Crabbin with Daddy

Daddy loves to go crabbin at the shore. He takes his three cages and a few lines with him to a dock on the bay. Yes my daddy loves "Sittin by the dock of the bay". We walked down under the bridge to see him.




Here he has a lil guy that he has to throw back because it isn't big enough!
Bye Bye Crabby!

This is a close up of those ugly pincers
that can get you!
Here we are watching daddy cook his crabs. They are quick and mean. The crabs are blue in ocean and then turn red when you cook them!

See all of the yummy eats my daddy caught!

Date Night at The Shore

On Thursday, July 12th; we were able to get away to our favorite restaurant in New Jersey. It is called the Crab Trap and we went last Thursday as well. Mo's Mom watches the kids for us and we get to wait an hour to eat delicious seafood. I have expanded my taste buds at the restaurant trying Grilled Tuna, Mahi Mahi, Crab Imperial and Stuffed Flounder with Crab Imperial. All of their meals are so tasty and you never leave their feeling hungry. I suppose I could write a restaurant review for this place huh! Here are a few pics of us waiting down by the water at their little outdoor bar. We all had a blast.

Road Trip 2007 Day 3 6-21-07

Day 3 June 21, 2007 Denver, Colorado to Des Moines, Iowa 11 hours 610 miles

We woke up to Terry getting ready for work. Mo checked on the kiddos in their room, Raine was sound asleep and Reece was starting to wake. Mo put him back to sleep for another 30 minutes. At 7:30 Reece was trying to open his bedroom door, but couldn’t get out. I guess it was time to get up. We got showered and at breakfast. Raine must have been hungry; she ate four mini pancakes. Reece was too interested in all of Lucy’s toys to eat very much. We said our goodbyes and got on the road at 10:00 am. We needed our morning buzz so we stopped at a Starbucks in Brighton, CO. It was a quaint little town off of the I 76. We were on our way. Today is expected to be one of the longest days of our journey. We’ll see if 11 hours is too much for our wonderful lil travelers. Eastern Colorado and Nebraska are very flat and boring. There are a lot of farms and cornfields. Another day spent looking at cows; lots and lots of cows. We followed the Platte River so there were a number of large ponds along the highway. We did enjoy seeing all of the green scenery as opposed to all of the brown desert we are used to looking at. We stopped and filled our belly’s and gas tank. Reece was eager to get out of the truck and run around. We went for a little walk and found some beautiful flowering cactus. The next leg of the journey was very peaceful. I finished reading two magazines and Reece watched his Mickey Mouse movie again. I brought 10 movies with us and he has watched 3 of them. Peter Pan of course, a classic Mickey Mouse and Veggie Tales. I even bought The Country Bears Jamboree, but he didn’t want any part of it. I need to buy the movie Open Season. He keeps asking for “Boog”; he’s the bear in the movie. Raine happily sits in her car seat and talks to us. She is a very vocal little lady. She loves it when we play the kid music. It seems to relax Reece and excite Raine. We turn it to the back and I turn on my IPOD. Mo flys solo listening to his talk radio for a little bit. At about 10 pm we arrived at the Marriot in Des Moines. Mo immediately took Reece swimming. He was so excited. I put Raine to bed and relaxed in a super hot shower. What a great way to unwind after a very long day in the truck. Reece was asleep the minute his head hit the pillow. He slept with me while Mo had a whole bed to himself. I would much rather share a bed with my little 30 lbs man than my 200 lbs man. Especially since they were double beds. We all slept like rocks and didn’t wake until 9:30am! Praise the Lord we made it 11 hours today! He has certainly made this trip an amazing one!

