What happened?

I don't know what happened in my post below. It was perfect in the preview. When I posted it, the captions got all messed up. I tried to fix it, but if you'll look at the time I posted this, you will see that I need to go to bed! I am going to have to post something that looks less than perfect. I hope I don't lose any sleep over it!

A Proud Fan!

****************************Such a gracious winner!
How cute is that?





Here's to you ***************************Right back at you






More cuteness!



I was able to watch the CMA awards while I was doing report cards tonight. Was there any doubt that Kenny Chesney would win Entertainer of the Year AGAIN?!?!?!Didn't think so! I watched his acceptance speech over and over because it was so dang cute! He was funny, witty, humble, and he was with his mom!!! Like me, he must have known he would win again because he is all dressed up. He looks like Steve going to work minus the cowboy hat. He usually doesn't dress like this- but I think I like it (it doesn't matter how he is dressed).

I had to concentrate on the report cards, so I couldn't pay too much attention to the CMAs, but here is what stood out to me-

1. Kenny Chesney- goes without saying
2. Taylor Swift- totally cute- love her album- so talented- a senior in high school!
3. George Strait- will always be cool!
4. Kellie Pickler- love that song she sang- didn't like the hairdo- wish she wouldn't have cried- the pictures online don't look good- still a cutie
5. Carrie Underwood- I'm so happy for her- How many years does she have to thank American Idol?:)
6. Brad Paisley- love him- his wife looks too skinny! Still a cute couple
7. Sugarland- love that song!
8. Jaime Foxx singing with Rascal Flatts- very mesmerizing- Did they kiss at the end?
9. Where were Tim and Faith? Was Alan Jackson there?
10. Did I mention that Kenny Chesney was with his mom?

Trick or Treat

Halloween has just not been the same since we left AZ. We all miss having the grandparents, aunts, uncles, COUSINS and friends over to our house. We had a great tradition of making tortilla soup (I know it is crazy- but I do make a great tortilla soup) and trick-or-treating. I don't know if my kids will ever get over the fact that everyone now goes over to Ryan and Carrie's house for the same tradition. I personally think it is great that Carrie is carrying it on- tortilla soup and all! But my kids just talk about it the entire night. Despite that little set back each year- we had a great time. It was fun to get to hang out with our neighbors and get a bunch of chocolate in the process! To all our new friends in CA-I am opening an invitation to anyone who would like to come to our house next year. The tortilla soup really is good! :)


Jack Sparrow, "Ruby" the pirate, and the skater (Which one of these things doesn't belong?)


Jack Sparrow with some of his neighbor friends.


The two "girl" pirates of the neighborhood.


I have no idea who that is...


Jack Sparrow and his "wife pirate" as he called her.

Happy Halloween to me!

LG- Life's Good!

Last weekend, I bought a new washer and dryer! With my life so crazy, I noticed how long it was taking me to do laundry. I heard that with these new front loaders, you can do 3x the laundry in one load! After much thought and research, I did something I have never done- I bought the top rated, biggest, best washer and dryer on the market right now. The brand is LG- it stands for Life's Good and I happen to agree with them!

If you are in the market for a washer and dryer- come over and see mine in action. It is supposed to take me a fraction of the time, but I am so intrigued by them that I stand there and watch them for the first 15 minutes (I know that will pass soon). It is just not like anything I have seen before. Everything is digital, it weighs the clothes and decides how much water it needs (which isn't very much), it has an option to add steam, you can even do a speed wash which only takes 30 minutes! It is all just amazing to me! Yesterday, I put the clothes in the washer in the morning and set the delay timer for an hour before I would be home and when I got home, the wash was just finishing its spin cycle. Amazing! I took the freshly washed clothes right out and put them in the dryer. I could go on and on- but I won't!


Here is a picture of the washer and dryer. I couldn't fit the whole dryer in the picture.


Here is the washer in action! I hope someone is as impressed as I am!:)

A Berry Good Time!

