LASIK happened, people!

 I was so excited to have this eye surgery done--I'd gone to lots of pre-op appointments and had worn glasses for two weeks before surgery.  It went really well--if I ever do it again I will ask for MORE valium.  ha!  Drops in the eyes every ten minutes on the first day made for a day of laying around, listening to the Mr. Rogers biography audiobook.  I got these really awesome protective glasses to wear all the first day and then to bed for a week.  Better than 20/20 the day after!  Waking up to clear vision with NO GLASSES was amazing.

I had quiet moments like these...

...on our new deck!  Look at me developing professionally!!!  I was trying so hard to get to MA +90 over the summer, taking clock hours from My 24/7, but alas, (spoiler alert) I came up a few credits short.  But I loved Donalyn Miller's sequel to The Book Whisperer.  I love turning kids on to reading...and I picked up some great things to update in my classroom this coming year.
PS--Jeff was so supportive of giving me time over the summer to do these hours!  He was an amazing encourager!

My last day of school...

 

As a mom, I loved having my last day of school come a week before my own kids' last day this year...but as a teacher, I had a hard time saying goodbye to this group of kids.  Melissa and I were blessed by this group of TWENTY-THREE fifth graders...lowest class size ever!...and will always remember them with fond memories.  Let summer begin!!!

Birthdays and Dances

 The January/February Birthday Peeps have found a way to make our birthdays stretch over a month...beginning of February party makes Jen and Kevin's birthdays last longer, and it starts off my birthday MONTH!

This was also the night of Mead's Daddy&Daughter Dance, and both Grace and Jeff were excited about going again.  They went to dinner with some soccer girls and their dads--at Twigs--and then danced (and watched others dance) at Mountainside Middle School.

When Gracie was falling asleep at the end of the night she said, "Now I have to wait a whole another year until the Daddy/Daughter Dance..."  She loves time with her Daddy.

The Lost Coin

Actually, it was the lost WEDDING BAND.  While at the farm, Jeff changed our van's oil and sanded/stained our ruler height chart for my birthday.  Upon finishing these activities, he noticed at the lunch table that his ring was missing!  We searched the shop high and low, and after several hours of searching we still hadn't found it.  Jeff was afraid that he may have wiped his hands with a paper towel, sending his ring in that towel into the shop's stove.  He poked around the logs and ash and didn't see it.  My dad was napping during all of this, and when he got up and came to stoke the fire in the shop stove we all sort of looked at him funny.  The ring may be in there!  He wasn't aware any of this was going on--he was asleep, people!  He and Jeff got to work with a screen and buckets and started sifting through the ash.  Nearing the last scoops from the bottom of the ash, Jeff's almost tossed the circle that looked yellowish--his ring was white gold.  But as he picked the ring up to inspect it, he noticed the slight shimmer...

My mom lost her wedding ring back in the day...and it was found in the last scoop of ash in our burn barrel.  So I guess we've learned...that gold is heavier than ash.  :)

In the meantime, I was supposed to go visit G'ma Trudy and Papa LeRoy and they were starting to wonder where I was, so they called and heard about the ring commotion that was going on.  They decided to come over instead of having me come to them--and they brought a Baskin Robbins' Valentines Day ice cream cake!

Something was wrong with Millie's cake...and I cannot remember what it was...

Later that night we celebrated my birthday with a monster-sized meatloaf and mashed potato dinner and delicious lemon cake with huckleberries and whipped cream.  Dee-eeee-licious!

I love that little Lauren sucks her middle fingers.

Micah loves the farm--but he especially loves the ceiling fans, the ficus tree grass, and the touch lamp!

Twenty Years of April Fools

 Uh, oh.  Sign misspelling?

 Nope!  Tents, tents EVERYWHERE!

 Jeff and I camped out on G'ma Trudy's lawn with Levi, Brooke, Tanya, and Matt.  I only remember large trucks driving by quite often...

G'ma treated us to breakfast!  Waffles and eggs and sausage!

 Kelly brought little Millie by on their way to work.

And we stayed visiting until 10.  What a fun morning.  What a fun twenty years!  Cows with two shorter legs than the other, Trudy's Taco Take-out, the crime scene in her front yard, free autographs and kisses from Genesee's Junior Miss, hay bales and plastic eggs in bulk, flowers delivered anonymously to me at school, underwear and pant-legs sewn shut, yard sale recalls, Weber crossings, notes left on the backs of pictures being reversed...

Ellie's Birthday Week!

We celebrate birthdays for a whole week in this household.

This was my week to be spoiled.  Jeff was the biggest spoiler--giving me a present each day of the week leading up to my birthday on the 27th.  Gifts ranging from an old Elizabethtown movie poster to a new purse...I was REALLY spoiled.  On Friday after work we headed to the farm to see my family.

 Brownies was the requested dessert this year...and I had lots of assistance with opening gifts.

I had to snap this matchey-matchey picture of  Mom and Dad, all decked out for the WSU game...which we won't talk about the outcome of...

We threw a baby shower for Kelly on Sunday, and after, we ran back to Spokane to celebrate with the Lochheads.  More spoiling here...a birdbath, dinner gift certificate, dead mouse from Harvey...ha!

 And then on my actual birthday, we got to see Heidi and Kai for lunch and then Jeff surprised me with dinner with the whole Van Sickle family at Fat Daddy's that night!  The kids and I also celebrated with a special snack after naps:  kiwi fruit!  They'd never had it before...  De...

 ...stinkin'...

...licious!  I also received all kinds of notes, cards, phone calls and texts!  Thanks for all the love, everyone!  What a great birthday week to remind me how much I am loved--and blessed.

January...Bliss?

Ahh, January has arrived.  This is Jeff's favorite month.  He sees new possibility each time January rolls around and this year he's already on a roll of reading his new genre of books:  graphic novels.  He's started another health challenge (aka BET) involving push-ups with a co-worker, and he's been partaking in lots of play time with his kids.  Welcome, January!

"Ugh.  It's January," is more my outlook on this wintery month.  I am trying to rest a bit more--I have been fighting cough/cold/congestion since conferences back in November.  This week I went to the doctor for the second time in the last month and found out I have a BROKEN RIB from a coughing spell I had in December.  Well, I guess that's why my side hurt...I thought it was a muscle that wasn't healing.  Sigh. This month marks the last few weeks of working 3 days/week before I switch to working 2 days/week...c'mon, February!!!  Now THAT is my month.

Josh and Grace have welcomed the routine of going back to Dianne's and are loving their new set of toys scored over Christmas.  Hopefully they adopt their father's approach to January and not their mother's...

A One-Year Tradition

Friends and family know that there are a few times a year when the blog gets neglected in our family.  The beginning of September is DEFINITELY one of those times.  But I was thinking that having two of us as teachers could have some creative perks...(besides the obvious summers and vacation times off and wonderful work hours and the privilege of enlightening young minds, of course).  Unlike most adults, we get to experience the first day of school EVERY YEAR!  The first day of school is so memorable:  new clothes, backpack, and...first day of school PICTURES!

Yeah, we may keep this tradition just for our kids.

Spokane to Santa Rosa

Sigh.  We had to say "goodbye-for-now" to our good friend, Debbie, the week of Labor Day.  Debbie and Daniel decided that a year was too long to be away from Debbie's new husband, Randy.  So, they are now in Santa Rosa for a year or two...and the plan is to come back to Spokane, then.  We miss her like crazy, but are excited to see what God has in store for the new Waltman family.

Cassie and I took Debbie out for dinner at Twigs to celebrate HER before they left.  We have enjoyed meeting together for the past ten years!  C'mon, two years--go by fast!  :)