More sweet family

This weekend we got the special treat of being with Ben's parents all weekend. They drove down from Arlington on Friday afternoon. His parents are so encouraging and fun and Ben and I both always enjoy our time with them.

The weekend was really pretty low key which is just what we needed. This past week was one of the busiest I've had in a while (but thankfully not stressful). I had trainings everyday and some event or dinner every night. I enjoyed it all but needed a little time to just chill. I went to the grocery store with Pat Friday afternoon to get stuff to grill out burgers. I don't always enjoy burgers from restaurants, but I love grilled out cheese burgers. Ben and his Dad grilled the burgers, some spicy sausage and....grilled peaches! It was a recipe I found on Kraftfoods.com and it was pretty good. Just make sure they are ripe! After some fabulous hamburgers, we saw the movie Star Trek. I really knew nothing about the movie or even the series but it was really good. Believe me, I'm no sci-fi fan but I enjoyed it and you can trust my recommendation.

Saturday, the guys played golf (the 4th time in two weeks!) and Pat and I went shopping, talked, and ate lunch. Life is good. That night, we enjoyed dinner at Berry Hill Tacos with some live Latin music (two favorite things!) and just spent time together. Sunday, Ben's parents came to church with us and were able to see Ben teach and meet some of our friends. We loved having them come and step into our world for a little bit.

Now, I can't blog without mentioning my kitties. The kitties really liked Mark and Pat and treated them with love! Below are some pictures. On a random side note, I bought the Chi and I love it!

Pat Pat and the kitties

New Iphones = hours of entertainment.` This is what the guys did while Pat and I watched 2 episodes of What Not to Wear. So great.

Family time

It's been another great week of summer! At the beginning of the week, I began my calligraphy lessons. I learned all the lower case letters and most of the capitals. My hand now hurts but it was worth it. I also spent one day entirely in my house. This is something that when I was in the apartment, would have made me go crazy. It just seemed that I had things to do and enjoyed my day at home. On a side note, I love Pandora. It makes a day at home even better.

Thursday, I headed to Dallas to see family and Ben headed to Austin for a golf trip with his Dad. They played 4 rounds in 3 days! Intense. So I decided to take the time with Ben gone to visit my family in Allen. Thursday night, we had a Pulliam/Kalinke Father's Day dinner because all of us would be gone by Saturday. We went to my sister's house and Bob, my brother-in-law, made homemade pizzas in their outdoor pizza oven. Sausage, pineapple, and cheese pizzas. Oh. Wow. Yum. Then we swam although I never actually made it into the pool. Like I've said before, I love family parties and this one was a great one. Then I got to have a late night coffee date with my roommate Erin. It was so fun!

Friday morning gave some good talk time with my mom walking the dog up to donut shop and back. Then I ate a rare symblings only lunch with my brother Keith and my sister Anne in my brother's amazing back yard. It was great to talk to them both. That night, I got to have a date with my friend Jamie. Usually we just have time for a quick coffee, but this time, we had a whole night to hang out. A true girl night with eating, a chick flick, shopping, and lots of talking! Saturday, I got to spend some time with my grandmother and it was great to see her and love on her a little bit. I headed back out of town in the afternoon, but not before getting a Braums milkshake. Houston people, you are missing out. It was a great mini vacation! I was glad to see Ben on Saturday and our kitties did great with their first two nights home alone. I wish I could see where they slept and what they did all night while we were gone. We didn't think to leave any lights on so wherever they were, they were in the dark. Next week I have a training so the summer play time will go on hold...but just for a week.

Opinions Needed

OR

Ok, I am going to buy a flat iron/straightener. I have board straight hair so you may be thinking, oh Lynn, you don't need one of those! Well, it is the only thing that gets hot enough to curl my hair. There's a certain way to use it where you can curl your hair also. Curls made by curling irons are gone by the time I'm out the door.

