President's Day

I LOVE Monday holidays.  They are so great and they make the rest of the week so wonderful. I don't know how to describe it, but just get so happy having Mondays off.  This weekend, we started a project...

I love going shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot.  So much fun!  This is a before picture:

(Best I had.  I love Laila cuddles. So do her aunts.)

I actually do love having a tall counter for my island. It hides my sink and any dirty dishes I might have, but it's not an actual counter that you can have bar stools at. So we wanted to make it a little more custom.

Michael started putting together the pieces...

He didn't tell me that it nearly cost him his toe until he was completely done cutting.  How convenient.

Here's midway through.  

 Laila likes it, she just likes Daddy's undivided attention. (I can't imagine where she gets that from...)

And wah-lah the final product!  I like the way it turned out and the interest it adds.

Not bad for a weekend project!

To celebrate the finished product and President's Day and the wonderful weather and FHE, we decided to ride our bikes to Subway for dinner.  We have done it many a time.  Sometimes we take our puppy and eat outside.  It's fun.  On this particular evening we arrived with two bikes and by the time we sat down to eat, we realized we would be traveling home on one bike. I don't understand the need or even thought to steal someone's bike. It's pretty sad and pathetic that someone would sell their soul for a bike that's probably not worth much.  Needless to say, we looked pretty hot coming home- me on the handle bars, Michael pedaling, and Laila chilling in her trailer.

Happy President's Day! And to the dirty rotten thief, I hope you needed the bike more than we.

Ideality

This school year has been pretty fantastic.  The best way to describe my position is IDEAL.  Last year when I was pregnant, I was pretty sure that my teaching career was coming to an end.  I knew teaching full time and being a mom was not an option for me because I would fail at one and I didn't want to find out which one that would be.
So in my mind, I figured I would be done and when people talked about contracts or the next year, I would just say, "We'll see." Then, about two weeks before Laila was born I had this small feeling of what if I could split a contract?  I know team teaching is not easy especially since teachers all have very specific personalities and ways they like things done.  However, I thought I could just do it for one year (until Michael graduates with his MBA.) And there was a girl who was doing a sub position for another maternity leave who was looking for a teaching position at the school.  I thought we could get along fine.  I could possibly find someone in my ward to babysit Laila. And then she could take over the class after a year.  I talked to my principal and he was completely supportive and liked the idea.  I talked to the other teacher trying to get her on board, but she wanted a full time position.  The school offered her part time with me and part time subbing. Thus, giving her full time pay and benefits.  (See how incredibly supportive my school is of me?!) However, she didn't want to be subbing.  She wanted her own classroom and so she turned me down and accepted a position at a charter school.
I was pretty disappointed, but not for long, because that exact same day that she turned me down, I received a phone call from an old friend! My friend, Jen Rogerson, and I went to New Zealand together and she was calling to ask about housing in the area as her husband was about to start med school nearby and she and her cute family would be moving down.  This was followed by me asking, so do you want to teach part time with me? She said yes. My principal said he didn't know her so he would be hesitant because he didn't want to have conflicting personalities, but he interviewed her and said I needed to help her get her Utah teaching license transferred over!  It all just fell into place!
We worked it out so that I teach Monday, Tuesday and every other Wednesday while Jen watches Laila and her son, Mason.  Then, I watch our babes while Jen teaches. IDEAL!  It's been such a perfect combination and way better than I could have ever imagined since we don't have to pay for babysitting.  Jen is from BYU so she has a similar teaching background and style as me.  Laila and Mason get along well and it's just the two of them together instead of a heap of kids in day care. IDEAL!
I have loved being in the classroom and being able to be home with my girl.  Our class is a good group, but it's nice to have a partner to tag in when I've had enough.  We did my favorite assignment the other day and it did not disappoint.  I blogged about some of the other awesome ones from years past, but this year's "Capacity Man" awesome award goes to our Gangnam style boys:

They asked if we could place them side by side on the board so people could see all three parts.  I love it so so so much! They are just genius and I love seeing what my students come up all by themselves. So fantastic!

Very Pinteresting

Well, some days I just love Pinterest so much.  But, I really feel it's only a good site if I actually use my pins and not just dream and covet.  I haven't taken many food pictures of the food attempts, but some are true keepers.  Others, not so much.  I do feel proud of myself after I actually finish some projects...So...here are some projects lately:

This was my pinspiration for Melanie's Christmas Gift.  This seller just didn't have a girl silhouette. That no work for me...

So I read up on how to make silhouettes on a few blogs and others pins, and decided to use this picture of Mel:

The thing with me and crafty projects is I get super self conscious so I'm taking pictures all along the way.  Constantly comparing mine to the inspiration.  Procrastinating so I don't mess up.  And asking my poor husband and sisters how it looks a gajillion times.

She needed her signature ponytail so Camille free handed one for me.  I was going to do a grayish background, but then I saw that coral, sparkle paper and knew that's Melanie.  Here's the finished project right before I wrapped it.  I think she likes it!

This past weekend, I had my dad, brother and two sisters here.  So Camille and Melanie stepped up to help me do a project I've been stewing about for my laundry room.  (If you can call it that.  It's more like laundry closet or narrow hallway leading to the garage.)  Therefore, I needed something small and simple. Here's my laundry room before:

Then, thanks to a gift card I won at work (Holla!) I was able to pick out the hooks, supplies and the color. (SUPER Stressful)

As you will see in the following pictures, after I painted, Camille with the help of Michael did most of the work.  She's pretty super. Here she is finding the studs...

Here she is drilling the hooks into the board that she had Michael had previously drilled into the wall...

And the final product...

And the color looks different in every picture due to the crazy awful lighting... But I LOVE it and I don't care who knows it!

Pay no attention to the mound of sheets I have to clean, it's a small price to pay to have my wonderful family visit!  Let's be honest, it's my laundry room therefore decorating/painting it is a VERY low priority for me, but I love the color and organization one single strip of wood can bring!

Sadly, for my husband, these finished projects don't just satisfy my hunger for projects.  It only fuels the fire to accomplish some more! Any suggestions on what I should do next? ;)