Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hungry, hungry kittens!

Every Christmas we buy a can of cat food for the cats. We don't want them to think they will get it all year long, but once a year seems to be good. We aren't the kind of people that get presents for our cats at Christmas, though we have bought a new toy or treat (but we NEVER wrap them!). Juliet liked the canned food a lot more than Simba. There is also a picture of Simba eating out of the food box again!



Saturday, December 27, 2008

A late Merry Christmas!

It has been a busy but wonderful week for us. Matt had to work Monday and Tuesday. We don't see the point in lugging our Christmas gifts for each other to the other coast, so we decided to open gifts Monday evening. Yes, that meant that Matt had to spend Monday's lunch break buying gifts for me and wrapping them as soon as he got home, but, to quote him, he "has a reputation to uphold"! Matt was able to get off work a little early Tuesday and we packed up the car and headed to Tampa to stay with his dad and family. It was so nice to see them and spend time with just the five of us. Jean made a great Christmas Eve lunch and her Christmas chocolate peppermint pie. Yum! We are going to have to take a lot of pictures to fill up the 8G memory card they gave us with our new camera and put pictures on our new digital picture frame. Thank you for our wonderful gifts!

Tuesday evening we headed to my parents to have Noche Buena with my parents, the Eikelands, the Woodsons, Grandma and Barbara Wurdeman. Even though dad had a rough time getting dinner from the restaurant the food was good. Barbara Wurdeman made her sugar cookies which were a hit at Thanksgiving and we were all looking forward to the Christmas encore.

We stayed Christmas Eve at Matt's mom's house. We didn't stay up too late and luckily we got up earlier than planned so we could get ready to go to Mimi and Gramps' house after we did gifts with Barbara. She did a great job picking out dress and casual shirts for Matt and I got some nice lotions from Bath and Body Works. We both love the Christmas pillow and blanket as well as the Halloween candy dishes. At Mimi and Gramps's we opened presents with the cousins and aunts and uncles and had a delicious meal. I think Brian has the mashed potatoes' recipe down! After lunch we played Humdinger. You get a card with a song on it that you have to hum and hopefully the other people will guess the song. Time flew and we were off for my parents.

When we got to my parents house, Grandma had just started opening her gifts. I'm glad she hadn't opened the one from us yet! Matt and I must have been good this year because there were even gifts there for us! We were both excited about our big gifts, Matt's new Xbox game and my new Shark dust buster. Matt commented that mom did a good job buying gifts that he liked. (I did wash a new wash cloth so I can use it later today!) It wasn't long before we headed to the Woodson's for Christmas dinner. Barbara and Jack sure put together a great meal! I think Matt and I both tried April's homemade bread, which was good. No one was really up for dessert, though I think almost everyone had a little something! We stayed with my parents that night. Matt went to bed early since he was getting up to go to breakfast with his after Christmas shopping family. We stayed up talking until the girls got the giggles, a surefire sign that we need to go to bed.

Friday morning mom made French toast on her new griddle and we visited until Matt got back from breakfast and then we loaded up the car for our trip back home. It's always so nice to see everyone!

Friday, December 19, 2008

School's out for Christmas!

Monday I never thought today would come, but time certainly flies these days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This was a really easy week for me because the last 3 days have been half days for the students because of exams. I had to work full days Monday - Thursday, but I was able to leave at noon today. That was awesome because I was able to meet up with Matt for lunch. He still stuck me with the bill, though. After lunch I was able to finish up my Christmas shopping. That is so great to be able to say!! Matt, on the other hand, let's just say it's not Christmas Eve. :)

I barely beat Matt home and was able to lock myself in the room to wrap his gifts. Yes, I do think he would have come in if I didn't lock the door! When I was finished I was able to show him all of the gifts I got from my students. The families are so generous, and I know many are hurting during these economic times. I love my job (99% of the time!) and I love my students (I won't comment on how much of the time..) and the gifts are never expected. I truly am blessed!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Savannah

When the staff at school decided to get a group to go to Savannah I was quick to put our names on the list. Matt and I went to Savannah about 4 years ago. I like to call that the trip that Matt didn't propose on, because I was so sure it was coming!! We went to Uncle Bubba's for lunch. I think he is Paula Deen's brother. After lunch he came into the room and we got to take pictures with him. He seemed really nice and he also seemed like he wanted to sell out his gift shop. We walked with another couple for a while and they wanted to shop and we wanted to walk around the squares and look at the historic houses. I do wish we bought another walking map so we knew what we were looking at! The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was open for visitors and that is a beautiful building! We went to Fuddruckers for dinner and walked by the riverfront for a little while before heading back to the bus. I think we were both glad that we could sit and that neither of us had to drive home. I wore a pedometer and it said that we walked 5.3 miles. I figure even if it's off by 10% that's still a lot of walking!! We'd like to go back and make a weekend trip of it, but that won't be for a while, though probably not another 4 years! I'm only including a few of the pictures we took. Enjoy!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Finished product

Here are the final pictures of our outside lights. We took Juliet outside to check them out too!!



