Headed Out

Leaving my parents' house today and heading to the cabin.  Tomorrow I'm meeting my high school Princesses for breakfast in Dahlonega!  On Saturday, our friends Beth and Kelley are coming to visit us at the cabin and then Nate's parents will arrive on Sunday and we'll have time with Nate's family until New Year's Day before heading home.

Merry Christmas!

Korra really enjoyed ripping off the wrapping paper and handing out the gifts.  We had homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast and are having breakfast for dinner tonight.  We've watched Elf, Home Alone, and A Christmas Story and I'm hoping we'll get a chance to play some board games later.

Hobbit Part 2

Went to see the second Hobbit movie with Nate and my brothers.  Two trips to the theater in 2 nights!  We're living it up with the free sitters (also known as grandparents).  Nate and I did not enjoy the movie much, but I enjoyed the argument in the car between Brian and Nate even less.  Apparently feelings surrounding Tolkien and Peter Jackson can make disagreements escalate quickly.

Pigtails and Overalls

Blow Darts

My mom picked up a blow dart gone at the thrift shop she works for and we had way too much fun playing with it!

Blanket, Undone

Had to unravel a baby blanket that was 75% complete because I overestimated how much yarn I had in one color.  Good thing I enjoy crocheting and that Blazing Saddles is on TV.

Escape Plan

Nate and I went on a date to Cinnebarre to see Escape Plan.  So glad we only paid $1 to see that movie because it was hilariously terrible.

Christmas Dress #1

This dress was made by Nate's mom for his sister Laura!

Narcissist

Today in the car, Korra was pulling up pictures of herself on the iPod and then kissing them.

Packing

Worked all afternoon to get packed and ready.  We're leaving tomorrow for NC to visit my parents!

More Shelf Shifting

My assistant and I moved the entire fiction collection TWICE today.  I am so physically exhausted.

EIEIO

Korra woke me up at 5 AM.  Not exactly what time I wanted to start my last day before break, but I guess that's part of the job.  I just put her back to sleep and she's singing the only bit of "Old McDonald" she knows ("eieio...eieio...") over and over again.

Soap in Eye

I feel terrible.  Korra was being extra clingy so I had her sitting on the counter of the bathroom while I washed my hands.  I pumped the soap, but it squirted out directly into Korra's eye.   Washing soap out of her eye and then calming her down were not fun.  Poor baby.

Tigers

Our zoo trip was really fun!  We spent the most time enjoying the tigers, the goats in the petting zoo, the parakeets, and the baby gorillas.  Korra even learned a new word: tiger.

PS- like the dino hat I made for Korra?

ZOO!

We have zoo tickets and it's supposed to be 60* today.  I took a personal day, so this family is headed to the zoo!

Craft Night!

Had such a fun time hanging out with some ladies tonight.  We ate and drank and made Christmas crafts and chatted away.  It really was a fantastic time and I hope we can do it again soon!

Alma Mater

My assistant is enrolling at my alma mater for the spring semester, so this afternoon Korra and I are going with her to get her ID, email address, etc and to give her a special campus tour.

Still Busy, Less Stressful

Getting lots of cataloging and shelf-shifting done today!

Sit-And-Reach

We did a pose in yoga tonight that brought flashbacks of the Sit-And-Reach (of the President's Test of Physical Fitness fame).  Do they still do that in school?  Do they still have that wooden contraption to measure how far you can, in fact, sit and reach?

Faculty Christmas Party

Not sure what to expect from this afternoon's faculty Christmas party.  Hoping it will be fun and worth staying after school for.

Intercom Phone

If that damn intercom phone rings one more time with a teacher needing something I'm going to slam it into the wall.  I am seriously considering leaving it off the hook.

Is it over yet?

Another insane day filled with fines to be paid, argumentative parents and teachers who expect the impossible of me.  Tomorrow should be so much better.

Camera (not) Phone

And who ended her stressful day by taking home one of the school's digital cameras INSTEAD of her cell phone?  This girl.

VCR Hook-Up

One day, you'll hear a story about a school librarian who went completely insane because yet another teacher couldn't figure out how to hook up a VCR.  That librarian will be me.

