It's a GIRL!

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting a little girl! Paige Marjorie is healthy and perfect and we are just elated! I'll scan the ultrasound photo soon and add it to this post!

Thanks for your guesses and excitement!!

Boy or Girl

Tomorrow is the big day - our BIG ultrasound to find out if we are having a little boy or a little girl in July. I am so excited to know who has been growing in me these past 18 weeks!

Anyone care to make a prediction??? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

New Purses, New Bedding

Yesterday I was in a shopping mood.... so after school I went to the mall - mainly to check out the new Vera Bradley purses - however they were all out of the peacock tie tote that I wanted to get.... Good news is that I tracked one down at another store and I'm going to pick it up today... it will go very well with the fun new Vera flip flops in peacock that Pat bought me for Valentine's Day (well actually I bought me but told him he could give them to me for V-day)... :)

Anyways, on my way out - totally bummed about the purse, I cut through Crate and Barrel and just happened to peruse the new stuff along the way. While I was walking through the bedding department, I found the most beautiful duvet cover set and I just knew I had to have it. I bought it on a whim, hoping Pat would like it, and thankfully he does!

I'll take some pics once I get the room all finished - I am hoping he'll put a fresh coat of paint on in there next weekend - we'll see if I can talk him into it... :)

*Pat*

I think my husband is feeling a bit neglected right now because when he looked at my blog this week he mentioned "I like how you talk about your friends and family but not about me"...

So... this post is dedicated to my loving, supportive, amazing husband Patrick!













Reasons Why I *love* Patrick right now:

1. Since I've become pregnant, he cleans the kitchen everyday without me asking him to.
2. He goes and gets me a bagel on Saturday mornings!
3. He took my laundry up to our room tonight.
4. He takes care of things that I don't even think of and does it all with a smile.
5. Most importantly, he puts up with my sh*t and still loves me even though I am a hormonal pregnant psycho!

Love you baby! Thanks for putting up with me! I can't wait to meet our miracle that we created! XOXOXO

Photo Shoot - 3 boys

Recently, I had the pleasure of doing a photo shoot with these adorable boys! They are brothers and they are just too cute! I had a lot of fun with them! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the shoot! Thanks for looking!

So exicted...

I'm so excited that my older sister Susan finally announced her awesome news too!

Our family is truly blessed and I can't wait to meet my future neice/nephew this summer!

As for the baby news with me - morning sickness is still around - Not fun - but I am happy to have it if it means this little bean is doing what it should be! :)

And Baby makes Three...

Patrick and I are very excited to announce that

Sweet Baby Mangan will arrive this July!!!!

Family Photos

It is so rare that my husband's family is all together at the same time that we barely have any family photos. This Christmas, his brother surprised us all with a visit down to South Florida and I couldn't wait to get some new pics. The brothers all humored me for about a half hour while I snapped away. I didn't get as many as I would have liked, but these are better than none! Here are a few of my favorites from the mini-shoot!

2006 in Review

I got this from Melodee at DML - thanks Melodee!!!

2006 In Review

JANUARY
1. Did you have a new year's resolution this year?: Yes, a few - mainly to stress less and get organized.
2. Who kissed you at midnight?: Pat, of course!!
3. Did it snow where you live?: No - not in Florida! :(
5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?: No - but maybe one day!!!

FEBRUARY
1. Who was your valentine?: again - Pat, of course!
2. What did your valentine get you?: flowers and a card
3. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class?: Yes - I still do as a teacher!

MARCH
1. Are you Irish? By marriage I guess! :)
2. Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day?: Yes I did - I didn't want to get pinched!
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day?: Mindy and I went out to an Irish Bar with friends and had a GREAT time!!!

APRIL
1. Do you like the rain?: if I'm in the right mood for it!
2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year?: yes, Mindy and I tried to play one on our students - but they totally didn't get it!
3. Did you get tons of candy on Easter?: No, not really - just some jelly beans and reese's eggs!

MAY
1. What's your favorite kind of flower?: gerbra daisy
2. Do you like the spring? yes!
3. Finish the phrase: "April showers bring...": Well, the typical answer is "May Flowers", but here April Showers bring mosquitos!
4. What would you think of as a spring color?: lavender

JUNE
1. What year did you graduate from school?: 1999 - high school, 2003 - college

JULY
1. What did you do on the 4th of July? Pat and I had just signed all of the papers for our new house and we worked in the house, bought a grill, and had our first bar-b-que in our new townhouse!!!
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month?: I think we went to Lake Placid with Pat's family.

AUGUST
1. Did you do anything special to end off your summer?: spent like everyday in the pool with Devanny and Mindy - just enjoying our summer vacation! We also had a fun house-warming tiki party in August!!!
2: What was your favorite summer memory of '06?: our Southern Carribbean Cruise in June
3. Did you go swimming a lot in the summer?: yes!
4. Did you go to the beach a lot?: for photo shoots - yes, but just to go - not enough!

SEPTEMBER
1. Did you attend school/college in '06?: yes, I took a class at Nova Southeastern University for my ESOL endorsement!
2. Who is/was your favorite teacher?: oooh, that's hard - I think my favorite teacher of all time ever was my Social Studies Education teacher in college! She made me LOVE to teach history!
3. Did you like fall better than summer?: YES!!!

