"The best way to spread christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear..."

I look forward to the Christmas program that Alexa's school does every year at Redlands East Valley High School. It is simply AMAZING! They put so much time and effort into it and you never know what is going to happen. Every class performs from the 2 year olds to the Kindergartners and it is the CUTEST thing ever! Last year after Thanksgiving all that we heard out of Lexi's mouth was Christmas songs that they were practicing and then we get to the program and she didn't sing one word! Well this year was a whole different story. She would only sing a little bit at home, but she was constantly talking about her "program" and counting down the days. She kept telling us that she was going to sing and she did! She did such a great job! On the stage dancing, singing and even getting a little too flirty with a couple of boys. I am so proud of her and I LOVE her excitement for school :)

I don't really know why I bother trying to be Crafty...

...when half of the stuff I create does not turn out how I want! haha
So again thanks to Pinterest I have been TRYING to get crafty and have failed at trying to do so. Here are the few things that I have tried to make recently... Starting out with what I thought would be the easiest-a Yarn Snowman and thanks to my love he helped make my yarn balls. haha because mine were not looking very round.




   Next on my list was to take the scrap pieces of wood that I had left from some of my fall decorations and create some snowmen. It was all successful and super easy UNTIL I got to the eyes....Really how hard is it to paint some circles for eyes?! Well they turned out kind of creepy looking....haha

Finally last night I feel like I successfully created something that I liked! I found these glass craft jars at Michaels, found some clearance mini glass bulbs at JoAnns, made a vinyl sticker on the Cricut and put a bow on top and voila! something that I am actually proud of! haha

Homemade Laundry Soap...Thanks to Pinterest

My sister and I decided to make homemade laundry soap on Saturday Night (yeah I know we sound like old ladies! haha) So I found a recipe on Pinterest and http://beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/ and then we went to Wal-Mart and got all of our goodies for CHEAP! It really did not look like it was going to make a lot and we almost got stuff to double our "recipe" and decided not to just in case it didn't clean our clothes like we wanted it to. Here is the stuff you need and it can all be found in the laundry detergent aisle at wal-mart :)

Fels-naptha soap: 97 cents each
Sun Oxy: $1.68 each
Storage Jar: $4.97 each
Borax: About $3
Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda: $2.99
Arm & Hammer Baking Soda: about $1

So Sweet...

I just had to share this picture of Bella with her pups last night :)

And Then There Was TEN More...

Bella finally had her puppies today!! We have been waiting all week! Thank goodness Eric was home during the day since he worked last night :) She had them much quicker then last time. The final count is... 10 Puppies! I think I counted 5 girls, 4 boys and I missed one somewhere in between, but I am still not positive so I will look tomorrow to double check! This will be her last litter...we don't want her to have to go through this again. She has had a total of 21 puppies between the two litters...poor baby :( Here are the couple of pictures I got tonight...

Lexi is in LOVE

The next & almost final step to my dream job...

So I haven't checked my school e-mail in about 2 months since there really is no need because I'm not in school at the moment. Well this afternoon I decided to check it and to my surprise I had received an e-mail THREE minutes before and it was from my credential analyst and student placement lady and in this e-mail was my placement for student teaching!!

Talk about excitement and then a huge RUSH of nervousness! I have waited a very LONG time for this (and I still have a few months until it actually happens) but now it is starting to set in. I am super excited to get done with school in May and hopefully get out there and find a job, but I am also really sad that I am going to have to leave Anheuser. I have been there for 5 years! That is a really long time and although there are days when I really hate my job and pay, I also really love it. I am so very excited that I get to student teach Kinder and I am also very excited that it is in Yucaipa...at my old Elementary school:) And here is the next best part....it is literally down the street from my house! I could walk out my gate and BAM there I am at the school.

So it looks like I will be spending the next couple of months preparing myself for my future, leaving my job to work for free and then hopefully doing a good enough job that I will get lucky to get a new job and start my career next year!

Our Little Elf Friend...

Maddie is our new little Elf friend that drops in daily to check on Lexi to see how she is doing and then he reports his findings to Santa. Each day Maddie likes to hide in a new place and can be seen doing many funny things. Although she likes to hide, she also likes to cause some mischief and play in some really silly places!

A little side note... I tried really hard to make a tab and do a separate mini blog for our little friend's adventures, but apparently you are not allowed to do that so I created a whole separate blog for Maddie our Elf. To see where Maddie has been click here....

My first official post is probably going to be the most exciting! (atleast to me it is! haha)

Right after the Engagement :)

For the past four and a half years we have gone with my family to Capistrano Beach either for a week in the summer or a week in the winter. This year we got to go for Thanksgiving week. Every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving we do our family pictures for our Christmas cards. Since we had to leave the beach today, the day after Thanksgiving we decided to do our pictures earlier in the week. Who would have thought that these family pictures that were about to be taken would be the second best day of my life. (The first best day of course was the day that Lexi was born:) ) Eric and my dad had it all planned out and I had no idea what was coming. My mom, dad, Lexi, Heather, Kenny, Eric and I all walked across the bridge to the beach. Earlier in the day my dad noticed that there was a big piece of driftwood right on the beach and told me that it would be a good prop for pictures, so that is where we were headed. My dad snapped a few pictures of Eric, Lex and I and then we waited for sunset to take more pictures. While we waited we just walked around the beach. When sunset came we walked back to the driftwood and my dad took more pictures of all three of us. Lexi started to get antsy and there was a lady walking her golden retriever so Lexi's attention span for pictures was gone and straight on to the dog. That dog that had my whole family's attention except for Eric, my dad and myself. We were still taking pictures. I asked Eric if he wanted to sit next to me on the piece of driftwood and he just looked at me and said he was going to kneel down, meanwhile I am thinking to myself..."If you kneel down my dad isn't going to be able to see your face and I am going to look like a giant sitting up on this log." and then he said it..."Teresa, Will You MARRY ME?" and all I could say was "Are you serious?! Like really, really?" and down came the tears not full blown crying, but there were tears. He told me he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with me and those few words made me the happiest girl in the world!

Thanks to my daddy for capturing this special moment

And it begins...

I have been wanting to "blog" for a while now, but I wasn't sure how to start and mainly I am a little nervous because I'm not a writer. The reason why I decided to start is because I think it is a great way to keep a journal of the things that I believe are worth keeping and what better way than to do it on the internet! haha, but really now I can document and share all the exciting and upcoming adventures that are ahead!