Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to get a quick post in before we fly up to NE this afternoon. We will be in NE all week and I probably won't have time to post pictures and fun stories from Christmas until after the holidays.
So, I hope you all have a wonderful, blessed holiday and I hope to see some of my NE buddies soon!
Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday Justin-the most fabulous husband ever!

Just wanted to blog a quick Happy Birthday to the bestest husband in the world! He turns 31 today (or 29 + 2 as he calls it) and I am so thankful and blessed to have him in my life! I could list countless reasons why he is the best in the land...but here are just a few:
1. He loves me just the way I am, and even loves me when I'm not being very lovable
2. He teaches me how to save lots of money, and I teach him how to spend just a little
3. He is gracious and freely gives to others
4. He will clean the house, do dishes, even fold laundry when I'm too exhausted or busy with school work to do it myself
5. He ALWAYS dries the dishes for me (I HATE drying dishes!)
6. He makes me smile and laugh each and every day
As I said, I could go on and on...but I'll stop there for now. We're off soon to a "surprise" dinner with his parents (though it turned out to not be really much of a surprise) and then back to our house for gifts and birthday pie!
If I snap any good pics, I'll post them soon!

Bitter Yuck!

Well folks, we may have found a cure to Sierra's destruction! (I'm crossing my finger and toes and knocking on wood as I type this...haha). We made the fine purchase of a bottle of Bitter Yuck! And let me tell you, it is VERY Yuck! We have sprayed it on the stockings, on the one remaining chair pad, on the tree skirt, on the tree, on our movies, on the stereo/speaker wiring...and so far, so good. She tried the chair pad one day, and since then, hasn't touched it. Yesterday, however, we made the mistake of thinking surely she would not chew up her own bed...the bed that she adores and curls up on every day/night...that would just be silly....ooohhhh silly us! Yesterday everything else was full of Yuck...so she decided to eat up her bed. So, this morning, her bed got a good dose of Yuck...and hopefully she will still tolerate laying on it, but will not be eating it. We are sort of waiting for to discover anything else that is non yucky, but I am hopeful that maybe she will just think everything is now yucky and stick to her 8-million bones that we've given her =). Anyhow, since I have no real children to update you all on, I thought I would update you on my crazy dog.

In other news, tomorrow we are super excited to go and babysit all three of our nieces (oh holy cow!). It is Andrea's birthday and we are pretty sure Andrea and Kyle have not had a date night since last January...so we wanted to give them a night out to celebrate her birthday and get away from "the little people" (that's what Andrea calls them!). So, Justin and I will be on our own with two babies and McKayla...and we can so totally handle it (right?). Ha! I know we'll be fine, and it will be such good experience/practice for Justin. I'll let you all know how it goes =).
Then, on Saturday we are venturing up to Waco (yes, where the Branch Dividian (sp?) thing went done a few years back) to meet Justin and Katherine for lunch and games and hanging out. I can't wait to see them, it's so exciting to me to have seen them in late Sept and already be seeing them again in December! Yay for family close by!
We'll top off the fun weekend by celebrating Justin's birthday on Monday (he's going to be 31...but shhhh...I didn't tell you that!). His parents are coming to Austin to have dinner with us, and it should be a good time.

Hope you are all enjoying your week and getting into the holiday spirit!

Happy Thanksgiving and Fun Black Friday Shopping!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all! We had a really wonderful time this year, and had a very productive long weekend. Where to begin? I had two staff days last Mon and Tues, so I enjoyed getting my classroom cleaned up and leaving very early on Tuesday. We had received a coupon in the mail for a sale at Ashley Furniture, so I convinced Justin that we should go look for a dining room table again (I've been taking him to look at tables for, oh, about nine months now...this is how things work with an accounting/budget man). Anyhow, we actually found one we both liked and it was 20% off (which is a lot for furniture). We took some quick pics with our phones (aren't camera phones great?) and then went home to discuss. After some discussion, Justin agreed it was a good deal and we should go for it. So, Wednesday I returned to the store to purchase our new table-yay! I was hoping for delivery before we hosted our small group Advent this weekend, but alas, it was not in the warehouse...so I have to wait until December 13...but it will be WELL worth it. And, since I've waited for nine months already, what's another 12 days?? So, that was the first big event of the weekend. Then, of course, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Justin's sister and family. His parents decided to go gambling (apparently the retired folks needed to get away and relax) so it was just us "kids" and a lady that Kyle works with and her husband. Turns out Vinnie is a musician and super funny, so we enjoyed listening to his stories. I had the luxury of taking care of Hailey for most of the day, and even got to feed her twice since Andrea was taking the afternoon off from feeding them (she needed to enjoy some wine with the rest of us!). It was great, and I got in some play time with McKayla as well. I swear she gets taller every time I see her, even if it's only been a few days! It's crazy. And I have to share a quick cute story too. Andrea told me that the other day she was quite frustrated with the twins and how their feeding was going. She yelled a little louder than normal and startled McKayla. She immediately said, "I'm sorry sweetie, your sisters were frustrating mommy, but I should not have yelled." McKayla thought this over and then said, "Mommy, the next time my sisters frustrate you, you should make a better choice." Andrea said, "Uh, yes, you are right". She supposes all those lessons they are teaching her about making right choices are sinking in, and now coming right back at them! At least she is learning! Anyhow, we had a great Thanksgiving and we certainly have so many things to be thankful for this year. The twins are such little miracles and God has really blessed all of our lives with their presence.
On Friday, it was time for Black Friday Shopping. Yes, as I mentioned in a blog last year, I am totally into going to the stores at 4am (considering that we normally wake up to go to the gym at 3:50, shopping at 4am really is no big deal!). In fact, I was at Kohls, ready to go at about 3:30 this year (and I was pretty far back in line, mind you). I would have to say that even though I always get good deals, Kohls is by far the MOST annoying place of all. That's why I do it first, to get in and get it over with. This year the checkout line took me precisely 52 minutes. Ugh. I so wish my mom and/or sister lived close so I could have someone to stand in line with! After Kohls, I made the rounds at various other stores and almost finished all my shopping-yay! I only have a few small things left, and I got some really terrific deals! I even got Sierra a new bed, for only $6.99--incredible (and she hasn't tried to eat it yet, which is even more incredible!). After my shopping whirlwind, I returned home to help Justin begin installing the speakers on our new home theater system (a very small, simple system...remember...this is Mr. budget we're talking about). Mr. Budget is also a tad-bit anal when it comes to installing anything (this is one of the things I LOVE about him, really...because it also means he'll help clean the house to keep everything in order!!). Anyhow, after awhile it became apparent that he didn't really need me as much as he thought, so I got to take a nap (I was quite tired from all that shopping). By Saturday evening, the speakers were fully installed and we have been enjoying them ever since! And for the final big event of the weekend, Justin FINALLY purchased his new laptop! His old laptop was becoming quite ancient and I could barely stand to do anything on it anymore, but was often forced to when I had to print things. He'd been looking at them and thinking about buying a new one since the beginning of the year, but kept saying "I have to get four years out of this thing! (he purchased it four years ago Sept.) I did not feel the need to get four years out of it, but it's his laptop, so I couldn't really argue too much. I tried to talk him into a Mac (because they are FAR superior to PCs), but he said we could not be a "two Mac family" and that we needed to diversify...whatever. He ended up ordering a really nice Dell, and we both can't wait for it to arrive. Maybe then I can convince him to join the rest of us on Facebook =).

