P.Y.T. - Pretty Young Thing

Well this has been quite the eventful week. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Billy Mays all died this week? CRAZY! So this past week and weekend have been quite busy (as usual) but definitely fun! On Thursday of last week TWYLA took my class and I to the Astros-Royals game at Minute Maid Park and we had a blast! Seriously, could I have a more fun job? I get to go on field trips weekly and my kids are fantastic and hilarious. What more could a girl ask for in her first "teaching" job? A lot of the students in my class had never been to an Astros game before so it was a great experience. Mr. Dan (my boss and the owner of TWYLA) made sure that we had great seats and even bought everyone popcorn. I took a few of my older girls to the gift shops to shop a little and it was really neat getting to show them around the ball park. Here are some pictures from the game!







On Friday Casey and I went on a date night out to eat and finally got to use some of the gift cards from Christmas (yes Christmas!) at Saltgrass Steakhouse. Thanks Daddy for those gift cards! Saltgrass was really good - probably the best steak I've ever had at that restaurant and Casey thought the same thing. After dinner we went over to Chris and Jessica's to hang out and played the new edition of "Scene It". We always have such a great time with Chris and Jess and are very thankful to have them in our life.

On Saturday morning we got an email saying that Zach has some potential new people (aka - being adopted) and as much as I have been wanting him to find a good home, I was really upset and sad to think about him not being around anymore. The people that are thinking about adopting him are from Pearland and are coming to meet him this Thursday. I was really upset and Casey could tell so he sent me to go get a pedicure with Kelli to try and help me relax. Do I have the best boyfriend ever or what? :) Casey went to play golf with Chris on Saturday morning after we found out about Zach and so I went to get my pedicure and to get lunch with Kelli as well. After that I went home and vegged for a while before getting ready to go downtown for Katie Mayes' Bachelorette party.

So later on Saturday I headed over to Jennifer Mawer's apartment to get ready to go out. We went to Willowbrook Mall (Ohhhh I miss that mall sooo much!) to look for outfits to wear that night and then got ready to go. Carl (Mawer's fiance) was nice enough to drive us down to the Omni hotel that night (and picked us up!) so that we wouldn't have to find a DD- how awesome is that? I'm telling you my friends and I have the best boyfriends, fiances, and husbands ever! This was the beginning of a very crazy and fun night. First we hung out at the Omni hotel where Katie had a suite for her Bach. party. We had champagne and wine and watched Katie open the mountain of gifts people brought her before we headed out in our PINK limo to go to LaBare. If you have never been to La Bare I would highly recommend ONLY going if you are prepared to laugh your butt off. This was hilarious!! Not exactly my scene, but it was very funny watching these men try to be sexy. Enough about that! After La Bare we went back to the Omni to go to the club that was in the basement of the hotel. We had a blast dancing all night (mostly to Michael Jackson and Britney Spears) and doing fun "bachelorette" party things. At some point in the night we had the entire club belting out P.Y.T. by Michael Jackson, so that was pretty hilarious. Here are a few pictures from that night....

Our pink limo :)

I loooooooove this picture! Katie Mayes and Jennifer Mawer dancing!

Most of the group in from of the hotel!

Today my class went to see "Up" at the Tinseltown Movie Theater in The Woodlands and I have to say that although this movie was adorable - it was also super sad! I cried about 4 times which isn't unusual for me to do during movies, but a kid's movie?? Other than that I highly recommend it! Also - it was the first 3D movie I'd ever seen so that was cool too.

The rest of this week should be pretty relaxed. We are going to try to go to church tomorrow night and then the people who are adopting Zach are going to come meet him on Thursday night and then it's the weekend! Thank goodness we have Friday off!

That's all I have to report as of right now - Happy Independence Day week everyone!

Oops!

I just noticed that I forgot to post the pictures on my last post! Here are some of the pictures from the Young Chef's Academy, our class making fruit salad, and from my confirmation!

All of the new members of Living Word Lutheran Church - except Casey - he's been a member since he was 5!

This week is Safari week and we're also going to the Astros game on Thursday - yay! Should be a pretty packed week (has been so far) so I will try to update as best I can.