Another Insane Morning

72 kids for a Cookie Decorating Party (frosting everywhere!), a missing copy of A Christmas Carol movie, exemption forms to fill out, dozens of kids paying fines, and a glitch in the circulation system have made this an exhausting, frantic morning.

4 Teeth

Korra's cutting 4 teeth right now.  It's not been a great day.

Banana Bread

Today I baked a quadruple batch of banana chocolate chip bread.  8 mini loaves to give as gifts and 4 dozen mini muffins for our school Christmas party on Tuesday.

Silly Korra

Korra keeps falling over while trying to see her belly button (it's hard when you have a little round belly!).
Every time we go outside, she walks down the driveway, turns left and walks up the neighbor's sidewalk right onto their front porch. She loves going over there to play!
I made some play dough today, but Korra didn't really like it.  She'd press one finger into it, giggle, and then back away like she was scared.

"Scratches"

I thought there were a couple of new scratches in our coffee table.  Turns out they were smears of old graham cracker mush.

Lost Items- Toddler Edition

It used to be that when I lost something, there were 2 or 3 possible places it could be.  Now that there's a toddler in the house who is into everything, that lost item could literally be anywhere.  Where is my checkbook, Korra?

Crying Video

Korra is watching the same video on the tablet over and over again.  It is a video of her crying.

Crazy Morning

This morning, we saw 75+ students in under 30 minutes.  We had 41 students pay their library fines with cans for the food drive.  Then we had 2 7th grade classes come (accidentally) at the same time, while my assistant was out at a meeting.  Oh, and I have to write up a "statement" about yesterday's hallway incident.

Rough End to My Day

School was rough today.  I saw 4 very emotionally draining classes (imagine being in a battle of wills with 32 thirteen year olds simultaneously for 4+ hours, where the teens tag-team out so they're always fresh).  Then at dismissal I had a student tell me to, "Get the f*** out of my face" twice before he left the building without permission.  So, yeah, I'm a little tired.

Lunch at 10

I'm hungry this morning.  I'm eating my lunch already.

Fear Street

The kids are going to pee their pants when I tell them this news.  I cannot keep these books on the shelves and they are all 20+ years old!

Family Tradition

I think that Nate and I have ridden the trolley at Fantasy in Lights for 10 years!  There have been years that it was freezing cold as well as balmy and warm.  We've gone with various friends, 2 foster kids, and now Korra.  This year, all our bundling up kept us from being uncomfortably cold.  Korra seemed to enjoy it- at least until the last 20 minutes.  Even though she slept in until 11:30 and STILL took a 1.5 hour nap, she was ready for bed and got quite cranky by 7:30 and quickly fell asleep on the way home.  Oh, well.  I enjoyed singing along with the Christmas carols and seeing the lights just as much as I have every other year.

Fantasy In Lights

Early taco night with the neighbors and then off to Fantasy in Lights.  It's going to be cold on the trolley tonight, but I'm looking forward to it!

Stuffy Nose Baby

Korra slept terribly last night.  Thumb suckers and stuffy noses do not mix.  Nate said she slept in until 11:30 today!

A Dog Ate My Book

There have been 5 books eaten by dogs this year.  Today's was the worst I've ever seen.  All that remained was the back cover.

ULB

There have been 2 ULBs (Unidentified Library Books) sightings in the library today.  The barcodes have been peeled off leaving us totally unsure which book this is and who it came from.  Someone call Unsolved Mysteries or the X-Files.

Not a Great Night

Korra has a stuffy nose and yoga was canceled.

Actual Tears

Korra just cried because she accidentally got out of an app on the tablet and we had to take it from her to fix it.  There were actual tears.

Messages from AL

After months of no communication, AL responded to a Facebook message!  So happy to hear that she's still in school and says she's doing well.

Sweater Weather

Wore a sweater to work today (why wouldn't I?  It's cold and rainy) but had to ask Nate to bring me a short sleeve shirt.  It's so hot in the library between the kids and moving around that I was burning up.

Stubborn

Korra refused to pick up the multiple messes she made today.  She even through an all-out fit before dinner when I made her pick up some of the Tupperware she dumped out.  This girl is willful!

