Christmas Tree!

I really wanted to make my tree match our front room this year and have had so much fun making my own ornaments this week! Yellow and black are not exactly the most popular colors for decorating a tree, but I love it! :)

She is very excited for Christmas :)

Thanksgiving 2011

My handsome man on Thanksgiving!

I love that Brent and Ann had smiles on their faces when I tried to surprise them with a picture! Apparently they were busy laughing at me because I put a bowl of gluten in the gluten free area... whoops!

My sister-in-laws!

Here is the belly on Thanksgiving! I was 38 weeks and 1 day!

My Thanksgiving pies!!

Oh how I love this man!

Grateful

So life has been so crazy and busy lately I feel like I need to post, so that I can look back around remember how I was feeling at this point in my life. Today we are 37 weeks. As we learning in our childbirth preparation class, it this point, this little bundle of joy would be considered full term! I absolutely cannot believe it! The whole first half of the pregnancy seemed to drag so slow, and now I feel like each week just goes flying by!

As we are preparing for her, it has really been neat to reflect on all that I am grateful for! I love November, and reminding my kids about how much we have to be grateful for during this holiday season!

I am so grateful for my incredible husband. There is a first grade mom that comes in and volunteers a ton every week, and today one of my team teachers told me that the other day she said how much she would die to have my husband for just one day. Brent is so good to me. I am so lucky. He is so good to come and help me at school all the time. Every time he comes and helps, I always get the comment, "Oh I can tell you are newlyweds, that will wear off soon." But I know that it won't. He is such a genuine person and is always doing things for others, especially me. I love knowing that even when we have been married for 30 years, that he would still come and help with class parties, and help the PTA stuff sack lunches for our Halloween carnival.

Brent's grandma recently had a pretty severe stroke and it made me fall in love with him all over again as I sat and watched him spoon feed her, especially when she won't eat for hardly anyone else. He is so compassionate and I am so excited to see him as a father. He is already so protective of our little girl, and I know it hasn't even started yet!

A coworker of mine has a daughter that is pregnant as well, and is due only a few days after me. As I hear about her struggles of currently being in a separation, I am constantly reminded of how lucky I am. No matter how tired he is, he is is always willing to rub my feet and cater to my every need. I have gotten quite spoiled as he has become my security blanket, and I rely on him for so much. I am truly lucky to be married to my best friend. He have such a blast together, and have a good time no matter where we are because we are together.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to become a mother. I cannot possibly imagine how much my life is going to change in the next month. I already feel like I know her, and am so excited to get see the little girl she will become.

I am so grateful for how blessed we are to have jobs, and the means to support our growing family. These days it is truly a blessing.

I am so grateful for family. They are always there for us, no matter what.

I am so grateful for Lole. Although this year she has had some odd health issues and really been a pain, I am grateful for the happiness she brings. It is so nice to be able to be greeted everyday by someone who just loves you so much! Sometimes I think it would be easier if I didn't love her so much. :)

I am so grateful for my kids. They are so excited to share everything with me. They love to come and rub and hug my belly. They want to bring me in every leaf and acorn they find at recess. They tell me I am the best teacher ever (haha I know they are just trying to make me happy, but I TOTALLY appreciate the effort). They make me laugh.

I really am so lucky and have so much to be grateful for. I am so excited for this new adventure and can't wait to look back a year from now to see how my life has changed!

Laughed til I Cried...

So on Fridays we get all of our first graders together for music time right before it is time to home. This is always fun and quite crazy with singing, dancing, and 70+ six and seven year olds. Well today we were practicing our songs for the Christmas program and then the kids were belting out "Must be Santa," when the announcements came on. They were announcing the winners from the weekly drawing. So, as you can imagine, nothing quite quiets up a group of kids like prizes.

So it goes from being crazy noisy to silent within a matter of seconds. A couple seconds later a little girl farted. Now let me just tell you that as a teacher, it is important to not laugh at these moments. I am usually really good about keeping a straight face, but it was just so quiet and she was just so loud that I just lost it. When the kids saw me laughing they started laughing, which made me laugh more. Tears started coming and I had to turn around so the kids would stop laughing.

I finally got my giggling under control and was feeling so bad for laughing at this poor first grader who was probably already embarrassed. I walked my kids back to class and as we were lining up to go home, one of my kids says to me (so sweetly), "It's ok Mrs. Keller, when my mom was pregnant she farted a lot too."

