WIWW

I used to occasionally post in outfit link ups.  Not because I think I am terribly stylish, or that anyone should be interested in my outfits.   Participating in these posts makes me think about my outfit and try to do something a little more creative than simply throwing on a solid colored top and a pair of black trousers which is what I would be inclined to do. 

This link up is for the trend "stripes".  I have lots of things that are striped, but I couldn't resist picking up this shirt when I was shopping at the GAP outlet over the weekend.  Since I have put on so much weight (kind of the opposite of what you are supposed to be doing as you approach your wedding) I bought the shirt one size bigger than usual.   Now, looking at this pictures, I wish I wouldn't have.  It looks a little maternity-esque and that is never a look anyone goes for.

 

 



Classic deer in the headlights iphone in the work bathroom mirror post.... 

 

Classic have your kid quick take a picture of you before you leave for work picture...

 

I busted out some blue fishnets to add a little interest.  My school is pretty liberal with the business casual dresscode, but I have never seen a teacher wear fishnets before.  I thought I pulled them off though.

 

 

Outfit details

shirt- Gap outlet

scarf - ? Christmas present from my mom

cargo skirt - Old Navy

fishnets - Target (old)

boots - Kohl's

Linking up with Marionberry and The Pleated Poppy

This boy...

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later...

My rough and tumble little man has been sporting this splint on his thumb after a skate board mishap.  It was adorably tragic after the doctor told him not to play sports for a few days.  He was like, "Mom, that is really hard for a kid like me."

He also finally lost that wiggly top tooth.  He decided he was ready for it to go, so he packed himself an apple for a snack and that helped it along.

This is what I found when I went in to wake him up this morning.  He loves his new Jordan's so much he slept in them last night (with his pajamas).   

Happy Monday all! 

Yeah 2013!

Isn't that great?

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

I love reflecting on the last year and thinking about where I am heading next.  2012 was an incredible year that brought many exciting changes to my life.  I will probably be writing more about plans and goals later.

I started 2013 off by donating all of the "stuff" we worked so hard to purge from every nook and cranny of this house. 

On the way home from my parents house, we stopped by the Leola ReUzIt shop.  We filled up one whole bin with our donations!  It's such a nice cheery feeling thinking about people actually enjoying and  using our things.  And of course, the best part is I am thrilled to be purging clutter from the house.

More Christmas!

These pictures are courtesy of my sister Jennifer! She and Drew have been in town for several weeks and it has been so fun.

Isaac has an obsession with sports and fitness. Everyone enjoyed coming up with crazy excercises for Isaac to do. Here he is laughing his way through some wall sits.

 

 

He also got out the shovel and helped clear the driveway of snow on Christmas Eve.

As a Christmas present they took Isaac out for a day.  They started out with breakfast at the Waffle House.

 

 

Then they took him to a rock gym!

He is rocking his new Christmas clothes and hat.

 

 

They said he got a little nervous when he looked down and saw how far up the wall he had climbed, but overall, he did great.

 

 

Thanks Drew and Jen for a great Christmas present!

 

Favorite Holiday

We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too.  Ryan, Isaac and I spent Christmas Eve with my family.  Jenny and Drew have been here for several weeks and Joe slept over.  Tom and Kelly Ann joined us later during the day on Christmas.

My mom has so many fun Christmas decorations.  She collects Nativities and has tons of them.  It is always comforting to go home and see all of the familiar holiday decorations.  Here are a small sampling of her collection.

Christmas Eve was a low key night.  We were going to do the light show at Hershey, but there was actually too much snow falling.  We set off but turned around after a few miles, since the roads were quite slippery.

Isaac did a great job waiting until 7:00 until her got up (despite a false alarm when he misread the clock at 1:00 in the morning). Isaac got me so many thoughtful presents and it was adorable because he could barely wait to give them to me.  I had to beg him to wait until Christmas.  This stamped coaster was my favorite gift from him:

 

Isaac made himself photographer for a while and here are the blurry results:

Ryan liked all of his gifts, but especially his tortilla pan set:

My parents got us a zoo membership and Ryan got me the Up fitness band, a beautiful pearl necklace and a bunch of Lush products.  Isaac was spoiled with helmets, jerseys, sports posters, and books. 

