Favorite Tradtions {Part 1}

(I hope that there will be a part 2 and 3 to this post, but I am not promising anything.)

Tonight we had our Andrus family Christmas party. It is always one that I look forward to. A while ago, we decided to stop drawing names and giving cousin presents and started doing a white elephant gift exchange. We all went to the dollar store and got a gift. One person starts and picks a present and then it can be stolen twice before it becomes safe.

One year there was this velvet rose, and my cousin Isaiah had it. My brother Dan (who is 5 or so years older) took the rose from Isaiah. Since it was a rose, he thought it would be fine to steal, but we got the opposite reaction and Isaiah started crying. It was so funny, and is the joke of the family now.

For the past few years, we have changed our present swap to a $5 food item. It's always fun to watch and see what the big hit items are each year. (Sams Club muffins, jumbo bag of Swedish fish, chocolate covered raisins, etc.)

This year Bob thought of his present early, he got 2 six packs of the bottled pop. He got Strawberry Crush and Cream Soda. I picked out the jumbo bag of Pretzel M&M's. This year we started out with youngest and went up to the oldest. The soda got picked early and was stolen until safe before we hit the 12-15 year olds. 

Someone else also brought the same M&M's as us, and I got them. Bob came home with a container of popcorn. He sure wished he could've brought home his pop.

Andrea and Brent: They got 2 awesome presents, M&M's and Gum.

 Bob and I with ours, Bob lovin on his popcorn, haha.  Andrea and I are twins with our M&Ms.

 Laken and Mike! Laken brought the chips, so she was happy to reclaim them. And she also wanted the goldfish for Mike's lunches. haha.

Long day....

I woke up this morning to my Mom calling about the snow. She wanted to know if my Dad needed to come over with the four wheeler to scrape the snow. What snow I thought. And then I looked out the window.

Bob and I spent the next 2 hours shoveling snow. We only got 2/3 of the parking lot finished. I quickly got ready, went shopping for a few things and then made lunch. Our good friends Alisha and Patrick came over with their cute baby Megan. We ate lunch, played games, and caught up. It was so fun. We wish they lived closer so we could do it more often.

Bob and I went to run a few errands after they left. We had a couple hours of down time before we had to leave to meet my family for dinner and a movie. We discussed on the way home whether we would watch a movie, or take a nap. When I got out of the car, I heard a weird noise, I looked down and saw my tire deflate.

Luckily Bob is mister handy (I have never changed a tire in my life....) and he got our little donut put on. We spent the next hour and 20 minutes waiting at Les Scwab to get our flat fixed. Basically our 2 hour "resting period" was over.

We met my family down in Spanish Fork at Pizza Factory. (I can't go there without thinking of Danielle and her million stories about working there.) Following dinner, my parents sent Bob and I to the Payson movie theater. We got tickets and saved seats for the clan. (All 12 of us)

When Bob and I walked into the theater, we found that there was no one there. When the rest of the family arrived, they just laughed. We ended up having the theater to ourselves for the whole movie.

We put on our 3D glasses and enjoyed the newest Narnia movie.

Family

Aunt Jana, Uncle Kent, and Dad. Do Kent and my Dad look similar, they are brothers.

Lyssa, Sydney (cousins), Ayrika, and Nicki

Newlyweds (sorry Andrea, I had to put that picture on here.)

Andrea's Wedding

Andrea and Brent got married last Friday in the Salt Lake Temple. They looked amazing, the ceremony was beautiful, and it was a wonderful weekend We are so excited to add Brent to the family! I'll post more pictures when I have some time.

spending time wisely

I came home from school with 1 million things to do. I listed a few in my last post. I am happy to say that the pile of laundry, is actually gone. Well part is put away, part is clean on the couch, and the rest is in the dryer. (I am progressing though.) Between loads of laundry I cleaned the kitchen, cleaned out the fridge, and swept the floor.

