Spring Break...a week late

I had a pretty good week back at school. It wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. I like being with my teacher friends again and it gives me some time during the day to be a little selfish. The day goes by and coming home to Blake is the best! We have afternoon talks now instead of morning talks and our time together is even more precious than before...because there isn't as much of it. So to the mom's out there who are headed back to work soon, my diagnosis of the situation is that it's not as bad as you think it is going to be.

Needless to say, I did not come home from work and hop on the computer to blog. So here is the spring break post a week late.

Ryan and I both love to ski but we haven't been since we went with Minter Lane Church when we were engaged. So this year we talked about it a lot. We thought the chances of us going were slim because of the Blakester. But the week before spring break we finally decided to look into it. (Yes, it was a last minute decision) So we talked with my parents, checked out the ski report and took off to Red River. We drove to Abilene Monday evening to meet my parents and then we all got in the car and drove to Clovis. We spent the night there and got up early the next morning so we could make it in time to ski a half day. We skiied half day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and Thursday and drove nine hours home on Friday. My mom and dad took turns skiing and watching Blake so Ryan and I got to ski the whole time! They are the best!!

This is Blake watching Baby Einstein. Ignore my triple chin in the background.

Two in One Day!!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my new baby friend GRANT DYLAN BENNETT!!!

Congrats, Beau and Joni!!!

I have some great pics of Joni's belly two days before Grant's delivery...you will not believe how great she looks!

If you think Joni should start a blog leave her a comment on mine!

So much to blog so little time...

So I have about a million things to blog about today and my daughter is currently screaming her head off so I don't have much time. (I am not ignoring her to blog...Ryan has her.) So today I will choose to blog about going back to SCHOOL! Bleeeecckkkk!!!!!!!! (that is supposed to be a throw up sound, I can hear it in my head but it is hard to spell.)

Yes, today was my first day back. I cried a lot last night and the night before but I only cried a little this morning. Once I got to school everything was fine. The day went by pretty fast and my kids were nice to me. (That will probably change soon!) One of my classes even cheered when they realized I was back. So that made things a little easier. This week Ryan's mom is here to keep Blake. And she is doing a fabulous job, of course. So that make it easier too. I also teach with several super great moms who have recently come back to work after having babies and they help me to get up every morning because I know I am not the only one. I do, however, hate everyone who gets to stay at home. Just kidding...sort of. I know that it is hard either way (thanks, Heather) and that I am helping lots of kids by going back to teaching (thanks, Ryan). Plus, the end is in sight. One school day down, fifty to go.

UPCOMING POSTS:
Our spring break trip
Easter
And maybe that is all...I just thought I had a lot to blog about

Donkey Basketball

Last night I played in a donkey basketball game. If you have never played donkey basketball...let me give you a few of the rules:

1. You don't have to dribble the ball...thankfully.

2. You must hold on to your donkey at all times. If you let go and you have the ball then possession goes to the other team.

3. When you are passing the ball one person (either the passer or the person receiving the pass) must be on their donkey.

4. You must be on your donkey to score.

You should also know that these donkeys are crazy. Some don't move at all. Other buck you off as soon as you try to get on them. And a few will run like crazy when you put any weight on their back at all.

I played last year too. The circumstances of my two years of donkey basketball were completely different. Last year I was training for a half marathon. This year I had just had a baby. Oh, and I have walked with her three times now and done my work out tape 5 times. So, my endurance level changed a little from the first year to the second. Luckily, I only played one quarter, which I think lasted 8 minutes. Unluckily (is that a word?) my donkey would not move. I tried everything. Here are a few pictures to show my battle:

Preparing for the game. Somehow I ended up with the hugest egg helmet. Everyone else had cool riding helmets (well, as cool as helmets can be.) So I am easy to spot in all of the pictures.

Pulling the donkey. And being slightly successful. I think we made it up and down the court once during the eight minutes.Trying to bribe my donkey with an apple. I don't know where the apple came from but he seemed to enjoy it.

The apple, however, did not work.

Even though my donkey sucked my team won! Another successful donkey basketball game in the books.

Tagged by Sara

10 years ago...
I was a senior at Abilene High, go Eagles! I didn't have a boyfriend...not surprising if you read my post about eyebrows. Probably playing tennis way too much. Loving all of my friends. Thinking about college. Driving a white Beretta whose driver's side window did not roll down without making this aweful sound...so one time I actually reversed into Sonic so that my passenger (I believe it was MC) could order out of her window and I didn't have to roll mine down.