I also forgot to take pictures, but a few days after Christmas we had Ryan's kids over to open their presents from us.  His kids surprised me and Isaac with really sweet, thoughtful presents.  Ryan's parents and sister Katherine ended up dropping by and then later on his brother and his wife Patrick stopped by.  Patrick's present to Ryan was converting some hilarious home movies from VHS to DVD.  Ryan's siblings and cousins put together some hilarious "mystery" movies complete with soundtracks and previews.  We watched the movies together and it was HILARIOUS.  It was a really fun night with his family.

We are so lucky and so blessed!  Merry Christmas!!

here we go...

I have been so busy spending time with family (Drew and Jenny are here-- hurray!), preparing for the holidays, trying to keep on top of a mountain of IEPs and other work stuff, and just feeling sad and depressed after the Sandy Hook thing. 

Sorry to neglect you little blog. I have posted like two times in December. 

Ryan, Isaac and I went to Washington D.C. with my parents and Jenny and Drew.  We went to the Smithsonian for a little bit (the Museum of American History).  We only saw a little bit of what there is to see there but we really enjoyed it. 

A highlight for Ryan was seeing Julia Child's kitchen which is everything from her home reassembled in the Smithsonian.  He was a little starstruck.

A highlight of the trip for me was when Isaac recognized the Washington Monument and then said to me "Mom, are we near the place where Martin Luther King gave his speech?" I welled up a little with mom pride.  There is so much to see and of course we only had time to do a little, so Ryan and I are already trying to schedule a return trip.  After dinner we went to the Washington D.C. Temple to see the Nativity Display and check out the lights.  As usual, the temple looked magical.

 The visitor's center was more crowded than I have ever seen it.  Hundreds and hundreds of people crammed in there.  We did manage to get tickets to hear a free Christmas concert that we all enjoyed.  This is the second year we have done a Christmas time trip to D.C.  It is becoming a nice little tradition. 

We made it through the end of the school year and now we can breathe a sigh of relief that we are on vacation.  Isaac has been rocking a lot of sports gear (including batting gloves to school, see evidence below).  His class had a secret santa gift exchange and he made out pretty well.  His new thing is that I "keep treating him like he is four".  I am trying to remember that he is growing up, but it's hard.  He will always be my baby.

I enjoyed my first Christmas at my new school.  This is what our principal gave us for Christmas:

 

So that was pretty cool.

Another Christmas tradition my family has is we all go to People's Light and Theater Company and see the Christmas Panto.  It is always hilarious with cross dressing, singing, candy, audience participation and local references.  My brother Joe wasn't able to make it, so my mom invited Ryan's daughter Gabby to come with us, since it happened to be her sixth birthday.  She did a great job and she really loved it (even declaring she wanted to it again for her birthday next year).  Check out her sequined Kelly Kitty shoes.  Pretty stylish.

Oh yeah, and my sister got me this super cute purse for my birthday.

 

I think that's the update.  Happy Christmas!

 

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

So I had a ridiculously productive weekend.  Unfortuneatly, I am so behind on blogging, that these pictures are from TWO weekends ago, when we got all Christmas-y up in here.

My sister and brother in law were passing through town.  We had a nice family dinner and helped get the tree up at my parent's house. 

Dad played the piano and we all sung Christmas songs.  Drew and Ryan even busted out some falsetto.  It was a nice night.

We got a tree up at my house as well.  Typically, my tree buying tradition is going to Lowe's and looking for a tree that can be stuffed in my trunk.  Then I drive along at about 30 miles an house with Isaac twisted around in the back seat to ensure that the tree doesn't fall out between Lowe's and my house. 

Ryan was unimpressed with this tradition, and insisted that we go to Varner's a local tree farm..

and cut down our own tree!

Good times were had by all, and I am sensing a new Christmas tradition on our hands.

Linking up with Molly