Is it really November????

Hi Kj...I'm not dead, just a bad friend with no internet connection....=) Ok, here we go. I might have to break out the planner to see just what has gone on this month or two...Well first off and most fun, Ryles turned 3!!! So great, we had a great time partying it up in Davis and at the good ol' Pixie Woods here in Stocktown. A lot of Disney Princess and a lot of sugar. It was fabulous. I was trying to be crafty and did in fact sew about...let's say 65% of her princess costume. Chris and I took her trick or treating and not only did she really get the hang of it, she told us to wait on the sidewalk outside each house because she wanted to do it "All by herself!". My favorite quote of the night was most definitely "This is the most fun ever" and she screamed in between houses. After all of the Halloween/birthday festivities...I took the mom to see Gwen Stefani. She and the Harajuku girls actually came to the Stockton Arena. So the mom and I went and had a great time, albeit except for Truth getting violently ill and not being able to come and play. Neel threw a spectacular bash for the big 27, my wonderful team members took me to lunch, and went to some great hometown Mexican food with the fam and then hit up Kelly Clarkson with Neel. A great way to ring in another year of getting older. Time seems to be flying by. I cant believe that it is Thanksgiving tomorrow and then Christmas is right around the corner. As hectic as life is (I had 4 2nd graders suspended in the last 3 weeks, some more than once, fun huh?) I have so much to be thankful for...Wondeful fam and friends and this one little girl, who even though in time out the other night told us that she "hates this world" is the light and happiness of my life...

Hold me closer Tiny Dancer...

Okay, so the quality of these pictures aren't the best, because I am pretty sure that my camera is lame-o and I have NO clue how to get it un-fuzzy these days...but Ryles is starting ballet tomorrow! We had a dress rehearsal of sorts tonight and she was loving it. It is really the greatest, I love it and I don't even get to go. She loves dancing, singing, really anything that will draw attention to herself. Maybe she will get some great scholarship and I wont have to pay for college, we can dream right?

Keepin' it Real Simple

Read this the other day in an old Real Simple magazine and loved it, so I thought I would share...

"The best reason to take your time is that this time is the only time you'll ever have. You must take it, or it will be taken from you. It is telling that the phrase "taking your time" is synonymous with slowing down. If we want to live life fully, we do best to slow down. I don't suggest that we turn back the clock, trying to retrieve a bygone era when life was slower. We couldn't even if we wanted to. But I don't believe we should want to. We should revel in our electronically supercharged, unbounded world. But, to make the most out of this new world, to avoid feeling overbooked, overstretched, and about to snap, to make modern life become better than life has ever been, a person must learn how to do what matters most first. Otherwise, you will bulldoze over life's best moments. You won't notice the little charms that adorn each day, nor will you ever transform the mundane into the extraordinary."

Excerpted form Crazybusy, by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.


Dr.Hallowell.....all I have to say is, word.

Party Time

Phoebes, They are really turning 3. I can hardly believe this. Well Little Miss Rylie Bird is indeed turning the big 3 and I am having a party for her in the infamous Pixie Woods. Now those of us from the 209 have fond memories of this mecca of all things fun...when we were children. The eyes of the innocent look past the cobwebs and chipped paint and see just pure fun. Ryles has been there a few times when I had play groups in the Summer and loved it. They have an Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party area, so I though how cute, she can be Alice for Halloween and we can have the party there....Took her to the fabric store (because I am either being ambitious or dumb, I haven't decided yet) to get the material and pattern to make her costume. All those who are seasoned parents have told me that was my first mistake. Homegirl looked through the books, and honestly Alice is boring, just a blue dress with a white apron....compared to the pink foo foo la la princess that she is now going to be (it has a cone hat with a veil and everything...) So I decided much to my chagrin, to let her pick what she wanted to be and now I am making a pretty pretty princess costume and still throwing the Alice bash. I got her, well Nana got her, the funniest shirt from the internet. It is an old school picture in color of the Alice in Wonderland artwork that you think of when you are thinking of the old school Lewis Carroll art work....And underneath the caption reads, "Who let Blondie in". I think actually it will work out better, her costume probably would have been torn up....So maybe in the end, everything works out ok...at least let's hope.


