She could see no good reason to act her age

When I came to Utah in 1992 to attend university, I'd never heard of an inversion. I don't think Southern Alberta has "bad air days". I distinctly remember the first time I saw an inversion over the valley. I was walking to Subway from my dorms on 900E in Provo and I noticed this weird cloud rolling in over the valley. I asked my friend from Utah about it and he said, "Oh, that's the inversion." I remember thinking it looked really ominous, like a fog that was going to turn your skin inside out. Since I was 18 and experiencing complete freedom for the first time, that's about as far as my thinking went. Yesterday while driving home from Salt Lake, the inversion was bad, like equivalent to smoking a pack of smokes a day bad. Ryan and Hanna have both had hacking coughs and I've felt like poo for a few days. I started to wonder if it could be linked to the inversion/poor air quality? Friday at school, kids with breathing troubles were told to stay inside during recesses. If I think about it too much I get a little freaked out. Maybe next time you see me in the winter I'll be wearing a gas mask, while huddled in my basement panic room.
Mmm...soupy

Her gigantic brain will rule us
I was reading Mimismartypants.com the other day and once again marveled at her daughter's extremely huge brain. Remember, Nora is in first grade.
Nora: Look at this string! It’s from my sock.
Me: Okay.
Nora: It’s like a memory. A memory of my sock!
Me: Mmmm.
Nora: And if I hold it like this [holds string horizontally] it’s like past and future. Okay, listen. Say today is to your left, okay? And to your right, is [spooky voice] 100 MILLION YEARS AGO. Everything’s fine, though. But watch! [Tilts string diagonally to the right] OH NO! THE ECONOMY OF THE WORLD IS RUINED!
Me: [speechless]
Nora: [mostly to herself, more spooky voice] Which way should I tilt it? WHICH…WAY…? The Earth is spinning around and [tilt] OH NO NOT AGAIN! NO MORE ECONOMY! [pause] Anyway. Say goodbye to the memory string! [goes to throw it in the garbage]
Me: [more boggling, more speechlessness]

Now, Nora is exceptionally gifted and attends a special school in Chicago for gifted students but I had to laugh after reading this because I compared it to the conversation I heard my first graders having at the carpet on Friday.
Kids: [while poking each other] You have the cheesetouch*! No! Now you have the cheesetouch! You have the cheesetouch!
Me: Okay, remember no cheesetouch inside the classroom. Save the cheesetouch for outside.
Man, I love my class! For reals.

Why is it always about you?
I'm turning 37 in a few days and I'm feeling pretty "meh" about it. No one likes getting older but there isn't anything you can do about it. Let's focus on the positive.
Things I Can Do at 37
1. My hair dries really fast. I was going to time it the other morning but I think I can dry my hair in about 3 minutes. Beat that!
2. I can finish an hour long cycle class without puking or passing out and I can run a few miles.
3. I don't have to color my hair due to gray, yet.
4. I can do more man style push-ups than my 11 year old daughter.
5. I earn enough money that I could support my family if something happened to Ryan or I found a better option. ;)
6. I can go to Mexico with my husband who is turning 40.
7. I don't have the cheesetouch!

Gym grumps
I'm kind of a gym grump. I like my cycle class and the people in it. I feel like the regulars have kind of a community feel going and they might even talk me into attending the monthly 3 hour class. The rest of the classes, I go to with the mindset to workout and get out. I don't want to converse with anyone, interact with anyone or have anyone in my personal space. Yep, I'm that sweet soul at the gym who glares at you when you put your step too close to mine. Oh and don't even get me started on newbies who take the last bike or my spot under the ceiling fan. Don't you know that's my spot! Yet, I love the gym. It's weird eh? I like having an instructor yell and me to "go faster" or tell me I'm doing something wrong, "step wider!"Maybe I'm an exercise sadist? I checked my running stats for 2010 and I ran 372 miles. That's 40 less than last year but I went to gym classes more this year. I ran an average of 8 miles a week which I'm honestly good with. I also ran faster this year than in 2009 and shaved my time/mile off by 33 seconds. This year my goal is to run 500 miles. That's the only thing close to a resolution I'm making.
Just like the pioneers
The family got a new sewing machine for Christmas and Grace has been really gung-ho about sewing things. Santa brought her a kit to make a doll with clothes and, with the help of Ryan, she finished it this week. I'm glad I married someone who can do things like sew because I HATE the tedium of it. I flashback to many a jr. high home ec classes where Mrs. Haynes was mad at me because I had to, yet again, unpick a seam because I had done it wrong. She scared me.


