Showering [the soon-to-be] Mrs. Hight!

MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED!!!!!  ...no this isn't new news, but it's still incredibly exciting!  And I'm even more excited that I get to be a part of their big day!  Because I'm old [okay, because I'm married], I was asked to be the 'Matron of Honor'.  The Maid of Honor, Kara, is about a zillion miles away, so I was flying solo for the Bridal Shower... and once I realized that it was probably a good idea to throw the bridal shower before the wedding happened, I had to get my butt in gear!  Weddings tend to sneak up on me...

My first thought when I figured out that I would be hosting a bridal shower was 'Yay!' -- followed quickly by, 'Oh crap!'.  Not only was the wedding only a couple months away, but because everyone lives in different places I anticipated a difficult time finding a date and location that would work for everyone.  Thankfully, things fell into place and the time and place were locked in!

I love party planning, but while I am fairly organized and love details, it's entirely different to plan and coordinate something than it is to HOST it!  I am not the type of person who likes to draw attention to myself or be anywhere near the center of attention.  But because I love my friend, I sucked it up and immersed myself in the details and planning so that I didn't have to think about the many many many people on the guest list [who I didn't know].  And then I made my mumsy promise to go with me, too!

After designing and ordering the invites [the fun part!], I set out to find some fun games [thank you pinterest!] that would appeal to a wide variety of guests.

I spent the next few weeks planning, reserving, ordering and crafting :)  And here's how it turned out:

The Beautiful Bride-to-Be and her Fabulous Mumsy!

....we met LOTS of new people!

'He Said... She Said' Game :)  I don't know if Keicia got all the quotes right, and she said half of te

One of the games was a Mad Lib version of vows for Keicia!  Somehow I don't think we'll be hearing these at the wedding next month... but at least she has a back up!

Apparently, Keicia never quite looked her age.  In this 'Before she was a Bride' game, guests had to guess Keicia's age in the numbered pictures.  And again, I don't think Keicia got all of the ages right, either!

So here's to my best friend in the whole world!  She is going to be a beautiful bride!!!

The thoughts and sayings of preschoolers ~ Volume III

When I accepted my new job offer, I knew [as you may have read in my last post] that I would miss many things about working with my preschoolers.  But one of the things that I will miss most of all are the cute, crazy, silly, adorable and down right random things that preschoolers say.

Because of this, in honor of my last day as 'Teacher René', I bring you the final edition [for now?] of 'The Thoughts and Sayings of Preschoolers' ~ Volume III:


Group of kids walking in a line out to the bus.  One girl trips at the top of the steps and falls down.
Boy: [raises hands up over his head and looks back to the door of the building] No worry... no worry!  She okay!  She okay!

Two little ones playing with playdough...
Boy1: What are you making? Ohhhh.... are you making a big fluffy pillow?
Boy 2: Yeah!
Boy1: Is it for ants?  Ants love pillows!

Little boy walking into class on a rainy morning...
Boy: Hi!  I was just walking on water!!!

Little Girl running past...
Me: Remember to use your walking feet!
Girl: But when I have to go to the bathroom I have to run!
[same little girl, on a different day, after using the restroom]
Me: Did you remember to wash your hands?
Girl: I don't have to.
Me: Well, we always wash our hands after going to the bathroom.
Girl: No, I sanitize after going to the bathroom....

Little girl, standing up to do 'Show & Tell'...
Girl: [beginning to lift her dress up] I'm going to show my new underwear!
               ...no, to her dismay, she was not allowed to show her underwear for show & tell.

Little girl, after completing her 'Vv vulture' craft...
Me: Okay, [girl], what'd we make today?
Girl: Vuh vuh (sounding out the letter), Ostrich!
Me: Close...... a vuh vuh vulture!

Same craft, different student...
Teacher Becky: What'd we make today, [boy]?
Boy: A Veagle!

Brothers... fighting over a puzzle...
Me: boys, what's wrong?
[squabbling back and forth]
Me: [boy 1], come here for a second. -- What's going on over there?
Boy: I'm just helping [boy 2] do the puzzle.
Me: Well, it doesn't sound like he wants help right now.
Boy: Yes, he does want help... he just doesn't know he wants help yet.

Finishing our 'Vv vase' craft with a little boy. We glued a vase onto the paper and glued tissue paper flowers onto the drawn stems...
Me: What'd we make today, [boy]?
Boy: Flowers!
Me: That's right!  And where are the flowers? [trying to prompt him to say 'vase']
Boy: .....in the glue.

Little boy, after telling the class that they would be getting a new teacher because I have a new job...
Boy: So, you're leaving, teacher Rene'?
Me: Yes, today is my last day with all of you in class.
Boy: Well, don't forget to take your car!


During this last week at preschool, my co-workers were kind enough to treat me to lunch and dessert, all of my kiddos signed a giant card for me, and some of the sweetest students in the world brought me flowers.  I definitely felt loved!

