monkey memories

Gramps

2011-03-19T19:41:00.001-07:00

The Greats

2011-03-18T19:37:00.000-07:00

Sprinkles

2011-03-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

Baby Girl

2011-03-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

Cousins

2011-03-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Prune Toes

2011-03-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

(I'm trying to get up caught up a bit here, stay tuned all week for some new pictures I've taken the past few months!)

Granny

2011-03-13T19:41:00.001-07:00

Here comes spring!

2011-03-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T07:09:00.000-08:00

First airplane ride

2011-02-13T19:02:00.001-08:00

Well, the first ride that he'll remember, anyway! :) He and I went on a little adventure at the beginning of the month! We flew down to Phoenix to visit my family and take a little mental health break and the kid was SO excited to fly down there. At least, until the day we left. He then admitted that he was scared. Monkey was a trooper, though, didn't have any problems getting on the plane. As soon as we sat down, he asked "Are we in the air?" He had a tight grip on the arm rests during takeoff but was soon totally relaxed and happy, even with the turbulence. By the time we flew back, he was an old pro and had no hesitation whatsoever!

Mr. Valentine

2011-01-29T12:37:00.000-08:00

We had our annual Valentine's Day photoshoot today so that we can make valentines for Monkey to give out this year! He seemed excited and cooperative, gladly putting on his cute little tux. Then the camera came out and he got crazy! He kept making goofy faces and doing this odd shoulder hunching thing.

Finally I asked him how he would smile for the little girl in his clas that he always plays with and I got this shot...

32

2011-01-20T17:42:00.001-08:00

Christmas Closeups

2011-01-11T06:27:00.000-08:00

Some of my first shots with the macro.

You Got a Friend In Me!

2011-01-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Surprise

2011-01-09T15:00:00.000-08:00

Last November I got a call from my mom asking for some help with Christmas. She said that my dad had been working overtime this year and had some extra money so they were going to make this Christmas extra special for the boys- my brother and husband. She promised that the girls would have their turn next year. Daddy had been talking about building a new computer so I recommended a giftcard to Fry's Electronics to help with that. Daddy with thrilled with his gift card and my brother loved his certificate to get a good mountain bike.

What my sister in law and I didn't know was that the boys had been told a similar story- it was a special year for the girls and the boys would have their turn next year! Amazingly all four of us managed to keep our mouths closed so it was a surprise all around! My sister in law got a new laptop and I got this...

I don't have to tell you how amazing this was for me! And, to top it off, Daddy got me a macro lens! I had wanted one for a long time but they're pretty pricy so I never thought I'd ever get one!

Monkey had a pretty special day too, thanks to Mamaw and Grumpa he now has his own set of wheels!

So thank you, thank you, thank you Mamaw and Grumpa for making this Christmas extra, extra special!

Finished for Friday

2010-12-31T10:53:00.001-08:00

Haven't done one of these in a while and I figured today was probably a pretty good day to start back up again. So what did I finish? Same thing pretty much everyone else finished- 2010. It was a great year. Took lots of fun trips, read lots of great books, spent time with my family and friends, who could ask for more? I am truly blessed and so thankful for everyone in my life, especially friends and family!

Veteran's Day Weekend

2010-12-30T06:27:00.000-08:00

Veteran's Day weekend was amazing this year! We realized that, for the first time in quite a while, Daddy and I had two evenings off together. The three of us had never taken a family vacation with just us so we planned a little getaway!

First we headed out to Moapa, Nevada to introduce Daddy to our animal friends at Roos N More! Roos N More is a small zoo owned by a couple of married vetrinarians. Several times a month they open up to the public and, for a small fee, you can tour the facility and have encounters with almost all of the animals! This was our third visit and many of the volunteers there remembered us and went out of their way to help us get great shots and have some quality time with the animals! I now want a baby kangaroo, an otter or a sloth.

After visiting Roos N More, we hit the road again, this time heading to Zion National Park. I may have visited there as a kid but, if I did, I really didn't remember it. It was amazing! I've always lived in the desert so I've never even really seen trees with fall colors before. I could have spent HOURS just taking pictures of leaves! We went on several fabulous hikes and spent quite a bit of time just sitting by the river, letting Monkey throw leaves and stones in the river.

This was my favorite shot of the entire trip. Love the red leaves!

Let's try this again....

2010-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a horrible blogger, I know. Sorry. If anyone is still reading, I'm giving this another shot! So what have we been up to since September? I'm glad you asked! :)

First, I took newborn portraits of my gorgeous niece!

Not long after came some major upheaval at work. Due to staffing issues we had to lose a kindergarten teacher, taking us from four teachers to three. I went from having 26 kids to having 35 which required a TON work work and rearranging to make room for all of the extra kids. Thankfully I've lost a few since then and we've adjusted fairly well. I'm still absolutely exhausted by the time I get home each night (a big part of the reason I took a blogging break)

The fall also saw another trip out to Roos N More to visit the awesome animals as well as a quick trip to Valley of Fire for a little hiking!

In October we made our annual visit to the Orchard, ate more amazing cupcakes, went to our school's fall festival, went to City Center and Bellagio with Mamaw and Grumpa and, of course, had a fantastic Halloween!

More to come soon....