Saturday, December 6, 2008

Simba Snuggle

I usually get up earlier than Matt does on the weekend. When I went back in the room to grab something, this is what I saw


Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Posting crazy!

I finally got around to posting again, so there are 4 new posts below and lots of pictures. Enjoy!

Christmas Decorations

We started putting out our Christmas decorations today. I think we bought most of the stuff 2 years ago, but we didn't put it out last year. Matt's mom, grandma and aunt did get us the penguins and the igloo last year, so those are new. It gets dark so early now that we didn't get much done, but we'll keep working and hopefully finish up this weekend. Notice our tree in the window. We did put that up this weekend, though we haven't decorated it yet (it's a prelit tree).

Lots of Ice!

Our garage is full of boxes of Christmas decorations, so I can't pull my car in the garage. That was fine until this morning when I found ice on my car before I left for work. It took a while for it to melt so I could leave, but we got some great pictures!

Christmas with the Villacampas

We got to celebrate Christmas twice last week, once with Matt's brother's family and once with my brother's family! Here are pictures of the Villacampa Christmas.

Caitlin's first Thanksgiving and Christmas

We loved meeting Caitlin and seeing Patrick and Mariruth and the rest of the family last week. Of course, we took tons of pictures and I'm just going to post several slideshows rather than doing separate posts for each.

Caitlin's Thanksgiving at Mimi and Gramps:



Thanksgiving at Jim and Jean's house



Christmas at Barbara's

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Taylor

I am so glad that Nick, Robyn and Taylor came down to St. Pete for Thanksgiving. It's been great seeing them, especially since we haven't seen them since last Thanksgiving. Taylor is a cutie! I feel like she and I have bonded and we have a good time playing together. Enjoy some pictures!

First Frost

Last week we had the first frost in Jacksonville. I had Matt take some pictures before he left for work. He said it was hard to see the frost on his windshield, so he scraped "Hello" to help see it better.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Happy Birthday!

November is a very busy birthday month for my family. If you've never thought about it, February is 9 months before November, and we all know February is the love month! :) Of course, November is extra special because it is my birthday month, doubly special because mom had twins and triply special because my dad's birthday is the day before ours!!! Happy birthday Lisa!!

I try to make my birthday last a week, which I can't get Matt to completely go for, but I do get away with a lot more than normal. The teachers surprised me with a balloon and chocolate pie (yum!) during lunch Friday. Friday night I played Bunco with a group of friends from church. It's a dice game that is really fun and requires no skill whatsoever, which I like. The theme was Christmas so I got to wear my one Christmas vest that some people recognized from last year.

Saturday morning Matt made me pancakes. We used a mix that I had been given by one of my students. It was good, but they tasted like pancakes, nothing super spectacular like he made it sound. Matt made about 12 pancakes just to use up the batter. I don't think I could have eaten all of them if I tried all day. I think they are at the bottom of the garbage, though we could have fed them to the birds. Or saved the batter for later. Too late! Matt also gave me Dance, Dance, Revolution. It's a video game and you have to follow the steps on the tv and step on the arrows on the game pads. I was surprised because I mentioned over the summer that I would like to have it and forgot about it.

My women's Bible study group surprised me with balloons and treats, too! I wondered why the front door was locked but I could hear people inside. I just figured it was a habit to lock the door after opening it. I really felt bad because I still had wet hair and no make up for the pictures. But after Bible study I went to the Clinique counter to get my make up done because I wanted to buy some new stuff. The girl did a great job. I was worried because she chose a very dark eyeliner, but smudged it so I didn't have the dark raccoon eyes like she did.

Matt and I went to the mall to go Christmas shopping for the nieces and nephew and bought for each of them! I think Matt was leaning toward staying home since it was about to rain, but we weren't eating lunch in preparation for a HUGE dinner and I didn't want to be sitting doing nothing and thinking about eating.

