InstaFriday - Birthday Week Continued...

 Friday was a good day.  It was the last day of my school birthday celebration and I went out with a bang!  I was a lot tired though, Kyan got stung by a scorpion the night before and we were up late (or should I say early?  He didn't get home until after midnight).  He is okay, just a LOT scary and the first one in our family to ever be stung by one of those bad boys!

Ok, back to birthday day at school.  For my treat, I tried the Magnum bars above.  Even better than the ones I tried last week!  Do yourself a favor and try one! 

My class gave me the sweetest present there on the bottom left.  I have the perfect spot to hang it in my room!  

To end my day, I met up with the girls from 8A.  I don't really think I have words to describe how awesome it was to sit down and just BE with them.

 On Saturday I took those two cuties to see Ice Age 4!  I have been working so much lately and wanted to be able to find time for just them!

 Sunday was my actual birthday an I couldn't be happier getting another year older!  I was SPOILED by my family and not only did I get all of my favorite things that I dropped giant hints for, but I got help cleaning the house from top to bottom on Saturday!

Later in the evening, I taught my friend Meghan how to make spaghetti and meatballs!  So much more fun to cook with someone else!  Kyan's favorite part is to mix up the meatballs, so I let him have at it, as I hate doing it!

 We were able to enjoy our hard work in the kitchen on Monday, with our golf buddies of course!

 Picture Day at school and man, do they look so grown up to me here!  

I love them and how willing they are to take pictures of everything/everywhere for me!

 Free Family Fun Night and Curriculum Night at school last night!  Kyan was bound and determined to win BINGO, he didn't move from his spot for over an hour (and still had no luck)! 

Inservice for me today at school (no school for my kids), so they got to spend the night at their friends' house!  So exciting!

This week was a good one (minus one day, but we won't go there, I am over it)!

I had an amazing birthday week, thank you to everyone who made me feel so special!

Happy Weekend Y'all!!! 

InstaFriday - Birthday Week!!!

 She sleeps.  I could watch her forever.

Friday nights is Lola's night at gymnastics and she is LOVING it! 

 Saturday morning I met up with my cousin Hannah at a place called Sweet Salvage.  A junk sale that happens on the third weekend of every month.  Note to self, don't go there when you are broke.  Pure torture!  I wanted everything and bought nothing!  Sad day.

Kyan went roller skating for the first time and looked adorable!  Brought back LOTS of memories of going to the roller rink myself when I was younger and we are already making plans to go back!

Oreo got a new mansion!  Little Houdini Hamster kept getting out of his old cage!

Went over to help friends craft and get ready items ready to showcase for their Super Saturday craft day at church!  Can't wait to make one of everything myself to keep!

 Eggs.  It's what's for breakfast all week!  Made mini quiche to just reheat each morning.  Much better than what I have been eating!  

Went to school to see that the copy fairy had been there!  Booyah!  So nice not to have to sit by that machine for hours!

And to cap off my weekend, I enjoyed a few glasses of wine by the pool with my friend who I haven't seen in forever!  Perfection.

 "Captain Kangaroo called and he wants his pants back!" says my husband when he saw my outfit Monday morning!  Bwah!  Very funny.

My friend Adam, who happens to be married to my even better friend Holly, and he cooks the BEST stir-fry ever!  Whenever he makes it, I always get leftovers, however, now that I don't work with his wife any more (sad day), I begged for a cooking lesson!  I'll share the recipe as soon as I decipher through my notes (don't hold your breath, it could be a while)!  Best part of the lesson...I got to take it all home!!!

For one night only, I didn't have anything school related to do (and if I did, I just ignored it) and crafted while watching Bachelor Pad (guilty please).  Made a few notebooks for my friends at school who have been so helpful to me during this tough transition (haven't talked about it too much, but it ain't easy)!

 He sleeps.  I usually catch the sweetest pictures of Lola sleeping, however, Tuesday morning I snapped a picture of Kyan, curled up with his bear and blanket (still, after all these years).  

That same sleepy boy was my lunch date several hours later!  Perk of my job!!!  He has been begging since school started and I finally caved!  I see many more lunch dates in our future!

 Did I mention it is birthday week for me?!  I have been spoiled by my coworkers - duty covered, ice tea EVERY single morning, sweet treats!  And uh, that Emergency Chocolate, yeah, already gone!

Yay for coupons!  Saved 20% on my salon services (see below on what I had done) and got a free product!  Woohoo!

