and the winner is....

ADDISON GRACE BROWN! Ok, so she didn't exactly win, but she will be in the calendar!

Addy's adorable face will be an "honorable mention" in the 2009-2010 Brehon Blue Ribbon Charity Ball Baby Calendar.

Her name will be announced by Lauren Dorsett on ABC 27 tomorrow (3/5) between 5pm and 6pm. Robert & I have been invited to attend the Blue Ribbon Charity Ball (what in the world do you wear to an event like that??). They also invited us to be in the Springtime Tallahassee Parade on March 28th, but we'll be on our way to the Bahamas that day. I'm very excited & I think Addison will be when she sees her picture on the calendar!

neighbors

Today was our Annual Homeowner's Association meeting. It went a lot better than last year's meeting (READ: significantly less yelling). There was one guy who had an outburst about the location of some trees that were planted by the Board of Directors in the middle of a field in the common area. He was really, really pissed because his kids used to play soccer and football in that field and now they can't because there are 8 saplings running right down the middle of it. I totally agree with the guy, but didn't like the way he came out with his feelings. It was really aggressive & not appropriate for a neighborhood meeting. To be fair, no one asked us how we felt about the trees going in, so I'm sure no one asked this guy either, but still...

Robert may volunteer to be an officer next year. He's waiting for the term of one guy (who no one likes) to expire. This annoying guys' term will be up next year, and in will go Robert's name. I'm glad he's thinking of running. I think he's got some cool ideas - neighborhood yard sale, monthly neighborhood picnics, newsletter that go out more than once a year, some sort of welcoming committee for new residents.

While at the meeting, we sat with our across the driveway neighbors, Nicole & Shea. We were chatting & found out that not only is the chick's name Nicole, but she's also a teacher & she's approx. 1 year younger than me. I stopped before I found out she was my clone. Things was getting a little too coincidental...a little too similar. I like being an individual. They're really nice people, they have adorable kitties (Zeke likes to play on our back deck) and a precious new black lab puppy, who Addison adores, named Maggie, so if nothing else the HOA meeting tonight helped us get better acquainted with our neighbors.

Happy March!

Addison was too cute today getting out of the car at Publix. A gust of wind blew just as I was helping her into a cart and she shrilled with joy, "Wooooooh! BIG wind, Mommy! BIG wind, Daddy!".

We've been busy today. We made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies after lunch. We also spent a good deal of time rearranging furniture - moving Addy's rocking chair (again), moving her kitchen into her room, moving most of her toys around, moving a wooden rocker into our bedroom. We have also been madly importing as many CDs as possible to ITunes since we lost all our imports a few months back when the computer died. This time we'll make a back-up disc! :-)

Happy March!

YEAH Addison!

Addison has really made potty progress this week! She has started using the potty consistently on her own! We are so happy to be nearing the end of potty training!

Today started off as one of the worst days ever with my kids. By 10AM my IA was ready to go home (not that he would, but that's just how awful the kids were). Mostly, the problems stemmed from the field trip we had today...kids who didn't get to go let us konw what they thought about it in the form of verbal lashing & thrown books, chairs, desks, slammed doors, stolen items. It was quite lovely. Then - miraculously - when the field trip kids left, the remaining kids calmed down. It was one of the most productive days ever. They did better a P.E. today than ever before. They completed assignments. They asked nicely to do this or that. They followed directions. Maybe it was the gorgeous weather. Maybe it was the thought of missing another field trip due to sub-standard academic and behavioral performance. Whatever it was, I am so very thankful that it happened. It turned out to be an amazing day.

We had yummy pizza from Paulina's tonight for dinner. Addison didn't really eat. I think she's going through a growth spurt again. She usually stops eating a lot when she's growing. Robert & I thought it was delicious as usual.

Robert got a new "job" today

Today I officially turned over the roll of household bill payer to Robert. In the last six months I have made three late payments, and nearly had a fourth today (which is exactly 4 more than I've had in 9 years of paying my own bills). Today's problem arose because of my lost wallet and resulting canceled credit cards. It was an oversight, but could have cost us our television and internet. I am frustrated & sad & I QUIT.

Tag! You're it, Robert.

Happy Birthday Evelyn!

Today is Evelyn's birthday! Happy Birthday Evelyn! Hope it's a great day!

I got my new USAA Debit Card today. Sadly, it's not the checking account that I use, but I guess it's better than having no debit cards for another day. Hopefully the CCBG one will come in soon. I really want to get a credit card that has some kind of cash back option on it. In retrospect I guess I should've asked about that last week when I called USAA to tell them my wallet was stolen. Oh well.

Robert & I stupidly stayed up and watched the entire Oscars telecast last night. I did pretty well today considering I only slept for about 6 hours, but I really hit a wall around 1pm. Unfortunately, that's during my most attention-intensive class, so I was completely wiped out by the end of the day. Then I had two meetings: 1) about the $12 million dollars in cuts Leon County Schools has to make for next year and 2) about the field trip my team is taking on Thursday to Romano's Macaroni Grill. Both of those were exhausting to sit through. Notes on the meetings: Hopefully I will still have a job next year. I'm still an annual contract teacher since I took off half a year after Addison was born. It is entirely possible that I will be on the chopping block with all the other annual contract teachers at my school. Wish me luck. In happier news, we had 9 kids out of 18 make the field trip criteria. 50% is pretty good for my babies, so I am thrilled! I get to stay behind at school with the kids who didn't earn the trip - YEAH! (yes, that is sarcastic) - and do work. Wish me luck on that, too.

Addison just set her cup down on our end table & she was thoughtful enough to use a coaster. She actually moved the coaster to the place where she wanted to put her cup. She's the bestest daughter ever. Probably even more awesome than I was...

my students are the absolute BEST!

What a blast I had tonight! Pace held it's first annual Talent Night at Fairview's "cafetorium" and it was AWESOME! I was plesantly surprised at how great it turned out. The kids were so focused & appropriate & wonderful! It was a great experience & I really hope it turns out to be an annual event! If we have one next year, I will invite you all...it will be well worth your time!

Here's a picture of Addison & Tema before the show started.