We've got a Winner!!!

This post was half done on Friday when I got an unexpected shopping trip invite.  Couldn't pass that up sooo...one day late and some shopping dollars short, here goes,

Congratulations to:

jenmaloneeJuly 30, 2012 7:50 PM

tweeted

https://twitter.com/JenniferCNP/status/230087600839458816

Jennifer Marie

for winning the Apple Pie Spice 1 Year GIVEAWAY!!!

Jen was given the exciting news via email yesterday and was thrilled! Thanks Jen!

AND a big congrats to Gabby Douglas who won GOLD for the USA in Women's Gymnastics Individual All-Around!!!

<3 - Sarah

Songs About Me #4

Waiting...waiting...waiting....sooo patiently!  We are still on our lendor hunt to get a loan for our very first home purchase and are now pretty much playing "the waiting game."  We're young, we're broke, and phone call after phone call leads to not much but bad news.  But, I won't lose hope!  And this song sums it alllll up!

Lemon Drop

Pistol Annies



While you listen...enjoy some photos of the beautiful, old farmhouse we get to rent from Andrew's family right now.  Where his mom grew up and where we would love to live forever if it were only in the Hoosick Falls school district. : (

"But one fine day I'll be drinkin' a beer in a big backyard I own free and clear.

All I know, there's better days ahead..."

But until then we'll enjoy these days we have, we'll pay our rent, and keep our dreams.

<3- Sarah

P.S. and BTW-

Be sure to enter my 1year celebration GIVEAWAY.  You could win a $10 Target gift card!  And to my new followers...WELCOME IN!!!

1 YEAR.....WOO WOO!

Apple Pie Spice has officially been up and running for one whole year!!!  As stated in my post Makeover, the blog got a whole new look and actually has gone through alot of changes in this first year.
 
    July 2011              Dec. 2011              Spring 2012                         July 2012
Teacher Blog ------> Life Blog --------> What Blog???----------> Time to Blog!!!

To celebrate hitting the 1 year mark and, to be totally honest, to hopefully boost interest in this little ol' blog, I am hosting a GIVEAWAY!!!  My first one evah!  I got this idea from all of the teacher blogs.  These amazing teachers are creating educational tools all the time and selling them on their TeachersPayTeachers sites.  Every now and then they'll host a giveaway for one of their products.  But because I am not creating my own teaching tools (strictly using everyone else's great ideas!) and because this blog has moved from strictly teacher to loosely life, I thought the perfect item to give away would be a $10 Target gift card.  Not only do teachers LOVE Target for their $ saving items in the Dollar Spot, but so does everyone else because it is just plain awesome.  You go there planning on buying a card for someone's birthday and walk out with a receipt for $100 worth of stuff you sooo NEEDED!  ha!
                                                        
There are 3 ways to enter this giveaway and you can enter ALL 3 ways if you'd like!  That gives you up to 3 chances to win the gift card!  I will use a Random Number Calculator to determine the winner. Enter by leaving me a comment below telling me that you have:

1. Shared a link to this blog on Facebook.
2. Tweeted a link to this blog on Twitter.
3. Follow this blog or have started following this blog.  (You can follow the blog by clicking JOIN THIS SITE under Followers on the sidebar. FYI: You do not need to have your own blog to follow others on Blogger.)

Please leave a separate comment for 1, 2, and 3 so that you are entered up to 3 times.  This contest will end Friday, August 3rd at midnight.  Watch for the WINNER announcement on Friday!!!

And THANK YOU to all of the Apple Pie Spice readers out there!  If you're a reader, why not become a follower and earn yourself another chance at winning that Target gift card!  Yes, I'm bribing you! It works on grown-ups too!

