This is my favorite yarn ever.

Its called Parfait. Hard to find a good variety of colors around town, so I ordered some from an online vendor for the same price but with shipping. Worth every penny! Here are the colors for four new baby blankets for friends about to pop:

Girly (reminds me of neopolitan ice cream):

Boyish:

It's the same kind of soft, melt-in-your-hand, almost silky and so smooth it's almost not even there kind of yarn that I made this blanket with:

So they have some bold colors, too. And variegated yarn they call "flavors." Easier to find online than in craft stores, at least here.

Seriously, it's softer than that Bernat's baby yarn stuff! You have to feel it in its finished product to believe it. Do a double crochet stitch and you'll be amazed at how little softness it loses (my beef with most other yarn, it gets itchy when you actually make something with it!). It's my new favorite ever!

Just thought I'd share. 

Today is the day I wasn't as out of shape as I thought I was. :)

I tutor a girl who lives a mile away. I say "tutor," but it's kinda a mix between tutoring and homeschooling, with a sprinkle of para work (I was her para last year in school). We hang out for two hours a day and I LOVE it. She's the coolest.

And a mile isn't that far.

But I still drive half the time anyway.

I bike the other half.

Since Paul is in Chi-town (none of the natives call it that but I still like to) this week, it's a biking week. I get on the bike and I push off.

I push and push and push.

I struggle!

I *sweat.* 

It's hot out, and uphill most of the way which is hard in my cruiser, but still...

I made it to her house in only a minute longer than usual, and I'm thinking I'm pretty awesome and also a little out of shape at this point.

We head down into the basement, and I can feel my legs just wanting to collapse.

IT'S ONLY A MILE!!! :(

This doesn't go away.

I think about going to Steak N Shake last Friday and wonder if the effects are long-lasting. :)

When all is said and done, I head back home.

I make it halfway before I literally can't bike one more foot. I decide to walk it to the gas station (a mile out of my way) and check the tires.

Now, normally I fill it up to 55 PSI, which is in the acceptable 40-65 PSI range for my tires.

My front one was at 29.

My back one was at 10.

I felt SOOOOOOO much better about myself! :)

And the ride home was cake.

(Ish. That two miles from earlier did me in for the night!)

The nice thing about where I live is that there are neighborhoods close by, and a biking trail through meadows and by ponds, and I'm almost exactly a mile from tutoring, from the gas station, from my bank, from Walmart, from the school I used to work at, and from the local snow cone place.

Guess what I will be doing tomorrow when I recover? :)

I'll take pictures.

The DIY Curse :) And other random thoughts of the day.

If you are a Do-It-Yourselfer like me, then you understand how rewarding it can be to learn lots of fun new things and create something that hasn't existed before.  It's fun to save money, too. :)  But DIYing comes with a curse.  The URGE.  The urge to do it all, whether you actually have the time and skills or not.  I'm finding myself especially stubborn about doing all these crafty/sewing/educational projects for my classroom BY MYSELF, which I *know* is just silly, really.  I only have a month and a half and that's not actually much time to learn, say, how to reupholster a couch or sew a new cushion cover for my soon-to-be-awesome chair...for example.  :)  And yet I can't find it in me to ask anyone for help, because then I can't swell up with pride and memories every time I look at it.  And I can't really blog about it.  :)  I guess it comes down to whether or not the process or the product is more important right now?  Maybe in a few weeks when crunch time really hits I'll be a little more humble?  :) 

I saved two birds yesterday.  They tried to nest in our dog-poop-trash-can (of all smelly places!) on our patio and when the lid came down they couldn't get out again.  One bird was very panicked and fluttering up, making a fuss, which is how I even noticed.  I looked over from watering my herbs and saw this bird head keep popping up in the little slit between the lid and trash can, and I felt bad for the poor bird (but also scared to open it and have it fly at ME or something).  So I grabbed the poker thingy from the fireplace tool set and opened the lid from a distance, thinking it would just fly away.  Well, no.  It hopped up and perched on the edge and just stared me down...even when I went inside it just stood guard for a minute before flying away.  I thought, Why is that bird hanging around so protectively?  Oh no, please don't be building a nest! So I went to peek inside, and I didn't see a nest but ANOTHER BIRD.  The female.  (I "know" this because I took a bird-watching class at BYU over a decade ago. :) Crouching and looking up rather strangely at me.  I tried scaring it away but the only thing that worked was tipping the trash can on its side and letting it slowly hop out and then fly away, unthreatened.  I shudder a little to think of two dead birds stuck in my trash can, covered in poop.  Crisis averted!

