THEY CAME!!!

Yes. THEY CAME!!! Our Price is Right tshirts came!!! In case you missed my "most exciting post ever" or just want to relive the memories, you can do that here. And once again, pause for dramatic effect as I bestow upon you the tshirts we shall be wearing as we grace the Price is Right with our presence...

Side note: I was watching the Price is Right one day this past week (I DVR it, then watch it after work while exercising in my living room, it's really quite perfect)......... alright what was I saying?? So I'm watching the Price is Right and Drew tells some contestant, "Whatever game you put on your shirt, you never get to play, so you should put a game on your shirt you hate."  Well, clearly Drew does not frequent my blog or he would have gotten this information to me much sooner, but alas, there is also no Price is Right game I hate!  T-minus 2 weeks until the big day!!

Happy weekend! xoxo

Throwback Thursday: Halloween Edition

Last night, I had a mini anxiety attack thinking about Halloween and having NO IDEA what I want to be. In unrelated news, the other day I tried to tell Erik with a straight face, "I'm not one for the dramatics." 

Anyways. Back to the facts. I loooooooove Halloween. I love anything with a theme and Halloween is the ultimate theme-party. I especially love making my own costumes (one, because it's more fun and two, because buying a Halloween costume is ridiculously expensive!) So I thought I'd celebrate Throwback Thursday by sharing some of my favorite homemade Halloween costumes.  

Halloween 2009: The Year of the Crayola Crayons!

We literally started making these costumes about 4 hours before we went to one of our friend's Halloween parties. (Helllllllllllllllo, college procrastination!)

This was also the first Halloween Erik & I celebrated together.  But alas, he was not a crayon.

Yes, you got that right, he is God's Gift to Women.

Then there was the Rock, Paper, Scissors of Halloween 2011.

A little annoying to maneuver in, but oh so worth it.

Kobe wanted to get in on the Halloween action too.

Only 63 days to decide what to be this year! (Well, 62, since I'm not trying to channel my procrastinatin' college self.)

An Italian & Mexican Weekend

Our weekend started a little Italian, went a little Mexican, and finished a lot Italian. So, in a sentence, it was perfect. 

And by started a little Italian, I mean a little Italian.  Maybe doesn't even count as Italian, but we're goin' for it. Drumrole please... We ordered from Dominos! Erik & I were both pretty tired and didn't feel like going anywhere (or cooking). So Dominos it was! 

And how can you not love Pete the Pizzamaker?!

On Thursday, I had found out I won 2 tickets to a Salsa & Tequila Challenge here in Tucson, so of course, all that was on my mind the next 2 days were margs & tacos, and the event did not disappoint!! However, I was disappointed in the lack of photos I took. (Side note: I won the tickets by entering a contest for best margarita or salsa recipe... you can find my "Oh My Guac! It's a Margarita!" drank and lots of other yummy concoctions here.) 

Here Erik & I are on the way to the competition...

I clearly had big plans to document this event, but now I must resort to stealing a photo from a friend from work who also joined us, because in the end, I completely failed on the photo front.

Sunday nights I try to make a "family dinner" which always seems to be Italian, because that reminds me the most of family.  (And I pretty much don't cook pasta on any other night--Italians everywhere, including my mother, are disowning me).  But this Sunday we tried a new recipe and it was grand! I used this recipe I found on Pinterest, but rolled up the sausage & ricotta in lasagna noodles, instead doing stuffed shells and just about tripled the amount of garlic. Oh & I omitted the mushrooms (because someone in this house haaaaates mushrooms).

Pre-Oven

Post-Oven

Hope your week so far has been just as happy as our bellies were this weekend!

Catchin' Up With Kindergarten

Well. Well. Well. I survived my first 3 weeks in kindergarten of the 2013-14 school year (and so did my kids) so to celebrate, I thought I'd share 3 projects we've done so far this year!

The first project was actually a homework assignment (I know, what a mean teacher, assigning homework the first week of school).  The kids had to find letters in magazines, newspapers, etc. and create their names.  I think they came out so cute & were all so unique!

Within the first week of school, I also introduced my kids to Pete the Cat.  And if you don't know Pete, you need to get to know him.  He is awesome... he sings, he's silly, and has a fantabulous message, "it's alllllll good." 

Bonus! His stories are simple and there's a lot of repetition, so after kids hear the story a few times (and before they can actually read) they can pick up the book and "read" the pictures, which makes them (and me) so happy.