<3 - Sarah

Must Have Picture Books

I am linking up with Lindsey from The Teacher Wife who is asking readers to list their top five fave picture books.  LOVE it!
                                          

The new school year excitement is starting to creep in on me, so a school-related post is what this girl wants.  One of the things I love most about teaching 1st grade is that it is all about reading.  Over my five years of teaching I have collected quite a library of classroom books from former teachers, Scholastic club points, and out of pocket of course!  Here are 5 of my favorites:

1. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton

My grandmother used to read me this story when I was little and I always loved the illustrations.  It is the story of a little house that is built in the country, but as time goes on, the city moves closer and closer and the little house is lost amongst the big city buildings until the great-great-grandaughter of the man who built the houes finds her and moves her back out into the country.  So sweet!

2. Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin a.k.a. Mr. Eric

I was just introduced to this book this past school year by the teacher blogging community.  When a fellow 1st grade teacher and I saw it at our school's Scholastic Book Fair, we both added it to our teacher wish lists and we both GOT A COPY!  After reading it to my class, I realized what all the hype was about!  Pete is such a cool cat and the kids couldn't get enough.  We even went on the website to hear the song that goes along with the book.  I'm looking forward to using this story in September with my brand new firsties to review color words.

3. The entire Bear series by Karma Wilson (I can't choose just one!)

The same forest friends make an appearance in these adorable stories and your kids will love them all!  I think its the beat of the story that pulls me in every time.  Each story is written in a similar fashion with a repeating line that you class will quickly be reciting with you on each page.  My firsties this year knew these are my faves, so when they spotted one, Bear's Loose Tooth,  in the Scholastic book order catalog they were sure to point it out to me.  I think it was our best-selling book all year!!!  So many of them had to have a copy of Mrs. Bushey's favorite book....too cute!

4.  First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg

I love this one because of the truth behind it and how reassuring it can be to first graders on their first day of school.  The story plays out as if a girl is getting ready for her first day of school and she is very nervous.  She doesn't want to go and she tries to get out of it.  At the end of the story the readers find out that this girl wasn't a student, but is the teacher.  I am always pretty nervous on the first day of school and it's nice to let the students know that grown-ups get the jitters too!

5. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

This is a very popular back to school book and one of my faves because my mom gave me a copy of it when I went away to college.  When I taught Pre-K I would assign family homework, after reading this book, for the parents and students to each trace their hand and bring it into school.  I would place a red heart sticker in the middle and the students would keep their parents' hand(s) in their cubby in case they were ever missing mommy or daddy at school.  Last year, I made my firsties hand-shaped hearts with a red sprinkle heart in the middle to celebrate the first week of school.  They loved 'em!

You can find all five of these books at Scholastic.com. 

<3- Sarah

Five Senses Friday



Long ride to Howe Caverns...



HEY....TGI5SF!!!

1. Sight
My 6-year-old cousin, Peter, and I have spent a week together.  What his mom and I would like to call, "Adventures in Petersitting!"  Today's adventure was a trip to the Bennington Monument.  We rode an elevator *almost* to the top (Peter will quickly correct me if I say we went to the top!) and we had a panoramic view of the brilliant green mountains.  We saw the hospital where his mom was working and I spotted Andrew's mill from up there.  Peter was adorable when telling the elevator operator that we had gone 165 ft below ground a few days before at Howe Caverns. :)

2. Smell
Pulled a pair of jeans out of the trunk in my bedroom and got a fresh wiff of fabric softener.  Love that!

3. Taste
The best thing about these past few rainy days is that HOT coffee has made a return in the Bushey house.  I've missed it!

4. Hearing
Andrew said, "Good bye" and headed to Newport, VT for the weekend for softball states.  Triple sad face!!!

5. Touch
Because I am currently only a mommy to fur babies, I just love getting to push a baby in a stroller.  It is just fun...for now. :)  A shopping trip with Shannon and Cole gave me the opportunity to stroll him around Walmart today.



Lovin' the ride to Howe Caverns....



What have your five senses picked up on today?

<3 - Sarah

Makeover!!!

