I Apologize...

I realize that it has been a while since I have posted on the blog. It's not because I don't have anything to say, actually it's quite the opposite! I have too much to say and at this time can't really get my thoughts together in order to post. I am 2 weeks behind in the baby bump pictures and it's not because I haven't taken pictures (actually I haven't but that's not the reason) ... We have purchased a computer and are waiting for it to come. I don't want to add any more pictures to my school computer. This is the reason for lack of posts. We should be getting our computer on Thursday and hopefully by Thursday night I will have some sweet posts for your eyes :) ...

I hope everyone is having a blessed week, and I will be back soon!

Take Care,
Tory

Bria & Her Shoes

Some of our best friends bought shoes for Bria when she was born. Shoes that will fit 12 - 18 month old toddlers. I was cleaning Bria's room today and found the shoes on the shelf and tried them on B. They fit! And....She loves them! We left the house for a while and I had to put her winter boots on, but as soon as we came back inside, she ran and grabbed the shoes and tried to put them on. She wore them all night long!

They sure make me want to go out and buy a pair of Mary-Janes with flowers on them!!

MIA...

I apologize to those who have emailed, called, left messages, and have been wondering where I have been with updating this blog. 

I am sorry.

 I have been having a wonderful time not worrying about taking pictures of Bria and not worrying about posting pictures. I have been refreshed and renewed for the blog and to give you more pictures of our precious Miss B.

Here are a few pictures since I last posted.

She is a big girl who loves her little puppy from Nana, and she loves walking around the house drinking her sippy cup!


For all of you anxiously awaiting pictures of her, I hope this will suffice until the Holiday weekend is over.

I wish we could be with each and every family member and friends during Thanksgiving. Please know that we are thinking of you and love you all very much!

Prefense: A Review

 I received a 1.5 oz bottle in the mail a week ago (I had requested it 2 weeks ago, but mailing stuff to the bush takes twice as long!)


Pre-fense is my go to hand sanitizer when I don't have any water available. It is 100% alcohol free! When you have sensitive skin and eczema like I do, you are always on the lookout for products that will be more delicate on your body.

Pre-fense is 100% Natural with non-toxic ingredients and is safe for kids. I love it so much I will sometimes put some on my hand and then put some on Bria's (when there is absolutely no water/soap available).


The best part is? They say the entire 1.5 oz bottle is supposed to last for 120 applications. That's around $0.08 a day to use.

Would you like to get some for yourself?

Check out Prefense products at their website here

Or, you can purchase them here as well...


Disclosure: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Through the Lens Of A Child!

This last week, when I was downloading our MONSTER pictures, I found a bunch of pictures that my boys took of the classroom. It's amazing how little kids view their world around them. Take a look:

Hanes Comfort Package For The TaTa's

 I am here to announce that Hanes has launched a really neat app for Facebook and Breast Cancer Awareness! It's pretty neat. I checked it out and you could send a virtual care package to family and friends. You know what the best part is? Every care package sent, Hanes will donate $1 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (up to $25,000) to promote early cancer detection and provide mammograms for those in need. 

We have seen so much awareness promotions for breast cancer, i.e., sweatshirts, shirts, pink bracelets, necklaces, hats, bags, etc. There are also different ways to show you care, this one would be perfect to send a personalized message, video, music, and photos to show someone you are thinking of them and you care.

This is the facebook App : 

Do you have someone in mind that could use a care package? I have a couple of women that I wil be sending this too.

If you would like to get it, here is the link to the Facebook page:

 Disclosure: I participated in this campaign as a member of One2One Network and am eligible for a prize drawing. All opinions stated in the post are my own.

A Sneak Peak Into The Week

"Hi There!" 

Did I scare you?

He's not supposed to be scary.


He's supposed to be funny!


This is Larry. I don't know why we gave him that name.

But here he is.


He's hanging on my classroom bulletin.

Can you guess from this picture what we are going to study the next two weeks? I have an amazing unit for my three little guys. It's fun, exciting, and we are going to learn some really cool stuff! Stay tuned for some pictures of our classroom and what we have been working on.

This post has to be quick today. I have to clean my classroom frog tank, hang out with Miss B and then we have our Women's Bible Study! Please check back later this week or weekend for an upcoming post just for Women!  It's also going to be fun and exciting...and ... interactive if you want to participate!!

How was your Tuesday?

Pictureless Post

A lot of my readers may come here to not "read" my blog, but look at the pictures....Mostly of our baby girl.  It seems that my camera has been having a longer than normal shelf life, and me? I"ve been enjoying our baby's cooing, smiling, and laughing, without the worry that I need to capture the moment with a picture. This has especially made Clint happy as he doesn't like taking pictures of every little thing. So, I'm learning to not run to get the camera the second Bria does something cute, but to embrace the moment with everything I have...

I promise though. I will have some cute stuff this weekend to post... Promise

Aloha!

It's no surprise that when you live in a cold climate that you crave some warm weather... So when I woke up to this and after 5 months of snow, I am ready for a change....

Instead of this:

I want to see this:

(source)

Maui has been on the mind lately... I would love to have my toes in the sand and to swim in the deep blue on this beach!

aaaannnndddd....


Apparently Bria is thinkin' about it too. How is it that she is already so smart?