We went to dinner with 3 couples from our couple's Bible study at a Brazilian steakhouse. They have waiters that bring meat out on huge skewers. They had the best food and I ate until I got my money's worth! Toward the end we asked for a few that we really liked and they brought that over. It's nice because it's not huge chunks of meat that they put on your plate and I didn't feel like I had to eat every bite of everything that was brought. They also brought out a brownie cupcake for me and Kevin (it was his birthday too). That was awesome! I surprisingly don't feel sick this morning, which makes me think maybe there is something to low-carb diets.

Thanks for all of the calls, cards and emails. It was a great way to begin the last year in my 20s!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Quick Visit

My dad and abuelo drove up to Jacksonville Friday to stay overnight on their way up to North Carolina. Dad said they drove around Palatka and saw the houses he lived in while he was there. They pulled in the driveway shortly after I got home Friday afternoon and both took a quick nap. We went to The Loop for pizza and burgers and met up with my cousin and her husband. They have been living in Jacksonville for a while, but this is the first time we got together with them. I love that Mark is another non-Spanish speaking family member! Dad and abuelo left around 6:15 Saturday morning and made it to Wake Forest around 3 (I think that's what mom said). I find it funny that the last time they were at our house was last Thanksgiving and our house looks pretty much the same because we have the same Thanksgiving decorations out. I'm glad they were able to stop and visit, if only for a short time.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

New President

I knew when I woke up this morning the country would have elected a new president. I did not know who it would be when I went to bed last night. Politics is not a topic that excites me and I am not one of those people that would lose sleep over the election. I learn about the candidates, do my civic duty and vote, and then rest assured that God is in control. I will pray for Obama and the country, just like I prayed for President Bush and like I would have done if McCain was elected. I hope that Obama continues to inspire the country and is able to do what he said he would do. I think it's going to be an interesting 4 years.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

We voted

Matt and I did early voting this afternoon. The wait was about an hour and twenty minutes. Not too bad, considering how long the line was. We had a few drops of rain, but we didn't even open the umbrella. I spent time this afternoon researching the candidates and marking up the sample ballot we got in the mail. I did my best to be an informed voter. I felt good on the way to the library because I saw signs for all of the candidates I had marked and took that as a good "sign". I also saw some students and parents from school holding signs for their presidential candidate. Luckily we were at a red light and they saw us too. I know we did our part in the democratic process, now all we have left to do if wait and see if the rest of the state and country agreed with our decisions.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pictures

It's a pain to hook our printer up to the computer (we have it wireless right now) to use it as a scanner, so I took a picture of our 11th grade Junior/Senior portrait and a picture that Lisa took of us at our 10 year high school reunion. We barely look like the same people!!



The next picture is a goody bag I made for the middle school teachers and filled with candy. I got the idea from a package in Michaels. Very close to the pre-made packages were orange bags. We found the pipe cleaners a few aisles over. I gave the bags to the teachers Monday, which was parent-conference day. I figure we all probably needed some chocolate at the end of the day!!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Reunion Weekend

This weekend was our 10 year high school reunion! (Haha Lisa, I told!) It was such a blast seeing some people that I haven't seen since high school. I have seen a lot of my girl friends through the years at bridal and baby showers and weddings. Actually, we joke that is the only time we see each other!

Here's a rundown of our weekend:

Friday afternoon we (Matthew and I, and my sister and her family) went to my grandma's place to visit with her. She took us to the deli for lunch, which has great food and a good selection. Friday evening we went to see Matt's dad and stepmom. They took us to a little restaurant that used to be a house. Unfortunately we missed Brittany by a week. Her fall break was last week. We will get to see her at Thanksgiving, though.

Saturday afternoon was a picnic up at school. The gym was open, but it was so nice outside we mostly visited outside. Matt's mom had family over to her place, so Matt dropped me off and visited with his family. I did miss seeing everyone, but I enjoyed seeing my high school friends.

Saturday evening was the formal dinner out at the beach. There were some people at the dinner that weren't at the picnic, so that was fun to see them. The food was good, but I was much more interested in the company. Matt came with me this time, though he didn't have as much fun as I did.

We left shortly after breakfast this morning. Traffic must have been good because we made great time. I slept for a while on the way home and just let Matt drive. It's nice to be home, but we had a fantastic weekend!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Not Again!!

A snake crawled onto our porch again! I heard something knocking on the aluminum siding, so I just thought the cats found another lizard. I went out to save the lizard only to find out that it was a snake! It was easy to grab Simba and toss him back in the house, but Juliet was right by the snake, and because I was scared, I wasn't as thrilled about grabbing her, but I did. Then I got the camera to take a picture and put my game face on. I got a little closer to the snake to get more pictures. You can see how close the snake is to the porch door, so I had to sneak by it to prop open the door. Our shovel was on the porch, probably from the last snake, so I used it to toss the snake outside. I tried to whack it with the shovel, but I don't think I hit it. It was kind of hard to see because our grass needs mowed. It sort of sounds like it crawled into the drain pipe from the gutter, but I certainly wasn't getting down to look in!