Frozen grapes are the epitome of summer.  Well, they're up there, anyway, right along with the smell of chlorine in sunshine, a good thunderstorm, and snowcones.  :)  But I miss chocolate.  (I haven't given it up or anything, I'm just being good and saving it for special occasions or, y'know, when I need it.  We aren't keeping it around the house much for now though.)  I've also been good and going on bike rides, doing yoga, or dancing with my non-judgmental partner Kinect every day.  Still not losing weight...not sure why...but at least I'm not gaining.  And soon I'll be able to take out the trash without getting winded!  :)

I just finished "Magyk"--the first book in the Septimus Heap series--have any of you read it?  I think it's the first book in a while that I just really didn't like, but it's got such a great following/reviews, and kids love it, and I'm curious why.  I have a HUGE stack of books to read before school starts...but I'm always open to suggestions.  I'm also thinking about taking a day every couple of weeks or even once a week just to read stuff *I* like again.  :)  We'll see if we have time for that.  :)

Never smile at a crocodile...

I don't see, think about, or imagine crocodiles or alligators much at all, but they have been cropping up in my dreams often the last few weeks.  Strange, right?  So, after last night's nightmare, I decided to look 'em up in a dream dictionary, just for kicks, to see what they could possibly mean.

Alligator: treachery, deceit, mistrust.
Crocodile: freedom, power, hidden strength.

Well, what if you don't notice or remember which one it is?  Do you just pick?  I was a little surprised that they were so opposite of each other, since I seriously doubt most people know which one it is they are dreaming of.  Long, skinny thing with surprisingly fast stubby legs and sharp teeth...I'm not looking at the face shape or determining if it's salt- or fresh-water, especially once it starts chasing me...

So I decided to pick crocodile.  :)

THEN, as I was driving home from taking Paul to work, I starting thinking about what all these dreams and such had in common, or at least what I was thinking about before I went to sleep.  And I realized that I have reread and watched "Peter Pan" and "Hook" in the last couple of months, and crocodile suddenly made a whole lot of sense.

TIME is creeping up on me, past me, faster than I want it to, and I'm almost as freaked out as Hook about it!

At least I can breathe a sigh of relief that I don't have some secret phobia of crocodiles or whatever.  :)

Although, if I look at this picture enough...

*Shudder* I think the fact that he looks like he's smiling at me makes it all the creepier, don't you?

I'm a convert...

...to Harry Potter, that is.

When did this happen?

11 days ago, when I started reading the books.

And I finished them 9 days later.  (It would have been seven if that pesky last few days of school hadn't gotten in the way.  ;)

And then we watched all the movies.

And, finally, we did this last night for FHE to celebrate:

We got this Chapter Game from GoodWill for like a dollar...it didn't have instructions, but between the internet and our own intellect we made up rules that are probably WAY better and more fun/complicated than the original game was, anyway.  :)  We also ate dirt-, grass-, black pepper-, and soap-flavored jellybeans.  (And some good flavors, too, of course.)

I also made "butter beer," which turned out basically just a rich, butterscotch-flavored drink with the SLIGHTEST fizz...heating it up and making the cold whipped cream topping is a MUST.  :)  Recipe found HERE.  It's good the next day, too, although there is NO fizz then...but still tasty!

I'm not crazy or obsessed or anything, but I'm definitely now a fan.  I'm finding reading other, less (literally) epic tales in preparation for the school year is just not as satisfying.  :)  I found out that Universal Studios has its own Harry Potter theme park, and since we're headed to Orlando next summer for my sister-in-law's graduation fun anyway, we are going to try to extend our stay a couple more days and hit up Universal as well as Disney.  I'm SO excited!

Also, I thought this was funny.  :)

True 'nuff.

More Paint.net Fun :)

From a Clue Night pic to Uncle Sam :)

From an Easter Silly String Fight to JEDIS!

An oldie but a goodie--I managed to "photoshop" OUT her dad, and IN Derek Jeter AND Justin Bieber.  Inside joke.  ;)  It was my birthday gift to her.  :)

This is what I do when I'm avoiding all the IMPORTANT things I have to do.  :P

Progression of a Puzzle

I'm not really a puzzle person.

