Valentine Chip Bags

Cody's friends at his day program will get these tasty valentines this year. 

Printables are from MabbRose Designs via Etsy. 

Special Friend of the Day- Two

Every child in Mrs. B.'s Kindergarten class has the opportunity to be Special Friend of the Day and, since all of the children have had a turn, Mrs. B. chose me to be "Special Friend" this morning. 

Last time I was Special Friend of the Day was in 2012. (Click HERE to see portraits of me from that group of students.) By comparison, I think the Kindergarten graduates from 2012 have more artistic talent than our students this year, nonetheless, they drew some pretty cute pictures. Take a look...

Never mind that I'm pig nosed and built like a box. This little girl is a future calligrapher! 

I'm sure it's obvious, but I'm going to tell you anyway. This is me getting out of my green car at Disneyland
 and Mickey and Minnie Mouse are there to greet me. 

The fact that this little guy took his time drawing my picture makes my heart melt. Usually, he is either daydreaming or hurrying to get through his assignments. (By the way, it was 'wear your school t-shirt' day.
I don't typically sport shirts with roadrunners on them.)

Here I am, riding Toy Story at California Adventure Park. I don't know what's going on in the crotch area. I was afraid to ask. 

This is me riding California Screamin'. The two girls in the box are waiting in line. IF ONLY lines were that short! 

Once again, I'm at Disneyland. This time I'm riding Pirates of the Caribbean. In Ethan's words...
"It's the dark part before you go up the hill. The box is where that thing flashes."

 I sure am going to miss Mrs. B.!

Turning 50 Part 4

Katelyn's husband, Matt, wrote this one. Don and I love having him as our one and only son-in-law. It makes us happy that, after being around our crazy brood for a couple of years now, Matt will still claim us. By the way, if you saw Katelyn's rock, you would approve as well! :)

This one is from my aunt Cindy. I am blessed with some pretty wonderful aunts, but I've got to admit, Cindy is my favorite. She is only seven years older than me and, for that reason, I spent more time with her than any of the others. I have soooo many fond memories of her! Obviously, she was a great sport to include me on her dates. 

Best girl trip ever...up to that point. 

We were at this mall in Rancho Cucumonga, CA...

and, as we left the H & M store, I noticed one of the zippers on my backpack was down. I searched my backpack for my wallet and couldn't find it. I was sure someone had unzipped the backpack and stole it. Beverly, Jennica, Katelyn and I looked everywhere and Bev was really close to jumping a guy that "looked guilty" standing by the trashcan. I phoned my husband back home and had him call the bank to put a stop on our credit cards. Then, when we got back in the car, I looked in my backpack one more time, and there was my wallet. 

I think it was Jennica who took this photo of me from the back seat. As you can see, the girls still won't let me forget that moment in time. 

Talitha is my daughter-in-law. She is a fantastic cook and such a good mom! Talitha must also have a great sense of humor and a lot of spunk to be married to my son Chase, who is a big kid at heart and loves teasing everyone.

Much like my brother-in-law's note on the last post, this is another "you had to be there" moment. John is a co-worker and good friend. 

Susan is John's wife. We DID have a great time watching the taping of Wheel of Fortune! You can read about it here .

Bridger is my great-nephew (my sister's grandson). Reading children's handwriting is my favorite! I am so glad Bridger had a good time at my house eating pizza. :)

Of all the teachers I've worked with over the years, I've been with Susan the longest. She is amazing! Never has she made me feel inferior or asked me to do anything I am not comfortable with. Consider yourself blessed if your child was/is lucky enough to have her for a teacher.

If you missed the previous "Turning 50" posts, here are the links...

Turning 50 Part 1

Turning 50 Part 2

Turning 50 Part 3

Turning 50 Part 1 (Yes. It Was THAT Good!)

I did it. I hit the dreaded, milestone 50th birthday yesterday and I've got to say, it wasn't at all bad. In fact, thanks to my awesome kids, fabulous extended family and amazing friends, it was the BEST birthday I've ever had!

The morning started off great with Cody giving me a C.O. My facebook friends know the story behind this gift. For those of you who don't, Cody has wanted to get me an electric can opener (C.O.) for my birthday for awhile now and not because I need one. Cody, in all his autistic glory, has WANTED me to want one.

When I arrived at the school, Mrs. B. had these sitting on my table, along with a cute card...

She and the children sang the birthday song to me and, when the Kindergarten students wanted to know my age, I responded, "I'm a grandma, so how old do you think I am?" One little girl shouted "18!", which was much kinder than Cody telling me I was almost 100.

After work, my husband treated me to lunch at Olive Garden and, when we got home, Casey had been at our house and left a card and this gift on the kitchen counter...

A 50 dollar iTunes card for my new iPhone! Hellzzyeah! :)

AND...

Throughout the entire day (week/month/?), I had NO idea THIS was going to happen...

I had to erase the address and phone number. Obviously. :)

You will want to stay tuned for Turning 50 Parts 2 and 3. I promise it gets even better!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This was my day yesterday...

The button came off my pants and I didn't have time to sew it back on or change before work, so I safety pinned them (which was a hassle every time I had to go to the bathroom).

When blow drying my hair, I knocked a dried flower arrangement off of the wall. I couldn't vacuum up the damn mess, but I made sure to throw what was left of the stupid thing in the trash.

I dropped Cody's Twinkie Minion Valentines on the floor. Some of them came apart, but repairing them would have to wait.

While teaching a group of kids during work circle, the secretary, via the florist, delivered these roses to me...

They were from my husband. The children loved it. So did I!

