Parisian Love

It was a rainy cold day here again. We are not getting all the pretty snow like so many people are. Nope...just lots of cold rain!

I worked at school till pretty late today so Steve and I went to a little Greek restaurant that serves home cooking for dinner. We were definitely the youngest people there! haha

While we were there we were talking about the Super Bowl commercials we liked and Steve told me he had to show me one of his favorites! I must have missed this one, but it reminded me so much of Mark. Did I tell you that he is trying to study abroad in Spain next fall?? That boy is itching to see the world. He is in the process of filling out all the applications right now. I really want him to get it, but I will miss him so much. He will be gone for three months!!

Anyway...this is the best commercial so I just wanted to share it today! (And I hope he doesn't fall in love with a Spanish girl while he's there!)

Monday, Monday

So...how was your weekend? Ours was good! Friday night we didn't do much. I made a pork chop recipe that I found in the January Southern Living (it's right up my alley--made with pepper jelly and jalepenos!)


...and we just rented a movie. I can hardly keep my eyes open on Friday nights anymore. Watching a movie for me means sleeping half way through it! Getting up at 5:30 all week long just finally catches up with me I guess. And by the way, don't bother getting Revolutionary Road. That is a very depressing and dark movie. I was NOT a fan!!

Saturday morning I got to do something I have been wanting to do for a while...I took a photography class! I have a Nikon D50 camera, but I always leave it on the automatic settings.


I have always wanted to learn what all those fancy settings were for and how to use them. A friend of mine from high school, Whitney Gray, is a professional photographer and she offers classes now. There were only five of us there and the thing I liked about it was that it wasn't technical. It was very simple and easy to understand. Her teaching is for women who just want to take good pictures of their kids and scrapbooks, etc. That was so much fun and I really want to practice using all the tips she gave us.

Saturday night Mark came home. He had gone to South Carolina to visit friends and came back through Charlotte on his way back to NC State. I made one of his favorites, King Ranch Chicken, and John and Ashley came over to share it with us. We hung out and talked for a long time and just had fun.

Yesterday was church then lunch at Chili's. And last night we had a Super Bowl party with our Sunday School class. I was so glad the Saints won! We had some yummy wings and lots of other "game food". And I think I spent about as much time talking and catching up with people as I did watching the game.


Watching Drew Brees holding his little boy after the game was one of my favorite parts. That was such a sweet moment!


And my favorite commercials were the ETrade commercials and the Doritos commercial. I thought those were cute! :)

Now it's already Monday again. I was so tired today. Got to get to bed early tonight so I will have a good day tomorrow!

Five

Well, those snow days we had were so nice and relaxing. And it was a good thing because it has been a crazy whirlwind ever since! First of all, we went back to school yesterday (even though there were still some icy patches on the road!) They have all melted now though and it was even really nice out today. Report cards go home tomorrow so I have been super busy trying to get those done. Writing comments on each child's report card takes me a long time because I spend a lot of time thinking about exactly what I want to say and how to say it. Report cards are a big deal! Remember how nervous or excited you used to be to get yours? Haha! It's still the same. :)




I've got five random things to share today...

1-I got some really good news today! Ashley won First Year Teacher Of The Year at her school! I was so proud of her! She works so hard and has a really difficult group of children. But she does an amazing job and she loves all her kids so much. Did I tell you that my mom (who is a retired school teacher) goes in every Tuesday and Thursday and spends the day pretty much being her assistant? Ashley doesn't have an assistant, so she is so happy to have her come help!


2-I am looking forward to this weekend! It was supposed to snow again, but now it looks like we are going to miss it. I am glad because I am hoping to get some Valentine"s Day shopping done! I love all that pink and red and chocolate and all the cute hearts and "love" stuff like these at Hostess With The Mostest...


What do you do special for your kids or husband for Valentine's Day??

3-We are having a little Super Bowl get together on Sunday night, too. We are doing the buffalo wings and drinks and everybody else is bringing an appetizer. I hope the Saints win! Are you doing anything for the Super Bowl? The commercials are actually one of my favorite parts! :)

4-Have you ever heard the song "These Are The Words I Would Say" by Sidewalk Prophets? Some songs just grab my heart everytime I hear them and this one does. I almost start crying when I hear it because it so accurately describes what I would say to my own children who I love so much! You should hear it when you visit my blog because I have it at the top of my playlist! Love that song!!

