My Big Boy!

Before I post birthday pictures, I had to let you see Ethan's first haircut! Today I got enough courage to cut Ethan's hair myself. I was almost in tears doing it. But, as you can see, no harm done! Afterwards, I just sat back and watched Ethan play... he is so grown up and so handsome.

Austen Men

Crack me up! Becca and I watched Pride and Prejudice last night. I couldn't wait for OPB's Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday to see the next part. I went online to check the schedule and I had to laugh at this http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/austen/menofausten.html! I know Kati and Becca would have a blast looking at who came in first place!

There He Goes!

I had to post a picture of Ethan walking so that family can see! Look at him go! Today I was dog sitting and Ethan just took off and went after the black lab! The lab was afraid. I would be too...

Won Again!

This month's question for teachers on Scholastic's Winning Ideas was "What Are 15-20 Books You Can't Live Without." That was a hard question... as many of you know I have a weakness for children's books. I could never pick so few. So I picked 15-20 Farm and Spring books and won! Check out the article at http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748973!

Not Just Any Ol' Rash

So, Sunday Ethan woke up with not just a rash but hives! Now it does bother him. Monday we were in the doctor's office for 5 hours. It was so not fun. By the way, I never want to be a single Mom. For those who are, you deserve a medal! To have to get a child itching and wanting to tear his skin off in the doctor's office, to lunch, to the lab to get a urine sample, to Safeway to get medication, and home again was no picnic!

On a sweeter note, Dave surprised me with a "walking" valentine. Ethan walked into class today with a HUGE balloon cliped to him that was playing "You're the One." We were in the middle of Circle Time and when Ethan saw all the children he clapped. It was awesome. I wish he stayed longer. I love my two special guys. Dave also got me a chocolate box and the same kind but tiny from Lil E.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sick and Walking

So I got Ethan up this morning and he was covered head to toe (literally) with a rash. I called the doctor and apparently when a little one has a viral infection they usually get a rash too. Wow. I was surprised at how it didn't seem to bother the little guy. Other than him being irritable from being sick, he did pretty good today. Ethan is now walking all over the place and well... let's just say "We're in for it!"

The Seven Day Experiment

Last night, at church, we finished our Bible study on 1 Thessalonians. It was a great study and I wish I could of gone to all the lessons. Last night we closed with a challenge this week. Every day this week we are to do something special that had to do with the book we were studying. Today's was "Rejoice in God's presence in each place you go."

When I read that, I thought, wow... in each place I go? Do we really do that? I mean do we rejoice in God's presence at the grocery store? At work? While we are doing endless loads of laundry? While we are changing a dirty diper? I think that if we were honest with ourselves we would have to say that we aren't rejoicing most of the time. Do we smile on the outside but are angry at God on the inside?

So, today as I woke up to no snow day, so I was already in a mood. So, I began the day thanking God for the oppertunity to teach His children today. You know... God opened my eyes at the end of the day. Do you know what I saw today? I was hugged for the first time by several children and got a kiss from one. I saw children looking to me for acception, approval, and praise which shows a sign of respect and love. Children were excited to be at school and couldn't wait until the next activity. I came home to a clean house with a husband cooking an AMAZING dinner. My child was asleep and I had nothing to do but sit down and rejoice God for it. I then was able to see my son walk to me on his own and give me a hug and kiss. Later, I was able to talk to a parent that is going to start their child at school next week. Our school was able to bless her and I got to tell her the news... I could tell that she was in tears and touched by the blessing.

Praise God for all that He does... sometimes we don't look at the little things. Aren't the every day blessings just as important?

Playing In The Snow

I made my first snowman today. Ok, it is way harder than it looks. I think the head fell off two times. Ethan just sat and watched. Then I had him come with me to find sticks for the arms. He kept on imitating me saying "sticks." It was so funny. I then called to Dave to get me a carrot (he was inside cooking lunch) for the snowman's nose. I broke off half of the head from putting the nose on too hard. Seriously. After trying my best to fix Mr. Snowman, I got birdseed and put it all around him so that we could enjoy watching the birds from the front window. Dave then came outside to take pictures of Ethan's first snow angel.
I love this picture of him. I know what he is thinking. "My mom has lost it!" I then put him down to make his own...
I am not quite sure what was going through his mind... maybe something like, "My mom has lost it!"

Snow Day

Well, Dave woke me up on his way home from work this morning telling me to look outside. We had about 4 inches of snow and it was still coming down! Dave had a little scare sliding around on the highway. He then came home to put chains on the tires of our car so that we could go to church. Then we celebrated the weekend by going to IKEA with Becca and Josh. It is my new favorite place in the world! (My favorite rooms were the craft rooms - no surprise there - and the kids department!)

Scholastic Winning Idea!

For those who know my teaching style, know that I teach thematically. Well, this month's question on http://www.scholastic.com/ was "What is your favorite thematic unit?" I love so many that I just went with this month's theme of "winter." Guess what? I won! I won $100 of teaching supplies. Here is the full article http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3748778. If you click on "Explore Winter" you can see my original post with more links to more classroom photos. Thanks to Becca and Josh too! They helped out and Josh built the reading center! Love you guys!