Here come Addie Cotton Tail

We are Easter mode this week! We have three egg hunts to go to this year! Addie is thrilled! She had her first one of the week today at Kingdom Kids. It is so funny to watch the kids run around and pass eggs just to find the eggs that they want to pick up! :0) Too cute! I thought I'd share a few with you....

And here are pictures of Addie in her Easter dress...

Time flies...

Double Trouble

Addie wearing her Univ. of Indiana sweatshirt- compliments of cousin Lincoln

Time flies when you are busy as a bee! Since my last post at the beginning of March we have been going from one thing to the next. I was in deep preparation for the spring talent show through the beginning of March and that went off with a bang on Mar. 18th. We drew in more acts this year and more people for the show! The tickets sales at the door were $1100!!! (at only $5 a ticket) Each show, the staff comes together and does a "Judges Deliberation" act. This year my bright idea was to bring back the Supremes and the Temptations! I myself was Florence from the Supremes with two of my other coworkers taking the roles of Diana and Mary. Since I was the only one that had blonde hair and the others had dark, I decided that I had to find a wig. After the show, Addie's first words to me were, "Mommy, the black hair was eww. I was like, Oh my gosh Mommy- that short curly black hair does not look good!" Haha, I had to laugh. She hadn't seen me in my wig prior to the show so she was quite suprised. Black is definitely not my color- my grandmother and mom have seconded that opinion, but it made the part!

Finding the five Temptations was no small battle! Getting five men to play this part was awful! They would just not committ, no matter how much pleading and begging I did. BUT persistence pays off and I was able to con my two administrators, the middle school administrator, the art teacher, and the guidance counselor to play the part. We stole the show! :0) I am sure that I will have pictures to add to this soon. Maybe even the video! You just had to see it!

Other news...it must be a selling month for the Gordon's. We decided to sell the Explorer and get a new car- ONLY if we were able to get enough on the Explorer to pay it off and the truck to leave us with one car payment. The cards were in our favor! We sold the Explorer to Carmax, bought a new 2011 Dodge Durango, and were able to pay off the little we had left on both the explorer and truck- not to mention getting a car payment $100 less than the Explorer was. I am enjoying my new ride! So much smoother with the SUV being built on a car chassy rather than a truck! Strongly recommend them if you are in the market for a new car!

The new car- surrounded by everything under the sun! :0)

Dealership pictures since I am too lazy today to back my car out of the garage! haha

Silly

Sometimes you just have to be silly! Addie definitely knows how to do that! Hope all is well with everyone!

Our new toy

In one week we sold our Kubota tractor and bought a new 4-wheeler. We decided about a month ago to put the Kubota on craigslist and see what happens. We had many "nibbles" but no bites until Monday. A man called that morning and was here that afternoon with his trailer to take it away. During the week we were on the computer at night and looking during the day for our next toy. We ended up with this Artic Cat TRV that is pretty neat. I love the back comfortable seat that allows us to both ride together and it lets me have my own foot rest which is a definite plus since we both have big feet and it sits me up higher than him so I can see what is coming! Addie even fits comfortably between us to ride. I'm sure now that we have this, there will be no snow so we won't be able to try that aspect out of it, but we are excited for the trails to come! Plus Addie thinks it is just great that we all have 4-wheelers now!

The Great Outdoors

Since living in our new house we have had many uninvited guests appear. We had high hopes that the wildlife would stay away from this house since we were being tormented by a squirrel family at the carriage house. But it didn't turn out like that....

On a visit to check out the progression of the house, we had a skunk in our backyard. Time of Death: sunset

Victim #1

We have had a copperhead almost strike me at the wood line when I was dumping my grease from the deep fryer. Time of Death: sunset

Victim #2 (true image!)

We had a black snake scare Adam at the back deck before we moved in, but he was unable to kill the snake. He must start taking lessons from me! :0) But this black snake went under our house when he missed the killing time. This snake was later found in the fall/beginning of winter when Adam went to run the rest of the plastic under the house in the crawl space. The snake must of gotten tangled up in the straw mat that was under there and he died. Time of Death: unknown

Victim #3

Tonight, when I let Oscar outside to go potty, I heard him carrying on and growling at the back deck. Now, keep in mind that recently we have had coyotes and bobcats around here and even black bears, but I put those thoughts aside since Oscar is only 6 inches or so off the ground and about 13-14lbs. that if it had been one of the above that he would not be growling and barking but that he would be dead. So what I do find when I go under the deck with a flashlight but Oscar face to face with...

Polly Oppossum! (or that's what we named her/him!)