                                                   

July 30th will = one year since my first post on this blog!!!  And to celebrate, I've given Apple Pie Spice a little makeover!  Don't you just love a good makeover?  I am constantly changing and rearranging everything from my hair, wardrobe, perfume, furniture, even my handwriting!  I have never gone back into my classroom in September and set it up the same way as it was the year before.  I suppose when you are only 27 and have been with the same guy for 14 years, you'll change whatever you can!  <3 Love him =)  And I hope you are lovin' the new look for this little ol' blog.  It was a pre-made design from DesignerBlogs.com.  Check them out for blogs and other websites.  The circles at the top kinda, sorta remind me of sliced pies and the colors are happy.   

One year ago, I spent the summer guh-lued to every teacher blog I could find and thought, "I want one of those!"  But with little time during the school year to snap pics and post about all that was happening in my first grade world, my everyday life started creeping into Apple Pie Spice.  It all started strictly as a teacher blog but moved quickly into an "anything goes" blog and then into a "this girl doesn't have time to post a thing" blog and then finally into an "oh wait, it's summer and she's back!" blog.  There are times when I am so pumped about posting and get into it and then there are times when I can't imagine even opening the laptop up to get started on a post. 

If you've been here since the beginning or found this blog along the way I want to say THANKS (Thanks fb friends!!!) for taking what little time you have in your busy day to read whatever it is I'm talking about at the time!  I hope you've smiled, maybe laughed, and possibly even cried (tears of joy of course!), but mostly I hope you've enjoyed.  When I read some of my favorite blogs it just seems to transport me into the writer's world for 5-10 minutes.  Sometimes it even motivates me to get up, get going, clean my house, bake something yummy, try an activity at school, or just remember how much someone means to me.  Blogs do that for me....and I hope this one has done that for you!

<3 - Sarah

Linking UP!

I am linking up with Mrs. Lemons from Step into 2nd Grade!  I'm pretty sure I was a linky party virgin up until today. Sooo here goes....her linky party is all about sharing those little quirks about yourself that people may not know.  And because I literally have NOTHING to blog about right now, I thought this would give me a fun excuse to get a post out there.

1. I have a little sister who always has been thought to be the older sister whenever we are introduced to someone.  Here is my LITTLE sister Shannon and I when she came to visit me in college.

2. My fingers and toes are abnormally long and I have been called E.T. in the past.

3. I really don't mind doing laundry or baking, but you would never know based on how little I do both of those activites.

4. I am LOVING the Laguna Beach and The Hills reruns that have been on this summer.  (Seriously, watching The Hills right now!  Kristin was with Justin Bobby so Audrina is pissed!  BUT now Brody and Kristin are "hanging out" and Jayde is pissed!)  My sister-in-law is sooo jealous that she has to be at work and miss out on these classics...Ha!  Don't worry Jenna, I'll catch you up on what's goin on with our friends later. :)



                                         

5.  I have a tiny obsession with Tori Spelling.  I can't really get my finger on why, but when she is on TV with Dean, Liam, and Stella I just can't help but be entertained.  I honestly cry at least once during every one of the episodes of Tori & Dean: Inn Love and Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood.  I'm really hoping there is a new season so I can meet little Hattie.  A little embarrassing....I know!  I used to love to watch one of those recorded episodes with a glass of wine.  I also watched every episode of sTORIbook Weddings and now I'm lovin her new show, Craft Wars!  Oh and I've read her books...don't judge!

                                                    

6. I love fall and can't wait for it to arrive!!! All of August I spend just getting excited about cooler weather, changing leaves, apples, pumpkins, sweaters, cute boots, pie, coffe, Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc. etc. etc.  Sorry summer lovers but I just can't wait!

Last year's Halloween costume....The Crazy Cat Lady!

7.  Lately I have been so into painting my finger and toe nails.  I do think it may have something to do with me being a Pinterest addict and all of the adorable nail ideas floating around on there. 



