Veteran's Day...

Growing up in a military community means that you are surrounded by heroes everyday. Thanks to everyone past and present who served our country...we are forever in your debt.

Randomness....

Just a little randomness from our lives...

Anyone who knows us will roll their eyes at this one. Thanks to Steph and her save-every-animal attitude, we have a new kitty. Last week she came home from the restaurant with a little surprise..a kitten. She found it wandering in the middle of the highway and decided that we had plenty of room for her (insert sarcasm here...) We kept her in the barn for a few days because we didn't want her to mix with our other kitties before getting checked out from the vet. I must admit that I was smitten with her from the beginning. To sum it up, after getting shots, "fixed," and declawed, we brought her home yesterday. She is very loving and cuddly, but let's just say that Baby and Rosie haven't quite adapted to her yet--they are a work in progress! :)

Stephanie named her Katniss...any literary fan will recognize the name from The Hunger Games...we both love the character Katniss.

Since I am talking about Steph and all her animals, her are two pictures from school....she gets to feed her love for all four-legged creatures there...just don't bring any more home! :)

Halloween 2011

This Halloween was almost a complete washout--literally! It rained and rained and rained. At one point, I thought that Sophie wasn't going to get to visit any houses at all...fortunately that wasn't the case.

Because the holiday fell on a Monday, it was rush, rush, rush. I left school at the end of the day and immediately went home and got Sophie's costume. I rushed to Village (through a torrential downpour!) and got her dressed in the school bathroom--believe it or not, several other parents were doing the same thing! Talk about throwing something together!

We spent the first part of the evening at Village's Fall Festival. Fortunately for us all, they had a back-up plan and moved it into the gym. Ang drove up from the beach and joined us for the festivities.

My not-so-scary witch!

Not a bad web if I say so myself!

 Megan and Meredith joined us at the end of the Festival, and fortunately for us all, the rain had stopped. We were able to trick-or-treat for about 45 minutes--just enough time to get a huge stash of candy!

Afterwards, we visited family and friends--Yia Yia and Kiki, Nancy and Jimmy, and Melanie, Amber, and Donnie. (Sorry but these pictures are dark...)

Don't you love Mel's Halloween shirt? Baby Underhill is already making quite an impression! I can't wait until the BIG sex reveal next Friday...

Despite the fun, I couldn't help but keep thinking about the fact that this was the first Halloween that we didn't spend with Steph...:(

Insta-Friday

It's been a while since I've done Insta-Friday at Life Rearranged...the pictures go a few weeks back. They a just a glimpse into my daily life.

In mid-September we made our annual visit to the Greek Festival in Raleigh. They serve the most incredible lamb shank there that cannot be found anywhere else outside of Greece. We brought the HUGE lamb bones home for Bingo and Daisy. Quite quickly we learned that they love the Greek Festival, too...:)

A picture of my baby sleeping...I'd say that she obviously has no trouble getting comfy.

At Pier One, Linda and Sophie found what I've been looking for for years--utensil big enough for Angelo to eat his spaghetti!

Ang and Sophie stopped by for Open House at school a few weeks ago...she loves to play on my Smart Board.

Look who's coming to dinner!

Guess who's NOT being a werewolf for Halloween?  I HATE scary costumes (I also hate the Christmas decorations behind her..It's only October!!!)....

I also HATE scary decorations, but Ang thought that he would be a comedian and buy this "thing." He hung it outside my bathroom and scared the mess out of me...I was not amused...:(

Supermodel again...

Someone please tell my husband that this can't be healthy...lol...

....TGIF....

What I'm Loving Wednesday...

Linking with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday..

It has been a terrible week at school, so looking for things to love is going to be quite a stretch. We had terrible news at my school this week, so me and my colleagues have been walking around in a funk. Add that to the fact that the students are acting totally insane (that's what happens the week after Spirit Week) and you get one crazy, hectic, Calgon-take-me-away week.

I'm going to try to squeeze some positives out of it, though....

1. Does anyone remember this commercial?



It's one of my favorites and makes me laugh whenever I think of it. Well, yesterday I was totally frustrated with my classes because I had to keep repeating myself over and over. We are doing research projects in the library and for some reason the kids were not listening (see above!).  I would tell one group one thing and then have to repeat myself to another group two minutes later. Meanwhile, half of the first group would get distracted and ask me the same questions again.....Can you say "Beat my head against a wall?" All of a sudden this commercial popped into my mind....some days I feel that teaching is a lot like herding cats. No matter what I do, the stuudents don't listen and do the complete opposite...sigh....I guess it's a good thing I like cats...sometimes...:)

2. The next one is bittersweet...today Sophie had Dress-Down Day at school (they get to wear "normal" clothes instead of their school uniform). She wore her first pair of skinny jeans and tall boots. Let me explain why this is a big deal. I'm a huge proponent of little girls looking like...well, little girls. While I love beautiful dresses and bows, I do realize that they aren't practical for school. After much pleading, I finally relented and bought "cool clothes." (By the way, how do third graders know what's "cool" and what's not?) I couldn't believe that she looked so "growny" (a Southern term stolen from my grandparents!). While I'm happy that she is interested in looking fashionable, it makes her look like a "mini teenager" instead of my little girl. I guess that I have to face the fact that she is growing up...her Daddy, on the other hand, isn't quite there yet! :)

In these pictures, she is pretending to be a model...so is Bingo!

3. Found these at Trader Joe's this week....yum! It's a sure sign of Fall when they have these on the shelves. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Trader Joe's?

 

I always buy these yummy brownies whenever I go there, too. Does anyone else love the chocolate/sea salt taste combination like I do? Caramel and sea salt is not half-bad either!



Another reason to love Trader Joe's...the mini shopping carts!

4. I love this picture of Steph and one of her four-legged friends.

5. I love Zulily! I guess it's a good thing that I no longer have a small child to shop for! They do have deals for other things though... Erin Condren  was 50% off this week! :)

I'll leave you with some sweet quotes and a few funnies...here's hoping that the rest of the week is much better....





Haha...just kidding...sort of...:0)



My thoughts about the Occupy Wall Street Movement....