She is creating the "shaka" with her hand...What is a "shaka" you ask? Well, I did some research because I always thought it was slang for gangs and hoodlums to use in Hawaii to say "Hey Brah!" and have believed that "Hang Loose" was something naughty to say, but in all actuality, it has a lot more meaning than that! Here is what I found:

(source)

"The shaka is a simple yet powerful way to remind locals and visitors of the way people look out for each other on the islands and strive to spread aloha day in and day out, in keeping with the Hawaiian principle of malama i kekahi i kekahi, - take care of one, take care of all. If you’re new to the islands, don’t be shy about throwing up shakas, just make sure you’ve got the hand gesture down first! Aloha in the Hawaiian language can mean love, hello, goodbye, affection, regards, fondness and compassion. The amazing “shaka” communicates all this and more with just a simple wave of the hand. "
(source)

So, we are ready to plan a vacation to the sweet, warm place called Maui!

Check it out!!

Wanna see a new project Clint and I have been working on? 

We are pretty proud of it, but it's still in the process of completion.

Go here: 

Vivacious L.I.F.E.

Have Fun!

2 Cool Things!!

I have been going back and forth for a while on what I want my blog to look like. 

I am like a little girl in a candy Prana shop- so, you might see some more changes....mmm...maybe weekly :).

There are 2 new things that you may need to know while reading my blog.

#1. Posts are now in a 'read more' format meaning the posts will have an introduction and then a 'read me' button to push when you are ready to read the full post: 

Once you click on the "read" more, you will get the entire post.

#2. After you read the full post, if you wish to comment, there will be a comment box on the bottom of the post. It will look like this:

Leaving a comment is really easy! 

It would be nice to know how many people actually read my blog. Hopefully, hopefully I'm not talking to myself all the time :)

Project 365: End of Week 2

Here is page one (if you click on the picture, it will open up larger in another window):Here is page two:

Project 365: End of Week 1

This is what I envision each week's page to look like-scrapbook pages (although it would be nice if it were a little, well, dressier). This is my first go-around with it and hopefully I will get a little bit more creative each time.

I figured that I will end up with around 53 pages at the end of the year (365 photo's divided by 7 pictures a page = 53 pages right?). WOWZA! Hopefully I will be creative enough to find something to take a picture of each day...Only time will tell :)

Project 365

Out in blogland I came across this fun little project that many people have participated in, and continue to do it every year. This project is a little bit of a challenge as it asks you to take one picture a day for 365 days! Some days I realize it's going to be difficult to find a photo to recall the events of that particular day, but others it's going to be difficult to pick just one photo to use for that day. At the end of the year, I want to put all the photos (365 photos in all!) into a book!

So, here we go, with the first week of pictures:

January 1, 2010: We spent our New Year's day traveling back to White Mountain after a wonderful Christmas break! We left Ketchikan around 5:30 and arrived in Anchorage around 9:30. We spent the night in the airport because our flight from Anchorage to Nome left around 5:30 in the morning. It wasn't too bad of a flight, as we stayed up and chatted with some teachers from around the district while waiting in the Anchorage airport.

January 2, 2010: This was taken on our way to White Mountain, we were able to fly in a new plane that Frontier received-it was really nice! The sun was just rising over the horizon and the scenery was beautiful as the glow shimmered on the ice.

January 3, 2010: This is what we ALL did today. We slept for around 17 hours! We arrived in White Mountain yesterday (1/2/2010) around 12:00 and unpacked until 2:30 put on a movie and fell asleep at 6:00. We woke up and had dinner but then again at 7:00 we fell back asleep and didn't wake up until 8:00 Monday morning!

January 4, 2010: What a good day!!! We received our Full Circle Farm package today and it brightened our week! It was such a difference having fresh salad for dinner with pear slices :) Mmm....

January 5, 2010: For our school Christmas program the staff and students participate in gift-giving. "Pick-name" is exactly like Secret Santa. On the day of the program, I get this cute little letter from one of my Kindergarten students and his grandma saying that the gift didn't arrive in the mail (it's typical for living all the way up north) it was so cute becuase he was so sad that he didn't get me a present. I had to reassure him that presents aren't important and that spending time with friends and family during the holiday is. Anyway, today I received this gift from my student :) It was a great gift, and Clint loves. absolutely loves the tea cookies!

January 6, 2010: One of the prettiest things about living up north is the sunrises and sunsets. The colors of the sky are absolutely stunning! I captured this outside of the school. It was too pretty to not remember!

January 7, 2010: While at school, during reading I looked outside and saw this glowing yellow moon through the trees! It was around 10:20 a.m. when I took this picture. I can't wait until it's light out when wake up!

January 8, 2010: This is a picture to recap my official first time skiing! It was So much fun and only took me an hour 1/2 to finish the skiing course here in White Mountain which is 3 miles long. It wasn't too slow, but I'm not an advanced yet. I had a difficult time remembering to "push then slide, push then slide". This picture was when I learned how to step into the corner so I don't fall after I come around. Clint was such a good teacher, and it amazes me that he is so good at skiing! We plan on skiing every day after school for our daily exercise. It will be a lot nicer than running around in circles in the gym!

So, every Saturday I will document and write about each picture until we are at the end of the year when I can make a book out of our memories!!