Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Good Bye 2014!

2014 was a good year. It wasn't as eventful as 2013, but there were still a few changes and things to get used to. Aaron and I continued to adapt to married life. We worked more on, and almost finished, the main level of our house, and I got my first teaching job!
I'm looking forward to 2015 and the plateauing of our life. No more stressing about job hunting (hopefully ha!) or finding a place to live. We can just live and enjoy life as a couple (+ 2 cats and a puppy arriving in March) for awhile!
I have three main new years resolutions this year.
1.) Drink more water
2.) Be more diligent in planning and making meals. (This was a new years resolution last year, and was a fail, so I'm trying for it again!)
3.) Become a "comment-er" on blogs I read. I am so bad at commenting on blogs I enjoy reading/posts I like.

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one." -Brad Paisley

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Farmer

After I took this photo, Paul Harvey's old broadcast "So God Made A Farmer" came to mind.
Both Aaron and I come from farming families - I love this.

And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board." So God made a farmer.
"I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it." So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours." So God made a farmer.
God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer.
God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church.
"Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'" So God made a farmer.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Christmas 2014

It was a special Christmas this year, having all of my husband's family together at one time. The last month for my in-laws has been tough. About three weeks ago my husband's grandpa had a heart attack. A few days after his heart attack, we found out my father-in-law has non-hodgkin's lymphoma. It's hard to put into words the feelings you have after hearing news like that.
I'm so thankful for the last four days, which included laughter and happiness mixed in with a touch of sadness and tears.
My amazing mother-in-law making some amazing Christmas goodies.
'Ticket to Ride' was played religiously. I do think Thing 1 (Lana's term the boys) was having a good time, contrary to what it looks like here!
One side of the table during our big Christmas dinner.
The other side of the table. At least Nathan, Heather, and Aaron were paying attention! :)
I snapped this photo of my grandparents-in-law during our photo shoot. They held hands the whole time.
Aaron and Vernon
Cousins - working together

Sunday, December 28, 2014

PC Week 6

My sister and I took a picture of the same type of flower this week! What a coincidence!
Spiky by me
by Kristin

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

2011-2012-2013 Christmases all wrapped up into one blog post.
2011
2012
2013
It was fun going through the three old Christmas albums I have on my computer and remembering the good times. Aaron and I had a pretty low key Christmas eve this year, hence the time to go through my photos on my computer and make these collages!
We're headed to my in-laws tomorrow for a couple days and then after that I head to my sister's in the cities. Looking forward to the days to come!
(I wouldn't mind if this vacation slowed down a bit, though!)

Sunday, December 21, 2014

PC Week 5

Frosted Barb Wire
Yesterday, on our drive home from Nathan and Heather's, everything was frosted white. We ended up taking the gravel road home just so we could meander and enjoy the scenery. I found myself saying "STOP!" every five minutes so I could try a different angle on a different object with my camera. The brakes on my car and Aaron's right foot got a good workout.


Saturday, December 20, 2014

Us - 2014

We had a mini photo shoot this December morning.
Aaron and I were in dire need of an "us" photo. I sat down to do our Christmas cards the beginning of December and realized there was not one, non selfie picture of us taken this whole year!
So we trucked on over to our in-laws house and Heather, our SIL, snapped a few. 



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Viggys!

Friday, December 19, 2014

Vacation

The 
kindergartners 
were super excited 
the beginning of the
day, but by the end they
were a bit on the tired and
cranky side! What a stimulating
(almost over stimulating for some)
day it was today! We fit in a small party, 
the kids got to open Christmas gifts from me,
we went to the local movie theatre and watched
'Anabelle's Wish', we played a few games, I got 17 hugs,
and the kids were out the door! The sun is shining brightly
as it makes its way towards sunset, the temperature is a warm 36 
degrees, the snow is melting, my feet are up as I munch on Christmas
treats, and I 
have full 
two weeks 
of vacation 
coming up!
I'm looking forward to waking up without an alarm, drinking coffee in the morning without
being rushed, working more with the settings on my camera, and spending time with family!
Let the Vince Gill Christmas Pandora station continue!

Saturday, December 13, 2014

50 degrees

snow melting
mud squishing
kitties running
nephews playing
sun shining
camera snapping
story telling
mini streams gurgling
pheasants flapping
air-soft gun pellets flying
Is it really Christmas in two weeks? Feels more like it should be Easter in two weeks.
There's nothing like the feeling of being outside in a sweatshirt and rainboots, sloshing around in the mud, after having to wear parkas and snowboots.
Next week it's suppose to be December weather again, and I won't complain, but I sure do appreciate a relief from it!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

early christmas present

Oh how I wish there was more to take pictures of in and around our little home!


My early Christmas present from Aaron - a Nikon DSLR camera. 
Okay, in all reality, I say it's from him but I picked it out. And he picked out a range finger for his gun - but it was a Christmas present from me. I guess that's just how our Christmas presents worked this year!