Enjoy the pictures. Hopefully this snake won't make its way inside!

The picture I took inside:


A close up of the head:


Trying to show how long the snake is:

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Crazy (and Expensive) Week

I don't usually say this, but I was looking forward to Monday. It was a teacher planning day and I had a lot that I needed to get done. I was really excited that I didn't have to wait too long at the copy machine and was able to get most of my copies done right away. Of course, there's always something I forget about. It took longer for me to get everything done, so I didn't leave early like I wanted to, but that's ok because I didn't leave it until later like I do on most school days.

Wednesday Chipotle had a soft opening and was giving away free drinks and burritos. I got to the restaurant around 5 and was able to read half a chapter of a school book before getting in line so Matt wouldn't have to wait as long. It ended up taking about 35 minutes for us to place our order and get our food (they make it in front of you a la Subway) and drinks. It was a beautiful evening, so we ate outside at a table for two. School had flyers about the free food, so I saw some teachers and some people from church. I think Matt and I will definitely go back because we both liked it. Unfortunately we found out after dinner that my front passenger tire was completely flat. AAA was there in 20 minutes to put on the spare and we still made it to Bible study. Thursday after school I went and had 4 new tires put on and the alignment done. That cost a lot more than I was expecting, but the tires are rated at 80,000 miles so I shouldn't have to do it again for a while.

Friday was Hoops for Heart, a fundraiser at school to raise money for the American Heart Association. The closer it got to the time to play, the rowdier the kids got. Not that I wasn't expecting that, but I was still hoping to get more accomplished than I did during my last class, which was cut short for the kids to play.

Thursday night, Matt heard Juliet scream and her tail was definitely bothering her. We think that Simba pounced on her tail and when she jumped up she pulled it. Matt called the vet and they said to bring her in. We brought Simba as well so they could do a check up on both of them since they hadn't been in 1 1/2 years. We were very happy to find out that she didn't break or twist her tail. The vet sent us home with some pain medicine for her, but she seems fine today. She barely moved her tail yesterday and today she has it straight up in the air. We are definitely keeping our eye on them when Simba wants to chase her, but hopefully it won't happen again.

Today our Sunday School class volunteered with Builders Care (similar to Habitat for Humanity). We did a lot of painting and were done by lunch. I was really happy to not have to do yard work. Not my favorite thing to do. We painted one of the bedrooms bubble gum pink. It was very bright. I'm sure it will be toned down once the furniture was moved in. It seems like there is still a lot of work for them to do before it is finished, though.

Tomorrow I'm going up to school to work with my homeroom on their Homecoming banner. I had about 10 RSVP, though I'm not sure how many of those 10 are going to actually do any work. It will be interesting to see what does happen, though.

Matt and I were going to go to church tonight, but we're pooped. Matt is actually taking a nap, which is weird because I'm usually the napper, so he's obviously tired. I could go for a nap too, but then I'd never get to sleep tonight!

Whew, this is a long post!!

Friday, October 10, 2008

More Fall Pictures

It was dark when I took pictures of the table, so I just took a picture of the front door. Matt's mom made the door decoration and the broom. Matt and I carved the pumpkin last year (it's a fake).




This morning I couldn't believe how the dining room looked. Matt said he heard the cats running around last night. I think it looks like someone was out to get the pilgrim salt and pepper shakers! I love that Simba is surveying the scene as well.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Fall Decorations

Yesterday Matt and I got out our fall decorations. We don't have a lot, but I figure we could put out what we do have. We are loving the fall weather and being able to open the windows. The cats love it too, but for some reason it seems to make them extra hyper.

We usually don't have a table cloth on our table, because I really like our table and don't want to hide it, but we do have one for fall. The table cloth is really messing with Juliet. She is used to running and jumping on the table. Unfortunately for her, the table cloth moves, so it looks like she is ice skating. It's actually quite amusing, except for the constant straightening up after her!



Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Surprise!!

I just walked into our bathroom and saw a long black round thing that I was pretty sure was a snake. It was! Luckily for me Matt is home and he got it. I felt a little bad, because Matt was lying down, but I just wanted to make sure that the snake didn't crawl away. I'm not so sure I'm going to sleep tonight. I'm just hoping that it was/is the snake that we have seen on our porch before, and now it's dead. There better not be any more snakes!!!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Cat Scratch Fever

Matt was lying in bed Sunday morning when the cats started chasing each other. Unfortunately for Matt, they jumped up in bed and used him as "base". Mom was often base in our house, but we never scratched her like this!