We ended up having a 4 day weekend due to the poor air quality from the fires. It was an unfortunate reason to have days off, but I did get to relax with my family! We spent time watching movies, eating lunch with friends, shopping and just doing nothing. It was good for us! We ended the weekend at Knotts Berry Farm. We were just there for a couple of hours. Steve had to be there for work. It wasn't crowded, so we were able to hit several rides. The only problem was that Westin was about an inch too short to go on most of the rides. We hope he grows that inch before we go back!

I am actually looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. It was a nice couple of extra days off, but we need to get back to work! Our thoughts and prayers go out to the many people who have lost their homes in the fires.


Madalyn and Chad after a ride on the Sidewinder.


Steve and Westin after a ride on the Sidewinder. Westin loved this ride so much, that I went on with him next. I was scared to death! I was screaming like a crazy woman. The whole time, he was looking at me saying, "It's okay Mom, It's okay!" They video you on the entire ride, and sure enough, it all showed up on the video. In the end, I ended up liking the ride and will probably ride it again (someday).


Here is Westin's "whining" face. This is how he looked when he found out he wasn't quite tall enough to go on all those rides!


Just stay in Camp Snoopy and you can go on all the rides!


On our way out, we stopped to take one more picture with the "Peanut Gang"!

Something I miss

For those of you who have known me for a long time, you know that I have a deep love for Kenny Chesney. He is the only "famous person" that I am pretty much obsessed with. When I wasn't working, I would listen to him ALL the time. Now that I am working, I use the time in my car to talk to Westin or make necessary phone calls. When I am at home, I have no time to listen to music. Tonight, I was updating my playlist and listening to Kenny. I realized how much I miss hearing him everyday. So- I decided to dedicate this blog to him. I have been to his concert every year. This year, I flew to San Jose and met my friend Carolyn (from AZ) to see his concert. It was a great time! Madalyn and Steve usually go with me, and last year our whole family went. He is that good! He definitely earns his "Entertainer of the Year" every year. If you haven't had a chance to listen to his music, stay on my blog for awhile. I hope you enjoy him as much as I do!

I'm back!?!?!

I will try to better at updating my blog. I feel like things have kind of died down at work, but will probably pick back up again with report cards and parent/teacher conferences right around the corner! I love teaching again! It has been extremely time consuming with teaching in a new state and trying to learn the curriculum for two grades (I am teaching a 2/3 combo). I am so happy when I am in the classroom everyday. My own children have been great with all the changes in our lives. I wouldn't be able to do it without the extra help from my wonderful husband and friends. So many people have my back right now!

Thank you to all the concerned people who have called and emailed to check on us with all the fires. This beautiful state is just being torn down by fire right now. It is very scary. It is addicting to watch the news- it is all that is being covered. My heart goes out to all the families who have lost their homes. We have been safe so far. The fire looked so close last night- we could see orange above the mountain that we look at out our front door. Our children got very nervous. Fortunately, by this morning- it had died down. The winds have died down and now the smoke is settling in our valley. The air is thick and smelly. There are ashes everywhere. The school district is closed tomorrow because the air quality is so bad. So much has been destroyed in less than a week. I hope it is over soon. We have had a quiet week with football being canceled. The games and the cheer competition (in San Diego) have been canceled for the weekend. I guess I can have a relaxing couple of days! :)

The one thing that I have been really bad about since starting my job is taking pictures. I will update you briefly on our lives this past month. I promise to get better about bringing my camera with me. I can't play the blog game without pictures! (how boring would that be?).
Okay- here it goes!.....

Madalyn cheering- I noticed that this picture was a little fuzzy after I downloaded it.


I wish Steve would have gotten this whole picture- it is really cool- TVPW!


Here is Westin and his spectator buddy (again). At least he has a partner in crime at the games!



We tried to go to the Miramar Air Show. There was so much traffic that we were stopped on the exit for about 30 min. Needless to say- we had great seats for the show- but we never actually made it in. It was still awesome!


Afterwards, we went to eat sushi (yummy- our favorite). Chad had his friend, Nick with us.