That about wraps up this year's Thanksgiving/Black Friday fun. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Sorry, no pictures to post from Thanksgiving this year...I was too busy holding a baby all day long!!

Why We Sometimes Don't Love Our Dogs...

So, as some of you may already know, our dogs have been rather mischievous in the past few months. Some of their escapades have included chewing up a pillow from our new couch, eating a DVD or two, shredding two chair pads from the dining room (plus side to this--I wanted new ones anyway, bad side-she will likely eat the new ones too!) and of course breaking my pampered chef magic pan =). Recently, they have gotten into some more trouble...ripping a new speaker out of our home theater system, eating the Cinderella, Jungle Book and Winnie the Pooh video cassette boxes (apparently she has an issue with the kid movies we have for McKayla) and munching on some magazines.

This past weekend, when Sierra ripped the speaker out, I thought her time just might be up. Justin has been getting continually more frustrated with her, and was very, very close to taking her somewhere....not sure where, but Saturday evening he was ready to take her just about anywhere. Fortunately, I talked him down =). Sunday after church, we went to Pet Smart. We took a look at more crates. Some of you may be wondering why we don't just crate her. Well...we tried that, and she ate her way out of it and escaped (yes, she is a Houdini dog). When we first got her, we had every intention of crating her everyday. However, something in her history has made her absolutely terrified and completely against crating. After eating her way through the first crate, we bought a second one (this was getting expensive). We left her for less than an hour, and she had already eaten her way through part of it and there was blood all over because she was cutting up her mouth and tongue. Eeeesh...so, we decided at that point in time to let her roam free. And, at first, she was great....but she's slowly escalated to all her recent escapades. So, back to Pet Smart. We decided we were sure we were ready for trying the crate again (or to spend $150+ on it), since we don't think she will like it any more now than she did a year and a half ago. So, we opted for buying some 'bitter yuck' spray. We have now baited her by spraying things we know she usually tries to get to. Yesterday, no destruction...so we will see about today. We also got some "calming" pills to give her, to see if that would help calm her down a little. Yesterday, she seemed normal and not any more "calm" than usual...but we'll see. Hopefully, we will soon resolve all these issues, and Justin and I can feel comfortable when we leave the house =).
I've decided there must be a lesson in this for us, and I think it's that we aren't in control, and we have to realize that and accept that. So, though they are quite mischievous at times, I must say I really do love my dogs, even though I cannot always control their every move =). Good practice for children I guess!!



In other news, we were able to go have dinner with Andrea, Kyle and the girls on Saturday. I got some time to play with McKayla while Justin chatted with Andrea and Kyle. She has such an imagination! It was so much fun to just sit and listen to her make up her stories with all her toys. One of the funniest things I noticed is that she is saying some words with an English accent. She was talking about a baby mouse, so picture a three year old saying "mouse" with the English accent. It was too funny. She also was saying "pic-a-nic". Very British and way too cute. I knew that grandma often had her watch some BBC cartoons, so I asked Andrea about it. She had noticed it too, and we figure that she is picking up the accent from watching the cartoon show. Too funny. She also loves to say, "But then, very soon after....". Her sentences just amaze me! She was telling me that Esmerelda and Lila (she names all her toys) were going to have a "pic-a-nic" with the baby mouse, but then very soon after, all the other girls will come for a ball! The best part though was when Kyle came in to join us and she said, "Daddy, you may not stay and play with us!" She was very emphatic. Of course, I felt good because she was having a good time with me...but felt bad for daddy =). After dinner, I did get in my fill of holding the babies too. Hailey is now over 10 pounds, and Abigail is just under 10 pounds. Still so little for babies that were born almost five months ago...though adjusted age they are still just over two months. They are looking more and more alike each day, and I can never figure out which one is which, so it will be fun to watch them grow and see if they continue to look alike, or if they start developing more clear differences. They were fraternal twins, but I have met other fraternal twins who look almost identical...so we'll see!
I'm definitely looking forward to this week since we will see them again on Thursday for Thanksgiving. One of my favorite parts of this year is that we get to see family lots more than usual!

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday!!!

Fun in Houston

Well, we are now back from our fun little vacation to Houston. Why do vacations always go SO fast? We had a wonderful time though, and luckily Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks are just around the corner-yay!
On Thursday we dropped the two doggies off at the vet for boarding (we were a little nervous, but they didn't tell us that we couldn't ever bring them back, so we figure they did alright). Mozart was quite the whiner about it, and Justin had to help push both of them into the cage. Silly dogs. Anyhow, then we took off for Houston and arrived in time for a late lunch at the San Jacinto state park/battleground. It was supposed to be very sunny and in the 80s...it was very not-sunny and maybe in the low 70s. So, my pictures are a bit dreary. Oh well. After lunch, we went aboard the Battleship TEXAS, which was really cool. I cannot imagine living on a ship and sleeping in those bunks! We even got to climb up almost to the top, which was cool, as long as I did not look down! After that, we went over to the memorial museum and looked around there for a little while. Then, it was off to our super-duper hotel! It was SO cool. We wish we could have taken the bed, linens, and pillows home with us! They were super comfy.
On Friday we ventured back to the Museum of Natural Sci and History, which we first visited last year. We had free passes because I had taken some students there on a field trip. We learned our lesson from last year and didn't go until after lunch (tooooo many field trip kids there in the mornings!). The best part of this trip was going into the Butterfly center. We weren't expecting much, but were totally blown away. It was gorgeous and I got some really cool butterfly shots! We also saw a dinosaur that was 90% fossilized (with the skin and everything). It was pretty neat too, but not as cool as the butterflies!
On Saturday we vegged out in the morning, and while I was surfing our various cable channels in the room (we don't have cable, so this was another fun part about the hotel) I found the movie "27 Dresses" on HBO. I was stoked! Luckily, Justin didn't mind and I got to watch the whole thing! I LOVE that movie! After that, it was time to venture out and meet one of my oldest and dearest high school friends, Catherine Heider. She moved to Houston in April and we had planned to meet for brunch. We both cannot even remember the last time we saw each other, so clearly, it had been TOO long! Justin joined us for lunch, but after about an hour of listening to people he didn't know about, he took off to read a book =). We ended up chatting for five whole hours! It was so great!!! I'm so glad she lives close now, and we can't wait to plan our next get together! Yay for old friends!!!
After lunch and chatting, it was time to head back to the hotel for our last evening. We were able to enjoy the hot tub one last time, and watch some good college football. A great end to a fun vacation!
Some people think we're funny for vacationing to Houston, but they really do have some great places to visit, and I guess since we're not from Texas, it's cool to us =).

Here are some pictures from the trip!

Justin and I in front of the Battleship TEXAS


Justin, in front of the VERY large and foreboding battleship




Some beautiful butterflies, including the one that liked Justin's shirt


Justin and I in the butterfly house


Catherine and I (can you tell we're Husker fans? we didn't even plan it!)

Vacation Time!!!

