Merry Christmas

My Aunt Terry gave these hats to the boys and then a pink one to Miss O. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our house to yours!!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it....OH NO!!!

Brody decided that there is no reason to wait for snow. He wanted a white Christmas...now! I was decorating for Christmas and I had gotten out my Nativity scene. It is stored in the little styrofoam balls. I walked around the corner and saw him sitting in the middle of this mess. He had the greatest look on his face which made the mess a lot easier to deal with. I have most of it vacuumed up, but I am sure I will continue to see little white styrofoam until Christmas of 2020!

First grade

I have not abandoned the blogging world, I just have no time to sit down and blog. I would love to say that it is because we have been wildly busy doing amazing and fabulous things. In all reality it is because I eat, sleep, and breath school. If it is not homework for my master's, or doing Haden's homework, than it is for my own classroom. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being a first grade teacher. I have a classroom full of 24 of the most adorable, sweet, and innocent students in the world. However, there are many of them, so I have to constantly be on my toes. Being my first year at first grade, I am learning just like they are! Classroom management is a whole different thing with 24 five year olds. I am used to 3-8 third through fifth graders. I spend my day teaching reading and math, tying shoes, finding crayons, and zipping coats, but I would not change it for the world. Plus, they just say the cutest things!!! I posted on my facebook several months ago about teaching first grade being good on the confidence. I have been told that I am skinny, beautiful and gorgeous. Are they not the best!!! I am get to hear some of the funniest things. I think that the best thing that I have heard yet was a response to a question. We had read a little reader about a group of kids that put on a show. The show they put on had a big bad wolf that wanted to eat dinner. The wolf went to the first house made of sticks and blew the house down and there was a little pig. No, I am not retelling you the three little pigs. The wolf went to the second house were he blew down the house of a crocodile! and the last house was that of a lion and the big bad wolf ran away scared because both animals could eat him. I had asked the kids to share what animal they would want to be if they were in the story. I said that I wanted to be a porcupine because the wolf could not eat through my quills. I had comments such as a snake because the wolf would be scared, a tiger because it would eat the wolf and so on. I get to the last little girl and her response was a mermaid. Not understanding I asked her to explain. Her response, "mermaids are beautiful animals and the wolf would think that so he would want to date me. A wolf won't eat somebody that he is dating!" Well........good point! I am certainly learning how to control my facial muscles!

Commercials

Do you ever watch tv and see that one commercial that makes you laugh! I saw this commercial for the first time the other day. I laughed so hard at this. I am not sure why I thought it was so funny, because it is kind of wrong in many ways, but it still cracks me up!!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did and please stay away from your child's fish bowl!

Mass Chaos!

Do you ever look at other people and wonder how they do it??? I do!!! I see other mothers out there that manage to have a clean house, clean kids, clean laundry, dinner on the table, go to work, and still seem to manage to have time for family and friends! I would love to know how they do it! I have been living in chaos since the summer started! My house is a disaster, my homework is piling up, the laundry mountain is growing, and I feel like I have NO TIME!! I have a friend that had a baby a couple of weeks ago. I have yet to see this little guy. Not because I have not been invited or that they live in another town, but because THERE IS NO TIME!!!! To this mother.....please PLEASE do not think I am avoiding you! I just have not made it over!
I keep thinking that things will slow down, which I am sure that they will....in another 16 years when Brody is off to college. In the meantime, I am working on just making it through the day and continuously thanking God for every blessing that He has blessed me with. I may feel overwhelmed, but I also feel truly blessed to have a house even though it is messy, kids that are healthy and busy, a career that I love, and friends with growing families, and family that is close!

Kindergarten and First Grade

It was a day of firsts for Haden and I a couple of weeks ago. We both had our FIRST day back to school. Haden started Kindergarten and I started my first day of teaching 1st grade. We were both exhausted by the end of the day and slept in on that following Saturday. It was nice to take Haden to school with me! When school is over, he just walks down to my room or plays with some of the other kids whose moms or grandma's work at the school. It has worked out really well!
I have 23 students and they are a GREAT group. I am a pretty lucky teacher! I am really liking this change that I have made. It is certainly different than teaching special education, but I am adjusting! I miss my old students but I am busy keeping up with 6 and 7 year olds instead!
Haden is in Mrs. Hundley's class this year. She is also a friend of mine, so Haden is learning that he should probably not call her, "mom's friend" any more! I have also explained to him that he should not call her Heather either, even if that is her first name! He is loving it and thinks it is great that he takes his lunch and sits next to his friend Brayden. But best of all, he has 3 recesses!! I am happy that he is talking to his teacher and friends! :)

Great Wolf Lodge

Wyatt and I took the boys to the Great Wolf Lodge at the very beginning of August. We had a great time! The last time the boys stayed in a hotel, Brody was 3 months old! So the boys LOVED the hotel! Whenever anyone would ask Brody about the little trip, Brody would tell them that there were beds there!
The boys have turned into little fish over the summer so they loved being in the water and going down the slides. The liked to stand (at a good distance away) and get splashed by the huge bucket of water. It would dump GALLONS of water down on the people below. After we all swam, we got our clothes changed and introduced the boys to the arcade world. Skeeball was a little difficult for the boys. We had balls going EVERYWHERE! We then whacked a mole, which mommy loves. I seem to have gotten better with age! But the day could not be complete without a racing game!