 

But it's winter and we needed a few fun things to do besides just have the TV on all night long.

 

So I bought a challenging 1000-piece puzzle (challenging because it was all black and white puppies).

 

Here's how the months of January and February went down:

Sometime around here we caught Obi sneaking puzzle pieces when we weren't in the room with her...finally figuring out just what had happened to those two edge pieces (not to mention ALL the other pieces we couldn't seem to find...)

And around here is where I was able to do the math...51 pieces, to be exact.

As finished as it will ever be.  :)

Ah, the joys of puppies.  :)

A Christmas Gift

So, TWO Christmases ago, Paul got me a sweet little sewing machine.  It's not top of the line or anything, but since I am a VERY NOVICE sew-er-of-things-by-machine and struggle to make even simple projects with straight lines, it was right in that sweet spot between our budget and need.  And it's cute, which helps me love it all the more.  :)

Well, today I finally opened it up.  I know, more than a YEAR after he thoughtfully bought it for me.  The truth is, I've had many projects piling up for that year but I never felt brave enough to tackle the "big bad" sewing machine.  Until today, when that list became just one item too long and I suddenly felt like I couldn't even wait 'til the weekend to pull it out and start using it.   So I opened it.  Pulled out THE MACHINE.  Tore off the plastic and safety tapes.  Opened the bobbin holder thingy (see?  I don't even know what it's called.)  Looked at the directions.

And that's as far as I got before I felt the panic attack coming on.

I'm not exaggerating or making light of panic attacks, either.  I literally felt my breath getting short--look at all the pictures with no words!--my heart pounding in my ears--where do I put this thread, or do I even have thread to put on it?--and the walls closing in on me--but I NEED to get this done TODAY!  I don't know why, but I do...  My vision started to narrow a bit and I threw down the way-too-big-and-too-complicated-for-me-'cause-I-just-want-to-make-a-short-curtain-anyway instruction manual and walked away to breathe again before the overwhelmed-ness of it all got out of hand.

So it sits there, half-opened in the guest room, packaging everywhere, and there it will stay until someone else walks me through it.  Because the compulsive need to make something NOW has vanished and I'm just not motivated to figure it out on my own these days.  And really, that's how I learn best.  I'm not a book kinda learner, as much as I wish I was.  I'm a watch-someone-else-do-it kinda learner.  An I-need-someone-by-me-as-I-try-it-out-to-tell-me-if-I'm-doing-it-wrong kinda learner.  An I'll-pay-you-in-chocolate-or-dinner-if-you'll-help-a-sister-out kinda learner.  So I posted my request on Facebook, and while I don't have any takers yet, I'm sure I will soon.  :)

And then, BE PREPARED.  Because I will have LOTS to show off if I ever get this thing--and myself--put together!  :)

Here are my TOP projects yet-to-do that require a sewing machine:

1. Small green curtains for our DVD "shelf" under the TV.
2. Pink ruffly scarf-like thingies for the bathroom shower curtains and above the mirror.
3. Curtains and an accent pillowcase for our bedroom.
4. A quilt for the Dustins that I have had cut for a year and a half and never did get around to sewing!!!  (Better late than never???  Maybe they'll have ANOTHER boy in the next couple of years and it can go to him instead?!)
5. Matching aprons for my sister and niece(s).
6. A cute purse (I'm crocheting the outside but I want the lining to be sewn...I have no idea how to do that...it's NOT just straight lines!)
7. Felt heart banner for mantle.
8. Puppy mei tai for Voodoo so we can go bike-riding this summer without worrying about her jumping out of the basket or running between the tires.  :)

Need ideas please :)

So, we went to our monthly GoodWill date this morning.  I was a little disappointed overall, but I still managed to find some pretty sweet stuff:

How rad is this T-shirt?!

A pair of work capris (for when it gets warmer again!), a cute dress I don't fit into, a sweet little picnic basket that will fit in my bike basket, a black/white shirt, and a long blue flowery skirt.