  



8. I still sleep with my stuffed animal, Max,  I've had since I was little.  Andrew has never said it was weird, I swear!

9.  I have two guinea pigs living in my sunroom.  I can't wait to get those girls back into the classroom....they better be ready to entertain a whole new group of firsties!

Vera + Janie = BFF's  and there's Max!

10.  And finally, in an attempt to get rid of the many home magazines I've been collecting, just this week, I've gone through all of them and ripped out any pages that I want to keep for inspiration.  I plan on starting a home binder that is full of magazine clippings.  I'll label each section with a different room and add all my faves for that room.  Things like this are enjoyable to me and my Type A personality.  I did this for my wedding and felt like it was a huge help and fun to look back on now that I've been married a year!    

If you're a blogger link up with Mrs. Lemons and the other bloggers who've joined the party!  If you're not yet a blogger, sign up!  You can start your own blog or just follow lots and lots of other inspiring and entertaining blogs out there.  Make Apple Pie Spice the first blog you follow...puhleeeze!

<3 - Sarah



All Trash, No Trailor

This house always seems to have some kinda mess in it. But here are a few messes I'm willing to live with simply because of their proof of life.



-food messes prove there is a husband here who loves to cook but hates to clean up after himself
-laundry messes prove there is a wife here that shops too much and folds too little
-pet messes prove there is a dog and two kitties who eat, sleep, play,SHED, and are loved here and did I mention they shed
-craft messes prove there is a crafter here who has projects starting and ending, ongoing, and sitting in her head, yet to be created
-book messes prove their is a teacher on summer vacation here who finally has time to read
-magazine and catalog messes prove there is a woman here who likes to pretend she is a Cover Girl livin in her Better Homes and Gardens dream world
-and relationship messes prove there are two people madly in love here



That Cover Girl is at it again!



Some of these messes I've cleaned up daily for almost four years since we moved into The Olde Nolan Farmhouse.  Some pile up only occasionally.  All I know is that I'm praying these are the kinda messes that I'm tripping over for the rest of my days.



Sorry bout the cat hair on your jeans honey.



Don't mind the sad face from Lincoln.  He's trying to be a trooper after his Big Boy surgery today....if you know what I mean!?

Love him...

<3- Sarah

TGI5SensesF

Wanna wake yourself up on a Friday morning?  Schedule a waxing for 8 o' clock in the AM!  Kim at Nirvana Day Spa kept me smiling and flinching this morning. :)

As I posted yesterday, new Friday tradition at Apple Pie Spice!  5 Senses Friday!  So basically, all it is, is me sharing with you parts of my Friday through the five senses.  It's a primary teacher thing...go with it.

1. Sight
Driving through the Creek lately is a beautiful sight.  Before the mowers come through to mow the sides of the roads, you can catch a glimpse of nature's garden.  The flowers bloom along the side of the road as if someone took the time to plant them in an array of colors from tallest to shortest.  Purple to white to yellow....so pretty!

2. Smell
I used my new Bath & Body Works soap this morning for the first time.  Peach Bellini smells delicious!

3. Taste
Haven't tasted it yet, but can't wait to taste the Daily's Peach Daiquiri I bought today.  I'm noticing a peach theme happening....love peach in the summertime!

4. Hearing
It's Friday the 13th and there are screams coming from Nirvana Day Spa.  NO, not a murder by Jason, just a bikini waxing!  J/K...I didn't really scream, just jumped a foot off the bed a few times.  What I really heard today as I picked up my cousin Peter at our town summer camp was "Hi Mrs. Bushey, Hi Mrs. Bushey, Hi Miss Steller, Hi Mrs. Bushey!" I'm kind of a big deal around here.  Local celebrity.  And to quote Miranda, "Everybody dies famous in a small town!"