I couldn't drive all over town  holding a beautiful flower arrangement, so I had to leave work 15 minutes early to drop off the flowers at home before going to my hair appointment. 

Once I was home, I threw together half a sandwich and a Diet Coke to inhale on the way to the salon.

While sitting under the dryer, I received a text from Katelyn and Casey saying they were at my house waiting for me. Katelyn had forgotten I told her the day before that I wouldn't be home.

I ran late at the salon and had to ask Casey to stay at the house and get Cody off of his day program van. 

I had barely been home 15 minutes when Chase dropped off my grandsons (whom I love dearly) for me to babysit.

Doing me a favor, Casey closed all the doors in the hallway to keep the toddlers out of mischief, then he went home and left me alone with the two little boys and Cody.

I fixed and fed them grilled cheese sandwiches and popsicles for dinner.

I decided to attempt to start Cody's bath, but found his bedroom door locked...from the inside. I had to wait for Don to come home from work and help me unlock it. 

A mutual friend called to let me know Mrs. B. was in the hospital and we would be having a sub for Valentine's Day. 

Once the grand kids went home, I finished fixing Cody's valentines, vented via text to my mom and sister and got into bed by 9:15 without shedding a single tear!

I tossed and turned and when I was finally able to sleep, I had nightmares about Kindergarten and substitute teachers.

The morning, however, has come and gone and somehow I survived. 

That's the GOOD and BAD. In case you are wondering what the UGLY is, it's my attitude sometimes. I really am blessed. I have a good job and great family and friends. 

THIS makes it all worth while...

Treats from the Students

A Coke Calendar from Casey/
A Pie and Turtles (My Favorite Candy in the Whole World) from Chase and Talitha

...and a Thoughtful "I Love You" from My Husband of Thirty- One Years. :)

Bridal Shower for Katelyn's Best Friend

Katelyn threw a bridal shower today for her best friend Kaitlen. (Try not to get confused. They have the same name, different spelling.)

She went with a Love Is Sweet theme and used Kaitlen's wedding colors, navy and coral.

Guests played The Price Is Right game, bidding on the cleaning products in this tote...

They also played a game where they had to match the candy to the clue.

Kaitlen Jensen, the Bride-to-Be

Throughout the party, if you were caught saying the name of the bride or groom, you had to take a turn wearing this little tiara and veil...

Vickie (Kaitlen Jensen's mom)

I slipped up at the very last minute.

The girls played The Bubble Gum Game ...

Katelyn thoroughly enjoyed it when her best friend answered the question wrong 
and had to put another piece of bubble gum in her mouth.

By this point, Kaitlen is seriously thinking the questions over before giving her answers. :)

Kaitlen received some nice gifts and I'm quite certain that everyone had a good time, leaving with happy hearts, full stomachs and little candy stick favors...

A Very Special Twelve Days of Christmas

A few years ago, a very kindhearted person did The Twelve Days of Christmas for Cody. That individual (or individuals) will probably never know how happy their actions made my son. It only took a couple of nights for Cody to get into the swing of answering the door and finding packages left specifically for him. Each evening until Christmas, Cody greatly anticipated the sound of the doorbell. To this day, I have no idea who Cody's secret angel was, but I do know from the gifts and poems left each night, Cody's giver knew him rather well. 

Regrettably, I did not save every message/ gift that was left during those memorable twelve days, but I did keep half of them. They were...

Day 5- Five Christmas Stories
Day 6- Six Symbols of the Lord (all I kept was the Legend of the Candy Cane)
Day 8- Eight Candy Bars
Day 9- Nine Chocolate Chip Muffins
Day 10- The Ten Commandments
Day 11- A Bar of Ivory Soap

This is funny, however, I used to threaten my kids with dish soap or pepper. ;)

And this note was left for Cody on the last day...

If only I could speak with this anonymous person(s), I would thank them for remembering my son during that holiday season. Considering whom our Savior spent His time with during His mortal ministry, I would say Cody's friend was undoubtedly following Christ's example.

(See Matthew Chapter 9).

Special Friend of the Day

It was my turn to be "Special Friend of the Day" in Kindergarten this morning. The students asked me the following questions...

What's your favorite color?...blue
What's your favorite movie?...What About Bob?
What's your favorite vacation place?...Disneyland
What's your favorite game?...Yahtzee (Hey, I had to give them something. I couldn't very well say "Sneeki-Tiki Slot Machine".)
What's your favorite dessert?...Hot Fudge Sundae
What's your favorite shape?...uummm....Rectangle?
What's your favorite food?...Chinese
What's your favorite animal?...puppy

But the best part about being Special Friend of the Day was bringing home pictures that the kids drew of me. It's funny what each child perceives. Here are a few of my favorites:

Too bad I don't have a nose to take in the fragrance of this colossal flower.

Here I am in my cheerleader pose.

Apparently this student thinks I look more like a football player than a cheerleader.

This boy is oblivious to the fact that I have hair...

...while this girl sees me looking more like Frenchie from 'Grease'.

Again...more giant flowers with no means to smell them.
By the way, you would never catch me wearing red. :)

So what if my arms are fatter than my legs? I have got to give this
little guy credit for remembering the ID badge around my neck.

Do you detect a look of guilty surprise on my face, or is it just me,
and what do you suppose that thing is on top of my head?

Here I am inside my Nissan (complete with spoiler). This little artist is obsessed with vehicles.
He asked me a couple of weeks ago, "What kind of car do you drive and what color are your rims?"
What color are your rims! How many six year olds have asked you that question?



I have the best job in the world. Kindergarten is the shizz!