Out of Country

I gave this to myself for Christmas this year.  Yep, I do that sometimes.  I kept getting automatic email replies from professors when I emailed them that would say, "I'll get back to you after this or that conference because I'm out of country right now." I thought that sounded so cool!  I decided to find a really interesting sign and add some vinyl to it to hang on my wall now for motivation and later on my office door.  One day...

Elf on a Shelf

My kids are fans of the Elf on a Shelf book and our elf "Tinsel" visits us each holiday season, but now it's in half of my kids classrooms as well.  It seems like it should be a home thing to me.  Here are a few places our elf hid...

Christmas Wish List -Book Store Style

And here's the pile my son wanted that day.  We love the book store!

PhD Update

I'm in the third year and counting down the courses left before dissertation time (*cue scary music*).  I take courses through broadcast which takes some getting used to but we manage to have a fun time.  I've met these great people in person too and love that we are in this together.  Now and then, I pull out my phone and snap a picture of what's going on.

On our class the day before Halloween, we decided to all wear mustaches.  Apparently facial hair makes us all very serious-faced.  I'm going to miss these guys next year!

I'm in the news

Forgive my excitement, but I'm not used to all of this.

Family reactions

Here's my daughter's reaction to my new book that arrived in the mail...

"My baby is all grown up!"

I can't wait for my bio to say PhD soon!  

Fictional Travel Spots

I stumbled across this awesome post that struck a cord in my gypsy heart.  Check it out!

http://electricliterature.com/from-hogwarts-to-west-egg-50-fictional-destinations-you-can-actually-visit/

Like Looking in a Mirror

I saw this on FB and immediately felt like it was my own reflection.  Of course, I had pneumonia, finals, six kids and a injured husband at the time.  

It's better now.  

Don't worry.

That's the power of a good nap.

Thanksgiving

Need a first grade craft idea for the Thanksgiving season?  How about a pilgrim costume made of paper?  This one turned out really cute.

Teacher Dinner

In my role of PTA mom, I am in charge of the parent/teacher conference dinners.  The lastest one ended up really cute with a Fiesta theme.