Mystery Guest in my Classroom?

Pretty sure he'll be coming any day now to visit us! At least that's what is sounds like is going to happen with all the construction happening outside my classroom window! The plowing, scraping, jack-hammering, drilling and ripping trees down went on outside from 8am until 5:30 tonight when I finally left due to the noise.

Tonight the track hoe (that's what one of my students told me it was) was leveling the ground and the "wheel" part of it (he didn't tell me what that was called) was literally scraping along the school wall that is next to my desk. I was afraid Mr. Kool-Aid man was going to make an appearance ... so I left! If he does come through, I'll be sure and take a picture of him for the blog!

We are the best schnoodle Moms, EVER!

Jenny and Rob got back in town today from Portland. As soon as they got back, we wanted to take both Minnie and Peanut to the Heritage dog park. Peanut hasn't had a chance to use his Chuck IT (tennis ball thrower) that he got for Christmas yet and he was super excited as soon as he saw Jenny get it out from under the tree.

When we get close to the dog park (which is basically the entire ride since we live so close) the dogs start with this high-pitched yelping and whining. They don't do this very often ... thank goodness it's only when we are close to the dog park.

Since it was so beautiful here today, everyone in southern Johnson County had the same idea that we did. The dog park was packed and there were lots of other dog friends to play with! Half of the dog park was super muddy due to all the ice and snow we've had, so we were sure to carefully walk past all the mud so we didn't have brown schnoodles on the way home!

So not only did we go this morning ... after the dogs had a chance to nap and recharge, we went back at 5:00 tonight to meet Brenda, Mike and their lab Gunner. Peanut and Minnie have played with Gunner twice before. Once when Gunner was only 8 weeks old and then another time last April at the dogs' 1st birthday party! I think they all remembered each other and they had lots of fun. Peanut loved his Chuck It and loved chasing Gunner around, even though Gunner is still healing from his leg surgery. When the sun finally went down, we packed up both dogs and took them home for baths!

Both dogs are now pooped and have been sleeping since we got back. Minnie fell asleep sitting up while we were eating dinner. I'm shocked she could even stay awake long enough for to eat her own dinner!

I don't have a picture from the dog park, bath time OR them sleeping right now ... but I do have a pic from last night. Peanut came upstairs with us for a slumber party. This is how the two of them sleep when we let them be together at night.



Minnie originally moved into Nuts' bed and I found them when she had kicked him 1/2 way out! I repositioned them so they could both comfortably sleep in his bed! Notice that he didn't even wake up to me taking pictures. She looks pissed I woke her up! :)

Etsy Deals of the Week!

Alrighty ... it's a new week, so it's time to tell you about more of my fun Etsy items. Remember: you can read more about these items and many of the others I have posted on my Etsy page at www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com !

I had a new magnet idea that I adapted from magents that Jenny has made in the past. Mom and Molly both got a set of these for Christmas and then I thought that others might want to buy them as well. These refrigerator clip magnets help to make the "stuff" that is on your fridge look like more than just "stuff". They can help you to get organized in the new year. I like this set ... they are perfect for a little Valentine's Day gift for someone you love!

This set of 3 magnets is for sale on my Etsy page for $3.50! UPDATE: This item sold today! Go look for others that are similar on www.betsyonetsy.etsy.com!

I've also made a new batch of Minnie's Fleecy Dog Toys! Some of these are different sizes and bright, fun colors. One of my favorites is a bigger and thicker toy for an older or bigger dog.

This yellow, blue and multi-colored fleecy toy is for sale on my site for $3.99!

I have a number of matching earring AND ring sets that I've made and put for sale. The earrings are made on either gold or silver pins and hooks and the rings are made on a sturdy elastic string that allows them to fit on almost anyone's finger. I have some of these elastic rings that I wear frequently. Even if they are tight at first, they stretch with wear, but still stay tight enough to stay on your finger. This is one of my favorite sets. I love the bright colors of the beads. I call this Rainbow Sherbet.

This earring AND ring set is for sale on my site for just $10.00!

Since I was talking about a great gift for Valentine's Day before ... here's another! This heart-shaped wire key chain was made by twisting a thin gauge of soldering wire until it started to look like this "braided" wire!

