special lunch

every morning i get ready for work and i grab a lunch, usually its something simple like cereal (there's milk at school, so this is a nice easy option), or hot dogs or something. well, one morning i forgot to grab something. when i got to school i realized my mistake but didnt have enough time to go back home and get something and i dont have any free time to leave during the day so i thought i was going to be one starving teacher all day! i did find a moment before the kids came in to call home and ask the wife if she would be so kind as to drop off some hot dogs or something for me on her way to work. i told her she could just put it in my car and i would go get it when i had a chance. well, she surprised me because when i went to the car i found a very special treat! some snack bars and a subway sub!!! score! she even put a little note on it- aw! i walked in feeling pretty special! every once in a while moms come in and bring their child a special lunch and that student gets to show off the special meal- well today was my turn to be special! thanks, wife!

to serve

its time once again for our school's annual service day! on service day the kids gather together for an assembly and then spend the rest of the morning, till noon, working somewhere around the community! in years past i have lead groups to clean up local parks, help out at the fire station, help out with meals on wheels, and this year i took a bunch of guys to one of the local churches that doubles as a food pantry. we did a bunch of lawn work and cleaned up around the inside and outside of the church! its always a great time and a chance to see the kids outside of the classroom (and they get to see their teachers outside the classroom too- weird!). its always a fun day and the kids actually like it too- its always good to associate community service and helping others with good things!
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crash the easter bash

diana and i ended up sticking around here for easter this year. knowing we didnt have anything planned, diana's friend julie invited us over to her extended family get together! it was a ton of fun, we got to meet her whole family, had a great meal, and got to see her mom and dad's adorable little puppy! since the weather was starting to warm up, we even got to hang out in the back yard. at one point her grandpa came and sat with us- he is hilarious!
thanks so much, julie, for letting us crash your family easter!
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6th art trip

every once in a while my students get to go on a field trip. recently they went to the art institute in chicago for lit. class and the lit teacher asked me to come along- score! i've been to the art institute quite a few times, back in college i studied art and always loved to go and check out all the famous works by the greats that are on display there. the focus for the students was on vermeer, but since the art institute doesnt actually have any vermeer paintings, the students took a look at other works during that time period, and then were given the rest of the time to check out the rest of the museum! one of the dads and i were in charge of a group of 15 6th graders for the afternoon. we had a great time checking out the different artwork and exhibits. the kids were surprisingly attentive and seemed quite interested in all the different works of art! there was even an area where they were giving out candy at one of the pieces. that was a very popular work among the students...
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job well done!

sunday morning we all got up and ready for church. it was really fun to be able to go to church with a whole family! they had been to our church once before, when diana and i became members. its always fun to go to church with the kids because bubba is so mature about it, listening so quietly and behaving himself during the service, and tweets just belting along with all the songs, even if she has no idea what the words are!
after church we headed back to our place and tim and jill packed everything back up in the van. we had one last train go by so the kids wanted to run to the backyard and wave to the conductor! by early afternoon they were gone, and diana and i were left with an apartment filled with amazing new carpeting! it was a really fun weekend and everyone had a good time- even tim, though he spent most of the time working, poor guy! diana and i are so grateful for tim's willingness to offer his services- we owe you big time and the place looks amazing!!!
(the finished product!)

railroad dinner

one of the things that diana and i had been planning for the weekend visit with the kids is that we were going to take them to this place called tyler's tender. we had seen an ad for the place and diana had heard that some of the people she works with had taken kids there and that it was pretty neat. it is a train themed restaurant that has a train that goes around and brings meals to the customers, and theres even a mini train inside that place that the kids can ride! we thought that this was right up their alley. we got there and it was a lot smaller than we had expected, but it was still pretty cool. the kids werent so sure about the train ride when we first got there, but they warmed up to it and wanted to go on it a second time by the end of the meal! the food was pretty good and everyone had fun, so it turned out to be a good time. after we finished, mom and papa said their goodbyes and headed back to michigan. the rest of us went back to the house and hung out for the rest of the night.
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cabella's again

ah yes, every time the kids come we have to go to cabella's. so after the carpet was laid and things were put back in order at the apartment, we headed off to that famed outdoorsman warehouse. we, as always, wander around and check out all the stuff, knowing full well that we arent going to really buy anything! there are a ton of little areas in there though that the kids love to check out- the place is filled with animal dioramas and little fun things for the kids to check out. they have a shooting gallery and an aquarium that the kids love. they also have a penny cruncher machine which everyone, including yours truly, loves. by the time we finally got out of there we were starving- so it was off to find the place to eat!
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timmy's carpet co.