Yay! Justin and I are FINALLY taking a vacation together! We are doing sort of a repeat of our fall vacation from last year, because I had some free museum tickets that we felt we really just had to use. We're heading to Houston tomorrow for four days! And the best part is that we are staying in a super, super nice hotel-the Crowne Plaza Suites. We are normally the Super 8 or Comfort Inn type hotel people, but not this time! Justin and I had an agreement that if he did not go to Memphis with me for my science conference, then we could book a really nice hotel for our Houston vacation (I actually stayed in a Crowne Plaza hotel in Memphis too, and they are so cool!). So, part of the fun is just staying in a really nice place and taking some time to hang out, read books, and sit in the hot tub together! Yay! Plus, we're doing a little sight-seeing too. I will post pictures when we return.

It's very rare (as I am sure it is for most people) that Justin and I get to take a vacation together. (I don't consider family trips for Christmas as a real vacation...I LOVE them...but it's not exactly good couple time!). It is especially hard for us because we have almost exact opposite vacation times. Justin's job is very busy in the spring/summer (when I have spring break and summer break), while I'm very busy in the fall and most of the spring when Justin is less busy. That pretty much leaves Christmas (which is usually reserved for the aforementioned family visiting trip) for extended travel times. We've been blessed the last two years that I have gotten an intern in the fall, so I get two "free" personal days off. It makes for a great time to travel within TX since the weather is so nice, and it's a nice fall break for me since we don't have one here at TSD. Anyhow, we're both super excited for some time away together, with no dogs and no work to think about!

I hope all you Northerners are enjoying your cool fall weather, we'd appreciate it if you would send some our way...we're honestly a little sick of the 80 degree days...really, I swear, we just want it to cool down already!!! I'm actually looking forward to being up North in seven weeks, and am crossing my fingers for some good snow!!!

Halloween Fun!

Just had to write a quick post about the most fun Halloween I've had in a LONG time! We were able to go to Kyle to see our nieces and have dinner with everyone. When we got there McKayla was quite excited and finally wanted to take a spin on her new bike (yay!). She refused to get up onto it herself, but wanted to get up onto it with Aunt Michelle's help. So, I lifted her up and we "drove" around the living room and kitchen. She hasn't quite caught onto the pedaling part yet, but she enjoyed me driving her around. "Keep driving Aunt Chelle, keep driving!" It was pretty cute, and I was just glad she did like it! After our 'drive' around the house, we all enjoyed some pumpkin soup while McKayla informed us all what numerous words started with (I think this is her favorite 'game' right now), and told us all about trick-or-treating and getting candy. She was ready to eat all the candy Justin and I had brought to pass out, but we convinced her to wait and get her own later. After dinner it was time for costumes. McKayla's was a really cute CU cheerleader uniform that her aunt Tracy in Colorado sent her (her mommy and daddy both graduated from there...they were quite proud.) She also had a super cute "Ralphie" stuffed buffalo to carry around (yet, somehow, Aunt Michelle ended up carrying him...hmmmm). Anyhow, I told her "Wow, McKayla, I LOVE your uniform." She promptly replied, "It's NOT a uniform." I said, "Oh, really?" She said, (sighing at me) "It's a costume!" Ahhhh...silly aunt Michelle! Anyhow, while she was getting ready, the twins were getting into their costumes. McKayla picked out who would wear which costume and decided that Hailey would be the cat and Abigail would be the doggie. They were pretty darn cute!
Then, it was off to trick or treat time! I had originally planned to stay and help Justin pass out candy, but McKayla decided that I should go trick or treating as well. It turned out to be good that I went because Hailey slept quite soundly while Abigail was not a happy camper in the stroller. She definitely likes to be held! So, aunt Michelle was of course happy to oblige her and carry her around for the trick or treating fun. She promptly fell asleep once she was happily being held. McKayla did fairly well with the trick or treating, until the SECOND house. The silly man opened the door with a creepy Joker mask on, and she was totally freaked out. Poor kid! After that she was very timid and wasn't sure about the whole trick or treating thing. We were able to convince her to go to a few more houses, but then she was definitely ready to go home. All in all, it was a great time, and she did get quite a lot of candy for only hitting a handful of houses!
One of the best parts of the night was that McKayla decided it was alright for aunt Michelle to read her one bedtime story (she's been very stuck on ONLY mommy reading stories lately).
Definitely the BEST Halloween I've had in a LONG time...I LOVE being an aunt!! =)
Here are some pics from the evening.


Cheerleader McKayla


Aunt Michelle and Kitty Kat Hailey

Super cute family picture!


Hailey (sleeping contently) and Abigail (VERY unhappy)


Aunt Michelle "driving" McKayla on her new bike

Happy 3rd Birthday McKayla!

Yesterday we were so fortunate to be able to gather with Justin's family to celebrate our niece McKayla's third birthday. Her actual birthday is Tuesday, but since she's not old enough yet to really realize that, yesterday was the big day and the big party. When we first got there, she had just woken up from her nap and decided she did not want to have a party. Her daddy (my BIL Kyle) then wondered who would have to open all the presents downstairs, since she didn't want a party. She mused over this for a moment and then decided maybe having a party was an okay idea, because she really needed to open those gifts =).
Upon arriving, I was also immediately given a baby to hold (that seems to be the pattern when I visit, and I'm quite happy with it). Kyle handed me one of the twins and I said, "Um, which one do I have?" He told me to guess. He stood there with the second baby and I looked back and forth and said, I must have Hailey. He said, Nope, you've got Abigail. They pulled their first switcheroo without even trying! Abigail has almost caught up to Hailey in weight (Abi is about 9lbs and Hailey is about 9.5), so with both of them having more pudgy baby faces they look a LOT alike, even though they aren't identical twins. Anyhow, I proceeded to hold Abigail all through helping McKayla get into her party clothes (an adorable outfit that my mom had gotten for her this past summer), watching the gift opening, and preparing the dinner. It was pretty great. The gift opening was fun and interesting, as it usually is with a toddler. Just like last year, the first gift she opened had her obsessed and fascinated and she really didn't care about the remainder of the gifts. (Grandma has a bad habit of giving her this gift first, instead of last!). Anyhow, she opened a set of all the Aladdin characters and couldn't wait to open them and play with them...but she still had a pile of other presents. So, we remedied this (much like last year with the infamous Cinderella set of characters) by opening the box and letting her pick one character to "help" her open the rest of her gifts. She chose Jasmine and she and Jasmine proceeded to open the rest of the gifts. It was pretty cute. She would look at Jasmine and say "I wonder what's inside this one??" and then open it up. Of course, clothes are totally boring, but she was intrigued by the bike and leapfrog book thing that we gave her. However, in the end, the Aladdin figurines, and some new Polly Pockets from her baby sisters won out and they got all the attention for the rest of the evening. She continues to amaze me with her incredible vocabulary and by how incredibly smart she is. She was walking around for awhile saying things like, "What does Pie start with?...Puh, Puh, Puh, P!!!!" and singing Happy Birthday to herself (she really, really, really likes that song!). In addition, grandma has begun teaching her about finances (and I wonder why my husband is such a finance wizard!). She bought McKayla a purse and has been giving her money for various things like helping her sweep their porch (or by sweet-talking grandpa). At the store the other day she saw a farm set of animals she wanted, but it was $10 and she only had $3. Grandma told her she could buy some other cheaper things, but she said, "No, want the farm set." Grandma said ok, but you will have to wait and save your money until you have $10. McKayla said OK, and has since been saving her dollars. That afternoon she called Grandpa at work and asked him for $1 so she could buy a farm set. He asked how much it cost and she told him $10. He wanted to know how much she had and she replied, "Well, actually, right now, I have $3.00." What a grown up little girl! Well, through her birthday festivities, she was given some more $1 bills and at the end of the night she counted up (too cute to watch a three year old counting $1 bills) and had $10. She was SO excited and made a date with grandma to go to the store on Tuesday and buy her farm animals. Grandma also makes her take her purse every time they go to the store together and will now make her buy things she wants for herself (apparently this was the case with Justin when he was little as well (except he had a wallet, not a purse-of course)...one time he wanted a pop but had forgotten his wallet and they wouldn't buy him the pop--poor kid...).
Anyhow, it is crazy to think that this little wonder-kid is three already. She has grown and changed so much, and learns something new everyday. You really do have to be careful what you say because she remembers EVERYTHING! We sure look forward to watching her grow and learn more, as well as watching the miracle twins continue to grow.
That's about it for now, look soon for more doggie tales...we seem to have a major destructo-dog on our hands...crazy dogs!
Here are some pics from the party...