Movie Night

The boys LOVE to have movie nights and I have to admit that I do to! We have the same routine. We get on our PJ's, make a "special" drink, pop popcorn (who has a movie without it!!), and veg out with our blankets on the floor! It is SO much fun!!! Sometimes some of us (Brody and Mommy) fall asleep and sometimes we don't. Either way it is fun!

Farmer Haden

Haden has been "farming" out at Grandma's house this summer. He has planted carrots, cucumbers, corn and an ENORMOUS sunflower (which I have no picture of!) The best part of his faming is that likes to sample everything out of his garden. GUESS WHAT!!! He loves it all! What a great way to get a child to eat his veggies!

Television

Sorry...no pics to go with my post! You will have to just read!! I remember when I had Haden I was going to be that mom that limits the amount of tv that he watches. Then....along came Brody! I decided that maybe an occasional television show would not hurt a thing. The occasional show has turned into Daddy and boys time! Hey, they are all entertained and I am able to cut my way peacefully through the mounds of laminate!! The TV shows are then turned into the daily games that they play during the day! We have gone deer hunting in the tree stand (they will shush you if you are to loud!) They have been swamp loggers and crocodile hunters. When they come to school with me, they LOVE to play Ice Road Truckers with my chains for my students art work and they think it is great fun to catch crab over the sides of the desks. Most of these shows are seasonal. We are now starting into the season of what Brody calls the "Storminator." We are now catching bugs and snakes just like Billy on Billy the EXTERMINATOR! Brody has also been showing interest in a new show call Mary and Pickles. No, this is not on Disney or Nick Jr. We learned that he is really talking about American Pickers.
I have not really understood why my kids really have no interest in cartoons or shows on PBS, Disney, or Nick Jr. But on the bright side, they will know how to humanely catch a crocodile if one were to ever make its way into the yard!

Busy Month

This summer has gone by WAY to fast! It has been one of the more interesting summers by far! I have been frantically working in my new classroom and it is finally coming together! Wyatt has been back to work and is feeling MUCH better. He gets a little sore by the end of the day, but I guess that just comes with the territory of having a broken collar bone. The most exciting part of our summer has been my two little fish! Haden and Brody both took swimming lessons in June. Haden took private lessons so that he would be more comfortable with going under the water. Kadi started out with a little boy that she could not talk into going under the water to five days later, having a boy that she could not keep from under the water! WOW! I of course have no pictures. I cannot swim and take pictures all at one time. Plus, it is hard to take pictures of a little boy that will not stay on top of the water! We have been spending a lot of time at the Shawnee County North Swimming Pool. The boys LOVE it, as do their mother! We also discovered the "big blue slide." I think I could spend an entire day taking the boys and Olivia up the stairs and sliding into the big splash! I try to not let them go under, but each time I fail, and each time they come up coughing and laughing and begging to go again!
Last week we completed a week of bible school! I was the director for the second year in a row and seem to be getting the hang of organizing it. The boys had a good time and were EXHAUSTED by the afternoon so we all got in LOTS of naps!!!
This week I will be finishing up my second class towards my masters in education with a focus in reading. From the looks of things so far, I should be getting an A which means a 4.0! I am SUPER excited about it, as I have been working pretty hard!


Haden and Brody waiting to watch the fireworks with cousins Olivia, Joey and Sydney!


AHHHH!!! Smoke Bombs!!!!!


Wyatt grilling with one arm!!! Pretty impressive!


Chocolate Pudding Milkshakes mustaches! YUM!



A little time in the small, backyard pool! The slide in this pool is of NO comparison to SCN Pool!!





PANDAMANIA at VBS!!! God is Wild About Us!!!

French Dip

I have been needing to update my blog. I keep thinking that I will update with the photos that I took of Wyatt and his injuries, but I think I just may wait on that! Instead I thought I would share my new recipe.

For dinner tonight, I made french dip sandwiches. I am not a big french dipper, but I must say that this was pretty darn good!!! I had stolen it off of a friend's notes on Facebook and then altered it a tad bit. Wyatt really seemed to like it! You will have to try it also and let me know what you think!!!

