Oh Grandmother, what big teeth you have!

Our first Halloween together (last year), we were both wishing we had a reason to dress up.  But the holiday came and went without any fun costumes.  This year we were definitely excited when our friends decided to have a Halloween party.

Normally, I get a little bit stressed trying to come up with an idea.  So we are lucky to have family who supplied most of the look!  Robert got to wear gma's duster and my mom's reading glasses!  (My mom even made a nightcap to complete the look!)  And my wonderful aunt loaned us the awesome red hood(?) and basket! 

We had so much fun at the party and even ended up winning the "Best Pair" award for our costumes!  And my big, bad wolf actually made two little kids cry! (The mask had to stay off for most of the night).

Hope you had a festive Halloween!  Don't you just love the holiday season?! 

Elder Skinner

Well, since it's my little brother's birthday and I cannot tell him in person, I need to say it somewhere!

Happy Birthday, Elder Skinner!

Thursday

Thursday was pretty much a perfect day!  Here's what happened (do you know what that phrase is from?):

• We woke up to the sound of rain
• My students were really productive
• School ended at 12:25
• That was followed by 8 hours of parent teacher conferences (I am one of the very few teacher who actually enjoys conferences)
• Conferences were interrupted by my incredibly thoughtful husband showing up to say hi and tell     me he loves me (the parent thought it was sweet...SO DID I!)
• Our wonderful PTSO brought us dinner.  And while I was so booked I did not have time to eat, I did have a chance to grab a roll...oh my stars!  I am now in LOVE with Texas Roadhouse Rolls!!!
• All of my parents were super great and really supportive.  Unfortunately, that is a rare occurrence nowadays.  Explains why my class is wonderful this year!
• The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I made for the parents and kids were just about gone by the end of the night
• I talked and laughed with the other 4th grades teachers for a good hour after conferences.
• I came home to a very cool house with doors and windows open - I LOVE FALL!
• My previously mentioned thoughtful husband made us grilled cheese sandwiches with hot chocolate (what I always crave on cold, rainy days) to enjoy while we sat in bed and watched Seinfeld. 

 

LOVE

I feel like I have not had much to blog about lately.  So as I was looking at other blogs and enjoying the afternoon - school got out at 12:25, and I was thinking about how much I absolutely LOVE that we get a Fall Break!  (While I really do have a nice group of kids, the first quarter is always a little bit chaotic).  So then I decided that I could post about the things I love; pretty random train of thought, I know!

1 - the gospel

2 - my really incredible husband, and really just marriage in general

3 - familia

 

 4 - adorable nieces

5 - Nash

6 - fall break and fall weather

It was 73 degrees in our house this morning...with no AC!

7 -Target

8 - orange

9 - Murder, She Wrote

10 - Hannah Swensen Murder Mysteries

If you are looking for something to read, this is the first book of the series... 
they are so fun and full of tons of recipes!

11 - Mexican food

12 - Christmas music

some of my very favorites!

13 - the number, 13

I # Malibu

After ten years, we finally sold my car.  I got my car during senior year of high school, and it was the perfect, reliable little car.  However, over the past year it started having some problems, and so we decided to put it up for sale before it started costing a lot of money. It was kind of sad, but I was happy that we were able to sell it so quickly!  

After A LOT of looking, we finally found a car that we felt good about.  Even though it took much longer than I would have liked (and I was definitely not the most patient), we are so grateful that things worked out the way they did and that we ended up with this car:

So great to come home to this in the driveway...

thanks to my sweet husband getting everything taken care of!

Can you tell how happy I am to be part of a two car family again?

Definitely a luxury that I have learned to really appreciate!

I absolutely love it!  It is so fun to drive a new car (at least new to me).  And I am so excited about all of the little, random features...
* the cute little Chevy symbol in the middle of the taillight
* the blue background light on the door handle
* the feature that tells me how many miles left until I need to get gas
* the weight censored air bags
* etc

And this is just a cute commercial for the 2008 Malibu -

Gma

Today is my Grandma LeBaron's birthday; she is 77.  

I am so grateful for her and for the wonderful example she has been to me.

I always look forward to spending time with her and absolutely love our conversations together.

I hope to one day be the kind of woman, wife, and mother she is.

Donna Brinton LeBaron

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GMA!

(I remember when we were younger, we thought it would be pretty awesome, and slightly amusing, to start calling her Gma...the best part is, she liked it and it stuck!  That tells you how awesome she is, doesn't it?)

Mr. McKay

So as you know, there was been a Mrs. McKay for quite some time - a year and four months to be exact.  While some of my students still call me Miss Skinner, most of them like the idea of Mrs. McKay as much as I do (or they are finally in the habit of calling me that).

Well now there is a Mr. McKay!  

Robert had the chance to interview for a teaching position at ASU and they thought he was right for the job.  So now we have two teachers in this house!  How cool is that?  He is teaching WPC101, an introductory course to the business school, at ASU for the fall semester.  So far, so good!  He loves it!

I have to admit, it has been pretty great for me as well!  I have someone to grade papers with, and I think he even understands some of the frustrations in the life of a teacher.  haha

Meet Mr. McKay
(doesn't he look professional...aka handsome?)