Shark Reef

2010-09-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to visit Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef for free! We had never been so I was excited to check it out! It was lots of fun but not very big so I'm glad we didn't end up paying for it. However, it made for a fun excursion and we had fun walking around a couple of the casinos with one of my friends when we were done!

Cousins

2010-09-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

Meet Kaetlyn

2010-09-01T17:33:00.001-07:00

My perfect, adorable, precious, sweet, beautiful, loveable niece!

First day of school! First day of school!

2010-09-01T06:43:00.000-07:00

Monkey started Pre-K on Monday! He's in an afternoon class at my own school. I was SO nervous since he's never been in daycare or a school setting but he's been doing quite well! When I asked him what he did on Monday he said, "I followed directions!" Made me soooooo happy and proud! I can't believe my baby is all grown up!

Summer Recap

2010-08-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

OK, so I was bad and kind of didn't blog all summer. In an attempt to win back your love (is anybody still out there?) Here's my summer recap...

The summer started off with a bang with a whirlwind trip to Disneyland! One of the other kindergarten teachers and I hit the road as soon as we were checked out of our room and out of our last meeting! We were on the road by 9:15 and at the park before 3:00! She hadn't been in years so it was fun to be the tour guide!I treated us to Fantasmic Reserved Seating. I figured after the year we had just finshed, we had earned it!

We made a quick trip to Seal Beach before leaving Cali. We saw a big pod of dolphins while we ate breakfast on the pier!

When we got back, I started working a bit with Monkey on his reading. It lasted about a week before I realized he needed something left to work on with his pre-K teacher! And I got lazy...

We took a trip out to Red Rock before it got too beastly hot!

We did some yard work and actually managed to grow some grass in our backyard (not pictured!)

At the end of June, we met Mamaw and Grumpa down in Laughlin. We got a river view room and had a great time watching the boats float by. Next came another trip to Disneyland! This time with Monkey, Mamaw and Grumpa!

He got brave and agreed to try the Matterhorn!

He also rode Thunder Mountain and initially gave it two thumbs up!

We saw the new World of Color show at California Adventure and it was amazing!

We got our annual "Let me in!" shot!

Took many rides on Dumbo!

And, of course, rode in Casey Junior's monkey cage, as is tradition!

Silvermist said that Monkey was the best hugger!

Tinkerbell agreed!

Had some quality bonding time with Grumpa!

Soarin' Over California got two very big thumbs up!

We visisted Mickey's house almost every day!

Did at least one spin on the teacups every day!

He came back to the hotel absolutely exhausted each night and slept in his own little "bat cave."

He got soaked many times in the water play areas!

The train lovin' kid got invited to take a special picture with the engineer!

We ran into Mickey in Calfornia Adventure one day which meant we could skip Toon Town that day! :)

Got there early enough to get this fun shot one morning!

Took another ride on Thunder Mountain. This time he declared it "too speedy" and decided not to do any more speedy trains!

Grumpa and I found our Laughing Place (and got soaked in the process)

Gadget's Go Coaster was also declared to be too speedy.

We had a fun surprise for Monkey and Mamaw! Uncle Brian and Aunt Alison came for a visit for the last day! :)

Soon we were home and it was time to show our love for our country by blowing stuff up!

Monkey did his first sparklers!

We spent many hours in Nana's pool!

We made cupcakes for the baby shower I threw for my sister in law!

We had an awesome shower, if I did say so myself. Monkey was clearly not as entertained by baby present bingo as everyone else...

We bought the cutest shoes ever!

Daddy and I celebrated our 7th anniversary!

I visited the Springs Preserve where all sorts of fun critters came to say hello!

Monkey perfected his silly faces.

We went down to Scottsdale and ran around in the rain.

We got all dressed up for my grandparent's 60th anniversary celebration!

Monkey made a new friend at the party!
We had our first cupcakes from Sprinkle's bakery.

Got spoiled rotten by great aunt Brenda and great Granny.

Spent some quality time in the "compuzzi." Hiked up Hole in the Rock with Grumpa to watch the sun set.

I enjoyed a glass or two of wine.

Got the coolest sprinkler ever.

Went to Jump and Shout with Grumpa and Uncle Brian.

Fed some ducks! Played at the Spray Pad.

Went to the Natural History Museum.

Discovered world's best cupcakes. Seriously amazing and addicting. Held and petted a monkey, otter, bear cat, kangaroo, lemur, tortoise, and kissed a camel at Roos N More! Had the kiddo's fourth birthday party!

Throw in a few trips to the library, time at the pool with friends, working in my classroom and lots of lazy mornings in bed and that's our summer in a nutshell. Sorry for all of the sentence fragments and stuff. My brain hurts.

Today we started the next big adventure...preschool...

More to come!

Blue-eyed boy

2010-06-15T20:01:00.001-07:00

Father's Day

2010-06-09T16:13:00.000-07:00

Daddy had an amazing present for me for Mother's Day- we had second row seats to see my favorite comedian, Wayne Brady! I knew I had to do something really awesome for him for Father's Day. I have a friend whose boyfriend is an amazing artist (check out his deviantart page here- just a warning, some of his work is a bit risque!) so I asked him to do a comission for me- Monkey as a superhero with his sidekick Meerkat! I had it blown up to a poster size and it looks AMAZING!

Strawberries

2010-06-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to use this week to get caught back up on my blogging!