Me with sleepy Abigail...it's so fun to hold a sleeping, quiet baby!


McKayla with the bike we gave her...we only got her to stand by it...when asked to try it out she responded, "No! Don't want to!" Yet, whenever we looked away, she tried to get on it, but she couldn't quite get up on it without help. So, when we offered to help she backed away and said, "No! Don't want to!" We couldn't win...



Justin and I in our snazzy birthday hats. McKayla insisted that we all wear them, but then didn't want to wear hers for very long...



McKayla with Aunt Michelle (this was the only time I could get her to sit still for a picture...and she couldn't bear to put down the cake to smile =) )




McKayla in her super-cute birthday outfit from "Mrs. Long"

Getting Reinvigorated....

For the last two days I've been attending workshops (all biology based) at the National Association of Biology Teachers. I LOVE workshops, I'm a workshop junkie, but over the last few years I've gone to so many that it's hard to find ones at our region center that I haven't gone to already (they seem to be "recycling" some workshops the last few years). This has been frustrating, because I love to go and meet other teachers and get fresh ideas to use in my classroom. So, these past few days in Memphis have been fabulous! I have TONS of workshops to choose from (sometimes TOO many!) and I am getting some GREAT new ideas! Though it's hard to be away from my classroom for three straight days, I feel it really has been worth it. I'm also getting good ideas for new textbooks that TX will be adopting in a couple of years. And, I made a new friend-such fun! She ended up having a room on the same floor as me in my hotel, and is from San Angelo, TX which is only a few hours away from Austin. What a small world. I just happened to start a short conversation with her, and we've been hanging out ever since. It's so comforting to find a new friend when going to something like this all by yourself! There are also people from my same master's program here, but they are in "cohort" 1, which came the summer before us and this past summer (overlapping with my cohort 2 for 2 weeks). I recognized a few of them, and had talked to a few of them this past summer, so that was comforting as well. They are in a hotel much farther away from the convention center though, and like to party a little bit more than I do in the big city...so it's nice to have another lady here in my hotel to hang out with! Plus, I've had some time to catch up on email and blogging =). It's great to be finished with workshops at 4-5ish and not have anything to do for school, have any papers to grade, have dinner to make, etc. What a nice break! So, all in all, it's been a great conference so far, and I'm looking forward to another two days of hopefully wonderful workshops. I might actually be ready to be back in the classroom after four straight days of workshops =)!
In other news, McKayla (our adorable niece) turns 3 in just two short weeks. Next weekend we are having her birthday party, and I can't wait! Not only do we get to spoil her (we got her her first bike, with helmet of course!), but I will also get to hold babies all evening!!!!! YAY! Abigail and Hailey are both doing well (as of the last report I got) and are gaining weight each day. They are still figuring out a more "regular" feeding schedule, but hopefully within another week or two that will all be smoothed out. I cannot even imagine how tired and worn out Andrea must be! I have a few pictures that I will post, they are both such precious babies, and McKayla is just too cute as well.
Well, I think that's all for now, it's time to get ready for day 3 of workshops!!!


Me with Abigail...she's like a real baby now!


Me and Justin with Abigail


Me with Hailey


Me again with Hailey...isn't she precious?!?


Miss McKayla...can't believe she is almost 3!!


Justin and me at my friend Tamara's wedding last weekend

Doggie Drama!!!!

Amidst all of our busy-ness this fall, we've been faced with some Doggie Drama recently...so I just had to share. Many of you friends have cute kiddos to blog about, well I've got my adorable dogs....

So, about two weeks ago we tried to go to the gym...however, the lame gym people were not there on time. We waited 1/2 an hour, then Justin decided to head to his work (he can work out and get ready at a small gym they have there) and I headed back home to shower and get ready for work. When I arrived, I saw that Mozart had again assisted Sierra (they are TOTALLY partners in crime, and I swear, they are communicating with each other somehow!) in getting down one of the sofa back pillows. It was totally torn into already, and some stuffing had been torn out. Plus, it was complete with yummy dog drool and teeth marks. Definitely not fix-able. Of course our so called "protection" plan, does not protect against animals. Lame! Anyhow, at least it was only $25 and Justin begrudginly bought the new pillow (and promptly charged it to the "dog" budget--haha!). So, that was episode one (there have been some others over the summer, but that was a big one).

And onto episode two...Last Friday I arrived home after a wonderful (ha) grocery trip to Super Wal-Mart. I was happily carrying in my goods when I stepped into the house and was blown away by an awful smell. I entered the living room and saw that Sierra (or we think it was Sierra) had deposited goodies for us-TWICE!! We've had her for almost a year and a half now and she has NEVER done that! Luckily it cleaned up fairly easily and my Outst spray outsted the smell =). So, one would think this was enough....but we're not even to the best part yet!!!