1 roast of your choice (I used chuck roast)
1 package of Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix
2 Beef Boulion Cubes
1 can of beer
2 cups water (I sort of dumped, but use your judgement)

mix together and cook on low in the crockpot for the day. When done, slice and put back into juice. Serve on Hoagie buns. Be sure to dip into the Au Ju or use BBQ sauce. Either way works well! The biggest hint is that the longer it cooks on low the more tender it becomes. Once I sliced it, I let it set a little in the juice and that worked well!

ENJOY!

BRO

What is this contraption?? Could it be??? Is this....... a BRO???



In honor of my broken husband I bring to you, the definition of the BRO. He is a Seinfeld fan and I thought that this episode fit into nicely with this contraption.



This is called a Figure of 8. It is currently holding his Clavical back together seeing that it is broken in...not 1, not 2 or even 3 places, but FOUR!

Stay tuned and I will share the entire story with you as well as my pictures that I took. (yes, I took pictures.) Kind of becoming humorous now that the scary part is over.

My 7 Facts

I have a sneaking suspicion that this is Jenny's way to get me to update! :) My friend, Jenny, has tagged me in her blog about giving 7 facts about myself. She was tagged from another friend for the same thing! So not to be a party pooper, I am going to share my 7 facts!

1. I HATE social situations!! It makes me a nervous wreck. I am always worried that I will same the wrong thing or that others will think that I am weird. I typically will not talk to someone first because I am not sure how to start a conversation, so instead I will end up sitting by myself, looking like a dork because I am not sure what to do. I know Wyatt gets frustrated with me since he is Mr. Social.

2. I love to bake, but do not like to bake cookies. I don't mind mix the dough but after that I get bored. I usually end up with a bowl of cookie dough in the fridge!

3. My hobby is trying to figure out what my hobby is. I have dabbled in a little photography, scrapbooking, guitar playing, crochet, knitting, sewing, quilting and the list keeps going. I am not sure which one I like, because I want to be perfect at it right off the bat.

4. I am PETRIFIED of storms. I try very hard to put on my brave face because I don't want Wyatt to think I am a wimp, but I really am! I won't watch the weather for fear it will mention a tornado. I had a great grandmother that would head to the basement immediately with the first sound of thunder. I might mention that as I am typing this, it is thundering. What to do, what to do!!! :)

5. I am SCARED to DEATH of snakes!!!!! I might mention that I am scared of anything that might even resemble a snake! I get nervous working outside because I might see one. I am afraid to fish, because on the movie Funny Farm, Chevy Chase caught a big black one on his line. Wyatt gets a kick out of taking me through a field because he thinks it is funny when I stomp my feet to scare them away! A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

6. I have a secret love for 80's teenage movies!! I favor the ones with Molly Ringwald, but will watch any of them!

7. I do not and cannot text using the abbreviations. I would much rather type out the entire word. I also have a very hard time reading the abbreviations. Good thing I have internet on my phone so that I can look up the meanings!!

These are a few facts about me! Apparently I get to pick someone else to give their facts. Who to choose!!!!

Drum roll please!!


ASHLEY!!

I am still here!

I am still around! My priorities had been adjusted just a tad so that I could get through my last few weeks of school. It has been a bitter sweet ending to the school year. I will be leaving my comfort zone at Central Elementary as a Special Education teacher and heading a few blocks west to teach first grade at Colorado Elementary. I am sad to think that I will not be working with those that became my friends, but I am super excited to make new friends. In the meantime, I have been frantically boxing up my stuff. I was silly to think that I did not really have that much! WOW was I SHOCKED by how much I have accumulated!!! Think goodness for Randel and Sandy volunteering (not really, I am just a good sweet talked!) into moving my stuff for me. Something tells me that I am going to owe them BIG!!! Do you think they will take an IOU?

This is where I started in August.





This is now what my room looks like. At little bland don't you think?

Swagger Wagon Wannabe

Wyatt and I took the plunge last weekend and bought a minivan. I have officially entered the soccer mom world! While proudly showing off my new wheels to a friend, she told me it made her think of the Swagger Wagon. I had to find the video that she was telling me about and thought that I would share it with you! We bought a Honda and the video is a Sienna which makes us the wannabes!!!
Now, I know some of my friends get a kick out of the fact that I surrendered to the minivan, I want to point out that I LOVE my new car!! I am pretty sure it is the best vehicle I have ever had! Enjoy the video and I am going to go and stare at my new car/van!!!

Kitchen Work

It has been very busy the last few weeks. We have had soccer and school and my technology class that I have been taking. I did manage to squeeze in a little kitchen cleaning. I have not kept up the clean once a week thing, but hopefully I will start again soon!

I have a couple of cabinets that seem to collect EVERYTHING! I decided that I needed to get them organized and cleaned out.

Before





I CANNOT believe all of this came out of ONE cabinet!! I have some serious packrat issues!!!