I have been in the habit (three years now, three times, that constitutes a habit right?) of making her birthday invites...here's the latest product. So Phoebes, Rache, Kristi, Kristin, Jules and anyone else that I am leaving out (Sorry!)...in the area, more than welcome...=)

Preschool is tiring!

This week is parent teacher conference, so I went to pick up small fry early from preschool....I walked in and Miss Megan told me that she couldn't keep her eyes open during the goodbye song, so she excused herself to the playhouse. And this is what we found, my little mini one on the mini couch, didn't even make it to the mini bedroom. High five for Miss Mary for taking the picture. Girlfriend plays hard and crashes even harder. I think that I am going to take a page out of her book and snooze. I am pooped. Parent teacher conference has been humbling, makes you put a lot in perspective. I am blessed with a beautiful little one, great friends and a good fam. I think one of those Oprah grateful lists would do my heart some good. Mmmhmmm, oh, oh Oprah. Or make my own theme song, either of those things would be good.

Ode to peanut butter and jelly...

So this blog is dedicated to all things Rylie Mikelle Bird who along with her homeboy Calvin turn 3 next month, cannot believe it at all...but I wanted to give a little shout along to a couple peeps who have meant so much to me, especially with all the craziness that has been my life. The last two years have been way not fun, I have learned a lot about myself and a whole lot about the people in my life...Some people who you think you know better than anything in the whole wide world, turn out to be people that you didn't know really at all and didn't know you, which is a terribly sad and empty feeling. But then there are those who do really know you and really love you who stick by you like white on rice or peanut butter to jelly.

Ode to my peanut butter and jelly...
Thank you Jha and thank you Kj....One of you my best friend for forever and a day, my dolphin in a rain puddle...I was looking for a pic I had online, but I think that I am just going to have to break down and scan one of the old Bball pics, I think that that sums it all up. You the only one who came all the way to Who-tah to visit, who I can call and talk about the same thing 50 times without so much as a sigh from you. Thank you for staying in Cali, although I get a lot of compliments on my Kentucky shirt and gives me an excuse to talk in my southern drawl...I dont know what I'd do without you... and the other, one of my besties from college who I can always count on to keep it real and be so caring and empathetic... I can't listen to Rascal Flats without thoughts of you picking me up in the truck at Wymount and hauling to Mr. V's class, yuck. Senior projects, fun stories, even more fun times.

Loves to you both.


Thanks...

Yay to good friends.

This is why I love having a girl!

Just one more....this is the best 20 bucks that I have spent in a long time....
Target+Cinderella princess dress=pure happiness for a two year old.

I splurged and got the "glass slippers" (aka plastic light up shoes) at the Disney store. I couldn't resist. They are pretty awesome and maybe, just maybe, if they came in my size, I might have to rock a pair.

First Day of School

I know that it is only preschool, but it was totally surreal to go to parent meetings and to pack Ryles a lunch. She has officially begun her stint in the school arena, now it's only 18 or so more years to go and she will be all done. I love preschool, for a few reasons...first, I love that everyone is called Miss so and so, I think that we should do that more often, just classes everything up. Secondly, I love that everything is "just my size" according to ryles. There are toys galore...a great backyard play area. It is just wonderful and apart from the first two weeks, Rylie loves it. School has officially begun for me as well and it is fine. I have the same kids as I did last year with the exception of the four new ones and we are just rolling on through. It should be a good year. (Just a side note, they didn't all fail...I'm just teaching 2nd now) It seems time flies lately. So if I just hold tight it will be Christmas and then June again, right? Hope all is well. Take care.

I did it, Yay me.

So I am feeling very accomplished that I finally went on and did this whole blogging schebang. It needed to happen, I feel so uncool that I waited so long to be part of the trend. I hope it will be a good way to keep in touch with my favorite peeps, especially all my Davis friends that technically don't live in Davis anymore, but who I miss dearly and hope to get in touch with again. Everyone has all of these pictures of the cute little ones, new and old, and I figure I need to get on the band wagon for Ryles who is 2 going on 17. She is loving all things sugar and Disney princess right now. It is great having a girl. We went to the coast with my fam and she had a great time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the Boardwalk, the beach and Marianne's ice cream shop. We had to make a stop by that one twice...for her of course, to enjoy her vacation fully.