*I had to ask Hanna what the "cheesetouch" was and it's is from the book "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." There was a moldy piece of cheese on the playground and the kids would touch it, then touch another kid saying "They had the cheesetouch!"

You, sir, are a Moron! A Mormon? But I'm from Earth!

Every few months I get a bee in my bonnet to cut my hair off. I have to resist this temptation because I don't think I really want short hair again. I'm liking being able to curl my hair since it took me long enough to learn how to do it. I'm a short hair girl at heart but I think I have the face of a bob. Ryan likes my hair in a bob. He wants me to look like I did when we met 17 years ago. I don't know why because I was growing out my summer job sun bleaching with sweet dark roots. Not one of my better hair phases.

Aren't these adorable? It helps that they are gorgeous and 15 years younger than me.


On Friday we had our annual Polar Express Day in first grade. We go all out for this, hiring a "real" Santa and making a lighted train of chairs in they gym. They get hot chocolate and cookies to eat while a "conductor" reads the story to them. Everyone wears their pajamas of course. In the afternoon we watch The Polar Express and eat popcorn. Fun times!

Here is the team, minus Shari. I bought sock monkey pajamas and slippers.

It's such a fun day that one of my students fell asleep during the movie.

Last night I was laying in bed because I couldn't sleep (for about 10 seconds. HAHA! Ryan) and I came up with something really funny to blog about but of course I forgot it. Maybe while I'm writing it will come back to me. Yesterday we went to an hour of church, which I believe is all anyone should have to go to church but I digress, and then we headed to SLC for some family fun. It has been unseasonably warm in Utah so we went down to The Gateway to do some window shopping. I went into Abercrombie and Fitch because I had a return. I'm obviously getting old because I feel that the music level in there is beyond ridiculous. I am not kidding you when I say I could not hear what the person helping me was saying. I just nodded when his lips moved. I couldn't stay in that store for more than a minute let alone work there. Those poor kids should check with OSHA because I'm pretty sure those can't be legal working conditions. Hearing loss, here you come!
We then went to eat at Este Pizza which Ryan had heard was good. I got a free coupon book for free from a school fundraiser and I've decided that we are going to use the crap out of it. It had a coupon for Este so that worked out well. We were all pretty hungry but I have to tell you, Ryan and I agree that this is one of the best pizza's we've ever had. It's New York style (my fave) and even Ryan who likes Chicago deep dish was loving this pizza. I was in some kind of pizza haze after and hours later at home, Ryan turned to me and said, "That was really good pizza." So give it a try and support a local business. We had the Italian Flag but they all looked good.
Temple Square was next on our agenda to check out the lights. We were pretty early and it was still light so we went into the visitor's center to keep warm. We were sitting down talking when a couple of sister missionaries came up to us. This is where it gets kind of weird. I think at first they were trying to give us "The Message" about the church. So I started to make comments like, "We met at BYU." in hopes that they would realize we were already familiar with their message and they didn't need to keep giving us the hard sell. They kept going regardless and then I started to realize that they must have some sort of quota of people they need to talk to each day and I relaxed a little. They were very nice and one was Chinese so I asked her questions about that since our neighbors are Chinese. She then asked if I wanted her to call our neighbors and talk to them about the church. I told her I was pretty sure they had been talked to and I don't know how she would call them since I don't even know their names. Anyway, this seemed much more comical while it was happening but basically, at first, they were trying to convert us to our own religion.

The first picture made me laugh because you can see the Hot Tamale Hanna is eating. She had to buy these at the pizza place after we ate. She loves the candy.