Episode three/four. Last Friday evening (after the "goodies" being left), I proceeded to bake a wonderful batch of my "famous" chocolate chip cookies (really, my teachers and students LOVE them and so do my small group people). What they don't realize is it's all in the pan! My mom got me a pampered chef stoneware jelly roll pan a few years ago, and they make the best, most moist chocolate chip cookie bars ever! We were having two couple-friends for dinner on Saturday, so I was making sure to have some yummy cookies available! Anyhow, I made the cookies and then Justin and I started cleaning the house. He was cleaning the kitchen and moved the cookies to our small kitchen table in our breakfast nook area (we admit, this was our human mistake!). In his cleaning fervor, Justin just left the cookies on the small table and we were off to bed. In the morning, I (of course!) realized a few things that I needed for the evening entertaining that I had forgotten. So, I decided we should walk down the road to the HEB to pick these items up, and this would fulfill our workout for the day and our need to go to the store. It was a beautiful morning and Justin agreed, so we set off (and yes, the cookies were still on that pesky table). I remember briefly looking at the cookies, but didn't really think much about it...so I'm sure you all know where this is headed. When we returned, we found my precious (yes, precious!) stoneware in about 8+ pieces, mostly in the kitchen, but a couple in the living room, complete with blood stained all over our kitchen floor. LOVELY! We're pretty certain that once again, Mozart helped Sierra by grabbing the pan (which upon falling on our kitchen floor shattered). However, after that we weren't sure, but we thought that perhaps Mozart got a few bites of cookie, and Sierra pretty much cleaned out the pan herself. Yikes! So, not only a WHOLE bag of chocolate chips, but all the sugar, etc of the cookies. Argh! I was SO mad about my pan, the fact that I could not make more cookies in it, and just that they would do such a thing (and in such a short time!). Plus, it dented our floor! Justin was pretty irate as well, it was pretty crazy. We weren't sure if she would get sick, so we kept a pretty good eye on her. She didn't want dinner, but she still seemed alright.....fast forward to later that evening when our friends had come....(oh, and Mandi and Royce had brought their cute doggie, Charlie, so the dogs had been running and chasing and having a great time in the backyard).
So, we bring the doggies inside, they get calmed down, and we all sit down for our lovely fajhta dinner...and just about this time, I hear a funny noise over by our coach...and yes, it was Sierra puking all over our (basically white) living room carpet. LOVELY! I wish I had taken a picture. It was like a basketball sized circle of completely dark liquid puke. So, Justin goes to grab the Resolve as I start to mop up the mess. The whole time I'm thinking "there is NO way this is going to come off our carpet....ah yikes!" So, Justin comes out from the laundry room and asks "Where's the other Resolve?" I respond, "The OTHER one? Um, I just finished a bottle and there should have been another pretty full bottle." Well, apparently Justin had done some carpet spot cleaning that I had been unaware of, because the second "pretty full" bottle, did not even have enough to put a dent into our stain. So, Justin hopped in the car, ran down the street to the HEB and bought some more Resolve. When he returned I was still very, very wary because this spot just did not look good. Well, we could be poster children for Resolve. It took about 8 or so treatments, but you cannot tell AT ALL that anything was in that spot (and previously, I had spilled Red Wine, and it took that spot out too, of course that spot was MUCH smaller!). So, everyone had their dessert and we had Sierra close on her leash (so she couldn't sneak off and puke somewhere else) in the kitchen. We began to see the signs of her getting sick again, so Justin rushed outside and we all stood in the kitchen and could literally hear her and the splashing puke on the grass. It was like a person! It was crazy. So, everyone headed home and Justin and I weren't sure what to do next. We certainly did not want to have her in our bedroom, where she might get sick again on white carpet. And, she wouldn't be willing to stay anywhere but with us for a whole evening. So, we realized the "safest" place to stay for the evening was the kitchen. Luckily we have a very nice Cabella's air bed that even has a frame to keep it up off the floor. So, we camped out in our kitchen with Justin holding onto Sierra's leash all night in case she made movements to get sick. In the end, there was no more puking, thank goodness, we were just treated to a not so fabulous night of sleep. As nice as the air bed is, you still wake up at any little movement of the other person. And so ends our doggie saga. Craziness, pure craziness! I sure do love my dogs, but sometimes they certainly do drive us crazy!!!!!
And so, I am patiently awaiting for my new pampered chef stoneware pan to arrive so that I can continue my famous cookie baking tradition. (And yes, it will also be charged to the dogs!!)

On a happier note, I do have some cute pictures to post (and a video, if it works). The pictures are of Mozart, and his version of "hugging" us. Every time Justin and I hug, Mozart comes over, gets on his hind legs and puts his paws up with a very sad puppy look. We have interpreted this to mean "I want a hug too, please". So, if we bend down to him, he puts his paws on our shoulders, promptly licks our face, and gives us our hug. We were crafty enough to snap a few pics of this the other day. IF the video works, it's Sierra and Mozart having some fun in the backyard. The best is at the end when Mozart gives up and Sierra starts dragging him with the rope toy. Gotta love 'em!

Alright, that's all for now. Hopefully there's no more doggie-drama to post about, for awhile at least! We're looking forward to a fun weekend as my brother and Katherine will be visiting from Dallas, we're finally getting them to Austin...it's only taken almost FIVE years (but to their credit, they did live in MN until just a month ago!). Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!


Mozart in the "Please, Hug Me Too" position (it's a little blurry, but you get the idea)


Me Getting My Mozart Hug



Justin Getting His Mozart Hug

School and all it's madness has begun...well three weeks ago....

Hmmm...so I'm just now getting caught up again...I'm not too great at this blogging on a regular basis thing. I think it's because I don't have adorable children to share stories about =)...at least I'll use that as my excuse for now!

Here's what going on in the Halvorsen household....

Justin is finally slowing down at work, and only has about one more "bad" week left, then he can start taking some time off! This week he has been in on numerous (and I mean NUMEROUS) interviews as part of the interview committee to add another staff to his dept. This is good because they really need another person, but apparently sitting in on lots and lots of interviews is quite boring since they ask them all exactly the same questions, and most of them give almost exactly the same answer. Today was going to be the worst....straight line up of interviews from 8am-4pm...YIKES! I guess that's one thing I don't have to deal with as a teacher!!! Aside from that, Justin is very thrilled (as am I) that the football season has finally begun! We have two fantasy teams again this year, and we think we should be competitive in both leagues. Some of you may laugh...but honestly, it's fun and I enjoy watching the games so much more if I know one of "our" players is playing. I am totally hooked! Anyhow, keeping up with our teams and watching the games definitely keeps Justin busy on Sundays...which is good since that is when I do LOTS of studying!

My life right consists pretty much of work and studying for my masters classes. It's a little overwhelming trying to prepare for and teach SIX different subjects, but so far I am surviving. Thank goodness I seem to have really, really good students this year, and they are not even beginning to drive me crazy. They (for the most part) do their homework, participate in discussions, and have really awesome questions about all things science related. So, on that front, it should be a good year. I'm also having fun with our pretty much totally new academic bowl team. We have only one returning member, so we're in a bit of a re-building phase, but we still have high hopes for the team. They are all motivated, and really good kids, so it should be fun. I'm not sure if traveling to Wisconsin in Feb. for our tournament will be wonderful, considering it will probably be very, very cold, but at least I'm still a Northern girl at heart and I can totally handle it =). My masters courses are also starting to ramp up and I'm freaking out...just a little. Whenever I look at the calendars and syllabi, I have to take a deep breath and tell myself that I really can accomplish everything on the assignment list...right? Sure, I can! Ha! At least I have the best, most fabulous husband in the world who is EXTREMELY supportive and is even willing to clean the house while I sit and work on projects, research, and reading! He even does with mostly a smile on his face =). Other than that, I don't have much going on, since TSD and my master's program pretty much eat up all of my time.

In other Halvorsen/Long family news....

Justin and Katherine are fully settled (well pretty much) in Dallas! Yay! They were supposed to come visit this weekend, but hurricane Ike put a little wrench in all our plans, so hopefully they'll be able to come in another week or two. It's taken almost five years to get Justin to visit me here in Austin, so I guess I can wait another week or two!

