Thanksgiving

I have a new appreciation for how hard people work to get Thanksgiving dinner out on a table. We headed out to Sioux City for the holiday to see my side of the family. My mom was sick with strep throat and bronchitis, and was too sick to make dinner, so my dad and I embraced the challenge. I was SO stressed out all day. Lack of sleep (I was up by 6am to help) combined with the stress of getting everything together and making sure everyone was quiet enough for my mom to rest, made for an interesting day. Mom made it out to eat with us for a little while, it was nice to see she was feeling a little better. Black Friday proved to be kind of disappointing, we still haven't quite determined what we'd like to get our families for Christmas so I wasn't really looking for anything. Got a couple new blankets for around the house though, and I was pleased to find the Willow Tree Nativity scene on sale, 30% off! Otherwise, it was just nice to spend time with family, we spent the last two days of the weekend in Anita with Jerod's family. Hope everyone else's holiday weekend was just as great!

Read more...

Fall Craziness

We have been SO busy these past few weeks! We had so many friends come into town and visit, and it was so nice, but we're ready for the Holidays to kick in and have some down time and quiet time with family and friends. Halloween was fun, we went out in costume two nights, Jerod was itching to show everyone his Macho Man costume, it was pretty good- and he sold it really well, too. Then we went to a tailgate when our friends came into town from California, it was really fun, both of us were sad to see the Hawkeyes winning streak end (yes....even me...). That doesn't mean I'm a Hawk fan, just that it was neat to see an Iowa team doing so well nationally. Anyway, we'll get to see family a lot these next couple weeks. My sister, Kristen made OPUS (middle school honor choir), a statewide thing, and she has a concert at Stephens Auditorium here in Ames. My parents are bringing her up...I'm not sure where they're going to sleep! Then, we're meeting my parents in Minneapolis on Saturday to do some shopping, see a football game Sunday, and celebrate 29 years of marriage for them...already thinking of what to do for them next year for their 30th. Then, of course, headed out to Sioux City and Greenfield for Thanksgiving weekend. I love this time of year, family and friends can't be beat!

Doug, Dylan, Jerod, and Spears, I apologize for Jerod's rude gestures!

My Sister and me before the 5k run/walk for Race for the Cure in Des Moines.

So much fun, totally recommend it!

Read more...

October Date Night

So we love hanging out at home.....a lot....so much in fact that it's pretty much the only thing we do outside of attending West Marshall football games. Now that those are over, I thought we needed to get out and do something different every now and then. We had our first monthly, specifically, date night. The catch is that we each have to take turns planning date night, since it was my idea I took October. Needless to say, I had a heck of a time trying to come up with something Jerod wouldn't scoff or roll his eyes at, so I decided to go with the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze in Cambridge.....that did not fly- Jerod guessed what we were doing and did NOT want to go. So we compromised, dinner at Thai Flavors in Des Moines (they have THE best crab rangoons EVER, hands down) and then we stopped at the Ankeny Walmart and picked out two pumpkins to take home and carve. It was really nice to get away from the television and just spend time together without worrying about lesson plans or the score of the game. I am looking forward to his date night plans in November....wonder what they will be??

JB looks like he's having a BLAST!
The finished products (Jerod's was only a 1 pumpkin difficulty- mine was a 4 pumpkin)

Read more...

Hey All!

This is a busy time for us as conferences for West Marshall run this week, and Carver's are next week. The big plus?? A couple kid-free days! We'll enjoy them now, since we don't have any little ones that have to be home with us yet:) We headed out to Sioux City this past weekend to see the Wyant family (it is still SO weird to not be a "Wyant" anymore). We hadn't been back to Sioux City since right before we left on our honeymoon in July, it was a long overdue visit, I missed my family tons. Also, Jerod gave the first two-armed hug to someone other than me that has ever been witnessed!! (GASP!!) My dad and I had to pick our jaws up off the ground when Jerod hugged my mom good-bye, he's coming around....

Jamie-wanna do something before the game on Friday? We can bring dinner this time, let me know (I can speak directly to you since you're the only one who reads this blog-haha)

Read more...

Checkin In

Just a short update on what's up with us. School is going well, the honeymoon period with the preschoolers is over and everyone is revealing their true colors- but other than that, it's so much better than last school year, I can't complain. Jerod will be finishing up first quarter at West Marshall soon, and having fall conferences. Can't believe it's that time of year already! This past weekend we trekked out to Clinton, Iowa to visit our friend Tony, he was really excited to have everyone up and cooked up a feast for Saturday. It was nice to be able to finally see his house, it's so tiny! Not a whole lot else going on except getting ready for Halloween. We're going as the Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth- any tips??? :)

Read more...

Remember to Breathe

Halfway done with the first week of preschool with students- they're really something, I'm not sure what though :) The first day was basically everyone, myself included, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was a crazy day. The last two have been much better and I am now beginning to see some personalities coming out in certain children, I have some sassy little ones. Overall though, it has been so much better than last year in that the kids get along pretty well and so far we haven't seen any major behavior problems besides some defiance. If that's the worst thing I see with them this year then I'll be very happy!

We just had a crazy weekend of football and friends!! How many people can fit into a one bedroom apartment? Way too many, my goodness people were passing out any and everywhere. It was an embarrassing loss for the Cyclones, but they were most definitely outplayed and didn't deserve a win. Let's hope that Paul Rhoads can bring us back to where Dan McCarney had them- at least a crappy bowl game! And if you're waiting to hear a congrats to that other team.....keep dreaming Hot Guys ;)

Otherwise, we're excited for West Marshall's homecoming game this Friday night, and hopefully a relaxing weekend at home. Somehow, that never seems to be what happens but I can dream right?

Read more...

This is not why I went to college!

Diapers!! A 3-year old in DIAPERS!!! I know it probably isn't the easiest thing in the world to potty train a child, but for the Love of Pete, 3 years old?! Any typically functioning 3-year old should be able to pee in a toilet, maybe use a pull-up at rest time or overnight, but still in diapers? Now we're just lazy and not even trying to help this kid..... By the way, I don't have to worry about it because by our policy parents must sign a paper saying they will come to school when he gets a dirty diaper and change him. Thank Heavens!!

Read more...