My NikeMini on the right side has been mocking me as of late. I'm taking a bit of a break from running. I try to do it once a week but I've been utilizing my rec center for classes more. I figure since I'm paying for it, I should use it. So now I do about 4 classes a week there which include two weight lifting classes. Already I've noticed a difference in how I feel and look. Cardio doesn't do it all, especially as I get older. Plus weights are good for your bones. So this is my plug for weight lifting. Do it! I'll leave you with my spin instructors eating motto for the holidays; "Christmas is just one, maybe two days." I wonder if I could eat an entire jar of Costco macadamia nut clusters in one day?

You'd better have some Valium to give that cat.

I get church emails from time to time and this was came the other day.

Mrs. Catlady is needing someone to take a cat to her sisters for her. Her
sister lives in Manhattan Beach, California. If anyone is traveling thay way
for the Holidays, and would be willing you can call Mrs. Catlady at 555-5555.
Mrs. Catlady also said she would pay 50 dollars after the cat was delievered.
Thanks

I left the spelling mistakes in on purpose. There are so many things about this email that crack me up. I also have many questions. Why does the cat need to go to Manhattan Beach? Is it just visiting or permanently relocating? Is the cat alive or dead? What's the cats name? I like how you don't get your money until the cat is delivered. You know, just in case you are tempted to keep the cat. I've traveled with a cat before. When we were going to school in Laramie, we had to take our cat Simon with us whenever we traveled for an extended time because we had no one to watch her. One such trip to Ryan's parents house resulted in a chipped tooth for Ryan. The cat was making such a horrible noise that he pulled off the road, slammed on the breaks and, I thought, was getting the cat to throw it out into the Wyoming desert. He clenched his teeth so hard, one chipped. This was when the cat was drugged! Yes, we got medicine from the vet to drug our cat on car trips because if it wasn't, the noise it made was unbearable. So yeah, I don't think I'll be taking $50 to transport someones random, maybe rotting, cat to California.

The stuff legends are made of
This week was not one of my best. I got sick Sunday morning with a sore throat and all my positive health thoughts did not work because I ended up being sick the rest of the week. One of the worst things about teaching is how difficult it is to take a sick day. I have to find a sub and write sub plans. Sadly, it is easier to go into work sick and try to keep contact with your students to a minimum. I've yet to be so sick that I can't make it into work. Which in my mind would involve copious amounts of puke and or uncontrollable coughing/fever. So yeah, the week just seemed long and tiring but manageable until Thursday when I was hit with 2 (almost three if you count one of the other teachers dry heaving in the hall) types of bodily fluid. I wasn't actually hit with them but I was within hitting range. I didn't really get grossed out and it helped that my sense of smell seemed to be damaged by my cold. I guess it's pretty rare to have both a #1 and #2 accident in one day so I'm hoping that I'll be the thing of legend soon. "I heard, Mrs. Van Fleet had two accidents in one day in 2010! Can you believe that?" It's all part of teaching first grade and honestly, I almost started crying because my two students looked so sad. The only thing I was really worried about was my room being forever tainted but the custodial staff and my fellow teachers did a great job of cleaning/freshening my room. All is well again in room 111.

Insight
Ryan uploaded some photos from the girl's cameras into iPhoto the other day. When I was looking through I found some quite interesting.

I just liked this photo of Hanna. It was from the summer of 2009 when we went on the Heber Creeper with Nana.

You knew there would be photos of the cat right? Looks like Lucy was playing some "Sing It" and fell asleep.

This photo made me laugh. Something about Lucy's expression. Like she is thinking, "Yeah, that's right. I'm wearing a dress. Humiliating isn't it?"

Hanna is kind of an animal whisperer. I liked this photo of her with Melly.

I'm guessing the girls put Grandpa up to this when he was cutting up fruit one morning, or my dad is a knife wielding psycho.

"I know she's kind of socially retarded and weird, but she's my friend... so, just promise me you won't make fun of her!"