So last month I bought these ginormous strawberries at Wal-Mart! The first picture is a strawberry in MY hand, not Monkeys!I was dipping them in chocolate for a friend's birthday but I had to let Monkey sample one first! They were the biggest, sweetest strawberries I had ever had and they were even better once they were dipped in chocolate!

It's back!

2010-06-06T13:53:00.001-07:00

The second summer

Coming Soon...

2010-05-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

The second summer.

Senor Crankypants

2010-05-30T18:02:00.001-07:00

I don't know why he's SO crankypants, he should be a happy boy! His mama is almost done with work and we'll be hanging out together all summer! Well, except for next Thursday, Friday and Saturday when I'm at Disneyland without him. Shhhhh....don't tell! :)

Poor Neglected Little Blog...

2010-05-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

...what can I say? I've been neglectful (again). I'm hoping to do much better once I'm out of work (9 and a half days with students!). I'm planning on doing another photo project again this summer.

In the meantime, here's a few pictures of Monkey and his best (stuffed) buddy Meerkat!

Old Town Scottsdale

2010-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Still working on posts from Spring Break...

While we were in Scottsdale, Monkey and I had a free morning while Mamaw was at her volunteer job. She works in the hospital gift shop which is right by the library, Civic Center and the downtown area. We spent a few hours wandering the area, taking lots of pictures, and having a nice lunch together. After spending the previous six days running around and visiting family it was nice to have a relaxing morning where we could do whatever we pleased!

Bubbles

2010-04-03T05:58:00.000-07:00

(some picture credit goes to Grumpa, we took turns with the camera!)

Dyeing Eggs

2010-04-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

Monkey and Grumpa

2010-04-01T19:33:00.001-07:00

Camping

2010-03-29T17:16:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago Monkey went on his first camping trip! My in laws were headed out to Lake Mead with some friends and asked us to join them. I don't really camp but they've been trying to convince me for years to join them. I decided to give it a try and I drove out there after work on Friday and stayed until Saturday evening. I enjoyed the sitting around, chatting, horseshoe playing and drinking parts of it. The trying to sleep when it's darn cold and I don't have my nest of pillows thing really stunk.

Monkey had a FABULOUS time! He played hard each day and slept hard each night! Nana bought him some shovels and pails and showed him where the water spiggot was and he played in the dirt for hours. We also brought him down to the marina to see the fish. He loved it, I thought it was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. The fish were huge and ugly and had nasty mouths and eyes. Ew.

Anyway, I'm sure we'll be camping again at some point. The inlaws are convinced that I'll end up loving it and said I can slowly work my way up. This time I did a day and a night, they said next time I should try for two days and a night!

A few more from the park

2010-03-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

At the park

2010-03-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

Monkey and Mama

2010-03-06T15:42:00.000-08:00

We had quite the adventure this morning! We headed out to Floyd Lamb State Park. I had been there years ago as a part of a school wide field trip but I wasn't able to explore the park as our class had to stay in a certain area. The park was beautiful! It had four ponds stocked with fish and lots of trees and birds! We had a great time feeding the ducks and geese until a bunch of very large, scary geese jumped out of the pond and started chasing us! I took tons of pics and I'll post more throughout the week!

If I may brag for a bit...

2010-02-26T18:43:00.000-08:00

I'm so proud of myself! I had always been extremely skinny growing up and through college. When I graduated and moved away I slowly started gaining weight. Of course, having Monkey didn't help this. Since having him I've been about 15 pounds above my pre-Monkey weight.

Well, this New Years I decided to give losing weight a try. A real try. Not a "I'll eat good and exercise for a few days then quit" try. I've been eating less and better. No more fried foods. Rarely any soda (though I do occasionally cheat on that one). And working on on my wii fit. Well, I've been bad at that one lately but I'm trying...

So far, in two months, I've lost about 10 pounds and I'm only a few away from my pre-preggo weight. My wii has stopped telling me I'm overweight and now calls me normal (doesn't know me too well does it? ;-) People are starting to see a difference and comment to me on my weight loss and I'm feeling a difference in my clothes. I was shocked when I saw one of the pictures of me two weeks ago at Red Rock compared to one of me a year ago. Observe:

January 20, 2009

February 15, 2010

See the difference in my thighs? I still have a ways to go but I'm so proud of myself for sticking with it this time!

Red Rock and Photoshop

2010-02-15T18:13:00.001-08:00

Monkey and I headed out to our favorite place, Red Rock Canyon, this morning! We had a great time hiking! The seasonal waterfall was flowing more than I had ever seen it, it was beautiful. Very hard to photograph though so I didn't get any great shots. I did, however, get some fun shots of Monkey.

In the upcoming months I have some fun photography challenges- shooting my first engagement session and a newborn session! I wanted to play with Photoshop tonight and see how many different looks I could get so that my client (OK, it's my sister in law and I'm working for free) has lots of options!

Happy Valentines Day!

2010-02-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Over the Bridge

2010-02-07T16:03:00.000-08:00

How did we spend our Super Bowl Sunday? By walking over a bridge. Last summer the city built a bridge over a road by our house that connects a walking path by a drainage area. A seldom used walking path. The whole thing seemed like a colossal waste of money but Monkey was fascinated by it. Today we finally went and parked by the bridge so we can walk over it. He had a blast! I've given him one of my old Kodak cameras and he had a great time taking pictures and cheesing for me!

