Saturday Surprises

Once Zoe decided this morning that she was going to attend Devin & Dana's wedding with me, she was determined to get all "fancied up". Not only did I have to put her hair up & curl it, but she insisted on wearing the little crown comb that she wore when she was the flower girl in a wedding earlier this summer. It didn't end there though, she had to have lipstick, glitter gloss, etc. Needless to say, she looked very cute. Of course, I took some pictures. See what you think....

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. Dana & Devin are such a cute couple. Everything turned out perfect just like Dana was hoping. I must tell you that I have never heard such a wonderful voice sing at a wedding. The soloist, who I did not know, was amazing. In fact, I have got to find out from Dana about her. She sang two of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, "Feels Like Home" by Linda Ronstadt and "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris. I would definitely recommend both songs for a wedding. (Janelle, take note for when you get married!) FYI: I have loaded "Feels Like Home" on this website. Just scroll down to my Playlist, click on it, & enjoy!

After the wedding Zoe & I decided to surprise Brandy, our neighbor girl, who was home from college & working at a local restaurant/bar. She was very surprised to see us & Zoe was thrilled to see her. We talk to "Sissy" (that's what Zoe calls her) about 2 or 3 times a day, but it's just not the same as seeing her every day. We're thrilled she loves college & we hope to get up there one of these days to visit her.

Zoe got a surprise herself today. Her friend Kaidyn from pre-school called to see if Zoe could come to her house to play for a few hours &/or even spend the night. Well, Zoe was excited about the playing together, but she wanted no part of spending the night. No big deal. When I dropped Zoe off at Kaidyn's the two girls were playing house within a matter of seconds. I picked Zoe up about 3 hours later. She had a blast playing house, pageant, bathtime, etc.

When I was taking pictures yesterday of Zoe she had me take some of her & Maggie so here they are:

This cracks me up! I love how Zoe is being pulled off of her feet!

Oh, I want to share with you what I saw Friday on the Catholic Church marquee.............

God grades on the cross. Not on a curve.

You know, I've been going by this church's marquee for 9 years now. I have never once noticed how clever it is. I wonder if I've just not paid attention & haven't noticed or if there is someone new putting the message on the marquee. Huh......

It's Finally Friday....

This week went by soooo slow. I am looking forward to the weekend. However, I have a lot that needs my attention - laundry, housework, dishes, toilets, etc. Plus, I brought home about a 4 inch stack of papers that I need to grade. Thankfully there is no school on Monday so I could possibly get everything completed.

This evening I took Zoe to get fitted in her flower girl dress for the late September wedding she is in. The dress is absolutely gorgeous & looks fantastic on her. There are a couple of alterations that have to be done & then Zoe has to be fitted again. The ladies at the dress shop were laughing at Zoe because she kept twirling around with the dress on & she was really hesitant about taking it off. She thought she was going to get to wear it home.

Tomorrow Zoe & I are attending the wedding of a former co-worker. Then, we hope to have a quiet, peaceful, relaxing evening at home. (If there is such a thing!!!) Not too much on the agenda besides the usual chores. I do plan on getting some packages together for my neighborhood college kids.

Speaking of packages, Erin from The Preppy Pink Whale posted a wonderful shout out to my care package business, Packaged with Care, on August 26th. Pretty cool, huh?!

Our Little Gymnast....

Another day, another dollar. School was good today. A little odd, but good. I had one student transported to the ER because he was having a severe asthma attack & then another student ended up getting suspended for punching a classmate. It's unusual for two odd situations to happen in the same day. Needless to say, by the time I left school, I was starting to get a headache.

Zoe had her second day of pre-school today. When I picked her up she told me that she loved it. She was excited because had gotten to be snack helper. She made the cutest little spider out of construction paper. The entire way home she explained to me how she made it & told me that she would love to teach me how to make it. Perhaps this weekend she can do just that.

Gymnastics was great tonight. Right before Zoe's class started, in walked Miss Sarah Beth, Zoe's former teacher who we have not seen in several months. (In fact, I assumed she no longer worked there.) Zoe was so excited. Miss Sarah Beth was too. She was filling in for another teacher tonight so she was with Zoe's class the entire time. Once again, Zoe's class started out in the little gym & then moved to the big gym. I was very impressed with Zoe's performance. She is such a natural. I hope she continues to enjoy gymnastics/tumbling because she's so strong at it. I remembered the camera so here are a few pictures:

Before Class Started - In the Little Gym

Miss Emily Helping Zoe Strut Her Stuff!