I still need to:
Buy Christmas presents
Make a few Christmas presents
Mail a few presents
Buy new shoes and jewlery for Andrea's wedding (12/17)
Bake treats for the neighbors
Print off pictures of my class for Christmas presents

.... and I am sure a few more things my brain can't process at the moment.

Instead of doing any of those things, tonight I did the following.

Wedding toenails,  her colors are black, cream, and gold. I do need open toe black maybe gold shoes to go with. Yes I am wearing my candy cane striped PJ pants. I love them.

Glittery JOY letters, that will be put in three 5x7 frames with red paper background. Need to buy frames when I go out and do all of my shopping. I found my inspiration and by that I mean the exact idea from HERE. If you would like to make it, buy your wood letters and come over, I have spray adhesive and a lot of green glitter leftover!

Reasons why I am ready for Christmas Break...

I used my car remote key to try and unlock my classroom door the other morning.

I've made 5 batches of soup for different potlucks this week.

I keep thinking it's the following day, and am always disappointed when I realize what day it is.

The laundry tower has tipped over a few times this week. And it's height is at an all time record high.

The presents that have been wrapped and ready to mail for the past 10 days are still sitting in my living room.

My patience is getting shorter and shorter each day.

My sub plans are made and ready for Andrea's wedding on Friday.

I've sang Jingle Bells, Up on the Rooftop, I'm Getting Nothing for Christmas, and other Christmas songs over 20 times each with my class.

I almost slipped on the ice 5 times when walking from my car to the school this morning.

Bridal Shower and Grandpa Stories

Yesterday my cousin Emily and I threw a bridal shower for my sister Andrea. Emily did mostly everything, she was so fun to throw a shower with. After my Turkey Cake Pops, she looked online and thought that the Cupcake Pops wouldn't be too hard. I warned her not to do it, but she made them anyway. They were super cute, although they did take a lot of time.

(These are Bakerella's, but Emily's looked almost identical.)

We decided to do soups for the main dish. My mom made her amazing rolls to go with them. All of the soups were amazing. My cousin JanaRae brought a Tomato-Basil with Orzo pasta, it was divine. Emily made a vegetable soup that had mint and lemon in it. And then I made my 2 favorite soups. White Chicken Chili and Pumpkin Curry soup.

 For dessert along with the cake pops, I made some chocolate cookies that I had found online at one of my favorite blogs. They were really good. I am excited to make them for school next week. (We all share a Christmas treat the last few days of school.)

During the shower, I meant to take pictures- but with talking to family members I didn't get around to it. The only picture I got was at the end of Andrea next to the banner I made for the shower.

Today on our way to my parents house for dinner, we stopped to pick my Grandpa up. My Grandma had knee replacement surgery last week, and is staying in a rehabilitation center near our house. Grandpa needed a ride home, so we picked him up. While visiting with my Grandma before we left, Grandpa showed Bob his IPad and let him listen to his favorite songs. Sick em on a Chicken, is his favorite song that he always has us listen to when we are visiting.

The ride to Mapleton went by quickly as Grandpa told us many stories about his past, along with Springville history. I love hearing his stories, and hope that I don't forget them.

Getting Crafty

Tonight while Bob was at school studying like crazy, I got my craft on. I now have burned/blistered fingers from the glue gun... but I am happy with the outcome. I went to Hobby Lobby after school, I shouldn't have gone. I loved everything and wish I could've come home home with a cart full.

The reason I went to Hobby Lobby was to get 2 styrofoam trees and some tissue paper. And with that, I made these:(If you were to turn them around, you would see styrofoam, they took forever to complete, so I only put tissue paper where it was needed.)

We haven't got a Christmas tree yet, but hopefully we will do that sometime this week. We didn't get one last year, but we just rearranged our furniture so one will fit. Until then, we will enjoy the decorations on our wall of shelves. (I have a few more things I want to do, and hopefully they will appear on the wall soon.)

2 Years Later

Bob and I went on our first date two years ago. We went on our first date Saturday the 22nd and the following week was Thanksgiving. We saw each other everyday that week, and on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Bob met my family. I went through my pictures from 2009, but I didn't end up getting a picture of us together.

