A few of my favorite things....

Here are a few of my favorite things right now. I love looking at other people's favorite things list, so I'm thinking of trying to do this monthly. We shall see if I do....but, here are some of my favorite things from January 2012.

My newly organized pantry shelf. I should have taken a before picture because this shelf was a total mess. I love my new chevron containers from Target. Just adding a shelf and containers created so much more room! I still have more I'd like to organize - but baby steps, right!?!

In an effort to work on my 2012 goals, I bought this fabulous cake milk made, hand and cuticle scrub from Sephora. It really does an amazing job leaving your hands so soft! I love it!

When we were hanging out with Whitney on New Year's, she told me about these little Mio liquid bottles. You just put a few drops in a glass of water. I'll do anything to try and figure out how to drink more water so I gave them a try. And they are also a winner! My favorites so far are Strawberry Watermelon and Peach Tea.

And ugh...I should have never bought these over the Christmas season. I don't think I have ever had Lindt Lindor truffles before, but now they are going to be a definite splurge every once in awhile. So yummy!

And finally, my cute polka dot purse organizer. I found it on sale at Charming Charlie's and wasn't really sure if I'd like it or not, but I loved the polka dots so I bought it anyway. And the verdict is that I do love it! I love being able to have everything in one spot and taking the whole thing out of my purse at one time. I love all the little pockets around it - perfect for snacks for Jenna, Aleve, lipgloss, pens, etc... In the middle I have my wallet and zipper pouch with cards.

So that's it for January. Do you have any current favorite things??

Joplin moving forward

It seems like there is a lot going on with Joplin lately, so I thought I would just blog a list of all that I know of lately.

1.) This pic is from JM's cell phone. Tonight the hospital had a memorial for the staff. At the end, they gave the staff a marble cross - the marble is from the hospital that they were able to save and give everyone a piece. On Sunday, they are having their public ceremony to start knocking down the hospital and then breaking ground on the new location.

2. The Joplin Humane Society is supposed to be on the Nightly news on Sunday. I think it's supposed to be about their sponsor program which is what Jenna and I did here.

3. Today, Academy Sports and Payless opened their newly re-built stores. Academy let 40 students have a little shopping spree before they officially opened. (More on that here.) And of course, these stores joined several others that have been opened and a few more that are still in the process of re-building on the same street.

4. The Will Norton memorial field has received several donations and they will be building soon. This will be a sports field for kids with disabilities. More on this story here.

5. Homes of Hope and Habitat for Humanity have started building other homes for families.

I'm sure there may be a few other stories out there I might be missing, but these are the main ones I've heard about. When we came the week after the tornado, I blogged here about the amazing spirit of the people here. Well, 7 months later, it hasn't stopped one bit.

At tonight's hospital ceremony, they played the song, "Blessings" by Laura Story. What a perfect fit. (Lyrics here.) Because out of that absolutely heart-wrenching, devastating, terrible night of May 22, so much good has come from it. Be thankful in every circumstance.

Whitney's Teacher of the Year Party!

I first met Whitney in 2004 (I think?). We were both brand spankin new first grade teachers and we were across the hall from each other. Because of her drive and insane amount of energy (ha!), I knew right away that she was going to be a great teacher.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from one of the other teachers saying they were going to throw her a surprise celebration instead of their usual Monday faculty meeting. So of course, Jenna and I drove down for it yesterday.

They had a sewing theme because Whitney is also very crafty. The little pink dots on the cake are supposed to be buttons. The banner says, "Whitney, we are sew happy for you." They gave her a pink basket of sewing supplies and a Michael's gift cards!

Paula, Whitney, and Deann - the kindergarten team. I was also on that same team what now feels like forever ago! Paula and Deann are also great - I think the kindergarten team is still the best to work with!

Jenna was so excited for Whitney. And want to know how you tell if you have a true friend?? They really care about your child. You can't be friends with me if you don't like Jenna. Sorry, we are a twofer. :)

All of the faculty in the art room. There were so many people I didn't know.

A cute one of us. :)

Afterwards, we went down to Whitney's room. She has such a cute room. That bathtub used to be mine in my reading center.

Anyway, a huge Congrats to Whitney! You are an amazing teacher and you definitely deserve the honor!

Jenna's fashion friday!

I know…I haven't done a Jenna FF post in a long time! But, it's really because I haven't been buying her clothes and I have nothing new to post. However, I do have these 2 outfits that I thought I better put up before I forget!

Hanna Andersson's playdress set. I love these. I actually like them more on the younger crowd, so I don't know how much longer she will be wearing them for. But it's seem like such a comfy (and cute!) outfit!

I love this next one as well. From Gymboree's Growing Flowers line. Also, I only paid around $15 for the whole outfit. I was with a couple of other moms one time in Gymboree, and they were all talking about how way too expensive it is. Once again, you have to know how to shop there and when to buy stuff.

And sadly, that's all I've got to post now. I'm not sure I'll be buying her anymore long sleeved/pants - I'm much more in spring/summer buying mood! So, with that said, it might be awhile before our next FF post!

