Blog Everyday in May- days 1 through 4

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)

     Let's see... My name is Cali, and I'm not yet thirty, but it's coming up. I was born and grew up in the south, primarily Kentucky, I miss it everyday. I now live in Minnesota, the land of snow and lakes. My family is originally from here and through them I met my love, "the Man". We were both in a wedding, I was a bridesmaid and he was an usher. I married him and now having a rhyming name, not  Cali O'Malley, but just as fun. We have two boys, Tucker 7, and Ryker, 1. I teach sixth grade and can't imagine doing something different. I love, love my job. Our life is pretty busy but we love it that way, I'm in a house full of boys and wouldn't have it any other way.

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

After four years of teaching I feel pretty good at putting together a fun unit based on any given topic. You pick and I'll design activities, lessons, and assessments. It's one thing that can be very tedious but I LOVE it!

I am an awesome list maker! I make lists for everything- groceries, Christmas gift ideas, to-do's at home, to-do's at school, they're on going and I always have one on me. 

Sarcasm also seems to come pretty natural for me. I try not to get too carried away or overly rude, it's more timing that I seem to be pretty good at. 

Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable

Hands down- confrontation! I hate it and try to always avoid it. I'm doing a lot better and sharing my thoughts with others when something really bothers me. And if someone comes after my children or students I have no problem going "mama bear" on them.

People yelling, not so much the volume, its more that I worry about how the person getting yelled out feels. This is something that's bothered me for years.

And bad bras! 'Nough said on that one.

Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it

"Dance like no one is watching. Love like you've never been hurt. Song like no one is listening. And live likes its your last day on Earth."
I know this quote is every where but it serves as a goal for me. Ignore others and do what makes me happy, never taking a day for granted. 

Blog Everyday in May

So I'm apparently going crazy! I saw a link and a few posts over on Natasha's blog "Hello! Happiness". So I checked it out and I love the idea. I'm someone realistic in knowing that I'm definitely probably going to miss some.
Here is the list that Jenni from "Story of my Life" created, 
Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably) Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic) Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'? Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all. Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words) Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill.  Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words or less Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...) Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be. Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like) Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt. Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now. Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off) Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad) Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like. Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory
If you're interested in joining up, follow this link. Let the challenge begin.

First Birthday Party!

It was a success! We had our closest family and friends join us in celebrating Ryker's first year.
Thanks to Pinterest the ideas were super easy to find and implement. I got the food tags from Etsy I can't find her name for the life of me but they were perfect.

 These mini-cherry pies were so easy and people loved them!

 I was so worried about how I could get ice cream included without the actual thing. Lo and behold Target had these, mini- gummy ice cream cones. 

 I've been wanting to try making a sucker tree for a while, this was my excuse!

 Our local grocery store, Hy-Vee, made this. So cute and one less thing for me to worry about. 

 More of the spread. 

 Lots of present opening helpers!

 Someone LOVED his cake!

 I have to say, he didn't get too messy and was in and out of the bath in under five minutes. 

This is after everyone left. I can't get enough of these two. We opened all the toys and Tucker kept "showing" Ryker how they worked. 

Lastly, the thank you cards I snagged from Shutterfly! I used some Pampers codes and ordered some extras since they're nice to have around. Love that little smile and how the circles tie somewhat into our theme but are generic enough to work for everything.

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

What day is it?

It's April! It's the 2nd which means the month of March is over! How crazy is that? What happened to February? I know it's the shortest month, but really? Anyone else feel the same? Here comes the rush of events!
Going list style, shocking right?!?!

• We've got our state testing coming up, the dates were set but we've had snow days so now it's all up in the air.
• End of the quarter was Friday, which means as of today there are only nine weeks left of the year! Whoa!
  
• Ryker's first birthday is under two weeks away.

I'm how old??!?!

• The Man is crazy busy, between school and work he's got a lot going on.
• Easter, bringing all its excitement, flew by in a whirlwind!
• I've been trying to tackle my spring cleaning list, it's a little over whelming.
  

So, you know what? Time to embrace it and just move faster! Right?

First Birthday coming up!

I can NOT believe that Ryker is almost 11 months. With just a month away from his party, I've been on the look out for ideas to make the day fun. I know he won't remember this day but I will and I love to decorate for the boys' b-days.

Our theme is "the Very Hungry Caterpillar". Such a cute little book and so many fun colors. Here is my collection of ideas-

I can't wait! I'm starting to get things done now so that it's a little more at a time rather than a cram to get everything done at the end. Hopefully it all pays off.

Pinterest projects

So I haven't kept up with posting, shocking I know! But I have been working on some of the projects I've pinned.

First off I've been tackling some cleaning ideas-
I've thrown a couple shirts to the side that were favorites but had stains on them that I couldn't get out with my normal Oxiclean collection.

I wish I had taken before and after shots because this stuff WORKED, so easy and I really didn't scrub that hard. I did try it on a shirt that had been stained by suntan lotion but it didn't work, so I'll stick to my bleach soaks for that.

I kept finding clothes that I put away from Tucker that I almost tossed instead of using for Ryker, but then I tried a combination of a few pins. I took some onesies and a couple shirts that had formula, food, or diaper stains and put them in a heavy bleach bath for about an hour. Then put this "magic stick" on them,

and soaked them all in my washer with a scoop of Oxiclean for about 25 minutes, then I washed them like normal. It worked on all the formula stains, the lighter food, but it didn't completely get rid of the diaper stains, just lightened them.

I tried this shower cleaner on our tub and wasn't to impressed. The cleaning smell wasn't there which is nice but I'm going to stick with my Scrubbing Bubbles.

I love, LOVE, this super easy method of cleaning my stove top. I've done it three times now! I tend to get preoccupied when cooking- oops! But every time my stove top looks brand new!

Those are my cleaning pins, stayed tuned for other project pins. Hopefully it won't be another month!

Meet the newest member of our family!

The Man and I have talked about having a pet for the boys since before having Ryker. We're definetly dog people, but had thought that we'd wait until moving into a different house with more yard space. But then a co-worker got a black lab. And we fell in love with the idea of having our own puppy one day.

A couple weeks ago the Man went in to pay for gas and saw a sign about puppies for sale. Lots of texting went back and forth that day. Could we take on a dog? Would Tucker want one? Was he ready for one? What would we do during the day? That night we also talked with our parents and they were all for it. So the hunt began!

By the next evening we made a phone call, two hours later we had a date set to get our puppy.
Bane, is a male yellow lab. He's very sweet, calm, not a barker (yet), and great with the boys. Since we got him at 14 weeks, he was familiar with the kennel and doing okay with potty training. Luckily his accidents are in the garage but that's totally fine.

All I know is that I have one little guy who's in love. He's learning to take Bane for walks. Most of all, I've already seen a gain in his confidence. We're hoping that it helps our sensitive boy break out of his shell a bit more. I think they're already best friends.