5. Touch
Finally printed some of our wedding photos to put in the many frames hanging in our house that have shown faces of babies we've never met, couples we don't know, and flowers we didn't pick for over a year now.  It felt good to get my hands on those prints and see them come to life in our wedding gift frames.  I do hate those bendy things (yes, the technical term) in the back of frames that hold the pics down though.  I jammed them under my nail too many times trying to pry them up!

There are two reasons why this tradition is happening on Fridays.  The alliteration of Five Senses Friday just sounds better than Five Senses Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday AND most Mondays I find my five senses sensing a whole lot less than they should be.  So Friday it is!

TGIF...What have your five senses picked up on today?

<3- Sarah

So I've been thinking...

So I know I said I would be blogging a lot more often over summer vaca....and I know that I really haven't....BUT....there are many times throughout the day that I think to myself, "that's going in the blog."

So lucky for you, today I'm going to spew a bunch of thoughts into this post.  In a completely random, non-sensical kind of manner, of course.

First of all, EVERY weekday morning over the summer...for the past 3 summers that  I have lived with Andrew...I wake up, walk downstairs, and immediately get the same song stuck in my head EVERY weekday morning:  "Every light in the house is on, the backyard's bright as the crack of dawn, the front walk looks like runway lights..."  If you don't know this country song, it's sung by Trace Adkins and pretty old, like 90's old.  The reason I get this song stuck in my head is because when Andrew heads off to work, it's still dark and he needs to turn on lights, but does he turn those lights off when he leaves, oh no, so when I wake up...AFTER the sun has risen MMM summer!....my first routine each morning is to go around and turn off the bathroom light, hallway light, laundry room light, close the dryer door, turn off the dining room light, window night light, kitchen light, and porch light!  The good thing about this routine?  My husband and I have never had a schedule that allowed us to get ready together in the morning, but as I walk around undoing all he's done that morning, I get to think about him and picture how his morning went.

Next pinch of randomness....Lincoln stays in the yard!!!  Every day. All day.  He hasn't broken free since mid-June when a bunch of cows and calves broke through their fence and took a little trip into our yard and road.  But really who can blame him on that one? 

We are lovin' our summer time together!  But he sure is hot with all those beautiful golden locks lockin in the heat!!!

Only old photos for now, I left my camera cord at school when I left for the summer AGAIN!  And my team already met for summer curriculum planning, so I will be making a trip to school in the near future to grab that cord.  Blog posts just aren't the same without some recent pics!

And finally, the last bit of random...the past few months we have been house hunting, or should I say lendor hunting?  We are hoping to get pre-approved before buying our first home, but in this crazy economy, it is just not as easy as it seems it should be!  We've met with two lendors and gone to two Open Houses so far....so it's really only the beginning.  And it will work out.  But I am a little impatient!  Oh well, I'll just keep watching a lot of House Hunters til I can officially become one.

Oh!  And tomorrow I'm going to start a new TGIF bloggin tradition...watch for it!

That's plenty for now.  Hope you are feelin' high on summertime!

<3- Sarah

Reader Request

There's a Junie B. Jones book that I read to my students that repeats the phrase "toot your own horn" over and over.  Even though I explain to them that this means bragging and it really has nothing to do with farting, the word TOOT makes them laugh every time.  So where am I going with this?  Well, I don't mean to toot my own horn (insert carpet full of first graders laughing out loud here), but I did have a reader of my blog ask me about it last night and hint that she was missing it.  It got me thinking about last summer when I discovered my favorite blogs and started my own. And then how I gradually found less and less time to commit to blogging as the school year went on.  The free time I do have while teaching is not time I like to spend on a computer.  I like to stare mindlessly at a whole different kind of screen, because the Real Housewives are screaming at eachother and I can't turn away.


But now that I do have time for reality TV and a little more to spare...I'm blogging!

Being a teacher feels a little like leading separate lives.  There is the one life you lead between the months of September and June when school is in session and time is all spent and the other life during July and August when school's out and you have more time on your hands than you know what to do with.  Here are the major differences between Life #1 and Life #2.