Justin's sister Andrea and her husband Kyle are doing as well as can be expected after bringing the twins home a couple weeks ago. McKayla is still adjusting, but we are all hoping that soon she will love the babies as much as we all do. Right now they are still a little foreign to her, and she doesn't quite understand why they have to cry so much =). We got to visit on Labor Day, and I hope to be back soon for some more baby holding time!

Well, that's all the time I have for this round. I'll try REALLY hard to update this more than once a month...for those of you that kindly read it =). And, I may not have kids to share pictures of...but watch for some new Mozart and Sierra pictures soon. Justin was able to snap a picture the other night of Mozart "hugging" me...which is my favorite part of coming home each day (aside from hugging Justin of course!!!).

Catching Up....

Phew....where did July go and how in the world is it already the 9th of August! CRAZY! Here's an update on what's going on in the Halvorsen household...hold on, this might take awhile!

Grad School/Michelle Update: Michelle has successfully completed her first three grad school courses! YAY! It was really tough to be away from home for three whole weeks, but it did go by really, really quickly and she learned SO much! She has lots of new information to pass along to her students, and is looking forward to the new school year! And, she's trying to gear up for the three classes she'll be taking online this fall/spring. Chemistry for biology teachers, here I come! =)
In addition to completing the first part of her grad school courses, she's also been working on curriculum and trying to determine her schedule for next school year. It's likely she'll be teaching an extra class (again!), and it's probably going to be chemistry. Interesting....it will be a VERY interesting school year! She is headed to Dallas (Carrollton) today to help Justin and Katherine move into their new home-YAY! She is SO excited to have some of her family join her in TX. This is the closest her brother has lived to her since she was in high school and he was in college-WOW! They've always been at least 6++ hours away from each other, so 3 1/2 hours is CLOSE! She's looking forward to seeing him more often, and to getting to know Katherine even better! Her parents have driven down to help as well, so they will be coming to Austin at the end of this week to visit for a couple of days and to meet our new addition, Mozart. My mom was hoping the twins would be out of the hospital, but that's not looking likely...more on them later!

Justin: Justin has just been chugging along at work. It's still very busy for them so he works late most nights and works most Saturdays-ugh. Luckily, his boss has tried to make sure they don't have to work on Sunday...so at least we have one day to hang out together! Things should start slowing down soon though, just in time for Michelle to go back to school and get very, very busy! Other than that, he has tried to keep our lawn somewhat alive with our water restrictions..which is NOT an easy job!

The Twins: The twins are doing REALLY well, and should be on the back side of their time in the NICU, and hopefully will be heading home in the next 2-3 weeks. Hailey is now well over 5 lbs...maybe even over 5.5lbs. She is feeding lots from a bottle and last week started breastfeeding as well! She is taking to both very well, and when she is able to take ALL feedings from bottle/breast then she can go home!!! She totally looks like a real baby now (finally!) and I got to hold her after returning from St. Louis! It was very, very exciting! Abigail is also doing well, though not quite as well as Haily. She is still not yet 5lbs, but is getting closer. They removed her nasal canula (breathing helper thing), but also stopped giving her caffeine at the same time and that was rushing her a bit, so she is back on the nasal canula for now. She is also feeding well from bottle and breast though, so that is good. The sad news this week was that McKayla (our 2 1/2 year old niece) got strep throat. This meant the whole household was banned from NICU until everyone in the house was symptom free for 48 hours. So, Kyle and Andrea have been unable to visit the girls since last Wed! This means Justin and I can't go either, but that's ok with us, we just feel bad for Kyle and Andrea!!! McKayla was given antibiotics and was not contagious as of Friday, and her fever did break, so Andrea SHOULD be able to go visit tonight. Hopefully, Uncle Justin will be able to join her since he hasn't seen the girls in well over a month! At any rate, the girls are progressing SO well considering how early they were born and have had relatively few problems, we are SO blessed and thankful! Hopefully they will be home soon so Andrea can settle in and get used to having 2 infants and a toddler running around (how you get used to that--I have no idea!).



Pictures of the twins, now sharing an open crib! In the bottom picture, the near one is Abigail and the far one is Hailey.

That's about it...we've definitely been keeping busy and things don't show any sign of slowing down, as usual! We hope you are all doing well!!

Grad School Here I Come!

Well, I have landed safe and sound, and survived a taxicab ride (my first!) to the University. I have established my wifi connection (woohoo) and am ready to go! The part of campus that I've seen so far is really beautiful. Apparently the building we're in is only maybe 6 or so years old, but it's done in beautiful brick and matches the older parts of campus. I can't wait to explore more of it! I'm waiting in the hopes that a few more people will arrive, and they will want to explore with me! Our first dinner/meeting is tonight at 6pm, so I've got a few hours to kill. So far, only one other woman is here, so I'm not sure when everyone else will arrive. Tonight we have a "casual buffet" and then we get to meet all the professors, find out about the structure, grading, etc...then tomorrow morning at 8:30 we start full speed with our first class "Plants and People." Should be interesting, and I know there's at least two field trips to different botanical/research gardens. I'm looking forward to it, though I know it will be intense to have a full 2 hour graduate course crammed into one week! I better get good sleep tonight =)!

Aside from arriving in St. Louis today, it's been a busy couple of weeks! Last weekend I flew to NE for my 10 year HS reunion and had a blast! I was really glad to see that most of my choir/band friends were there. It was fun to see everyone and catch up! I also enjoyed the time with my family, especially my sister who came down from MN for the weekend. After arriving back from NE on Wed, I was able to spend a few days with Justin as he was granted a rare day off! Woohoo! We got all of Thurs, Fri and Sat together before I had to fly off again this morning. I tell myself that three weeks really isn't that long (and it isn't, it could be 3 months, or worse a year!), but it was still hard to say goodbye. I'm figuring these next three weeks will fly by though since I'll be so busy with class and homework, and before I know it-I'll be flying back to TX! Anyhow, on the 4th we had Justin's family over for fajitas and brown-cows (aka root beer floats). It was fun to spend time with them, especially McKayla who just gets smarter and cuter everyday! I was also able to get up to the hospital with Andrea to visit Abigail and Hailey. Since my last update, Abigail has had it a little rough. She developed an intestinal infection (NEC) and was given two blood transfusions and put in isolation on a 10-day antibiotic course. Thank God that the doctors caught it early and she seems to only have had a mild case since the "hotspot" on her intestines went away and she is getting feisty again =). It could have been much worse and required surgery, so we are all extremely grateful that she is back on the mend. She has started feedings again, and hopefully will be moved back by Hailey soon. Hailey, on the other hand, has been doing wonderful and is now well over 3lbs! She was graduated to be able to wear little tiny clothes and being swaddled. She can basically control her own body temperature now too, so they can hold her for longer periods of time and for more than one time per day. Hopefully Abigail will continue to improve and catch up to Hailey soon!

Well, I think that's it for now. Wish me luck on grad school and hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!!!

Update on Twins and New Pictures!

