Good Weekend

This weekend was great for many reasons. It started out with a great Valentine's Day, or "Valentime's Day" as some of my students called it. Friday was a crazy day at school. My class could not hold in their excitement. It was pretty cute to watch them exchange valentine cards with each other and overall I have to say that our class party went smoothly. There was lots sugar and happy kids and one tired, happy teacher at the end of the day.

I had my own Valentine surprise when I came home. Matt met me in the front yard covered in mud, looking like he had just played in a mud football game. My mom had come over to help prune some trees that day, but what I didn't know is that Matt had asked her to help plant a tree for me. This is my Valentine gift from Matt:

It may not look like much now, but in the spring, it will start to bloom with little pink flowers, and someday it will look like this:

It is such a perfect present. I love that it will keep blooming every year and also that it is the same kind of cherry tree that blooms in the quad every spring.

The next part of the weekend that was great is that Matt and I had the same days off - we had a real weekend together and it was wonderful. We had a little get-away to Whidbey Island to stay in Langley for a night. We stayed at a bed and breakfast called the Saratoga Inn. I love that we were not very far from home, but we had the feeling of really having a little vacation, even if it was only for one night. We ate pizza in town and saw a movie. My parents watched Zeke for us, which was really nice of them! It was our first puppy-free day since we brought him home.

Now it's back to school for me and back to work for Matt. It's hard to go back to school after such a nice weekend, but I'm excited to see my students tomorrow and thankful that it is a short week.

Highs and Lows

As I'm sure you can tell by the lack of blogging lately, life for the Newsomes has been crazy and busy. Since I haven't really given an update since before Christmas, I will do what we do in Young Life and share our recent "highs and lows." I will let Matt share his own later, but I can speak for myself and our furry baby.

Erin's Highs

• A wonderful, fun, and cozy Christmas with both sides of our family. Some of the highlights were:

Decorating our new house!

Having Santa show up at the Girl's Holiday Party

Baking lots of delicious holiday treats like peppermint bark and cranberry bliss bars

• Starting my new long-term sub job teaching first grade at Odyssey Elementary. I have a great class and Odyssey is a great school to work at. It is so nice to be with the same class every day. It is so rewarding to see the students learn and grow, knowing that I'm helping to make that happen. I love being able to try out ideas I've learned in other classrooms I've subbed in.

I'm the real deal (at least until May!)

• The second annual girl's ski weekend in Sunriver a few weeks ago. It was magical and so relaxing. We had a fun and very snowy day skiing, yummy dinners, boots and suits, some top quality movies, and great bonding time.

Erin's Lows

• Along with how much I like teaching first grade, it has taken over my life. I'm having a hard time finding that "work-life balance." The hard part sometimes is not being able to leave it at school. I'm always bringing work home with me. The good thing is that I enjoy doing it. It is just hard to fit everything else in as well.

• Matt and I have completely opposite schedules. When I come home, he is just heading out the door to go to work. I try to make it home by 5:00, so we can have about a half hour together, but some nights it just doesn't happen. I miss him!

• I love my little Zekie, but he is making our house a mess! He tracks in muddy pawprints, spills his water all over the kitchen floor, scatters his dog toys around the house... The worst is that right now he is shedding. I never knew labs were such shedders! There is fur everywhere. The other day some sunshine was coming through the window and I could see little pieces of fur just drifting through the air. It's a little embarrassing to show up at work looking like I wore an extra fur coat on top of my normal coat.

Zeke's Highs

• Ok, let me start by saying that my whole life is pretty much a high. I get lots of love and attention from Mommy and Daddy every day. I get to sleep on the couch. I get kibbles. I get petted and snuggled. Daddy plays fetch with me at the park. Everyone thinks I'm cute. Being a dog is the best.

• I got to celebrate my first Christmas. I got my own stocking and Santa brought me this giant bone. I was wagging my tail all day!

I was pretty tired afterwards and needed to take a nap. I take naps a lot. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy tell me to go on my dog bed. What is a dog bed? This big thing that all the people sit on is my bed.

• I passed puppy class and am now enrolled in puppy class 2. I'm a pretty smart dog, what can I say? As long as I get treats, I'll do whatever you want.

Zeke's Lows

• I got neutered. I had to wear the cone of shame. I don't want to talk about it.

Super Lost

Hi, it's Matt. Haven't posted anything new lately. Thought I'd give everyone (all 6 of you) my Super Bowl pick. I'm going with Colts 24-22.

I thought the season premiere of Lost last night was good. I think the the series will end with Jack performing surgery on Locke and kill him, and that will somehow save everyone on the Island.

I hope you're having a good Wednesday.