But first things first... Look at this little climber! And check out her curls!
A dear friend from college has always said that when she gets married, when she and her groom walk out of the church, it will be to the tune of the hymn, "Oh Lord, I Thought the Day Would Never Come."
For the past couple of months, I've been singing that same tune regarding the absence of teeth in my little bit--mostly because that absence was coupled with an extended period of dental agony for her. I am so happy to report that her 2 bottom teeth have come through, and she's working on the top 2. Bless her. She is hitting many milestones all at once. She has teeth, climbs the stairs, picks up new "words" every day, and has even taken her first few independent steps--although I think we are still a ways off from "walking."
The Westhaven consignment sale turned out to be quite a successful event for Linds and me. I racked up on Holiday wear. Here is a picture of Addison's loot:
A novice to baby brand names, I turned to Amy and Sarah for help, and boy did they help me. The pieces above are from the Kissy Kissy, Strausburg, Baily Boys, and Kelly Kids lines. Lindsay and I did a conservative guesstimate on what these outfits would have retailed for, and our total came up to around $320. I paid less than $80. Some of these outfits have never been worn, and the two jumpers are even reversible. On the other side of the candy corn is a turkey for Thanksgiving. On the other side of the Santa jumper are flowers. Addy-girl is going to be some kind of cute. :)
I also wanted to update on my couponing habits I've been picking up. In the three weeks that I've been trying out this new hobby, I have saved $74.23 on groceries alone--not counting diapers, formula, and other various items. I decided to start off simple--using the Sunday paper coupons, shopping the sales, and using my Kroger plus card. I didn't want to get in over my head and quit. I am so excited about my success, and this is the first month in a long time, that we are going to come in under our grocery budget. My next goal is to learn the CVS system and look for opportunities to double my savings with special events.
The 2009-2010 school year has begun, and it is already wild and exciting. In addition to my AP and Pre AP class preps, I have another (adorable) student teacher who I am supervising, am mentoring a new teacher, and am sponsoring the Senior class. Addison is thriving in the Eagle's Nest, and they ride her by my room 2-3 times a day. My kids love the distracting raucous she always causes and look for ways to keep me off track. :) It's been nice to have some structure back to our days, but I look forward to that 2:30 bell of freedom each afternoon.
We are beginning a longer stint of P having to be away, so think of us if you get the chance!
But first things first... Look at this little climber! And check out her curls!
A dear friend from college has always said that when she gets married, when she and her groom walk out of the church, it will be to the tune of the hymn, "Oh Lord, I Thought the Day Would Never Come."
For the past couple of months, I've been singing that same tune regarding the absence of teeth in my little bit--mostly because that absence was coupled with an extended period of dental agony for her. I am so happy to report that her 2 bottom teeth have come through, and she's working on the top 2. Bless her. She is hitting many milestones all at once. She has teeth, climbs the stairs, picks up new "words" every day, and has even taken her first few independent steps--although I think we are still a ways off from "walking."
The Westhaven consignment sale turned out to be quite a successful event for Linds and me. I racked up on Holiday wear. Here is a picture of Addison's loot:
A novice to baby brand names, I turned to Amy and Sarah for help, and boy did they help me. The pieces above are from the Kissy Kissy, Strausburg, Baily Boys, and Kelly Kids lines. Lindsay and I did a conservative guesstimate on what these outfits would have retailed for, and our total came up to around $320. I paid less than $80. Some of these outfits have never been worn, and the two jumpers are even reversible. On the other side of the candy corn is a turkey for Thanksgiving. On the other side of the Santa jumper are flowers. Addy-girl is going to be some kind of cute. :)
I also wanted to update on my couponing habits I've been picking up. In the three weeks that I've been trying out this new hobby, I have saved $74.23 on groceries alone--not counting diapers, formula, and other various items. I decided to start off simple--using the Sunday paper coupons, shopping the sales, and using my Kroger plus card. I didn't want to get in over my head and quit. I am so excited about my success, and this is the first month in a long time, that we are going to come in under our grocery budget. My next goal is to learn the CVS system and look for opportunities to double my savings with special events.
The 2009-2010 school year has begun, and it is already wild and exciting. In addition to my AP and Pre AP class preps, I have another (adorable) student teacher who I am supervising, am mentoring a new teacher, and am sponsoring the Senior class. Addison is thriving in the Eagle's Nest, and they ride her by my room 2-3 times a day. My kids love the distracting raucous she always causes and look for ways to keep me off track. :) It's been nice to have some structure back to our days, but I look forward to that 2:30 bell of freedom each afternoon.
We are beginning a longer stint of P having to be away, so think of us if you get the chance!
A novice to baby brand names, I turned to Amy and Sarah for help, and boy did they help me. The pieces above are from the Kissy Kissy, Strausburg, Baily Boys, and Kelly Kids lines. Lindsay and I did a conservative guesstimate on what these outfits would have retailed for, and our total came up to around $320. I paid less than $80. Some of these outfits have never been worn, and the two jumpers are even reversible. On the other side of the candy corn is a turkey for Thanksgiving. On the other side of the Santa jumper are flowers. Addy-girl is going to be some kind of cute. :)
After we made it through the frustrations of all of the hectic traffic and the search for our parking space, we really enjoyed the night. We were nervous about how Addison would do because it was pushing it on her bed time schedule, but she probably had the most fun out of all of us. She has a love/hate relationship with the Baby Bjorn, and thankfully last night, both for her and Patrick's sakes, she loved it. The fireworks, music, and masses of people kept her giggling, waving, clapping, and dancing. We enjoyed our Logan's cheeseburger (truthfully, the reason why I'll always say yes to a Titan's game), watched the first half, and then met up with the Meek fam so Addison and Savannah could see each other before calling it a night. Thanks for the tickets, Mark and Andrea!
I can hardly stand it, but this month I was delighted when I read this:
Included in Pat Conroy's Charleston is a map of places that his characters visit in the book, a list of his personal favorite Charlestonian places, and an excerpt from his book. Talk about whetting your appetite... I could taste what his character ate for breakfast. I could feel the climate he described. I could sense the elitism of his Old-Charleston-South-of-Broadians through their names, their physical descriptions, their speech. It was good stuff. It's been 14 years since he released any work of fiction. It has been worth the wait.
I found Dorothy Benton Frank after I had exhausted all of my Conroy options, and I have found her writing to be refreshingly witty. Her characters are endearingly flawed, and while sometimes the endings are neatly tied up packages that seem to challenge reality, the dialogue, the inner monologues, the awkward situations provide for laugh-out-loud moments and keep the reader hooked. 