I'm Turning into Santa!

I have the cutest little girl in my class. She's like a mini adult trapped in a 1st grader's body because she always has the funniest, wittiest things to say. The only problem is that she talks nonstop and often gets into trouble for it. Today was one of those days.

With my new pregnancy brain, I've found I don't remember things very well. So when I talk to a kid at school about their behavior, I usually have to make a note for myself. Today I kept this list in my pocket. But I had so many well-behaved kids today too that I told them I was also going to write down kids' names on a "good side" who would get an extra sticker on their chart at the end of the day.

My little girl came in to see me at recess to talk about her behavior (at my request- since I had the note to remind me!). We chatted and came up with a consequence- she would write the rule that she had broken. But as I was turning to get back to work, this is what I heard . . .

"You know what's kind of funny Mrs. Nye? You have a good and bad list. AND your tummy sort of looks like Santa Claus' belly."

That made me laugh so hard! But the funny thing is-- that's not the first time I've been compared to Santa this holiday! According to my little brother and sister, my pregnant belly shakes when I laugh "like a bowl full of jelly" as well.

This Weekend

**plus exclusive, never-before-seen photos of super-sized, prego Dana.

Spent Friday night at Macaroni Grill catching up with good friends- some I haven't seen for years & years.

Spent Saturday watching this beautiful girl get married! She and I grew up together. It was such a beautiful wedding!Unfortunately, I only really got one photo of her before my camera battery died-- and her hubby's eyes happened to be closed. =(

My favorite part of the weekend was watching Brian play with my friend Juliann's baby all day long at the wedding & reception. He's going to be such a good dad!

Pet Peeve

My husband likes to come home at night, sit on the couch, and remove his shoes & socks there in the living room. Pretty normal. What's not normal is that he shoves his dirty socks under the coffee table!

I decided a week ago that I was tired of getting on my hands & knees to retrieve his dirty socks . . . so I decided to wait. I lasted a week. But when we were having company over yesterday, I refused to let them see the dirty socks. So I got down on my hands & knees once again. And this is what I found:
Seriously?! Who goes through that many socks in a week?! Apparently my hubby does! I'm thinking I'll pass laundry duty over to him for awhile!

And while I'm posting . . . look at this cute dinosaur one of my students' moms gave me today. She MADE IT for our little baby boy! I am so impressed!

Yesterday

Woke up at 2am-- threw up twice. Paced the house, drinking 7up & eating saltines to calm my tummy down.

Fell asleep on the couch. Woke up late with a pounding stress headache.

Sobbed in the shower because I was so overwhelmed with everything that I needed to get done that day.

Got to school-- still planning the day when the bell rang. As a result, nothing ran very smoothly at all.

School's out- tried to write sub plans in 1 hour. Didn't make it-- I took 1 1/2 hours- and the plans weren't very good.

Cried as I drove to my Reading class (I was 1/2 hour late).

Fought back tears as I tried to focus on class & not think about the hours of unfinished homework due in my ESL class the next day.

After Reading Endorsement class, ran to primary presidency meeting (I'm the new 2nd counselor!).

Got home . . . and suddenly everything was better: Our baby bedding had arrived in the mail! Brian had all the boxes set up with a loaf of pumpkin bread (one of my favorite treats). I smiled for the first time that day as we set up the bedding in our crib, admired it for about 2 minutes, ate a slice of pumpkin bread . . . then sat down to work on our homework before going to bed.
I'm doing much better today. =)

Silly Brian

Yes, that is a giant pile of sunflower seed shells.

My husband loves sunflower seeds--- specifically, Zotes Salt & Pepper-flavored sunflower seeds. He orders them by the case from the manufacturer on a monthly basis. (On a sad note, they just went out of business-- but that's another story).

