Put on a happy face

It may be rough, but we'll make it!  Scott's stitches are out, I got paid my paltry sum for working my tail off as a teacher, and the kids all got their flu shots.  Luckily they're doing pretty well with it today!  Most of them have runny noses now, but I'm hoping that has nothing to do with it!
We had two desserts with our dinner tonight!  I made no-cook mints from a recipe in my recipe box and we all loved them!  They taste a lot like butter mints!  Yum!  We also had Pumpkin Spice Caramel Delight (from a Pillsbury mix) and it was great too!
I was super excited to spend some one-on-one time with each kiddo today.  My daughter reminded me that we used to have it during quiet time, and I had forgotten, since I'm usually working during quiet time.  I spent 20 minutes with each kiddo.  Josh watched Mater's Tall Tales with me (his favorite on Netflix).  Cecilia had me do her hair and colored some pictures.  Leah and Emma both chose to work on fun foam projects.  Kira and I made bows.  Ben told me stories.  It was nice, although I desperately wanted a nap afterwards (not an option)!  Hopefully I remember again next Saturday!
Samuel has been moving around like crazy today!  Scott was able to feel him move this morning and evening!  It hurt this evening!  I don't know what he was doing, but I was glad he stopped!  I get the feeling that he is going to be huge!  Especially since I don't want to have him early!
I'm super excited that I was able to order the fold over elastic I need in order to make cloth diapers.  I have the PUL fabric, the snaps, the snap pliers, and velcro, so I needed the elastic!  Then I'll figure out the fleece/flannel insides!  I might just invest in some used inserts and go from there!  I'll investigate to see what's cheapest!  I'm super excited about it!  Josh will hopefully love the change!  If nothing else, his bottom will be adorably covered!

No cancer!

This week was all kinds of crazy!  I had to get a sub for Tuesday, because Scott had surgery on his tongue an hour away.  I had to bring all the kids, but the two oldest (they went to school with friends).  Once we watched Scott go off for his surgery, we went to Target to pick up some necessities and then to the Zoo.  It was super cold, so we paid to drive through-totally worth it!  We got out, so the kids could see the elephants up close.  They loved it!  Then we saw the antelopes and got back in the car for the rest of the trip!  It's a pretty cool zoo!  I'll be excited to see it better when it's warmer outside and we can actually walk around!  We got a call while the kids were playing at the playground that he was going to be ready to go in twenty minutes, so they played a little longer and we headed out to get him.  We waited and ate lunch (I brought peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches).  We had already finished by the time he came out.  He was hoping I'd come in, so he could be goofy and talk about that hot woman that was his wife.  I think we'll be okay!  We stopped halfway to check out a few houses that we saw online, but the yard was tiny, which is not what we're going for!  By then Scott was already starting to hurt, so we booked it back into town to get his prescriptions filled!  We bought a bag of ice for him to cool off his poor stitched tongue while we waited thirty minutes!  Then we went straight home, so he could take his meds!  He was hurting so bad, but he was still nice enough to inform everyone that they wanted to stay away, because he was cranky.  I got the kids from school and came home to make dinner for the missionaries.  Afterwards I went to the grocery store and got all the things he needed, so he could eat!  I feel so bad for my poor husband!

The next day was my Formal observation, which went pretty well considering I had a sub the day before!  It wasn't perfect, but I was still happy with the outcome!  I don't mind learning what I can do better!
Scott got to go back up to find out that his bump was benign, so no cancer!  Woohoo!  I was pretty excited when he texted me at lunch on Friday!  The bad news is that he has to go back next Wednesday to get his stitches out!  But, at least it's payday!  So, I'm still a happy camper!
Today we went back online to look at more houses and there's one we like in another city, and it's across the street from the elementary school in a good school district!  It's under our budget too!  That would give us the extra money we need in order to fix it up, get my husband's aquaponics system set up, and prepare for a new baby!  We'll see how it goes!  The good news is that our realtor is the realtor for the house too!  That should make it a lot easier!

We're healthy!

