Spring has Sprung!!

We have had rainstorm after rainstorm and tornado watch/warning after tornado watch. It has made for some long days of being stuck inside a school building and home. We were able to have a break of this weather and enjoy the sun and blue skies the last few days. We enjoyed walking around the gorgeous parks across the street from us and seeing the signs of spring.

Enjoy the pictures!

Piano

When Darrin and I decided that we were moving to Ohio, I had a hard time with the fact that I wouldn't be able to drive to my mom's house and play her piano. My sweet grandma called me up one evening as I was walking into a relief society activity with my mom. I remember her telling me that she was going to let me take her piano with me to Ohio if I could find some people to get it out of her basement and to the shop to be fixed. I just remember trying so hard not to cry and of course I found people to move it (my dad and Darrin!)
This piano was the piano that my grandma learned on when she was a little girl.
The piano was the only thing I cared about making it to Ohio in one piece. It was the first thing on the truck and had several cushions around it. It made it out here and it barely made it through our door. (Thanks to the Elders, my husband, and my dad!)

I have loved having a piano out here where I can sit down any time and just play until my heart is content. Because I work 12 hour days and I get home and am exhausted, I have not really had the chance to play it often (and because our second bedroom, where the piano is, has become a storage room. Lets be honest, it was scary going in there...I couldn't get to the piano).
This week is my spring break so I told myself before I can do anything fun, I had to clean the second bedroom. Well, the bedroom is clean and I have been able to enjoy my piano every single night. I have sat down and played for hours. I am sure our neighbors are getting pretty tired of it.
Thanks Grandma for letting me bring your piano out here! It means a lot to me! :) I think about you every time I sit down to play! Love you!

St. Patrick's Day in Second Grade

With St. Patrick's Day last week I thought it would be fun to do something in my second grade class. I student taught with a great teacher who does something fun in her class. I called her up and she told me how to do it. I wanted to test the water and make sure my students would believe that there was a leprechaun in our classroom or else it wouldn't work.
On Tuesday morning we showed up to school and found that a Leprechaun had danced in our room the night before and messed up our schedule and lost his shoe somewhere in our room. We found his shoe and while we were at lunch, he came back and left us some gold chocolate. (The shoe was made by my amazing husband)

On Wednesday we got to school and the Leprechaun left a note on the board saying that he didn't think we could catch him so instead of leaving us gold, he left us some cookies.
Thursday (St. Patrick's Day) was the day that I was waiting for all week! We got to school to find that the Leprechaun had left us some "magic potion" (some green kool-aid with sugar hiding it so they couldn't see the green) He told us to just add 4 quarts of water. During our group time we added 4 quarts and it magically changed green! We all had a drink of this magic potion (the kids all insisted that I drink it first!) He also left us a book to read. So, I picked up the book and put the note on the back of the book. It had something else written on the back that said "P.S. if a teacher drinks this, their feet turn green...." Well, I had a drink of the magic potion so the kids all wanted to see if my feet were green. Sure enough, I pulled off my socks and they were green!

The kids screamed (yes I am sure the whole school heard them)! That was all they talked about for the rest of the day. We had such a great time trying to find the Leprechaun (we never caught him though).
I love teaching but I especially love when we do things like this. It is something that those kids will remember for a long time to come!

Birthday!

I celebrated my 24th birthday on the 26th of February. It was a great day (and week). My dad and sister came to visit and then we had a snow day the day before so I had an extra long weekend. We went to the Temple with some good friends the night before and then I woke up Saturday to my favorite breakfast in bed...french toast! I was able to spend all day with my husband. We test drove some cars, and walked through a very nice house (someday we would love to build a house like it!) We went to dinner at Olive Garden where they told us the wait would be 60-75 minutes but we ended up only having to wait about 30 minutes!

I was blessed to get a sewing machine, a way cute bag that my mom made, a 2 year subscription to family fun magazine (this is very exciting when you are a teacher...helps with creative ideas!), an adorable lunch box, some bead watch bands that my mom also made, and lots and lots of love from my family and friends!

Dad and Becca Visit!

We were able to see my dad and little sister Becca for a few days. My dad had to meet with a client in Columbus so they stayed in Dayton to be closer to us. We were able to go to dinner with them every night. They enjoyed visiting the Cincinnati Aquarium, the air force museum in Dayton, and seeing Gnomeo and Juliet during the days. Becca was able to come to my school for a few hours on Thursday. She got to meet my second grade class and watch them in a performance that night. She also got to meet my after school kids. Darrin and Becca were able to spend an hour swimming in the hotel swimming pool! Becca sure enjoyed that! :)
We were so excited to have them come out for a few days. It was nice to be able to start celebrating my birthday with some family here. Thanks, Dad and Becca, for your visit!!

Birthday Boy!!

Darrin's birthday is 2 days after Valentine's Day. I thought that I would surprise him and take the afternoon off from work. I left school about 4:00 and drove home. I rang the bell to get into our apartment building and then  knocked on our door and he opened it expecting to see UPS delivering a package. I wish I had my camera. His face was priceless!
It was nice to have a few extra hours with him for his birthday. I made his mom's chicken enchilada's (I am sure hers were much better but I tried!) and then we had some friends over for dessert. It was a great evening.

He wanted so Vibram Toe Shoes for running so that is what he got!! He also got some slippers and a scout shirt. He has a few more presents that have not come yet.

Valentine's Day!

We had a great Valentine's Day! It started off at 5:15 in the morning with pink pancakes and heart shaped napkins!

I came home from work to find 11 red roses on the kitchen table and one more "white" rose in a box. Valentine's Day marked 2 years since Darrin proposed to me. The morning  he proposed he gave me 11 red roses (I just assumed there were 12) and that night he gave me the last rose that was dipped in platinum with my ring tied to it. Last year he gave me a rose dipped in white. So he is carrying on the tradition or 11 red roses and one white rose!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of steak that Darrin made and then had a nice relaxing evening together!