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