Sleep, baby, sleep...

2010-01-31T19:29:00.000-08:00

Chore Chart

2010-01-30T19:37:00.001-08:00

Lately Monkey has been insisting that he "NEEDS Molly" (or any other one of Thomas' friends that he has decided is most important that day). He'll tell us that we "HAVE to go buy them." We didn't quite like this sense of entitlement he had going on so we decided that Monkey needed to earn his friends.

So I went to Target and got this super cute magnetic Chore Chart. His current chores are: taking care of the pets, cleaning his room, picking up toys in the living room, using manners, getting dressed, taking a bath, brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. He absolutely loves doing his chores and it's gotten him back into pajamas. For the past month he's told me that he doesn't want jammies, he "just wants to be cold." Well, with this chart he has to wear jammies if he wants his prize! Today he earned his first prize! He got to go to Toys R Us and pick out a new Thomas friend. He really wanted Molly but she is no where to be found. So he got Jack instead! We think we're gonna alternate Thomas trains with Dollar Store prizes to keep this a little more cost effective!

Mt. Charleston

2010-01-29T18:53:00.000-08:00

The week after Christmas we made a trip up to Mt. Charleston with Mamaw and Grumpa! It was a blast! Monkey had his heart set on building a snowman and that was all that he talked about on our way up the mountain. Sadly the snow was too dry to make good balls for a snowman but thankfully we found a big one already made! Monkey was happy with that and the teensy one we managed to build! We also found a broken sled at the base of a hill so Monkey, Grumpa and I took a few trips down the hill! I hadn't been sledding in years and it was a bit scary but lots of fun!

(And, yes, again, I promise to try and blog more. I'm a bad blogger. )

Christmas

2010-01-09T17:10:00.001-08:00

This year Daddy had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas. So he drove down to Scottsdale with us on Tuesday then flew back home on Thursday morning. And since my brother was also working on Christmas, we had an early celebration with my parents. We went to their favorite restaurant for some yummy food and drinks then back home for present opening. We were getting ready to open presents when we heard jingle bells! It was Santa!

Monkey was thrilled to see him, especially since he brought a few little holiday decorated Thomas trains for him! Sadly, Uncle Brian missed him AGAIN this year! He had to run out to the store but he saw the sleigh pull away as he got home! ;-)

Visiting Uncle Brian and Aunt Alison's!

2010-01-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

During our visit to Scottsdale we were able to visit my brother Brian's new house! We had a great time with Brian and Alison and their dogs, Special and Sweeny! Monkey especially had fun playing with the frisbee in their backyard! It took him a while to figure out how to throw it but he eventually came up with a funny behind the back toss that was surprisingly accurate!

Visiting the Big Guy

2010-01-05T20:10:00.000-08:00

After waiting 45+ minutes to see Santa at the Bass Pro Shops, it was finally our turn... I got a talkin' to from Mrs. Claus for not letting their photographer go first. Oops.

My picture turned out WAY better than theirs though! :)

Telling Santa he wanted "Talking Thomas and Trains!"

Christmas was SOOOO fun with Monkey this year! It was the first year that he got into the Santa thing and he had no fear when visiting Santa this year! He very happily told him his name, age and what he wanted for Christmas! More to come on our Christmas and another special Santa visit in the upcoming days...

Big Boy Haircut

2010-01-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

Before (ignore the goofy guy behind him!)

During

After

Sink Bath

2010-01-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Wanted to share these pics (yes, I know I haven't blogged in a long time, I'm trying to get better, I promise!). Before Christmas my bottle of Tea tree oil that I use when washing my hair fell in the tub. Tea tree oil is a very strong, smelly oil that I use when I wash my hair. I put a few drops in my shampoo because it is supposed to deter lice and, working with kids, I want to do all I can to avoid the little buggers.

Anyway, the bottle fell off of a shelf and broke one day. We ran the shower for quite a while and wiped it down to rinse it off. But it must not have been enough. The next day Monkey was taking a bath and we heard "You have to help me!" from the bathroom. Well, the oil had gotten on his toys and then he rubbed it into his eyes. He also seemed to have a bit of a rash so we're thinking he's allergic.

We needed to wash him off but the tub was clearly not clean enough so we dumped him in the kitchen sink! He loved it, thought it was SO fun! It reminded me of when he was just a little bitty guy and we scrubbed him in the sink at Mamaw's house!

The best present under the tree

2009-12-25T19:41:00.000-08:00

Day 3

2009-12-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Day 2

2009-12-14T18:17:00.001-08:00

I wasn't feeling great this day so I didn't have my camera out nearly as much as I should have.

Where on Earth have I been?

2009-12-13T17:44:00.001-08:00

Well, there's two answers to that question.

Answer Number 1- In a funk. I've been going through some more health issues lately (nothing kidney related, thank God) and they've made me quite moody and lacking energy. I had lots of blood work done and the doctor said I have a Vitamin D deficiency. I take my first super duper dose of the D tonight, hopefully it will help. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm happy with that answer from my doctor and I didn't feel like he listened to all of my concerns so I'll be getting a second opinion soon.