Confirmation :)

For a "laid back" week and weekend it has felt like a long and busy one! This week was "Food & Healthy Eating" week at TWYLA which was right up my alley so me and the kids had a blast! On Tuesday they went to the Young Chef's Academy in Alden Bridge (The Woodlands) where they made a Denver omelette and cheesy muffins that tasted like the biscuits at Red Lobster - yum! Although the kids weren't huge fans of either of these dishes, they had a blast making them. On Thursday I had them make a delicious fruit salad with all fresh ingredients and boy did they have fun! I didn't want them using knives so I just had them use their play-doh toys and that worked perfectly. I'm learning that you have to improvise quite a bit as a teacher but it's cool having to figure out creative ways to do things. Here are some pictures from this week!



This weekend Casey and I intentionally made little to no plans because we've been so busy that we really haven't had time to spend with eachother and just relax at home. On Friday we went over to Casey's sister Shannon and her husband Andy's house to have dinner with them, Andy's sister, and Casey's parents. We had a great time grilling, hanging out on their newly built screened in porch and enjoying good food and good conversation. Andy's sister Rebecca lives in Oregon and is a musician- what a cool life! Casey is obsessed with getting to see Oregon because that's where The Goonies was filmed so we might have to take a trip up there sometime in the next couple of years. On Saturday we ran some errands and cleaned around the house during the day and then went for a late swim around 8 at the neighborhood pool. I've been trying to swim more often because it's a great workout and a lot easier on the joints than running. GEEZ I sound like an old lady, but I guess all the sports and stuff I did as a kid are really affecting me now. Oh well!

Today my dad came in town for Father's Day and also to go to church with us. Today was "New Member Sunday" and also the day I officially became a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. I was confirmed during the 11 o'clock service and got take communion with Casey and his family for the first time- what a great day! After church we came back to the house and grilled some hamburgers and hung out and now my dad and I are hanging out on the couch and napping intermittently.

This week I am going to start a new diet and work out regime - pray for me to have some self control when it comes to eating sweets and snacking at work and also to get my butt in gear and lose the extra 10 lbs I've put on this past year and a half.

More later - hope everyone has a great week!

Hot Child in the City

Okay so it's not even technically summer and boy is it H-O-T in Houston, TX. The preschool I work at had to install a misting system on the playground because the kids couldn't even make it 15 minute without getting overheated! The kids (and the teachers) all love the misting system and it's not nearly as messy as I thought it would be.

This morning my work friend Nikki and I went to the Tx Gulf Coast Teacher Job Fair and to be honest, I was a little let down. There were probably 1000 people there and I am so glad we got there 30 minutes early because it was a mad house. I literally ran in my heels down to the floor so that I could be the first person to talk to the Conroe ISD reps. I was first in line, but they weren't doing on site interviews so it was pretty unsuccessful. My next stop was Klein ISD and I was one of 5-6 people who got interviews. Glad I'm an early bird! The interview went pretty well but I doubt I will get that job. The principal just didn't seem comfortable with the fact that my ACP course ends the week before school starts. Hopefully the thank you email I sent her will make her think twice! I was glad I got to talk to my two top schools first because the rest of the time I spent standing in lines and not really getting face time with anyone. I stood in line for 30 minutes to talk to Tomball ISD and was third in line to interview but by the time it was my turn the principal decided he wasn't going to interview anymore people because the line was 30 people long- so that was a bust. I didn't even get a chance to talk to Spring ISD or Cy-Fair because the lines were literally an hour or so long, so Nikki and I just loaded up and went back to work.

I only had nine kids today so that was pretty fun. We didn't do much in the way of academic work except for French (which the students INSISTED on) so we did some arts and crafts and hung out for most of the day. I'm starting to really get attached to these kids - they are so much fun! Tomorrow we go to Young Chef's Academy for our field trip and that should be super fun - I will post pictures and tell you all about it later this week.

