Back to School Open House

 It was the back to school open house at Geilenkirchen Elementary School yesterday (Hallie attends school on the Nato base, it's a school only for the American children).  I had so much fun getting shown around the classroom by my cute little 5 year old.  She loves school so much and really really loves her teacher.  This (above) was her checklist of what she needed to show me in the room.

 Here's Hallie reading me all the names of the kids in her class.  It's phenominal to me how fast kids learn.  Amazing.

This is MY favorite thing in her class.  It's called a smart board.  Those of you who have kids in school may have seen these before, but this was a first for me.  I was totally blown away.  It works just like a white board but it's actually a big computer screen.  It senses when you're writing on it and with which color and digitally draws as you write.  It's used to show the kids video clips, pictures, everything you could need a computer for in the classroom.  AND it's a white board.  I want one in my house.  In the kitchen maybe.  :)

It was a fun day getting to peek into Hallie's new world.

The Pits

This is Hallie and Chase back in July picking blueberries....I don't know why I never blogged these pictures.  This has been a highlight of the last two years for me.  Snacking on blueberries for weeks.  love.

I don't really know why I haven't been blogging.  I guess I'm a little overwhelmed by my new life, having to be on a schedual.  I'm not very good at scheduals.  I'm late to MOST places, but with Hallie starting school I had to make some MAJOR adjustments to my life.  One of the adjustments has been getting out of bed at the same time every morning, which has resulted in going to bed at the same time every night.  How grown up of me.  I'm patting myself on the back as we speak.  Another positive result of my new life has been this:  taking Hallie to school at 7:50 every morning has resulted in my heading straight to the gym with Chase after the drop (may as well, I'm already up.  And this way I'm not dropping her off every morning in my pjs.  Work out clothes are acceptable, not lazy) and have been working my buns off on the elliptical and the stair climber.  Have you used a stair climber before?  It's my new favorite to hate.  I have to thank that stair climber for my new set of much perkier buns though.  Matt thanks it too.  It's a little miracle worker, that machine is.

Another reason I haven't really been blogging is because I spend all of my time:

-Trying to find our dog who has escaped, AGAIN.

-Bathing our dog because she rolled in cow poop, dog poop, horse poop, or anyother horrible smelling substance she can coat herself in.

-Cleaning up the floor where she has snuck away to do her business IN my house.

-Trying to train the dog to be a good dog.

-Cursing the dog for being untrainable.

-Walking the dog trying to make her tired, because I only like her when she's laying in her bed in the corner.

-Comforting a SOBBING 5 year old who just had her macaroni necklace eaten by the dog.

-Collecting "stool samples" from the backyard for the vet to check for worms.  (sick)

-Stressing out about the dog

-Hating the dog.  Regretting the dog.  Stuck with the dog.  The kids love her.  Of course they do...except when she eats their macaroni necklaces. 

So yeah, the animal has taken over my life and it's been horrible.  I cry,  and sometimes pray that one of the kids will develop a horrible allergy to her so that I have no choice but to find her a new home.  Or that when she runs away...I just won't be able to find her.  Or she just won't come home.  Sometimes I dream about all the ways she could leave our family without me feeling guilty about it.  I know I know, she's only a puppy.  It will get "better".  We'll see. 

On another note, I got pulled over the other day and had to take a breathalizer test.  In the middle of the day.  It was really funny.  Luckily, he caught me in one of my sober moments.  Whew.