Be strong in the Lord
And never give up hope.
You're going to do great things,
I already know.
God's got His hand on you,
So don't live life in fear.
Forgive and forget,
But don't forget why you're here,
Take your time and pray,
These are the words I would say...


5-And, I just have to share something funny I heard about this week. Have you ever heard of RunPee.com? I had never heard of it before until this week. It is a website that you can go to that tells you all the places in a movie that are good for taking a bathroom break! haha Don't you hate it when you are watching a really good movie and you need to go?? Well, from now on you won't ever miss an exciting part of a movie again with the help of this website! So...that is my tip for the week. :)

Snow Day

Today was a completely lazy day. This is crazy, but I don't think I've ever stayed in my pajamas all day unless I was sick. But I did today! And it was FUN. :)

We slept in this morning (hallelujah!!) Here is what our deck looked like when we woke up...


Today I caught up on reading everyone's blog which I was happy about. We watched some TV movies and played some games. I beat Steve in Trouble AND Scrabble!


I made some cookies too! Mmmmm...oatmeal raisin with a big glass of milk. :)



I also got on the treadmill and Steve did his P90X. We are still trying to work off The Melting Pot (and the oatmeal cookies)! haha

Tonight we went over to our next door neighbors' house. Our neighbors who live two doors down came, too. I took some of the soup we still had plus I made fajitas and homemade guacomole. Everybody brought something yummy and it was all great!

After dinner we played the Wii. Candy and Skip won the Wii bowling tournament, so we gave them a trophy just for fun!


Steve has been dying to go sledding all day, so we did it tonight. That was really fun. The whole street was one big sheet of thick ice and we were going so fast!! We even had races. Here I am with my sweet neighbors, Candy and Carol. We were doing our Charlie's Angels pose and just being silly.


After we went sledding, we put on some dry warm clothes and played Mexican Train Dominoes and had some hot chocolate.

It was a really fun day today. I am all cozy in my warm house now and about to watch Miss America that I TiVo'd earlier. I just learned tonight that Gretchen Carlson from Fox News was Miss America 1989. I didn't know that!! I watch her every morning! :)


You know what I was thinking today? That even though there is all this snow on the ground right now, do you know what we are going to see before long?? Daffodils!


They are always the first flowers to come up in February. And as fun as snow days are, I can't wait for spring! :)

Don't Even Know

Well, I don't even know what to title this post since I have so many things to say. I almost called it "Socializing" because that is what we have been doing tons of this week!

I told you about John's birthday dinner on Monday night. Then Wednesday, I went out with my fun second grade team for appetizers after school. It was my assistant's birthday and we went to Firebirds which is such a good restaurant. I love my team and we have so much fun together! I am thankful I get to work with people I like! :) Meanwhile, Steve hosted a Men's Bible Study at our house that night.

Thursday night was Steve's parents' 53rd anniversary! That is alot of happy years together!


To celebrate we went to The Melting Pot for dinner.


This is the card they had on our table when we got there, which I thought was really sweet.


This week in Charlotte we are having something called "The Queen's Feast" (named after Queen Charlotte...that's who our city is named after). Anyway...you can get an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $30. Restaurants all over Charlotte are doing this and I think it's a pretty good deal.


Have you ever been to The Melting Pot?? Oh...my...word. It's a fondue restaurant and we ate ourselves silly.


This is Steve's sister, Debbie and her husband Bob.


First we started off with three different kinds of cheeses to dip bread, veggies, and apples in. Then we had our entree...steak, fish, chicken, ravioli, vegetables, etc. Plus we had about 6-7 different kinds of sauces to dip them in. And for dessert, we got three different kinds of chocolate to dip fruit, pound cake, cheesecake, and marshmallows in.


I practically waddled out of there! haha

We actually had a birthday party to go to today for my niece Bailey's 3rd birthday. She was born on Steve's parents' 50th anniversary which is kind of cool! And tonight we were supposed to be going out with some friends for dinner. But we got snow and ice last night, so it turns out we are just staying home and relaxing this weekend. That is FINE with me! I love going out, but I am tired after staying out late and staying so busy and trying to work, too. I must be getting old!

Last night I made some Spicy Chicken Vegetable Soup and we just rented a movie. I think I fell asleep about 10 minutes after it started. I'm not even kidding! When I woke up, 20/20 was on. They were doing a special about John Edwards. Goodness...I am just totally shocked and disappointed in him. His behavior is disgusting to me.