The problem with that cute dress I don't fit into is that even if I were to make it my "goal dress" and eventually fit into it by summertime, it's still WAY too short to actually wear as a dress, anyway!  But I just had to buy it...I walked past it literally three different times and I kept pulling it out, looking at it, wishing I could make it work for my body.  Now I'm trying to figure out what to make with the fabric.  I often buy dresses or things at these GoodWill dates because I get inspired to make something for Caida (or someone else, but usually her :), but I am selfish and I love this fabric tons and I want to use it for ME and not for another little dress for her.  Here's a close-up of the bottom:

 and the top:

Isn't it gorgeous?  I was kinda thinking maybe an apron?  The kind that just wraps around the waist, with the brown/top fabric as the pockets?  But, first of all, I don't have much use for a waist/hip only apron (the two full-length ones I already have are plenty stained up top!); and, secondly, I want it to be something I could use/see OFTEN because the fabric just makes me happy...but it doesn't work with my kitchen colors anyway.  I was also thinking of maybe just using it as fabric to line a crocheted bag or something...or a baby quilt for any of my many preggo friends.  And part of me says it's just not speaking to me *as* anything yet, and I thought maybe I would ask my talented friends who actually sew and create stuff to inspire me.

What do YOU think I should do with it? 

(P.S. Paul also got a suit pant, two sports jackets, two ties, AND a business shirt.  And we paid $20 total for the whole lot of it.  I LOVE GOODWILL!!!)

Also, my bathroom has turned out just too dark.  Even when it's clean, it feels dirty with all the brown and black in it.  This little origami doll (already hanging up in the bathroom) is my inspiration for a newer, fresher color palette:

Specifically, I would go with a mostly white bathroom with lighter/glittery silver, pink, and mint accents.  I've scoured the internet for inspiration but these colors aren't often together in decorating (and when they are it's very DATED feeling and tacky).  Ideas on DIY projects for a small, apartment bathroom when I can't just remodel and paint everything?  Even Pinterest isn't inspiring me much with this.  I need your help!

Please and thank you!

48 Answers

I wanted to post my answers to the 48 questions in my faux gumball machine conversation starter.  Just because.  :)  Feel free to comment with any (or all) of your own answers!

1.       What’s the verb you want to spend your life with?

LOVE or INSPIRE

2.       If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Speak every language EVER.  Not only would it just be fun, but communication is SUPER important and it would be awesome to be a teacher that can do that!

3.       What would you do with a million dollars?

Pay off my debts, adopt a couple of kids, and open my own school.

4.       If your life had a soundtrack, what are some of the songs that would be on it?

Vienna by Billy Joel

Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows

Paper Dream by Saturday’s Warrior

Them There Eyes by Billie Holiday

Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

I'd have to also find a song by Jim Croce and one by John Denver to add into the mix.  :)

5.       If you could vacation anywhere in the world for one month, where would you go?

JAPAN!

6.       Five of your favorite things?

Good books, fire, laughter, rain, giraffes

7.       If you could have picked your own name, what would it be?

Celeste.  I LOVE my name!

8.       What is the funniest joke you know?

Caida’s version of the “knock knock, who’s there, ADD, ADD wh---SQUIRREL!”  You gotta hear her tell it sometime!  J

9.       What would you do today if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

Probably just write a bunch of goodbye letters, go out to eat with my husband, and snuggle all night long.

10.   What fictitious character is most like you?

I like to think it’s Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but it’s probably more like the main character of Stargirl.  J

11.   What thought would you like to put in a million fortune cookies?

“Never, ever forget how truly special you are.”

12.   If your life had a remote control, which button would you press most often?

PAUSE!

13.   What do you (secretly) wish you knew how to do better?

Tap dance.

14.   If you could take in any 3 animals as pets, what would they be?

Giraffes, penguins, and horses (this is not counting my fur-babies I already have. J

15.   What is your biggest “claim to fame?”

I won a coloring contest when I was 9 years old.

16.   If you could win a shopping spree to any store, which would you choose?

Probably Teacher’s Delight or Amazon.com.  Something I wouldn’t spend a TON of my own money on very often without a shopping spree as an excuse. 

17.   What do you want to be when you grow up?

A teacher and a mom.

18.   Do you (or have you ever) collected anything?

Not anymore, but I used to have a sticker collection, a teddy bear collection, an angel thing and an Eiffel Tower thing going on.  J

19.   If you were a punctuation mark, which would you be and why?

Question mark.  I’m super curious and, frankly, questioning everything in my life, wondering about timing, etc.

20.   What are some of your biggest fears?

The dark.  And that my best isn’t good enough.

21.   Which TV family would you most like to belong to?

COSBY Show family! 

22.   What would you like your famous last words to be?

Take care of each other.

