Humming the Birthday Song...

Thursday was my birthday, and we had the distinct delight of having my parents join us for the celebration. :) :) :) :)

My kids were really sweet at school on my birthday, and I received several flowers, a card from each of them, and a couple other things. :) Then after I tutored Thursday afternoon, I got to come home to Dad and Mom--what a treat! Matt came home, and we had a yummy dinner together, cake and birthday cake flavored ice cream (one of my favs), and then opened presents. I felt very loved, and it was a GREAT day!!

On Friday, Matt and I both worked. Dad went to a nature preserve to take pictures (though the wildest thing he saw was.... a squirrel.... no bison, gators, or deer, as we know actually live there). Mom stayed home and caught us up on some things around the house. Sammy apparently played outside most of the day! So we all the FL residents were on the receiving end of huge blessings! :) Friday evening we had a second, yummy home-cooked meal (more later on why that's special). YUM!

On Saturday, the guys inspected our damp laundry room. It turns out the water heater may or may not be leaking, but it's far enough along in age that we plan to get a new one. As for the washer, the line it empties into is backing up, so water is pouring down the wall and onto the floor. Lovely, right? We have a plumber coming tomorrow to hopefully clean out the line and get that sorted out. Hooray for Dad the diagnostician!

That night we had another yummy dinner, some popcorn, and a movie. :)

It was a quick trip :-(, but it was soooo good to see Dad and Mom! AND, we'll see them again in 2.5 weeks for Thanskgiving (only 10 work days until then!).

I have tomorrow and Tuesday off, which I am really excited about! Then it's a full week next week and a 2 day week after that. Tomorrow I am planning on doing some school stuff since I have to be home for the plumber anyway. Tuesday I'm hoping to craft--I got great craft stuff for my birthday, like books, patterns, and awesome hippo fabric. :)

Before I close, here are some birthday pictures (because I KNOW those of you who know my family are waiting for them)...

with my special brownie pan (every piece ends up with at least 2 edges, so you get that perfect chewy bite every time)



With my Hoops & Yoyo card from Matt--it sings a really fun song. :)



Making a face when Matt called me "old" during the birthday song (HE would know!)



With Matt and Mom



With Matt

It's Been Awhile....

..whew ! August 23 was my last post. Eek!

I guess you could say things have been pretty busy around here. I haven't been able to do any more embroidering or sewing since TS Fay came through and I had those 2 days off for the storms. But I am hoping to this weekend, especially because I have some more gifts to make. :) And the fabric is already picked out, so that helps a LOT!

It has been SUPER busy at school. On top of keeping a team of 6 (3 brand new to our school) going, I have my own classroom things to keep running. Tomorrow night is open house, so that adds a whole other element to the current stress level. And then Monday is our last day to enter progress report grades. In the past, we've done them by hand (on carbon copy forms). But this year we have a fancy schmancy new program that we have to use. I need to grade some reading and writing assignments, and then I should be good to go. We had a slow start with reading since we didn't have our whole kids (just TEs and student books). And the pace I think is just a lot faster than lots of my new-to-my-school students are used to. I was trying to give them a chance to complete their folder work, so I wouldn't have to enter incompletes for assignments. And then writing has been delayed because we JUST got the writing criteria finalized/approved yesterday afternoon! Ay ay ay!

Last night I got home at 6, and tonight I got home at 6:30. While I have a GREAT class (really, I do!), it's still a long day when the alarm goes off at 5:30, you chase 8 year-olds around all day, and then stay in your room until 6:30. Matt is oh-so-sweetly picking up our favorite Chinese on his way home tonight. Yum!

