The Hunt

It’s been a while since I’ve posted pictures of the little lady, so here is what Little Bird has been up lately.

 

We have spent some time at the softball fields watching my kid sister rock the just off teeball world as her team attempts to make plays, swing bats, and pitch.  Little Bird’s favorite thing is to grab the fence and scream at the players (thanks Grandma…).  She does sometimes yell “GO GO GO GO GO!” which is awesome.

 

Last weekend, we were our usual busy traveling family.

 

We went to Lawton, OK for wedding #4 of Stouties (people who lived in Stout Hall at OSU).  It was stress-relieving to relax and spend time with old friends.  Little Bird danced it up – just ask anyone who was on the dance floor at all that night – and even enjoyed her first official father/daughter dance.  After the wedding, we drove home to the sounds of my Percy Jackson read aloud voice (I do a mean Tyson) and a spectacular lightning display.  Oklahoma is blessed with beautiful storms.

 

Then, what seemed like too few hours of sleep later, came Sunday, and even though it wasn’t Little Bird’s first Easter, it was absolutely her first time to have a clue as to what was going on.

And the first big egg hunt she got to participate in!

Rain and cold couldn’t stop this determined munchkin.  SHE WAS DETERMINED TO GATHER!

We also got to spend some time with our handsome nephew Jake!  He’s about a year younger than Little Bird but it seems like he’s grown so much!  He will play and laugh and respond now, so we had some good quality bonding time!

I hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend.  I know I ate too many peanut butter eggs…which means success!

Little Bird Learns to Egg Hunt

Job Security

….must be nice.  Anything a teacher has is really temporary unless they can work long enough to have tenure…which might be going away anyway.

To all my friends in education,

Hang in there!  It sucks to be us right now.  Cuts get tighter, classes get bigger.  The lucky few that find jobs have little security beyond their contracted year.  But what we do matters.  What we aim to do is one of the only things that can save education.  Budget cuts, higher standards, tests, new management – none of that can save education.  What we do each day in the classroom, that can.  We can make a difference in the way we teach, love, and help our students grow, the rest is out of our hands.

Here’s to having a job next year. 

My thoughts are with us all.

Keep fighting for your right to make a difference.

Keep filling out those applications.

And if you get a chance…write your state congressman and tell them to freaking do something.

Little Bird’s Enchanted Forest

Now that we can paint the walls of our home, we are ready to create a paradise of a bedroom for Little Bird.  We decided to go with an “enchanted forest” theme, so we’ll hang butterflies and birds and trees, the whole shabang!

So this weekend, we began the transformation and painted the room!

You can see that the green we picked for the wall color is SUPER VIVID!  You can see that it fits the color scheme of what we have pretty nicely.  It’s still pretty bold for me right now, but when all of the wall décor, ceiling effects, and permanent furniture is added, I think it will be downright magical.  We used the Olympic Zero VOC paint, and there was almost NO smell at all.  It wasn’t until we had nearly finished painting the room we noticed any odor and it was fully gone when it dried – no lingering nasty smell or dangerous fumes.

 

Moved In!

We are all moved in.  I will admit, all the extra space has been something we adjusted to very easily.  We’ve already had two different sets of friends/family over for dinner in the week we’ve been here.  I love cooking in my new kitchen!  The best part is all of the little changes we can make to personalize our home.

In one week:

• Recycling center located
• Energy bulbs put in fixtures
• Compost pile started
• 1 Meatless Monday recipe under belt (Zucchini Parmesan)
• VOC Free paint purchased for Little Bird’s Room

 

Upcoming Projects:

• Paint Little Bird’s Room
• Paint Accent Wall in walkway
• Paint chalkboard paint on kitchen wall
• Bamboo wood floor dining area
• Convert flower beds to garden
• Grow low water plants

Picture tour is coming shortly!

We also have Doc’s Med School Graduation coming up in May, his Graduation Party, several family birthdays, Mother’s Day, my rehiring for the next year (so long as the state doesn’t totally cut our budget), and an awesome beach vacation with our friends.  It’s go time.