Well, that came back to bite me! HAHAHA! That is when I realized that my kids thought I was laughing because I did it!! So that is when my kids started telling me how funny it was that I farted. I quickly corrected them, but thought it was so funny! Now I have an even bigger reason not to laugh when that happens next time, so I don't get blamed!! :)

Day in the life of a teacher

So one of my kids has never turned in his homework before. He comes in today telling me that his mom throws his homework away so that is why he doesn't have it. I asked him if I needed to call his mom and tell her not to throw it away. He just kinda stared at me like... Uhh... I dunno..... So before he leaves for the day I pinned a note on his shirt (this works fabulously in first grade since they can't read upside down, and this they will keep it on).

Here is what the note said:

I have never turned in my homework and today I told my teacher that my mom throws away my homework so I can't do it. Please help me get my homework done and turned in every Monday. Thank you!

About 10 minutes after school gets out his mom comes in with him about the note. She tells me that she didn't know he had ever gotten homework because she has never seen it and that he always tells her he doesn't have any. I proceed to give her a new one for the week and explain my homework packet. When I asked the student if he still had his new folder I gave him yesterday in his backpack (because he lost his) he didn't know, so we checked.

There in his backpack was his new folder with this week's homework, his old homework folder with a previous week's homework, along with a zillion other papers I have sent home. Needless to say, I think she felt like an idiot. Oh and did I mention that this was the same parent that I had a big confrontation with at the beginning of the year? I am sure glad I go through the effort to keep my parents informed of everything with a calendar, and a note attached to their homework every week :)

If you are reading this and have a child in elementary school - please I am begging you -CHECK THEiR BACKPACK!!! :)

***comic relief*** watching this student entertain himself in the mirror for like 30 minutes while his mom stayed and talked to me :) they call him "shiny object," haha I am glad this student and I have something in common!

Yellowstone!

Lots more pictures to post from our trip this weekend, but here are just a few for now! We only have taken like 500 so far... haha :)

Special Needs

So on Sunday we had the Special Needs Mutual come and do a program for our sacrament meeting at church. I feel like if I don't write down how it made me feel, that I may forget. I appologize ahead of time if this post bores you. This blog is the best journal I have and I really want to remember this experience!

I don't think I have ever felt the spirit like I did that day. I love my job and working with kids, but it really made me realize why Special Education was always what I wanted and thought I would do with my career.

They started the program by singing In This Very Room. This message of this song is basically that Jesus is in this very room. I cannot express how true that statement was. I know that each and every one of those special needs mutual had such an amazing spirit in heaven that they were sent here to be protected. They are truly celestial beings.

Throughout the program they had the leaders speak a little, a parent spoke about her daughter, had special musical numbers, and a few members of the group gave talks. They all had different ailments and special needs. There were those that couldn't walk, talk, hear, or see among others. I loved to hear their testimonies in both words and song.

One particular man got up and spoke about how he had meningitis as a child and couldn't see well out of one eye, had a hard time walking, and couldn't hear. He told a story about how he felt the spirit to sing Silent Night with the choir. He mentioned how you can't understand him so when he sings it just sounds like loud noise. The choir director was clearly upset and looked around to find out who was making that loud noise. When she discovered it was him she smiled, nodded, and continued directing the song. I truly understood how that woman felt when she realized who was making that noise. When they got up to sing their musical selections it didn't sound how people would describe as "beautiful." There were many who were singing but clearly not singing the words. But it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard.

Clayton and Amy came up for the weekend and came to church with me and the three of us sat on the back row of the congregation and were bawling by the end of the program. I know with every bit of my heart that each and every one of them is an angel here on earth to teach us and make us better. They have already proven themselves and are already celestial. Being able to experience that program that day was such an incredible reminder of what is truly important in life.

Cupcake Blanket

Now I don't claim to be a sewer or anything... but I am pretty proud of my second blanket! :) I used the scraps of my red and white minky blanket and sewed them together. Thanks Momma and Biggie for helping pick out the rest! It took me forever to finally sit down and put it together, but I am so pleased with how cute it turned out!! If you are a sewer, try not to judge haha!