Anyway, about 4 months ago, Brian came up with this brilliant idea-- instead of throwing away all those shells that he goes through, he should save them!! Yes, he should save them in gallon-sized ziploc bags! And then, when he's saved all he can, we will go to the drive-in movies and dump them out by our car. The best part of this plan was the knowledge that some guy will come the next day to clean up and say, "What the heck?!"

Of course, being the super-supportive wife that I am, we saved and saved. At first, he kept the bags in our pantry and I became a little less supportive. Then the bags were moved to a storage closet. By the end, he had 8 gallons of sunflower seed shells. It was time.

We went to the drive-in movie on Friday. It was a double-feature, but we only stayed for one. Before we left, Brian dumped his collection out by our car. We took pictures and jumped in the car to go home. I was feeling sad that Brian could only imagine people's reactions to his 4-month project. BUT we were blessed. As we were pulling away with our windows rolled down, a teenage girl walked by staring at the pile open-mouthed and exclaimed, "What the heck?!" There it was. Totally worth it!

It's a . . .

BOY!!!

We are so excited! Immediately after our ultrasound, we went shopping-- nothing huge, but we were just so excited that we could finally start buying gender-specific items!! Here are the beginnings of our new baby boy's wardrobe:

Moving Down

Tomorrow is my first "official" day back at school. I am now a 1st grade teacher! For the last 4 years, I've been teaching 2nd grade and loving it. But due to some changes being made at my school, I was given the choice of moving to 1st grade or doing a 1st/2nd split. The decision was pretty obvious to me!I spent the last month packing up my old room and moving to my new one. I'm a very slow cleaner & organizer-- but luckily Brian came with me today and gave me time limits to finish cleaning. Anything I didn't file or put away in it's place before my time was up, he actually threw away! That was pretty motivating! I'll have to have him come in regularly to keep me from piling things up!

Our back-to-school theme is from the book, "If you give a mouse a cookie." I had so much fun making my bulletin board-- the decorating is one of my favorite parts of teaching. At back to school night, I'm going to have a treat table with milk & cookies. So much fun!!

The Suite Life

Yesterday, I went shopping with my mother-in-law, Bev, and my niece, Kaylee.

Bev told me that as they were driving up to my condo to pick me up, Kaylee said in amazement, "Brian and Dana still live in this hotel?" I can't decide if she was thinking we were too pathetic to buy a house or too cool to move out of our hotel suite!

(this was the only pic i could find to show off our 3-story condo/hotel)

I tagged along as Bev took Kaylee to Build-A-Bear to celebrate her upcoming birthday. This was my very first time seeing this store. It was amazing! Being pregnant, I couldn't help comparing the Build-A-Bear shop to my own Build-A-Baby experience. The biggest difference I could see is that the kids are happy and energetic as they build their bears. I, on the other hand, get to feel nausea, fatigue, sore muscles, dehydration, emotional breakdowns, and weight-gain as my baby is being "built." Oh, and of course there's that small difference where a baby is way better than a bear! =)After Build-A-Bear we got some lunch and did a little shopping. I got a couple new maternity outfits to start the school year off. Who says you're ever too old to shop for new school clothes?! Kaylee and I were both spoiled-- thank you Bev!

Beautiful New Niece!

We're headed out of town for the weekend. But before we do, I want to introduce my newest niece (and the only one on my side of the family): Olivia Clara Smith!!

Picture stolen from my sister's blog.

I haven't gotten to see her at all yet (Texas is a pretty far drive), but I'm already smitten! She's one week old and because she wasn't actually due until September, she only weighed 2 lb 11 oz at birth. My older sister is amazing and though I'm going to miss 'being pregnant' together, I'm thrilled to have my brand new niece!

Pool Party, Anyone?

The HOA company for our condos went bankrupt and I think they're in the process of transferring our account to another company . . . I think. Something like that! I don't really know what's going on except that our pool now looks like this:

Wouldn't you love to jump into that on a hot summer day?!!

Independence Day Goodies

I love making this centerpiece every year out of mini flags. It may seem nerdy to some (ie, my husband), but it makes me smile!