Road Trip 2007 Day 2 6-20-07

Day 2 June 20, 2007 Park City, Utah to Denver, Colorado 8 hours 349 miles

We woke up to Raine talking and blowing bubbles in her pack-n-play; Reece shouts, “Raine’s awake guys!” He was sleeping on an air mattress at the end of the bed. We grab both kids and snuggled for a whole 5 minutes. Reece wanted to go wake up Brian. When we looked at the time it was 7:30am; that would be 6:30 Vegas time. Reece was right on schedule for rise & shine time. Why is it little people don’t sleep in? We showered and ate breakfast on the back deck. The coffee and company was so relaxing. Reece and Mo took a walk in a creek and Reece came back covered in mud. We stripped him down and hosed him off. Brian and Kara had to head to work so we started to gather our gear and get ready for the next leg of our journey. I had to run into the post office to mail some very over due packages. Mo took the kids into this really great furniture store. Mo filled the tank half way because gas was a whopping $3.22! We were on the road by 11:00am; our goal was to get to Denver in time for a late dinner with our friends Cindie & Terry. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery as we drove out of Utah. Mo likes to point it all out to us. Reece saw a lot of horses. He would even point them out to us. He was such a good boy. He likes to snack on our yummy treats. We learned our lesson about changing diapers earlier than later. When we arrived in Park City he had such a wet diaper we had to pull his whole car seat apart and wash it all in the washing machine. Thank goodness we were at someone’s home so we could do so. Now we change diapers every time we get gas. On our way through Wyoming we stopped in Rock Springs at a Harley Davidson Motorcycle shop for my dad. We got gas and had a bite to eat. Reece loved sitting on all the big motorcycles. He was able to run around a bit and stretch his legs. Once back in the truck he wanted to watch a movie. We are big fans of our portable DVD player! While driving through Wyoming we saw tons of prong horn creatures, sort of look like deer. Mo annoyingly pointed them out while I was reading. “Ya babe, I see it!” We also saw lot so Texas long horn bulls. Reece would make the MOOOO sound and ask the cows if they could hear him. It was so cute. We made one more stop in Cheyenne to fill up the gas tank and get on route 25 heading south to Denver. We made it to the Standlee household at 8:00 pm. It was still light out so we hung out on the front porch for a while. Terry was watering his lawn so Lucy and Reece ran through the sprinkler. It was so fun watching them enjoy each other. After some great catching up with our friends; we got a good night’s sleep.

Road Trip 2007 Day 1 6-19-07

We are well on our way. We finally left Tuesday at noon. It seemed like an endless morning of packing. I thought I packed a lot throughout the day on Monday, but when you're packing for a month long excursion; you need a whole week just to figure out what a family of four needs. Packing for a mission trip was easier than this. After all was said and done, I don’t think I forgot anything. Day 1 June 19, 2007 Las Vegas, Nevada to Park City, Utah 8 hours 366 miles

Left the house at noon and made a few stops. It was lunch time so we started our road trip off with some delicious McDonalds; “chickie nuggets” for the boy and a burger for the man. Gas and Starbucks were a necessity for the adventure. We headed north out of town on the 15. I don’t think we were even on the 15 and both kiddos were sleeping! Yes, that’s the way to travel. They slept for about 2 hours. Then ate some snacks and played with toys. We listened to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse for a while and after about 3 hours on the road we stopped in Cedar City, Utah. We still had to grab a few items for our trip so Walmart Here We Come! Mo wants to try and stop at a Walmart in every state. He loves that store. After our shopping spree we had about 4 more hours until we reached my brother in Park City. Reece & Raine did great. Raine drank her bottle and fell asleep again. Reece got a little restless so we put Peter Pan on the portable DVD player for him to watch.

We pulled into Brian & Kara’s place at about 8pm. Kara was cutting up steak for shish kabobs. Yum-O! The kids desperately needed diaper changes; so we did baths also. It was still pretty light out so we enjoyed the grassy, Aspen tree filled backyard for a while. At 9:30 we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner of shish kabobs, salad and Samuel Adams. Reece ate his favorite meal; mac & cheese! By 10:00 the babes were in bed and we were veggin’ in front of the boob tube. Kara gave me a lesson on how to use my IPOD. Since I was up until 2am on Monday night and woke at 5:30am to finish packing; I was off to bed. They have the best California King sized bed on earth. The sheets are so soft and the pillows are oh so fluffy. My head hit the pillow and I was out like a light!

YEAH~ I got a new password

I'M NOW BACK TO BLOGGING AGAIN!

I couldn't remember my password and couldn't get a signal from our house near the beach. We are having a blast on vacation. I have been journaling our adventures along the way. Our 5 day road trip across the United States went exceptionally well. Thanks for all of your prayers. My 2 year old and 9 mos old were the best behaved lil angels parents could ask for. Mo even said that he has taken this trip several times before and each time he thinks it couldn't get any better than this. He never imagined travelling across the USA with two lil tykes, cramped in the back of his four door Toyota, would be so rewarding and fulfilling! Wow, big steps for my hubby! More details to come. Just wanted to share how great God is!





On a side note~ Please pray for my phone interview this Friday, July 13th at 9am (pacific coast time) with the Odyssey Charter School in Vegas. To teach with them would be a huge blessing for our family!