Life #1- Picture this:  Mrs. Bushey, no time, messy house,  cooler weather, less (to zero) blogging, very sound sleep, early mornings, getting dressed everyday, time management, empty cupboards, empty fridge, Lincoln home alone all day :(, piles of laundry, little hands, corrections, lesson plans, GrayC snuggles, DVR, coffee everyday, cubbies, snow and Snow Days :), buses by the house, clutter everywhere, exhaustion, holidays, field trips, meetings, "Sound it out.", knitting, pile of dishes, school ID and keys (ball and chain), testing, dart league, email, tying shoes, zipping coats, "Mrs. Bushey! Mrs. Bushey! Mrs. Bushey!", tattle vs. report, "Is that a good choice?", snack time, PTA, waiting on the next vacation, naps, watching 1st graders learn to read, sick day, dried up glue sticks, sharpening pencils, woo I need a drink, and did I mention NO TIME!



Mrs. Bushey's reading table.

 Life #2 - Picture this: Sarah, lots of time, visiting Cole, vacuum, dishes are done, take a walk, sleep in, fans and AC, fresh fruit and veggies, time to blog, time to scrapbook, time to shop, time to do anything!, take a break, pedicures, Petersitting, laundry almost everyday, lunch with Andrew, water with lemon, can't fall asleep, door open, windows open, Lincoln time, Facebook, reading, staying in PJ's, tan skin, sundresses, allergies, bed's made, full fridge, gardening, iced coffee, clothes on the line, thunderstorms, concerts, Creek softball, ideas for a new class, camping, blonder hair, sunscreen, NO alarm clock, bees, ice cream, weddings, graduation parties, busy weekends, getting excited for school to start, magazines, BBQ, margaritas, relax, swimming, exercise, mopped floors, fireflies, flip flops, trip to Moses Farm Stand, drive-ins, flowers, bathing suits, "It's HOT!", setting up for a new school year, woo I need a drink, and did I mention LOTS OF TIME!


Mmmm Summer

So glad to be living life #2 right now!  But ask me again in August...I could be missing life #1 just a little bit.
<3- Sarah

Dear April 2012 & May 2012,

     @ April 2012 - You will forever be known as the month that delivered Cole into our world.  7 lbs. 11 oz.  Born on April 25th at 2:10 pm.  Thank you, April, thank you!!!  The Steller and Deluca families spent the entire month waiting for this boy to arrive and when he did, it was all so worth the wait.  We have spent the month of May getting to know the new addition to the family.  For some of us it is all a learning experience and for others, a window to the past, when their own little ones entered the world.  Amazing how a baby can create new memories and at the same time conjure up old ones.  Many a mother has held a new baby and told a story of their own childrens' baby days. 
     And speaking of mothers, May 2012, your Mother's Day will be a hard one to forget.  Shannon, being the new mommy. my mom, and mother-in-law all celebrating together with a BBQ at the Olde Nolan Farmhouse.  A day of shared food, an open back door, farm dogs visiting and almost peeing on Vera Bradley bags Ah!, baby snuggles, baby screams :), a tired new mommy getting a break, funny cards and lots o' love!  (Lincoln stayed in the yard the whole time....I was a proud mommy of my fur baby!)
     One month ago, tomorrow,  I met my nephew and Godson, Cole Twomey Deluca.

 
Things I now know about Cole:
-He's so darn cute!
-He's sleeping longer and longer each night...keep it up!
-He's the best back seat driver you ever did meet.
-He will always have a better tan than his Aunt Sarah.
-Deluca nose...nuff said!
-He's famous in a small town.
-He will most likely date a girl named Ellie....three Ellie's were born at the Bennington hospital the night Shannon went into labor!!!
-Dogs will never phase him.
-He impresses doctors with his strength.
-His mommy and daddy are better, stronger people because of him. <3
-He will forever be LOVED!!!



