Trip to Pasadena California

I was very fortunate last month to have the opportunity to go to Pasadena California for a training. The training was about math and science for preschoolers, and it was fantastic. But even better than the training was that I got to attend with a coworker that I enjoy quite a bit. We had a lot of fun on our down time, and were able to see and do many things in our three short days in sunny Cali. We went to a ritzy champagne bar one night, and a wine tasting bar the next night. Every morning we had pastries beside a fireplace. It was very relaxing and rejuvenating!

Flying in over the mountains

View from Old Pasadena (shopping district). Look at all of those lush green trees!

If it weren't for all the traffic and people, I think I could live there!

Phone booth!

My coworker Christina

A really pretty church at night

Our dessert fondue at The Melting Pot

Chocolate fondue - yes please!

My martini had ice cream in it!!! ICE CREAM!!

Pretty palm trees

Look at me lighting a bulb with tin foil and a battery! Smart stuff!

Our last morning there was the first one that wasn't instantly sunny and warm

View from the front of our hotel

Christina and I

Little did we know we were headed for airport hell. Our first flight was delayed, meaning we missed our connecting flight out of Houston. We spent the night in Houston at the Most Awful Hotel in the World. (I think that might have actually been the name of the place!)

So we went from this.....

To this....

And this. Ugh.

Besides the way it ended, it was a lovely trip. One of the perks of my job is definitely being able to go to trainings. Not only is it a way to learn more about areas of my profession, but it's nice to get away for a couple days.

Mother's Day

What a week! I was gone Monday (evening) through Thursday for a movement and learning training in Kansas City. It was a wonderful training and I came away from it with a lot of good ideas for getting my class (and myself) moving more. But man, am I glad to be back home. That's the longest I've been away from Raegan since she was born, and I sure was missing her. It was a lot of fun to talk to her on the phone every night though. And when I went in to get her out of bed Friday morning, she said "Mama!" very joyfully, which just made my day. :)

I have several different posts to make, so I'm going to start them in order with last Sunday. I had a very nice Mother's Day. Raegan and I went to church in the morning and we all just kind of lazed around and did some shopping in the afternoon. Instead of going out to eat, we opted to get me an ice cream cake instead. I figured for a special occasion, I could break the special diet a little!

Thoughtful girl!

Glam girl!

Yummy....

Spring has sprung!

Tomorrow marks the first official day of Spring. Finally! For whatever reason, this winter seems to have been especially long this year. Maybe it was the SNOW we had in MARCH this year?

Next week is also our Spring Break. Zane and I have always taken a little trip over the break every year, usually to a zoo. Last year I took the kids to Rolling Hills here in town, because with Raegan being so young I wasn't sure how well she would tolerate a longer car ride. I haven't really decided what we're going to do this year yet. Zane and I talked about maybe going to Tanganyika Wildlife in Goddard this year, or maybe the Topeka zoo since we haven't been there yet. We're forecasted for a lot of rain today and tomorrow, but I'm hoping that the weather will cooperate with us and we can go either Monday or Tuesday next week.

I'm just glad for the break to refresh and recharge for the last couple months of school. I've had some very challenging behavior problems in my classroom this year, and it's kind of been a draining year. It had been a blessing that the year feels like it has gone by quickly though! I can't believe that we're already halfway through March, because I'm pretty sure that Luke and I took our trip to Kansas City just last weekend! :) I really need to start planning our summer vacation, because I think that's going to be upon us before we know it. I've been diligently saving money every month since November, so I think we'll be able to do something pretty nice this year.

This post has kind of turned into a ramble, so I think I'm going to stop here. Hopefully I'll have some time to take pictures of the kids the week and get them up here, because I haven't been doing a very good job of that lately.

Miscellany Monday

1. Happy Valentine's Day

Luke and I decided not to really do anything for Valentine's Day this year. We went out to lunch, just the two of us, on Friday, but decided to leave it at that. So I was pleasantly surprised to come home this afternoon to find a beautiful vase of roses on our kitchen table. Awwwww...... :)

2. Happy Tax Day!

Even more exciting to me than Valentine's Day is the fact that today marks the day we can officially file our tax return. Stupid Congress taking so long to pass everything at the end of last year - we would have our return in our hands by now if not for having to wait because we itemize.