I bestow upon you our Pete the Cats!

"I'm love my red shoes, I love my red shoes."

And finally, the first science subject we cover in kindergarten is Our 5 Senses.  And what better person is there to teach you about the 5 senses than Mr. Potato Head?!

Happy Saturday!

One Day

Today on my way home from work I saw a guy, on a bike, stopped at a red light... and he was just smiling & head boppin. It was such a great reminder of how much better it is to be nice and happy and positive.  And when you're those things, you're sending out good vibes, which takes way less energy & makes you feel a lot better than being negative. 

Before I got home from work today, I stopped at Target and the grocery store, and made an extra effort to say more than just hello to the cashiers... I asked how their day was, smiled, and said thank you.  And although I know it was a teeny tiny gesture on the grand scale of things, it made me feel good.  And if you're nice to enough people, it's bound to have the ripple effect eventually, right?!

So come on everybody, put a little pep in your step, if for nothing else than it's the freakin' weekend!

My Love

I think it's a little obnoxious when people who are dating announce how long they've been dating. Every. Month. (i.e. logging on to Twitter and seeing "Happy 13 Months!!!! xoxoxoxoxo @loveofmylife").  Apologies if that's you, and I congratulate you on your relationship, and maybe just MAYBE I'm a wee bit jealous you can keep such good track of dates and such. Erik and I don't even know the exact date we started "officially dating" but we knew it was in mid-August and we like the number 8, so August 18th it was! But if you're more like me, sorry in advance for the sappiness of all this...

This past Sunday, I looked at my phone at about 5PM and noticed the date. Wait! August 18! I walked out to the kitchen, where Erik was doing some work (so imagine he's sitting at a computer, staring hard at charts and graphs) and I said, "it's happening, it's today."  Yes. I know, I have such a way with words. Please. Just do me a favor, and give me credit if you ever steal that line and use it on your sig other.  Erik pretty much ignores me because he thinks I'm being a crazy person (and I do things like this often, where I say things that ONLY make complete sense to me).

I notice this, so I get really close to him and jump up and down and yell, "it's our 4 year anniversary! happy 4 year anniversary!"  And he stops what he's doing, and looks at me like I'm a completely sane person, and says, "I love you so much."  No, we didn't celebrate our anniversary or get each other gifts. That moment right there, was all I needed. 

Come On Down!!!

This may be a boring post for some all, but it is by far my most exciting post to date. (pause for dramatic effect)

Next month,

I'm going to a taping of the Price is Right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's basically been my lifelong dream to be on the Price is Right.  And by basically, I mean totally, 100% essentially, definitely has been my lifelong dream to be in Contestant's Row and to spin the Big Wheel.  

When I was little, my mom & I would play the Price is Right in the living room.  I would always be the contestant closest to actual retail price (obviously), run to the kitchen, and play Pathfinder, where I would move from tile to tile pretending there were numbers lighting up under my feet.

Okay. Dyyyyyying of excitement right now that soon I'll be there IN. REAL. LIFE. Already have tshirts in the works (more on that later).  

Thank you for enduring my Plinko dreams.

CHEERS!

Back To School!

Oh, hi. Remember I posted my "work in progress" classroom and then fell off the face of the Earth?  I had big plans, not only for my classroom, but for documenting it's progress.  But alas, everyday I would come home with no pictures, because I never quite finished one area of my classroom before moving on to start another.  So it wasn't done, until it was ALL DONE. (Totally random, but relatable, I'm watching Family Feud right now and the category is "jobs that stink" and the girl buzzes in, "Teacher!" By the way, that answer wasn't on the board. Yay.)

Remember this?

Here is the same view now! (Ignore the paper all over the desks I was too lazy to move...)

& some close-ups...

 Carpet/calendar/morning meeting/storytime corner

Word Wall 

Calendar board 

 Behavior Chart

 Gotta love a montage ;)

PS. Clearly, it looks like my classroom theme is birds (and it kinda is I guess) but I just want to throw out there that I haaaaaate am deathly afraid of birds.  Fun fact-in our old apartment, Erik opened our back patio door and a pigeon flew right in.  I hid in the kitchen screaming for a while until I felt safe enough to run into the bathroom and lock myself in there (because birds know how to unlock doors??) I was convinced our neighbors probably thought I had been murdered that night. 

But instead of my awkward bird story, I'll leave you with this.  My kiddos from last year doing something cute.