This fun key chain is also for sale on my site for just $3.50!

As always ... let me know if you see something you like, but would like a different color or number of items and I'll see what I can do! Enjoy!

My newest pet peeve

Ladies ... I bet you all know what I'm talking about in this one.

All public restaurants and retail stores ... take note: Each woman's stall in your public bathroom should have a hook for me to hang my coat and/or purse!

I'm so tired of attempting to hang my suitcase of a purse around the corner of the door to my stall, setting it very carefully on the back of the toilet or holding it whilst going to the bathroom. Sometimes I have to do this, because I will NEVER put my purse on the nasty floor of a bathroom. My purses go everywhere with me. Not only do I love them for collection purposes, but I refuse to deposit bathroom germs every place I go (car, kitchen, bedroom, closet, classroom, etc)!

I've taken note of now 2 places that did NOT have a hook for my purse. Tonight at Pizza Shoppe I had no hook, and a few weeks ago at a Panera there was no hook install the stall ... but don't worry ... there WAS one in the main part of the bathroom for all the other customers to have time to sort through my purse while I was locked inside my stall!

Just thought I'd share. I'm sure I'm not the only one annoyed by this!

Snow White is doing dishes again cause what else can you do with seven itty-bitty men?

That's a quote from my new favorite song of the week: Fairytale by Sara Bareilles. She was one of the lucky artists to have a free iTunes song of the week download months ago. Her stuff was actually one of the few great downloads and people went crazy over her. I bought the whole CD, which I rarely do on iTunes. Mitzi introduced me to her with her song, Long Song. I was hooked as soon as I listened to that song. She is singing part of it in a current Rhapsody commercial that's on now.

Anyway ... her lyrics for Fairytale are FANTASTIC!
I thought I would share them. If you get a chance to hear the song, they are much better with her singing them than they are just being read.

Cinderella's on her bedroom floor
She's got a
Crush on the guy at the liquor store
Cause Mr. Charming don't come home anymore
And she forgets why she came here
Sleeping Beauty's in a foul mood
For shame she says
None for you dear prince, i'm tired today
I'd rather sleep my whole life away than have you keep me from dreaming

Cause i don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried bout the maiden
Though you know she's only waiting on the next best thing

Snow White is doing dishes again cause
What else can you do
With seven itty-bitty men?
Sends them to bed and calls up a friend
Says will you meet me at midnight?
The tall blonde lets out a cry of despair says
Would have cut it myself if i knew men could climb hair
I'll have to find another tower somewhere and keep away from the windows

Cause i don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried bout the maiden
Though you know she's only waiting on the next best thing

Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom
Man made up a story said that i should believe him
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight
But i don't want the next best thing
So i sing and hold my head down and i break these walls round me
Can't take no more of your fairytale love

Cause i don't care for your fairytales
You're so worried bout the maiden
Though you know she's only waiting on the next best thing
I don't care
I don't care
Worry bout the maiden
Though you know she's only waiting spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb appreciation
But the story needs some mending and a better happy ending
Cause i don't want the next best thing
No no i don't want the next best thing

Here she is singing Fairytale live. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ96N59XuL4

Tortilla teeth

Yes, that's right ... I'm only 1 week into my blog and I've already resorted to writing about my teeth. This writing-every-day thing may be harder than I thought!

My idea for today's title came today when I was at Chipotle. I've been craving it all winter break and today I finally got there. So anyway ... back to my teeth. Have you ever noticed that when you are eating a Chipotle burrito, you have to stop after every bite because you have what feels like an entire tortilla stuck to your teeth? My friend, Ashley, used to always talk about how when you eat too many sweets, you feel like you have fuzzy sweaters on your teeth. Every time she said this, I imagined my teeth with little v-necks and cardigans on. Now I'm imagining my teeth wrapped up like teeny, tiny Chipotle burritos! OH! Bite-size burritos ... GREAT idea!

Are you still reading?