Potential Victim?????
Time of Death: not yet, but come under my deck again and it might not end like tonight!

Signed Queen of the Hill

Skinnamarinky dinky dink

I had to share this clip of Addie singing her rendition of Skinnamarinky dinky dink or shall I say, tinky tink! :0) She usually does the middle section better but not so much for the video. She didn't want to do it again! I guess she wouldn't since she sat in the bath tub screaming at the top of her lungs for 10minutes singing it!


Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do,
I love you!
Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do,
I love you!
I love you in the morning,
And in the afternoon
I love you in the evening,
Underneath the moon…Skinnamarinky dinky dink
Skinnamarinky do,I love you!

A Great Day

After church, Addie and I went to the grocery store. (Yes, I was excited due to the fact that I am addicted to the grocery store- I really enjoy going there and buying food! HAHA) I didn't think we would ever get out of there though due to long lines and then as soon as my purchase was totaled- the computers went down! Just my luck! We had to wait for about 5 minutes or so to get them back up- then we were off to the house. We still couldn't get to the house because then we had to wait at a check point. Of course as I drive up, they recognize me and tell me just to drive on through- but I had to wait forever. Adam thought we had gotten lost somewhere by the time we got home!

After lunch, we decided it was just too pretty outside and we had to take advantage of it! I decided I would go out and vacuum my car and Addie decided she would go ride her 4-wheeler. She has really taken a liking to the 4 wheeler. At Christmas she wasn't so sure. I think she was intimitated by the size and the speed, but she's loving it now. She likes it when Oscar chases her or if Adam or I do. I need to chase her more often and then maybe my pants won't feel as tight. Haha! Oh woe is me....that's why I bought Valentine ice-cream today made my Turkey Hill. I will have to let you know how it is. Chocolate ice cream with chocolate raspberry pieces and white chocolate chips. Okay, back to the day! Eventually Addie got tired of riding so she and Daddy pulled out the T-ball gear that she got from Santa. I put some pictures up of Adam trying to teach a 3 year old how to stand properly to hit the ball. I was waiting for an American Funniest Home Videos moment where the kids hits the Dad with the bat in a not so nice place- but no such luck this time! :0) Funny stuff!

Nothing says lovin' like a kiss from Daddy!

This would have been the prime time for a "moment!"

Sweet Baby Girl

Everyday I am amazed by my sweet baby girl. I thought when she was hitting her milestones as a baby that she was amazing but now she totally blows me away with how "old" she is getting and how much she has learned! It was the other night that I heard her singing in the bathtub and when I went for a closer listen I discovered that she was singing her days of the week. I hadn't taught this to her, frankly because I just really hadn't thought much about it, but thankfully in only two days of preschool a week, she is learning something! Of course being the teacher that I am, I thought if she knows her days, then she must know her months of the year. AND SHE DOES! I asked her what month we were in and she told me and so I asked her the rest of the months and away she went. It's really hard to believe that she will be 4 in June! I honestly feel like it was just yesterday that I was trying to get her to say "Momma" and "Dada," and now you can't get her to stop talking. Watching and listening to her learn how to identify her letters and numbers is just too cool for words! I'd like to dedicate this section of James Taylor song to her for making me so happy to be her mother and that God blessed me with my blond haired, blued eyed little girl!

"Whenever I see your smiling face

I have to smile myself

Because I love you (Yes, I do)

And when you give me that pretty little pout

It turns me inside out

There's something about you, baby (I don't know)"

Another (not really) Snow Day

Well today was another day at home for Addie Claire and myself due to icy road conditions. So we went into CLEANING mode, which was really nice because now my weekend will not consist of cleaning the house.

I started off with the dreaded bathrooms. There is nothing worse than cleaning the bathroom floor when I can make a wig with the amount of hair that I lose on a daily basis. Pretty disgusting and by far my LEAST favorite chore. While I was cleaning the bathrooms I told Addie to go into her room and clean up her floor and put her toys back into her cubbies in her closet. She went in there and started cleaning so I left her and went into my bedroom. A little bit later I decided to go check on her and see how she was coming along. When I broke through the living room I could see into her room and her floor was cleaned up but I couldn't see her. I continued in her room and inside her closet I found this....

TINKERBELL! Addie decided to strip and dress-up while cleaning! It would have been really funny if her costume had been Cinderella!

