Thankful Through Thursday!

Look at my new "Thankful Through Thursday" button!

Becca made me a "20th" button too... look to the right!

So fun! Thanks Becca!

Thursday is here! We have had a pretty laid back week.

Lilly is doing great with her big girl bed! Am I jinxing it by saying it? We haven't really had any issues with her getting up. Bedtime routine has changed just a bit, but we are all adapting. Doesn't she look little in that big bed?

And Mr. Miles of Smiles!

Lilly has been sleeping so well, in fact, that she had a couple of really grumpy mornings. She would tell me that she was sleeping again and just refuse to get up!
We have introduced the tradition (started by Auntie Kendra as a young girl) of morning hot cocoa. So far, so good!

And my main man Zac, enjoying a snack before dinner!

I am Thankful!

The best weekend!

It is an absolute miracle that this post does not contain 99 pictures.
I took 99 pictures this weekend. Not 100... but 99.
The kids and I headed up to Phoenix this weekend to visit with GREAT friends that I have had for many, many years. I met Natalie and Karen in junior high school and we all met Laura in high school. We were inseparable.
Then, time separated us. But not for long! Now that we are all settled down and back in AZ, we are back and it is like things never changed.
Here we are! Laura is behind me, next to her is Natalie (aka Hostess with the Mostess) who is in back of Karen.

Prior to this dinner, however, was a lot of playtime. I mentioned the water table and outside toys in my 20th post, but here are a couple other pics of fun outdoor play!

We got to Natalie's on Friday evening, and had a delicious dinner of pizza and grapes! Natalie and her family live in a beautiful neighborhood with lakes and very hungry ducks. So, we had to go feed them a couple times.

Me and my man hamming it up!

Laura and her family drove up Saturday, and we met them at the toystore for Peter Rabbit. Isn't her daughter, Sara, an absolute beauty?!?

Lilly took storytime seriously.

Zac was just a ham the whole time!

Then... more outdoor playtime!

Saturday night was when Karen came over (her baby boy, Tyler, was sick at home with husband Bernie). We had an amazing dinner of lasagna, bread and salad.

Then. Came. Dessert. Natalie is an amazing cook and baker in addition to so many other things. Look at this cake. Fully homemade. From scratch. Served with port that Michael so generously opened for the occasion. Delicious doesn't begin to describe the entire meal, and especially this dessert.

That evening, Sara and Zac ate dinner and went to bed at their normal times, which was before out dinner. Lilly and Spencer are so independent that we were able to have great conversation and visiting during dinner. Then, Lilly and Spencer went to bed and we enjoyed our dessert.

After dessert, Karen had to go tend to her sick baby and the rest of us headed outside to the patio swing with a bottle (or two?) of wine.

We laughed, we cried, we spilled a little wine...

It was amazing.

Sunday, it was time to head home. Driving during naptime is a very good thing.

A HUGE thank you to Natalie for hosting my crazy kids and myself. Check out her blog post about our great weekend too, by clicking here.

Another HUGE thank you to Karen and Laura in addition to Natalie for being such great friends for such a long time. Love you all girls!

And yet another HUGE thank you to Michael and Josh, who had to listen to so much girl talk and cackling!

Two side notes.

1. Check out my new "button" for my Thankful Through Thursdays posts made by my friend Becca! Isn't it great?!?

2. Speaking of long time friends, I had drinks last week with Stephanie, who was my BFF from preschool through junior high school. Different high schools helped us grow apart, but thanks to facebook we have reconnected and I am thrilled!

The 20th!

Happy 20th!
I love love love the 20th!

Today's 20th post will be short and sweet. We are at my great friend Natalie's in Phoenix this weekend, and are having a blast. I will post about the whole weekend later, but HAD to do a 20th post of course!
Yesterday, the kids played with Spencer's water table. They had such fun!

Today, we went to Dunkin Donuts. Turns out, their coffee really is pretty darn good! I kinda like this picture, even though Lilly's face is a mess and Zac is distracted... those are my kids!

Zac rather enjoyed the last part of Lilly's filled donut.

Next, off to the toy store to visit Peter Rabbit! Zac actually showed a lot of interest and loved Peter Rabbit. Until, of course, I tried to put him on his lap for a picture. That did not go well.

And, Lilly LOVED the story time, but surprisingly didn't want to sit with Peter. She did stand there with Spencer though.

Happy 20th to Lilly, Zac, and Shyla May! Make sure to check out Kendra's 20th post too :)

Thankful Through Thursday!

I had every intention of blogging quite a bit more this week, but I've been plagued with migranes. Fun Spring Break huh? Oh the other hand, at least I haven't had to teach with them!