Back To School

So I started school back up this last Monday! I wasn't sure I was quite ready to go back to school yet, and boy did I not know what to expect! I figured I should blog about it so I can look back to remember and laugh... (hopefully) :)

So the hottest week of the sumer also happened to be the first week of school... and our school doesn't have AC. So if you can imagine, 98 degrees outside + 24 first graders + a pregnant teacher = a LONG week! I bought my kids bottled water to keep in the classroom, but there isn't a whole lot you can do when it is so hot! I am looking forward to the temperatures going down a little bit this next week so hopefully my kids can focus a little better, and so I can sweat a lot less!

I had 2 kids throw up, 1 go to the in-school suspension room for being violent, and 1 parent upset with me and threatening to sue the principal after her child got in trouble for being dishonest (long story, I will spare you the details haha). It has been quite the interesting week!

Now I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer! I also have had some great moments this week as well!! My kids love to ask me about my belly and I even had one ask me how my baby was going to come out... haha it was hard not to laugh at that one! After the summer you forget how honest these little kids are! It is going to be a great year and I am so excited to get to know my kids better! Here are a few snapshots of my room on the first day of school!

Rounding Up Summer

My mom and dad took a little road trip this month! They went and visited my sister and her new adorable baby, Henry in Minneapolis! From there, they came to spend some time out here! It was amazing to have them come visit! We ate and made lots of yummy (comfort) food, they helped a TON with my classroom (with Katchie too), gawked over my ever growing belly, we went to a concert, Salt Lake, and Park City, and just had fun! It is a bummer having them far away, but it is sure nice when we get to see them! Thanks for coming to visit Momma and Biggie T!! Love you! Here are a few pics!

Baby's first concert!! We took my mom and dad to see Tim McGraw at Usana Amitheatre last weekend and it was such a blast! The belly picture was taken at about 22 1/2 weeks! (haha I guess I was REAL excited)

This last Saturday we went to Park City with the family! We were walking down Main Street and saw "Loosey the Moose" and I had to have our picture in front of it! :) This is at about 23 1/2 weeks... not sure if you notice or not, but my belly grew quite a bit in one week! This feisty girl is growing fast!!

Baby Pictures

We had our ultrasound this week and got some 4d images of our little princess! Isn't she beautiful?! It is so neat how she already has a personality! We are absolutely in love!!

I had my first attempt at making a minky blanket today and I am so proud of how it turned out!! I read lots of blogs online that said it was very difficult, but after reading lots of tips I decided to give it a go! I have been working on rag quilts with Brent's mom and have been getting a lot more comfortable with the sewing machine. This just gets me excited to attempt more sewing projects in the future!!

20 Weeks!!

We are halfway there!!

It has been a little while and I really feel like my belly has started to pop this week!! Here are a couple pictures!

Yes... if you are wondering... my nails are neon... summer is winding down and I thought why not go out with a bang :)

Happy Summer!!

Happy Independence Day!!
I love this time of the year! We had a blast today grilling out and going to the fireworks up at Weber High! **Note** This delicious fruit pizza pictured below was devoured by 5 of us before the night was over. And I am pretty sure I ate half of it. :)



We got to go on our first bike ride of the summer this week and it was amazing! Isn't that a gorgeous backdrop to have when biking around your home??

Perfect Day

I have been terrible at posting since last week!! We have tons of pictures to post, but I just wanted to post a couple of the best day! I could never have imagined the day going any better. Knowing we are now an eternal family is the most incredible feeling. We had a photographer take some great pictures so hopefully soon we can have some better ones!

Delicious

Thank you Ann for getting me addicted. What you can't see in this picture of sugary goodness is the huge mess on my stove from when my pot was too small and it boiled over. A lot. Haha lesson learned! :)

Finally Here!

Well folks, summer has finally arrived (although it doesn't really feel like it outside)! Today was the last day of school and it is so bittersweet! With the paper chain hanging in our room for the past month and the dreams of laying poolside, I have been so excited for summer! But when 1:25 came today, I was so sad to see my babies leave! Here are a few things I am going to miss the most about not being with my kids everyday:

• Getting hugged a zillion times a day (I can probably have Brent help me with this one)
  
• Speech impediments (you totally fall in love with them)
• Dancing to Jailhouse Rock, Twist and Shout, and the Hokey Pokey
• Laughing at the funny things kids say
• Hearing about 20 times a day "Mom, I mean Mrs. Keller! I always call you Mom!"
• My kids being so excited about everything in my life that they want to share it!