I made this jell-o treat just for Brian & I to enjoy before we headed off to watch fireworks:
And I made 40 of these babies for Brian's family picnic. Incidentally, the picnic got canceled and I now have heaps of cupcakes in my kitchen! I was going to take them to the neighbor kids today, but they're a little dried out so I think I'll eat what I can & throw out the rest. Luckily, I hadn't put all the flags in yet when we found out it was canceled, so I'm saving those for next year!

Announcement

Brian and I have realized we're both horrible at keeping secrets, so we thought it was time to announce that . . .

I'm Pregnant!!

The baby's due in January. And we're both very excited!

My Handsome Best Man

Brian was a best man today at his friend, Dave's wedding-- the same Dave who was best man at our wedding.

I was laughing so hard all night at the reception because the receiving line was shifted down a little further than normal, putting Brian and Dave right at the center of the backdrop. I thought it was hilarious! But I don't think anyone else noticed. =)He definitely knows how to strike a pose for the camera! ;) I'm trying now to think of more reasons to get him into a tux. I thought he looked so classy~!

Old habits are hard to break . . .

I have serious punctuality issues. This week I decided to do something about it. I remembered a project we had in my Educational Psychology class in college. We had to change or create a new behavior by supplying ourselves with rewards (Pavlov's theory). I changed my study habits that semester with a few simple boxes of Junior Mints.So I decided on Sunday (as we drove to our 1pm church at 1:05) that I would be 15 minutes early to everything this week. If I had 7 consecutive days of meeting my goal, I'd treat myself to Coldstones. I started yesterday. I did pretty well, but I was only 7 minutes early to work. Then today, I tried again and got worse. I was only 3 minutes early. As I walked in the door to summer school this morning at 7:27, my principal looked at me in amazement. Finally, he said, "What is going on? During the regular school year, we meet at 8:15 (implied: I'm never there at 8:15!). Now you're required to be here at 7:30 and you've been early every day???" I explained my ice cream reward to him. Unfortunately, I also explained that my goal is to be 15 minutes early and ended with, "It just seems I'm late no matter what time I shoot for!" (note: probably not the smartest thing to say to your boss.)

Seriously-- why is my mind so messed up that I can only be on time when I'm trying to be somewhere super early?! I don't get it!

Update: my reward is now contingent on being only 10 minutes early AND only for 4 days total --- I really want that ice cream!

a wedding in the family!

my older brother's getting married in october and i'm getting a new sister-in-law!!
i only have a picture of me with my brother. i don't have a single picture of abby because i haven't even met her yet! i'll get to meet her on the day of their wedding- weird, huh? i guess that's what happens when your family lives all over the country. my older sister & brother-in-law in TX didn't meet brian till our wedding either.

even though i haven't met her, i know she's won over the rest of my family and they all think she's the sweetest and best girl for my brother. i'm so happy!

I'm Getting Littler

No . . . I'm not blogging at school . . . on my lunch break . . .

Today was field day. One of the 3rd graders (who was my 2nd grader last year) came up to me and gave me a big hug. Then he pulled away and said, "Mrs. Nye, you seem like you're getting littler!"

I started cracking up! Of course it's not that he's grown a foot in the last year and now comes up to my shoulders-- I must be the one shrinking! However, I think I'm going to assume he was speaking of my waist size. Yes, I'm sure that was it!!

g.g.

i cried 2 years ago when they announced the end of "gilmore girls"

i cried when the last episode was over

i cried and squealed and shouted for joy last night when i saw a commercial advertising "an all new gilmore girls season" coming in june

i cried when i researched it online and realized it's just the next season of reruns that they're airing

now i'm just angry

what's my name?

The other day in a faculty meeting, the reading teacher was making some reference to me and she called me "Danna (like Anna) Nay (instead of 'Nye')." I thought it was terribly funny.