We were hoping we would get lots of pretty snow overnight, but when we woke up we only had about and inch and a half. It is pretty, though.


And the kids up the street are so cute. They are all out on their sleds and their parents have the fire pit out and they are all hanging out together.


Steve keeps looking out the window wishing he had a kid to sled with! He's a big kid himself. :) All my kids got alot more snow where they are. Laura got about a foot up in Boone and Mark and Lindy both got about 4 inches!

I'm not sure what the roads are like today, but my plan is to just stay home and relax all day. I went to the store and got plenty of food so we should be fine for a while! Did you get any snow where you live this weekend??

Busy Weekend and John's Birthday

Well, let me see if I can catch up since last Thursday! That was the day it got so cold all of a sudden. That day on my way home from work I texted Steve (not while I was driving!) and said, "When are we booking our flight to Cancun?? I need some warm breezes and a fruity little umbrella drink asap!" That night we actually DID book our flight! So now we are going to Cancun at the end of February. Yay! I am so looking forward to that.


Friday night was really fun. We went to dinner with three other couples to a fun restaurant called Brio's. They have live music and really good food and we had a great time!

Saturday Mark called us and told us he had gotten his wallet stolen out of his car. I felt so bad for him! His license, money, bank card, gas card, school id, and Social Security card were all gone! :( Plus his bookbag was stolen with his textbooks and iPod in it! We spent alot of the morning helping him cancel cards and thinking about what he needed to do next. He was pretty discouraged over the weekend, but guess what? He found out that his school id and iPod were in a different bag than he thought and he found them! Then today, someone found his wallet and turned it in to his apartment and they called him and it was returned. Thank you God! His bank card and gas card were gone, but everything else was still there. I am so glad because that would have been such a hassle to replace all those things!

Yesterday was church and last night we went over to Steve's parents to watch the Saints play the Vikings. Steve and I both used to live in Louisiana and his brother is probably the BIGGEST Saints fan alive, so, of course, we were pulling for the Saints! But I do like Brett Favre and I felt bad for him last night!



Then, today was a teacher workday and I got so much done. I needed one of those! Tomorrow is John's birthday so we took him and Ashley out to dinner tonight. We went to one of his favorite restaurants, Mama Ricotta's, and it was so good. I got eggplant parmesan. We had alot of fun talking and just hanging out with the four of us.






Usually we go out with the whole big family, so it was nice tonight! :)

Tomorrow is already Tuesday! I love short weeks!

Thursday

I can't believe how different the weather can be within a 24 hour period! Seriously...yesterday it was almost summer-like. The sun was shining, everyone was out having fun and I told all my kids to go home and play outside! It was just gorgeous. Today, on the other hand, it is freeeeeezing and rainy. This is the kind of day where all you want to do is put on some fuzzy slippers and sit by the fire eating comfort food. Look who always has to jump up in my lap when I'm relaxing in my fuzzy slippers!


Today was our planning day at school. We have volunteers come sub for us in our classrooms and our second grade team spends the day planning together. It is such a nice day. And one of our moms brought us homemade chicken pot pie for lunch!


(That's perfect comfort food, right??) So nice!!

I am excited because I signed up today to take a photography class. I have been wanting to do that for a while and it was on my list of things I wanted to accomplish this year. One of my friends from high school, Whitney Gray, is an amazing photographer and she is offering classes, so I can't wait! I love my camera, but I never use all the features on it, so hopefully now I will figure out what they are all for!

Another thing that I am doing really soon is getting my archived blog posts made into a book! I am really excited about doing this and I found this site to help me. Do any of you have your blog made into a book? I used to love to scrapbook, but this is lots quicker and easier.

Did I tell you that Steve and I bought tickets to see James Taylor and Carole King? They are coming to Charlotte in June. I love both of them. Hearing their music just takes me back to my high school years. I have always thought they were both so talented and I think my blood pressure drops several notches when I listen to them! I am looking forward to that!


And I have to tell you one crazy story from school today. I told you it was planning day? Well, the teacher next door to me, Sarah, had a child take a pair of scissors while she was gone and cut a huge bald spot on the top of his head! They had to call his mom to come pick him up. I told Sarah that he would probably come to school tomorrow with a buzz cut. Sarah said, "No, he will probably come to school tomorrow BALD because he cut his hair all the way to his scalp!"


Kids do the craziest things!!! :)