     Summer months are ahead and Cole will be seeing sooo much more of me!  I can't wait to get to know him better everyday. 

<3- Aunt Sarah

You had me at "woof"

The fence training continued at home today and, as if they knew we needed a little help, the farm dogs from next door came over to play IN the yard with Lincoln.  He does have a little bit of a crush on the female farm dog, who I call Jane Deere.  And then there is her cautious friend John Deere.  I call them this because they both wear John Deere collars, a pink one and a green one.  So cute!  John Deere really got into the game of fetch with us and he definitely made me fall for him.  He has uaually been so skittish that I really favored Jane, but today he put on the charm and showed some personality.

First of all, he is one of those dogs that bounces into the air to catch a ball.  Unlike Lincoln, who likes to let the ball come to a safe roll before attempting to pick it up.  But the best part is that John brings the ball to us, drops it, and then barks at us until we pick it up and throw it to him again.  Lincoln flinches everytime he barks.   Adorable!  Anyone reading this who has well-trained dogs, is thinking "yay, so what?", but I'm impressed he'll even drop the ball for us.  I'm no Cesar Millan, okay?

Jane Deere was in and out throughout the afternoon, but John Deere stayed with us to play for awhile.  And the best part is, so did Lincoln!  He hasn't left the yard today and I've left him out alone for small bits of time.  Woo hoo!  It's the little things, ya know?




Lincoln and John Deere




John Deere stole our ball!




It was an extra hot April day!




Playing with Jane Deere back in January....an ongoing romance.

 Makes me wish I had more Spring break to spend with him outside, but it's back to school again tomorrow.  The kids were happy to be back and we had an ice cream party to celebrate being "Bucket Fillers".  We reached the first line of our class bucket and we'll have a Dance Party when we reach the next line!  One of my girls even told me she was crying because she missed me over break...gotta love 'em.

<3- Sarah

Missing the blue toothbrush

If you walked into my bathroom, you would only find one toothbrush.  It has been this way since I woke up on Friday morning.  One toothbrush where there are usually two.   I sit and wait for that other toothbrush to return to its place in the cup on the sink.  This is because when the toothbrush returns, so does the guy who uses it.

Andrew has been in Boston for the first three Red Sox games of the season.  Talk about a happy husband...but a not so happy wife misses him at home.  Later tonight I'll hear the car door slam and the back door open.  Lincoln will hop up and run into the kitchen and the sound of, "Hi honey!" will bring a smile to my face. 

Until then I'll keep in mind that I am a very proud mama today because Lincoln has started running back into the yard when he gets near the electric fence!  Yay!  This is exciting because yesterday, after seeing one of his toys taunting him just past those white flags, he ran right through the fence, shook off the quick shock, then kept right on running.  I was handed a very muddy leash by the farmer next door who said, "Dog a little high strung?"  Not such a proud moment.  But today, he''s making progress and getting lots of belly rubs for his efforts. Toys thrown past the fence, farm dogs wandering near the barn, me walking through the fence, and the puppy stays in the yard.  Can't wait to show Andrew tomorrow! 

<3- Sarah

Men and Steak

Lincoln's underground, electric fence was installed yesterday, which meant that my house was full of men......and steak?  The grill made its first appearance of 2012!  I've found that whenever a group of guys come together, steak is a must.  Not just one or two steaks, there were four or five.  I do love steak and I know other women who do as well, but what is it with men and steak?

Anywho, I'll have the cow butchered in our kitchen if they are all going to come help out at the house.  That fence has been waiting to be installed since Christmas, so I was a happy girl yesterday.  I even got down on hands and knees, pushing the wire underground as my dad and Andrew dug ahead of me.  Then I went inside to watch the training DVD, because you know who will be training the dog to respond to the fence correctly.  Today was our first training session and, after Lincoln and I played tug-o-war with the leash for awhile, it ended up going well.