I have had the most wonderful three years with all of my current and past preschoolers and will treasure my time with them forever!  But they can't get rid of me that easily.... only working 4 days a week at my new job, I'm sure I'll pop in a time or two to visit on days off!

Bittersweet...

Bittersweet is the exact way to describe my emotions as of late.  While I am incredibly excited and proud... I am also sad that a period of my working life is coming to an end.

For those of you who may not know [probably most of you], for the past 2.5 months I have been in an application process for a new position within the City of Kennewick.  It has been a lengthy process, full of ups and downs, but has finally come to an end.  The position bulletin attracted more than 300 applicants, which was then whittled down to 50 [ish] who participated in a customer service assessment, from which a handful of applicants were selected to be interviewed, and then a second interview was conducted with top candidates.

After ALL of the steps in the process, I was ultimately offered a position [not the original position I applied for, but that's a LONG story.  The position I was offered is in the same department, same hours, etc... slightly different job description] and found myself dealing with some unexpected emotions.  I was thrilled that the [many many many] people who had been a part of my interview process saw my potential and worked so hard to make a place for me within their team... but I was also sad to finally come to the realization that accepting a new position would mean leaving so much behind.

Working with the little ones and going to preschool every day has been such a wonderful experience and I am certainly going to miss it.  The past three years have given me so much: I have had the honor to work alongside some of the most wonderful, creative and positive people I have ever met, I had the opportunity to write an article for a family magazine, I have had a schedule that allowed me to help coach high school tennis, and I have quite honestly learned more from 3, 4, and 5 year olds than I ever imagined possible.

I am so thankful for this new opportunity, challenges and all, but will always have a special place in my heart for all 'my kids'.  I will have to make the most of my last few weeks as " Teacher Rene' " and soak up all the laughs, hugs and playtime that I can get!

...the little things

Every year when Valentine's Day rolls around I have mixed emotions...  I'm thankful I have someone to celebrate with, but frustrated at the crazy spectacle it is and has become.  Who gets the biggest bouquet, or the most expensive jewelry, or eats at the fanciest restaurant, or goes on the most romantic getaway...?!?  Who cares.  That's not what it's about.  If Valentine's Day is about love, then forget all the junk and BE with the ones you LOVE.

This year, Dustin is out of town, so we 'celebrated' earlier this week.  And when I say 'celebrated', I mean we took time out to just BE together.  Our night was incredibly low key and was pure perfection.  No frills, no flowers, no pressure.  We got home from work, showered and threw on our most comfy sweats, had a fast food picnic on a blanket in the living room while we played a board game and watched a movie.  And the best part?   No phones, no distractions, just us [and the giant puppy trying to steal our fries].

Rather than making a big deal about all the stuff, it was completely refreshing to focus on the little things.  Making an effort to put each other first and ignore our phones and gadgets, and just enjoy being with each other in the moment was so fulfilling.  If only we would remember to do this without the prompting of a fabricated holiday about 'love'.

I don't need roses or jewelry to know that Dustin loves me.  I know that he loves me every morning when we gives me a kiss before he leaves for work.  I know that he loves me because he takes extra time to clear off my car for me when it snows.  I know he loves me because he makes me laugh, even at his own expense.  I know that he loves me because he does the chores that I hate to do.  I know he loves me because he lets me put my cold feet on him to warm them up.  And I know he loves me because he tells me every single day.

So here's wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day... today, tomorrow and always!

The Creation of Frankenwags!

When moms are away, the boys will play!  Unfortunately... they play with whatever is left in the room.  And when toys left in the room happen to be soft and fluffy, they are subjected to a bit of terrorizing, ending with a complete and thorough dissection.

This was the case on Friday at my sister's house.  Every day on my way to work, I drop Porter off at Sarah's house to play with her dog, Koa.  On this particular Friday, my dad was at my sister's house to work on some projects for her.  We let the dogs out to play in the yard for a few minutes and I was off to work.

Not too long into my work day, I received a text from my dad:  "So I went to get anchors for the shelf.  Put Koa and Porter in their room.  Didn't notice Wags......"  Wags is [well, was] Koa's "baby" aka large stuffed animal.

Shortly after the original text I received these pictures:

I love how Koa is just so excited to see my dad, while Porter is hiding around the corner.  Koa isn't at all concerned about the mess behind him and Porter is feeling all the guilt in the world!

Because our boys have done their fair share [and much more] of destruction at my sister's house, I told my dad to keep all the pieces of Wags and I'd see what I could do with him.

After getting all the pieces home [and oh so many pieces!] I quickly realized that it would be impossible for me to get Wags back together in any recognizable way. [I'm not the most skilled seamstress, and aside from the fact that it seemed as if half the fur was missing... the only pieces that were remotely still in tact were the arms.]  So I changed my goal from 'put Wags back together' to 'create Frankenwags'.  He might not end up looking much like the original Wags, but by-golly he'd get put back together in some way, shape or form!  ....and thus began the adventure [soon nightmare].

I began sewing pieces that seemed like they would remotely go with each other, and tried piecing them together in a way that *resembled* a stuffed animal.

