Did you see it?!

That ONE little tooth on the bottom? Isn't it cute? I sure love that sunshine girl!

"You don't need a winter coat."

My friend Isela told me this in September after I told her I still hadn't bought myself a winter coat. "I grew up here and it never gets cold here. I actually just gave my winter coat to my sister since I wouldn't need it."

Well, apparently I am a wuss, because I think it gets cold. It was cold the first winter we were here in Texas and it's been blustery and snowing the second winter we've been here too.

In fact, this February we got the most snow Dallas has (apparently) ever had in history.

Guess that means I'd better get myself a winter coat.

Before NEXT winter.

Anyone know where I can find a cute button-down pea coat? :-)

Notice that the boys have winter coats? Must be nice. :-)

Bulls-eye!

Look out!

Teacher Gifts

I've worked with children a majority of my life. I never had brothers or sisters, but I had the opportunity to babysit plenty of times. To me, it was never quite babysitting so much as it was getting payed to play. I think I had as much fun as the kids did!

I first started babysitting when I was about 12 years old for my neighbors next door. They were a serious couple; the type of dry people who don't always get when you crack a joke. They were really nice people though and their kids loved to read books and would ask me to do different voices for all of the characters.

Once I 'grew up', I went and got my CDA (Childhood Development Associates Credential) after being observed for a week at the nearby Head Start program and then I got my first official job working at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center watching children while their moms got therapy for their addictions. It was a hard job in the sense that it was emotionally and mentally draining. Some of those Moms didn't care about those kids.

The drug and alcohol rehabilitation center was also beside the halfway house and it was S-C-A-R-Y. If you don't know what a halfway house is, it's also a rehabilitation center but this one was for people on their way back into society from prison. It was only for men so as I'd walk to work and pass the building, men would lean out the window sills and cat call and shout dirty things out the window. I hated walking by that building and I hated seeing Moms who didn't care about what happened to their children, so after a year I flew the coop and landed a job at a Montessori Preschool about 15 minutes down the road.

What a change! The parents adored their children; they wanted an active role in their child's life, they participated in fund raisers, they came to sing Christmas songs and to drink hot cocoa. They planted flowers in the spring and helped us celebrate Dia De Los Muertos in the Fall. I loved it. These parents were grateful for us and told us how much their children loved us. They gave us little tokens of affection at Christmas and Valentines Day.

It was still a lot of work, but it was rewarding. It was amazing watching children grow by leaps and bounds and to see how smart they were getting. I really miss that aspect of teaching!

Since I know how hard these teachers work, I know how much they need to be told what a great job they are doing. Sometimes we think that they know, and in some way, they DO know when we smile at them and thank them at the end of each day but it's kind of nice that we have holidays that prompt us to tell them more directly 'Job well done'.

Peyton was out of school for Christmas so he didn't give Christmas gifts this year to his teachers (he was out from Thanksgiving to January fighting ear infections and a cold). So this will be his first time giving something to his teachers. I saw this idea on another blog and I just dolled it up a bit and made it my own. I gave each teacher a gift card to Sonic so they can get some treats that they'd like themselves. I loved this whole idea, and luckily I had all of the supplies on hand, except for the ribbon which I picked up last night!

'So Fortunate To Have You As My Teacher'

Aren't they cute?

Did you do anything special for the teachers in your life?

Speaking of Valentine's Day gifts, my friend Jessica drove down on Sunday all the way from Omaha to visit for a night. She left at 3 a.m. and didn't get to my house until 6:30 p.m. at night!

It was really good to see her and to visit with her three musketeers (Brennan, Jackson and Ethan). I hope she'll be able to come back and visit for longer (hint, hint) next time. I still can't believe that neither one of us got out a camera to document our visit though. :-(

Jess and the boys left at around 10 a.m. the very next morning to continue their journey to Vidalia, Louisiana; but not before showering my kids with gifts!

Jessica has an Etsy shop through which she sells these adorable tee shirts that she makes. Peyton and Chloe were the lucky recipient of two of these shirts handmade by Jess and we {heart} them. Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures; it was late, the kids were tired; Chloe's hair is a mess and they both wouldn't sit still, but hopefully you can get the general idea of what these shirts look like!