It's amazing the things that fall by the wayside when your day is filled up with work. You know, things like:

• laundry (especially ironing... but really, it's not AWFUL... yet)
• **depositing my paycheck that I received Sept. 1**
• vacuuming (and getting a replacement belt for the vacuum, because I think mine will wear through ANY day now)
• grocery shopping/meal planning
• walking the dog
• sleep

You get the idea. ;) Then you add the WONDERFUL addition of our newest niece, Isabella Rose, to the mix, and you have a FULL plate! On top of all that, we drove to SC last weekend to meet Isabella. :) We wouldn't have wanted it any other way, but I didn't get anything done around the house. I was "lucky" do get my grading done in the car and figure out what I was teaching for Monday on Sunday night!

So, I think you have a snapshot of our life right now. There have been some other confounding factors that makes it seem like that balls we're trying to juggle are actually dropping left and right, but we know Who's really catching them--and we're unspeakably thankful to know Who really has it all in control (we'd be in SO much trouble if I was truly in control, as I'm so apt to think I am). Hopefully those things will settle out in the next couple weeks and with that will go a huge load we've been carrying.

Thanks to everyone who's been praying and encouraging us through this absolutely crazy time!

Love,
Becca

Top 8

I saw a link to this blog, on which the author is providing topics for people to respond to with lists of 8. I wish I'd caught it a few days ago, but today's is fun, too. :)

Without further ado, 8 things I love (in no particular order):

1. Jesus

2. Matt


3. My family: I have to lump them together, or I'd go way over 8 between my parents, my siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, niece, nephews, and then Matt's family, too! Whew! We are blessed with lots of wonderful people. :)
Here's a shot I *love* of two particularly wonderful people :)


4. Samantha


5. Strawberry lemonade (especially from Chili's)

6. The beach


7. Our friends (again, lumped together ya'll, sorry!)
The picture currently still on the hard drive that included the most friends in one shot :)


8. Successfully making something and it turning out the way I pictured in my head :)

Gifts and Samantha

We are expecting the arrival of our newest niece, Isabella Rose, in a little over a month! I have had a couple little projects in mind for her, but I was holding out until my order of the Husqvarna 4D embroidery software came in. Well, now it doesn't look as though that will happen before I go back to school. So, I decided to go ahead and sew some steps of the projects, and I'll have to go back and embroider later. Isabella's nursery is decorated with sweet ladybugs, so I made a coordinating set of burp clothes to go along with that theme.

You'll have to stay tuned to see what I embroider on them (eventually.... when my software arrives!)

Secondly, Samantha received a really fun gift from my parents. :) It's a huge black bear stuffed animal--only it doesn't have stuffing (except for the head) and it has a squeaker in each leg and its head!

We were sure she would have it torn open in a matter of minutes. But she's never had a toy this big before, and she's been treating it very differently! Sure, she shakes it and bites at it sometimes. She looked like she thought she'd REALLY caught something when we first gave it to her. But now it's like it's her buddy!

We just might need to come up with a name for it with the way she's keeping it around! :) Such a sweet puppy. :)

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek into some of what we have been up to this week...

The master bathroom! It used to be a kind of faux-finish of pea soup green... along with our avocado green counter, floor tiles, and stripe of avocado green tiles in the shower---too much 1970s green for me! The new color is very happy and bright and brings us much closer to the 21st century. :) Eventually, the door will be a new, white door, too. :)
p.s. Ignore the burned out light bulbs! We'll be putting a new light fixture in here, too, so I haven't worried about replacing them just yet. :)

Welcoming Mom. :)

A really fun pear we found at TJ Maxx. It's covered in artificial leaves. The girl at the check-out flipped out over it and showed the other cashiers because she liked it so much. :) It adds the perfect, fun, quirky, and green touch to our living room. :)

I'm sorry I haven't been around this week... my mom is visiting, so of course I am soaking up as much time as possible while she is in Florida. She hits the road tomorrow, and while I'll be croaking, I know some special people in TN will be doing a happy dance upon her arrival back home. :)

We've done a lot of hanging out and browsing, and we even painted the master bathroom! Stay tuned for pictures. :)

South Carolina Snapshots

The first part of our vacation (July 27-July 2) we were in South Carolina to visit Matt's family. Our time there included a baby shower for Matt's sister and our niece-to-be, Isabella; a birthday celebration for Matt; wild animals; and a great visit with Matt's best man, Tyson.

