Happy Weekend!
My nephew, Jake
My older sister, Lisa, had one very big, very emotional week! Her son, Jake, joined the Marines! I KNOW! He is now at Boot Camp and I cannot stop thinking about him!! I am praying that he has strength, endurance, energy, and that he does not miss us. 🙂
We are so so so proud of him!
This big guy was the WORST baby, let me tell you. There was a time when my mom and my sisters left him with me while they went on a Target run and he cried the ENTIRE TIME THEY WERE GONE. I had to undress him because he was all hot and bothered, and I could not comfort him no matter what I did. I told Lisa that I wouldn’t babysit him again until he was old enough for me to bribe him with ice cream or candy. #iwasafutureteacheratthetime
Speaking of ice cream, I took him to Cold Stone on one of his birthdays and guess what he ordered?
VANILLA.
And that’s all.
THAT’S ALL! Who goes to Cold Stone and orders vanilla?!
Jake. My nephew.
And now all I want to do is buy him all the vanilla ice cream in the world if it means he is safe and happy.
🙂
My niece, Ashley
And then, my niece, Ashley, graduated from Sonoma State University with a Computer Science degree last weekend! I must have called her a nerd about fifteen times or so throughout the weekend, but I meant it as a term of affection. From one nerd to another. 🙂 Her cap in the picture says 2018, but it’s some sort of computer science language that I am not fluent in.
It was such a fun weekend with my family celebrating this special girl of ours. Steve and I pretty much drove through the night to get up there at a decent time on Friday because everyone else got there Thursday. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) was hitting me big time! By the way, when I say Steve and I drove through the night, I mean Steve drove while I napped and read a book. Steve actually prefers this because then I am not talking, and he gets quiet time. 😉
Over the weekend, we visited Chateau Montelena winery (check out the movie Bottleshock to learn a little more!), went out to eat, slept, went out for breakfast, attended the graduation (which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL because Sonoma State University is absolutely BEAUTIFUL), hung out at the Jaded Toad (super cool outdoor restaurant which is set up to look like someone’s backyard), went out to eat again, and had a pretty late night chatting and having Chateau Montelena wine by the fireplace in the hotel. It was seriously a GOOD TIME filled with food, wine, and family.
We are all so proud of this girl! She carved a path for herself and did not let anyone deter her. She has already been on a job interview and we are praying she gets it because she will be close to home. 🙂 She is currently traveling in Europe for about a week or so! Every time I say a little prayer for God to keep her safe while she is there, I think to myself how is she in Europe all by herself without us or her parents? And then I remember she is practically almost an actual grown-up.
Steve and I took our time getting home and went to one of our favorite places for lunch . . . the 18th Green on Pebble Beach! The weather was amazing. And then we spent a night in Paso Robles before driving the rest of the way home.
It was like a little taste of summer . . .
COMING SOON!! 🙂
BRAND NEW SIT SPOTS!
As I’ve worked on closing out this year, I’ve simultaneously been preparing for next year. Yep. I’m one of those teachers. See? Nerd Alert.
I ordered more Sit Spots because holy cow, you’d think I taught in a barn on a farm where it rained every day, all day long, all year long because our Sit Spots ARE FILTHY! I’m talking DIIIIIIIRRRRRTTTTTYYYYYY.
And here’s the thing – you can WASH Sit Spots. IN THE WASHING MACHINE. And then YOU CAN PUT THEM IN THE DRYER. It’s like MAGIC.
BUT.
Call me crazy (I am – this has been determined on numerous occasions) but I love to give my kids their Sit Spot as a little departing gift. I just do. And they FREAK OUT and CHEER and cradle it and hug it and dance around. I’m sure when they bring it home, their parents do just the opposite and try to figure out the best time to throw the thing away without anyone noticing.
But I cannot help it. I just love saying Now will you all help me get the class ready for summer? Can you take your Sit Spot off the carpet for me? And then they do and then I say Guess what? KEEP IT.