3. Frosting

Dillon's really makes the best frosting ever (except for the woman who made my weddin cake, but how accesible is her frosting?). I pushed myself a little harder at the gym tonight to make up for my discovery of Dillon's frosting. lol

4. Head Start

The House is talking about a 22.4% cut to Head Start for the remaining six months of the 2011 fiscal year. This is huge. According to everything I've read today, this would result in over 200,000 children losing services and ovr 50,000 employees losing their jobs (in the U.S.) I'm pretty passionate about Head Start, not just because they cut my check every month, but because I believe that it's a good thing. Study after study shows the benefits of early education, and Head Start provides this to the poorest of the poor who may not otherwise be able to afford a quality early education for their child(ren). If you feel so moved, please consider contacting your members of Congress by email and ask them to reconsider this proposed cut of funding. If you go to this link, you'll find the information you need to do so. There's a form letter you can use, or you can make changes to it to add your own thoughts.

I feel like I should add one more miscellany so that I don't end on such a downer, but I just don't have anything else. Good night all!

Miscellany Monday

1. Saving money
I am slightly obsessed with websites that gives tips on how to save money or pay off debt, if you couldn't tell from my last post. Like, all of my web surfing tonight has pretty much been on The Saved Quarter, Penny Pinchin' Mom, Money Saving Mom. I guess it's getting me away from Facebook for awhile, which I was sorely in need of a break from.

2. Parent teacher conference week
I am doing 24 parent teacher conferences between tomorrow and Thursday. I don't think I really need to say anything more about this miscellany, now do I?

3. Snow
Just for the record, I do not want a snow day tomorrow, or any day this week. See #2 for my main reason why. Honestly, I'm just tired of snow. I want it to be spring. I want to wear my favorite capris and play outside with Raegan. I hope that Phil was right about spring coming earlier this year!

4. Annual review
I had my annual review at work today, and it was pretty good. I don't take compliments well, so it's weird for me to sit there and read and hear good things about myself. But it is nice to know that my hard work is noticed. :)

5. Shoes

I bought these beauties at Target last week. Aren't they fabulous?!?! They pinch my toes just a smidge, but are a lot better than high heels, but cuter than my other black shoes with no heel. This miscellany doesn't quite tie in with my desire to save money I suppose. :) Eh, I don't have to penny pinch all the time, right?

First week back to work

No pictures with this post. My camera has been doing that weird thing where the lighting in my pictures is all off, so I have no pictures this week. I think when we have some extra money I'm just going to get a new camera. ;) I did get a picture of Raegan on her first day of child care with Zane's camera, but I haven't bothered to download it yet. Today I worked from 7:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. so I've been just a tad bit busy.

It seems that Ms. Raegan is adjusting well to child care. She went Monday morning so that I could go to a meeting from 8:00-10:00. She didn't fuss at all when I handed her off, and when I went to pick her up there were in the backyard and she was watching the bigger kids play with hoola hoops. She had her head cocked off to the side and this confused look like, "What are you guys doing?" Tuesday was Raegan's first full day, and she cried a little when I dropped her off, but Angela said she stopped as soon as she got distracted by the other kids. Yesterday and today she cried again, but I could tell today that it was that fake, "I want you Mama" cry, so I feel like she's starting to get over it. She made a motion like she was going to go to Angela on her own (but rethought it) and I thought that was encouraging. Raegan really likes all the kids at child care, and she's always liked big kids, so I think that's helping the transition.

Apparently she is falling asleep for nap on her own. Little turd. Angela said she will only cry for a couple minutes and then fall asleep. So tonight I tried nursing her then laying her in her crib, and she cried for maybe two minutes then fell asleep. Awesome! Hopefully it's a new trend.

Zane doesn't start school until Monday, so he's been haging out at the house by himself this week. He says he doesn't like to be alone, which is funny because he will spend hours at a time playing and reading in the basement. I've been going home to check on him on my lunch, and he's been doing a good job of getting himself dressed and teeth brushed and fed. With a reminder note of when to shut the tv off. I think if I didn't leave that note I would come home late afternoon to find him still in his pajamas. I'm not kidding either. Boys. :)

So all is well in Jones Land. I will be glad for the end of next week so that I will be done with home visits and can get into a routine of leaving at 3:30 every day. Tomorrow I have a training that lasts until 4:00. Raegan will be spending the day with her Daddy and big brother, so everyone will be relaxing but me. Boo!