Answer Number 2- Disneyland! I ditched the husband and kid (sorry Monkey!) and went to Disneyland last weekend with some of my Laughingplace friends. While I missed Monkey and felt a little guilty about leaving him, I had an amazing time and I needed that SO bad after the last month. I haven't laughed that hard in a VERY long time. Here are a few pictures from the first day- look for more hopefully this week! The castle one is probably my favorite non-Monkey picture from this year!

Too Much Turkey...

2009-11-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Picture FAIL

2009-11-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

I've been working on my yearly Monkey calendar today and I decided to try and shoot a few for the December page. I knew that working with the Christmas lights would be tricky and that I would have no idea what I was doing...but I didn't think that I would also have to deal with an uncooperative subject. He hurt his foot right before we got started and, despite me getting him "something cold" to put on his owie, he never quite got over it. He spent the entire time scrunching up his face, making whimpering noises and saying the most pathetic little "cheese"es.

Guess we'll try one of my other ideas tomorrow!

Fall Festival

2009-11-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm still working on Halloween posts. :) What can I say? I'm a bit behind. Anyway, on the 23rd we went to my school's Fall Festival. We had an awesome time eating, playing games and hanging out with my students and coworkers!

Blue Man Group

2009-11-17T19:11:00.001-08:00

So when we were hanging out with Mamaw and Grumpa before Halloween, we had dinner one night at the Venetian food court. While we were sitting there a man came up to us and asked if we wanted to see the Blue Man Group! We thought it was a scam at first but it turns out that he was in charge of a large tour group and they had extra seats!

I was ready to tell Mamaw and Grumpa to go on ahead and I'd hang out with Monkey but he invited Monkey too! I wasn't sure how he would do, especially since he hasn't even been to a movie theater but he was awesome! It was so cute, before the show he asked every few minutes, "Well, where are the Blue Men?" He really enjoyed the show! My favorite part was when the Blue Men brought out a box of Twinkies for a skit. In the middle of the quiet theater Monkey said, quite loudly, "Twinkies are yummy!"

It was an amazing night. The only thing I regret is that we didn't have a proper camera. We had no idea we'd be seeing the show and no time to run up and grab one so we had to get Monkey's picture with the Blue Man with my mom's phone. The next morning we ran all around the Venetian getting his pictures with various Blue Man signs and statues!

New Furniture

2009-11-09T17:14:00.001-08:00

Well, our old couches have been falling apart and are all stained and yucky so Daddy and I decided to do a little looking at different furniture stores last Friday night. We were at a used furniture store when we saw this enormous sectional marked $649. We figured there was no way it would fit in our living room so we left and checked out a new furniture store. Saw a few things we liked but couldn't decide on anything. And the middle piece has storage inside! I think we're going to put some cozy pillows and blankies in one side! :)

Well, when we got home we decided it would fit so we went back Sunday morning! We managed to talk them down to $500 for it! It is way comfy and has 3 recliners and a pull out bed!

More Kinder Art

2009-11-08T20:10:00.001-08:00

Last week we were supposed to study worms in my class. We had gotten the worms about a week before Halloween and I got them all set up in their little worm home, hoping they would live happily in the closet until I was ready for them. Well, they died. And I didn't really feel like dealing with worms. So instead we spent a few days studying owls! We made these adorable TLC art projects, read a nonfiction owl book, made a tree map then used the tree map for interactive writing! Not bad for a last minute fill in activity!

The Redheaded Reverend asked last week what the kiddos learn from this activity. :) It's a great question, I do have to defend my use of art in my classroom, especially since our school has not done well with No Child Left Behind and we have a strong academic focus. Well, my kids learn a ton with these art projects. Many come to me with little or no English, unable to identify shapes and colors, and some have never used scissors! These projects teach a large amount of vocabulary, especially with positional words (over, behind, left, right etc.) And, of course, there's tons of review of colors and shapes! And, gosh darn it, these kids are five and deserve some fun at school! :)

Family pictures

2009-11-08T07:01:00.000-08:00

Sleepover with Mamaw and Grumpa

2009-11-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

Last week when Mamaw and Grumpa came to town we joined them for an evening in a suite at the Palazzo! The rooms there are gorgeous and they had a pullout bed perfect for Monkey and I! Again, Monkey had an awesome time just looking out the window! Our room was on the 37th floor and it faced the east part of the Valley. We could see a huge waterfall on the Wynn golf course, plenty of cars, trucks, helicopters, planes and the monorail! We were also treated to a spectacular sunrise the next morning!

Halloween in my Class

2009-11-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to show off a few of the art projects we did in my classroom in October. First we made these adorable scarecrows!This little guy cracks me up with his skinny little arms!

We also did these adorable Trick or Treaters! They are one of my favorite art projects all year! I can't remember if I've shared about these art projects before but they come from a series of books called TLC art. They take TONS of prep work but the kids learn SO much from assembling them and all of the projects just turn out way too cute!

Jack O'Lanterns

2009-11-03T16:20:00.000-08:00

As I said yesterday, we spent Saturday morning carving pumpkins! Monkey got totally into it. His job was to take the guts that Mamaw and Grumpa scooped out and put them in the trash. He ended up flinging goo all over the floor but he had so much fun that it was totally worth the mess! He got a bit messy himself...

My Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie!

Mamaw's scary Jack O'Lantern

and Monkey's!

Halloween

2009-11-02T19:04:00.001-08:00

Monkey had a GREAT Halloween! Mamaw and Grumpa came to town for the weekend and joined in our fun! Saturday morning we carved pumpkins together then in the evening we had family over for soup and trick or treating!