Went up to school to get some grading done that should have happened a few weeks ago. Construction has started on our building for the HUGE project that will be finalized next August (probably about 2 hours before kids show up on the first day). I walked into my hallway to find wires and men on ladders hanging from the ceiling. Right outside my classroom window I found the largest bulldozer I've ever seen and a hole in the ground where there used to be trees, benches and a walking track. I'm pretty sure that my students will spend more time using the bathroom pass to check out the construction outside than they will doing their assignments. That should be fun!

Back to working on the scarf that Jill helped me start knitting. To thank her for helping me with my knitting, I helped her get her fabulous Etsy site set up last night. Check it out! www.knit1scrap2.etsy.com. She took great photos with the fun lighting studio that Adam got her for Christmas. I'm totally jealous! My scarf should be really beautiful when it's done. A perfect PINK color that will match my new winter coat. If I can find some good lighting in the house, I'll take a picture and post it.

*** *** *** *** ***
Here are the pics I've just taken.

My pretty scarf and the other yarn I still have to work with. You might notice that the end of the scarf is stitched a different direction. That was the mistake I started with that Jill turned into a cool design on my scarf!

And here are the dogs playing King of the Mountain on Jenny's Mom. If you choose to sit on the couches here, you are taking the risk that small schnoodles will come and sit on your head and climb all over you!



And then this is them looking depressed like nobody paid any attention to them all day. Riiiiiiiight!




*** *** *** *** ***
P.S. Check out the WAY COOL logo at the top right. My friend from SMS, Steve Stone, made it and I'm not sure if he intended for me to steal it and put it on my blog ... but that's just what I've done! Isn't it awesome!?

"Juno what?"

"What?"

"You should definitely go see Juno!"

I went to go see Juno this afternoon with Jill, Adam and Adam's brother, Josh. It was a fantastic movie ... so great I told Molly I'd go see it again with her if Erik didn't want to go. The theater wasn't all that full since we went to the $5 weekday afternoon time (yeah for not paying and arm & a leg to see a movie), but the obnoxious group of 5 loud boys DID choose to sit right behind us. They talked the entire time and laughed too hard at things that really weren't supposed to be funny. There were so many great one-liners in this movie ... it shows how well written it was!

Ellen Page was fantastic and the duo of Jason Bateman and Michael Cera on screen again (for all you Arrested Development fans) was nice! We never see them together, but just the idea of them both acting together again is enough for me. I am, however, wondering if Jennifer Garner can play a different character for once. They all are seeming to run together.

Oh yeah ... for all you Office fans, Rainn Wilson is in this movie, too. Even though his part is only about 5 minutes ... it's hilarious!

Okay. Off to bed. I've got a snoring dog next to me and a messy room to clean up before I get back to school.

She's got Star Power!

Today was a lazy day. I took Mitzi over to my parents' house to play games. Mom and I LOVE to play games ... really any kind! We like cards (Liverpool Rummy, Canasta, Phase 10, Tripoly), dominos, board games (Fact or Crap), strategy games (Blokus is the new one we haven't figured out yet, Rummikub), etc.

Well ... I convinced Mitz to bring her Guitar Hero over with us so that my Mom could see how it's played. I've been talking about it for months! After our Wii party at Adam and Jill's and spending most of my summer at Mitzi's pool and apartment playing G.H. ... I've become obsessed. No, I'm still not any good, but I think it's hilarious!

I'm pretty sure that Mom has never played anything on a game system. She might have played Tetris on our old-school Gameboy, but that's probably it. She picked up quickly (probably faster than I did) on Guitar Hero, and laughed (just as hard as I did) the first few songs she played, and said lots of lovely words when she messed up (just like me)! :) We're two peas in a pod!

Here they are rocking out to one of the first songs she played.

I think her highest score today was 24,000+ which I would say is a success. My record of the day was to have a 172 note streak on a new song we bought! I was SO excited!

Here is their song. Mitzi is on the left kicking butt with a score of 21,000+ and rocking her Star Power. Mom is on the right with a respectable 7,400 on Easy. Way to go Mom!

I had video of the song they played, but it took about a year and a half to upload just half of it. Apparently I need to learn a few things still when it comes to my camera!

I hope we get to play again soon. Mom, what was your favorite part?!?!