Pecan Tree

A squirrel buried a pecan in one of my flower pots. I know this because when I went to pull up the "weed" a pecan was attached to it. I put it back in the pot because I was super excited about the possibility of growing a pecan tree. I went to check on it today and that damn squirrel came back, dug it up, and made off with my pecan tree!  I guess it was technically the squirrel's tree, but I'm still bummed!

Puzzler

Korra is really into puzzles these days. 

Backpack!

Just ordered new luggage (travel backpacks).  So excited about our upcoming trips!  16 more school days!

Cheater

Surely I'm not the only parent who occasionally puts all the double cards on top of the deck to speed up a pre-bedtime game of Candy Land.

Making up songs

The song Korra made up during the ride to Home Depot was about Jesus and monkeys. 

Wonderful Sunday

Joined another church for an outdoor worship service and a picnic (the weather was perfect), took a pleasant afternoon nap, and then joined some neighbors for a pizza dinner and a fun new board game called Paperback. Such a nice day. 

Anniversary Trip

Just made our anniversary reservations.  We're going zip-lining in Asheville, going out for dinner, and then staying at a B&B.  We were going to do a bigger trip, but... we got invited to go to Israel next April!  We've got some great adventures coming up!

After 5 minutes and 30 photos

These were the only 2 that weren't a total blur!

Haircut

At Korra's request, I gave her a haircut last night. We trimmed her baby mullet a few times and her bangs but I think this will count as her first real haircut. I took 3 inches off (mostly in the back). I'll try to get her to stand still long enough for a picture soon. 

Scrabble

Played various games with Scrabble tiles at ESL tonight.  Thankful for my double Speed Scrabble set and my mom and aunts who instilled a love of word games in me. 

Nomination Accepted

Went to my first Friends of the Library meeting tonight where my nomination to the board was accepted. I was at least 30 years younger than the next youngest person there which actually made me even more excited about the opportunity. 

Duolingo

My ESL classes (and our bilingual church) have really made me want to brush up on my Spanish so I got this great app called Duolingo. Now I just have to get up the nerve to actually practice speaking with a person!

Big Girl Bed Update

Korra only fell out of the bed once and didn't seem upset by it. And even better, she had a dry diaper overnight and during nap (she said she doesn't want to go peepee in her new bed). 

TESTING

Today is my first day of test proctoring.  Oh, how I loathe standardized tests.  I wish I had the guts (or the voice or the power?) to say just how wrong I think all this testing is.

Big Girl Bed

First night!  It's so much higher than I thought it would be!

Shaving Cream

Neighborhood Festival

Big neighborhood festival today!  Vendors, live music, food, Earth Day activities for the kids... It's going to be fun!

Recent Reads

I just finished Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan (the challenged book) and I really enjoyed it.  I'm kind of looking forward to the meeting about it because it will almost be like a book club since everyone else there read it too.

I also recently read (most of) the first book in the Disney Kingdom Keepers Series on the recommendation of a student.  It was TERRIBLE.  Then there was our 8th grade book club book, Ruined by Paula Morris.  This was also pretty terrible.  Really my issue with both of those books was how poorly written they were.  I just can't get past that.

But before those two terrible books, there was I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. 

It was AMAZING.  I loved it so, so much and I highly recommend it.

Poison Ivy Update

With all the times my sister had poison ivy as a kid, how did I never realize just how horrible this stuff is?  I thought I'd just have an itchy rash for a few days. I was not prepared for the oozing (which the Internet says can go on for weeks!). I've resorted to an Ace bandage wrapped around my forearm to hold in place the gauze pads that must be changed three times a day.  Gross, gross, gross!

ESL

Helped as a teacher in my first ESL class tonight and I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. Already looking forward to next week!

Too Much of A Good Thing

I usually love an excuse to use my Dremel engraver.  But in the past 2 days I have engraved barcodes onto 260 calculators.  My hand is numb.

Drained

School is kicking my butt this week. Standardized testing begins tomorrow. 