23.   What is the most common compliment people give you?

“You’re so SWEET.”  (Ugh.)

24.   If you could swim in a pool of any food or drink item, what would you choose?

Chocolate pudding.  Tasty, mud-like texture that could be soothing and stimulating at the same time, and HELLO IT’S CHOCOLATE!  J

25.   Finish this sentence: “Love is…”

A choice, daily.

26.   Do you have any scars?  How did you get them?

One on my big toe from slicing it on an old metal game in my then-messy room (I was 9, I think it’s what spawned my need to have things organized), and one on my knee from falling down a couple of steps right onto pavement.

27.   What was the best day you’ve ever had?

I know I should say something like my wedding day, but honestly that day was SUPER STRESSFUL and not my favorite.  Truthfully, Paul’s 25^th birthday (the LEGO party), my Pie Day with my student teaching class, and that Christmas where everyone I loved wrote me letters instead of giving me gifts were the happiest days so far in my life.  I’m pretty sure, though, that the best day of my life is still ahead of me.

28.   If you hosted a dinner party for 5 guests (anyone goes), who would you invite?

Albert Einstein, Gordon B. Hinckley, Mother Theresa, Brian Regan, and Lillie Pearl Riley Wells (my great-grandmother)

29.   Would you rather live under the ocean or on the moon?

On the moon—what a view!  And I could become very claustrophobic under the ocean…

30.   If you had three wishes, what would they be?

Perfect health for everyone I know and love, the ability to see others as God sees them, and being able to speak any language ever.  J

31.   What one work of fiction do you wish was true?

This is actually a SUPER HARD question, because a lot of my favorite books I would NOT want to be true.  I think I’m gonna go with all of the Littles books…how fun would it be to have little itty bitty friends?  And to decorate for them?! J

32.   Which friend (besides family) have you had the longest?

Lindsey…since I was 12, so…17 years now.

33.   Who in your family are you closest to?

My two sisters.  They are my closest friends!

34.   If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would you pick?

Taco salad.  All 5 food groups, and it is DELICIOUS!  J  (A CLOSE second would be that curry pineapple fried rice.)

35.   Where do you see yourself 20 years from now?

OLD.  Haha, jk.  49 is NOT OLD.  Hopefully by then we’ll have a few kids and I’ll have taught for almost 20 years in public schools.  And hopefully we will NOT be in Indiana still!  (Probably Chicago or Seattle.)

36.   If they made a movie of your life, what genre would it be?  Who would play you?

It would be a dramedy and I would be played by a young and dorkier Sandra Bullock for SURE.  And if she wasn’t available, it’d be Zooey Deschanel (think her character in New Girl…)

37.   Who is/was your favorite pet?

My two pets right now are my favorites.  Which one of them is my favorite depends on the day.  J

38.   What is a favorite family tradition of yours?

Taco Thanksgivings with my mom.  And Paul’s and my tradition of crossing state borders and saying “We’re in (insert new state name)…..NOW!”  And Paul’s and my tradition of kissing the cook on the cheek after dinner.

39.   What is one thing you learned today?

I just woke up, but I did already read my scriptures…I guess I learned a little more about what my problems are that need fixing NOW and to let go of some of the things that I can’t change about my past. 

40.   What do you think is the greatest invention of all time?

The laminator.  :P  Okay, no seriously, I am SUPER GRATEFUL for personal computers and cell phones.  I can’t imagine my life without either anymore.  Paul and I sometimes watch older TV shows (like from the 80s or earlier) and we’re always noting how this entire episode wouldn’t exist anymore because of cell phones or Google.  J

41.   Would you rather be blind or deaf?

This one has changed for me since I was a kid.  Growing up in a world of music, I thought I’d rather be blind ANY DAY.  But since then I’ve known a few blind people and I’ve realized how much harder daily living would be without my vision.  Not to mention, learning ASL is MUCH easier for me than Braille (I’ve done a bit of both, with NO SUCCESS in the latter), so now my answer is most definitely that I’d rather be deaf.

42.   What is your biggest pet peeve?

When I’m driving on the highway and two semis (or any two cars, really, but especially semis) take up both lanes and drive side-by-side so you can’t get around them.  UGH!