Thanksgiving Break 2008
Thanksgiving 2010

Last one I swear....

Remember the nail shields? Well you can get them for half price through screaming deals. It is the deal of the day.

Go Here and sign up for an account. I just bought some and it said that the deal was available for 29 more hours.

Thanksgiving 2010

Bob and I both woke up up at 8:30. Bob was going to go play basketball, but they ended up not going. Luckily for me, because he helped me a ton.

I made a key lime pie, and Bob prepped for the apple cranberry pie. Then we put that together. Then Bob got ready and I started preparing the vegetables. I made fresh green beans with mushrooms and shallots. Bob made cheesy cauliflower. When I pulled the apple cranberry pie out of the oven, it looked really juicy. That's when I realized that I forgot to put the flour in it. *Why didn't I reread the recipe before I started baking???? Ah!

We were down to the wire when we left at 12:10. Of course we got about 5 minutes away and I realized I left my straightener on. So we had to turn around and come back. Even though we were a few minutes late, we were actually one of the first ones there.Thanksgiving was amazing. My favorites always include my Grandma's homemade cranberry sauce and my Aunt Shauna's yams. (Basically a yam dessert that we eat as a side.) There were 10 pies total for the contest. We all waited in suspense while the judges judged the pies.Bob and I ended up taking 3rd place, with the ....... cranberry apple pie. I was so shocked. But super happy. We got a gift card to jamba juice. My aunt Brenda took 1st with an apple pie, and 2nd place went to Emily with 2nd place.

My winning pie! My Dad was so proud to finally have someone in the family win, even if it was 3rd place. Emily and Matthew with their 2nd place pie!
My cute cousin Ryan licking all of the cream off of all the Turkey Oreos.
Grandma and Grandpa writing Christmas cards to my brother and cousin who are both on missions.

Cake Pops or Cake Disaster?

This morning I went to a couple grocery stores to get the ingredients for my vegetables and pies for tomorrow. My cousin Laken sent me a recipe for one of the pies I will be making. Attached to the recipe was another recipe for German Chocolate cake balls. I have never made them, but they only have a few ingredients. Whenever I look at the cake balls/pops on Bakerella's website, I fall in love with them. So I googled Turkey Cake Pops, and POOF, there they were on her website. So, I said to myself.... I should make some of those for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.

I went to a couple more stores to get all of the stuff and came home on a crafty/foody high. I was super excited.I made the cake balls and put them in the freezer. That was pretty easy.
Then I made little Turkey faces. I even got edible pens so I could draw on their little eyes. This was a little more challenging, but doable.I dipped the chilled cake balls in chocolate. (Didn't take a picture, I was a mess.)

That's when it all went downhill. Maybe I should've googled how to dip the cake balls without making a mess. Or when to put the stick in the cake, or when to put the pretzel legs in.

When I went to put the stick in and the pretzel legs, it basically broke the chocolate shell around the cake. After the first four disasters, I basically cried to Bob telling him I should never do things like this. They are hard, messy, and I am not good at them. He said they looked wonderful.... and motivated me to finish them. (I used a knife to break a small hole in the shell before sticking the stick and pretzels in.)

I am glad I finished them, but they basically look horrible. Hoping that the taste makes up for the appearance.
*** Not all are crooked like this one. I just was too tired to look through all of them to find the best one.

I have one more tray of cake balls in my freezer.... If you want to attempt it, let me know. You can have mine.

Nail update...

Thank you to all of your ideas for Thanksgiving vegetables. My mind is spinning, I know I will be making cheese cauliflower (one of Bob's favorite) and another dish.

One of the traditions for my family is to have a pie contest. Whoever is hosting Thanksgiving asks neighbors or friends to come judge our contest. In the past we have had over 20 pies. Anyone can enter and there are always fun prizes. (2 years ago it was tickets to comedy sportz, and in the end the whole family went with the winners. This was right after Bob and I had started dating and he met my whole Hales side of the family.)

