M.I.A.

Don't worry, I'm here!  I know you probably think that I fell off the face of the earth or something, but good news!  I have just been busy getting my craft on.  Anyone who follows me on Pintrest probably already figured out that I have been hunkered down making felt food because I have pinned about a million different pictures of it.  Abby needs some more food for her inside kitchen (not to be confused with all of the food outside in her play house kitchen, which we all know must stay in the outside kitchen because her mother is anal and ocd and can't stand when things aren't in their right place) and the stuff at the store is either cheap (as in crappy) or expensive or, more often than not, both.  So I started looking at pictures of felt food, bought some (all right, 7 yards) felt and started sewing.  You know me.  Once I start something I don't sleep well until it is finished.  So in between working and taking care of my family I spent the past two weeks on this project.  What all did I make?  I thought you'd never ask.  My friends, feast (get it?!?) your eyes on this!

 Bow Tie Pasta, anyone?

 Or how about some yummy doughnuts?

 Maybe an ice cream cone or a Popsicle, if you eat all of your dinner.

 How about an egg and pancake breakfast?

 Or some goldfish crackers?

 Don't forget your fresh fruits and veggies.

Can I interest you in a corn dog?

 How about a PB & J for lunch?  We have grape, raspberry or strawberry jam!

 At the Miller house, tacos are by far our favorite dinner so I had to make sure she had all the fixin's.

 The other day she mentioned that she needed some pot holders as well, so...

So there you have it.  I am sorry I have been ignoring you.  It's just that for the past 14 days my schedule has looked like this:  Work, dinner, swimming lessons, kids to bed, sew like a crazy person, sleep.  Now that I am done with that, I will try to do better.  But who am I kidding?  My list of things to do in the next 6 weeks (the next  years really) is pretty long and you know how I get crazy, I mean focused, with things on my list.  So don't forget about me.  Check back soon because you know that the holidays are always good for some fun around here and you don't want to miss out!

Boo!

Did I scare you? Well I hope not. Because I hate scary things. Halloween really creeps me out. Don't get me wrong. I love to carve pumpkins and dress the kids up in cute costumes but, for me, the fun stops there. Corn mazes and blood and goblins Creep. Me. Out. And don't even get me started on the scariest place I have ever stepped foot in-the Halloween Store. Or adults in costumes. Seriously, people. You are a GROWN UP! And tomorrow I will get to spend my day with 22 5-year-olds who have had way too much junk food and way too little sleep. Jealous?

All that being said, I had a great day! In fact all weekend we have been having a ton of Halloween fun. It started on Friday when we finally got around to carving our pumpkins.

 Abby's pumpkin is a princess...and it is almost as big as she is!!

Ben's is a football player.  A scary football player.

 

Notice the high heels the princess pumpkin is wearing?  She had a wedding dress too but we just couldn't figure out how to make it work...

 We have a hard time getting to everywhere we want to go in one night so on Saturday we made our first stop at my parents house.

 Tonight, we fueled up for our big night of trick or treating with a very scary dinner.  (Well, not that scary because, as you know, I hate that stuff.)  What did we eat?  Well guts and blood of course.  And eyeballs!

We also ate witches fingers,

 and brains.  (Full disclosure, this actually started out as worms but they melted together so I had to make a last minute adjustment.)

 For dessert we had skeletons!

 Then my little scuba diver and mermaid headed out on a 2 and a half hour trick or treating marathon.

 A lot of work, but well worth it!

Now, bring on November because that means Thanksgiving and the minute Thanksgiving is over I get to start getting ready for Christmas, which I love.  Because it isn't scary.

Where'd the weekend go?

This weekend I:
celebrated my birthday with my friends
spent most of Saturday crafting at our first ever "craft day" (many more to come, I hope!)
celebrated my birthday with my family
went grocery shopping
went to the pumpkin patch
reincarnated Steve, the scarecrow
celebrated my birthday with Robbie's family
cleaned the garage


Now? Time to relax because this week is going to be BUSY (again).
Thanks for a great weekend everyone! Love you all!

A cry for help

Okay people, I can admit it.  I have a problem.  A big, huge, time wasting, money costing, problem.  I am addicted.  I.  Cannot.  Stop.  Pinning.  Yup that's right.  My love for Pintrest has gotten out of control.  I need a pintervention.  And quick!  Because not only do I stay up into the wee hours pinning, I have begun spending all of my free time enhancing my life with all sorts of new projects. 

Like this one:

I colored the rice in my rice table at school.  Kids love it!

Or this fine piece of artwork that I made to hang above the bathtub in my bathroom:

 And this one:

 I've been eying this cute map at Target that I want for the playroom but I can't talk myself into the forty dollar price tag.  Enter a $3 piece of burlap (which I wouldn't recommend if you are thinking about doing this project because it sure made things difficult) and 50 different fabric scraps that I already had and wa la!  My plan is to finish it at some point but I am currently not getting along with the mid west or the burlap so it could be awhile.