 Brown hair.  My mom's favorite (NOT).  The blonde was getting to be a little too high maintenance for me, so I am going with easy for a while and keep it one color.  I happen to like it a lot and change is good...right?

Happy Weekend!  

Can't wait until Sunday (it's my birthday!!!!)  

Any guesses as to how old I am?

InstaFriday - Easier each Day!

School.  

It is on my brain.  

When I am not there, and I am there A LOT, I am working on something at home for it.

The nice thing about it, is that I have my kids there too!  So I don't feel as bad spending so much time there, because they are there too!  When it is time to leave, they usually are the ones complaining that they are not ready to go.

 

Okay, now that you know what is in my head, here is our week...in pictures!

Friday was spirit day at school and we all sported our MPE tshirts!  

Kyan wrote the best message in his Welcome Back to School Pack and seriously made me realize that I made the right decision about switching schools {even as hard as it is to say that}!  "I know this year will be awesome because I'll get to see my mom!"  Yes, my heart melted.

Lola started gymnastics once a week and is LOVING it!

Lola wanted ketchup with her nuggets.  Ok, so she didn't need eight of them really, but they were too cute not to take extra!

 Saturday was a day that the kids and I had been looking forward to all week!  Grandpa and Grandma time!  

Lola and I were treated to pedicures by grandma!  I love me a good pedicure, but having a four year old wiggle around on me was NOT comfortable!

Swimming at the waterpark was a BIG hit {it always is}!  Lola conquered the slides!!!!

Since I have been at the kids school, Kyan has been so huggy and lovey on me!  After the waterpark, he snuggled up nice and close!

Went to dinner at Dillion's at the Zoo for dinner.  Ate dinner sharkside!  It was so cool!

The balloon lady at the restaurant was bananas ridiculous!  The kids each got a special balloon and were happy as clams!

THANK YOU Grandpa and Grandma for an amazing day together!  We always love spending time with you and having Ava and Brayden there this time was extra special!

Kyan and Lola got to spend the night with Grandparents Nebraska, but I met back up with them at church and then out to breakfast on Sunday morning!  Lola enjoyed her butter, with bread!  We said our goodbye and parted ways, so they could spend a little more time with Ava and Brayden before they had to leave.  Plus, I spent my day at school!

Since I have started second grade lunches consists of hummus, pita chips, and pretzel chips of all flavors!  Monday night I started on Kyan's teacher's birthday present!  Nothing like waiting until the last second to get started!  I had bought everything at the start of the weekend, but I put it off as usual until I could put it off no longer!

Mrs. Jones is the best teacher on the planet!  Kyan had her for kindergarten and is lucky enough to have her again this year for 2nd grade!  Wanna know something even cooler?!  She is my teammate!  It is awesome to be able to learn for someone who is so incredible with kids!  He was excited to not only give her this sign made by mama, but tickets to the Cardinals home opener this weekend!  She has never been to a game, so when he saw how excited she was to get them, he was on cloud nine!  Thank you Mrs. Jones for all you do!  You have a special place in the Roseland family's hearts!

She sleeps.  Oh, how can Lola sleep!  She is the worst to wake up!  In the mornings and now recently her teacher has discovered that nap time wake up is no fun!  It usually takes her 30 minutes to get back into the swing of things.  Ooops, should have warned her about that!  

Dress Wednesday.  Had it at Wigwam and keeping the tradition alive!  It is fun to see former students/teammates that have moved on still rockin' the dress on Wednesday! 

My parent praise wall is looking so pretty!  I hung the stars for this months prompt up and it just made it look complete!  I don't get to take any credit for the idea behind parent praise, just figured out my own way to display it in my room {which I will eventually get to taking pictures of...one day}!

Thursday morning took the hubby to get his wisdom teeth pulled.  Only took about an hour and then he was on the couch recovering with ice packs and lots of pain medicine!  

Oh yeah, did I mention that sometimes my kids are so upset when I tell them we have to leave school.  One of their most favorite things to do is play on the computers!  Lola usually joins us after school the last 10 minutes or so {she gets extended day with her preschool tuition payment, so I usually leave her there so I can get work done} but yesterday was a special day.  Working on getting her to NOT cry when having to go to extended day in the mornings and this was her reward for NOT doing so yesterday!  It's complicated as to why she can't just stay in my room until school starts, but she can't, so it is a work in progress and I am trying to get her to understand that it is different that Kyan gets to stay when she can't.  But, this worked, so might have to dangle that over her head for the time being until she isn't a hot mess in the mornings!