Ok, yes, we did break her toe, but we can really only take her word for that one, and it was partially her fault. I don't remember doing it, but it is a funny story when she is telling it!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

End of the week

Friday was such a crazy day for me! Crystal (one of the teachers) came to tell me that we were having a fire drill sometime that day. Great! Friday was the day that the 7th graders cell model was due. (By the way, it cracks me up that I assign a cell model for my students and I had to do one when I was in 7th grade.) That meant that I had 7th graders and their parents in my room all morning dropping off their projects. I planned a lab to do with the 8th graders, which I only had half of out because I forgot a few things. By the time we turned on the hot plates 1st period, the fire alarm was going off, which was funny, because everyone of my 1st period students thought it was their hot plate that set off the fire alarm! I can't complain, but my 2nd period wanted to show off their models, which set us back for the lab I planned for them to do. I was so exhausted by the time my last class rolled around, which I love!, that I let them relax and talk after the lab was over.

After school I followed Janet to her house because we were having a slumber party with 4 other teachers. It was fun! We had chips and dip for dinner, played Catch Phrase and Cranium, watched a very little bit of the presidential debate, and went to bed. This morning we sat on the porch and had yummy waffles for breakfast. I went straight from Janet's house to Bible study. This was the last week for our book "Calm My Anxious Heart". Next week we are going to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and the following week starting a new book, "The New Eve".

This week Matt called a few lawn care companies to come give us estimates to treat our lawn for bugs and fertilize. Unfortunately, it would cost extra for them to care for the bushes and flowers, but I think we'll be able to manage that part. Our impatiens are still doing well, though they look like they need a little more water. We might have to spray them again for bugs, but at least we can get a professional opinion!

I also finished the first book on the NEA list of 100 must reads, "Pride and Prejudice". It was pretty good, though I couldn't tell you why it was #1. Matt wants to buy the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which is #2 on the list. I actually picked up a couple of other books at the library that weren't on the list, so I'll be busy until I start #2!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

New Food Bowl

Matt just refilled the cats food box. Even though there is food in the food bowl, that's not what Simba wanted to eat! (The lid wasn't on tight, but Simba did push it open himself.)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Fun and Games

We had a busy weekend! Friday night I had a group of girls from Sunday school over to play Bunko. It's a fun dice game, and you just have to be lucky with what you roll, and I wasn't very lucky Friday. We are planning on playing every month, so maybe my luck will change. Below is a picture of the girls:



Saturday was supposed to be the Sunday school picnic, but it was rainy, so we didn't go. After church Sunday we went out to dinner with a couple from school and their 3 kids. I taught 2 of them. The youngest is still in elementary school. There was a reception at school for our headmaster who is leaving at the end of the month. I am going to miss him and his family. This Friday is a slumber party with the middle school teachers. I'm looking forward to more girls time! I think Matt is enjoying his guilt free computer time as well.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Yard work

We have had an awful time with bugs in the front yard this summer that we were finally able to get rid of. Lately we have had slugs in the flowers. I was not happy because it was not easy to get rid of the bugs and the flowers finally had blooms again! I have tried 2 things that have seemed to work: filling cups with 1 teaspoon of yeast, 1 tablespoon of water, and then filling up the rest with water. Slugs are attracted to the yeast and crawl in and drown. I also spread coffee grounds (courtesy of Starbucks) around the flowers because I read it tears up slug's bellies. I know it sounds mean, but is it any worse the pouring salt on the slugs?? (I did that to a couple of them, but you have to be careful because plants don't like the salt.) I have learned a lot and am enjoying the gardening.

Due to all of the bugs, the impatiens that we planted last year were wiped out. That really upset me because they were beautiful! I was surprised at how big they got. I spent the summer trying to decide what we were going to do: plant new flowers, buy more impatiens, let the grass grow. Well at some point, the old impatiens were pollinated and dispersed seeds that grew, but behind the bushes. Last weekend I cleaned out the flowerbed, put up a border, and then transplanted some of the flowers that were growing behind the bushes. As you can see in the pictures below, there are still other impatiens that I didn't move because I wasn't so sure if it would work and I didn't want to kill all of them. I think the flowers are going be ok, though. The grass that I dug up I saved and hopefully we'll be able to plant it in the front yard where other bugs are eating our grass. I also moved some border bricks that we had bought for the garden in the backyard that never took off and put them up front by the other flowerbed.