I'm really starting to like my second year of teaching. I'm not saying there aren't days that end with a wicked headache because I've just had the 100th kid say, "teacher!" but mostly it's going well. My class this year is funny. They crack me up and I totally appreciate that. I can handle a kid misbehaving if he/she is funny while doing it. The first week of school we had a fire drill and one of my boys reminded me that not everyone got out of the room. When I asked him what he meant, he said the parrot didn't get out. He was talking about our stuffed parrot we have in our fake tree. I said something like, "Oh the poor parrot. Maybe the firemen will get him out." This boy then said in an overly dramatic voice, "WON'T SOMEBODY THINK ABOUT THE PARROT?!" He thought he was pretty funny and you know what? He was. I'm also really excited about the music program our first grade team started. We are going to have music every other Friday (they also get it once a week with the music teacher) as an entire grade. We did it for the first time on Friday and it went really well. Shari is a natural and I could tell the kids loved it. I think the arts in school is so important but it's hard to fit it in when you are also trying to get through all the curriculum.

Our own little junior executive
My own kids have been pretty entertaining also. Hanna called a family meeting last week to which she brought a binder filled with an agenda. She wanted to talk about an allowance increase because she takes care of the cat, taking cheer leading lessons (ugh) without Grace and starting up our daddy-daughter/mommy-daughter dates again. She had each tabbed off with points written down. When we responded to her, she'd write down what we said. Whose child is this? She also went to her first real party this weekend. A girl in her class had a back to school party with a DJ. This place is a lot different than Santaquin. I took secret joy in telling her to "remember who she is and where she came from." I also added "no making out with boys, no drugs and no alcohol." Her response was a disgusted "MOM! Stop it! There aren't going to be boys there!" I got Grace her first little sports bra/cami thing this week because she told me, "all her friends have them." Really, why should I care? She isn't asking to go on the pill or get her tongue pierced. I know I need to let them have control over the little things. See, I'm growing. It's just hard to see them growing up. It's fun in some ways but sad in others.

"Why are you dressed so scary?" "It's Halloween."
I don't think it's any secret that I'm not a big fan of Halloween. I don't like spending money on something that will be worn for one day. When the kids were younger, I borrowed a lot of costumes or bought them 70% off the day after Halloween or told them to go down to the dress-up clothes and find something they wanted to wear. As they got older, this got a little more difficult because they didn't want to be a Disney Princess for the third year in a row. I still haven't spent that much on costumes because I'm savvy like that. Now, to add to the misery, I have to come up with a costume each year. Last year I wore a costume that I'd actually borrowed for Hanna a couple of years earlier but I didn't really love it and don't want to wear it again. So this year, we all had to get new costumes. I think most of the first grade team has decided to be fairies of some sort because we can make our own skirts together. When I was out buying my wings, I found some really cute monarch butterfly wings for Grace and our costumes are now mostly taken care of. I took Hanna out yesterday to look before things get really picked over and she picked this out

I like it. It's really hard to fine Halloween costumes for a tween that aren't totally hootchie mama. Apparently society has embraced this. It reminds me of the line in "Mean Girls" where Caty says, "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." I'm not cool with this. Hanna wanted to be a witch and I thought this costume was good at covering everything but also looked appropriate for a 6th grade girl.
*This was my first choice for a costume but I worry it would scare my class and I know Ryan would have nightmares.


Daddy's girl
My parents came to visit over Labour Day weekend and we had a really good time. Lot's of Mexican food was consumed and the girls got a nice fill of grandparent time. We had two rocking chairs out on our front porch. One was given to me by Karen a few years ago and I painted it black. It was the comfortable one that Ryan and I always fought over. The other chair was a new one I'd bought at Walmart was about as comfortable as two boards nailed together at a 90 degree angle. We did a lot of porch sitting when my parents were here because the weather was so nice. I got a phone call from my Dad after they got home and he told me he'd buy me some new chairs for our front porch. Comfort was obviously #1 but I also wanted them to look nice. I found these at Lowes and I'm loving them. Karen said I was spoiled and I'm okay with that.

Due to education cutbacks, the following presidents will not be taught: Buchanan, Pierce, Carter, Bush, Bush...