That was our week, busy!  How was your week?

InstaFriday - Back to the Grind

Another busy week...

Last Friday was "Meet the Teacher" night.  A chance for parents and kids to come in and see their classroom and meet yours truly!  I was showered with gifts (that apple dip was to die for) and surprised by a few former students that came to say hello, love them!

 Work, work, work!  That is pretty much all that I have been up to!  No lie, but managed to find some time to have a little bit of fun and took ALL of Saturday off, promising to do NO WORK at all!  I was able to keep that promise too!  We spent the morning/afternoon at a birthday party, that happened to be at a waterpark!  So much fun!  Kyan loved the diving boards the most, while Lola rocked the slide!  Later in the afternoon, went for a much needed pedicure!  When I got home, I continued to ignore the mess that is my craft room (real life, still looks this way, I just shut the door and walked away) and played video games with my family!  I love Rayman's Rabbid's!  Always gets us cracking up!  I knew I was going to work most of Saturday, so I made it a point to do what my kids wanted to do!

 Before I headed into work pretty much all of Sunday afternoon, I tried price matching for the first time ever at Walmart!  For me to remember what I wanted to match prices to, I used sticky notes (you have to tell them before they ring the item through) so that I would remember!  I felt like an idiot, but I did save lots of money!  We headed to my in-laws for a back-to-school dinner.  My mother-in-law was adorable with all of the decor and food and made each of the kids feel so special on the night before their big day!

 And speaking of BIG days...Monday was the first day of school and the first day that I was able to actually be a part of the first day walking to school!  It was so much fun!  I think I was more excited than my babies!  Usually daddy gets the honor of this very special day, but now that I am teaching that their school, it gets to be me!  BEST DAY EVER!!!!  Chad made the day even sweeter by sending the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Getting to see my kids smile at me in the hallway when I pass them or get big hugs before lunch every day, so worth making the switch.

Now, to say that teaching second grade has been an easy transition for me would be a lie.  It hasn't been anything close.   I am transitioning, but I am vulnerable and I did have my first mental breakdown this week about the decision that I made.  I told very few about what was going on in my head (some I couldn't hide my tears from) and the little things they did for me that night and the very next day meant the world to me.

The end of my week got even better when my parents rolled into town (yes, again)!  They stopped by to take us to dinner and spend any spare second they could with the kids before bed time rolled around!  We are planning on seeing them more this weekend, can't wait!

Do you instagram?  I am jenni_roseland (if you want to follow along with our week)!

Hoping to actually link up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged this week.  I am always set to, but never remember to really link to her awesome party!  

 

Happy Weekend Y'all!

InstaFriday - Short & Sweet

Ahhhhhhhhhh, what a busy week!  Little tiny things, that are BIG important things, take time!  I am back to work prepping for future 2nd graders to start up school next week! Thus cutting my InstaFriday post short {I am jenni_roseland on Instagram if you want to follow along}.  The plan is always to link up with Jeannett over at LifeRearranged, but....I usually always forget by the end of the day!  Fingers crossed I make it this week!

So, the four most important pictures I took last week go a little something like this...

I got a call from my mom last Friday afternoon asking if I could pick her up at the airport later that evening?!  Oh and by the way, Joel was driving in again!  YAY!!!  So I spent my weekend with those two!!!

 Lola's favorite time with Uncle JoeJoe was spent in the water!  Every time they would jump in or he would toss her up in the water, she would pop right up and say, "This. Is. Awesome!"

 Kyan loved jumping in the pool too with Joel, but his favorite time spent with him was definitely playing video games!  It seemed like Joel played for hours with him and Kyan was in heaven!

My favorite time spent was Saturday night visiting around the dinner table, where my mother had a few choice words for Joel and I, when we couldn't remember getting grounded for something!  Bwah!  She got so mad and we honestly couldn't remember!?

I will be working away the entire weekend, so that I can be 100% ready for school on Monday!  And even then, I will probably not be ready!  So nervous about the big changes, I am a bit of a perfectionist, so until that first day is in the bag, I won't rest easy!

Happy Weekend!!!

InstaFriday - Back to Work {Kind of}

Oh boy this week sure did fly!  And even though I had to work for a few days of it {training, you'll see} it was one of the best ones of the summer, which happens to also been one of the best summers I have had yet...just sayin'!