After

PLEASE STAY TUNED

I PROMISE that as soon I get a free moment this week I will update!! I have pictures on my camera waiting for me!!!
STAY TUNED!!!

New Cow

This is just to cute to share...at least for me.

I picked up Haden from preschool a couple of weeks ago. We were talking about his day and we got on the subject of milk. He now has the option between white, chocolate and strawberry milk. I asked him what he picks and he told me he really only likes chocolate milk. He thinks that my strawberry milk is much better. I asked him why he never gets white milk, because he drinks it like crazy at home. He responded with the typical "I just don't like it at school." We were quiet for a bit and then he pipes back up with how he likes his milk to come from a cow...

I explain to him that the milk does come from a cow just like at home. He then tells me that no, the kitchen makes it at school because that is where he gets it from....

(he has a good talent about making himself sound like he has it all figured out)

I then explain to him that it does come from a cow. Again, he says that it does come from the kitchen. (which it does)

I have realized at this point he has it in his head that I am wrong, so I am not going to win this conversation. He gets quiet again and I assume the conversation is done and then he tells me....

"Mom, I think that the school just needs to get a new cow because the one that they have is very bad." Apparently he thinks that they must keep a cow at school and milk it in the morning!!!

All in the eyes of a five year old!!!!

Tidbits

I thought that I would share this blog entry with you!!! Especially if you decide that you want to join me in my "challenge."
This blog entry is from Mom Tidbits. It is a 15 day spring cleaning challenge. Hope it helps!!!!! HAPPY CLEANING!

Closet Challenge

It has taken a little longer than expected due to illnesses and a project for my master's class, but I did it!!! I completed my first challenge. I cleaned out the coat closet by my front door. I had a lot of junk that I threw out and I have started a donation box because there are a lot of items in my closet that is just not worn, so why not give it to someone that will!! To start out the project I labeled three containers so that I would not have my junk sorted all throughout the house. It kind of kept things contained...hence the CONTAINERS!!!






Before:




After:




I had plastic drawers that I bought a few years ago for my classroom and do not use anymore, so I brought them home. They were setting in the basement, so I cleaned them up and used them to sort the boys hats. This should help with deciding which hat belongs to which boy!

Now that I am done with this project. I am thinking about working in the kitchen cabinets.

So.... what is YOUR project???

My Challenge

I have some wonderful friends that just made fun of me because I have not been updating. Then when I put up a video they told me it does not count. :) (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!!) Let's face it, the Althof's are BORING!!!
I have decided to create something to blog about. What should I create? I have been thinking about this and I was reading a friend's blog and she had entry about how she was cleaning. My house is a MESS!!! I thought about this and was thinking about how we have a ton of clutter, plus I am in some very much needed decorating. So my idea is that I am going to challenge myself to do some major cleaning and blog about it. My goal is to once a week pick some place in my house and reorganize/declutter and show before and after pics.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not judge my messy, cluttery, nondecorated house. :)

But, once I am done, you all can come over! The only part of my challenge that I don't have is an end date. What should my end date be???? Something tells me that this is going to be a never ending project. I do want to encourage my friends to do this with me. Blog about it or maybe leave me some comments about how it is going for you!

With this all said, I am now off to reorganize my coat closet. It is not pretty! Have a good and clutter free week!

Woman's World

I am getting ready to take a "mini vacation" with some of my friends and sister. Heather, Ashley, Jenny and I are going to hit up the Little Apple and attend the Woman's World conference. It is a faith based conference for women, hence the title! I am looking forward to a little time outside of Holton, and away from the stress of everyday life. It has been a CRAZY week at work with testing, meetings, IEP's and parent teacher conferences. Then throw in two little boys and a messy house and getting my own homework completed (which I am supposed to be doing at this very moment). Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that my life is over the top busy and worse than anyone else, but I think I felt a little overwhelmed this week. I look forward to a little girl time with my friends and worship time with God with other women who probably share many of the same "blessings" as I. With that, Look out Manhattan...here we come!!!

What Teachers Make

I wanted to share this video about what teachers make. It is a poem by Taylor Mali. (the censored version)I liked it and he makes such a good point!

Christmas at Church

We had a lot of things happening at our church that the boys were involved in. We had the living nativity that Haden participates in each year. He was the first baby Jesus when our minister started the living nativity. We have added many new babies since then, and they are each growing up so fast!

The next week at church we had our children's Christmas Program. I was in charge of the little kids, ages 1-7 years old. I could not do this without the help of the mommies!! Some of the kids refused to stand, some could not decide if they want to be up front or with their mommy and daddies (Lilly S.) and some learned that they can jump (Zoe S.) and some children just really wanted to see if their mommies would chase them (Olivia D.). It had to of been the cutest program ever and the kids did such a great job!

I think Lilly found herself a boyfriend!!

Out of all of the little 1 year olds, Zoe is the only one that would do the motions.