It's that time of year! The time the kids go back to school and I go back to work. What a double rainbow summer it has been. The kids are at a great age where they can play independently but are also fun to do things with. I think summers are just going to continue to get better. I have to say, summers off a DA BOMB! I love my job! I met most of my new students tonight at Back-to-School Night and things are looking good. Some of them are so small, I can hardly believe they are old enough to be in school. I've been working a lot at school, getting my room ready and I'm thinking it looks pretty good. I'm feeling a lot better this time than I was a year ago. I'm glad I have a year of experience which I hope will make this year a bit easier.

I copied Mary and made magnets for my students. We'll use them in a variety of ways in class and then they take them home at the end of the year. This is as crafty as I get.

My room. I really like decorating/setting up my room. I told Ryan I should do this for a living.




Practicing for my annual beginning of the year photo. Note the shoes. These will only be seen at school on back to school night for 2 hours. My feet were KILLING me.


Evie
Friday is Evie's 4th birthday. I recently had a friend whose brother went through something very similar to what we did with Evie. I'm glad I was able to help in some small way. It's brought up a lot of memories, things I haven't thought about in a long time but as time passes the pain lessons. Still, I found myself crying in the car the other day. I still have moments like that but they don't come that often and they seem to pass quickly. The grief is a part of me that will always be there. I'm never going to be "over it" but I've accepted it as part of who I am. Recently I had a situation where I was told I didn't acknowledge a friend's grief over a miscarriage. I honestly don't remember the situation or email or conversation, so I can't really defend myself. I was very upset by the accusation because if there is one thing I felt like I learned from losing Evie/4 miscarriages, is how to show compassion to those who suffer losses. It was one of the most hurtful things someone could say to me. Luckily I have people in my life who are good at lifting me up when I'm feeling down and I realized I can't please everyone. I can just try to be a good person. I'll try harder. Friday, we'll celebrate Evie as a family and I'll probably have a good cry.

Please, please, please let me get what I want
Once, in high school, I was driving my mom somewhere while listening to The Smiths and she told me she couldn't understand why I liked this music because the singer sounded like he was whining. I wondered how she couldn't think this was the greatest music ever but chalked it up to the generation gap. Now I'm dealing with this and I feel her pain. I was listening to some Billy Bragg in the car the other day and Hanna told me, "I'll do anything you want if you'll turn this song off." Wha!?! Yet she'll listen to Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber all day long. I only make fun of them when they listen to popular country music. These are lyrics from a popular country song:

I aint much for mowin thick grass
I'm too slow for workin' too fast
I don't do windows so honey don't ask
But I'm pretty good at drinkin' beer

Now I know they aren't all about drinkin' beer but I just can't like popular country music. Give me some Johnny Cash any day but please let my girls grow out of this. So far they are only really into Taylor Swift and I can handle that. I'm trying to load their iPods with the classics and they do like a lot of the music I grew up on, so maybe there is hope yet.

What?! You mean a baby is going to come out of there?

Hanna turns 11 today and it's blowing my mind. Maybe it's that she's the size of a 6 year old that makes it hard for me to wrap my brain around her being this old. She's a great kid who was funny from birth. Not so funny when crying 24/7 the first few weeks, nor when not sleeping the first 10 months. In between crying, not sleeping, and nursing like a monkey with ADHD, she was a riot. I might not have been in love with motherhood those first few months, but I was for sure in love with Hanna. Hanna is an everyday example to me of how I should be living my life. She amazes me! Happy Birthday Boo!

She still loves being naked

Ryan's favourite picture of Hanna

One of my favourite pictures

Hanna at her 11th birthday dinner riding the saddle

"No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks"
I've officially survived my first year of teaching first grade. It's been a wild ride but I've learned so much. I had a great class and a great team to work with. Now it's on to fun, fun fun! After a day of deep depression where I didn't know what I was to do with all this spare time, I've found my groove. I took a deep breath and told myself to relax. It sort of worked. I've started taking early morning classes at the rec center. My favourite thing about this is that even though I have to get up at 5:30, I can come home and go back to bed! In my mind, this is heaven. If you haven't tried it, you should. After a hard workout sleep is really the best. Anyway, this is a picture one of my students drew for me. I especially like it because she has put me in one of my favourite winter outfits, black turtleneck, brown corduroy skirt, tights and brown boots. I must have worn this a lot.

