Baby Showers

So this is a week late but last week was busy with report card writing. Now that I'm finished up with that (well mostly anyways) I have some time to blog about last weekend.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to share (I took some with Olena's camera which I will get from her later and hopefully share).

Well last Saturday I hosted a baby shower for my little nephew Austin at my house.  I invited all of Olena and my high school friends as well as my brother's friends. We ended up having 15 adults and 5 children there. The 5 kids were ALL boys under the age of 3. It was super cute seeing them interact with each other. At one point I took a picture of the 5 boys all sitting together in a semi-circle just kind of looking at eachother. I HAVE to get this picture from Olena and post it, as it was adorable.

Anyways, the party went well. We had a BBQ and cupcakes (which I unfortunately realized afterwards that I never got a picture of).  It was kind of sad just how long it had been since all of us high school friends got together at the same time. Each of us had some exciting news to share or be congratulated on since we had last seen eachother. There was one engagement, one person moving to a new place, one person got a new car, one friend has decided not to go back to work after her maternity ends, my sister-in-law had a baby and I was able to share that I finally got permanent. Definitely nice to have so much to celebrate and great to hear so many good things are happening in my friend's lives.

On Sunday my sister-in-law's mom was hosting a Meet and Greet for Austin at her place. I went with my parents to this. It was another wonderful event with great people, great food and another chance to spend some time with my perfect little nephew. Again no pictures but I'll get some to share later.

In the mean time here are a few newer pictures of Austin:

I just got a few pictures from the Meet and Greet on Sunday that I am adding to this post. Here they are:

Father and son with their matching Hurley shirts

Family Photo

Mom and Dad with Baby

My dad photobombing our picture

A lot of food

Cookies by Kelly

Cake

Fruit Carriage

Decorations in the background

Grandma and Grandpa

Far too long...

So I realized that the last post I wrote on here was at Christmas time, over 3 months ago!!  I guess it's about time I update you on what is new and fabulous in my life.  Where do I begin?

The most exciting thing for me right now is that I am going to be an aunt for the first time within the month.  Olena is due April 28th and looks just too darn cute.  It really looks like she just stuck a basketball under her shirt, she is so tiny everywhere else.  I've gone back and forth on whether I think it will be a boy or a girl but here is my official prediction as of right now: I think it will be a boy, born on May 1 and let's say a weight of 7 lbs 8 oz.  Not really sure about the weight but we'll see how accurate I am on everything soon enough.

Secondly I am still seeing Jon and things are going great right now.  He's away again, but he only goes away for a week or two at a time so it's not too bad.  It's always nice having a reunion once he gets back too.  :) We've been dating for almost 5 months now, which seems kind of crazy.  The time really has gone by fast.  Sometimes I think about it and can't believe I've been in a relationship for that long.  Aside from Diego this is the longest relationship I've been in.  We'll see where things go.  It does worry me a little because I know he won't stay in Winnipeg forever.  I hate the idea of having to leave my family someday (especially now that I'm going to have a little niece or nephew here).  Somedays I think it would be okay and I'd enjoy a new city but other days I wonder about it.  Another thing I worry about is finding a job if I were to move.  I am so close to having permanent finally (fingers crossed this is the year) and if I move I'm back to square one again.  Actually even further back than that, as I will have no connections and have to take courses to be able to teach there.  I might actually end up pretty close to you Krista.

Other than that I am enjoying school this year.  I have a fabulous group of grade 6 students who make me smile and laugh each and every day.  I love going to school and I love being around my students.  The school I am at has a great feel to it. Just walking down the halls, you feel welcome and cheerful.  It's a very positive place to be.  Right now we are getting ready for our Spring Musical.  The grade 6s are acting in it and I have been helping out with practices every lunch hour.  The musical is called On the Radio and it takes you through the decades from the 1920s up to the 1970s.  The songs are really great and in between each song are skits that relate to the decade.  I can't wait to see it all come together.

I hope I am back at this school again next year and that I get my permanent contract.  This week my principal is evaluating me on 3 lessons he will come in to observe.  Tomorrow is my first one and then I'll have one the next day and then the day after that.  I am a little bit nervous but not overly so.  I am pretty confident that things will go well.

My spring break was great as well.  I headed down to Grand Forks for some shopping with a few teachers from my school last year.  I am so blessed that I am able to keep in touch with teachers I have worked with in the past and have made some lasting friendships with many of these teachers.  It was a great couple days with some wonderful ladies and a great way to spend part of my week off.

Well hopefully my next blog post will come sooner than 3 months down the road.  I'm sure in a months time I will be wanting to share some pictures of a very special little baby with you girls. So stay tuned...

Christmas Time is Here

So today was my official first day of Christmas Break and I must say it was about the laziest day I've had in a very long time.  I watched a few Christmas movies, wrapped presents and just was plain old lazy.  I also got not one but two phone calls from my sweetheart.  He is currently spending the holidays with his family in Newfoundland.  I will post about him in a seperate post. :)

Watching a Christmas movie and enjoying my beautiful tree 

I love the holidays and wanted to dedicate this post to the Christmas festivities I have already taken part in this year.

First I will begin with Olena and my 3rd annual Christmas baking extravaganza.  This year we made sugar cookies together and iced them and I also made a Mars Bar slice while she made dough for a few other types of Christmas cookies.

Making Cookies

I also took Olena to the Jason McCoy Christmas concert as part of her Christmas gift this year.  For about half of the show Jason sang Christmas songs and for the other half he sang his regular hits.  He was very entertaining and quite funny in between songs.  It was a great show.

Jason McCoy concert

Jon came over to help me decorate my tree this year.  I will admit I was a tad apprehensive of this, as I  can be a bit particular as to how my tree is decorated.  He did a fabulous job without much direction from me and we had a great time listening to Christmas carols and drinking tea.  And I didn't even suggest the idea! :)

Jon and my decorated tree

Last night we had our holiday potluck with my high school friends.  It was a great time and we had a pretty good turn out.  Unfortunately Ashley's little guy, Bentley, got sick and they were unable to join us and Tatiyana had other plans but otherwise the whole crew was there.  Leanne and Frank brought there two adorable boys, Xavi and Eliseo and Steph's boy, Cody, was also there.  Xavi has typically in the past played shy around me and other new people but we had a great time together yesterday.  He didn't shy away from me when he came in and after I helped him with his coat and boots I had him glued to my side the rest of the night.  Andrea, who isn't always able to make it out to our potlucks, as she lives out of town, was there as well and it was great catching up with her.  I really have a pretty awesome group of friends.  I am pretty impressed at how we have managed to make time for eachother and stayed close in the 10 years since high school.  I also love how our group is growing with the addition of new significant others and children.

Next year's Chirstmas Card?

Cute kids

Xavi and I

The next three days shall be filled with a lot of celebrating, family and food.  Looking forward to three days of Christmas and all the joy that comes with it.