Mr. Mischief

Noel had his road cycle on the trainer in the office for a couple of weeks because it had been raining quite a bit, and he still wanted to be able to ride his bike. Greg really found the bike quite interesting and would grab the tires and spin them around. Well, he grabbed the chain one day and...the pictures speak for themselves.

It was pretty hard to get him clean.

Greg loves shoes. Here he is trying on Noel's shoes. If there was a picture after this one, it would have been of him falling and crying. Oops.

Greg has been switching from 2 naps to just one. I could tell he was tired, but he just kept playing and whining in his crib for awhile. Then I didn't hear him anymore, but I could hear the jingle of his bear every once in awhile. I went in to check on him and this is what I found...

poor kid fell asleep sitting up in the corner of his crib. What a cutie!

White Coat Weekend Continued

While Noel's parents were here for his White Coat Ceremony, we definitely put them to work. Gordie mowed the lawn, sprayed weeds, pulled out bushes, and spray painted the awesome patio set from a garage sale (good find Lynne). The seats looked really dingy, but with some spray paint, they look as good as new! It's been fun having dinner outside. Greg likes it too because once he eats, he can get down and play in the yard.

We also kept Lynne very busy. She made us a new bedspread, shams, pillows, and curtains for our bedroom. All in one day! She said that she felt like she was on a speed-decorating TV show! She did such an awesome job! When we moved into this house, the people before us left these red curtains in our room. I'm sure they looked fine with their decorations, but I didn't like them, and they looked pretty bad with our furniture. Our room looks so much better!

Noel's White Coat Ceremony

Last Friday was Noel's white coat ceremony. As students start dental or medical school, they are given their white doctor coat by the dean. It's pretty cool; it has Noel's name and UK College of Dentistry embroidered on it. When he graduates, they'll take it back and have DMD put on it and then return it to him. Noel's parents came from Rochester for the occasion (and I'm sure to see their grandson as well).

I felt so proud during the whole thing. Noel starting dental school has been a long time coming...over three years and a masters program. I'm so excited for him to be able to move toward his goal of becoming a dentist. I'm really proud of him for being a good student and for being someone who is so motivated. The great thing about Noel is that he is really good at balancing. He studies hard, but he still makes it a priority to spend time with Greg and me. Way to go Noel!

The best dressed guy at the ceremony... :)
Greg with Lynne and her cell phone (he probably made several calls). Grandma and Grandpa were lifesavers; they are professionals at keeping a baby entertained and quiet!
The class president

Noel getting his white coat from Dean Turner.



Greg loved the juice that they served afterward. We couldn't get him to take his sippy cup away from his mouth!
Lynne referred to Noel's class as the "pretty girls and Mormons." That sums up the demographics pretty well. The LDS guys in Noel's class: Curtis, Brent, Noel, Tony, Barton, Stephen, and Mike.

Happy First Birthday!

Okay...I know that this was a while ago. You would think that especially with my first child, I would be good at documenting all his milestones, but I'm not. But better late than never, right? Greg turned 1 on August 26. It was such a fun day, and I know that it was probably more fun for me than it was for him. I do think that he realized that he was the center of attention that day. He is the center of attention most days, but even more so on his birthday. :)

Since being a stay-at-home mom, I have tried to cook/bake more, so I wanted to make a cute cake for Greg's birthday. I didn't want to get in over my head though, so I decided to do a bear cake (he has this little bear that he LOVES and sleeps with). Turned out pretty well. I also made these fantastic chocolate chip cookie dough stuffed cupcakes. The recipe is from Picky Palate (some tasty recipes on this site). The cake and the cupcakes were the shining star of my baking "career."

We had some of our friends over for cake and ice cream. It is always a good time with the Birds, Bylunds, and Reynolds! We Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa Aston and Aunt Melissa while we sang and while Greg ate his cake so they could watch. Greg was so excited to see them on the webcam. He kept waving, babbling, and rocking his high chair. It was very cute. We gave him a big piece of cake (the bear's entire bow tie). He was a little timid at first...

But he definitely got into it. He ate pretty much the whole piece! Way to go!
On a slight side note: I took Greg for his check-up at the pediatrician the next day. Dr. Warner was asking if Greg liked his cake. I told him that I probably let him eat too much. He asked if Greg got a belly ache from it. Nope. Then he said, "Then it wasn't too much cake." I like your attitude, Doc. I wonder if that goes for adults eating cake, too.

Grandma and Grandpa Dickens sent Greg a Little Tikes play set for his birthday. It was definitely a big hit (with him and all the kids who came over).
Setting it up...



Greg didn't really get into opening presents, but it was still fun because he got excited. Jackson might have gotten a bit more excited though. :) He got a soccer ball, some puzzles, some bubbles, and a UK sweatsuit. Very fun! Happy birthday, Turbo!

Greg's girlfriend. :) Sorry that it's so blurry, but you get the idea that she is very cute!

Greg's 1 Year

I can't believe little G-reg is one year old! It has become a little bit tricky to take a picture of him sitting still with his hippo. Let's be honest, it has become a little bit tricky to take a picture of him sitting still at all.

When Greg was born he had very dark hair, which was a big surprise to us since both of us were very blonde as children. But his hair started coming in blonde, so it looked like he had dyed his hair dark and the dark part was growing out. We finally gave him a haircut, and now he is definitely a little toe-head. He looks so grown up!

Male model pose :) ...

Banana Boy

Greg really likes bananas. Can you tell?


I give him half of a banana at a time, and after a little bit, he has stuffed the entire piece into his mouth. He's gotten better at taking bites, but when he gets down to where his hand is, he just stuffs! At-a kid!