Practicing Her Hand Stand!

Miss Sarah Beth & Zoe - What a Pair!

Tomorrow is a early out day for me - 11:30 AM. Sounds good, but I have to stay a full day for teacher meetings. I will then be rushing back to town to pick Zoe up from daycare& take her to get fitted for the wedding that she is in at the end of September. I'm looking forward to seeing how the dress looks on her because it is cream with chocolate trim. I'm guessing it's gonna look great with her gorgeous skin. We bought her new shoes tonight to wear with the dress. Nothing fancy, but she loves them & they are chocolate in color. Tried finding a cream color pair, but that was impossible. After the fitting we are then going to watch my nephew Blake's baseball game. He just happens to be playing in the same town where we have to go to the fitting so that works out very nice.

Before I sign off of here I want to share something I read on a Catholic Church's marquee today while I was driving home from work:

Don't stress. Even Moses was once a basket case!

I cracked up. Does anyone else think that is hilarious, or am I just dumb? (Okay, really, you don't have to answer that!) Have a fabulous Friday & a wonderful weekend!!

An Incentive is in Place.......

I received an e-mail from Tony, a high school classmate, saying that he wants to meet with me about organizing our 20 year class reunion for next summer. (The two of us were major organizers for our 10 year reunion.) What does that mean for me? Time to lose some weight!!!! I was talking to Scott, a co-worker, today about how the incentive to lose weight has now been put in place. He questioned why I would start dieting now when the reunion will be about a year away. I told him that it just might take me that long to get to where I would like to be. He agreed that I should approach the diet thing with a long-term goal in mind! (I guess after talking to me he did indeed realize it probably WILL take me that long to lose weight!!!!) Anyway, the incentive is there. I just have to get my butt in gear & GET 'ER DONE!

Zoe enjoyed another day of daycare. She is really getting to be friends with a little girl named Avery. Zoe has been talking about her non-stop. I knew who Avery was, but wasn't sure if she & Zoe would be in the same class in school. Sure enough - they will both be starting kindergarten next school year. Another friend to add to her list....Tomorrow evening Zoe has gymnastics. This time I get to go along. I plan on taking the camera to get some updated pictures. Of course, I will post any pictures that I get. (Gives you something to look forward to!)

Finally, a Night at Home!

How wonderful it was to actually have a home-cooked meal that we all ate together! No one had meetings tonight so it's been nice catching up with each other & enjoying each other's company. Last night both Paul & I each had meetings. Paul had village board & I had open house at school. Neither one of us got home real late, but late enough that it seemed we said hi, gave Zoe a bath, & then did the nightly chores (letting Zoe pick her clothes out for the next day, setting the dishwasher on delay so it would run in the middle of the night, etc.) before heading to bed. Sometimes I feel that I'm a robot - about the time I'm ready to sit down & relax it's time to go to bed so I can get up the next morning & do the same thing over & over. Do you ever feel like that?

Yesterday I took half a sick day because Zoe had a dentist appointment to get two cavities filled. Paul was supposed to take her but he had to make arrangements with a family so it was left to me to go or reschedule for the FOURTH time. After discussing it, Paul & I decided I better just go ahead & take her. I was very proud of Zoe as was Dr. Kevin. She did wonderful. (Good thing because she has to have one more cavity filled in a couple of weeks. However, it might not be as easy next time because Dr. Kevin might have to numb the area with a shot because of where the cavity is.) I questioned Dr. Kevin about Zoe's teeth because the next filling will equal a total of 4 in her mouth. I was worried that we were not doing everything we should - we brush, floss (Zoe's favorite - Can you imagine?!), & swish with anticavity fluoride rinse. He explained to me that he thinks our approach with her teeth is great; she might just be prone to cavities because of not having fluoride nor vitamins her first 15 months while living in the Chinese orphanage. His suggestion is that when her permanent teeth starting coming in we have sealants put in one by one instead of waiting for all of them to come in.

Today was Zoe's first day of four-year old pre-school. When I picked her up she told me that she had a good day. She was very excited about reuniting with some of her friends, but also about making new friends. I didn't get to take her this morning, but Paul said that she looked so grown up partly because she had her backpack over her shoulders just like a little school girl. Makes me smile, but also kind of makes me sad. My little girl is growing up too fast. It seems like yesterday we received our referral from the FedEx driver & looked at her picture for the very first time. I must admit, it WAS love at first site.

I'm getting too old for this!!!

