Some Rollei & Todd Pictures

This one was a few days ago when before he was sick.

These are from this evening. (Todd is feeling a little better now.)

You'll have to ask Todd why there are no Natalie & Rollei pictures! You know, he's the official photographer!!

Just watch!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

October

O-C-T-O-B-E-R

This is the month of the candy bar.

Christopher Columbus has a holiday.

Fall is here...

Winter's on the way!!

That's the only "month rhyme" I know. If anyone out there knows any more, please tell me! I would love to learn some others.

Todd loves this time of year. He always gets excited about Halloween and all the gross scary stuff. I prefer cute ghosts and pumpkins over the graveyard scenes with blood and guts. These are the sidewalk lights we put up each year. The skulls are Todd's, and the pumpkins are mine!


Today was one of those days that I wish I had brought my camera with me when I left the house. First, as we drove through a shopping center, we saw this older man driving right along with traffic on is lawnmower... no grass in sight! After that, we went into the 99-cent store for me to buy some plastic storage containers for my classroom. As I walked the isles, I noticed this 7"X5" Pocket calculator. I guess the pockets run much larger in China than they do here, even in Texas!

I hope everyone is having a great start to Fall. Have a great week!!

Spread Beagle!

Rollei, mind the way you sit! Sheesh!

By the way... Rollei is spelled that way because he is named after a camera. Ever heard of the Rolleiflex?

A day with Grandma

We took a short trip to visit Grandma a few Sundays ago. We had a little birthday celebration for her, but most importantly, we enjoyed spending time together. Here are a few pictures of the day.

A blog of so few words? You're not disappointed.

Have a great week!!

Making Memories

Well, today is our last day of summer. Todd and I have to report for inservices tomorrow. As you can tell from previous blogs, we haven't done just a whole lot this summer. We had a great short trip to Galveston (thanks ReRe) and another short trip to Abilene. I wanted to get one last day of fun in before we go back to work. Only problem is, when I say, "let's do something!" I have no idea what to do. I'm not very creative. We usually end up just going to the movies. Todd took control yesterday when I said I wanted to do something. When we were talking about something to do, and I gave him the last blank response of, "I don't care, I just want to do something other than stare at a screen!", he left the room. I thought I had made him mad. Next thing I know, he came to tell me that we were going horseback riding tomorrow morning! I haven't ridden a horse since I was a in Girl Scouts! FUN! I would have never thought of that! So, we drove to a state park and rode this morning. We were told to be there at 8:45, and the ride would start at 9:00. Well, about 10:00 we were finally assigned a horse. Now, mind you that I haven't ridden in years, and I was a little nervous. Todd as assigned to Blackjack. I was assigned to Hercules. The laughing started there. Couldn't they assign me a horse named Feather, or something less intimidating?

Waiting...

Todd on Blackjack. He was a little stubborn. Blackjack, that is.

Me riding Hercules. He ended up being a very easy horse to ride.

Blessings

Sometimes things are sent people's way that they don't really deserve. And sometimes these things are good. This is what I would call a "blessing". A blessing happened to me and Todd. So, we went shopping. After many weeks, and much deliberation, we decided on buying an entertainment center that I found at Sam's. It was advertised at a reasonable price and we both liked it a lot. The next day, Mom and I went to purchase it. (Thanks Mom. I'm so glad you have a big vehicle that helps us transport big things.) The price was almost half of the posted price from just the day before!!! I used to work at Sam's years ago, and I don't remember them lowering prices very often. Well, we had already planned to spend a certain amount, so we were able to get the rug we had deliberated over, too. Here are some pictures of our new living room furniture and rug. I loaded the thing up with random treasures. Please don't judge me on my decorating skills. I don't claim to have any. And there are plans to upgrade the TV; just not now. You'll understand why when you read the last part of this post.The rug and Rollei, of course. And if you are wondering, yes, we saw Underdog. Fantastic movie, really cute, going to buy it when it comes out... :-)

And, by the way, Happy Birthday to Todd! I don't have any pictures of his birthday events, but he had a really great day.

On the other side of things, we are saying goodbye to our old water heater tomorrow. We have the unexpected necessity of buying and having a new one installed tomorrow. Apparently the things aren't made to last over 12 years.

The end is near! (of summer, that is)

I got the official call from one of my fellow team members that most of us are going up to the school to prepare our rooms. So, bright and early this morning (about 10:00), I was there ready to work. After sitting around chatting way too long, then taking a much needed lunch break (probably another hour doing that), I finally started to make some headway.

Here are a few of my team members... They're ready to work, too. After chatting and lunch, of course.

This is a picture of part of my classroom before I started working. Notice all the junk piled ceiling-high?

TA-DAHH!! This is a pic of part my room after I messed it up more! The pile to the ceiling is not as bad, though. And I got all of my shelves and desks where I want them. Even started to load the shelves up. The computers are hooked up, too.

There will be more visits up to the school this week to hopefully finish setting up. The goal is to have things ready, but still have a few more days off before we have to report for inservices.

It's hard to post without at least a picture or Rollei or Todd. Today you are lucky, as I got a pic of them together. These two really do enjoy the "dog days" of summer!

Our BIG "vacation"

I guess this will be a post mostly of pictures...

I finally got to meet my brother's girlfriend, Virginia. We all went out to eat at a "hole-in-the-wall" Mexican restauraunt. Had a great time. I'm especially glad to have Dad and Steven back in the states.