'C' is for Chloe!

Even Chloe's pigtails look tired!

'P' is for Peyton! Don't you love the skull and crossbones? I love the red around it that makes it pop!

 This is about as good as I could get. No smiles from little girl, she was ready for her bed. :-)

Thanks so much Jess! You didn't have to bring us gifts but I'm glad you did!

Oh and if you (yes, you!) want to get a shirt for your very own, give Jessica about two weeks to get back from vacation and her shop re-stocked she'll have cute stuff in for St. Patties Day! :-)

♥{Heart}♥ Day Preparations

This is Peyon's first year for exchanging Valentines.

He's clueless.

I'm excited.

He's got 11 girls in his class.

11!

And there's only 4 boys (he's one of them).

So I wanted to do something special for his preschool buddies.

Here's what I came up with:

I got trucks for the boys with tags that say: 'Valentine, I'd race to be your friend any day! ☺ Peyton'

For once, I think that the boy's gifts are way cuter than the girls'!

The girls get bubbles with tags that read: 'You're so bubbly... We should be friends

♥ Peyton'

So colorful!

I went to Walmart and spent $1 on each child.

Not bad for $16!

This Probably Won't Be Funny To Anyone Else But Me...

We've been trying to potty train Peyton recently so in an effort to maintain damage control, we've been having him sit on the potty and push down his 'fire hose'.

This morning, I skipped into the bathroom because duty called and as most any mother will tell you, even the bathroom is fair game as far as children are concerned. In comes Peyton barging in (apparently because Troy was asking, 'Where's Mama?') and he shouted with glee, 'Here she is!'.

Then without missing a beat, he says, "Push it down!" which is what we always tell him to do while he's going potty.

Nice.

Sorry Peyton, I don't have anything that needs 'pushing down'. :-0

Frog Legs: It's What's For Dinner

Where is the love?

I've had this Black Eyed Peas song stuck in my head the past few days, especially this part:

♪ What's wrong with the world, Mama?
   People livin' like they ain't got no Mama's

 ...Instead of spreading love we spreading animosity
   Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity

  That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' under
  That's the reason why sometimes I'm feelin' down

  There's no wonder why sometimes I'm feelin' under
  Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found ♪

These lyrics are a little hauntingly close to home for me right now and here's why:

Every morning Monday thru Friday, I drive Peyton to preschool and walk him to his classroom.

Every day I pass another parent in the hall taking their child to school too.

I smile.
I say 'Good Morning!'
Peyton waves.
Chloe wiggles and giggles.

They stare back.

No smile.
No wave.
No hello.

Nearly every day I hold the door open for a different parent and their child {while still holding Chloe} on my way out the door.

No thank you.
No smile.
Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

Are you kidding me?!

Is it so hard to flash a smile for one nano-second? What are we teaching our kids?

Are we training the next generation to be selfish and self-centered?

That 'thank you' isn't something that need be said?

But unfortunately, it's not only parents that are the culprit here.

Today I went to Hobby Lobby to look for something to decorate my bare mantel over the fireplace. There was an employee in one aisle checking the SKU's on different items on her clipboard and she was pretty intent on her project. I scooted into the aisle with Chloe strapped into the BabyBjorn carrier and tried to look at some of the fleur de lis they had.

Now, maybe I was being selfish here; but I thought that maybe this lady might move down a few inches or so so that I could see what there was on the shelves opposite her. My back was turned to her as she continued fussing with things on the shelf in front of her and she would not move. At one point she started brushing past me and actually knocked into me a few times but never excused herself or said a word.

Her body language was clearly implying that I was in the way and that I should move already.

Message received.

I left.

Now here's a little bit of info about me:

I am a sensitive soul.

Probably way more than I should be.

I am also extrememly shy and introverted, almost to the point that it scares me to talk to new people.

So when I go out of my way to smile, say 'Good Morning' or hold open doors, it pains me that people treat me like I am invisible.

I'm worried what kind of world we'll find ourselves in when our children are adults at the rate that things are going currently. If we don't care, will they?

♪ 'Cause people got me questionin', where is the love? ♪