Isabella's nursery will be decorated with a ladybug theme, so guess what the theme of the shower was! :) Adorable ladybugs!

the cake

Matt's sister with a ladybug outfit we gave her


One morning, we went with Matt's parents to a kind of zoo/ranch place. We had a picnic lunch and the ranch had all sorts of animals and a wagon ride where the animals all come right up to you for food. I fed a giraffe, and Matt's mom almost lost a finger!

lily pads on the pond surrounding the lemur island

a blue and gold macaw

One evening, Tyson took us to a park his church owns as a ministry to the community. It was dark so my pictures aren't great, but it was BEAUTIFUL! Also, Tyson almost got attacked by an egret (he started it by pestering the mama bird)--fun times. :)

looking into a field


looking out over the river


We also got to celebrate Matt's birthday (July1) with his parents, sister, and his parents' dear friends Bob and Cindy.

Matt's yummy cake

In addition, we had a great lunch with Matt's sister one afternoon, got to see her house's remodeling progress (it looks great!!), all the baby gear she's acquired so far (so cute!), and enjoy a sweet time with his family. It was a wonderful first half of our annual "family tour." :) We can't wait to return early in September (or maybe the end of August???) to meet Isabella!

Quick Update

We spent the last week split between our two families in SC and TN. We got to spend much-needed time with each of them, celebrate a baby shower, a birthday, Independence Day, catch up with friends before the move, see a beautiful park, wakeboard, and play with the kiddos. It was GREAT! I'll have pictures soon, but first I need to let you know about another perk of the new HVAC system (I'm sure you're groaning, so I'll try not to talk about it too much more).

This may be gross to some or just completely boring to others, but every time we have gone on vacation during the past 2 years we have lived in this house, we have come home to moldy, mildewy toilets. The bowl and underneath side of the side have been yucky every time. Now, it's not like "left food in the fridge for 2 months and it has its own head of hair" gross, but still, gross when you're used to keeping a clean house!

Since the new HVAC controls for humidity, I wondered if this would solve our vacation bathroom issues. IT DID!!! For the first time in over 2 years, we came home from vacation to toilets as sparkling white as the day we left them! So dorky to be excited about it, but we are very happy. :) And now I'm wondering if the new system might also help curb the mildew that pops up in our master shower within a week of scrubbing it.

So many perks to the new HVAC... who knew??? :)

Stay tuned for vacation pictures! And happy belated birthday to my WONDERFUL husband!!

Hostessing

Tomorrow I am hosting a baby shower for a sweet friend who is due with a baby girl in August. This will be my first time really hosting a shower (I co-hosted a wedding shower for Matt & Ariana with Joy, but Joy did most of the prep as it was at her house). Whew! It's a lot of work, but I am pleased so far with how it's come together. Only 3 big boo-boos, and 2 of them were fixable. :)

What are the mistakes, you ask? Well, #1 A recipe I tried didn't work like it was supposed to, but instead of rolling it and then cutting swirly slices to bake, I just kinda plopped it all in the dish and baked it. It still smells delicious. :) #2 Publix forgot to put an "e" on the end of "welcome" as in "Welcome, Baby Katie," on the cake. I checked to make sure they spelled Katie right, but I didn't think to check the other words. Thankfully, my cashier looked to see what the cake said and noticed! Don't you just love Publix? :) They whipped up some pink icing and fixed it right up! #3 is the unfixable one. I was trying to make these as a favor for the guests (3 for each guest, and I was going to pipe a "K" on top of the "cupcake" for the baby's name). Well, I opened the fridge to put some bread away, and out came my cookie sheet of red velvet truffles. Only 18 out of over 50 survived (i.e. stayed on the cookie sheet, as opposed to the floor). I was pretty disappointed. :-( But you can't have it all, right? If I'd had time, I thought about finishing them off (they still needed the chocolate bark coating) and having one for each guest as birthday cakes, because one guest's birthday is tomorrow. But it's after midnight, and I'm EXHAUSTED! So, I'll finish them off for Matt later this week. :)

Lastly, I decided to take a trick from my mother, and I went ahead and set everything out for tomorrow (she does that for Thanksgiving or other really big, lots of people types of situations). Since it was all set up, I decided to take some pictures to show you!