43.   If you were President for a week, what 3 laws would you create?

If they are only for the week, so I don’t have to worry about long-term consequences?  Universal healthcare, the institution of birthday WEEK as an official celebration for all (that you can officially get out of work/school/other responsibilities for, as a personal federal holiday of sorts), and a “no talking, only hugging before 10 AM” rule. (Got that brilliant little gem by the adorable and wise Zooey Deschanel.)

44.   What is your favorite room in the house?

My living room, apparently, since I spend almost all my day in it.

45.   If you were in a yearbook now, you would be voted “Most Likely To ______”

I was thinking a lot of negative things at first, but on a more positive note, I’d like to think I’m most likely to Improve.  J

46.   What sport do you enjoy playing/watching the most?

I like playing volleyball the most, but I like watching basketball the most.

47.   What item would you put in a time capsule for someone to find 100 years from now?

My journal…lots more info in there than any one thing I can think of leaving.  If I HAVE to leave something, though, it’d probably be my iPod (with charger)…just the kinds of apps I have on there, plus the music and pictures, would be super interesting.  I mean, imagine if George Washington or Joseph Smith (or someone actually 100 years ago) had an iPod and YOU FOUND IT.  J

48.   What about your life (to date) are you most proud of?

I’m still HERE!  J  That has taken no small amount of prayer and effort on my part over the years.

Mom's Bday and other catch-up. :)

Birthdays tend to happen in groups in our family.  Charissa (my sister) and Mom celebrate 8 days apart, and my step-mom is the week after that, so I always get REALLY caked out around this time of year.  (And in January, where my dad and little brother are 3 days apart...and again in March, with three sisters and I all having our birthdays a week apart from each other...)

ANYWHO.  I've also lost the passion for cute cake making.  I'm going for delicious these days, maybe because I don't eat sweets as much so I really want it to be worth it!  I'm sure someday I'll get back into fun cakes again, but...times and seasons, friends.  :)  So here's the German chocolate cake (my mom's favorite) I made:

And here is the festivities: balloon throwing in Mom's and Charissa's new living room.  It was a low-key birthday, with pizza and cake and balloons and tired people.  :)  But it was still nice.  Happy birthday, Mom!

I haven't been in the mood to blog.  I've been a little down about the job thing (yup, no teaching job for me right now), and it has brought up a lot of hard feelings and kept me from feeling much motivation at ALL this week.  Other than dishes, I've done NO CLEANING all week!  I got a little more LEGO crafting done for my someday classroom on Monday, but between needing more money to finish them and the sad truth that they won't be put to good use anytime soon, well...lost my mojo.  I've caught up on some TV shows I hadn't been watching all summer, taken the dogs on some longer walks than usual, and just generally been a bummer to be around.  Pity party, complete with violins.  Not pretty. 

NO MORE!  I have struggled harder than usual even to find peace with this and so many other things in my life I don't like and feel powerless to change, but the last few days have been very odd and I've found the beginnings of a tranquility I can't totally explain.  I'm not completely there yet, but it's taking root more and more each day, and the thought keeps coming to mind that it's going to be okay, this is just a MOMENT and the Lord's plan for me is so much more than this moment.  Maybe I'm just meant to do something else right now (even though I prayed and thought long and hard about it and felt led in this direction...but that's the way it is sometimes).  Part of me is almost excited to figure out what that something else is with the Lord.  And I keep thinking back to other major life disappointments and remembering the things I learned from those moments, the strength and perspective I gained, and that most of them DID END WELL.  I'm grateful to have those solid, happy moments to dwell on, and to know that life is a roller coaster--the downs are always followed by big UPs, and sometimes even the falling can be a thrill.  (Not for me, though...I actually hate roller coasters...but still. :)

So...maybe tomorrow is the day I will feel the cleaning and the crafting and the photo-taking bug again.  Or maybe not.  But I will get there.  I'll try not to keep you waiting too long.  ;)

A few other pictures of my life right now:

I've had banana ice cream or banana/peanut butter milk shakes like every day.  YUM.

Stinkin' cute puppies.  I love that Voodoo still follows Obi around everywhere and copies even her body language.  :)

Found the most amazing ever FREE font to use in my someday-classroom: LEGOTHICK!  Outlined in yellow and put on a red background, it looks SO GOOD, don't you think?  :)  I'll have to post the final products of these two signs soon.  :)

Filled in for activity days last week.  The cute girls learned some babysitting-appropriate games to play...here they are blowing a cotton ball from one side of the room to the other.  So fun!