Dinosaur Exhibit

Today at school my kiddos had their big dinosaur exhibit. This is something I've done every year with my 1st graders. We spend 2 weeks and each student is assigned a specific dino to study. They write a report, create a habitat for, and a clay model of each dino. Then we have a big exhibit/party at the end of it for parents to come in and see as well as other classes.

This year it was the biggest it's ever been! I would have to guess close to 200 people walked through my room today!

We had soooo many parents come! They were so proud of their kids! We had like 6 other classes come as well.

I had two greeters to hand out brochures and bookmarks the kids made themselves!

I loved that Travis and Essie got to come as well!

video of my lil loud mouth!

Here's a video of Essie chatting and talking! She was really full of it...and I didn't notice Maggie sneak a lick of food until I watched the video back! Arg! I love how she says Ma-Ma at the end because it's RARE to hear her say it!

miss independent

First of all we've been putting essie's hair in a "whale spout" these days.  It works really well since the majority of her hair is right up front! I love it....it just makes my heart sigh!

Tonight we decided to give Essie one of those prepackaged toddler meals to try out...ummm

She L...O...V....E....D it! It was an alphabet pasta and she gobbled and gobble and gobbled it up!

She loved feeding herself and she even attempted using the spoon! She wasn't very coordinated with it but she knew exactly what to do!

She loved rubbing it in her hair and her belly.  She talked the whole time as she ate. 

She was a complete MESS but she had the biggest time!

And I have to give some props to the hubbie-he spent the entire day cleaning the garage out....we actually parked both vehicles in there for the first time ever! It looks sooooo good!

And I just had to share this cute cake I whipped up tonight...my students have worked hard the last two weeks on a big dinosaur project and tomorrow is our big exhibit for parents and other classes to come see.  I made this cake and some cupcakes for it!

How "Randi Travis" was made!

Kelly's Korner this week is all about "how you met your hubbie!".
 So here is ours! The first time Travis actually met me was at a "fifth quarter" at his church in Batesville. He was in the 7th grade, me in the 9th. Fifth quarter was a time for teens to hang out at the church after football games to play games, etc. I at the time was not the typical candidate for such a thing but I went with my friend Deanna who attended the church as well. I don't remember Travis from that night, however, he confessed to me not long after we stated dating that he remembered me that night. Apparently I made quite an impression on him because he still remembered what I wore that night (an Orlando Magic jersey, yeah baby!).

But I guess our official first meeting was the summer of 2001 when I went to work for the Batesville Afterschool program. One day my friend Ashley and I  were driving past the school that it was held at & I mentioned to her that I had applied there for a summer job. We saw this guy (turned out to be Travis) on the playground surrounded by kids playing a game. I mentioned that it was weird that a boy his age (18) would be working at such a place. Ashley laughed and said "you'll end up marrying that boy". Now keep in mind...I didn't know who he was at the time. Well I got the job and met Travis during our first staff meeting...he was late as always. I thought he was cute but I really liked how shy he was. So all summer I crushed on him and flirted to little success. Then one of the 4th grade girls picked up on the vibes and tried hooking us up. He thought it was a joke. She was the first to realize that our names together made "randytravis" as well. So anyway, I waited to the very last day of work (one day before I left to go back to college) and I asked him if he wanted to go to the fair with me. He said "I dunno". His mom who was the director of the program shouted out "yes, he will" from somewhere in the back of the room. So we went with a Ashley and a little boy that I had promised to take. It wasn't really a date but things blossomed from there. Here is a pic of us at the summer program (the second summer that we were dating), the night we got engaged, and our wedding pic!



We started dating on September 1st 2001, got engaged on March 28th 2003, and married on December 27th, 2003.  We've been together a total of almost 9 years and married for 6 and a half years!

41 in and 41 out...

Essie spent 41 weeks warm and cozy in my belly....

and now she's spent 41 weeks in my arms!

It's hard to fathom that has been the same amount of time! This part sure has gone FAST!  Here are some pics of her today...climbing, exploring, climbing, exploring, etc.

Also THANK YOU for voting on her picture!  We went ahead and ordered the first one since it was pretty much ahead the whole time! I was kinda leaning toward that one anyway!  We ordered it from http://www.mpix.com/ and they were having a sale on metallic prints.  We got a 16x20 on metallic paper and it cost less than 20 bucks shipped! And it's GORGEOUS!!! Once Hobby Lobby is running another sale on open back frames I'm gonna frame this bad boy and get'er up on the wall!

climber

Our little Essie is such a climber these days!

April Professional Pics!

We went back to Pinkston's today and had Essie's 9 month photo session!  As you can see she wasn't a fan of the bunnies...especially when one jumped on her lap!