paint in our bedroom. Very Westin-esque in my opinion, which is a look we love. You'd never know that underneath it all are old taupe colored sheets. We will NOT be giving those up any time soon. I guess since I confessed that I am not a good bed making I might as well confess that Mr. D. and I are total sheet snobs. We prefer a thousand thread count and above. This probably explains why we only have one set of sheets. They are just SO cozy. I am glad I made the bed. Mr. D. would probably be in there with a level making sure all of the lines are perfectly level. Just kidding.... kind of. I am glad that our room is coming together slowly but surely. Life is good at Casa De D.

my favorite song

Currently my favorite song is Michael Buble's Haven't Met You Yet! LOVE it!!

losing track of time

You may have noticed in my previous post I clearly had no idea what day of the week it was. I left an entire night out of the menu planning. I seriously thought all day today that it was Thursday! Imagine my surprise when I just discovered it is Wednesday. Mr. D. is coming home for dinner tonight and I have nothing planned. It's tomorrow night he has a work function. Oh well, looks like it's leftover night! I guess I am not as organized as I once professed!

I've got a little secret!

Sometimes I can be so organized that I scare myself. Case in point, my menu for the week. I chose all of our main courses this week to be a slow cooker meal. I don't have a programmable crock pot (but I am getting one for Christmas!) so I have to use the Christmas tree timer to make it come on when I need it too. Yesterday I made BBQ. It could not have been simpler.
3 lbs boneless country pork ribs
1 can of beef broth
Low for 8 hours.
Then I drained it and broke the meat up. I added a bottle of BBQ sauce and cooked for 30 more minutes. Voila. I added buns and fries.

Tonight- Red Beans and Rice- my favorite recipe! I got this from a friend of mine. I am hooked on it! It is SO easy.

1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of rotel
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of dark red kidney beans
1 package of smoked sausage

I cut up the sausage and put it all in. Low for 6 hours. I made boil in the bag rice to serve with it.

Now, Mr. D. ... not a big red beans and rice fan. What's a girl to do? Well, use the left over pork from last night and whip up a Brunswick stew. He loved it!

Tomorrow night, nothing new. Mr. D. has a work event and I will have the left over Red Beans and Rice.

Friday, I am trying this recipe for Chicken Marsala. Mr. D. loves Chicken Marsala.

Now, guess what else... I bought the crock pot liners-- so I DON'T even have to clean the crock pot. I tell you shear genius.

the adventures of Sandy and Kate

Here is a picture of the two of us on our latest adventure. In case you don't recognize us, I have the yellow hair, Kate has the purple hair.

today I........

CLEANED AND ORGANIZED!!!

the glass cupboard

the refrigerator

hung a hook for my aprons

the dish towel drawer

Mr. D. installed an organizer for my cutting boards.

the serving utensil drawer

the opener and holder drawer

the everything I need to make a pie even though I have never made a pie drawer

under the kitchen sink

I also made homemade yeast rolls. They were very tasty and relatively easy. The recipe can be found here.

Mr. D.

In honor of Mr. D.'s Birthday I decided to list a few facts about him. I have now officially known him for 1/2 of his life. Here are some things you may not know.

Mr. D. ...
1) .... is a really funny guy who can always make me laugh.
2) .... is a realist, when my head is in the clouds- his isn't.
3) .... is a fixer of all problems, and if he can't fix it- he will at least try to.
4) .... is a great provider.
5) .... has fun like it is his job.
6) .... understands the importance of leaving the toilet seat down.
7) .... is incredibly loyal to Hellmann's Mayonnaise, Heinz Ketchup, Cozumel Grill or me.
8) .... has a great memory and can recall millions of facts both important and useless
9) .... play the rock back guitar like a true champ
10) .... never gets mad (OK, doesn't always get mad) when I tease him for always having a better way to do things.
11) .... can in one second get Brady to stop doing whatever I have been fussing at him for an hour to stop doing.
12) .... has a great knack for finding the funniest things on the internet
13) .... loves a good yellow cake with chocolate frosting
14) .... is a Patriots fan
15) .... actually enjoys shopping and running errands.
16) .... favorite shows are The Office and How I Met Your Mother
17) .... understands the balance between a tasteful Christmas display and a tacky one
18) .... he pushes the envelope of number 17 more and more every year
19) .... is always thinking
20) .... is responsible
21) .... favorite food is buffalo type chicken fingers
22) .... like to know what the plan is and hates for plans to change
23) .... is the controller of the remote
24) .... is extremely helpful around the house
25) .... likes to have fun with kids
26) .... is very supportive and understanding of the time I spend working on things for school
27) .... hates to fly on small planes and is very annoyed by air travel
28) .... is going to be a great father someday
29) .... loves to sleep in on the weekends
30) .... has green eyes
31) .... is a big kid... sometimes
32) .... is a very skilled driver
33) .... would never eat a banana or pineapple
34) .... doodles.... a lot!
35) .... is very technologically savvy
36) .... will definitely roll his eyes over reading this cheesy list!

It's Fall y'all

Sushi

It's the seven days of Mr. D. celebration. This is an event I created in which we celebrate the birthday beginning on November 1 until his actual Birthday on the 7th. This year, instead of a present to open each night for 7 nights we had dinner with different friends each night for seven nights. It has been fun. I never told him who we were eating with until it was time to eat with them. Some nights I cooked, some nights we went out. Tonight though - I must say food wise was my favorite night out. We had sushi. It was A-m-A-z-I-n-G. This picture is just some of the sushi that we enjoyed tonight. It is SO pretty and it was SO yummy.

teacher appreciation day

Today was teacher appreciation day at our school. We had a great catered luncheon and received these beautiful flower pots. Each item in the pot was a message from the kids in our class. I thought I would share their sentiments with you. I had to laugh at how many people misspelled my last name. People are so hooked on phonics that they always spell it phonetically. It cracks me up. Here are the lovely words that brightened my day. If you can't read them, click on the pictures and it will expand the picture for you. Enjoy!!