And just for kicks...

Low Cost Costume Ideas-Dickens' Version

Have you ever seen that SNL sketch where Adam Sandler is on Weekend Update, and he is giving low cost Halloween costume ideas? Well, Greg and I have been coming up with some of our own low cost Halloween costume ideas. Here are my favorites.

Crazy DVD Case for a Hand...Don't you see I've got a DVD case for a hand? Now give me some candy!

Crazy Bucket for a Head...I've got a bucket for a head. Isn't that crazy? Now give me some candy!

I know that Halloween isn't for a few more months, but feel free to use these fantastic costume ideas when trick-or-treating rolls around!

Just Moving Around the House

I definitely have a mover and shaker on my hands. It's really fun being home with Greg and watching him develop. When I say develop, I mean run all over the place and get into everything. :) He is such a happy baby; I'm such a lucky mom. He developed a very unique style of crawling. He figured that he could go faster and propel himself further if he pushed with his one leg up. Here is a video of his crawl. It has been described as peg-leg and looking like Quasimodo and Golum. Love it! That little table in our entry-way is his favorite place to hang out.

Greg has also starting walking a few weeks ago. He has gotten pretty quick the last couple of days and spends a lot of time walking from room to room carrying his bear, a highlighter, or a fistful of spoons. I thought that I took some video of Greg walking (for the grandparents to see), but I was wrong. I'll get some and post it later.

Really?!

What a week...or possibly the worst week ever. Last Tuesday I was riding my bike to school when I decided to jump onto the sidewalk from the street. 10 seconds later and lots of blood and pain, I was picking myself out of the gutter. Since I was already running late and I needed to shower before school began, I quickly made sure nothing was completely broken and headed off for the Johnson Recreation Center. Walking through the doors my left arm was a pool of blood and my shirt was torn and mangled. After a quick shower I stopped by the main desk where they supplied me with some gauze and bandages.

But that was just the beginning. During the fall I apparently slammed my right hand into the cement, bruising and severely spraining the wrist. Because I am tough (or supposedly so) I waited until Thursday to go in for an x-ray. I had the x-ray on Thursday, but then had to wait until Monday to find out the results. In the mean-time my right hand was useless. No more biking, no more running, and lots of sitting...Yuck!

But did I forget to mention that I came down with a cold as well. Yup, that's right. Murphy's law was is complete effect this past week. Saturday and Sunday were spent curled up in blankets being one grumpy cuss.

The week is over...and things are much better.

My photography website is finally up and running...check it out (http://www.pureandpensif.com).

I can feel my wrist again...no broken bones.

And my head no longer throbs from being sick.


As a side note, I will no longer being making additions to this blog. I now use my blog attached to my photography website. If you are interested, you can access the blog via my photography website or at http://www.pureandpensif.blogspot.com.

That's all for now folks. Hope your week is better than mine! :)

School is Starting

That's right my friends, school is starting on Wednesday. And guess what I'm not going back! Yahoo! For those that don't know, I'm not going to be teaching this year because I get to stay home with Greg. I'm so happy about this; it was a difficult school year trying to balance being a good mom with being a good teacher. It was totally exhausting, to be completely honest! I know that it was hard for Noel as well, being home alone with Greg. He is a great dad and did such a wonderful job with Greg last year. That kid adores him!

Even though I am so excited to be a stay-at-home mom, a small part of me already misses teaching and being at school. I worked with some wonderful people who are amazing teachers and even better friends. The good thing is I am still in Lexington and will get to still hang out with them on occasion.

And what is a post about school/teaching without some little kid funnies?!?! Last year I had such a fun class. There were some definite challenges, but those kids made me laugh so much! This is mostly for me to just be able to get these memories down, so don't feel like you have to keep reading.

Right before we started our end of the year testing, I sharpened a bunch of new pencils so that all of the kids could have a few sharp pencils that actually had erasers on the top. Here is how a couple of conversations went.

C. C.: What are those Mrs. Dickens?

Me: Pencils.

C. C.: Are those brand new pencils?

Me: Yep.

C. C.: Sweet!

N. W.: Whoa…new pencils. What I’ve always dreamed about!

If I would have known new pencils would be such a big hit, I would have given them to the class a lot earlier!

I had a student that I just wish everyone in the world could meet. He is so wonderful. He has some special needs but is the sweetest kid, and almost everything he said made me laugh. I just love him! He would pretend to drive around a car whenever we went somewhere. When we went to the bathroom, he would "drive his car" down the hallway, "park" it outside the door, open the door and get out, then hang up his keys on an imaginary hook. So funny. Here is a little conversation with him.

Me: Did you get a haircut?

L: Yah. I went to the haircut store. They gave me a sucker!

Another little girl was drawing a picture after she finished her work and said, "Look! A teddy bear with a uni-brow!" Who draws a teddy bear with a uni-brow?

I had another little girl in my class who was developmentally delayed. She was 7, but developmentally she was about 4. She is also a student who I just wish everyone could meet her; she is great! She is student C.C. Another little boy in my class was concerned about her having a boyfriend.

Mason: Ms. Dickens, C.C. says Eminem is her boyfriend.

Me: C.C., Eminem is too old for you. (I was thinking of the rapper, Eminem)

Courtney: Well he is red and chocolaty and he is still my boyfriend. (M&M, not Eminem...oohh.)

During a reading group:

Me: What’s this word?

C.C. : But…like buttocks.

So funny. It's crazy for me to think that they will all be in second grade. Even crazier to think that my class from the year before that will be in third grade. Whoa!