I read through the manual front to back last night. It really does give a lot of helpful information! Especially this tid bit. --> "When framing photographs in the view finder, hold the handgrip in your right hand and cradle the camera body or lens with your left. Keep your elbows propped lightly against your torso for support and place one foot half a pace ahead of the other to keep your upper body stable."


I thought about not putting up a tree. We didn't last year because it's not what Christmas is all about. But, I do love the simplicity and light that this tree gives off. As I sit here in the evenings, it's cozy! As you can see, we only have two ornaments. I decided that every Christmas Aaron and I are together we'll add another one. The branches may be droopin' after 50 years....
Anyways, be prepared to see lots of shots as I try out the settings and explore more with this neat piece of equipment!

Monday, December 8, 2014

A Typical Day

6:15     Alarm goes off - hit snooze
6:30     After hitting snooze three times, finally roll out of bed, shower
6:45     Get ready for the day, let the cats out of the basement
7:05     Wake Aaron up, eat breakfast, start car
7:30     Pull cats out from under the bed, put them downstairs, head to school
7:35     Arrive at school, start computer, get ready for the day, chat with fellow kindergarten teachers
8:00     Kids start arriving at the school, remind kids to head outside - no lingering in the hallways
8:25     Kids come in from outside, bring backpacks into classroom and empty them out, do lunch count, milk count, pledge
8:40     Rug time - go over letters, numbers, shapes, read a story or two
9:00     RTI - kids split into four groups, I work with a group going over CVC words
9:30     Reading, talk about the difference between realism and fantasy, read big book (this week it's Jack and the Beanstock), sequencing, focus letter Bb - "feed" the sound muncher items that start with Bb, adjectives
9:50    Snack, put on classroom timer
10:00  Remind kids they have 5 minutes left
10:05  Recess, walk to the lounge, check mailbox, talk with special ed teacher across the hall about her baby that's due next week!
10:30  Kids come in from outside, start working on handwriting, remind the kids often about the 'hat line', 'belt line', and 'shoe line' of writing
10:45  Brain break, hand out play dough, form letters in play dough
11:00  Math, #11 booklet, go over tally marks, 10's frame, review even/odd
11:25  Lunch, eat school food while going over their handwriting sheets, talk with fellow kindergarten teacher about journaling
12:05  Prep time, make copies for tomorrow, prep for tomorrow
12:46  Journaling based on Gingerbread Man story
1:10    Have the kids get their book bags, work on stamina
1:20    Calendar time
1:46    Rest time, go over the #11 booklets while kids watch Mickey's Christmas
2:00    Gingerbread Unit, read The Gingerbread Boy and The Gingerbread Girl - compare and contrast with the kids, make gingerbread puppets
2:30    Snack and center time, listen to students count to 100, take students pictures to put on the '100's club' bulletin board
2:55    Center time pick up, students get their mail, help student zip their coats, prepare to leave
3:05    Walk kids to the front door and wait with them until their parents arrive, start prepping for RTI tomorrow
3:45    Head home, check the mail, let the cats out, change into comfy clothes
4:00    Grab my computer, sit on the couch and check email, pinterest, blogs, pet the cats
4:45    Wash clothes, play a bit of piano, watch in amusement as the cats jump and tumble at each other
5:00    See what Aaron's up to in the garage, help out when needed (help out as in hold things for him, grab tools, etc.)
5:30    Decide what to have for supper, could make hotdish but decide that the Pizza Corner pizza in the freezer looks easy and delicious
6:00    Call Aaron for supper, eat supper, chit chat about the day
6:30    Ride with Aaron to Alco, pick up garbage bags and dish soap, meander through the aisles looking for any good deals (they're going out of business)
7:15    Sit in the recliner, wrap up in blanket, correct handwriting worksheets from last week, look on pinterest for fun Gingerbread art activities, start planning for next week
8:00    Aaron comes in, he begins watching The Office after showering
8:30    Join Aaron, fire up my nook and browse for potential good books - never actually pick one, just put about five in wish list, pet the cats
9:15    Check email, get ready for bed, pull cats out from under the bed, put them downstairs
9:30    Sleep

Sunday, December 7, 2014

PC Week 3

Our Orange Boy by me
Along the Hike by Kristin
Picking Moss Off Rocks by Elizabeth

Saturday, December 6, 2014

A few posts back I made the announcements that a German Shepherd puppy would be joining our family this spring! I found out today it may be sooner than we expected. A litter is due in February, which means the puppy would be making its appearance in our home in March. (If all goes as planned.)
I've missed having a dog around - and I am getting so excited! Here are the parents!


On a side note, I rearranged our furniture again today. There's just something about rearranged furniture that makes the room seem fresh and clean. (Maybe because I was able to clean behind the piano for the first time since it was moved in. Yikes!)
Aaron had weekend duty at the plant, so I appreciated the fact that our flooring is old, and I was able to heave and ho the piano around on my own without worrying too much about scratching the floor.


So for my family, that I wish could just drop in for the afternoon to see it, here is the arrangement for the month of December!