RIP Andy

My dad just e-mailed me the obituary for my all time favorite musician: Andy Williams. He passed away after his fight with bladder cancer at the age of 84.

My love for Andy started in 1st grade right around Christmas time. I ADORED my first grade teacher Mrs. Schaefer, and anything she liked, I liked. She told our class about her favorite singer Andy Williams and his famous Christmas special. I forced my family to watch the special on Christmas Eve at Grandma Barb and Grandpa Clarence's house. My heart melted with the first notes he sang. He's been my favorite ever since.

I know it's not Christmas time yet, but you should fall in love with his voice the same way I did:

Sigh of relief...

Last night I had a meeting for my masters program. I've been silently stressing about my winter and spring term classes due to our little surprise coming in March. Our due date is smack in the middle of my winter class. BUT I talked with my instructor last night, and she reassured me that she will work with me to make sure it's a smooth trimester. She understands that I'll miss classes, but I will be able to make up for them in other ways. ALSO, my spring class has too many people registered, so they're offering it in the fall as well. This means I can be class free for the first few months after Baby K is born! YAH!

My many many prayers have been answered.

T-dawg

This past week, my cousin Tyler celebrated his 14th birthday. He's an 8th grader at the school I'm student teaching in, and let me tell you, it is not cool to have your older cousin teach in your school. He sees me in the hallway and you can tell he's figuring out an alternative route to class! I've been very respectful of his 8th grade needs, and only say hi when he makes eye contact first. His sister Kaylee is a totally different story however....

Last night we celebrated his birthday as a joint family affair: Manions and Smidts. We had a delicious taco supper with 3 different types of dessert! Oma Kathe brought her famous Kathe bars, so I was in heaven. Tyler got money or iTunes gift cards this year. He was very happy about that though!

This picture was taken almost a year ago, but it does show that Tyler likes me at least a little bit! He was an usher for our wedding. He's about a foot taller this year and looks to be closer to a senior in high school rather than a freshman! Yikes, he's getting so old!

A FIRST!!

I had another first today with Baby K: I felt her/him move!!! I was sitting on the couch watching FRIENDS after school, eating a Snickers bar and then it happened. I was so excited I tried to call Tony but accidentally called my mom!

When I finally did get a hold of Tony he was just as excited as I was!

We had a little photo shoot to go along with this blog post!

The happy parents-to-be!

We can get a little silly...

But we're SO excited to meet Baby K in approximately 170 days!

Baby K has started to make an appearance-Students and Staff just started asking me this week if I was pregnant. I must be past the "is she getting fat, or is she pregnant" stage...

TWIN day.

This is Homecoming week for Stewartville, so the Middle School came up with some fun dress up days. I decided to participate in today's theme: Twin Day. Every single Middle School teacher dressed up like Mr. G, the 8th grade history teacher. This is his last year of teaching (he was eligible to retire almost a decade ago!). He's been running around all day taking pictures, so he can post them on Facebook tonight. He wants his kids/grandkids to see!

If you could see a full body shot of me, which I might try to get later, you would see tucked in shirt (difficult when baby bump is in the way and using a Bella band...), dress pants, and tennis shoes to top it all off! I'm quite the attractive person. AND, I was observed by my student teaching adviser from Augsburg today. Oh goodness....

The Zoo

I forgot that Tony took pictures on our nice camera when we were at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison over Labor Day weekend. He got a few really good shots!

Rhino.

Tapir.

Tiger making a deposit.

Red Panda.

Meer Cat.

Bear.

Wonder Kitty!

Tony and I were getting ready to head to Rochester this evening. I asked Tony to close to front door, but we could both hear Sol's meow coming from...somewhere...We thought she might be outside. It just sounded so distant but yet close. When Tony went to shut the door, we discovered her on top of the door! It was hilarious to watch her try and get down. Finally, Tony gave her a helping hand.