Lord of the Rings

So I have found that either you love Lord of the Rings, or you have not seen it. There really doesn't seem to be any middle ground here. Which makes sense.

We love it.

It's how we kick off summer every year. Starting on the last day of school we start our marathon. We used to watch one whole movie (extended versions of course) a night. So it took us 3 nights to get through. But then we got older and so we started watching one half of a movie every night which then of course made the marathon 6 nights. But then they made The Hobbit movies and we have to add those in so this year our marathon will be 9 nights, or possibly 12 depending on if we can get through a whole movie a night! I am so excited I can hardly stand myself!

We have 8 more weeks of school. Or in other words, 8 more weeks until our marathon!

I may be a nerd. But that's ok. Because I married someone who is just as much of a nerd as I am. :)

Hike to Table Rock

We took a group of teens from our youth group up Table Rock this morning! So much fun!!

Spring Break!

One of the things I love most about my job, is Spring Break! I love that I get to be home for a week and regroup before the big push at the end of the year. This year my plans are pretty laid back.

 

I want to work in my flower beds some. I am not a great gardener, but I at least like the front to look nice. I try to pick things that are low key and easy to keep up with.

 

I also want to run every morning of spring break. I have another 5k coming up and I have been slacking lately so I need to get it in gear! I think this year I am going to do a couple of 5ks. One in the next couple of months and one at the end of summer.

 

We are also planning on going to the zoo a couple different times during break. I think I have mentioned before how much we love the zoo. :) If I could have any animal as a pet, it would be a monkey. I love monkeys. Jayson won't let me though! My dad had a monkey growing up named Stumpy. He liked to eat cigarettes. The monkey, not my dad :).

 

I am also hoping to get a little more caught up on house work and that chore-which-must-not-be-named.

 

And I want to quilt some more. I am working on a quilt right now and it is coming along nicely. I am excited to see what it looks like when it is all done. I am making this one as a gift so it is a little more stressful. I am hoping that the person I give it to doesn't quilt, lol. That way they won't see all of the flaws :).

 

After spring break, it's eight more weeks until summer break! Who could feel bad about that?! Not me!

Ryan Turns 4!

When we went in for Ryan's ultrasound, we agreed we would wait to find out the gender until he was born. Turns out, Ryan had his own plans. When the doctor put that thing on my stomach, the first thing that showed up on the screen was his "gender". And pretty much that's all we saw through the whole ultrasound. We almost had to reschedule the appointment because the doctor was having a hard time getting all of the measurements she needed because he kept flipping around and showing us "that".

 

We should have known right then and there how strong willed that boy is! When he wants something, by golly he wants it right now! I think that this will benefit him when he is an adult. He will know what he wants and go for it!

 

This trait has carried over into his fourth year even. We had planned on going to the zoo on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. The forecast all week said that Saturday would be sunny and 70*. Sunday was supposed to be cool and rainy. So imagine our surprise when we woke up Saturday morning to RAIN. Lots and lots of rain. We tried to talk Ryan out of the zoo and suggested we move the party somewhere else. But he insisted "I wike duh zoo in duh wain." (aka "I like the zoo in the rain")

 

So we loaded up in coats and hoods and rain boots and headed to the zoo! It actually turned out nice! It rained almost the whole time we were there but the animals were all out. And there were lots of puddles to jump in! And who doesn't love to jump in a good puddle?! Ryan loves it! So we let him jump to his heart's content, it was his birthday after all. In our family, birthdays are kind of like a "get out of jail free" card. You can eat whatever, do (almost) whatever, and stay up late!

 

Here is a picture of the birthday boy with his Spiderman cake.

 

 

Me and the birthday boy! Please excuse the bangs, it was raining and it couldn't be helped.

 

I would like to say I got a ton of pictures but we were having so much fun, I didn't get many :/.

 

We are all quite happy that "zoo season" is back! We already have our next two trips in the works!

 

Happy birthday sweet boy!

 

Spring Fever!

Spring fever has struck hard around here! And not just in my classroom, which it definitely has! I have found myself getting home at the end of the day and opening every door and window in the house and just letting the fresh air blow through! We like to keep it classy and open the front door and put a baby gate across the door jam. We don't have one of those cutsie storm doors :).

I might have to find a way to make one...

Maybe I could put that on Jayson's list of things to make out of pallets...

Hmmm...

This DIY thing can quickly get out of control I tell you! Pinterest is baaaad news. ;)

I currently have Jayson working on a desk of some sorts for my sewing machine/crafting area. I am envisioning something with old crates and fun table legs.

I also love this weather because I can get out and run outside again. While I love, love, love my treadmill (when it isn't being a clothes line), I always feel sad when this is my view. 

She looks like I have betrayed her love.


We got out today and had a beautiful run/walk today though! Oh boy am I out of shape! I am going to have to kick it into gear if I am going to be ready for my next 5k in a couple of months. I also would like to do the Color Run this year!

The other thing we start doing in the spring is going to the zoo!! We love, love the zoo. We buy a membership each year because it is something we can do as a family for cheap!

Check out my next blog post for the first visit to the zoo this year. Because, what do you do if your four year old wants to go to the zoo for his birthday and it's raining?

You go to the zoo, DUH! :)

Surprises

It all started out sweetly enough. I gave Jayson a brown bag with some fun things in in for Valentines. It said something like "A brown paper package all tied up with string, here are a few of your favorite things." I filled it with a Pepsi, a Coke, Cadbury eggs, Resee's eggs, his favorite Chapstick, Brownies (are you sensing a food theme? He loves food.) and the last item was silly string. He ate all the goodies and used the Chapstick. Pretty soon all that was left was the silly string. It was just sitting there all lonely in the now empty brown bag. Naturally, I felt bad for it. 

So I used it last night. 

On Jayson of course, it was his gift after all.

 He was standing there looking at the computer completely oblivious to the lonely silly string. 

Spsssst. 

I hit him square on the cheek. It was perfect. He gave me this look like "Really Andrea?"

Spssssst. 

Yup. Really. 

It was on like Donkey Kong!

After he finally tackled me down and took the silly string away and hid it, I formulated my plan. 

Today after work I took the kids to Target and we got three more bottles of silly string. 

And then we waited for Daddy to get home. 

The conspirators all ready to go!

Jewel kept a look out for Daddy! 

Wait for it...

Ava thought this was pretty cool.

The aftershot.

Ironically, I got it the worst. But it was fun!

This may become a regular occurrence in our household. How have I not known how much fun silly string is? I apparently was deprived. :)