Summer Ends School Starts

Today I can definitely tell fall is coming. As I sit watching the Vikings with my guys and feel the cool air blow in from the open window, I am just dreaming of pumpkin goodies and fall decorations.

Accordingly, school has begun and I am now a stay at home mom, until MEA. I have to say I'm very thankful for this decision. Many of you know, but Dean has decided to regress a bit in sleep, which is apparently quite common especially during a growth spurt. He is now 3 months old, and growing every day, so I'm sure that's the cause. However, I do miss a night of sleeping more than 3 hours in a row. Soon I'm sure, but for now I'm thankful that the only work I'm doing is teaching fitness classes.

Lucky for us though, even though we're sleep deprived and tired, Dean is becoming more fun every day! He loves to sit in his Bumbo chair, stick his hands in his mouth, play with his saucer and go for walks. He smiles and coo and occasionally we even hear a giggle. And no big deal but he rolled over 3 times this week (smartest kid ever of course!).

 The end of summer is also bittersweet. It means that in a week I will be heading to NC with my sweet little guy, letting him see all my extended family, my friends and WATCH A WFU FOOTBALL GAME! It's our 5 year reunion and most of my friends are coming back to town to celebrate the homecoming! I'm SOOO excited! It will be a little hard for Deanie and me without Mark, and I know 2 weeks away will be hard for him too, but I know everyone in NC is excited!

The end of summer is sad in that my brother and Susan are moving at the end of this month. We are excited for them because of the opportunities that they are being given, but I know Deanie will miss his little Henry :/

The end of summer also marks an end to boating on the river, market fest concerts, trips up North and Big Brother... (did I just admit my love of crappy reality tv on here... I guess so) But we are happy for the memories that we shared in this first summer of Dean's life. He got to ride in a boat, wear a life vest and "camp" on the St. Croix as a final hurrah.

But for now, the nostalgia of summer must end because the Vikings are on, and they are "my favorite team" :) Right Mark? So let's GOOO Vikings! Beat the Rams!

Otoño ha llegado!

Another week in MN :) It's getting pretty!
This has been such a beautiful start of fall. This past week started warming up, with this weekend being in the high 70s! That'll be nice before the high is 45 on Friday. The fall colors are starting to show up, and has gotten me motivated to make pumpkin and fall foods: pumpkin pancakes, squash/quinoa pilaf, etc :)

As far as work goes, this week was pretty normal, however, we had some excitement in the neighborhood department. For some background, we live an a neighborhood called Brynn Mawr; houses are nice, mortgages are expensive, people are friendly and crime is scarce. Unfortunately, there was a mass shooting at a local business that is in our exact neighborhood. It was a small signage company that only employed about 28 people, 6 of which are now dead or in critical condition. It was strange for it to happen in our peaceful area; seeing swarms of police, swat teams, news vans and police tape on our daily walk was quite a shock. As was seeing the same the following morning. We are thankful that we are safe, but obviously it is something that is quite a surprise. The location is only 3 blocks from our house, below you will see the view of the building from the end of our street (luckily we live on a col-de-sac)

Luckily, the intensity was spared for our weekend. This weekend was pretty laid-back for us. Did a couple of crafts, started sewing an apron (pictures probably to come in two weeks) and painted a cute little momento from our wedding (super lame in Mark's terms :)) We of course watched the Vikes play, and because we had a friend come, we won THANKS MIKE :) Even though he didn't bring a veggie tray, he inspired me to make home-made pizza, something I haven't done since we moved to MN!

Looking forward to next weekend heading to see a friend get married :) and then in 2 weeks heading back to NC for my fall break! First time since I've been married. Overall, enjoying the start of fall, and getting excited about trips that are to come.

Feel like a mom...

Soo poor little Cici-pup has been pretty sick this weekend. We headed up to Afton to celebrate Nancy's birthdays and have some good family time. Apparently, while there Cici got into some trouble (probably ate something in the yard). The night we were there she woke up 3 times vomitting, of course Mark slept through it. Then last night back at home, 2 more times in the middle of the night. Not to mention 8 other times throughout the day. Every time I got up I thought to myself, I guess this is good practice?

Luckily, it appears as though she is feeling better. As much as Mark has made fun of me, I've been feeding her the BRATS diet (banana, rice, apples and toast) and she's been keeping it down. Poor little pupper.

In positive news, Tyler and Mark and I got to watch the Vikings game today.. with a veggie tray of course. And the vikes won. Probably because of the tray and the fact I was wearing my Jersey...


Looking forward to a shorter week, 1 day off to assess students on reading, 1/2 day Friday for Professional development. 1st grade Fall lessons, here we come!
P.S. Decorated house with Halloween decorations: LOOK!

window clings :)

haunted house

bear and candy-pumpkin shaped in pumpkin bowl

First Graders: Fricken CUTE!

First week of teaching first grade, new school, new district, new city, new state, new demographic SO GREAT! I love love love my school, my kids are super cute, my plans are going smoothly, they understand my Spanish and I have free time, things are going well!!

Of course they are first graders, so they act in certain ways I don't want, but all but one when I redirect or give an instruction listen right away. At the end of each day we always say "what was my favorite part of the day" and by the end of the week almost half of my kids were saying "todo"-everything!

My school is so supportive, they've been very helpful and the climate at school is just very happy and fun; people work hard, but they know that work is not life and they head home at decent hours!

Even with it being the first week of school, and having to stay after a little late, I've had lots of free time; enough to finish one of my wedding presents: Paris Puzzle

 

This weekend we have been able to enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Played tennis right by our house yesterday,  walked the "bog walk" http://www.minneapolisparks.org/default.asp?PageID=4&parkid=356 today (walking distance from our house) and have been able to have the windows open almost 24/7! Last night I got to celebrate with my one Minneapolis friend Julie for her bachelorette night, and we went to Uptown, danced the night away and people watched!

 Today was a true Minnesotan, put on my Adrian Peterson Jersey and watched the Vikings win with Mark and our friend Tyler. We ate normal football food....huge vegetable tray and delicious cookies.

Overall, I'd say great first week. I've started normal schedule again, fall is coming, I've got a ticket booked to go to NC in a month, I'd say September is starting out well :)