randomly written recap

*6pm, Tuesday, Dec. 22: car wreck. my first. really bad. totaled my car. not my fault. 4 vehicles involved. lucky to be alive. still waiting on insurance.

*Thursday, Dec. 24: had Christmas in spanish fork with jay's family. Then drove down to cedar.

*Friday, Dec. 25: had Christmas in cedar with my family. Topher's 1st Christmas.

*Saturday, Dec. 26: played games with sandy, katie, jen, & ray. too much fun. it's funny how we don't see each other for years but when we get together it's right back to where we left off in high school.

*Sunday, Dec. 27: Jay's birthday. he's 31. wow. that's old. We drive home.

*Tuesday, Dec. 29: Jay's family come to our house to celebrate our birthdays.

*Thursday, Dec. 31: chris, sharise, dina, mike, christy, heath, ramona, potato, jeremy, and lexi come to our house. we eat tons of food and play games for new years eve.

*Friday, Jan. 1: we drive to spanish fork to play games at chris' house with chris, sharise, mike, & dina. then randomly we decide to go to the movies at 10:30. the boys see sherlock holmes. the girls see new moon. best way to start a new year if you ask me. i've seen that movie twice now and could easily see it several more times in the theater.

*Saturday, Jan. 2: we go to dinner at chilis with natalie & davy for my birthday. then play games at our house.

*Sunday, Jan. 3: my birthday. i'm 27. that also seems old. i got sung to in primary, it was awesome.

*Tomorrow, Jan. 4: i go back to school. sadly. i don't want to. i have loved having so much time off. i wish i were a stay at home mom. i'm sure once i get to school and see my kids and get back in routine, it'll be fine. but right now i'm dreading it.

A Wonderful Blessing

I have been teaching the sunbeams in our ward for the past 6 months. I had a partner teacher the first month or two so it was totally manageable, but then she moved and I've been on my own ever since. Some weeks weren't too bad, but others basically killed me. It's CRAZY trying to control 8 three-year-olds at church on my own. The presidency must have noticed how hard it's been on me, because I got great news today: I'm going to move up to be a CTR-5 teacher, which means I'll still have about half my same kids. I was super stressed about trying to start the year with newbies from the nursery. Also, I'm getting a partner. They'll sustain her next week. YAY!! I'm soooo happy! I've really grown to love these kids, and I'm glad I get to have some of them for another year. Plus, 4 turning 5 seems so much better than 3 turning 4. I'm really happy and I think this was a huge blessing for me.

Somewhat Random

When I was growing up, my big brother Scott was in a band called "Somewhat Random". Since then that has become one of my favorite phrases.

I decided I don't blog enough. Why? Because my life isn't that exciting. I keep waiting for some big important exciting event to blog about. But seriously, how long am I going to keep stalling in a blogless existence waiting for something massive and amazing to happen? I could be waiting for a long time!

So here's what I'm thinking: in an attempt to blog more often, I am going to start making my blogs short, sweet, and always "somewhat random".

You have been warned.

My haircut is like, WOAH!

Sooo short!! The shortest I think I've ever cut it!
It's only been a few hours, and the jury is still out on whether or not I love it. It might take some getting used to. It's a pretty drastic A-line, really short in the back then longer in front. I'll post a pic soon. Not tonight, I'm exhausted. Time for bed!

Surgery

Since we're trying to keep things semi-private for awhile, here is the extremely un-detailed version:

Jay had surgery Tuesday.
I took Tuesday, Wednesday, and today off work to take care of him.
Recovery has been slow and painful, but going good now.

What I have learned the past few days is how thankful I am to have a loving husband around the house to help with everything. Jay isn't allowed to carry anything over 8 pounds for a week, which means I have to lug Topher around everywhere. I can't just hand him over to Jay when I need a break. Geez, I would DIE if I were a single mom! I am really lucky to have a guy who is such a great husband and father.

Yep, I'm going private, too.

I decided it would be a good idea to only let my friends read my blog. I worry that since I often blog about teaching, that someday I'm going to write something that will offend others/get me fired/etc. etc.
I just spent half an hour writing an awesome, detailed blog about something bad that happened to me this week at school. But then I erased it because I realized that if a parent came searching and found my blog and read it, I could really get in trouble.
AND I HATE THAT I HAVE TO CENSOR MY OWN BLOG!!!
I should feel free to write whatever I want to!!! Without worrying about "getting in trouble" or whatnot!!!

So, friends, if you want to still be able to read this, please let me know ASAP.
As of next Friday, Nov. 13, my blog will become locked down.
You can comment on this, hit me up on facebook, or email me at ashley_dixon@hotmail.com.

My Poor Sick Baby

As if this week couldn't get any worse...

#1.) Report Cards all weekend.
#2.) Comments/SEP forms to fill out Monday/Tuesday.
#3.) Parent - Teacher Conferences today and tomorrow (Wed. & Thur.)
******Meaning I leave for school at 6:30am and get home at 8:30pm.

As if that isn't enough, here's how today went:

I didn't realize I had forgotten my phone at home until I got to school. This is the first time I've ever forgotten my phone.
Today is a normal teaching day and I'm gearing up for conferences from 4 - 8pm, when I get a phone call at the school around 3. Jay tells me that our babysitter called him at noon and said that Topher was really sick. Jay leaves work to go pick him up and takes him to our doctor. Turns out he has ear infections in both ears and conjunctivitis (a.k.a. a gooey gross eye infection). He didn't eat all day, had a fever of 102, cried and screamed all day... and I couldn't even get home to be with him until 8:30 tonight. Grrrr. My poor poor little Topher.
Luckily Jay is such a great daddy and was able to take good care of him. Our dr. gave us antibiotics for the ear infections and medicine for his eye and we're also giving him baby Motrin to keep him fever down. The dr. said he should feel much better by tomorrow. I hope so.

I guess we're lucky that Topher is 9 months and this is the first big illness he's had. We've made it 9 months without any huge health issues, so I guess it was just time. I hear it's pretty common for babies to get ear infections, but it still doesn't make it any easier. I told Jay tonight how even though I hate being sick more than anything in the world, I'd rather be sick myself than have my sweet baby be sick.
Welcome to parenthood, right?