Well, last night a group of us went to see the Boss himself. The concert was supposed to start at 7:30 PM but actually started about 8:45 PM. Once he started playing, he didn't stop. The show, which ended up about 12:15 AM, was pretty good. I wish he would have played more of his own songs, but hey....it's his show. Since we had a suite which featured a fridge, ice maker, & our own bathroom it made the show even that much better. None of us had to leave the suite to get something to eat, drink, etc. A suite is the way to go. Glad that I have a contact now to reserve one for concerts, sporting events, etc. It's like the best kept secret!!

After leaving the concert we all headed to a local bar. I was the DD so I was wide awake from all of the Pepsi & Mt. Dew that I had taken in all night. We played some music on the jukebox, played pool, danced, sang, & visited with each other. Before we knew it, the clock said 3 AM which meant it was time to go home. Overall, the night was a good time. It was fun being together as a group & enjoying each other's company with good music in the background. However, getting to bed at 4 AM! This is the second weekend in a row that I have been out late. I'm too old for this. I can't handle it like I used to during college!

When I arrived to pick Zoe up at my parents' house this morning she was busy playing with two of her cousins, Bethanie & Megan. She had a great time at her Nana & Paw Paw's. She is so lucky to have grandparents, aunts, uncles, & cousins that love her & shower her with attention.

Not too much else happened today, just the usual - laundry, picking up, dishes, etc. The everyday household chores! Paul did mention something about getting a cleaning lady since I'm back to school. I'm not sure if he meant it or was just saying it out loud unsure of himself. Either way, I am all for it. So, I will just let the idea ride out for a few days & then bring it up again later in the week. What do ya think? Will he say he meant it or not?

Our Little Artist

I actually got home last night from my meeting before Paul & Zoe did from gymnastics. When I asked Zoe how class was she replied that it was terrific. I was thrilled & a little surprised because Paul called me right after the class started & told me that they were starting out in the little gym, but then going to move to the big gym. (That's what Zoe had such a problem with this summer.) Anyway, Paul called me again later & told me that Zoe was doing wonderful & that she was having a great time. So, all is well. And, she told me that she can't wait to go again next week so she can see her new teacher, Miss Emily!!!!

Apparently after gymnastics Paul needed (????) to do a few errands. I'm not so sure going to the Golf Store is really a need, but they went anyway. From there they went to one of our entire family's favorite places - Borders. Paul ended up buying Zoe an art set that teaches one how to draw the Disney Princesses. By the time they got home last night it was too late for Zoe to start on them so as soon as she walked in the door from daycare today she went right to the dining room table & got down to business. I must admit that she's pretty talented for a 4 year old. Heck, she's more artistically talented than me. Anyway, she brought these to me a little while ago & I was so impressed that I had to share.

Snow White

Cinderella

Ariel

Jasmine

Tinkerbell

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Belle

Pretty darn good, huh?! I was quite impressed! So was her daddy. In fact, he thought she did so well that he asked her to teach him how to draw the Princesses. So, here's a couple of pictures of the two of them working at the table. He's being a great student while Zoe instructs him. I asked her if she would like to be a teacher like mommy & she replied - "No, I'm gonna be a cheerleader!" (Sorry, Janelle, you're gonna have to do a little more convincing it seems.)

Working hard at learning how to draw the Princesses.

Taking time our for smiles!

After drawing all of the princesses, Zoe had to get one of her Princess costumes on. She came out of her room announcing that our little princess had arrived.

She melts hearts!

Zoe had a good day at daycare. However, when I picked her up several of the teachers were laughing because her little jean skort was falling down. Every time she would run on the playground, she would have to hold up her skort. (Reminds me of some of my students, but they wear there trousers like that on purpose.) Come to find out her dad had not adjusted the waist in her skort. Imagine that. So, the poor girl went all day having to hold up her skort. And to top it all off, she accidentally spilled grape juice on her shirt at morning snack. Not just a little either - all over the front. With all that has been going on this week, we forgot to pack a bag with an extra change of clothes in it to keep in her cubby just in case she ever has an accident. So, I guess you could say that is my fault. I promised Zoe that Mommy & Daddy would get it together this next week & be a little more organized. (She didn't seem to mind either way.)

Tomorrow Paul & I are headed to the Springsteen concert with friends. Zoe's anxious to get to Nana & Paw Paw's for the night. Her cousin Caleb has a football game so she might get to watch that. I'm not sure what my parents have planned for the night, but she will have a blast & enjoy every one's company.