A few days later, Todd and I left for our big 4-day vacation to Abilene. Very exotic, I know. We were excited to help Cary, Ron, K1 & K2 move from their old house to the "new house". We worked really hard moving stuff and painting some rooms in the old house to get it ready for renters. Cary's crew and Mom and Dad left Sunday morning for their Vegas trip. While we were in Abilene, we had some time to visit with friends. Todd hung out with this photography mentor, Tom. I got to spend great time with Jayme. Love spending time with her. I can't believe we let 2 years go by since I saw her last.

While we were in Abilene, some family came over to visit one night. One relative is a foster parent. She brought over her current foster baby, so needless to say, he got passed around. I thought Todd looked pretty good with a baby in his arms.

Can't leave Abilene without a picture of the girls...
Also can't leave without visiting the ACU bookstore. Here are our new wares...
Todd went to a benefit garage sale and purchased a small TV to put in his studio. He got a great deal, but I didn't want him to have another thing that keeps him in his studio all the time. This was the scene 30 minutes or so after we got home.

Our Anniversary, and then...

Yesterday was mine and Todd's 4th anniversary! We had a good day. It's hard to believe that 4 years can seem to pass so quickly, but neither of us can remember when we weren't together. Some people post really long stories and sentiments about their relationships on their anniversary, but I'll spare you. We saw "Evan Almighty" at the Movie Tavern last night. It was actually pretty good and very clean, which we both appreciated. It actually had a moral! How 'bout that?! We got home around 9:00 thinking that we would have a normal evening and go to sleep, but oh were we wrong! Can you guess what is coming? Yes, it has to do with Rollei, but what is it?! We let him outside to go potty and play with bugs. We didn't intend for him to play with reptiles, but he did. Sure enough, he tapped on the door to come in, went straight to his bed, sat up really straight and had his eyes closed. I immediately knew he had been bitten. Todd insisted on finding the snake so that we knew what kind it was (I think he was more after some revenge for hurting his dog) before we rushed to the emergency vet. He couldn't find it, so we were off. There is a picture of him "normal" at the top (This is the second time I have written this because I can't get the pictures to post where I want them). And another picture of him a hour and a small fortune later. (Okay, well that didn't post where I wanted it either... sorry, but I'm frustrated at this point and it will just have to stay) Poor thing was miserable and in so much pain. We didn't give him a pain injection because it cost too much. Instead we got pain pills and tried to give them to him when we came home. He yelped at me twice when I tried to put it in his mouth, so I gave up. We put him in his bed on the floor next to ours for him to sleep. About 12:30, Todd woke me and said, "look who joined us!" He has mustered up the energy to jump on the bed and lie between us (which is terribly uncomfortable for us). I put his bed on our bed, but at the end where he wasn't between us, but he kept moving and laying up against Todd. Around 2:00, I got the brilliant idea of giving his pain medicine to him in apple sauce (thanks, Mom, for doing that to me when I was little). That went well, and he has been acting much better ever since. His swelling is down today. Actually, it is "draining" down his neck, so he looks like a very old woman with a saggy neck. Poor thing! We have been through this once before, and we're told that is will continue to happen because of his inquisitive breed. You would think that he would learn! I guess there might be something we could learn, too. :-)

Fun with the "Gurls"

Never a dull moment at this house with the kiddos here. Teresa, my sweet friend that I teach with, was brave enough to come for a visit this afternoon. She was still smiling when she left. Dad gave her the grand tour of his VW palace :-). The girls kept her every entertained with lots of laughing. And, she was lucky enough to leave with a bag of fresh veggies from Mom's garden and a jar of home-made pickles.

Dad has been busy packing for his big trip to Europe -- he leaves tomorrow afternoon. Steven came in tonight and is also ready for the trip.

Todd has been addressing envelopes for the fliers he is sending out. Hopefully he will get some good business from this advertisement.

Not much more to report, so I'll quote Krista for my salutation -- "SEE YA!"

Summer

Now that school is over and the chaos is done, I should be glad to take time and just relax. That was the plan; to have no plans and just do as I pleased. Oh, but how easily I have become bored. I won't be bored for long... My mom and dad went to pick up my nieces, and they will be in town visiting for almost 2 weeks. I'm sure I will not have much time for boredom while they are here. I imagine that there will be visits to the pool along with many other excursions that happen.

Todd is attending a photography workshop several days this week. I have some bookshelves that I am interested in making for my classroom, depending on the price of lumber. I don't want to spend a small fortune on this little project. I still have tons of reading to do for my Master Reading Teacher course, but I have become a pro at putting that off. I'm not much of a reader, but especially don't like to read books without a plot.

Todd and I went through a Financial Peace University seminar this past winter quarter at church. It was really good and has changed the way we use our money drastically. If you are ever have the opportunity to take this course, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is a video series by Dave Ramsey. I mention this because you may notice in my posts how "frugal" I am.

I have one little errand to run today before things get busy with the girls, so I will stop here. I wanted to include a picture in this post. What can I say? I teach Kindergarten, and I like pictures with words, although this picture has nothing to do with the words of this post. Oh well... This is my mom, dad, and me at my dad's retirement party in December.

Why did I set this up?

I searched one of my roommates from college tonight (she was on my mind for some reason) and ended up finding out that she has been very sick and has spent quite some time in the hospital. She is also pregnant. I wanted to leave a comment on her mother's site, and had to set up a blog site for me to do so... Anyway, I won't give out her name, but there is a sick person who, I'm sure, would appreciate prayer, and her family too.
I have a presentation tomorrow, and am definately not the public-speaker type of person. I'm prepared, but I probably should get some rest now.