After having nasty noses for a super long time, for the most part we are nose breathing again!  Aaahhhh!  I did not feel great for a day this week, but only a day really isn't bad!  I had terrible chills for at least thirty minutes, but prayed and my loving Heavenly Father healed me!  He loves us!  It was already a hard week, being the first week back after a two week break.  I had to reteach like crazy!  My kids were doing great by Friday though!  Phew!  I stayed after school with Emma to get some things done, but started worrying about my older kiddos that would be coming home soon, so Emma and I walked home.  Scott was just leaving his appointment an hour away, and we still beat him by thirty minutes!  We were feeling it though, so Emma and I just sat for a little while!  Scott let me know that he has to have surgery on Tuesday, in consequence I had to get a sub for the day.  Bummer!  I know that I'd want to be there no matter what though!  I'm paranoid about my family!
Yesterday we got some cleaning done and I finished my planning for this next week!  Lots of new stuff going on!  I'm excited to see how it goes!  I also got a sub that already knows my kids, awesome!
Today we got to enjoy the Sabbath spirit!  The kids loved my oatmeal (thanks to my Dad's recipe)!  Josh was such a big boy eating at the table!



He's getting so grown!  I'm super impressed with my little man!
Emma is doing pretty well with going to first grade for an hour every day too!  She loves it!
Scott and I were looking at houses online and found one we really like, so maybe next week we'll look into some showings.  We have to see how the surgery goes!  I really hope it goes well!  He has been dealing with that bump on his tongue for awhile now, and we're desperately hoping it's not cancerous!

Winter Vacation is almost over

and it's snowing outside!  It's also FREEZING COLD!!!  I was sad that it had already started snowing when I went to return Turbo to the Redbox.  The windows look really cool though!  It almost looks like a mini snow scene with the snow blowing onto our windows!
Anyway, on to what we were up to this week!
We all went to my appointment and found out that we're having a BOY!!!  Samuel Parker is coming!
We ended the year with everyone sleeping, but me.  I read a book until one in the morning, and woke my husband up for a minute to tell him Happy New Year.  Same old, same old.  We spent all week playing games, cleaning, doing LOTS of laundry, organizing, decluttering...  The things that I have a hard time doing when I'm working from 7:30-5:05.  The kids had a great time celebrating the new year and they especially liked black eyed peas with sausage!  Yum!  I felt bad that I had forgot the cornbread, but everyone was pretty happy!  Then it was Cecilia's third birthday, her Golden Birthday!  I felt bad, because Golden Birthdays are supposed to be big, and the coolest thing she got to do was go and help me pick some groceries!  She wanted mac and cheese for her birthday dinner!  What a great kid!  She was thrilled with her homemade cake and watching Turbo on our free tv on the living room floor!  She slept through our first time watching it, so we watched it again after the cake and ice cream.  Cecilia shared her candy so sweetly!  Josh refused to go to bed until the movie was over, so he went to bed kinda late!  Cecilia said it was the best birthday ever and that I am the best mom!  High praise from a three-year-old!  The girls worked hard to decorate with the Frozen theme, so they made snowflakes and taped them up all over the room and even made an Olaf game, where you pin the branches on Olaf.  Cecilia loves all of her presents!  She is still working on her huge lollipop that I gave her!  Our kids are so fun and for the most part they are great together!  You can tell they love each other!  We're still working on the working together!  But, if you turn on Kid Snippets, Studio C, or Frozen anything, they'll come from wherever they're at in the house to come look!  I love my kids!, but I'm also excited to see how my Kindergartners did over the two-week break!

Top 13 Happy Things about 2013

Moving to Liberal (Kira)
Emma is in Kindergarten and gets to go to 1st Grade for an hour a day starting next week! (Emma)
Going to Power Play for Ben's Birthday (Ben)
Cecilia liked the cotton candy at Power Play!
Josh liked getting his Cars bed!  He especially likes the Cars blanket his big brother let him have!
Graduating from College with my Bachelor's in Science with honors!  Woohoo!  (Tamera)
Getting my first real teaching job and getting paid!  Woot Woot!  (Tamera and Scott's happy about it too)
Leah likes having good dreams.
The kids all agree that they really like having yummy dinners and feeding the Missionaries!
They also like having Netflix!
We're having another boy-Samuel Parker!
That I lost ten pounds and haven't gained them back yet! (Tamera)
That my family has come to visit twice!

Things we're looking forward to (Hopefully in 2014)
Having Samuel!
Buying a house!
Getting a dog
Leah starts Kindergarten
Ben turns 12!
A Dual-income home with no babysitter needed (I can hope, right?)
Family Vacation on Spring Break and seeing all of my family (I haven't seen my brother since his 3 year old was born)!
Family Vacation in Utah to see my husband's side of the family that we haven't seen in a long time!
Having a bigger car, so Samuel will fit!
Working my second year of teaching!
Reading lots of good books!
Landscaping around our new house-I expect at least one pond and waterfall!
Restarting my photography business, it sounds like I'm needed!
Getting my craft stuff organized, so I can restart my craft business too!