It’s just a good feeling.
WELL!
I know Sit Spots can be expensive so I am GIVING AWAY A $75 GIFT CERTIFICATE over on my Facebook Page! Head over there for your chance to win it!!!
You can also read all about my love for Sit Spots {HERE}.
Look at my cute Mom!
We performed our play, The Three Nanny Goats Gruff, this week and since my dad is now retired, my parents came out to see it! I really meant to have a picture taken of the three of us, but since all the kids’ parents wanted to take pictures of their child with me, I completely forgot. I told my mom it was the Paparazzi. 🙂
I felt proud and super nervous that my own parents were in the audience! Ha! And even though they have backgrounds in theater, and pretty much either started or continued a drama ministry at almost every church they’ve attended, and even though they love to go to professional plays and musicals (and Steve and I get to go with them sometimes!), they were nothing but complimentary about my first graders. 🙂
My kids were SO EXCITED that they were there. It was like they were celebrities.
After the play, my mom read Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems and my kids ATE IT UP. My parents are amazing readers and use the best expressions and voices, so immediately after reading Knuffle Bunny, my kids asked her to read Knuffle Bunny Too! Ha! I would have loved for my dad to read, but he got shy all of a sudden. 😉
I also got to introduce my parents to several teachers and I was just so happy and proud for everyone to meet everyone.
It was a FANTASTIC day.
Plus, now I can cross the play off my End of the Year Never Ending To Do List.
And that’s just called ICING ON THE CAKE.
Wait. Did someone say Bundt Cake? 😉
{This is from last year!}
I will be finishing up my End of Year Slideshow this weekend. I have been super proud of myself the last couple of years because I have stayed on top of this! I’ve dropped pictures right into iMovie from each event (Solar Eclipse, Winter Party, 120th Day, etc) as soon as humanly possibly afterwards. WHICH MEANS . . . all I really need to do this weekend is add the music.
That sounds simple enough but I am here to tell you that I obsess over the music. It is awful. I drive myself up a wall and down the other and then I end up with the first song that I tried almost every single time. So if you’re the praying kind, please pray for my brain this weekend.
I blogged all about “my process” last summer and how I no longer burn DVDs. Nope. The future is here and I am living in it!
You can read all about it {HERE}. I’m going out on a limb and saying it’s super helpful because as I was re-reading it, I was like ohhhh, that’s right, that’s how I got the link . . .
If it helps me, surely it will help someone else!
As we come upon summer, some of you will pick up reading again. I read throughout the school year because I can’t help it. I MUST READ. I read Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell in the car last weekend and OH MY WORD.
I love this author.
But this book.
I want to recommend it and I also DON’T want to recommend it.
There’s a very dark undertone to it, and, at one point, sitting in the car, I gasped and turned off my Kindle.
I turned it back on, but that was my initial reaction.
It is a very good story. But the dark part . . . is just . . . I had a hard time sleeping that night because I could not stop thinking about the characters in this book.
I wish I could explain this!!! But I don’t want to give anything away.
Has anyone read this?! If so, I need to talk about it!!!!
It is eating me alive.
If you’re not sure about reading this book (seeing as how I haven’t really convinced anyone what with my wishy washy feelings), pick up any other Lisa Jewell book. I really like her! I would start with The House She Grew Up In. That’s a great one!
And there you go . . . my week!
I hope you have an awesome weekend!
Hi Kristen,
I use Sit Spots too. (I thinkI learned about them from you.) . I just tried to clean them up the last few years with a spray and a wipe. Totally forgot you could wash them in the dishwasher, so thanks for that reminder. I did just order new red ones to replace my yellow row. Yellow is just too challenging to keep clean.
I will pray for you as you deal with your music choices. Been there! Now I’m just sharing a Google photo album which is not really shared until the first week of vacay. Because it’s just too much!
Happy last week of school! (Or do you go longer?)