Blue Ribbons, Organization and Freezer Meals

Amy's school was awarded as a National Blue Ribbon School. It's a big honor as only 6 schools from each state are awarded it each year. Today they held a celebration day. It was lucky that it was on a Thursday as that means Lee got to come to! (He stays home on Thursdays)

They had a "pep" rally, complete with the MTSU's pep band playing. It was fun. I love a live band.

I think it was a bit loud for Amy- she sat the entire time with her hands over her ears. (It was hard to get a picture of her). Will was kind of rambunctious at first, but once the band started playing... he was mesmerized. We think he's going to be our musician.

Afterwards they had a kickball game with the teachers vs the 6th graders. The teachers were all cute- they were dressed in athletic shorts, knee-high socks, their school tshirts and their hair in pigtails or some other fun way. I saw Amy's teacher like that this morning and had to laugh.

Amy, Dallin and Will at the kickball game. (She's not wearing lipstick, it just looks like it). Amy said the teachers won the game. (We left early so we could get Will down for a nap.) They also had a pizza party afterwards.

Amy loved showing her friends Baby Tyler.

We just love this school. Granted, we haven't been here long but so far we just really love it. They do a lot of fun events, different things in the classroom and the teachers and staff are also so fun and kind. We are so blessed to live in such a great place!

Remember how I said that Will likes to read Amy's schoolwork? Well, apparently Tyler likes to eat it! Amy's poor work- devoured (in some way) everyday.

Speaking of Tyler- we caught him doing this last night....

Apparently he no longer likes lounging back in his chair. No, in fact, we have to make sure to strap him down as he tries to get out of it all the time.

(He's trying to crawl out of it)

Yesterday I embarked on a task... organizing the hall closet! It's one of those places that "I'll get to it when I get to it." But when we couldn't find the nose zapper the other night (when Will stuck the popcorn kernel up his nose) and I was weeding through the chaos... I decided it was time.

This is the before.... (the things on the floor were shoved into the bottom)

And now, this is the after. Woohoo!!!

I like to coupon and find deals on toiletries- since you can get them for free, or basically free, if you know how to coupon. It's also my way of "toiletry food storage" so to speak.... Everyone's bedroom closet is big- so I moved spare sheet sets in there and there rest of the stuff just needed to be tossed or put where it belongs. Good thing I did- I didn't know that I had 27 tubes of toothpaste, 35 bars of soap and almost no deodorant. Time to start stocking up on certain items again!

I've also been doing a little meal planning ahead. Not really 'family' freezer meals, but instead frozen in individual portions for Lee to take for lunch. I made 3 different meals... enchiladas, chicken strips and lasagna. I also made a large batch of biscuits, cookies and mini-cupcakes- for Amy's lunch and snacks. We are so blessed to have a deep freeze in the garage, so that means I can just keep all this stuff in the main house and everything else in the garage. It's worked out great! And loved that I have one big cooking day (Monday) and we benefit for weeks afterwards because of it!

Last night, all of the kids were piled on me. Which made me laugh because Lee was sitting all by himself on the other couch. I kept saying, "I'm with you all day! You haven't seen Daddy in 2 days (because he teaches nights classes)... go to him!" But no, Mommy rules. I'm not really complaining, I just found it funny.

That's all that we've had going on. Isn't that enough?? haha.

A Post to Catch Up

Things that have happened that I don't have pictures of:

I made the cutest nursing cover for a friend of mine. Grandma would be proud as I even used piping around the edges- it made all the difference! It was beautiful. I'm really sad I didn't take a picture... I'll have to go by her house and take one.

I got to go into Amy's classroom last week and read 2 books to them. I loved being in the classroom! What a fun class she has! I also got to help the teacher out by cutting, laminating and making copies. I love to laminate! (I'm a dork) I recently turned down an invitation to be part of a preschool group because I realized I wanted to be in the school instead. I'm so glad I made that decision- I love being in the school! Since Lee is home on Thursday's- those are my days to go in and do whatever Amy's teacher needs. I'm so excited for it each week!

On Sunday, Tyler had a little runny nose. But Will and I had a touch of something. So everyone but Lee stayed home from church. About an hour after Lee left, Will had such a bad diaper that it was running down his legs (not pee). I was very thankful we had stayed home and that didn't happen in nursery.

That evening Will stuck a popcorn kernel up his nose. It took awhile to get it out and I refused to go to the ER for it. Eventually, Lee held him down, and I was able to gently squeeze the sides of his nose and get it out. That was fun.

On Tuesday, Will fell off something at the playground and he bit his tongue. He was crying and burying his head into my shirt... which resulted in blood stains all over it. {sigh} The things Mothers do for their children. I'm glad it was only a $3 shirt. (He was fine after everything, he was a bit tired)

I guess I need to get back in the habit of carrying my camera around!