Pastries with Pops day

Today was a Daddy's day at Jenna's pre-school. The dads brought the kids in and had doughnuts and juice with them. And in true John Michael fashion, he made sure to get pictures. :)

They all gave them this rock that says, "My pop rocks." Jenna painted it with glitter. And that is also the first time I'm seeing this picture of her and it's so much better than her last year's school picture! But, geez…doesn't she look like such a big girl?

She got to be the flag helper today.

And then they did this little dance that JM got a video of - but not sure how to post it here, so you get the picture instead. And yes, look at that class - They are now up to 7, (yes, SEVEN!!) boys and only 2 girls. Last year, I think it was the opposite for Jenna's class in that they had more girls than boys.

I'm glad JM was able to attend! (and photograph it as well!) :)

January Birchbox plus my random 10 list

1. Last night, I heard Jenna taking a few pictures. Today, this is what I found on my phone. Rows and rows of Max in the Dining room. She really loves to take pictures, and I don't mind, it's just annoying when it clogs up your photo stream since you can't delete those.

2. I am still obsessed with owls. Why are they so darn cute?? Anyway, I got this cute necklace from one of my favorite places - Francesca's!

3. Oh, and speaking of necklaces, remember my Christmas wish list post? Well, I did get the necklace from The Vintage Pearl (and a cake ball maker.) JM got me the necklace and my mom got me a gift certificate there. Anyway, I finally got the necklace on Saturday but it came with a mistake. JM contacted them and he heard back from them on the same night (a weekend!) and they will be sending me out a new one soon. Anyway, it's really cute and they do seem like a great company! And I can't wait to use my gift certificate to get another one!


4. I'm currently reading this book - MWF seeking BFF. It's just ok, but I picked up because I feel like I can completely relate to it. Maybe it comes with moving, but I feel like I'm always on the lookout to make new friends. Now, yes, I do have 2 really great friends that I would call my BFF's, but it would be nice to have someone in the same town too. It is a true story and she blogs here, if you are interested in checking it out. There are some really interesting facts about needing friendship on there.

5. My January Birchbox! I'm still loving these boxes! They are so fun! In this one, I got a full size Stila eyeliner, skin concealer, skin serum, moisturizer, and a disgusting fruit bar. Now, I was a bit bummed that I got 3 skin products in one box - I would have like a bit more variety. BUT, In saying that, these are really great products! The fix serum and the moisturizer are over $100 for the full size products! Now, I think that is just crazy, and I'll never buy that, but it's nice to get to try a sample size! The Larabar was completely awful - I tried a bite and just had to throw it away. Also, the stila eyeliner is $20 for a full size, so I think that completely makes this box worth the $10. For more details on birchbox or to join, click here.


6. So, did you all watch the Extreme Home Makeover - Joplin show on Friday?? I let Jenna stay up and watch it with us because I wanted her to see that she was there. I tried to tell her people from all over the world were watching this show, but I'm guessing she can't fully grasp that concept yet. On Monday, Jenna and I went to the new Cunningham park and she did talk about seeing it on tv, which was neat. Anyway, we thought it was a really great show. It's funny to see how much editing goes into it. Remember this post I did with me and Paul Demio? We could not believe how much shooting they did at the humane society and then literally only showed a 2 second clip. It just seems like such a waste.

7. Many months ago, I blogged about a new coke machine video that I saw. Well, I feel the need to update you all that our new Wendy's has one! I know, exciting stuff, right?!? But, it means another place to get my favorite - Cherry Vanilla Coke! :)

8. So today at MOPS, one of the speakers said something about how when your husband comes home and asks you about your day, all you (stay at home moms) have to tell him is about is other people's facebook status updates. Yep, thought that was just me! But apparently, everyone in the room was agreeing. And you know what one of the first things I told JM today was about? Yep, without even thinking about this morning, I did it again. ha. Anyway, just thought that was funny and SO true!

9. A lot of my pinterest recipes have been total fails lately. Anyway, I did make this hamburger soup and it turned out pretty good! We are having the leftovers tonight and I think it will go down as something to make again! (Be warned - if you click on the link, it has music. That drives me nuts.I don't like websites with music at all.)

10. So in an effort to get to #10, (because you know, that also drives me crazy when I can't even it out to a perfect 10) - well, I asked JM if he had anything to share. Apparently, his big news of the day is that he is excited about renting some kind of a tripod from an online site. Yep, that's really exciting stuff.....:) And of course, this makes #10, so I had to post it. :)

1st Daddy-Daughter day of 2012!

On Sunday, Jenna and her daddy had a fun day out together. I stayed home, worked on my Project Life album, read, cleaned up a bit and just enjoyed the time by myself!

Getting ready to go

They went to church first and then afterwards McDonald's for lunch!

And the main reason of the day together - To go watch the new Beauty and the Beast movie!

Jenna was very excited about getting the popcorn. She kept talking about it the night before! (Funny because we have several packs of popcorn here and she hasn't wanted it in a while - guess it's just not the same as movie popcorn, though!)

After the movie, they went to Chuck E Cheese to just play.

I think they both had a great time. I'm thankful that they get to spend some one on one time together. JM came home saying how worn out he was from following her around all day. Yep.....I know about that. ;)