Mimi's for the day

Addie stayed with her Mimi (my mom) today and got spoiled rotten for the upteenth time! (just like her Mommy) She started off early meeting Mimi with her pj's still on when I made the swift 7am dropoff. Later they got dressed and went on a shopping trip to ole Wally World! Here Addie shopped the clearance aisle I was told and came home with souvenirs. She got Fairy Barbie and many baby doll accessories that were much needed- in her eyes! She was tickled and couldn't wait to show her Daddy how her Barbie could fly. Adam then had to take the Barbie and do the same flying routine twice because little miss insisted that he didn't fly her right the first time!

Gotta love 'em!

Addie and Fairy Barbie

Favorite pastime

One of my favorite pastimes as a kid was to color. Addie has made this one of her favorite things to do as well. After church Sunday, I told her I would color with her. So I picked out the picture that I wanted to color. She had her picture but decided when I started coloring mine that she wanted to color mine too. We fought over what colors to use and who was going to do it. I didn't win in the end of course. I don't know why she wants to make everyone tie dye! I must be raising a very diverse child!

Playdate with Braylin

Addie's friend Braylin came over last night to visit and we finally got to exchange their Christmas gifts. Both of the girls love to play baby dolls so you should have heard them! They were squealing and shrieking while they held their babies and ran up and down the hallway with their strollers. Braylin brought her baby and stroller so they were set! They seemed to really like going in Addie's closet and shutting the door as if it was their secret hiding place. Addie got a princess bouncy ball and matching game from Braylin and Addie gave Braylin a princess pillow and matching game. That was pretty funny!

Addie and BraylinOpening their gifts

Addie giving a scary face!

No Snow Day

Well we are out of school today without any snow! Interesting....nothing has really even fallen but we are out due to the potential snow and ice I suppose. Having some freezing rain now. In preparation of the snow day to come last night, Addie and I made vegetable soup and some rice krispy treats! She likes to help me in the kitchen. She will pull up her chair and try to do it all. I told her when I really want/need her to help one day, she won't want to any longer. Strange how that works!

Addie cheesin' it up! (She could be the next ad for Rice Krispy Treats)

Addie pouring in the marshmellows

Back in the Saddle

Well the first week back from break is always bittersweet. Bitter because I have to get up early and teach all day to just go back to sleep again that night to do it again the next day. Sweet because it means that we are covering more days and getting closer to the end of the year where I can finally REST this summer! No classes, no moving, and hopefully (should definitely be) no editing on my grandfather's book. What will I do? :0) I'm sure I'll find something!

Likes:Snow in the forecast (yes, I am consumed by the weather during this time of year), after Christmas sales, Pepperidge Farms Artisan rolls- you gotta try them, in the frozen foods aisle and they come in whole grain or french- YUM!, Addie starting to write some of her letters WITHOUT having to trace the dots

Dislikes: getting up early, having bus duty the first week we go back- go figure!

When Christmas is done and gone...

you relax in a blizzard! :0) Christmas was a blast this year with Addie. She truly got the whole Santa gig and was more active in the Christmas fesitivities such as the church program. Addie commented that Santa was good to her although she was upset about not getting a Tinkerbell bike. Addie didn't come up with the bike idea until a little later than Santa would have liked. Santa "made" his toys early this year, so when she threw the bike into the loop who better than grandma and grandpa to take that number. BUT, we couldn't find a Tinkerbell bike so a "fairy star dust" bike had to cut it or not...you never know how much a 3 year old can make you feel like dirt but when asked if she was happy with her bike- in a low, saddest face you've ever seen, "but its not a Tinkerbell bike." Hits you right in the heart! She quickly got over it though and was happy with her MANY other things!
So the snow...it was nice to see a white Christmas, but frankly..snow when school is not in session is a waste of precipitation! :0) Haha..only school staff can truly see the meaning in that! We have actually not been out playing in this now due to the CRAZY winds that have been blowing for the past 24 hours. Then tonight..Addie had round 2 of the "bug" that is really a bummer. Tossed her cookies a few times, (sorry for those who are squemish, but I teach science- get over it! :) ) but seems to be coming back to sorts now. (we hope!)
With Christmas all behind us now, we are looking forward to a happy New Year!

Adam at his parents house
Baby girl and myself

Heather and Chis at my parents

Uncle Steve and Addie

Angel (Addie's step cousin) and Addie

Addie with her new dog, Gigi like her Aunt Sylvia's

Baby clothes! YAY!

Addie's new 4-wheeler from Santa

Aunt Sylvia, Dana, and Grandan at my house for Christmas Eve Dessert Bar

Addie going to bed and waiting for Santa to come

Lincoln, Addie, and Holly on Christmas Eve

Holly and me

Addie getting new boots!