So, I know everyone's heard of the Chi and I know that its a really good straightener. But, I've also heard that the Conair Infiniti is #1. Now, I'm not sure if that's #1 except for the Chi or if it's even above that. So, I'm going to buy it soon and before I spend the money, I wanted some opinions from people who have actually used them. Also, I've heard of some Chi's breaking or dying out so I'm not sure if that's common or not. Thanks for the help!

Week 1 of summer

Week one of summer is officially over. I definitely have become relaxed and I think I had a good balance of time with people and time alone. I'm big on routine and summer has none. I made my own though this week of reading my Bible, exercising, and then going on with my day. It was a good strong start to summer with an appropriate mix of fun and productiveness. So what would you do if you had 2 months off?? (Maybe I'll steal some of your ideas!).

Here are some things that filled my first week of summer...

1. Working out - my abs hurt.

2. Reading my Bible and praying.

3. Shopping with friends and alone (This activity CANNOT be as frequent in the coming weeks).

4. Cooking - I made two new recipes this week - tilapia fish tacos and lamb kabobs that Ben grilled. Delicious.

5. Painting the half bath in our house a brown color called Nutmeg. It's perty!

6. Taking more pictures of my adorable sweet kitties than you would want to look at.

7. Reading - see newly updated "Currently Reading" on the side bar.

8. Hanging out with my sweet husband while being relaxed and not exhausted or stressed from school.

Next week I've got a lot more random things planned like tutoring a future 4th grader and calligraphy lessons. Happy Saturday night!

Best Buddies

Everyone needs a friend...even if you're a cat. Well Carlos and Polly have found their best buddies - each other! It makes me happy. Someone asked me recently if I was one of those people who treats their cats like people and I said...YES that is me!

Want a Makeover?

A blog makeover that is. Redbud designs is giving away a free blog makeover. Just go to their website and sign up for it. I really like their website design so I think I would like how they designed my blog! Seems like a cool opportunity if you win!

Using our Green thumbs

A little while ago, we tried our hand at gardening. Some of our plants so graciously given to us by the builder died about a month ago and so we decided it was time to replace them. We had absolutely nothing so we went to The Home Depot and bought shovels, gloves, mulch, moo-neuer (heehee funny name), and some nice plants. The old plants came out with one not so strong tug and some of them were filled with ants. I hate ants. We put in flowers, bushes, and mulch all around. Since we put them in, some of the flowers burned to a crisp and since them we have also become a lot more faithful about watering, but I think some of the flowers didn't make it. Here are some pics to document...

This was after we had torn out the old plants and were about to put in the new ones. Ben was a super gardener.

The After shot

Pretty yellow flowers by the front door

Our magnolia tree - you can barely see the flowers we planted at the base of it. Some of them are still alive.

It was only our first attempt and there will be many to come!

Freedom!

School's out for the summer! As I write this, I'm also singing it in my head. It always feels a little weird at this time of year. You mean I have nothing to do?? Well, nothing school related that is. It seems that I always have this cloud of a school to-do list looming over my head whether it be grading, lesson plans, or all sorts of other randomness. And now I look up, and the cloud is gone! I feel so free! School ended for kids on Thursday at 12:40 and for us teachers at 2pm yesterday. As always, it was a bittersweet last day. I fall in love with my kids, especially the tough ones, and it was my last day with them. But then it's a very sweet day because it means two months off and a brand new group of kids coming up with new challenges and new strengths. I'll be heading into my 4th year which is crazy to me. I really cannot say that I'm a new teacher anymore. I've been at the same school now for 2 years and I really feel settled. Next year will be my first year to be working with all the same people. My first year I changed schools, and last year half my team left. I'm really looking forward to building on those relationships instead of starting brand new again.

Ahh now on to summer! Soon, I'll be making my annual summer goals/to-do list. I love lists. Anyone with me? They just excite me and make me feel more organized than I really am. I plan on reading, improving my Spanish vocabulary, learning calligraphy and some other things. A full list is coming in future posts.