On Saturday- me and 7 other gals (and Tyler) hit the Nashville flea market. Wowsers! A HUGE place filled with all sorts of treasures! I actually didn't buy too much- I was too overwhelmed! And also I don't have a lot of space left in my house.... but I did get a few small things.... a set of old keys, a chair.....

and this old milk bottle. I really got it because it said "Rochester, NY" and that's where all my beautiful family lives (and technically, I am "from" NY).

I asked Grandma if she had ever heard of Gentle's Dairy and she hadn't. Though she does have a friend, with the last name "Gentle" and the family owns a farm, so it could have been them. I tried looking it up online, but I didn't find anything. I did see an identical one online that was selling for nearly 3x's what I paid for it, so maybe that's something?? This bottle was made in 1945... a good 20 years before my Grandparents settled in Rochester, so who knows. This bottle is 67 years old. Isn't that cool?? I wonder it's history.... how it went from Rochester, NY to here... preserved all these years.... I love old stuff. I'm going to use it as a vase.

With the addition of my flea market stuff... the horseshoe, the stars (that I still need to straighten), the keys... and a few W's that I still need to paint and hang... my photo wall is nearly complete! Whew. I'm happy with it though. I love it. (Yes Mom, I'll straighten the pictures) 

A lady at church told me about these monstrous Mum's for sale at a local high school. I was a little afraid to go by myself, so I had a friend come along and we were brave together. (I was timid because I don't really think it's right that some random person should be allowed to drive onto a school campus and walk around without being announced) I'm glad we were! These babies are HUGE and were only $6 a piece! Such a deal! The school's special ed department was selling them and the teacher also showed us the greenhouse and the ferns that will be a part of their spring sale. Those are huge and gorgeous too! I can't wait until spring.

When Amy gets home from school, I always go through her folder. It has her work in it and any other information I need. Well.... usually I need to fight Will for it. He LOVES her homework! He reads all the letters and numbers, as well as any words he knows. He's so funny. He'll also color anything she didn't. Who knew I'd have to fight my 2 year old for my daughter's school work??

That's about it around here. I've been keeping myself organized and busy. Saying 'no' to extra playdates and outings, just trying to keep things calm. It's worked really well and has made a difference! The great thing about living here is there is always SO much to do! But I'm learning to say no to keep my own sanity. :)  I am loving this Fall weather! I love fall!

Another Month for Tyler!

Sweet Ty-Ty is 5 months today. His "photoshoot" was a little harder this time as he likes to do this....

....rather than sit still. He's not crawling... yet... but you can tell he's ready! It appears that he knows how, he just lacks the body support to do it. I'm sure it'll come soon!

He's such a sweet baby. And a good one too! He usually sleeps through the night, or at least wakes up once and then goes back down for another few hours. Last night he didn't sleep much, but I think he has a tooth or two coming in. Poor thing. The rest of the day he just sits around and laughs whenever possible. He thinks Amy is hysterical.

 He has a lot of "tummy time." If you lay him down, he flips right over. And then he tries to get whatever toy is in reach. Yesterday I found him a few feet from where I put him, I'm still not sure how he got there.

He chews on everything- watch out if your finger is nearby! I started feeding him solids once a day a few weeks ago. So far he's had bananas, sweet potatoes and avocado, as well as baby rice. He loves to eat! He's also a good nurser too. He's just a sweet, adorable boy who we love! We are sooo glad he came to our family and couldn't imagine life without him!

(He looks skinnier in today's picture. But he doesn't seem skinny in person)

Amy's theme this week at school is the "ocean." Yesterday in science lab they dissected a sardine. Gross, huh? She thought it was fascinating. She told me all about the skin and backbone and then said there were 30 eggs. The class also now has a class pet turtle, that they named "Tuck." (though yesterday she said they changed the name to "Squirt," I'm not sure which it actually is. In a class of Kindergardeners- it's likely to have a new name everyday.) She also had to bring in a small object for a sink or float experiment. So we decided on a paperclip. But before she even brought it to school, she drew this diagram....

To the left is a cup of water, with a question mark at the top. The x means it won't float.
To the right is her, dropping the paperclip into a cup of water and the x there means it will sink.
I guess we should have chosen another object since she already knew how this would turn out.

She got her mid-semester report card and everything was right on schedule. They changed the grading system, so they don't have "A's, B's..." whatever anymore. It has "mastered skill," "progressing towards mastering skill," and "needs help mastering skill." She has a few mastered, but mostly progressing- which is where she should be, so that's great. She's reading really well and seems to also enjoy it- which is a good thing! And as usual, everyday she can't wait to rush off to school.

I don't have any pictures of Will but he's just his usual tornado self. He makes us laugh though and loves his siblings!

We are so glad the weather has finally cooled down. It feels like fall now!! We spend lots of time in the evenings outside and everyone enjoys it!

Playing In the Rain

Oh how I love a good rain..... it's been raining at a good steady rate since early this morning. All day long I thought, "I hope it's still raining when Amy gets home." I knew she'd love it too. It's rare to have a good rainstorm without the storm and lightening. Thankfully, it was still steadily raining and we got to run around in its wonderfulness.