Friday we started off our day at the ortho with full intentions of getting braces on that little mouth of Kyan's, but walked out without them on!  Woohoo!  Expander is doing its magic and they were not needed at the moment!  So just six more turns on that puppy and we were off to Target to get new backpacks for school!  Lola of course ended up with a Bieber backpack and lunchbox.  Not surprising!  Filled up my tank on the way home and saved 30 cents per gallon!  I always wonder why they ask if you want to use your reward points?  I mean, who says no?  And I listed five random things about myself, after I was tagged by a friend!

 I was surprised by my little bro on Saturday morning {after I came home from Urgent Care with a prescription in hand for some sort of bacterial infection in my throat - - ewwww, couldn't swallow to save my life and had the worst cough from a tiny tickle}!  It was awesome to be able to spend the whole day with him just doing nothing really!  We went to lunch and swam and watched a movie together!  He is in training a state away and decided to surprise me for the day!  It was awesome, considering I thought I said my last goodbye to him for the next two years a few weeks ago.  WRONG!  And the best news is that he may be back here if he can sneak away one more time before he heads overseas!  Saturday was my favorite day of this week.  

 I cut and prepped several meals for the week on Sunday, as I knew I would be heading to work on Monday morning and knew I would want the bulk of it done {if I could get it done} before hand.  Lola was so excited for Beverly Hills Chihuahua to come on later in the evening, she would sit in front of the clock several times during the day and just stare at the time, willing it to be 7pm.  I was secretly hoping that too, so I could watch the Bachelorette Season Finale!  I walked in the storm, but stopped myself after 2 miles, as I wasn't sure what it was going to do {AZ monsoons are crazy and I didn't want to get stuck in one}!  I am up to 42 miles, only 3 more to go to hit 45!  While watching the Bachelorette I put together my notebook for this school year!  Just a composition notebook covered in cork paper, scrapbook paper, some sort of special tape that I found in the clearance section at JoAnn's many moons ago, and a cute little sticker!  The front, back and insides of both are decorated!  Love it more than last years and I really didn't think that was possible!

 Monday was DIBELS training!  I did it about 9 years ago, so the refresher course caught me back up and I am ready to roll.  After I picked up the kids, we went swimming and what happens after swimming you ask?  Lola massages!  She gives the best ones out there!  While catching up on shows with the hubs after the kids went to bed, I painted my nails, after seeing a post on this blog!  If you have ever wanted to learn how to get that leopard print look yourself, go check it out!  So easy!!!

 Tuesday marked Day #2 of training!  This round was Fundations.  Ummmmm, I never knew how many ways you could say the letter u and all the rules for it!  Holy cow!  After two days of training, I still feel very overwhelmed, but only think that I will fully get it by teaching it!  So bring on those 2nd graders!!!  Grandma Donna stopped by right before dinner and brought each of the kids and myself a new book!  Lola's was extra special because the character's name is Lola and it talks about Lola's Lollipop!  She loved it!!!  I got a chance to do a little shopping for myself, by myself, Tuesday night as well {but forgot to take a picture}!

 Wednesday, after training, I went from being a blondie, to having brown hair.  With the way that I cut it, the line of blonde/brown in the back was just to stark for me so I went with what I am naturally {hard to believe I am that dark I know}!  Slowly adjusting to the new look!

 Thursday I put together a few banners for school.  I am going with a birdie theme and there is NOT a lot of stuff out there online, so I am creating my own!  The two banners that I made say, "Best of the Nest" {in lieu of Star Student} and "Something to Tweet About" {this is hanging over their best work}!  I have a baby shower on Saturday, so nothing like making receiving blankets last second!  I bought the fabric but didn't get a chance to start on them, so I will have to squeeze it in at some point before Saturday afternoon!  Hope she likes the fabric I picked out!  For dinner we tried out a new recipe and all I can say is that it was so refreshing!  Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream I will make you again and again!  Like, I want to lick the screen they tasted that good.  The recipe is not mine, but if you would like to make them, click here {and trust me, you would like to make them}!  We had friends over for dinner and then just decided to make it a sleepover!  It took movies having to get turned off for them to finally fall asleep, but man did they look so cute cuddled together!  Best summer ever {I know, I already said it, but it is true}!

Linking up with Jeannett over at Life Rearranged with my week full of camera photos, because let's face it, I love my phone!!!

Happy Weekend Y'all!

InstaFriday - The Final Week

Was this really my final week of summer?!  Nooooooooooooo!  Ok, actually the answer is yes!  Three days of training next week and then a few days off, before I officially report back to school for meetings before the kids come!  Can't believe how fast summer has flown, but grateful for every second I got to spend with my kids at home!