So any who, I have a few pie ideas, (yes I procrastinate) but if you have a fool proof favorite pie, feel free to share it with me. Last year I tried the French Silk, which was pretty good.... and I did master the pie crust- but it didn't appeal to our judges.

Jamberry Nail Update:
If you buy them, make sure you watch the How To Apply video. I didn't watch it, and I wish I had prior. I was just so excited.

My toenails are still going strong, but my fingernails lasted 1 week and I peeled them off. I would recommend having a friend put them on for you. It's so hard to do it one handed. If the shield sticks to your cuticle or skin at all, it doesn't seal properly. Between that, and me washing a million dishes by hand this week, a couple started to come up on the sides.

I can't wait to order these holiday designs.
To view all of the nails, go to their website HERE.

Thanksgiving HELP!

I was just notified that I will be bringing the vegetable to our Thanksgiving meal this year. Yes this is the first year I am contributing something on my own from my own kitchen. (Minus the pies for the pie contest, that I have never won.) Sooo.... I am in need of some help. What do you have for your Thanksgiving vegetable?

Recipes, ideas, anything.... please help!

Fun Designs

A friend at Enrichment last week had super cute fingernails and I found out they were just a decal. I ordered some from Jamberry and they arrived today.... Apparently the company is in Orem, so they didn't have to travel very far.

They look pretty cute, especially on my toes. Maybe because I can put them on both of my feet easily. Like when painting, it's always so hard to do your right hand. (Or dominant hand)

They seemed kind of expensive, but I got 3 for the price of 2. And I only used 1/4 of a color for my hands and less than a 1/4 for my toes. I just hope they stay on and last a while. If they do, they are definitely worth it. You can see all of the designs at their website.

I will keep you updated.Sorry about the dry feet.

Mr. T

Did I mention that Mr. T. came to my class on Halloween? How funny is this kid and his costume? He came to school an hour late because his dad was shaving his head. None of the kids in my class got his costume, but the faculty sure got a kick out of it. I wish I had gotten a better shot, he had a gold belt on... loved it!

Ups and Downs of 3rd grade

This week has been a crazy week. At my race on Saturday I talked to our school sub, she said she would see me later in the week as she didn't have any jobs early in the week. She jokingly told me to try and get sick so she could work. Saturday night I felt a soar throat coming on and felt crappy all weekend. I went to school on Monday, and by the end of the day I knew I wasn't getting better. But since it was just cold like symptoms, I just decided to take off Tuesday morning, and come in after lunch. It was so nice to sleep in and take my time getting ready. I felt ok.... but wasn't feeling perfect.

We have been working on Multiplication and Division this month. We did an art project using arrays. They were given a couple sheets of paper to create whatever they wanted as long as they figured out the multiplication problem for each array. We had some really cool things created. This is what two girls put together for me.
Aren't we sooo cute?

Today a student pooped their pants twice.... Yes you read that right. Once in the morning, got new clothes and then later in the afternoon it happened again. -- This will be the 4th incident in the past 2 weeks. So not only am I teaching, but I am using my sense of smell to see when this student is stinky.

Over Thanksgiving break I am getting a Smartboard (an interacative whiteboard) installed in my classroom, which I am super excited about. I recently took a class to figure out how to use it, and the board has been sitting in the office for the past few weeks, waiting to be installed.

Newest Onesies

For Enrichment (Mid Week Activity, whatever your supposed to call it) last month, we were asked to show off a talent. I had a few onesies that I had made and wanted to show. But the night of, I couldn't find them. I realized I had left them at my parents house while stitching them during conference. And there wasn't enough time to drive there and back.

I hurried and cut out some holiday themed ones, and ironed them on. I just barely finished stitching them this weekend. (Having a baby shower and a new nephew in one weekend gets you motivated!)

Thanksgiving Themed Onesies:

For a girl:

For a boy:
Christmas Onesie: (Yes ignore the fact that it is not centered, I was in a hurry when I ironed it on, and I am a little embarrassed.)

I made this football one for my new nephew Coy. I am so excited to meet him over Christmas break.