This weekend was sewing day at our house.  Sewing?  you ask.  Yes.  Sewing.  You see I decided that this is the year I would make costumes for Halloween.  So I asked the kids what they wanted to be.  The verdict?  A scuba diver and a mermaid.  Ummmm ooookaaaay.  Enter my new BFF, Pintrest where I found just what I needed to get me started.  And good news!  Sewing day was a success:

 As long as I was at it, I decided to whip up some cute little burp rags for my nephew who is due to make his grand entrance before too long:

And that's not all.  I have been finding all sorts of new recipes on Pintrest.  I know you are trying to picture me cooking something other than tacos and now you are laughing.  Well stop.  I've made some very yummy things.  I've also made some complete disasters.  But that's another story for another day.

I can't wait for Christmas so I can try out all of my new Pintrest ideas for the holiday season.  Like wrapping up 24 of our Christmas books and unwrapping one each day.  Or putting our elf, Kelf, up to some serious mischief!  The ideas are endless.

Also, I have found a number of things that I MUST have.  Like a new camera, new bedding, and a baby giraffe.  (At first I thought the baby koala was the cutest thing I had ever seen, but then I saw the giraffe.  Game over.)

Yup.  You can see I have a problem.  If you are unfamiliar with the world of Pintrest I beg you to enter at your own risk.  For the sake of your sleep and your family and your friends but most of all, your sleep.  Because no one told me this, but once you start pinning, you won't want to stop!

Down on the Farm

When Megan called to see if we wanted to join them on the Pierce County Farm Tours today, of course we said yes.  We picked Spooner Farms and headed out to meet them.  We had plenty of fun and even avoided the rain!  Scotty was happy to be at the pumpkin patch for the first time...

 While we were there, we rode bouncy horses...

 checked out the farm animals, like this guy (we think his name is Albuquerque)...

 played in the pumpkin pit...

 raced ducks in the water trough...

 found some really big pumpkins...

 watched some goats play king of the haystack...

 hung out with a giant spider...

 smiled for the camera....

 and had our faces painted...

It was a perfect way to spend a fall morning.  Thanks Megs!

On Strike!

So by now you have probably heard that the teachers in my district voted to go on strike last week.  This has been an enlightening week, to say the least.  If you have been following the news at all, I am sure you have some sort of opinion on the subject.  Tonight, I a feeling a little bit anxious about the whole thing so I thought I would share my opinion.

First and foremost you should know that I DID NOT want to go on strike.  Throughout the summer, I heard rumblings that the contract negotiations were going less than swimmingly and that it wasn't looking likely that we would have a contract in place by the start of school.  Still, I was hopeful and confident that I would not vote to strike.  The night before school started, I left Open House (having just met all of my eager new kindergarteners) for the fateful meeting.  As I learned more information about the contract items still on the table and the actions of the district administration, I knew that my mind was changing.  Tears streamed down my face as I checked the "Yes" box on my strike ballot.  As I thought about the short term affects of the strike, I worried about disappointing the kids and paying my mortgage but as I thought of the long term affects of having to live with the terms of the contract the district was proposing, I knew I had chosen the lesser of the two evils.

The vote that night fell short and I got to spend the first 6 days of the school year with a great group of kids before we voted again.  This time, there was no mistake.  87% of the teachers in my district had voted to strike. 

When I headed to the picket line Tuesday morning, I didn't know what to expect.  What I found were new friends, old friends, sore feet and community support (as well as a few choice fingers from the classiest of Tacoma citizens) .  As the days have gone by, a lot has happened.  The district has had no problem portraying us as the bad guys.  We were ordered by a judge to return to work.  Most of us didn't go.  We have seen the students and parents of Tacoma rally around us in an unexpected way.  I will never forget walking out of a meeting in the Tacoma Dome to a tunnel of 500 (give or take a couple 100...you know me and estimates) kids chanting, "We support our teachers!  We support our teachers!"  The staff that I work with have become closer in 4 days on the picket line than the past 4 years in our own classrooms.

Tomorrow, I head back out to the picket line for what I hope to be my last day of civil disobedience.  I am as anxious as anyone to get back to work.  But I am also proud of myself and my fellow teachers for doing not what is easy (as if 6.5 hours with 21 5-year-olds is a piece of cake), but what is right.  We are doing the right thing for ourselves, our profession and our students.  I know there are people who would like to see us sent to jail, fined, and fired as if we are some sort of organized crime ring that is denying children their education.  To them I say relax.  Your child will get their education.  I can appreciate the hardship this is causing for families.  Believe me when I say that we want to be in the classroom just as much as the kids do.  Your child's education is important to us too.  But sometimes, when you have the chance, it is important to stand up for what you know is right.

Yeah...I did it

I painted the chickens' nails.  So?  Don't you think they look pretty?

 Look how happy Alina looks with her new pedicure!!

 Seriously...could these girls be any cuter?!?!!