Memorial Day Weekend

It seems like forever since I've posted anything!! We've been pretty busy here. School is winding down which is always crazy. There's so much extra stuff going on to try to squeeze in. Today was Field Day. I'm on the committee, so I'm VERY glad that's over. It's fun, but a lot of work (right, Chris?). Only 7 more days to go!!

Tyler and I were pretty busy last weekend. One thing we did was lease a new vehicle. Our old lease was up on our F-150, so we took that back and checked out some options, especially the ones with better gas mileage. We decided on a Ford Edge. I LOVE it!! Tyler wasn't too keen on the whole crossover thing, but he really likes it too (especially since we can still pull things, like a camper). It also has that whole SYNC system, so we can talk on the phone hands-free, and program songs from an MP3 player and stuff like that. I don't know if I'm ever going to understand how to do it though. That whole ordeal took all of our Saturday, but it was worth it. Here are some pics.


Noah says, "Dad, let's ride!!"
I wasn't feeling good all weekend. Really bad cold (stuffed up, sore throat, cough, you name it). Noah was also really crabby. I took him into the dr. yesterday and discovered that he has another ear infection. Fun. Well, medicine really works wonders!! He's back to his old self pretty much. Tyler wasn't sick at all. He was actually feeling pretty ambitious. On Monday he cleaned out the entire garage. I really wish I had some before/after pictures, because you'd all be impressed! He also decided to cut off the railing to our deck. It's only a few inches off the ground anyway, so we thought, why not? If you've never seen our deck before, you won't know the difference. I think it looks pretty nice. Noah can get on and off of it very well.

Here's the railing, ready to be burned in the firepit. There's many nights around the fire here. S'mores anyone?

That was pretty much the extent of our weekend. I'm finally feeling better. I think I have an idea of what makes me sick around here. The crazy weather!! On Monday it was over 80 degrees. On Tuesday, it was only 50!! Tuesday night we had a FROST advisory! Today was nicer, but still only about 60 or so. That's Wisconsin for you. :) Anyone want to visit??

Food and Fevers

Spring Fever has sent into my classroom! My kids are already checked out for the year apparently, and I've got about 3 weeks left! 7 of them didn't have homework finished last Friday. That's really bad for my class. They all had various excuses, but I wasn't taking them. I told them that they still had jobs to do, just like me. I want summer just as much as them, but I show up to work every day, prepared and ready to go. I have to be a mom and wife at home, so I'm busy each night. I have school commitments some weeknights also. I basically said that being busy wasn't an excuse. They could have found 15 minutes to do their homework. Ugh. Time for vacation.

Noah is also a little under the weather. I think he's getting teeth in, again. When will that ever end! He's been eating like such a big boy lately. He ends up helping Daddy clean his plate. It's nice that he's more independent at meal times. Makes life easier on me!

Happy Mommy's Day!!!

This is only my 2nd mother's day, but I just love them!! Tyler went and got Noah this morning when he woke up and changed him. Then they both came in to wish me a "Happy Mommy's Day"! Noah didn't say anything of course, but he snuggled up to me in that special way of his. That's his way of saying, "Mom, I love you!" Tyler is now grilling my special mother's day steaks so I didn't have to cook at all! Tonight we're going to his mom's for supper. I think I'll even get to take a nap. What a great day!

This is a busy week coming up. The annual Spring Program is at school on Tuesday night. My 5th graders do all the acting, solos, and make all the props as well. I have to direct the whole thing (besides the music part of it). I'm always just a little more stressed out around this time of year. My students know that they shouldn't mess with Mrs. Atkinson right now! After Tuesday, it's smooth sailing till the end of the year, which is only about 4 weeks away! My how times flies! I'm looking forward to the summer.

Yesterday Tyler and I spent all afternoon outside cleaning up the yard. We mowed and trimmed and raked up a lot of stuff. Does anyone need pinecones?? We have about 3 million under our trees in our backyard. We'll have to haul those away soon. We also have little critters living all over the place. They probably had some pretty nice homes around our house in the winter. Now we're cleaning everything out so they'll hopefully be moving on. :) I also have lilies coming up in the front of the house! I just love spring!

Clothes, clothes, and more clothes!!

We know some wonderful people that give us clothes. Tyler's step-brother's wife, Cari, dropped off 3 garbage bags FULL of her son's outgrown clothes. This was the 2nd (or 3rd?) time that she has done this. I am eternally grateful for this gift! Clothes cost money, and at the rate Noah grows, he doesn't ever wear them for that long. I've got boxes of clothes up to 5T for him! I've also got about 7-10 pairs of shoes/sandals ranging in size from 7-9. I put a pair of sandals on him to see if they would fit, and he didn't want to take them off! I'm going to try to take good care of them so we can pass them on to someone else when we're done with them.

Sandy also gave me some of her clothes, which I love. There was one shirt I wasn't too sure about. It has an empire waist with a tie in the back and it kinda floats away from my stomach area. It's NOT a maternity shirt, but could be mistaken for one. Well, it was mistaken for one today at church. Yikes!! I guess that one's going in my maternity clothes box for another day.

Last week wasn't very nice, weather wise. I'm hoping things will change this week. So far, the week is starting out great, b/c it's beautiful outside today!! I love it! Noah and I will have to go to the park later for some play time.

Here's some pictures of our fun at home.

Noah with a suction cup toy on his head:

Noah terrorizing Tucker (don't worry, Tucker was not harmed):

Mmmmm, pasta and Oreos!