Here is an update on the twins from my brother-in-law Kyle:
At this point, there is not too much to report. The girls are both oing great and continue to astound the NICU that they require such little help. Abigail's IV was removed Friday night. It is unclear whether she took it out herself or it just fell out. We would not be surprised if our feisty girl just determined she did not need it any longer. Hailey's IV was removed yesterday. They are both tolerating their feedings well. The breast milk they've been receiving has been fortified with 2 special "preemie" cocktails to help them grow faster. They are nearly back to birth weight. Both girls still have the nasal cannulas for air pressure only. Neither requires oxygen, just standard "room air." They are also both still receiving caffeine to help treat their apnea of prematurity, which we've been told could persist until they are 35 weeks or older. They had their 1-week head ultrasounds on Friday, and both were negative--no hemorrhages or other problems were noted. Abigail did have some issues with skin breakdown that have now resolved.
We continue to thank God for these little miracles and how well they are doing. Please continue to keep us all in your prayers, not only for the continued health and growth of these girls but for the sanity of their parents as we attempt to keep life "normal" for McKayla and handle the daily visits to the NICU.

So, all in all, things are going extremely well, which is such a great blessing! I get to see the girls again tomorrow, and I can't wait. I unfortunately came down with a sinus infection, and could not visit all last week =(! But, I'm all better now, and am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow!

In other life news, this week my ASL camp was canceled (yeah!). I was actually very happy because I was just getting run down and needed a break. So, this week I get to have McKayla for two days! I took her today and will have her again on Thursday! Today we read "Mouse Paint" and "I'm a Big Sister" about 20 times =) and went to the Build a Bear Workshop store where she built an adorable pink and white bear which she promptly named "Abigail". Apparently she has been naming many of her toys and "stuffies" Abigail and Hailey. Too cute. I snapped a couple of pictures of her while she was 'resting' with Abigail the cute pink bear, so I will upload those. Kyle also sent some good pictures of the twins when they had them out together this past weekend.
Other than that, I am preparing to fly to NE on Friday evening for my ten-year high school reunion. It is still hard to believe it's been 10 whole years since we graduated. I'm looking forward to seeing those friends I've kept in touch with, and those that I haven't seen in 10 years! It should be a good time. Plus, my sister will be coming home as well, so I get to spend time with her!! I'm also starting to prepare for my three weeks in St. Louis. I fly back from NE next Wed and then fly out to St. Louis that Sunday. Yikes! A week and a half and I'll be headed to graduate school. Exciting...yet scary too! I really am looking forward to it...mostly =)!

Well, that's about it for now. Hope you're all doing well!




Hailey is in purple...Abigail is in pink...you can really see how small they are compared to Andrea's hands!!!

Happy, Exciting News!!!!

YAY! My brother and sister-in-law (Justin & Katherine) have decided to take the leap of faith and move to Dallas!!!!! WOOHOO! Not that I'm excited to have some of my family down in the Lonestar state or anything--haha! I know this was a tough decision for them, but am so happy that God is giving them this opportunity and so happy that I will be able to spend more time with them. It will be fun to see Katherine more often and get to know her better, and it will be fun for Justin and Justin to get to know each other better too.

Also, I met Abigail and Hailey last night...they are SO tiny and precious! Andrea was able to hold Abigail for 30 minutes, which was really neat. I won't be able to hold them for a long time, but I was so glad that Andrea was able to. Hailey is still on some breathing assistance (no oxygen, just something that helps inflate her lungs or something), so they cannot hold her yet. But, Andrea was able to help the nurse by changing her diaper and taking her temperature. They are both just adorable, and again, so tiny! I am going to remember my camera next time! It was also amazing to see that Abigail is a spitting image of Kyle, it was crazy! Even the nurses knew which baby was his just by seeing his face! Hailey definitely favors Andrea and McKayla, so it will be interesting to see how they change and if they continue to look so strongly like one parent or the other!

Anyhow, just wanted to share my fun and exciting news!!!

The Twins have made their entrance....

On Friday evening, Friday the 13th =), Abigail Leigh and Hailey Marie made their entrance into this world. Abigail weighs 2lb 4oz and has been breathing all on her own since being born. Hailey Marie weighs 2lb 10oz and has been receiving minimal assistance in breathing. Justin was able to meet them last night in the NICU, and I'm looking forward to meeting them this afternoon! We won't be able to hold them for a couple more weeks, so that will be tough, but we can stick it out. We're just so happy and feel so blessed that they made it to 28 weeks. Their outlook is very good and though the doctors know that there will be more ups and downs, they will hopefully be headed home by their due date, Sept. 4th. I know it will be a couple of long months for us all, but these miracles are worth waiting for! Kyle has recently sent photos, which I've emailed to many of you, but in case I missed you on that list, here are some pictures of them....


Abigail Leigh


Abigail Leigh


Hailey Marie


Hailey Marie

Andrea is recovering well and will probably be discharged on Tues or Wed. I know that it will be tough for her to leave her little ones, but they have good friends in the hospital, and even a good friend who is a nurse in the NICU, so we all know the girls will be well taken care of. Anyhow, thank you to all of you who have been praying for the girls, Andrea, and the whole family. God has been working through all of this, and has blessed us all with these little miracles. It will be such a joy to watch them grow and be their aunt!!!!

No other news...yet...though I did enjoy a fun day in Dallas with Justin (my brother) and Katherine (his wife). Justin was offered a job here with his company, and they are in the process of deciding. Of course I'm jaded and biased and would LOVE to have them SO CLOSE to me down here, but it is their decision to make and they have been thinking and praying about it for a few weeks now. Justin must decide by early tomorrow morning, so they have a tough day ahead. I will let you all know how that all pans out. Even though I would love to have them here, I want them to do what is best for them and what is in God's plan for them. If that means living 3.5 hours from me, COOL, if not, I'll have to keep planning vacations to MN =).

Thanks again to all of you who have been praying for Abigail and Hailey and I look forward to posting more about these little jewels!

Schools Out for the Summer....Yay!

Happy Summertime is here! I've made it through another fun and exciting school year at TSD! This, I think, was overall one of my best years here, mainly due to my awesome and super smart seniors that were so much fun to teach. I had my moments with my freshman, but without those seniors I would have had a horrible year, they definitely kept me sane and made me remember why I became a teacher! Anyhow, now onto the fun and exciting events of this summer...could I just sit back and relax-heck NO! Here's the plan for this summer, big-deep-breath now....
Next week, teach an afternoon "Surgeons in Training" biology/dissection camp to six 8-10 year olds....FUN!!!!!
Week after that, teach an afternoon "American Sign Language I" camp to (not sure how many) 6-10 year olds
Week after that, teach an afternoon "American Sign Language II" camp to (again, no idea how many) 6-10 year olds...phew, then on that Friday night I fly off to NE for my 10 year HS reunion---holy cow----has it really been ten years? I will spend 5 days in NE and then fly back to TX on the 3rd...just in time to do some laundry and re-pack for my trek to St. Louis!
On July 6th I fly to St. Louis to start my masters degree at Washington University. I stay for three weeks this summer and three weeks next summer with online coursework, etc during the school year. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to being a student again for awhile! Plus, while I'm there I get to see Lindsay and Sara, my two awesome friends from ISU!! YAY!
When I return on July 26th I prepare for one more week of afternoon camp, repeating the "Surgeons in Training." Then, on August 2nd I can finally breathe and relax for a couple of weeks....then it's back to TSD for another school year.