The "cake toppers" that I made to match Baby Katie's nursery decor. I think I'll actually end up setting them right next to the cake, but all the same. :)

The cake (with an e at the end of Welcome :) )

In the foyer

On the coffee table in the den... may switch to living room. :) In fact, I probably will. :)
p.s. Don't mind the crazy pooch in the background.

Pitchers for orange juice and apple juice, a punch bowl for a punch I made, the coffee maker ready to go, and cups for all. :)

I even tried to set out serving utensils I think I'll need.

The food set up in the dining room. I tied a fork, spoon, and knife together in a pink napkin with a pink polka-dot bow. They're all in a basket, followed by plates, next will be a crockpot egg and cheese casserole, followed by the apple dumpling thing I had to dump instead of swirl, then a coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, and mixed fruit. In the center 3 tiered platter I have cut up blueberry bagels and cinnamon/raisin swirl bagels and I made craisin scones. I also have strawberry and regular cream cheese and honey butter for that area.

The other side of the table.

So there you have it! I'm sure there will be more pictures tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Baby Shower Prep

Today I got to work on a couple things in preparation for the baby shower I am hosting next Saturday. :)

First of all, here are the topiary trees for the dining room table.

Then I was trying to think of some other "fun" thing for decor. I considered a diaper cake, but I also know they're quite time intensive, and I already had the topiaries. Then I came across a diaper wreath. Perfect! This will be on the front door to great the guests (and guest of honor).

I used a styrofoam wreath from Michael's and wrapped overlapping diapers around it. You tie each diaper with ribbon (I used pink polka-dot to coordinate with the shower invitations). Then I added some fun curly ribbon and an "it's a girl" balloon before adding some baby essentials to finish it off: various Johnson's baby care items like baby powder, lotions, shampoo, etc., a paci clip, 4 washcloths, some spoons, and some forks (obviously for when Baby Girl O is older).


A close-up of the top half.

A close-up of the bottom half.

I love how it turned out, and I love that it's a little more "novel" than the ever-popular diaper cake (as cool as those are). And I LOVE how easy it was!!

Lastly, I sewed the mother-to-be's gift of a nursing cover.




the terry cloth corner




the pocket




Today we also bought plates, napkins, cups, etc. So now I just need to finish the cake toppers, finalize the menu, and then I think we're set!

2 Important Announcements

1. My birthday twin and dear friend is now a MRS!!!
We had the distinct pleasure of traveling home for Ruthie and Eric's wedding. It was such a sweet time of celebration and just reveling in God's goodness, faithfulness, and provision. It was SO, SO, SO good to be with family and friends this past weekend. Oh, how my heart is at rest there and surrounded by loved ones. We love you, the new Mrs. V, and we can't wait to see you in July!

I have to say, I'm amazed at how long my hair is here compared to the profile picture here on the blog (above and to the right)! Wow!

While home we also squeezed a game of Catan in with Brad and Joy (and I had my WORST game EVER), WE played WII with Brad and Joy--including old school Tecmo Bowl and Double Dribble, a visit to McKay's (where, of course, some teaching books were procured), play time with Charis and Cai, and even a family-famous birthday party for Joy. We are sorry we missed Matt, Ariana, and Sam, but hopefully we'll see them in July! And the wedding festivities allowed us time with some of my favorite ladies from my old Bible study and especially our favorite D.C.-bound couple, Jessica and Eric. :)


2. My class totally ROCKED the FCAT! Praise the Lord!! :)
Sigh of relief.