Where Ryan faces his fears and tries not falling to his death
When starting a project, I like to get all the correct tools together/purchased and then begin. Ryan, likes to just begin, hoping he has tools that can be jerry rigged to worked. As you can imagine, Ryan's projects usually end up peppered with a lot of foul language. So it went when staining the wood on the front of the house. Ryan is afraid of heights, so it made the day even more sweary. He had to crawl on the roof to paint the top beams. He was using a paint roller I dug out of the kid's craft supplies. Near the end of the project, I finally went over to Lowe's and bought him the proper roller for the job to which he exclaimed,"This would have gone much better if I had this to start with." Sigh.
Before


After (planting/yard word is still a work in progress)

I'll be painting the front door on my own.

"English -- Who needs that? I'm never going to England!"

A week or so ago I went into a business I frequent a lot in the mornings and was asked, "Hi Shea, how are you doing?" I went on to tell him that I was great, because I only had 7.25 days of school left. He seemed surprised that I was a teacher but that was pretty much the end of the conversation. Today when I went in, he mentioned to another worker that I was a teacher.

"Really? A teacher? We thought you were a writer. We play a game where we guess what people do for a living and we guessed writer."

I snort laugh and say, "No, I'm a teacher. I write a really lame blog but I'm not a writer."

"You just look so smart and put together," she explains.

I guess teachers can't look smart and put together. No, they are both really nice but it got me thinking, Maybe I should have been a writer, because apparently I look like one. Time to rethink my entire life and switch careers because someone I barely know, mentions it. (I stopped here and asked Ryan if it was correct to put quotations marks around what you are thinking. Neither of us knew. See how little I know about the technicalities of writing?)

I'm not going to switch careers because summers off is da bomb! Ryan gets this jealous/hateful look in his eyes when I remind him that I have 4.25 days left until I'm off for the summer. I tell him he should have become a teacher. He reminds me that he doesn't like other people's kids. Good point. Ryan has really stepped it up since I started working. Not like he was a slouch before but he really deserves some sort of special treat for all he does around the house. He has Fridays off and on that day off, he does everything around the house that needs to be done, so we can party it up on the weekends. Now I'm going to have to take this over and I have to say, I'd rather hire a maid on the sly. I think I'll still let him grocery shop because for some crazy reason, he can do it and spend 1/4 of what I do. He's all business with the shopping while I'm more of a go down every isle and get what is on the list but also anything that looks good, type shopper. I think it stems from the years that grocery shopping was some of my only alone time. Ryan would have the kids at home while I left to spend an hour or so of sweet quiet time while I thought of products I'd like to purchase. I have a friend whose husband makes a spreadsheet of the grocery store isles and she just marks off what she needs for him to get. These are the things Ryan's dreams are made of.

My older brother, Monti, is turning 40 this week. I only put "older" because I want him to feel old, not because I need to distinguish that he is my older, not younger brother because he's the only one I have. Only sibling also, which is cool because I like him. My favourite thing about Monti is his wit. He is F-U-N-N-Y! I don't remember thinking he was funny when we were younger but it's probably because we were busy beating on each other or searching for Star Wars action figures we buried in the gopher holes behind our house. Now, I appreciate it and I look forward to our summer Canada trip, so I can soak in some Montiness. There is more I like about him but I only dole out brotherly praise in tiny increments. So, Happy Birthday old man. I'll always be younger than you!

Monti's 22nd birthday

When I graduated first grade, all my dad did was tell me to get a job.