Monkey had a blast trick or treating with his cousins! The look on his face when the first piece of candy went in was adorable! At the second house I tried to remind him to use his manners by saying "What do you say?" His response- "I got candy!" That's my boy!

Farmer Boy

2009-10-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, I said Farmer and NOT Cowboy. I could not find overalls in any stores (checked WalMart, Target, Kohl's, The Children's Place, Old Navy and two thrift stores!) so Klucky is so kindly mailing me some from farm country! And the hat was the closest thing I could find to a Farmer's hat. So, yeah, he looks more like a cowboy. But don't you dare call him that, it ticks him off!

Can't argue with that logic...

2009-10-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

Me: Do you love Rowdy?

Monkey: Yes, she is cute.

Me: He is cute. Rowdy is a boy.

Monkey: No Rowdy not a boy. Rowdy is a dog. I am a boy. Rowdy is a dog.

Just more pics...

2009-10-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Gilcrease Orchard

2009-10-10T12:04:00.001-07:00

It's too bad I have such an unhappy child...

2009-10-02T15:00:00.001-07:00

Homemade Playdoh

2009-09-27T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have an "exploration table" in my classroom. Usually teachers use these for water activities but I haven't been brave enough yet. The last teacher to use the classroom filled it full of rice and little alphabet beads and didn't empty it so I've been using that for the past two years. And I'm kind of done with the rice. Friday I caught kids putting their heads in it and getting rice in their hair. I'm sure the custodians hate me because of it (and the other messy art projects I do!).

So I decided that I'd make some homemade playdough this weekend to use in place of the rice. The table has a cover for it so I'll save the rice for later in the year when they are able to do a bit better with it (I hope). One of my friend recently made playdoh for her class and said it was pretty easy so I thought it would be a fun activity for Monkey and I this weekend. I wanted a ton so I quadrupled the recipe I found online.

The ingredients (and my little assistant!)

First, we put in 8 cups of flour.

Next, four cups of salt.

8 tablespoons of Cream of Tartar (It took me two trips to the store to find this because I had no idea what it was on the first trip. You can find it by the seasonings).

8 cups of water

4 tablespoons of vegetable oil.Mix well!Put over medium heat, stirring constantly. This is also when I added the food coloring. I was going to hold off and wait until it was off the heat and make several different colors. Then I realized that the OCD part of me would go insane when the colors inevitably got mixed. I decided on one color just to lower my stress levels.When it has a playdoh consistency, remove from heat. When it's cooled enough, start kneeding it. Then it's ready to play with! Monkey spent his morning making snakes, balls, burritos and flashlights (?) with his!

Honestly, I'm not sure I would do this project again. It didn't seem to be saving that much money and it made a big, huge mess. And, after scrubbing the pot I made it in, Daddy made me promise I wouldn't attempt it again...

Future Architect

2009-09-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Monkey made this structure tonight using two different size blocks. It was very symmetrical and probably one of the coolest things he's built to date!

I'd love to know what goes on inside that little head...

2009-09-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

This was Monkey's big entertainment tonight- finding STUFF and putting it all on the loveseat. Included in the pile is both remote controls, Henry the Octopus, numerous pairs of shoes, my purse, a backpack, stuffed animals, a basketball, Viewfinder reels, his VMotion controller, a pillow, dirty socks, a paper plate, the dog's bowl, many toy cars, a Bear in the Big Blue House DVD, Thomas books and his drawing board. That's just the stuff on top that I can see. And the pile has grown since I'd taken the picture...

Yeah, yeah...

2009-09-20T19:42:00.000-07:00

... I know, I've been a bad blogger (again). No excuses, I will try to improve. In the meantime, here's some cute pics of the kiddo.

Sorry about that!

2009-09-05T19:21:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I've been a horrible blogger lately! So here's a quick catch up on us. Monkey is awesome, as always. He amazes me every day with his vocabulary and his love for learning and drawing! His drawings are becoming much more complicated and he's starting to add letters and numbers. He cracks me up with some of the things he comes up with! The other day I asked him if he has a cute butt. Here's the conversation recreated. It makes me giggle every time!

He's also apparently learned to blame things on Rowdy. He made this mess five minutes ago then tried to blame it on Rowdy.

Mean old Mom is insisting that he clean it all up so this is what he's currently doing. :)

Work is going surprisingly well! I seem to have a good group of kiddos. The first few weeks are always rough but they are starting to settle into a routine. I do still have some criers. One boy cries every morning when mom drops off then is fine after she leaves and a few others randomly decide they miss their mommies and cry throughout the day. But no one has wet their pants yet so I consider the first two weeks a success!

The future's so bright...

2009-08-30T15:04:00.000-07:00

...he has to wear shades!

That can't be good...

2009-08-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting in the computer room, quietly reading a book when I hear CRASH from the living room. Little feet run down the hall.

Monkey: Sorry about that.

Me: What did you d o?

Monkey: stuff....

Fremont Street

2009-08-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

Continuing on with last weekend's adventures! We headed down to Fremont Street on Saturday night! It's the old downtown section of Vegas. It's been blocked off to traffic and has a huge canopy thingy over it that does a bunch of light shows each evening! It's always a fun place to hang out and people watch!

