such a different world

i like to document everything here, including my teaching stories. if you get sick of the preschool quotes, skip this. but these little kids feel like my world right now. where i work and where the rest of my life is spent are so different. i usually love this diversity in my days. usually. for example, i served my preschoolers "liquid snow" the other day for a winter themed snack - crushed ice with white cranberry juice.

"mmmm, this smells good like my hair grease, ms. lawler" hmm. is that good?

i got heckled at the grocery store in my school's neighborhood the other day. it was awful. a man came up behind me in line and said the most racist, demeaning, crude things i've ever heard in a low voice so only i could hear it. i go to that grocery store all the time and have never been bugged. he wouldn't leave me alone. in my head: do i say something and get punched in the face? do i go get security? do i ignore it and sprint out of this store? i did the last one. safest option for the situation.

one little girl's family is now homeless. did you worry about that when you were 3? my world revolved around my little pony and copying everything my brother did. probably picking my nose when my mom wasn't watching. i didn't wonder if we'd come home to no house with our belongings sitting on the grass outside.

but then there are crossovers. i say "oh hey" to my kids all the time. i was gone from the school this morning and returned during nap time. when i walked in the door, i saw four little heads pop up and heard a chorus of "oh hey ms. lawler!" i forget that they pick up so much at their age. i still wish i were 4 all the time.

and my favorite little boy of late did this:
(waves at me) "come here! i need to show you something"
(points to 20 magnetic letters bunched up) "i spelled the word 'ilovems.lawler'"

looking forward to...

i love this holiday. february is a good month

as usual...

...i am being distracted from my schoolwork (fake lesson plans that i will never use). i decided that i subscribe to too many blogs on google reader when i came home from 2 days of being without a computer to over 80 unread items. i can't keep up! and while lots of them are cooking, design, and other useful tidbits of information kind of blogs, i unsubscribed from a few. BUT here's the find...have you ever wondered how many people read your blog through google reader? yes? me too. subscribe to your own blog, then unsubscribe and a page will pop up that spits out how many subscribers you have and your average posts-per-week number.

you're welcome. or maybe i'm the last one to figure this out.

you're still welcome.

love

i took a solo trip to utah this weekend for my lovely, beautiful cousin's fairytale wedding. the feelings were mixed...the mountains! cafe rio! my family! the smog...the ugliness of I-15...the craziness of the weekend schedule...i loved every minute though.

trying to stay warm outside the temple.
we all zipped baby aspen into our coats

they're legit!

only megan - she made that dress from 3 dresses

best part of the wedding (besides the cake pops, hot chocolate bar, sweet potatoe fries, ice sculptures, and seeing people i love) = photo booth!
my parents are so cute.

the happy aunts.
we adore her. i hoarded this little girl.

they left in a round cinderella carriage drawn by white horses.
does it get more perfect than that?
also on the agenda: my family all went rock climbing on mlk day.
so fun!
there were many other utah dwellers i wanted to see, but you just can't do everything in one weekend. it was a fabulous getaway.

all moved

yes, i did look like a homeless vagabond as i took what felt like 50 trips from the old apartment to the new apartment with an ancient basket cart in my pajamas late at night because we didn't want to pay for movers. the good news is that we now have consistent hot water in our apartment. i forgot how wonderful steamy hot showers are.

don't eat all the pop tarts

from one of my preschoolers today:

"you can come over to my house, ms. lawler. but you can't eat all my pop tarts, okay?"

biking

matt took nate on his first road biking adventure. and nate even wore matching spandex. i laughed. love those chicken legs. i was surprised when nate said he liked it a lot. i can't believe how long some people ride on those awful rock-hard seats! but after hearing about all of matt's looooong rides, it is pretty cool that he has seen so many towns and cities and parks and nature reserves and all kinds of things from his bike.

you can read matt's ride log here

sunshine in irvine

it's a jolly holiday in irvine. irvine makes your heart so light. a little mary poppins?
the gift that keeps on giving: when your cousin, who happens to be your husband's best friend, marries your best friend. and then they have a child (almost! she's due on sunday!).

the last part(y) of our holiday trip was spent in orange county, where we took over matt and belize's living room for a few days. i hadn't seen belize pregnant yet and could not even believe how cute her preggo belly was in person, even though apparently being 40 weeks pregnant is miserable. you make it look glamorous, belize.

matt and belize are ninja chefs. b taught me how to make homemade taquitos. yum.

the famous balboa bar stand has 4 size choices for their chocolate covered bananas. nate went for the XL.

quaint

though we love the city, i think i could be very happy living in california

i totally forgot how awesome the glory days of college were...having a double wardrobe! belize let me raid her closet like the olden days of roommates.

sunset on the pier

i loved how angry red the sky turned

happy birthday belize!

zooey

we are loyal netflix lovers, which means we rarely go to the movies and we always watch things after the rest of the world. i am sitting in piles of laundry watching 500 days of summer right now.
oh.my.gosh.
can i just BE zooey deschanel?
i love everything about her.
and the music.
and the boy from 10 things i hate about you (another favorite)
the end.

p.s. just finished the movie. my heart broke. i still love it though.

christmas in california

top moments from the first part of our trip to california

hanging out in temecula with these crazies


matching pj's (girls too) - a lawler and balkman tradition


christmas morning is still just as exciting


a christmas party at aunt tori's in valencia


jordan winning the coveted snuggie in our white elephant exchange

a pizookie at bj's with grandpa john and grandma marti

jumping on the tramp in agoura

ethan's moves

all of our dirty feet

san diego temple on a gorgeous day

nate and his cute sisters

the bridge driving onto coronado island


letting me practice with my camera

a beautiful sunset on the beach of the hotel del coronado

still love kissing this boy

sunset...ahhhhh

riding the ferris wheel on the santa monica pier

we packed it all in, but still had plenty of relaxing time. christmas vacation is the BEST!

home again, home again

remember this moment from cool runnings?
sums up how we felt stepping off the plane from LAX to CHI tonight.
brrrrrrrr. i'll take the beach please!

i think i took about 500 pictures in our 8 days of california bliss.
more to come after we pack up our life and move up 10 floors in our building this week.
happy 2010!