Our First House!

We moved in at the end of May/beginning of June, but I didn't want to take pictures until it actually looked like a house and not a storage locker. And then we went on vacation for almost a month. So now we finally have pictures of our first house! YEAH!!!

This is our family/front room (great view through that window)

I love our kitchen! The previous owners had done a lot

of nice updates (tile floor, back splash, the island)

This is the downstairs family room, known as "The Man Cave"

 Cory made this BIG screen (129 inches) on the wall;

movies are AWESOME on this!

Laundry room with our dancing washing machine

 Little half bathroom off the laundry room

First bedroom, which for right now is a storage room.

 Guest bedroom

Upstairs bathroom (will probably be the

"kids bathroom" in the future)

Master bedroom (with Lacy's dog bed that she never

sleeps on)

Master bath

My big closet

Cory's man-size closet

Our backyard

Front of house

Kind of fun to have the corner lot, but all the landscaping

is weed central.

Acoustic Sweet Spot

The other night, Cory and I went out to dinner, and were surrounded by other couples, many who appeared to be on first or second dates. Watching the lovely awkward-ness unfold, we got joking about our worst first date stories. 

I don't mean to brag...but I won.

I won't go into all the fun details, but one of the highlights of the night was we went to see an old Buster Keaton movie. My date insisted that we get there early to get "the best seats." We got them and then he showed me why these were best; something to do with the sound hitting it just right. Kind of interesting...

...except...

...Buster Keaton films...are silent films...

This guy got the "acoustic sweet spot"

for a silent film...

I won...and lost.

(jump to 32 seconds to learn about Acoustic Sweet Spots)

Famous Last Word

I really did bring this on myself...

Just the other day on our class field trip, I was talking with some of the parents from my class and joking about students and the crazy things kids do. After telling a few of my favorites, I told the parents that since I've been at the same school, teaching the same grade, for so long "that it takes a lot to surprise or shock me these days."

Should have known better!

 (A little background is needed for this next part. At my school, we teach ability math, where students are taught math not based on their grade level, but their individual math level. My math class is made up of 6 kids from my regular class, 6 other second graders, and 8 first graders.)   

The VERY NEXT DAY is was in my classroom teaching math. As the students were working, I was walking around the room, checking their work. On one lap, I notice something on the floor next to a student's feet. I discretely picked it up, only to discover that it was 

UNDERWEAR

Words can not even begin to describe the thoughts flying through my brain. And the best part is...the said undies were never claimed.

Open mouth, insert foot...I can still be very much surprised!

Small Miracles for Little Girls

Cory and I spent Christmas with my family in New Jersey. One of my favorite parts is hanging around with my awesome nieces and nephews. On December 23, Alison (my sister-in-law) turned to her little girl Lydia (3) and said, "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve...know what that means?" We were all expecting something about Santa but this cutie-pie caught us all off guard by saying, in a sweet little girl, excited whisper, "It's going to snow!"

White Christmases are a rarity in New Jersey, and there was absolutely no snow in the forecast. We were worried that she was going to be disappointed. But sure enough, the next night, right after dinner, the snow started to fall. It only lasted about an hour or two and didn't amount to anything, but I got to carry her outside (no shoes) so we could catch some snowflakes.

Lesson learned: Never doubt a little girls dream. :)



Out of the Club

I attended a wedding tonight and for the first time ever

didn't have to be involved in the bouquet toss!

 

Didn't have to toss it!

 

Didn't have to have to try and catch it!

 

Didn't have to get knocked to the ground by the crazies!

 

Yes, I did a little happy dance. :)

 

Swear Words

To help my students practice their spelling words, I gave them a word search for their morning work. One of their favorite things to do is to look for words that are not on the word list.

About 5 minutes into the word search, one of my very sweet boys calls out, "Mrs. Dodge...there's a swear word on here."

PANIC MODE!

To try to put out the fire as quick as possible, I just told him to not circle the word, or show anyone, and look for his other words.

A minute later, he loudly annouces that, "it's like the worst swear word ever."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? 

I made this on a teacher website!

So I asked him to bring his paper to me and show me the swear word...and he this what he showed me...

Did I mention that I teach in Mormon Utah?



They do it because they love me...right?

For 5 years, my box in the office has said "Miss Bramhall."

One of the lunch ladies pointed out to the secretary that it needed to be changed.

She got right on it...

We take things very serious at my school. :)