A Very Merry Christmas . . .

. . . from Marsh Madness!

Kindergarten Quote of the Day

Mrs. Marsh: . . . and so, many people that celebrate Hanukkah exchange presents all eight nights.

Student: [to the boy beside him] I think I want to be a Jewish people.

A Marsh Residence Update

Slowly but surely we're coming along!

My goal is by Christmas break to give you some "before" and "after" pictures! Until then . . . here's just one.

Ahh . . .

We finally made it. I think we took our very last box out to the garage last night, and let me tell you, there are NO WORDS to describe the relief. I have never been a patient one. In fact, if it were up to me, I would have spent a week straight unpacking boxes- DAY AND NIGHT- to be done with it.

But, it's done now . . . which, of course, leads to the best part of all
. . . decorating.

I'll admit, I went out on a limb with this house and chose a couple colors not many would generally approve of . . .

I've come to the belief that no where will you find 2 people with exactly the same style. I'm not in the stage of my life (and may never be) where neutral is my route. I choose things to decorate with because they make me feel good. So, it's only natural that my ultimate goal was to do something to the house to where it truly felt good to be here . . . where, when you walk in you feel sense of happiness.

I'm thrilled to say . . . I have never been so happy.

Excuse the Construction . . .

I'm ready for a change in the blog!

To be continued . . .

I promise we're still here . . .

. . . and still working hard! Thank goodness we're almost done with the unpacking and settling in part! As soon as we're done, I promise to post pictures!

Still Working . . .

Well, this week’s the week . . .

Although we’re most excited about the big move, I have to say, I’m going to miss our little house. We had a lot of good times here. This was our very first home . . . where we made our very first memories . . .

So, I thought it’d be most fitting that in my next post I share some of those good times with you all . . . in honor of our first place . . .

Be prepared to turn up the volume!

(Look, everyone deserves to be a little cheesy once in a while! )

In Preparation For the Big Move . . .

. . . we bought an Ultrasonic Bark Control System!

I think Grady and I both had low expectations that anything would stop Salsa's barking, but the very thought of our new neighbors knocking on our door and complaining about her made me physically ill. We knew we had no choice but to try something.

The system uses an ultrasonic sound that only she can hear and claimed to stop her barking. We were ecstatic that we wouldn't have to resort to an electric collar (right away . . . ), but we certainly continued to have doubts.

We immediately hung it on the tree and sat waiting on her to bark . . . wouldn't you know it, even the first bark she instantly turned her head towards the birdhouse and . . . (this is still hard for me to believe) . . . STOPPED BARKING! We've had the system for about 3 weeks now, and it has continued to work!

Nothing will surprise us when it comes to Salsa. For all we know, today will be the last day the birdhouse remains effective . . . but for right now, it's the best 50 bucks we've ever spent.

Kindergarten Quote of the Day

Mrs. Marsh: "Oh, [student's name]! Your hair is so spiky today! I love it!"

Student: (smiling largely) "Yeah! When I got out of the bathtub this morning, I put toothpaste in it!"

Mrs. Marsh: "Goodness! Does you mom know you did that?"

Student: (thinking intently) "Well . . . I don't think so. She was doing laundry."

Yeah, Kristy and Dave!

We're so happy for you both!
Congratulations, guys!

Congratulations, Kristy!

Less than a week to go!!

Kindergarten Quote of the Day

Scene: A small group reading at a table with me . . .

The book is about “big” and “little.”

Student 1: “Big ducks have little ducks- ducklings.”

Student 2: “Big cats have little cats- CATlings.”

Uhh . . . Marsh Madness.

We both knew coming into this whole thing how stressful it would be. All the waiting and wondering is enough to drive you completely mad. (I’m not one for waiting . . . on anything.)

I honestly thought the hard part was over . . . you know, when we signed the contract on our house . . .

. . . but it seems somebody failed to mention I’d be up half the night worrying about a certain house we found . . . in one of the most precious neighborhoods I’ve ever entered . . . where people stop in their tracks and smile rather largely and wave at you going by . . . and where quite possibly the milk man leaves a small crate of milks on your front door step . . . (okay, so maybe that’s taking it a bit too far . . .)

But still, NOBODY TOLD ME I might be faced with the possibility of loosing such a place. . .

NOBODY TOLD ME that God would sure enough scream in my ear, “THIS IS YOUR HOUSE!” . . . but they might not accept our offer.

Although . . . I guess nobody told me they would accept the offer either . . . and that we would, in fact, get the house . . .

Hmmmm . . . funny how that works.

Boxes anyone?