The countdown begins

Yes, I am ready for summer. I have 17 days of school left. A few of them are fun days, where I don't really have to teach just supervise activities. Our Red Rock field trip is Monday, our Field day is the Friday before Memorial Day. I have a half day next Friday because I get to help supervise our 5th graders trip to Sea Camp in San Diego. It's rough I know. I do have quite a bit to get accomplished in the next few weeks of teachable days. Time to get organised and ahead of the game so I'm not running around acting like a chicken with my head cut off.
THE END IS NEAR!!

Reece Reads Kevin Henkes

Yes, from memory of course since he is only 2 years 9 months old. I brought him home a new book from my weekend away with the ladies. While I was putting him to bed and getting ready to read him his new book; this is the conversation that took place.

Reece: You read your book mama. I read Owen.

Me: OK, Reece. I read the book and become teary eyed since it is written for an 11 year old daughter who died in a car accident. Plus I'm coming off an pretty emotional weekend.

Reece: Owen's marshmallow chick. in his basket he got a big bunny, some eggs, some jelly beans and, and, what are those mama?

Me: Gumdrops.

Reece: and gumdrops and a marshmallow chick. He plays with his chick. He puts in on his tower. He takes it for a ride on his blanket.

Me: You are reading so well Reece.

Reece: No mama, don't look, you read your book.

Me: Sorry Reece

Reece: Night night marshmallow chick; Owen put it with his toys and kissed it good night! THE END!

I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I so badly wanted to run downstairs and get the camcorder. I know that would ruin this awesome moment! You must realize Reece received this book in his Easter basket and has heard it read to him for a month straight, every night! He has done this once before with a No David! board book and can retell that book from memory. He has a few other books that he can say the page before we do. It is so fun! Member, I am a reading teacher. He loves to read and be read to. My dear friend in Reno sent us a tape with her children reading to Reece and Raine. It is all he wants to listen to. It was the best way to put my son to bed especially after being away from him for the weekend. God is good, especially when he gets you in that soft spot. My baby boy is growing up so fast. How do I slow down time?

Children should be led into the right paths, not by severity, but with persuasion.-Terance

Why I live for Saturday

If only everyday were a Saturday! It is 12:13 pm and both of my kids are in their rooms. I can hear Reece talking and every 5 minutes I have to go in and check on him, but soon enough he'll conk out for a good 2 hours. (crossing my fingers)

At 6:30 am my son crawled into my bed and said he wanted to sleep with me. Mo left at 4 am to chaperon a trip to Magic Mountain, so there was plenty of room for Reece, King of Wiggles. We'll he plopped his head right next to mine and smiled ear to ear. He said, "I love you Mama." Yes I had was no longer mad that he woke me so early on a Saturday! I said, "I love you too baby! Now let's rest it's not time to get up yet." He lasted about 5 minutes and said, "I wanna watch Little Einsteins mama, come on lets get up!" I looked at the clock, 6:42 on Saturday. I threw on my robe and headed straight for the coffee pot, that is after I plopped my kid in front of the TV.

Since that unGodly hour I have :
*stripped the beds washed the sheets and remade the beds with fresh clean sheets
*folded 2 others loads of laundry that my husband left in the basket on the dryer. Yes, at least they are clean!
*fed the animals (fish, turtle and dog) and kidlets
*sorted 103 pictures that came in the mail yesterday
*played Peter Pan with my son and crawled on the floor with my daughter
*hung 5 frames that have been hiding in my scrap closet since we moved in 2 years ago
*hung a few things up in Raine's Room
*cleaned up toys in all rooms
*sorted through piles of mail and magazines, purged several
*chatted on the phone with my lil bro
*sat at the table and ate a hot meal for lunch ALL BY MYSELF!

I still have quite the long list of errands to run, but my children need to be well rested for that one! I really hope to make it to the mall to return some things and check out a sale. We'll see, as for now I am pretty happy with the morning's accomplishments. See why I need to work from my home next fall. God is proving I CAN be productive with two lil ones at home!

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. James 1:19 NLT

I was checking my email this morning and I read this daily scripture. It is so true. I really have to work on slow to anger with the a few of the students in my classroom.

I am trying to be slow to speak about a new twist in my career. One that allows me to stay at home with my kiddos a few days a week. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY and I will let you know more when I am certain it will happen!