Bring It On

One of those LGBT books I bought is being challenged.  It's Boy Meets Boy by David Leviathan.  I found this quote and can't wait to share it with the committee that will decide on this book's fate...

Levithan says he intentionally wrote Boy Meets Boy as clean as possible so that if the book were ever challenged, the only logical reason would be because it features "happy gay characters in love." 

Kinect

We plugged in the Xbox Kinect tonight and had some fun family time dancing, popping balloons, destroying cities, and chopping fruit.

Poison Ivy

It turns out I am, in fact, allergic to poison ivy.  I've got a bit on my arm and it sure is itchy.

Just like her dad

I looked at the monitor at 10:30 pm to find Korra sitting in bed, surrounded by a pile of books, reading. 

Yoga Buddy

Quilt is Done!!!

Took me a full week but I've finished binding Korra's quilt!  Going to buy her mattress tomorrow and then we'll have a completed big girl bed!

Firefighter Korra

Our neighbor had a firefighter themed birthday party.

Trees!

63 crate myrtles plated in an hour throughout our neighborhood!

Sneaky Kid

Korra learned how to turn off the video monitor in her room. We watched her (through the monitor) walk over to it, mess with it, and ultimately press the power button. Our days of spying on our child are numbered!

Half-Day

Took half a sick day for a doctor's appointment. It was a quick appointment so I also went to the hardware store (picked up paint for the bathroom) and stopped by the county extension office in the hopes of finding out why some of our bushes are dying. The extension officer ended up coming out to our house and identifying almost all our plants (including finding some poison ivy!) and helping me make a plan for getting rid of some of the most invasive stuff and for trying to save our bushes (the soil is way too wet).  Now we're babysitting a couple neighbor kids (pizza and Disney movie night!)

NYC!

Booked our bus tickets from Philly to NYC- only $28 round trip for all 3 of us!  That will it a lot easier to stomach the cost a hotel room for our night there.  Even more excited about our summer vacation to see my sister and her family!

2.6 miles

Korra and I walked to the public library this afternoon. 2.6 miles round trip. Exercise, beautiful weather, quality time with my kid, and new library books. Perfect. 

Potty Training Update

I am so tired of potty training.  She seemed to ready when we started this ALMOST A YEAR AGO, but she still won't tell us when she has to go.  She can hold it for hours, but this child refuses to TELL us she has to go potty (or even respond YES, when we ask her).  She'll only say, "I have to go potty" after she's already peed down her leg.  All of that to say, I printed up yet another potty chart today.  God help us.

Rent-A-Goat

Did you know this was a thing?  I need to find out if I can get one for my yard!

Super Black

Korra says she's "Super Elsa" if she's wearing Elsa socks, "Super Anna" if she's wearing Anna socks.  Yesterday she was just wearing her black Crocs (no socks).  She said, "Mommy, I'm Super Black!"  Then she noticed I was wearing black shoes, too, so she said, "You're Super Black, too, Mommy!"  And because my mom and dad were wearing white shoes she said, "Momo, Grandad, you're both Super White!"  This kid is hilarious.

Happy Easter!

Drove an hour to our sunrise service. Very sleepy and chilly but Nate gave a great sermon and it was a beautiful location. Breakfast and an egg hunt with our wonderful church family and now we're all ready for a nap!

With my mommy

Mom and I got so much stuff done around the house today. We put up 4 towel bars and a shelf, stained Korra's head and footboard, and planted tomatoes and green peppers!

Happy birthday, Nate!

Beautiful weather and a dinner out with my parents. A great way to spend a relaxing day with my best friend on his birthday. 

Promotion

Korra has promoted me from Hans to Kristoff.  I'll take it!

Camping Recap

We had such a great time camping at Jekyll Island with our friends (who are also our new neighbors!)  We biked, flew kites, played on the beach, talked around the campfire, and thoroughly enjoyed watching our kids play together. Now it's time to do load after load of smoky smelling laundry.