Thankful Through Thursday is meant to be just a random assortment of pictures, so that my other posts can be specific. Today, however, is specific.

Lilly got her big girl bed yesterday! When she got home from school, it was all ready for her. Look at this face!

Wheeeeeeee!

Checking it all out!

Even Zac was thrilled!

Possibly a little more than Lilly, in fact!

Finally, bedtime arrived!

I took this and told Lilly "Oh you made a funny face" and she replied that No, in fact, she was winking. Of course she is! Who knew the girl could wink!

So, it took about an hour and a half to get her to stay in bed. I ended up laying down with her until she was almost asleep. By that time she was so tired that it was ok for me to leave without her jumping out of bed. The next nights could be long, but she couldn't live in her crib forever right?
And, this morning when she came "pitter pattering" out and asked if it was ok for her to get up, she seemed so happy and proud and I told her we were SOOOO proud of her! It was fun!

Here she is getting ready for school.

Then, knowing that this whole post was about Lilly, I went to take a picture of Zac as he woke up. However, he WOULD NOT wake up, so I took this one.

Pretty cute, huh? He did eventually wake up and got going.

Big stuff coming up this weekend! Can't wait to blog about it!

My day with Shyla May!

It's not too late! Click HERE for my post where you can donate to American Cancer Society / Relay for Life :)

This morning, I get to spend time with my beautiful niece, Shyla!
This little girl is so precious, calm, and playful. I love her!

Meanwhile, we are all decorated and ready for St. Patrick's Day at the Yager home!
See:

That's right. We have a door hanging.

That's all.

Have you met my friend Natalie? Either via blog or through real life?

You really should.

Especially if you like holiday decorations.

Ahem, MORE decorations that throwing something up on the door. Check out her St. Patrick's Day decor. And, while you're at it, make sure to check her decorations out anytime there is a holiday coming up! Oh how I wish I had her sense of housekeeping/decorating. Ahhhh maybe in another life...

Happy Friday all!

Thankful Through Thursday...

Ok here's the deal. I'm trying to be more specific with my blog. Like blog about one specific outing or situation.
BUT... sometimes there are just a bunch of pictures I want to post.
SO... I'm gonna do a "Thankful Through Thursday" post weekly... meaning just a bunch of pictures I've liked from the week.
THEN... the rest of the week I can do more specific, focused blog posts, knowing that I can save my "just because" pictures till Thursday. Make sense?

Before we begin, don't worry! It is NOT too late to donate to the American Cancer Society to help me reach my goal before Relay For Life. Click HERE for that blog post! So far I have TWO wonderful donations, and I am 55% of the way to my goal! THANK YOU!!!

Ok, on to this week's "Thankful Through Thursday" post.

Last weekend, we went to the grocery store and got one of these fun carts. Even Zac wanted to sit in it, so I became "touristy" and took pictures. Yep, in the grocery store. Am I the only mom who does that?

I also told my mom that I'm concerned that I don't have enough pictures of Zac sucking his thumb. He is a THUMB SUCKER EXTRAORDINAIRE! So, my mom took one :)

Oh, and yes, he ALWAYS needs to have a blanket (or, in this case, hoodie) to hold with his thumb sucking. Always.

He is also getting SO good at using his own spoon or fork. So cute! Messy, but cute!

This is him pointing at his eye. He is learning about head, eyes, nose, and mouth at school these days.

In fact... this morning as I picked him out of his crib he pointed at MY eye (coming a little too close for comfort, in fact) and said, clear as day, "EYEEEZZZZZ."

He doesn't yet have many words. Some that sound like "mama" (or, frankly, could be "milk") and "dada" and a little bit like "more"... and now EYES!!!

I like this picture because it incorporates it all. Eyes, thumb, blanket... MY BOY!!

Ok onto Lilly!

Here she is being super silly with her pink bucket. I remember when she could fit her whole head in this bucket and it would fall over her eyes. Ahhhh...

One afternoon this week, we didn't have juice but we had oranges, so Jeremy showed Lilly how to make fresh juice. She LOVED it!

And, just being pretty in pink...
FLASHBACK TIME!

These pictures were taken in March 08 and March 09, consecutively. I like how in the 08 picture, Lilly is being bossy (some things never change, huh?) and in the 09 picture, sure enough, Zac is sucking his thumb. Lilly is probably saying something bossy too :)



Alright time to head into work. Thanks for reading!

Cancer ninja

What the heck does that title mean?

Next month, I am participating in "Relay For Life," an event that raises money for the American Cancer Society.

Our Rincon Vista team has decided that our slogan is "Laying our ninja moves on cancer."

The event consists of our team running on the Empire track overnight - there will always be at least one of us on the track.

Why?