Check out what we did last week...

 Hard to tell what that picture is on the left, but if you look close you will see that I have NO incoming emails!  I cleaned out my phone, school, and personal email accounts.  It literally took me over five hours, but I was getting myself prepared for this upcoming year!  Later that evening we celebrated my friend, Meghan's birthday at her house.  It was a great party and we laughed all night long!

 Saturday we headed to a birthday party for one of Kyan's friends from school, an indoor trampoline park!  He was dripping in sweat after an hour of jumping!  Lola was stuck at home, as she had to go to the doctor {I thought she had croup, but turns out it was an ear infection - her first one since tubes almost three years ago}.  In that middle pictures, she was delivering corndogs to her brother.  Corndogs in our house go fast, as they are my kids favorite food to gobble up!  I am still walking at night and documenting my mileage!  

 Busted out the grocery list and meal planning Sunday morning.  It takes forever, but if I don't plan out the weeks dinners, we eat like crap or we eat out and I am trying to avoid that!  So, even though it isn't my most favorite thing to do, I am trying to be good about it.  I walked by myself Sunday night and the skies were so pretty, as I walked a little bit later and caught a very beautiful sunset, but I had to go pee so bad half way through my walk, I could hardly enjoy it.  It made for the most uncomfortable mileage yet!  When I came home, Lola was being turned into a little gamer girl by her daddy and brother!  Watching her play is hilarious!

 I told the kids that they couldn't play video games until their rooms were clean on Monday morning, but when they woke up they were too cute begging me to go downstairs that I honestly forgot all about it.  When I finally remembered what I told them, I called down to them, only to have them answer, "we already did!"  Yep, turns out they cleaned the rooms before they went to bed Sunday night!  Sneaky!  Spent the day crafting away with my friend Meghan.  I finished up the B Frame/Wreath for my friend Lissette {no, not in business, but worked out a deal with her and finished her front door decor}.  When I had her stuff done, I worked on my birthday bloomers planter for school {birthday pencils topped with flowers, where I will write my students name and birthday and give them their flower on that day as my gift to them} and a dry erase frame for reminders to myself!  We also worked on curtains for Meghan's son, Easton's, room and crayon rolls!  It was a long day of crafting, but we had fun and the kids played great together!

 After the fourth of July, I took down my old front door decor, as it just didn't look right anymore {I am trying to get a post up from that party sometime before school starts}.  My friend Holly has reminded me every time she has come over since, that she has never seen my door naked!  I agreed and did something about it!  This wreath was super easy.  I took a styrofoam wreath and wrapped a piece of fabric around it and then added some flowers to it with hot glue!  Simple, but very pretty!  Later that night I walked using the new Camelbak my brother sent me!  It worked so much better than the one I purchased a few weeks ago, no leaking during my walks!  Thanks brother!!!

 With two full days of crafting under my belt, we laid low on Wednesday and just swam.  Lola tries to avoid her naps by bribing me to brush my hair.  It works every single time!  Later that night headed to Old Navy for some back to school clothes shopping and found those basic flat gems above on the right?!  $4.49 for three of the four and $3.87 for the last pair.  But that is not all folks, I had a 20% coupon!  I needed all four, duh!  If they would have had more colors in my size, trust me, they would have went home too!

 A few of the pairs of pants I got on Wednesday were a little too long, but oh so comfortable, so I spent the morning hemming them, and turning some old pants that didn't fit quite right anymore, into capris!  I think I am set for pants for the beginning of the year!  Now onto the top half of my body!  Lola thought it would be fun to watch TV upside down!  Then she proceeded to flip backwards about 500 times while I made dinner!  Tried out a new recipe to go with an old one; zucchini parmesan chips, they were pretty tasty and I cooked for the first time using Panko!  If you want to try them, click here.  I got the recipe off of pinterest and the blackjack bake house blog!  Summer sleepover with our friend Jax!  The boys do a great job including Lola!  After dinner, we headed to coldstone for a treat and then into the tent in our front room!  We set it up so that they could watch a movie while "camping" before they went to bed!  After it was over, I zipped them up and they went to sleep!  Lola cried {she was scared} and ended up on my floor, but the boys finally fell asleep after lots and lots of whispering!

Another full week ahead {I'm jenni_roseland on Instagram, if you want to follow}!  Getting back to the grind!

Linking up with Jeannett, over at Life Rearranged, again this week, because, let's face it - I LOVE taking pictures with my iPhone!

Have a great weekend!