In other news - Kelli's birthday party extravaganza was a blast this weekend! On Friday night Jessica and I got to the hotel and we hung out a little while before going to Goose's Acre for dinner and then we went out to Crush and Baker's Street later that night. We had a blast and we had the perfect group of girls - no drama, no annoying catfights, just good conversation and tons of fun. We all got a little tipsy so it was nice that we could all walk back to the hotel and nobody had to drive (Good call Kelli's mom!). The next morning we were all a little hungover so we slept in and then went to get brunch/lunch at the Hubbell and Hudson Bistro. It was really good and we had a fun time hanging out and embarrassing Kelli. Kasey and Nichole spotted a hot waiter and the manager overheard us talking about him so he went and got a few of the good looking waiters to sing Happy Birthday to Kelli and bring her some kind of delicious apple tart with ice cream. YUM! After that we just hung out at the pool for a while and then we all went home. What a fun night!

Kelli with her "Birthday Cake" shot - 1st of many!

The whole group at Crush in the rooftop cabana

Girls in the elevator on our way up to the room

The singing waiters at Hubbell and Hudson

More updates later this week!

Being sick stinks!

So I have been horribly ill since Monday morning and I am still fighting it off. Apparenlty the first time you work around kids most people get really sick. I am one of those people. I have had the following symptoms: Sneezing, stuffy nose, running nose, coughing, hacking, wheezing, daily sinus headaches, disgusting drainage, and achy soreness all over. Oh and I'm pretty much deaf. The kids have to get right up next to me or else I can't hear them. Good times. Luckily I haven't had a fever so I assume it's just a sinus infection and not contagious to the kids. **UPDATE: Casey is now sick and I the funny thing is I have the same symptoms as SWINE FLU! Luckily Swine Flu is just the flu, so I'm sure I'll be better in a few days - let's just hope Casey feels better too!**

On Tuesday we got to go on our very first field trip - I will post pictures when I get home. We went to King's Orchard in Plantersville, TX (right next to the Renaissance Faire!) and got to pick blackberries, blueberries, and a couple of strawberries that were leftover from strawberry season. The kids had a blast and so did I and we picked a TOOOOOON of berries. Funny kid story: On the way up to the orchard one of the kids saw a sign at a Jack in the Box that said "Chicken Club". He started laughing hysterically and told all the kids to look at the sign. He was heartbroken when I told him that a Chicken Club was a sandwich and not an actual club for chickens. HAHAHAHAHA! I love working with kids!! Oh and yesterday we had barbeque sandwiches for lunch and one of the kids starting calling it a Barbe-Joe (like Sloppy Joe)- kids are hilarous. On the bus ride home from the orchard 2 of the kids spilled their buckets of berries so that was unpleasant, but we got everything worked out.

Here are some pics from the field trip!

Some of the berries I picked - YUM!!

My kiddos trying to pick strawberries- they were a bit out of season so it was definitely a hunt!

My class - 6-9 year olds.

Me and Zachary on the bus - he refused to smile so I tickled him. I love this picture!

Today is Kelli Flanagan's birthday - so HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLI!!! Hopefully I will be better before tomorrow night because we are all going out. YAY!!!

More later - gotta go teach the kids some French!!

AlleyFest 2009

This weekend Casey and I went to East Texas (my East Texas, Longview, Gilmer, etc) to visit my family. My cousin Jen and her husband Chris were in from North Dakota with our beautiful God daughter Abby. I miss them so much so it was great to be able to see them this weekend. On Friday after work we drove up to Gilmer and pretty much went straight to bed because we were both exhausted. Saturday morning I woke up at 6am to let the dogs out and OMG was it ever beautiful that morning. The weather was absolutely perfect - about 60 degrees and the sun was just coming up so it was the perfect time to sit and watch the dogs play and enjoy the tranquility of the country. Mom and Mr. Paul have a pond in the lower field and I could hear the frogs croaking... a sound I haven't heard in a long time living in the Houston area. I went back to bed for an hour or two and then got up and helped Mom cook breakfast. French toast, bacon, fried eggs, and wheat toast - yum! We hung out a little while after that and then we helped Mom and Mr. Paul load the trailer with furniture for Alesa Kay (my cousin who is pregnant and just got an apartment with her boyfriend Chance) and then Casey and I got ready and went over to my Aunt Karen's to see Abby! Here are a few pictures of Abby and the fam!

The infinitely adorable Abby Nichols with her cute green sunglasses- I love this picture!

The whole group!

Extremely proud God parents with Abby!

and of course my gorgeous cousin Jen

After visiting with the fam for a while we went to Daddy's and then to Cotton Patch to eat lunch. Cotton Patch is probably the restaurant I miss most. Why doesn't Houston have a Cotton Patch yet???