However, my husband thought it was much funnier and has since found another variation of my name that he likes (and uses in public): Da-nay-nay.

Oh brother.

Creative Dating

Brian and I are taking this Marriage Workshop class (NOT counseling-- don't worry!). Our assignment this week is to go on a creative date for less than $10.

Any ideas???

does anyone know . . .

where i can get a shower curtain like this?

i saw it awhile ago on this blog and i fell in love. i've looked everywhere i can think of & i still can't find it. if anyone knows, please tell me!!!

Appreciate Your Teachers

In honor of teacher appreciation week, I'm going to post a cute gift idea. It was made by one of my students and her mother at the beginning of this school year. I thought it was so cute, I kept it in my classroom where I could see it everyday. Only recently did I bring it home to put it to good use-- and since then I've received compliments from everyone who's entered our guest bathroom!Although I haven't made this, I did ask them how they did it:

1. Buy a bottle of soap.
2. Empty the contents and clean off any labels.
3. Copy a cute saying or something onto a transparency and cut it to fit in the bottle.4. Place the transparency in the bottle.
5. Place marbles or something in the bottom.
6. Pour soap back in.
I'm sure this would also make a cute end-of-year present for teachers.

And I don't mean to imply that teachers expect gifts. We don't!! I just know some of you like to give gifts. I just thought I'd help!!

beautiful moms

for mother's day in the 2nd grade, we have the kids draw portraits of their mothers.

these hang on the bulletin board in the hall for the rest of the school to see. little do the kids know that this is mostly for the entertainment of the faculty and staff at the school. it is so cute to see how they portray their mothers.i just had to share this one with you. it is, by far, my favorite! it's from one of the other 2nd grade classes. but i seriously can't get enough of it . . .

Last Week

Last week we went camping.
One word: FREEZING!

Thursday: We drove 4-5 hours to Joe's Valley with some of Brian's friends from the rock climbing gym.

They bouldered . . .

And I sat here with my blanket & book (while I wasn't taking pics) . . .All 4 of them had a crash pad to carry on their backs as we hiked to the different spots. It was pretty funny to watch the giant pads climbing up the hills with little legs under them!
Thursday Night: Brian & I set up camp & said goodbye to our friends. (there may have been some slight wishes that we were going back home with them)

Friday: We spent the day exploring the remains of old, abandoned mining communities. Brian took pictures for his final project in his photography class.

gratitude journal

cute gift out of nowhere.
just because it made him think of me.














1st entry: i'm grateful for my hubby
what are you grateful for today?

Excuses

I have this game that I like to play:
Whenever I'm driving and I see another driver do something stupid, I like to make up extravagant excuses for their behavior.

For example, the guy who cut me off on the freeway is probably rushing his wife to the emergency room to deliver their baby. Or the old man who is driving 15 under the speed limit is probably wearing new shoes that day that happen to be way too tight and it hurts him to press on the gas pedal too hard.

But this afternoon as I drove home from school, I prayed that all the other drivers might be playing my excuse game for me. I took every corner at 2 mph and drove about 5 under the speed limit the whole way home.

My excuse? About 50 butterfly cocoons were sitting in my backseat coming to spend spring break at our home. Each of them was hanging by small, silk-like threads on the walls of 2 aquarium-type thingys. Seriously, can your excuse get better than that? I wish I had made that one up!

So the next time you're behind a really slow person . . . just think-- they may also be transporting butterfly cocoons. (or wearing too-tight shoes!)

(here are the butterfly cocoons in their new home in our guest bathroom)

Aren't they kinda gross-looking? I'm not an animal/bug/cocoon lover so this is difficult for me.

Young Again

spirit week
students dress like teachers
teachers dress like students

me in my new hannah montana attire

Dreaming of Spring

On Friday, we spent our evening putting together our new bbq grill!

On Saturday, we had friends over for the first bbq of the season!

On Sunday, we went back to this:Stupid.

Doesn't the bbq grill look cold? Poor thing.