Ryan's gone for the night to practice shooting things (I think that's the technical term), the girls are watching American Idol and I'm left in a quiet room with a computer. Perfect blogging conditions. I'm realizing that stress makes me super grumpy. Like "you don't want to be around me because your breathing is making me want to punch you" grumpy. Did I ever think about what teachers did to prepare for the end of the year? No. I thought on the last day they just shoved us out the door, gave each other high fives, smoked a few in the faculty room (I didn't grow up in complete Mormonville) and then crawled back under their rocks until I saw them again in the fall. Not so my friends, I've been spending a lot of my extra time coming up with cute ways to let my kids know how much I'm really going to miss them. It's exhausting but I'm liking the almost finished products. Ryan came today with his fancy schmancy work camera and took photos of me with all 28 students so I could make their portfolios that much more special. My mind is kind of spinning at the thought of how many photos there will be out there of me by the time I retire. I can't believe I've almost made it through the first year. I play this game with Ryan when I want him to tell me how awesome I am...

"Did you ever think I'd finish a full year of teaching?
"I guess."
"No seriously, I've taught a full year and contributed to our financial stability."
"Well, I was hoping you'd do that eventually."
"But I'm awesome right?"
"Yes, you're the best."

The other day I took Hanna to a school friends birthday party. Her house was pretty fancy and in a fancy neighborhood. There were pools in the backyards and professional landscaping. The house across the street was having a rock climbing tower installed in their backyard. This used to make me feel "poor" and then envious of their lives but instead, I just smiled. I think it was me feeling good about what I'm doing. I have a career, that helps society and that's just as good as unnecessary plastic surgery and lots of leisure time.


(The mom in this child's picture was actually a Home Depot worker who came home and told her daughter about all the shovels they sold because of a snowstorm.)

"Give her something that says I'm not a woman anymore... I'm a mom!"

I've been so busy/tired with work and the end of year madness at school that I haven't had time to sit down and do some blogging. School is rapidly coming to a close and while I'm looking forward to a break, I will be sad to see my students go. I think in many ways, it would be nice to just follow them through elementary school. I've had a great class this year, which was very nice considering it was my first year. I had my first incident the other day of thievery in the classroom. A present that was given to me by one of my students was stolen. I took it really personally but I had no proof and no confession was forthcoming, so I had to let it go. Valuable lesson learned, you can't even let 6 year olds into your classroom unsupervised.

Whew! I won't be a grandma at 36
Coincidentally, Grace was caught lying to her substitute teacher last week. She's had a rough year. She has taken the move harder than the rest of us and her teacher, who was great, became ill and they've had a substitute for over a month. Grace was caught forging my signature on a note, giving her permission to stay inside at recess to look for a missing book, American Girl: The Care and Keeping of You. Hanna's been very moody and needs to refer to the book to figure out "WHY?!" I wigged out, thinking this was the start of the slippery slope that would lead to lying about her whereabouts and eventually teenage pregnancy. I was also embarassed since I work there. Ryan works with a man who specialize in interviewing children and we learned that this was not a big deal. That considering all the changes she's been through this year, it's perfectly normal. He also told us that how she is acting now, is in now way an indication of how she will be as a teenager. Whew! Our very kind principal offered to talk to her after I told him one morning that she was in my coatroom crying. She's seemed much happier after that. Plus her teacher came back for the last three weeks, so all seems well in Grace's world. Here she is with her very excessive makeup before her dance recital.


You heard it here first
I heard a new candidate for most crazy baby name: Coyote. Discuss.

Are my jeans too tight?

I have a pair of jeans that I love and have been worn so much they are kind of worn thin. I know not to dry these jeans because I don't dry ANY of my jeans. If I'm going to spend $100+ on a pair of jeans, they will not be dried. That's right, $100. I told Ryan the reason I went back to work is so we can buy grated cheese but really it's so I can justify my jean addiction. Ryan, not knowing my jean rules, dried my jeans a couple of weeks ago. This required me to do extra stretching maneuvers when I wore them for the first time. You can see it coming, they ripped. Right in the crotch (Oh how I hate this word) area. In a beautiful coincidence, I found a replacement pair of jeans the very same day at a store that sells them discounted (Downeast Outfitters). The pair I found wasn't damaged and they were even the right length! You know that's meant to be when you're 5' um, 1". They might have been a little tight but my other pair stretched out so much they were almost too big. Well guess what? They aren't stretching! They are made out of the same material but they just seem to stay all tight and junk. In fact, I think I felt my legs pulsating as I was wearing them around the house yesterday. Are they cutting off my circulation? Perhaps. If my legs start to turn black, I will stop wearing them.