Here is an example of the last one. During the last 5 minutes I was alone with my kids, I decided to let them in on a little secret. I told them I had a surprise for them, but that they would have to wait until they were second graders. After they realized my secret, they proceeded to throw their arms in the air and ran to every teacher outside (who all still didn't know) yelling, "Mrs. Keller is having a baby!!!"

Oh yeah... we are having a baby. :)
ETA 12.07.11

A picture says a thousand words...

Brent and I captured this photo at a stoplight on our way home from visiting the cemeteries for Memorial Day. It really seemed to capture the beauty of Memorial Day and being grateful for all those who have served for our freedom!!

This has been a pretty crazy week around our house... A week that has put life into perspective for us for sure! Brent's dad got into a car accident on Thursday night when he drove off of North Ogden Pass. After a late night at the Emergency Room and a stable spinal fracture he was released and we all were left a little in awe. After hearing his story, seeing where he drove off, seeing his car, and spending time with him, we have realized that we have truly seen a miracle. There are so many sad things that happen in the world and I 100% believe there were angels looking out for Brent's dad that night.

Life is crazy. There are decisions to be made every day. There is work, family, marriage, church, kids, animals, parents, siblings, co-workers, students, school, etc... I am sure the list could go on and on for some of us! At the end of the day though, what is really important? It makes me sad to think that sometimes it takes these extreme events for us to see what really matters that the end of the day!

I am so lucky to have amazing family and friends. If you are still reading this maybe take a minute and take the opportunity to remember to be grateful for all of the blessings in your own life!

Photo Updates!

How amazing is this husband/son?! For Mother's Day he spent the rainy afternoon grilling under an umbrella :) He was good to the mother of his future children with yummy breakfast and a beautiful new watch! Love this man!


It just wouldn't be Easter without the bunny cake!


Our first married Easter! Isn't he handsome?! I don't know if you can tell.. but we are matching... :) And yes I know that my blazer is adorable... it was in my Easter basket! He done good!


WOOT WOOT! It has been official since December but it was so great to see him walk across that stage to get his degrees on Saturday! When you get 2 Bachelor degrees you better walk!!


Aww.. so proud of this guy!

Life. Is. Good.

It's About Time!

So I have finally gotten around to reading for fun again!! Since last month I am onto my third wonderful book! Brent has been studying super hard for his tests next month to get his different licenses, and so I have had more time to read! :)

Here is what I have been reading!

This book was so good! I loved how it made me think. What was really interesting, was reading it on the way to Memphis to visit my family. When I got there it was amazing to me to see how much the South has changed in 40 years for the better! I would recommend this in a heartbeat to anyone! And last week I saw the preview for the movie that was coming out! I am glad I read the book first! :)

LOVED this book!! It was one of those books that keeps you on the treadmill forever and going to bed late because you can't wait to read what is on the next page! I finished it about a week before the movie came out and was so excited! The movie was great, but I still like the book more! Haha next time I will leave a bigger gap between, because the book was so fresh on my mind and I hated that the movie left parts out and changed things! But still so good!

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is my current read! So far I am loving it! I am about 25% through with it (according the Kindle app on the iPad :) This book reminds me a lot of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and I am loving how it makes me think. I love to read about what this 9 year old boy is thinking and how he talks to people! It is heartbreaking and also really funny at times! I have found myself reading selections to Brent since they made me laugh out loud :)

How does that happen?

So I lost a kid yesterday... it was the worst moment I have ever had as a teacher, I think. The worst part is that in the commotion of coming back from recess, it took me a little while to realize he was missing! Ahh!! After checking the bathrooms, walking around inside and out of the school, many parent phone calls with no answer, talking to his big brother, and calling him repeatedly on the intercom, we were about to call the police. I was seriously about to have a panic attack. About 2 minutes before calling the police, we found him standing outside the school.

After many prompts with no response I finally got something out of him. His tummy was feeling funny so we decided to walk home. Seriously!? I couldn't believe it! Well, yesterday I was beating myself up about how I let that time go by before I realized he was missing... but today I realized something: Tender Mercies.

What if I would have realized he was missing 20 minutes earlier? If he walked all the way home and just got back when we were about to call the police, then we would have been calling the police without finding him. I am so glad it didn't have to come to having the police search the neighborhood to find him. I cannot imagine the stress that would have put him, his parents, me, the school, and my future career through!

Anyway, I feel like an absolute idiot. It is crazy how easily that can happen. I have learned my lesson, that is for sure! If your child is in my class in the future, don't worry... I won't let this happen again! Talk about a bad day.