After approximately 17 fur grafts, a complete fluff transfusion, far too many stitches to count [and soooo many hours], Frankenwags was complete!  What's next?  The test!  We'll see if Koa will still love his baby after being reintroduced to the new, [un]improved version!

Don't judge...  And don't ever ask me to make you a stuffed animal.  It isn't pretty!  ;)

[Insert some catchy holiday title here]

This [past] year truly went by way too fast!  I know this because I can remember exactly what I was doing this time last [last?] year... and my memory doesn't usually work that well over that length of time!

So, to ensure that I will remember the 2013 Holiday Season, just in case my memory decides not to work so well at this time next year, I'll do a [not really] short and sweet recap.  Perhaps you'll enjoy the craziness that is my life!

Abby and Andrew modeling the hats I made them :)

If you are married, or maybe if you're not, but you have divorced parents, or if you have to work on Holidays, or just because you enjoy the extra drama, you might know a little about feeling as if you're having a custody battle for holiday time.  Long gone are the good ole days of waking up on Christmas morning and magically finding my family and grandparents waiting in the living room.  Now that we're big kids [aka grown ups?] we have the task of figuring out how to be in two places at once so that we can celebrate with all the people who we love.  Unfortunately, Hermione hasn't passed on the time turner [if you don't read Harry Potter then I'm glad you're confused by this reference], so we usually have a 'fake Christmas' with one of our families.  This year we spent 'fake Christmas' with my family in the Tri-Cities on December 21st before driving to Idaho to spend actual Christmas with Dustin's family.

My new Baby!!!
                 And it's fancier than my old one!                      

In my family, a few years back we decided that rather than purchasing one gift for every person, we draw names and buy gifts for one person.  This excludes the kids [under 18 and over 65] so they get gifts from everyone :)

This year, my dad was lucky enough to draw my name.  I say [type?] this sarcastically because I can come up with new things that I'd like to have, or need to have for the house riiiiiight up until about Thanksgiving... then I can not come up with gift ideas.  [Insert pity for Dustin and anyone else trying to buy me Christmas gifts, because I'm usually no help when it comes to helpful hints and ideas]  ~  Thankfully, my dad and mom pay attention throughout the year and knew that I had mourned the lost of my keurig machine several months back.  So along with a few other things here and there, I was given a brand new keurig!!!  Helllllo Chai Lattes, I've missed you!

My other new baby... isn't she beautiful?  :)

Dustin and I also exchanged gifts before going to Idaho [so I suppose we celebrated Christmas three times!] and I was definitely spoiled.  Two of my favorite things he gave me were a new purse that I'd been drooling over for a few months, and tickets to see Brian Reagan in a couple months!



                

On our way to Lewiston, Porter was his usual scaredy cat self and jumped up into my lap [no, I wasn't driving] about 10minutes into the trip.  His present to me included a few new bruises and sleeping limbs.

Didi's Quilt :)

In Lewiston we were lucky to spend time visiting lots of friends and family.  We attended a Christmas Eve gathering with Dustin's extended family where we watched Christmas Vacation, did a white elephant gift exchange and played charades!  The next day we had an amazing Christmas dinner with Dustin's parents and grandma Barbar and pretended that Didi was with us.  I was very excited [and nervous] to give Barbar the quilt I made her for Christmas [Karen got one last year and Didi got one this year, too!], and Barbar spoiled us, as usual.  It didn't take long for Dustin to search out batteries to boot up some of his new trinkets and I couldn't wait to get home and put my jewelry in the beautiful new jewelry boxes she gave me.

Take I

Grandma Barbar and Wolfie!

Karen did NOT like Dustin's beer...

We were also able to see Ryan, Jared and Leslie [spoiler alert: They're pregnant and we're going to be Godparents!!!], the Squires family [plus Peterson], Curtis, Eric and Keicia, Cody, Mike and Katie, Scott and Jamie, and many others ['many others' because I'm sure I'm forgetting a few people... my apologies].

Quenton is doing some serious explaining to Ryan about what's happening!

Many of the above mentioned people were at the Squires' annual New Year's Eve party.  Even Porter was invited and had too much of a good time... let's just say he enjoyed seeing all the girl dogs?  [Note: pictured above: Starsky and Porter, Roxie and Porter]

New Year's day we played lots of games and Karen spoiled us with her home made tacos [quite literally the BEST tacos on the planet.  Be jealous.]

Apples to Apples... less fun when you have crappy cards!

TENZI!!!  New dice game... sooooo much fun!  Fast and Easy, too!

After discovering that Barbar has enough Christmas lights and decorations to light an entire village [Ron was helping Barbar go through her basement storage before preparing to move], we hit the road [this time with Porter staying in the back seat thanks to his new Thunder Shirt!].  We made it back home with just enough time to take down Christmas decorations, enjoy and put away christmas gifts, slightly tidy up the house, do laundry, ignore dishes, run some errands, visit cousin Koa, play monopoly, pretend we don't have to go back to work tomorrow and blog about about our very own Christmas vacation. :)