Trunk or Treat!!

This year, I got to go with my niece and nephew- Minnie and Mickey to their churches' Trunk or Treat at Stone Creek in Urbana.  It was cold and wet but we had fun!

Cute family with Minnie and Mickey

Cooper made a friend

super cute

My bee family

Gideon with Papa

Watch out!  Steph has a balloon sword!  DANGEROUS!

Mom, please... just a little bite!

Celebrating Grandma!

Every year we get together in Ivesdale in celebration of my grandmother's birthday!  This year was no exception!  We had a weiner roast and some of the family was available to come.  We got some family portraits!  Happy Birthday Grandma! 

Grandchildren

October & November Birthdays

Scoping out the beautiful jewelry that my cousin made

Friday Fun!

Chris and I were both blessed to have Friday off so we...
1) Slept in
2) Cleaned the house a little
3) Played outside with Cooper for a bit
Then, my sister came to town and she and I went shopping at Gordmans, Maurices, and at the mall.  We had a great time!  I even bumped into my friend Caity at Maurices where we got to hang out for a bit!  We had P-T conferences at work and I took all my makeup to work so unfortunately, I left it all there and had none.  So, Teresa and I got our eyes done at Sephora and we were looking cute for the night!
Chris took me out to eat at LongHorn Steakhouse. Truely, I had little desire to eat there but it was REALLY good.
I ordered the Strawberry Pecan Salad, Flo's Filet (7oz steak) and Lobster Tail with mashed potatoes along with an awesome Peach Tea Sangria... everything was AMAZING.  I don't know if it was the best steak flavor I've ever had but it was definitely the most "melt-in-your mouth" moist steak ever!!   I took pictures to document the experience.
Then, Chris wanted to go see the movie, "In Time" and while I thought I'd totally hate it by about minute 10, turns out it was pretty good.  So overall, I give Chris 4 stars for our date night (out of 5).  ;-)
But, it felt so good to get to spend a Friday night with him!!

Flu bug

Tuesday -

I woke up not feeling well and despite my better judgement went into work anyways.  People just don't realize how much work sub plans really are.

When I came home, I went straight to bed and slept for 4 hours straight.  I woke up with a fever and I went back to sleep at 11:30 and didn't get out of bed til 11 am the next day. I moped around all day feeling lousy but by 5 pm I felt hungry again and I had to walk my dog.  That semi snapped me "out of it" and I began to feel alive again.  All so I could go into work for a long day with P-T conferences going past 7 pm.  We left work around 7:45 and I was really looking forward to a 3 day weekend!!!

Photography launch

Well, yesterday I did my first paid photo shoot yesterday! I'm so thrilled that this is finally taking off for me. I dream of doing this more full-time and teaching more 'er part-time...

See my work on FB at "Painter Photography" or at http://candcpainterphotography.blogspot.com/

My best friend's wedding...

Getting married at the Pavilion in the Square

Almost husband and wife

Husband and wife receiving line with bubbles

Candy Bar

Two of my BFFs

Gotta love the hubby hubster

Me and my gang

Loving on my girls

Hubby's artsy picture of the centerpiece

Chilis with Megan

On Thursday night I had dinner at Chili's with Megan, it's always fun to catch up with her. It was just one day after her birthday so it was nice to celebrate! I'm jealous of her upcoming trip to Tennessee.

After dinner, I went to Party City and bought a Halloween costume. I'd been eye-balling it for a while but I didn't plan to get it. I also bought goodies to make my students a treat bag (candy-free) for Halloween. We actually have school that day... booo!! (I do realize the irony of that phrase.) I bought them cute little treat bags with small plastic jack-o-lantern book marks, erasers, mini activity pads, and a squishy eyeball. I even splurged and bought them the Smarties candy, get it? ;-) I'll have to take a picture of the cuteness and post it later!

Troy Photo Shoot

Today I had a ball taking Troy's pictures!

Here is a photo montage of just a few of them!

Post photo-shoot dinner

Amy took me out to dinner at Billy Barooz after we did a photo shoot at Curtis Orchard. It was fun getting to spend some time with her and her little man. I forgot just how busy kiddos that age can be and how they grab everything. I sure had fun and I definitely recommend the Billy Beef sandwich, it is AWESOME!

Family Birthday Weiner Roast

I look forward to this event every year! My cousins have birthdays withing extreme proximity to each other so every year we have a weiner roast at my aunt's house in Monticello. They have a beautiful yard and everyone always has a great time. We take advantage of my aunt's amazing fall decor and took some family pictures.

Babysitting

I got a call around 4:30 requesting that I babysit two extremely adorable kids and at 6pm there I was, watch two extremely adorable kids! They were a lot of fun to play with and I took a few cute pictures. See below.

Professional Development & Others

Well, today our district dished out a ton of money for a motivational speaker. His name was Jim Garrett. I didn't find him too motivational, more like a walking advertisement for Apple products. But, I'm sure it was worth the extra drive to Gibson City then to Paxton to see that. (Wondering if they'd fork out mileage too? eh, well it's a thought)

In the afternoon, I was given the horrible task of staying awake as a presenter from Texas (can't remember her name) talked about our new "Common Core Standards" for 3 HOURS. Let me tell you that I failed at my job (staying awake) twice. It was terribly boring and those cafeteria seats weren't exactly easy on the bum.

On the drive home, I was asked to babysitting and I happily obliged. I attribute my eagerness to the fact that I have a 3 day weekend. (pics of the two cuties coming soon).

I'm looking forward to couponing tomorrow, grading and some fun time with my boy tomorrow. Sunday night we are having my family's annual October birthday party in Monticello. I really look forward to this each year! And Monday I get the day off so I'm going to Curtis Orchard for a photo shoot! Yay Fall!

Something to blog about...

Friday night, my brother and I watched Nakita, our fave show.

Chris' friend came from Texas for a class reunion. He needed a place to crash so he stayed at our place on Friday and Saturday night. Friday night we sat around talking til 1 am. I couldn't stay up longer so I went to bed.

Sat, Chris and I went to Curtis Orchard which seemed to be the place to be at that time of day. We waited in line for at least 20 minutes to get lunch. I highly recommend the pulled pork bbq sandwich- delish! I want the recipe!! We got all the goodies- apple donuts, apple cider, fuji apples, and a pumpkin. Good times!

20 min line...

getting served yumminess

The day was perfect for a walk so we went to a nearby park- Robeson Park. This is where Cooper had his first encounter with squirrels; and where he nearly scared me to death as he ran towards a busy street in pursuit of one. I told him that he could never scare me like that again.










Images of Fall (above)

Chris and I went to pick up my car from Farm & Fleet and we stopped at PetSmart to get Cooper a costume- he'll be cute!!

We went to Jupiters 2 for dinner and fun! I think Jonathan, Chris' friend enjoyed it. I enjoyed playing skii ball and air hockey and winning some prizes for my classroom.


Chris and Jonathan playing Sega

On Sunday, I did some school work. Chris (my sister's boyfriend) and Christina stopped by for a quick visit. Then, I met Rose and Jim at Biaggi's for a quick visit. Jim came back for a haircut.

Overall a very fun weekend!