Finished for Friday- Big Boy Room!

2009-08-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

On March 17, 2006 I found out I was having a little Monkey and not a little Princess. The very next morning I headed to Babies R Us with my mom and aunt and we picked out the sweetest jungle themed nursery set. The name of it was Zanzibar and we went crazy decorating the nursery with lots of fun jungle animals!

Well, Monkey is a big boy now and, inspired by the race car bed we picked up at a yard sale, I decided it was time for a big boy room! I found the cutest set at Target called On the Go. I picked up a few things for it myself then Monkey got a few more at his party. :) We also got a fantastic gift card and I was able to pick up extra sheets, a car bank and a full size comforter! The comforter was on clearance way cheap and it's stored in his closet so that when he outgrows the car bed we can get a bigger bed without having to change the theme!

Mamaw outdid herself with the decorations again! Like his nursery she painted dresser knobs to match perfectly and decorated letters to spell out Monkey's name! Too cute! We also added a shelf to display the alphabet train his great grandpa got him and I picked up fun Disney themed road signs at Disneyland! :) His room is SO fun and he absolutely loves it!

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-20T19:29:00.000-07:00

Can't believe my sweet little man has gone from this...

to this! These three years have flown by and I know that in a blink of an eye he'll be off to kindergarten...then junior high...then high school,...then college. *sigh*

Happy Birthday to my little Monkey Man!

Daddy went Boom Crash

2009-08-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

I had lots of other stuff to post this week but I've been a bit busy lately. Officially started back at work yesterday then found out on the way home that Daddy and Monkey had been in an accident. Both are fine, thank God, but the car, as you can see, is not. I'll try to post more this weekend!

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my big Monkey man! Love you sweetie!

Sam's Town

2009-08-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

While we had family in town for Monkey's birthday we spent some time doing touristy Vegas things that we don't always think of doing when we don't have guests. Our first stop was my aunt's hotel, Sam's Town.

This casino is off the Strip, more of a local's casino. The best part about it is this HUGE atrium area that they have. It has a big waterfall and audio anamatronic animals. Four times a day they have a water show there too! It's a neat show but I barely saw any of it. The light was absolutely perfect so I spent almost the entire time taking pictures of Monkey!

600th post- Party Time!

2009-08-17T18:18:00.001-07:00

Three years old! The awesome train cake made by Monkey's great grandma!

Cherry Limeade (awesome with a bit of vodka!)

Lunchtime!

An awesome present from his cousins

The pillow that goes with his new bedroom set!

His big present from us- a big boy bike!

The first of four and a half cupcakes!

Cousins

Birthday boys- Monkey shares a birthday with his great grandpa!

His loot!

Busy Weekend- Laughlin

2009-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Whew, we've had an extremely busy weekend! Mamaw and Grumpa made reservations to stay in Laughlin Thursday evening before driving into Vegas. Since we had nothing else to do and we could get a room for $35 Monkey and I decided to join them! We stayed at Harrah's and it was wonderful! As soon as we got to our room Monkey climbed on the big bed and spent some time jumping!

Our hotel even had a little beach on the Colorado River! Monkey wanted absolutely nothing to do with the sand or the water but I enjoyed getting my toes in the water. I could have spent all afternoon in one of the lounge chairs at the water's edge with a drink in my hand! But since Monkey wasn't into it, we chose a different adventure for the evening...bowling at the Riverside casino!

It was Monkey's first bowling experience and he LOVED it! His first ball rolled so very slowly down the lane but eventually knocked down a few pins. The second one got stuck half way down the lane and had to be retrieved. After that we used the ramp they have so that the ball had enough speed to get to the end! Monkey had an excellent time and, if you ask, he will happily tell you he won!

The next morning we headed back into Vegas for more adventures, including Monkey's birthday. More posts about this weekend to come!

(Sorry the pictures were backwards, I always forget Blogger does that and I'm too lazy to fix it!)

Finished for Friday

2009-08-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Summer. It's done. :( Time to refocus and start working in my class again.

Self Portrait

2009-08-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Boy

2009-08-09T09:50:00.001-07:00

Don't shush the boy.

2009-08-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

So Monkey was playing in his room with Daddy sleeping right next door. I told him I loved him and he started yelling, "Yeah Mama!" over and over, getting louder and louder. Not wanting Daddy to wake up before he was ready, I said "Shhhhhh!" to Monkey.

At which point the kid's boo boo lip came out and he said "I'm not loud Mama!" Umm, yeah, you were, kid. Hence the shushing. I tried to explain that it was OK, he just needed to be quieter. He wasn't buying it, getting increasingly louder as he insisted that he was "not loud Mama!"

The only way to get him quiet was to agree that he wasn't loud. As soon as I said "You're right, you're not loud," he quit. Anyone know how to make him use an inside voice?

Backseat Driver

2009-08-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

Monkey has become quite the backseat driver. This summer he learned about stop signs and stop lights and now he considers it his duty to remind us of the rules of the road.

The other day I was stopped behind 6 or 7 cars at a red light. The light turned green and I heard a voice from the back, a voice that foreshadows the attitude we'll be getting from the kid as a teenager-

"Green means go Mom!"

Stuff

2009-08-03T19:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I haven't really updated much, mostly because I'm trying to savor the last days of summer. I report to work in two weeks. :( Monkey and I have mostly been just hanging out at home, spending time with Daddy and napping. I don't know what I'll do without my afternoon nap when work starts!