mom and papa arrived bright and early so it was time to get a full day's work in! jill and the kids cleaned up everything they had put in the two bedrooms and threw it in the living room (good thing tim took care of that room the night before- he's so smart!). then came time to pull out the old stuff. as we were pulling it back tim started rolling his eyes- they had used the cheapest stuff ever last time they laid carpet in here, which makes tim so mad! we quickly put the kids to work scrapping off the sticky carpet padding that was left behind after the carpet was pulled out. i tried to help tim as much as possible, but he is so good at this stuff that he can do just about everything by himself. which just leaves me standing in the doorway with my hands in my pockets... well, i knew that wouldnt do, so i tried to find things to do. everyone else was helping to clean too, which was super helpful! papa cleaned up that disgusting bathroom and got it looking pretty good! mom and jill did a bit of wall and surface washing, but they didnt stay long. diana had to work, so jill thought ahead and made hair appointments for the two girls- which they loved!!!
while the girls were getting themselves all pretty, we continued to progress with the carpeting. it was pretty amazing, by about 1:00pm timmy had the whole thing done and ready to rock! the place looks amazing now- its no longer embarrassing to show the place to prospective renters! after tim put the finishing touches on the carpet and we had cleared out all the scraps the girls gave us a call and said they were finishing up. we hopped in the truck and met up with them for some lunch and got to see all the beautiful new haircuts! diana was even able to get out a bit early and come for lunch too!
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an evening chat

after the kids when to bed and were fast asleep (except for the occasional waking up from the really loud trains in the backyard...), i went over to hang out with tim an jill. because the apartment was empty they both had to sleep on an air mattress in the living room and i brought over a lamp so that we could actually see each other in the dark! it was a long day, but really cool to be able to have an hour or so of just good old fashioned hanging out and talking, strange spartan furnishings and all! we were able to do this both nights that they stayed, the first night i went over alone and hung out, but on saturday night diana was able to tag along as well and we had some really great discussions! man, i'm still amazed that tim was willing to do all this for us- we are so grateful!!!

the family arrives

the old renters moved out- and everyone rejoiced! the thing about owning a rental place is that sometimes it can backfire and you get terrible renters. well, our lease with them has expired, so off they go! that means that its time to clean the place and get some good renters again. one of the things that needed to be replaced in the rental was the carpet. fortunately for us, i know someone who is a really good carpet layer! its all about who you know- and i know tim! so my sis, tim, and the kids came down for the weekend to get that place in shape- mom and papa even came down for on saturday too!
when the family arrived on friday night they came hungry, so we ordered up some pizza and had a nice fun time playing with them and showing them around. instead of getting a hotel room and paying a ton of money, they just stayed in the rental, which was really handy! before they unpacked what seemed like their entire home, tim wanted to take care of the carpet in the living room so that way we only had two more rooms to take care of on saturday. he took care of it pretty quick and soon the kids were off to bed.
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2nd anniversary

wow, i cant believe that its already been two years! ive always heard that being married is really tough, but these two years with diana have been the happiest and easiest years of my life! i guess that means i picked the right girl, huh? we didnt get to do anything real special for our anniversary this year. i felt bad that i couldnt give my gorgeous bride a special gift or vacation, but at least we got to spend the day together. we just went to marrillville and wandered around the mall and the shops for the afternoon. it was a simple day of simply enjoying each other. i guess thats what its really about anyway. that night we pulled out the second piece of wedding cake that we have had in the freezer for the past two years and again got to relive the joy of our wedding day! two years down, forever to go- i cant wait!!! (more pics)

cuts and kids

its one of the most wonderful times of the year for a teacher: spring break! diana and i didnt make any sort of grand plans for spring break this year, instead we went to visit diana's mom and david for one of the days. it felt like forever since we had last been there, so it was really great to get to stop by and see everyone again! there were even a few extra guests there that day: david's daughter and husband, whom we had never met, were there for the weekend and we got to chat with them for a couple hours before they headed back home. diana's hair cutting skills were put to good use as mom, alanna, and miranda all got a little taken off the top. we got to see tavish again- man, that guy is growing up so fast! and what a cutie! (more pics: 1, 2)

IQ aaron

our last visitor during our week of many guests was good ol' aaron! we tried to make it work for the weekend before, but that one didnt quite happen. either way i was thrilled to have him come and visit! ever since aaron started taking classes he hasnt had much free time, so with this being his spring break, he headed on down. now, usually when aaron comes down here he wants to go out, always suggesting 'hey, lets go downtown chicago and go to a club!' but this time he didnt. which i am thankful for- i'm not sure if i've got any 'club' nights left in me, to be honest! he just wanted to chill out and enjoy the night. now that sounds more my style! he arrived saturday afternoon and we got to catch up for a bit. we decided to hit up the video store to watch something funny for the night. it was a great time of doing not much at all. thats the thing, its never the events that matter, its the time with friends, and aaron and i havent had much of that lately (due in large part to the fact that we live two hours apart...) so i really loved it! one thing that made me laugh while he was down here was the fact that we spent an hour or two just downloading different apps and games on his and diana's phones! that reminds me, diana had an IQ test app on her phone and aaron took the test after we had been talking about it. his result? um, lets just say that aaron struggled a bit...