Hmmm...wonder if my summer will fly by too quickly?!? =)

In other news, Justin has hit busy season at his job, which means the doggies and I don't get to see much of him. Kind of sad that our schedules don't mesh and he's so busy when I'm (sort of) slowing down for awhile. At least I'll be around to keep the house and yard in order though--except for the almost month I'll be in NE and St. Louis! Poor guy! Anyhow, he's doing well and enjoys his job (most days), but of course would prefer not to work 12-14 hour days and then also work on Saturday! Ahhhh...the life of a state budget analyst preparing for fiscal years 2010-2011.

In other, other news, Justin's sister Andrea hit 27 weeks yesterday! Praise God! She is doing very well, considering that she is on strict bed rest at the hospital. After next week (28 weeks) the chances of long term issues from pre-term labor are reduced greatly. Of course we pray she makes it to at least 34 weeks, but it's one step at a time! I told the babies today they had to wait to make their appearance until I get back from St. Louis! I'll be so sad if they come while I'm gone!

Well, that's about it for now...we may have some exciting news from my side of the family (and NO, no one is pregnant), but I'll wait another week or two to see if all works out.

Hope you're all doing well, and to my many teacher friends---let summer begin!!!

Update and Thanks....

Hey All,
For those of you needing an update, my sister-in-law Andrea (Justin's sister) has been put on long term hospital bed rest with the twins. Basically, she is 23 weeks right now, and they are not viable until 24 weeks....so at least one more week until they could even try to save them. Good news is she's been there a week now, and nothing has changed as far as more contractions or anything--PRAISE GOD! They are really hoping she'll have a very long, very uneventful and very boring 2-3 months more in the hospital. And I could not agree more! Next week Wed or Thurs they will be starting her on steroids to help the babies grow a little more quickly, in case they do come early. We'd really love for them to make it to 30 or more weeks, and that's what we're praying hard for.

Let's see, in other news, I had a super fun day with McKayla, their 2 1/2 year old, and can I brag that she is SO super smart? I had to stop in at school to deal with some field trip paperwork, so I took her to see the fish I have in my classroom. She was SO excited and kept saying "Swim fishies, swim!!!" Afterwards, she started saying "Fishies, what does fishies start with?" At first I wasn't sure what she was saying, and then I caught on, so I said, "Well, what does fishies start with??" She replied "ffff, Fishies starts with F!!!" Um, holy cow, the 2 1/2 year old is doing phonics? Wow! Then she continued saying, "And frogs! Frogs starts with F!" Throughout the day I received various phonics lessons. Later, when we visited Andrea, it was confirmed that they have been talking about the sounds letters make, and words that start with those sounds. Andrea was amazed when she realized a few weeks ago that McKayla not only knows the letters, but their sounds and words that start with them. I guess I don't know many 2 1/2 year olds, but she sure seems smart to me =)! I was also playing a kids CD for her (she has a copy of it at home that they play) and the "months of the year" song was playing. All of a sudden she started singing along. Not only does she know that, but also the days of the week. She's too cute. Anyhow, enough bragging. Yikes, what will it be like when I have THREE nieces to brag on?

Well, I think that's all for now. Hope you're all doing well and thanks again to all of you who are praying for Andrea and the twins!

Prayers Needed

Many of you probably got an email from me about this, but just in case, please keep Andrea, Justin's sister, in your prayers. She's in the hospital now with a possible infection and is having contractions. Obviously with twins pre term labor is a big concern, but right now they think the contractions are very small and due to the infection causing her uterus irritation. At any rate, they need many prayers for all of that, and for everything to work out when she is on bed rest at home. She may be on bed rest for quite awhile. Thanks all!

Birthday Weekend Fun

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to OK City for my birthday weekend. We met my parents there and had a wonderful time!! On Friday, my mom and I got in a quick bit of shopping (of course!) and then we enjoyed a fun dinner at the Shogun Steak House. They even sang to me in Japanese and took our picture. If I can get it scanned and it turns out ok, I'll post it for you all to see. Saturday my mom and I enjoyed a day of marathon shopping, while the boys went golfing. Justin was a very good sport and did 18 holes with my dad. They both enjoyed the male bonding time, and the beautiful weather. Saturday night my parents had purchased us all tickets to a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. We all weren't sure what to expect, but it turns out it is an outreach ministry of a church-HOW COOL! It's in the back area of a church and members serve as the waiters, waitresses, etc. The food was SO good, and the theater part was hilarious. Guess who even got pulled up on stage for audience participation, yep, yours truly. I proudly shook mini maracas and did crazy hand motions to "I've Got Friends in Low Places". Good thing I know that song. Anyhow, I even got to keep one of my maracas....fun times. We were all quite impressed and were so glad that the proceeds go to help the church's outreach. Very cool.
On Sunday we saw one of the coolest science exhibits ever! While chatting with a couple at our table on Saturday night we discovered that the Science Museum had the "Our Body-The Universe Within" exhibit. We had planned on going to the zoo, but quickly decided preserved and dissected bodies would be MUCH better. And wow-it was SO awesome! If it's in your area or near you, you really should go! It was definitely worth it and we spent a good couple of hours just in that exhibit. The museum also had tons of other exhibits, enough that we could have gone back for a second day! Some other time I guess! Sunday night we had a nice time playing cards at the hotel to wrap up our big weekend. Unfortunately, Monday it was time to eat an early breakfast and head out our separate ways. But, it was a really wonderful weekend and I'm so glad to have spent my birthday with my parents, it's been about 7 or 8 years since I've been able to see them on my actual birthday, pretty cool. (If you know my family, you know that birthdays are a really BIG deal).

Aside from that trip, we've been continuing to adjust to having Mozart added to our family. It's going pretty well, and actually Sierra is the one who "acts out" sometimes. Earlier this week both Justin and I's shoes were chewed up (she's never touched them before) and a pair of my slippers met their demise. We've learned to put everything up, though yesterday she tried the rug, but I think discovered it wasn't much to chew up. Who knows what she will try today...we'll find out!

We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival our of twin nieces, yep, that's right-two more girls! You don't even realize how much fun I will have shopping for three girls! I've already started! Andrea is doing well, but is feeling quite huge. She's measuring at 30 weeks, even though she's only at 21! The only thing identified as a potential problem so far is one of the babies only has one umbilical artery. This could be nothing, or a sign of a heart defect. All the other chromosomal tests have been normal, so they are hoping that there is no heart defect present when they do the echocardiogram in a couple of weeks. If that comes up clear that will be a really good sign. We are all praying that everything with both babies will be perfect and normal!

Last but not least, our very good friends from CO-Michael and Jennifer (pictured in the post about Justin's 30th birthday) had their baby girl yesterday! So, we happily welcome Aubrey Marie into the Haas family and wish them the best!!!!

Take care everyone--and you teachers out there, hang in there...the end is in sight!!!!

Spring has Sprung!!!

Hey All! Just wanted to post a few pictures of our beautiful flowers in front of our house. They have just "exploded" (as Justin says) in the past week or two, and especially in the past couple of days. Justin pretty much takes care of them, so I can't claim credit, but I sure do enjoy them!!!
Have a great day!