Saturday evening we went to AlleyFest and Jordan Mebane and Andrew Fisher met up with us there! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of all of us! Foghat was playing at AlleyFest but by the time they came on everyone was so tired we bailed before they played Slow Ride - oh well! Here are a couple of pics from AlleyFest!

Me and Jen!

Abby with her sippy

Me and this handsome man that I ran into :)

The drive back to Houston was bittersweet today. I love being in East Texas and seeing family but I also love being at home. The drive back was beautiful - weather was awesome and the dogs were great. Here they are sleeping in their "bunk beds".

East Texas and the beautiful weather

Casey telling a story

Riley cuddling with his wiener dog

The boys!

My first full week of teaching at the preschool starts tomorrow so I am excited! Clara (my teaching partner) and I have our classroom pretty much set up the way we want it, we just have a couple of things to tweak. Here is a picture of us with our cute "Road Trip" themed board with all the kiddos names on the little cars.


That's about all I have to report now - hopefully I will post more later this week! That is if the ESL assignments I have to do don't kick my butt!!

Sorry!!

Okay to start off - I feel like crap for not having any time to blog anymore! SO much has happened since I blogged last and it's only been like two weeks! This is probably going to be more of a list than a blog so bear with me! I will have to post pictures later too!

Baptism: So my baptism went really well, it was a lovely service and I was so happy to have my parents and Casey's family there with me. A funny thing happened when we got to church though... we had all sat down and were looking through the church bulletin and the announcements and such and there it was:

"The baptism of Sarah Nicole Wood will happen today after church at 12:30. Sarah is the fiance (YES IT SAID FIANCE!) of Casey Page and the soon-to-be Daughter in law of Kevin and Marie Page."

So I am of course cracking up because Casey is freaking out and had to leave to go get some water haha. Pastor Espinosa had asked us a few weeks prior if we were planning to get married and we of course said yes. He then asked Casey if it would be okay for him to refer to us as "engaged" when speaking to us or of us. Casey said sure that wouldn't be a problem but that it wasn't "official" yet. Apparently this was what Pastor had in mind when he asked. LOL!

Anyway, after church we all went to Macaroni Grill to celebrate Mother's Day and get some lunch. Our waiter was a space cadet but we all had a good time hanging out and enjoying each other's company. We then went over to Mr. and Mrs. Page's house to have cake and coffee. All in all it was a very nice Mother's Day and I'm so glad that we were all able to spend that time together.

I started my Teaching Certification class and so far it's going really well but man is it a lot of work! It's only 4-6 assignments a week but it's a ton of reading which can be overwhelming. So far I've made only 100s so that's good and I've already learned so much. Right now we're working on Language Arts and I'm learning how to teach kids how to read and write. It's really interesting and definitely one of the most important aspects of teaching.

I now have 20 of the 30 observation hours that I need for my certification and I've had the opportunity to observe at several different types of schools. I am hoping to get hired on at an elementary school in Klein ISD or The Woodlands (Conroe ISD) so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also - I got a job at a preschool! I officially started on Monday and am getting CPR certified this coming Friday. YAY! I will be teaching 5-11 year olds and I'm super excited. The school is called The Woodlands Young Learners Academy and so far I have nothing but awesome things to say about this school. I could go on and on about how great of a place to work it is and I've only been there for 4 days! Anyway, needless to say, I'm very excited. Oh and getting to go on tons of field trips is awesome too!

Now to the best news: I took my Teacher Certification Test (TExES) yesterday and I got my score today and I PASSED!!!!! YAAYYYYYY!!!! I am so excited! Now I'm actually hireable and maybe I will get some call backs to interview at some local elementary schools. Wish me luck!

Tonight Kelli Flanagan and maybe Jessica Chagla are coming over to celebrate with me. I am making lasagna and we're going to have champagne (my fave!).

Okay well I have to get started on dinner - I'll blog more later!

Alright - here are some pics from this post!

Celebration! Mother's Day, my baptism, and Shannon's birthday! Yay for Cake!

Our moms and us

Casey's family, my family, and Pastor Espinosa

Being Baptized

Daddy, me, and Riley