With grass-stained knees on my jeans, dirty, chipped fingernails, and a T-Bone to wake up to this morning, the fence is in and the training will continue.  Hopefully, Lincoln will be running around the yard in a few weeks. :)

Now I am off to my eye appointment so I can stop swapping between my OLD, scratched up glasses (Lincoln chewed up the nice pair) and my OLD pair of contacts.  I am seriously embarrassed to let the eye doctor see these glasses!!! 

<3- Sarah

Superstitious

Have you ever had those superstitious thoughts?  If I do this then maybe that will happen....

Where did thoughts like this come from?  Being superstitious shows that you must somewhat believe in some kind of power outside of yourself that has control over elements of your life.  Like someone or something is in control of what happens to you and if you do these "things" that we do or don't do then something will or will not happen in our life. 

This happend twice to me yesterday...

Lincoln had pushed his dog bed into a wooden, standing mirror in our bedroom a few nights ago and broke one of the legs, causing it to lean and not work so well for Sarah, plain and tall.  While lying this mirror down to check out the damages, I thought to myself, "Yikes, seven years of bad luck if I break this thing."  Now this type of superstition has been passed on since Victorian times in England, when mirrors were expensive to produce, so only the wealthy were able to afford them.  The servants of these wealthy households would be responsible for paying for the mirrors if broken while cleaning.  It could take about seven years for the low-paid servants to pay off the price of the broken mirror, hence the story, seven years of bad luck when you break a mirror.

Later on, I finished Cole's baby blanket, which did not turn out to be quite the shape I had expected.  We keep joking that it will be the blanket he carries around everywhere....weird looking thing.  Anyways, my sister's due date isn't until April 30th, but she is full term and has felt like she will go early through the whole pregnancy.  Not to mention, she is sooo ready to get this baby out.  Nursery is ready, bags are packed, daddy is talking more and more to the belly.

This is where the superstition hits me again, this one being a made up idea, which I find even stranger than those stories passes on for ages.  I thought to myself, "I should get this wrapped up so that it is ready to bring to the hospital when Shannon goes into labor.  OOOOhhh and maybe if I do.....then Cole will come because he will know that we're ready!"  It sounds real silly right now, but last night I was really believing this idea I had: "The more we get ready for Cole, the quicker he will come."



Cole, your blankie is wrapped and ready for you!!!



Now I've seen grown men determine entire sports events on these types of things...."Jen, you need to stay in that seat because that's where you've been the whole game!"  Or a football fan turning around with his back to the game during certain points because that had worked one time.  Or a gambler spinning in circles before placing a bet.  Rally caps, lucky socks, beards, bald heads, and it goes on and on.

Not quite sure why many believe in these types of superstitions, but we sure are a hopeful bunch. 

Grab your rabbit's foot, pick up a penny on heads, and go search for a four-leaf clover.  Good luck!

<3- Sarah

Songs About Me #3

Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day....

No, that's not the song about me.  But it is a beautiful morning here in The Creek. Then again, Spring Break can make any morning look beautiful!

Here's the real song about me....a song that made me cry the other night and I'll explain why after you get to hear it...

He's Mine

Rodney Atkins

From the day I heard this song, which was right after we found out my sister was having a BOY, it has always made me think of Shannon and Nick and my nephew on the way, Cole. :)

Shannon felt like she was having a boy from the very beginning and Nick, of course, being the huntin', spittin', tree stand-sittin' man that he is, couldn't be more excited to have a son. 

On my way home the other day, a man called in to dedicate this song to his son, whose name just happened to be Cole.  I started crying and Andrew thought I was crazy, but this is the biggest thing that has happened in my sister's life, which means I have already cried more times than I can count on one hand over this baby boy who isn't even here yet.

Cole will be, heck already is, loved unconditionally.  His parents will always be proud to say,

"He's mine."

<3- Sarah