iphone, please give me my wife back!

for christmas we told diana's dad that we would like to buy him a new cell phone and have him included on our phone service. he had been doing the 'pay as you go' service, but we knew this would me a more convenient and cheaper option to just add him to our service for ten bucks a month. it took a while, but we finally got around to going to the phone store with him. here's where the trouble starts: diana was on a different, inferior carrier (cough at&t cough) and her contract was up so the plan was for her to get a new phone with verizon too. all was going well until she spotted the iphone 4. after that it was all over! she flitted her eyes, pursed her lips, and i knew i didnt stand a chance. so, she got an iphone 4. rats! her beauty got the best of me again! anyway, ever since then she has become obsessed with that thing! she spends all her time tinkering with that thing downloading different apps and surfing the internet. she is so in love with it that its ridiculous! i dont see what all the fuss is about (or at least thats what i tell her so that she will finally put it down so i can play with it again!). i'm sure when my contract runs up i'll be getting one as well so that i can finally beat her at bejeweled!

dad visits!

among our many guests during the week was a very exciting one: diana's dad came to visit! this is exceptional because its the first time he has come to see our place since diana and i first got married! better late than never, huh? he got here tuesday afternoon and was welcomed by diana, barbara, and josh. i arrived a hour or so later, after he had already taken the grand tour of our huge place (sarcasm). we got to talk and hang out for a while, then we went to get dad a new phone (part of our belated christmas gift to put him on our inexpensive phone plan). after figuring out all the phone stuff we headed to gino's east for dinner. everyone loved the chicago style deep dish pizza, dad even got a side order of anchovies to put on it (gross!). it was really cool to be able to have him come and visit, i know diana really loved to have him come and see the home she has made for us. hopefully it wont be another two years before he visits again! (more pics)

josh and sis

josh, one of diana's friends from her grand valley days, gave us a call a few weeks ago letting us know that he had a few vacation days ahead and was wondering if he could come and visit. we said 'sure!' so he came to stay with us for a couple nights and have some time to catch up with diana! he got here monday afternoon and we had a good time with him. that night we watched a movie and got pizza and talked till way too late (diana got tuesday off, but i still had to drag myself out of bed for work the next day!). barbara knows josh really well too, so she came down to stay with us on tuesday and the four of us had a great time chillin out and having fun. one of the really fun things we did was play a few board games, my favorite being monopoly- we even have the grand rapids edition, so we had fun nerding out to all the grand rapids stuff in the game. again, i had to call it a night early due to work so i missed out on most of the scattergories fun. dang work... (more pics)

re lob papa

mom and papa stopped by this weekend too! after a stressful week, mom and papa decided to get away by coming down to merrillville and spending some time with us. diana worked saturday, so i met up with papa for an afternoon of playing pool at a really cool cigar shop. by the time i got back diana was getting home from work and we headed down to merrillville to have dinner. we went to one of our favorite places: red lobster (or as the cool people call it: re lob). it was a lot of fun and included some memorable moments, from papa ordering a drink and saying 'surprise me' on which kind (which left my mom's jaw on the floor!), to me making a complete fool of myself to one of the waitresses... anyway, we had an awesome time! after dinner we went back to their hotel room and got to chat for another hour our two. you know, i feel really blessed to have such cool parents! i must admit, i would be friends with them even if we werent related! (more pics)

family thai's

our 'week of many guests' began on friday night with diana's mom, david, alanna, and tavish stopping by for a visit! alanna had been in hawaii for a trip and came home friday. diana's mom, david, and tavish went to pick her up at o'hare airport in chicago, so they gave us a call to see if we would like to meet up with them for dinner. well, of course we would! diana and i brainstormed trying to think of a place to eat and we all ended up going to the local thai food place- its soo good! we met them there and got to catch up with all of them. it was a great time- tavish is getting so big! alanna said she had a good time in hawaii, but really missed her little guy, and who can blame her! (more pics)

poco's well wishes

earlier this week it was barbara's birthday, and poco wanted to send her some birthday greetings...

book fair '11

every year we have a book fair at school and every year i am asked to do some decorations for it. the company that puts it on always has a theme, so i just try to work with the theme and make something at least a little bit fun out of it. the theme this year was the circus. i wasnt exactly sure what to do, but knew i didnt have too much time to make anything too extravagant, so instead i just went with some simple things to make the fair look a bit more fun.
(more pics, check out some of the designs used in years past here.)