GOD is so great. He really seems to be opening up some doors for our family career wise. So I ask again PRAY!!! More to come....

Saturday at the Hauguel household...

Somebody said you can't love the second child as much as you love the first ....

somebody doesn't have two children.

Boy is this so true! My girlfriend sent me this great email about Motherhood and this was one of my favorite parts. Reece is 31 months and Raine is 7 months. Today was one of the better days a mother could have with her kiddos.

We went and watched Noah Dahir play football. Reece and his Daddy were so cute on the sidelines. Pa Pere taught Reece how to do Down, Set, Hut. It is so adorable. Just ask Melissa and Erin they were enjoying it also. Raine loved sitting on her daddy' s lap eating his keys. Then we headed home to eat lunch and take naps. We wanted to go hiking but the little ones needed their rest and daddy wanted to finish some gardening in the backyard.

Have I mentioned what a great landscaper my hubby is. Once again, ask Mel. Mo takes care of her roses. (stop thinking like that, she is not Gabby the desperate housewife!)

Anyway, while the kids slept I uploaded pictures and Blogged! (as you can read, by all the crazy entries today!) Reece woke up first, so we played with his trains. When Raine woke up, we all headed outside to watch the gardener do his thing. Plus I had to make sure I agreed with the additions and their placements. I do! I'll post some pics of my fantastic backyard when I get to Sam's and make a CD of all the pictures that are on thememory card right now! Add it to the list of errands I need to run.

During our picnic my daughter could not get enough of me. She would crawl over to me and pull herself up. Once standing up she would get so excited screeching and slapping. She was so proud of herself. It was so much fun. She continually tried to eat Reece's peanut butter crackers. At one point I was helping Mo with the flowers and she had a huge cracker in her mouth. I told Mo to look and if I didn't snatch that thing away she probably would of inhaled it! Did I mention that at the doctor yesterday she weighed in at 22lbs. Yes, my little butterball is the happiest baby on earth!

We had a ball playing outside but it was nearing the start of the Sabers game so I brought the kiddos in. I put a diaper on Reece since he was going commando all day long. He went potty 3 or 4 times this afternoon. I was so proud of him! He climbed up on my bed to watch Peter Pan; his latest favorite movie. Reece was in the bedroom and almost watched the entire movie, that rarely happens! I fed Raine a small snack and layed her down for a nap.

AHHH my turn to relax with a delicious Blue Moon and the Buffalo Sabers. During the second intermission my hubby grilled and we all ate a great dinner. I finished watching the game while bathing my daughter. Yes she can sit up on her own in the big bath tub. She loves to splash & crawl around! I was watching her, I promise. I could see the TV from the toilet I was sitting on. Plus I had it up really loud so I wouldn't have to look unless the Sabers scored and that didn't happen, hence the loss. All in all a wonderful Saturday with the family.

Now while my three children sleep peacefully in their beds, yes Mo my eldest is already fast asleep; I will retire to the couch to catch up on my dvr, Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. Which shall I watch first?

Quest for the Cup

Sabers lost tonight 3-2 to the New York Islanders. The series is now tied 1-1 :(
My brother sent me this great link to the opening video they showed at Thursday nights game.

http://media.buffalonews.com/static/multimedia/video/sabres/quest_for_the_cup_QT.mov


I didn't get to see game 1, as I was in a math class but I hear it was great. Tonight it looked like the Sabers were tired or something. Don't get me wrong I am still a die hard Sabers fan. I know the President Trophy winners will come through for the city of Buffalo. They did last year, but fell short in game 7 against Carolina and where are they this year?

LET'S GO BUFFALO! I've got Reece shouting it at the TV again this year.

Easter Egg Hunt

Kara and Brian came by to see what the hunt was like. Raine was so happy to be taken out of the stroller. Mommy could only chase after Reece while Raine sat and watched all of the festivities.

Brian was teaching Reece how to play Frisbee golf. They had just finished playing Frisbee golf while visiting Moab, Utah with some friends. Then they came down here to spend part of our Spring break with us.

Kara was teaching Reece how to blow the dandelions. He loved it.

During the egg hunt Reece only wanted to pick up the green eggs. He would pick up one egg, see what was inside, eat the candy and then finally he would run and get another one.

Here he is showing his chick with just a few eggs. Did you notice his mouth full of candy?

We had a such a fun time. Reece was able to climb onto a fire truck and wore a junior fireman helmet all around the park. He also picked out a green balloon. That must of been his favorite color today, usually he prefers blue. Daddy came by the park just as things were wrapping up and played with us on the swings and slides. Then home for naps!