I'm in love

Ok. so yesterday I was blog hopping and I came across this blog that was giving away a gift card for this website called Shabby Apple. So I went to this website and I fell in love! I couldn't believe it!! So so so cute dresses that are actually modest!! I have been trying to find a cute dress for when we get sealed in June to wear for our pictures, and I have been having the hardest time finding one that I actually liked! Well not anymore!! Now I just have to decide which one I can't live without!! Yay! So I thought I would share :)

Their vintage collections are so so cute!! Enjoy!

Shabby Apple Dresses

Here We Come

I have been waiting for this day for a long long time. We got our letter today that my sealing cancellation went through and that Brent and I will be able to be sealed on June 15th. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate our first anniversary. Thank you so much to all of you who have been so supportive of us through everything. You will never truly know how much it has meant. Haha now I just have to deal with all of my kids asking me why I have been crying :)

Kids Remember Everything

So last week, when we were talking about birthdays in class, I told my kids that March 28th was going to be Lole's 4th birthday! They insisted we needed to make her birthday cards (we love to do to this haha), and then there wasn't much said about it again. I had an appt. on Monday, so I left at lunch and had a sub for the afternoon. On Tuesday morning, my kids come in and ask me about Lole's birthday:

"Mrs. Kellers, what did you do yesterday for Lole's birthday?"
"Oh no! I am the worst mom ever! I forgot it was her birthday yesterday!"
"You really are the worst mom Mrs. Keller! How could you forget!?!?"
"I had a lot going on and so I forgot!"

A couple hours later we proceeded to color birthday pictures for Lole. As we went throughout the rest of the day, and all day today I think I heard the following statement about 200 times: "Mrs. Keller, how could you forget your dog's birthday?!"

Needless to say, I will no longer tell my kids anymore dates I will probably forget. :)

Goodbye!

As of last week, goodbye Civic payments!!

As of yesterday, goodbye student loan payments!!

Feels. So. Good. :)

Happy Late Birthday Brent!

This is a little late, but I wanted to post a couple pictures from Brent's birthday!! Mom, you are supposed to be super impressed with my poster ;)

We had lots of fun eating at Tepanyaki with his parents and then we forced him into going to lots of stores to try on new clothes for work (this wasn't his idea of fun on his birthday, but let's be honest, he didn't really have a choice haha). We got his new business wardrobe all stocked up, and he has been looking quite fabulous :)


I can't wait for the next 25!

New

Out with the old:

In with the new:


Today brings a new life for us. This sounds crazy, I know, but a lot is changing in the Keller household!

We sold Brent's Beamer on Friday in less than 2 hours and found ourselves at the Fashion Place Mall without a car!! Haha good thing Brent knew exactly what car he wanted!! We have a loaner for right now until his black one comes in on the truck this week! It is kinda sad... that is the car he has had since he got home from his mission, and the car he has had for our whole relationship! But we are SO excited for the new one! They have us a loaner from the dealership and we are loving it!!

Brent started his new job today!! WOO HOO! I meant to take a picture of him dressed in his suit this morning (like the first day of school) but I forgot!! I am so proud of him and so excited for him to start working! I am sure going to miss him being bored at home though ;)

We get our new washer and dryer delivered today!! I am SO SO SO SO excited! Ours had been struggling (not surprising since Brent got them for free) and we hadn't been able to use them since probably November! Bless Ann's heart for letting us take over their laundry room, but we are so excited to not have to truck all of our dirty clothes around! Yay!!

Brent turns 25 this week! CRAZY! That makes us feel so old! It is exciting though that this happens on a week/month of so many other new things in life! Lots to post about in the recent future! This week makes growing up seem so fun!! :)

I. Love. Dessert.

Let's be honest, anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with baking and desserts... this was the funnest gift that my mom and dad gave me for my birthday! Aren't these little desserts so stinking cute!! I had a blast! I think the jello was my favorite though, it looked so great!!





Now this is my other obsession lately... chocolate dipped pretzels... We made them a few weeks in a row at Brent's parents' house, and each time they don't last more than an afternoon because they are so good! This chocolate Ann gets (Guittard Old Dutch) makes the most amazing chocolate pretzels and strawberries!! I have been practically begging Brent to go buy me a 10 lb bar of this chocolate so I can make them at home and not use all of Ann's!! He went and got it today and I am SO excited!!