To Do List...
1. Get this house cleaned and organized before I go back to work. Only 2 more weeks :(
2. Finish the bathroom. Here's where we are now...
We have one side completely done. The other side still needs: a mirror, light fixture and working sink. Then all we have left is the wood work. Our deadline is Sunday the 23rd. That is when Ryan's mom will be here to stay with Blake for a week and then my mom comes the next week. Thanks moms!
3. Long term to do-Simplify my life. This is more complicated than it sounds. (Ha!)
4. Order knobs for bathroom
5. Pay the water bill.
6. Pay MORE hospital bills...will they ever stop coming?
7. Take a shower?
8. Decide what to have for dinner

If I became a billionaire I would
1. Pay off all debts...obviously
2. Give a lot of money away to friends, family, good causes, church, people who need it, etc.
3. Move
4. By a house in Ruidoso, Colorado and Vernazza Italy
5. Quit my job and Ryan and I would open a shop that sells outdoor stuff. I could go into more detail because we have talked about it several times but I am not a billionaire so I won't.
6. buy Ryan a Toyota Tacoma and a Jeep.
7. have land rover make me a hybrid LR3

3 bad habits...
1. Being selfish
2. Biting my nails
3. Interupting Ryan's stories

5 jobs I have had...
1. cashier at Joe Allen's
2. Waitress at Lytle Land and cattle co.
3. Tennis coach
4. Teacher
5. Mom

5 Things People don't know about me...
1. I am freakishly afraid of grasshoppers.
2. I don't like to cook. When I get hungry I want to eat right then. I don't want to wait on stuff to cook.
3. I am addicted to coke. Not cocaine...
4. I have wanted a great dane my whole life. When we go to the dog park I have thought about stealing the ones that are there.
5. My real bad habit is picking my nose in the car but I don't want people to think i am gross so I said biting my nails.

JBF

I went to the just between friends sale last night and got several super cute outfits for the Blakester but here are my three favorite purchases:


1. A jogging stroller $65 (pronounced with a soft j) so that I can go on walks with Blake. I might eventually using it for jogging but after my experience a few weeks ago walking sounds pretty good.

2. A super cute snow leopard rocking "horse" $12 that makes a sweet growl when you press the ear. Lola flipped when I brought it in and chased her with it while it was growling.

3. I couldn't get a picture because I am currently wearing it but I found a Snugli $8 that lets me wear Blake around the house so I can get stuff done. Thanks to the Snugli I am able to type this post!

So if you get a chance shop jbf because it is awesome!

Three road trips in a month...

Blake probably hates her car seat by now. We have traveled to Oklahoma, Abilene and Oklahoma again in the last month. She has done really well in the car. When we went to A-town it was just me and Blakester because Ryan was sick and she slept pretty much the whole way.


This past weekend we went to Nowata, Ok (yes, that is a real town) to celebrate Ryan's grandpa's 80th birthday.

We drove to Edmond on Friday and spent the night with his family (about 3 hours away) then we all drove up to Nowata on Saturday. So this made for a long car ride on Sunday from Nowata back to Fort Worth. Here is how the driving arrangement ended up when Blake decided she was starving to death.
Ryan and Lola in the front seat and Blake and I in the back.













I am still having a hard time seeing that Blake looks like me. Everyone says that she does. Every once in a while I see a face she makes and I think it looks like one of my baby pictures but other than that I just don't see it yet. Unfortunately for Blake, I do see one trait she inherited from me...eyebrows. The poor kid got my eyebrows. They have no shape and they never will. She is doomed to a life of plucking and plucking and some more plucking. For some reason, no one chose to inform me about how bad my eyebrows looked for a loooonnnggg time. I think I was a senior in high school before I started plucking. Seriously??? My eyebrows grow all the way to my eyelashes and then meet in the middle in a Bert (or is it Burt?) like fashion.

I have found a solution to plucking everyday, however. If you are in a hurry or just don't feel like plucking just stand about 3 feet further back from the mirror than you normally stand and poof! your stray eyebrows disappear! The other day I was driving to my school and I flipped down my car mirror to put on a little mascara and AAAHHHHH!!! it looked like my eyes had bangs! So, if you decide to go with the 3 foot rule avoid the car mirror in the natural light. Not pretty, my friends, not pretty.