Busy Week

Spring Is Here! amen

I feel like God has been answering all my prayers lately and I am so grateful! I am exhausted from being up so late everynight, but boy am I getting a lot accomplished. This week has been so busy and yet so productive!

Sunday: EASTER- I will post more about that later. Wait until you see the pictures...

Monday: Back to that oh so adventurous 2nd grade classroom. Tutor. Pick up kids. Make dinner. Bath, books and bed. Order prints from Kodak. Go visit a friend in from Cali. Check prints and start another order. Go to bed. Up with Raine. Up with Reece, repeat until 6am alarm.

Tuesday: More fun in my 2nd grade classroom. About to go home bu I misplace keys, have panic attack. Friend helps find the keys. Pick up kids. Make dinner for Reece and Raine. Go get hair cut and highlighted (It's only been 8 months since I did that!). Finish ordering 103 prints from Kodak. Check bloggs for way too long. Go to bed. Up with Reece, sleep in his bed with him from 4am until 6am alarm. Gotta love that natural body clock.

Wednesday: Very busy day in the life on a 2nd grade teacher. Made Mother's Day plate, graded papers from 2 weeks ago, input tons of grades, finally ordered books, even made an awesome pocket chart and am totally prepared for our Solar System Unit! Praise GOD! Tutor. Pick up kids. Head over to a friend to order a Mother's Day necklace and canvas prints of my beautiful kiddos. Swing by McDonalds for the latest Ninja Turtle Happy Meal. Feed Reece and Raine dinner. Bath, books and bed. Check bloggs and add to mine. Enjoy a relaxing evening of TV with my hubby!

Wow what a week and it's only Wednesday!

I'm Baaaccckkkk...

Haven’t blogged for a while, no real reason just laziness I guess.

Or the two kids, working mom excuse could work too.

Why though, why should I use that?

I am fully capable of getting my butt off the couch!

So, now since winter is officially gone, (At least here in Vegas anyway, sorry east coasters) and spring is in full swing, I will blogg again!

LOTS of spring break details to come...

Park City Get Away

Christmas break was quite and relaxing. We traveled up to Park City, Utah to see my brother and his girlfriend. It was fantastic; snow covered mountains, warm fires, fresh powder and family! Reece loved playing in the "scow" (rhymes with bro). He made snow angles and loved to eat it. We even found a playground with a super fast metal slide. He loved sliding down it, flying off the end and landing in a big pile of snow. Dublin is a desert pup and didn't enjoy the snow as much as we thought she would. Mo & I were able to go skiing a couple days. Brian and Kara watched the kiddos while we pretended we work for The Canyons Resort. We borrowed Bri and Kara's season passes and skied for FREE! Ya gotta love cold weather apparel. I was a bit nervous since it had been so long since I was on skis. Low and behold it was like getting back on a bike. I did pretty well, only fell once! We enjoyed a delicious meal at Brian's restaurant and then ate a lot of Kara's home cooking.

Christmas Helpers

Raine is ready to visit Santa and tell him all of the things she wants for Christmas!

Reece is ready to help Santa with his sleigh full of toys for all the good little girls and boys!

Trying for a Christmas photo

The other day I tried to capture the kids together for a Christmas card photo. This was only one of several attempts. I just couldn't get the 2 year old and the 3 month old to cooperate. I wonder why?

Reece and his Christmas cape

Reece loved helping me decorate the house for Christmas. He found the tree skirt and immediately said "A cape Mommy, my cape". "May you please put it on Mommy?" which of course I did. Just look at how adorable he is. Then he found his red Santa hat and screamed with joy over that. You can't see it though because 2 seconds later he discovered the Tigger stocking and proceeded to put that on his head as well. Oh the joys of a nonstop 2 year old! He cracks me up all day long.

Life sure does get away from you...

...when you have two kids.
...when Christmas is coming and you can remember sitting in the hot sun on the Jersey Shore.
...when you have to go back to work and you can't stand the room you are teaching in.
...when files of school work a piling up all around you and you know you will never find a home for them.
...when you haven't talked to your dear friends for weeks.
...when you can't remember dates and times of things that you planned on attending.
...when you have so much to blogg about but don't even know where to begin.
...when you are too tired to email photos of your beautiful baby.
...when your baby girl turns 3 months old and you wonder where have the months gone. sigh