Migraine

Headache that started last night was a full blown skullcrusher this morning.  Tried all my usual tricks, but nothing worked so I called in sick.  Laying around with my eyes closed is not really my favorite way to spend a day at home.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

Tried this recipe tonight and it was really yummy!

Zoo?

We've had these zoo tickets for months and every time we plan to use them the weather is terrible.  They're set to expire at the end of the year, so we're either going to have to go when it's cold and rainy or just be out the $20 we paid for them.  If only we could have gone on Friday when it was 80 degrees!

Catching Fire

REALLY enjoyed Catching Fire which is especially impressive since I didn't like the first movie at all.  Bonus: 2 of our neighbors showed up at the movie and we ended up having an unplanned double date!

Diaper Genie

Korra figured out how to take off her velcro diapers.  She demonstrated this repeatedly at the doctor's office.

15 Month Check-Up

Korra weighs 18 lbs 3 oz and she's 29 inches tall.  The most upsetting part of the appointment for her was the bandaid they put on her finger after they drew blood.  She didn't especially like the doctor touching her, being weighed, or the shots either.

Happy Friday!

I get to leave school at 1:30 today (Korra has a check-up).

We're having homemade pizza for dinner tonight with my brother.

Todd's babysitting so we can go see Catching Fire tonight.

Headache to Heartburn

The Coke got rid of my headache but gave me heartburn.  An even trade.

Coke Burp

Drinking a Coke because of a headache.  Just burped so loudly (in my office) that all the students who were quietly reading and taking tests were startled.  Excuse me.

Winking and Blowing Bubbles

Korra tries to wink back at us.  It's more like a long, weird blink and it is hilarious.  She also learned to how blow bubbles in the tub.  Which was also funny until she accidentally inhaled a whole lot of bathwater.

Frustrating Nate

Nate is getting really irritated as he overhears with these teachers describing these "new" Web 2.0 tools (like Google Drive).  He keeps shouting things out as if they can hear him.  I'm thankful they can't.

Webinar with Korra

Thankful that I don't have a webcam and that I can turn my mic off and can still be counted in my webinar.  It means I can play with Korra while I listen/watch.

Christmas Cookies

I want to be at home listening to Christmas music and baking Christmas cookies.  Still 12 more school days before I can make that happen.

Haircut

I trimmed Korra's hair for the second time.  No baby of mine is going around with a mullet.

2082

Since I got all the books from my old school on October 31st, we have unpacked, imported, relabeled, and put on the shelf over 2,000 books!  I'm pretty pleased with our progress!

Printer Hatred

There are very few things in life I find as frustrating as my printer here at work.  How I loathe it.

Another Post About My Kid

I don't feel that guilty that 90% of my posts are about Korra.  I mean, you love her, right?  If you didn't, I'm sure you wouldn't be reading this blog.
Anyway, Korra is currently trying to give Nobby her iPod.  She says "thank you" any time she gives or gets something, so her current babble is, "Dee doo, Bobby."  All while dancing to the Ben Folds song she's put on.
Seriously, her language acquisition is blowing me away lately.  She's added apple, up, and blankie to her vocabulary in the last few days.  I may be a bit biased, but I think she is the cutest, smartest child in the world.

Cousins

Here's a picture from last week of Korra and her cousin Jude (on their Pop Pop!)

Sufjan Christmas!

It's officially time to put on my Sufjan Christmas CDs and not take them off for a few weeks!

Everything Is a Car

This morning Korra's toast went "Vroom, vroom!  Beep, Beep!"

"Hats"

Korra wanted to put on all her "hats" at the same time.

Goodnight Kiss

Korra leaned over to Nate and gave him a big goodnight kiss (complete with a "Mwaaah!").  When I asked for the same, she turned her head and said, "no."  Ouch.

Slippers for Korra

I am having a terrible time finding a pair of slippers for Korra.  They need to be able to stay on her feet, have grippy bottoms (lots of hardwood floors at both grandparents' houses), and they need to be in a size 2.  Apparently, this is IMPOSSIBLE to find.  I just want my little walker to not fall on her face over Christmas break- is that too much to ask?

Breakfast with Friends

Had a really enjoyable breakfast at IHOP with our friends Noelle and Chuck.  So glad to have them as friends for the past 11+ years!