Cancer never stops. So, for one night, we won't stop.

How can you help?? Funny you should ask! You can donate cash towards our goal.

How much?

Completely up to you.

How to donate?

Click HERE! Then go to "donate" and follow the instructions. Couldn't be easier.

The best part?

After donating, you can feel less guilty about doing this:

While I'm doing this:

Plus, I'm sure to "shout out" to you from my blog.
Does that help? Or hurt! ha ha!
So... give it some thought.


More birthdays = good.
Less cancer = good.
Me running = good.
You sleeping = good.


See?!? Nothin' to lose.

UPDATE!!! My first SHOUT OUT goes to... drum roll please... ELIZABETH RILEY!!! Thank you Elizabeth for your donation - it's my first!
I'll do a separate "shout out" post for future donations, but wanted to say THANK YOU to Elizabeth right now :)
Whoop!

Nothin' clever...

I have nothing clever or specific to write about today. Still, my kids are cute and it's been a week since I blogged. So here I sit...
It's been a week since I blogged for a couple reasons. One, I liked signing on to my blog and seeing our Ragnar pictures. Click here to see them again!
More, though, it has been a week since I blogged because we've been sick. Specifically, first Lilly was sick. Then Zac. Then Zac and Lilly. Then Zac was more sick than Lilly but I thought Lilly was more sick then Zac. Then me. Then Lilly, because she wants to be just like me. Now Jer.
Whew! What a week!
Let's slow it down a bit...
Sunday evening, after Ragnar, I noticed Lilly was coughing quite a bit. Interesting. We went to bed and she was up a bit of the night coughing. I promised myself I would give her her nebulizer in the morning.
Monday morning, I tried to get her up and she was a wreck - exhausted, fever, cough, the whole thing. Thankfully, my mom was able to take off work at the last minute, so I took Lilly to her and took Zac to school, and off I went to work.
That afternoon, I heard that Lilly was feeling better but when I picked up Zac I heard that he had been miserable all day! Sheesh!
Jeremy had Tuesday off, so I made appointments for the doctor for both kids. Jer took them and reported back - no ear infections, just bad colds. Keep doing what we're doing. Check.
Wednesday morning I had the kids loaded up in the car and Lilly was just miserable, so I decided to be a good mom/bad teacher and take the day off with her. Still took Zac to school so I could baby her all day. This is when we decided powdered sugar donuts really help.
Zac came home from school feeling fine - a runny nose and grumpy in the evening, but grumpy evenings are normal for him!
By Wednesday evening, Lilly was still miserable and coughing and fever... so I called in for Thursday.
Thursday was more of the same, for both kids.
Friday, I took Zac to school and Rob was able to stay with Lilly in the morning until Jeremy got home from work around noon.
I had doctor's appointments already scheduled for both kids for Friday afternoon - Lilly's was her 3 year well baby (do they still call it baby?) check up and Zac for his second dose of H1N1.
Come to find out, year 3 is where they start wearing paper "dresses" and stand up for height/weight... all the "big kid" stuff.

Zac liked that the drawers aren't child locked like at our house!

So, Lilly got checked out and is just great. 50% in height and weight, and developmentally doing awesome (ok, my words not his. But still. She's awesome).

Doc took one look at Zac and asked how he was doing (since seeing him on Tuesday... remember?)

I say "Oh great! He is so much better! Still a bit of a runny nose but otherwise, just fine."

Doc asks about fever or fussiness.

Nope, no fever. Only fussy before bed. Sleeping great.

Still, doc glances in his ears.

Double ear infection.

Here is the look of a boy who has a terrible mommy who thought he was better when really he was getting worse.

Soooo.... off to the pharmacy to get antibiotics.

Then... off to DQ of course to get ice cream. Didn't I mention blizzards and ice cream once being the cure all? Oh yes, here it is.

Side note - after dinner and ice cream we were playing for a bit. Zac walked away and I watched him disappear into the hall (the only open door was his room) and waited for a minute. Then, out he comes carrying his pajamas, brings them to me, and hugs me. As in, Ok mom, this is fun and all but please, would you mind helping me into these so I can go to bed?
Super cute!

Ok, moving right along... while I was out of the classroom this week, my students created this book cover for Love Of Reading week. They were supposed to pretend a book was being written about their class, and create the cover. I was happily surprised to see that they did it even though I wasn't there, and it turned out cute!

1000 Ways To Annoy Your Teacher

By: The 7th Grade Bozos.

I love that each kid is illustrated and identified by name.

I love that I am there, tied up and being carried away by a couple of kids.

I love that they called themselves Bozo's... which I may or may not call them in class. A lot.

I LOVE that they won the school Book Cover Contest. Yeah, I'm a little competitive.