Thursday 13: my life in 13 numbers

6 - the number of Kleenex boxes I have gone through since coming down with the yuck on Saturday.

2 - the number of packages UPS delivered to my house today.

22 - the number of days until Donovan and Kaleigh get here.

512 - the number of days since I have seen them.

80- the percent Russell is coming to the PapaJohns.com Bowl.

3- the number of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I have consumed as meals this week.

11- the number of school days left until Winter Break.

2- the number of little girls I can't wait to see on Saturday night.

3 - the number of days until I suspect the nutcrackers will be out and arranged

4- the number of social events we have been invited to so far this holiday season.

2 - the number of things I have thought of that I wish Kim would make this holiday season. Peanut butter and Ritz dipped in chocolate (for Jimmy) and corn flake candy (for me!)

1- the number of my wise men in need of repair.

40- the percent chance of snow for us on Saturday.

and she's back

I am feeling much better- not 100% but at least 80% so that's great. I am planning on going to work tomorrow and I can't wait to see all of my sweet little kids. I hope they have missed me as much as I have missed them. I realized how sick I must have been today when I looked out the window and saw the light up reindeer in the yard. I remember Clark (Mr. D's December name) putting the lights up, but realized I never went our to admire his handy work. That was Sunday. Tonight, I ventured out into the elements to check it out and he did a very nice job this year. Thanks Clark!

Another someone who was glad I am feeling better is Brady-rific. This is a picture I snapped of him this evening. He cracked me up just sitting at his food bowl waiting for dinner to be served.
I guess nobody cooks like Momma does. I did feel well enough to cook us some form of a dinner tonight- baked potatoes and garlic bread. It's a start. I served up some peanut M&M's for dessert. Nothing but the best for Clark and I. As for mister sitting at his bowl, the usual dog food with a small dollop of sour cream and bacon on top. Spoiled, I know.

Thanksgiving is all a blur now. We had a great time and of course made our big announcement. It was so funny in that Mr. D. was a nervous wreck until it was over. I could feel the stress radiating off of him and have never seen his desire for something to be so perfect. It was sweet. He made a movie, which I can't post here because it has way too much identifying information on it to the public eye. Sorry :( If you aren't in the know, believe me it was quite precious. Meredith was the first to figure out the deal-e-oh, or at least the first to say something out loud. I believe her words were "Holy Crap" but again, it's all a blur and I may be wrong. Meredith.......... clarification here............. Anyway, there was lots of screaming and hugging all around. I remember being so proud to show off that baby's sweet face on the sonogram part of the movie. It was a fun night. Mr. D. and I were no where near each other, so I don't know what happened on his side of the room. I will never forget how good it felt to finally let that cat out of the bag. Before we left Atlanta, Mr. D.'s mom gave me Henry's bib to bring back with the new baby next year.

Meredith and I went to the BabysRus. It was SO fun! She gave me tons of advise and was able to think of things I have never even thought of. With Henry only being 4 months old, this is all still fresh in her mind. She is one proud Aunt already. I bought the first real thing for the bambino. It is a sleeper thing that will fit nicely in the hotel. Meredith and I think it will be nice and it's much smaller than a pack and play. Meredith picked out a few precious sleepers for the sweet girl.
It was great! I can't wait to see the little lady in these. Speaking of cute clothes, when I got home, Meghan had left these for us.

One things is for sure, this is one well dressed baby already. They are all hanging in her closet waiting.
OK- since I am on a total rant of baby blogging, I guess I will continue on. The car seat and stroller have been ordered and are on their way here. I will let you know that the name of the pattern of her car seat is called Giselle. I thought it was very fitting for this Patriots family!

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!"