Not enough kittens in the world could ease this case of the sads

Horrible week from Wednesday on. Cry, cry, sad, angry, hurt, dejected and depressed. Trying to pull myself up by my bootstraps. Luckily I have a lot of supportive friends, family and coworkers (holla team!) that have really helped me make it through. If I talk about this too much, friends, family and coworkers, please just roll your eyes in your head and go to your happy place.

Dancin'
My kids are from Utah (it physically hurts to say that) so from now on I'll not use the G at the end of words to make them feel more comfortable. Grace had a dance recital on Thursday. She did a great job and looked super cute. I wish they could have done their "Thriller" dance because that is the dance I make her do when I need to laugh. It's awesome! Grace was very excited to wear makeup and told me she needed a lot or she'd "get lost in the lights."

Grace is the short one at first and then she is in front on your right. Not a very great video since it was taken with the camera.

Untitled from Shea Van Fleet on Vimeo.

My not so skinny jeans
I check out a couple of fashion blogs and one of them (The Frugal Fashionista) told me that American Eagle Outfitters had cheap skinny jeans. So I ordered a few pair with a coupon I had and was not horrified when trying them on. It might have helped that above crisis had me not eating for a few days. I wore them on my Friday shopping trip with Karen, tucked into my boots and I felt really "fashiony". The Down East Outfitters in the Orem mall has a fantastic skinny mirror that you have to experience before you die. It's even better than the Nordstrom bathroom mirror. Go, stand in front of it and you'll forget all your troubles.

I lied, the kitten helps
As I was writing this blog post I started to wonder where the cat was. I turn around to look at the Christmas tree and this is what I see...

Lucy was about 6.5 feet up inside the Christmas tree. Irritating and adorable at the same time. A friend gave us the bowling ornament because Ryan and I met in the BYU bowling alley.

Oh blog, I can't stay away from you

I wasn't going to blog tonight because I'm like, starting a new career tomorrow and it's like, wearing me out and stuff. That's right, one more sleep and I'm officially a grade one teacher. I survived Back to School Night Open House where I was very charming and sweet, whilst acting professional and competent. I'm starting to think I can do this which is something I really need to think the night before I start work. The girls are excited to be starting school and have had their "first day" outfits picked out for weeks. We've had a fun summer and I'm going to do a little photo essay now.
My freshman year BFF Noelle came from France, where she now lives with husband Pierre and cutest baby Noemie, for a wedding and we were able to get together a few times. Noelle and I were roommates our sophomore year with the OG Fascinating Girl, Mindy. Mindy's grandma wrote The Fascinating Girl and she was bat-ass crazy. Mindy, not her grandma who I never met but assume was crazy because she wrote that horrible book.

Freshman year doing what we did best, acting stupid.

Dressed up for something our sophomore year at Wellington #9. Dig our rented TV. I found those Picasso posters when we moved to Beaumont.

Hanging out at General Conference in Salt Lake City.

This is us at BYU 17 years after we met. I don't know why we stood so far apart because I luvs me some Noelle.

Ryan and the girls went on a trip to Wyoming to visit Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Mike without me. Those are the kind of sacrifices I make now that I have a big girl job.

Char bought the girls these adorable pink hats. This is the view out of Char and Mike's front window.

Horse riding is always on the agenda at the ranch. Hanna looks forward to this all year and she is really a good horsewoman. She got compliments from Aunt Cindy who is a real cowgirl.




They ended the holiday with a trip to the Cody Rodeo. I thought this sunset was amazing.

Elvis Costello and the Utah Symphony were at Deer Valley and Mark Jones was kind enough to get us tickets. We had VIP seats and it was a fabulous night. One of the best concerts ever.



Please forgive my horrible singing but you have to do what Elvis asks.

Elvis Costello with the Utah Symphony from Shea Van Fleet on Vimeo.