We are in the midst of party planning. Monkey's birthday is the 20th (I'll be at work- grumble, grumble) so we're having the party on the 15th! His great grandma was anxious to try her hand at making a train cake so it was easy to choose a theme. :) Of course we're having a Thomas party! I designed the invitations again!

Our menu is pretty simple- hot dogs, hamburgers, baked potato salad, baked beans, chips and dip and homemade cherry limeade! We did a test run with the baked potato salad and limeade yesterday and they were both very, very tasty!

As part of Monkey's birthday present we've been working on retheming his room. I think I posted that he has a new big boy bed- a race car bed I got at a yard sale for $15. We found fun transportation bedding at Target and I got awesome Disney themed street signs at Disneyland to hang in the wall! Mamaw is making new themed knobs for his dresser and new letters that spell his name for the wall! I can't wait to show off the finished product!

Honorable Mentions Day 4

2009-07-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

That's ridiculous!

2009-07-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Honorable Mentions Day 3

2009-07-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Honorable Mentions Day 2

2009-07-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

Whoa...

2009-07-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

Going through my Disneyland pics again, I found this awesome picture from the Electrical Parade! We all were given fans that spelled out words (our hostesses must have spent HOURS programming them!) and somehow I managed to catch it, a little of Monkey and part of the parade in this totally unique and awesome way!

More Disneyland Photos

2009-07-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

These are Honorable Mentions- ones that almost got chosen for ginny73 but didn't make the cut for some reason or another! These are from Day 1- check back for more in the upcoming week!

The Wiggles Go Bananas!

2009-07-24T18:12:00.001-07:00

Even though Monkey is not as Wiggles obsessed as he used to be, we saw them live today! I have to say, it was a fantastic show and those guys work really hard. It was SO much fun! We had awesome seats, ninth row! Sam came down our aisle and specifically said "Hi!" to Monkey! I had a great time snapping pictures and Monkey loved the music and dancing!

Home

2009-07-21T17:25:00.001-07:00

We made it home yesterday. Had a wonderful time! I will post my trip reports when I'm done writing them but here's a few highlights from our trip in no particular order-

- we were invited to watch the fireworks from the balcony of the concierge lounge of the Grand Californian! Great view and free cookies!

- The kid ADORED Mickey Mouse and told him how he goes potty. Mickey was so proud! Tinkerbell too!

- I think I now have used every single bathroom in Disneyland- including the secret one by the castle and the little known Tiki Room one!

- Monkey made quite a few new friends and had a great time chasing them around at the various Laughing Place meets!

- We saw Tony Baxter, a very well known Imagineer.

- We also chatted with Margaret Kerry, the live action model for Tinkerbell. Such a sweetheart and even crouched down to get a picture with Monkey!

- Got to travel through a secret passageway in the Grand Californian.

- Lots of yummy, yummy food!

- Learned about the dead body in Tower of Terror!

- The kid loved the Tiki Room, especially waking up the birdies!

- Spent quite a bit of time talking to Jonathan, the Disneyland Duck Guy. That's not his official title. He's a security guard who knows everything about all the ducks including names and ages. :) We watched him feed the ducks cheerios!

- We had our own personal parade! We sat on the corner by where the parade exits Main Street and we were the only people there. Tons of performers came by to give Monkey high fives!

- We saw the Backside of Water!

- We rode in the nosecone of the Monorail!

- Met the infamous Maynard at the Tiki Room and he was fabulous!

- Yummy drinks with great friends

- Took hundreds and hundreds of pictures!

- Got to hang out with my baby cousin (OK, she's 21 but she'll always be the baby) and meet her new boyfriend. He's a nice guy, I approve.

- Spent some quality time with the sweet ladies in First Aid and the Baby Care Center.

- Took at least 5 Grand Circle Tours on the Disneyland Railroad with my choo choo lovin' kid.

- Watched the flag retreat for the first time.

- Shared the Electrical Parade with Monkey, one of my favorites!

- Visited Seal Beach.

The lowlights

- Well, Monkey is two. That's all I have to say about that.

- He was scared to go on most rides. We had to trick him on to some of them and distract him to get him on. Once he was on, he was fine and enjoyed himself. After rides a typical conversation would be-

Me: Did you like that?

Monkey: Yes!

Me: Was it fun?

Monkey: Yes!

Me: Do you want to go again?

Monkey: Nooooooo!

- Automatic flushing toilets are SCARY to a two year old!

- Once I got out the Post it notes to cover the sensors on the automatic potties, Monkey was fine going potty. He did an excellent job until the last night. Since he had done so well the previous three days I let him wear underwear. He kept holding himself and I kept asking if he needed to go and he always said no. He was sitting on my lap in the Buzz ride when I felt something warm on my leg. Yup, he peed on me. I had new clothes for him but not me. Thankfully it was warm and I dried pretty fast.

-It was HOT and sticky.

As you can see, the good FAR outweighed the bad. It was an excellent trip and we made many, many wonderful memories!

Toddler Pictionary Round 3 Answers

2009-07-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Hello From Disneyland!

2009-07-18T07:14:00.001-07:00

Very hot. Very tired and sore but having a fabulous time. Lots of fun surprises and special memories, tell you all about it when we're home!