She must have gotten this "peace sign with tongue hanging out" look at school. And then Will tried copying her.

Wonderful rain!

One neighbor was walking her dog and said, "This is great! I love seeing you guys doing this!" I agree. Though I did realize that our neighborhood is well drained. Which, is a good thing..... except when you want to jump in puddles.

I went to Kohl's last week, to use a coupon, and couldn't find much for myself.  So I bought Amy 2 dresses that were on clearance. This is the one she chose for yesterday. She got the headband and necklace, at separate events, over the weekend.

The shirt I did find at Kohl's was a tent like shape. You know, the kind that only looks good on models and super thin people?? Well, I had seen an idea online, where you just shirr the bottom and then it has a waistline and some shape. So I bought this clearance shirt and tried it out. By golly, it worked! It looks great and I was so excited! I so wish Grandma was nearby... well for many reasons, but for one- I'd like her to teach me how to tailor my own clothes. But for now, tips from other blogs will have to work.

I was gone most of the day Saturday, so Lee had lots of bonding time with the kids. They loved it. Sunday we had wonderful friends over for dinner. But I didn't take any pictures. I spent today cleaning the house and it looks so nice. Who doesn't love a clean house!? I'm going to *try* and keep it this way. We'll see how much it works. haha. Lee works late tonight, so I'm hoping to get some sewing done!

I Did It!! He Did it!!

So because this is my blog, written by ME, I'm going to toot my own horn first. I DID IT!! I fixed the dryer!!!

Our dryer has been slowly dying. There are 3 heat cycles... 'timed heat,' 'permanent press/normal' and 'knit/delicate.' Well, the first died out awhile ago. We were going to call a repairman, but I tried another setting and it worked- so we canceled the repairman. Then the next burned out. We've been using 'delicate' for awhile now and sometimes I have to run it twice... so it was obviously dying too.

I think it was mom who mentioned that we probably needed a new heating element and they weren't that hard to fix. Another friend said her husband fixed theirs, and learned how via a youtube video. But really, we want a new and fancy washer/dryer. Lee even said last week, "let's just get a new one." And we really thought hard about it, but when push came to shove, we were unwilling to part with that amount of cash. Eventually we will, but we just aren't quite ready to commit yet.

So the only choices left were to a) by new, cheap dryer b) buy a used dryer or c) fix it ourselves.

I was determined to do "c." I watched a video on youtube on how to replace the heating element, and decided if a professional can do it in a 4 minute video, surely I could conquer it too. Plus, my sis-in-law Ashley fixed their a/c. I'd never attempt that! But a dryer? I was willing to try. I ordered the part from their website (it was the cheapest there) and it came the next day. The only other thing I had to buy was a hexagon screwdriver (or whatever they are called).


I took the heating element out.... gee... I wonder which one was broken?? (in case you aren't sure, it would be the black, fried one)

I put the new one in, connected everything and it was ready to go.

I ran it for a cycle, and even sat right next to it with a box of baking soda, in case it caught fire or something. Nope, it worked perfectly! The cycles that were burned out now work and I am a very happy Mama.

So- to break it down:

• Cost of a new dryer (the one I want)  $700
• Cost to repair old one:  $75 for serviceman to come out and look at it. $50 for the part (without their markup) and probably another $75 for labor = at least $195
• Cost to fix it myself: $45

Thank you youtube!!!

So onto Lee.... he got his diploma in the mail!! He is 100% officially Dr. Wade now! It's scary how much that tiny piece of paper costs! haha. He was so excited!! We all were! Now to just get it framed so he can display it proudly. You deserve it, Lee! You worked so hard for our family. We love you so much!

In child news....

Will got new shoes. I'm usually not a fan of "character" apparel, but he saw these, and there was no turning back. I actually think Lee was looking for them in his size too. When Will wears them, he starts jumping everywhere. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Then I realized it was because when he does, the eyes on the bottom of the shoe light up.

Good buy, Mom!

Last week was bear week at school. On Friday the kids made these bear hats. It was cute seeing all the kids in the pick-up line, wearing these hats. They also made puppets (goldilocks and the 3 bears) that Amy is proudly displaying.

Saturday was really a nice day. I had bought waterguns on clearance and Lee and the kids had a blast running around with them. A few neighborhood kids couldn't resist them either.

Since our neighbor so kindly always mows our lawn, we tend to forget about it. Our edges were awful. Sometimes the neighbor will trim those too, but we are just thankful that he mows it. We don't want to be too picky or demanding. So we finally got our own weed eater. Another neighbor let us borrow her blower. (We have one, but it's a super sonic one and needs some gas/oil mix, her's is small and electric). Will had fun blowing off the driveway.

And yesterday I made GAK with the kids after school. It's a goopy kind of thing... glue, borax and water. Lee worked late last night, so I needed something to help kill time.

Then I remembered it was also Relief Society night at church. So I hurried them up, fed them and got to church to make these block crafts while the kids played with their friends in the playroom.

And since he's not feature yet.... here's our Ty-Ty... just looking cute.