She's HERE!

she's tiny
6.2
19 inches
tons of hair
i"m in love!

Yes, i made the outfit!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/mrsmalty?ref=pr_shop_more

My Work Here Is Done

At the end of the day as we said good bye for the year, little
Miss Cybil threw her arms around me and...sobbed!
I enfolded her in mine and told her I loved her and would miss her.  I told her that she could
come and talk to me anytime she needed to next year.
She said:  "I just want to be in your class next year!"
Me: "But then you wouldn't be in second grade.  You'd have to be with the little first graders again."
Her:  "Why can't you teach second grade?"
All of this broke my heart and made me realize all the things she had taught me this year.
But NOTHING grabbed my heart more than seeing her tear-filled eyes looking back at mine,  tears streaming down her face,  her bottom lip trembling like I've never seen it before and saying:
"But I don't care.  I love you.  You are like my best mother!"

Awe.
I love you too Cybil.
You are like my best little friend.

Cake Plates

I have this "thing" for cake plates.  I mean, REALLY have this thing for cake plates.

I love them.

So much so that if I weren't already married to Terry, 

I'd totally find one and marry it.

(Please forgive me for my juvenile tendencies...after all, I DO spend a lot of time with juvenile's!)

So, whenever I see one I like, I can stand in front of it for a very long time.  

I stare at it.  Pick it up. 

Turn it over.  I examine it down to every millimeter.  

Let me charm you with some cake plates I love but will most likely never get because they are so very pricey:

  Aren't they beautiful?

Especially that cute little cupcake plate.  I really want that one.

(If you want the links to any of these, just let me know and I'll gladly give them to you.)

The two photos of the glass cake plates were taken by me this morning at 

Tai Pan Trading Company.

They were $20 a piece.  Not all that bad considering that the least expensive cake plate on this page so far is

$40.

Hence, you can see why collecting them is sort of tough.

Last month, I put on a lovely little (well, big actually) shin-dig shower for my daughter

Erika who is so close to giving birth that her toes even look pregnant!

I wanted to serve our famous cupcakes (thanks Abbie!) on cake plates.

 I only owned plastic cake plates which I snagged from the prop aisle when I 

worked at Bath and Body Works thousands of years ago.

They are super cute but, I wanted something special and glass-y.

So, I strolled the aisles at DI and also the dollar store.

I found that:

$1.00 (glass plate) + $1.00 (glass candlestick) = $2.00 (cake plate)

I'm thinking that they look an awfully lot like the plates I found at Tai Pan!?

Yes?

I found this beauty at DI (are you ready for this?) for 75¢

I bought a glass dessert bowl for 75 as well (see the above photo)

bringing the grand total for this one to $1.50!!

I had to try some color and so this time I used a vase that 

matched the plate perfectly.

Now, I have created a beast and I can't stop making my own cake plates.

They are everywhere.

Good thing we have a wedding reception coming up!

I know I can make good use of them there!

Learning Important Things Is Hard!

  

  There was a time when this little girl gave me some trouble.  A lot of trouble.  I will never forget the day I questioned my entire career choice and my "skills" as a teacher.  You remember, right?  There has NEVER been even one child I didn't love...including "Cybil".  There have been some that have been harder to "like".  There is a big difference between the two.  Liking is harder, ya know?

With hardships come great, great learning.  I have learned more about being a teacher from this little girl than from any other child I have ever taught.  I am such a better teacher because of her.

The other day, I got to school and found this on my desk:

 Little Cybil and her mother had pulled together a basket of goodies for Teacher Appreciation Week (two weeks after the fact which made it even more exciting!)  More awesome than the actual items within the basket, were the notes tied to each one.  Oh my goodness, they were hysterical.  I really must share them with you (if there are even any of "you" still around reading this here blog!  Which, by the way, has gone private in NO WAY because of anything I did.  Someday I'll blog about it...or not.  Plus, after visiting with the person who insinuated that I do take it private, I may just make it public once again.  Freedom of speech, right??)

Anyway...here we go:

 There were a few items without notes on them.  My favorite being the play on the fabulous Young Men Young Women reminder to "Return With Honor".  I think you'll pick it out right away!

Now, for the cutest little notes any teacher could ever dream of...I saved my very favorite for last.

It's really amazing how much this little gal has made me grow this year in patience and love.  She has come so far both academically as well as socially.  She is full of love and confidence.  She and I have an amazing relationship.  I have learned what to say when she starts to "lose it" and she has figured out the way to my heart.


It's amazing how we learn...how I learn.  I don't know why it takes such frustration and often pain to learn important truths sometimes.  But, it truly does.

Bring on the new first graders!!

The Bee's Knees

At 4:10 this morning, I was awoken from a very sound sleep with the worst stinging in my knee.  I jumped up to find a WASP flying around under the covers.  It was the first sting of my entire life.  Those things hurt like a bugger!  Perhaps I should replace the screen in my window?

I just thought you should know.

A Little List to Catch Us All Up...

1.  We had a lovely baby shower for Erika and Eloise.  It was a blast.  We had a duck theme.  

This is a quilt we had guests work on.

You can check it out here.

2.  My adorable son-in-law graduated from UVU (Utah Valley University) in business management.  WE are so very proud of him and how he has worked for this.

Once again: go here.

3.   OH these two little love  birds!!!  My oldest daughter, Melissa Rae, is ENGAGED!

(you my have noticed the gorgeous ring in my previous post)

We love Danny!

I couldn't be more thrilled with the amazing men my daughters has fallen in love with

and married.

Our family is growing.  It is vey exciting!

4.   Last Saturday, Melissa, Erika, and I went wedding dress shopping.
It was very enjoyable to spend the day with my sweet daughters.
PLUS...
we have a dress!
It is gorgeous.
Melissa is very happy which makes me happy too!
(We couldn't have done it without Erika!)

5.  Oh yes...I also took my students to the Hogle Zoo.
It snowed off and on all day!


I know there is more to catch up on but, for the most part, we're all caught up!