OCTOBER
1. What was your favorite Halloween costume ever?: when I was like 8, I was an alien! I had a green unitard on and green body paint from head to toe with a silver wig and silver antenne - it was so much fun!
2. What's your favorite candy?: Reese Peanut Butter Cups!
3. What did you dress up like this year? I wore a halloween t-shirt, cat ears, and a feather boa as a cat tail! :)

NOVEMBER
1. Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving?: my in-laws! :)
2. Do you like stuffing?: yes, we had 3 different types of stuffing this year!
3. What are you thankful for?: my family, friends, and the many blessings in my life!

DECEMBER
1. Do you celebrate Christmas?: yes - love Christmas!
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?: yes, Pat bought mistletoe in high school and kissed me under it.
3. What do you want this year for Christmas?: Just to be with family and have a good time!
4. What's the best present you ever got for Christmas?: Pat got me a sweet Tiffany's necklace this year - I love it!
5 Do you like cold weather?: yes!
6. How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10?: 8 - overall a good year, but there were some rough moments as well - I'm really looking forward to 2007!!!!!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years Eve tonight and an amazing 2007!!!

Thankful...

There are so many things I am thankful for right now. I know this post is a bit late (seasonly), but I still wanted to write it anyway. I recently started (haven't yet completed) a gratitude jounal. The wonderful gals over at DML were doing this and Mo was giving us the topics to create pages about. I have to say, that this made me think of all the things in my life that I have to be grateful for. While I was working on my journal, I came across this quote that really made me think:

"Just think of how happy you would be if you lost everything you had right now and got it back again" ~unknown

But wow, that really makes you think. I am so grateful for everything in my life - the good and the bad, because without the bad, we wouldn't know the good and wouldn't be able to appreciate it. So, at the close of this Thanksgiving season, I'd just like to leave you with that quote....

And here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving celebration at my in-laws...

Back from Tallahassee...

Things can finally get back to normal after the past 3 weekends of craziness! We just got back from a really wonderful weekend in Tallahassee. We got to visit with good friends, watch the NOLES beat up on Virginia, and enjoy some beautiful fall weather! I've got plenty more pics and details to post later, but for now, here are a few of my favorite pics from the weekend!

Lottie and Nathan

We met Lottie and Nathan about 4 years ago... we were still living in Tallahassee. I was working at Buck Lake Elementary teaching 2nd grade. Lottie was also a new teacher - teaching 4th grade. Right away, I knew that Lottie and I would hit it off. She is this sweet southern girl with a great big smile and in my heart I knew she was meant to be one of my friends. As luck would have it, we had the same lunch schedule that year... so we got to get to know each other over lunch each day. Then we decided to pair our classes up to be "book buddies" - which meant more time we got to spend together. Eventually we were hanging out on the weekends and trying to make plans to get together with our husbands because we knew they would hit it off as well.

Once the four of us finally got together things just "clicked". Our friendship with Lottie and Nathan is an easy one. I adore Lottie and Pat and Nathan are great buddies! It all works so perfectly. As you can imagine, we were devastated when we had to move down to West Palm Beach and leave our new friends behind. That was 3 years ago and I am happy to say that we are still great friends. We all get together about 2 or 3 times each year... not nearly enough but we make it work.

This past weekend, Lottie and Nathan and their son Corbin met up with us at the lake house in Lake Placid, FL. We spent the weekend on the lake - laughing, swimming, and just being together. We had a fabulous time and the best part is that we get to see them again in 2 weeks when Pat and I go to Tallahassee for a football game!

I took MANY pictures this weekend, but here is one of my favorites of our good friends, Lottie and Nathan, and their son Corbin. Once I get through the rest, I'll post more of our lake adventures...

I *love* fall...

I love fall... it is absolutely my favorite season! The colors, the weather, school, football, everything about fall just makes me feel alive and happy. Unfortunately, in Florida, we don't really get an autumn... I *know* that at some point in my life I am destined to live in a place that has seasons...

Today I made it over to the local pumpkin patch at the Methodist Church. I talked Mindy and Devanny into going with me so I could snap some pics. This is one of my favorite pics from the day. I came home with some cute smaller pumpkins. I'll wait till Pat goes with me until we pick out our pumpkin to carve!

I am so excited about Halloween this year becauase we finally live in a community with trick-or-treaters!!! We get to decorate and buy candy and do the whole halloween thing! It should be a blast! I can't wait for us to carve our pumpkin and decorate! Isn't halloween so much fun? :)

Scrapbook Heaven

I just got this info from the owner of Scrapbook Heaven (an online-scrapbooking store where I'm on the DT)... just wanted to pass this along to my scrappin' buddies...

We are having a Sassafras Lass Contest!!!

Details: Your submission must include at least 75% Sassafras Lass products. The layouts will need to be posted to the Sassafras Lass contest board in our gallery no later than Midnight October 31, 2006. Our DT will be judging the submissions starting November 1 and winners will be announced no later than November 3. Good luck and happy scrapping!

Prizes: 1st place will receive the package sponsored by Sassafras Lass, $50.00 gift certificate from our online store. 2nd place will receive one of our Featured Monthly kits from Scrapbook Heaven.

Schwarz Family Photo Shoot... and random stuff...

Well... for starters, two weeks ago I had the honor of shooting my friend Kara's kids. They are so gorgeous and cooperative and wonderful! I had so much fun with them! I wanted to post a few of my favorites on my blog... I'm working on getting word out about my photography down here in South Florida... mainly via friends and family and customers.





















As far as "Random Other Stuff"... I am excited and proud of myself because today I joined a gym! It's about time I get off my lazy butt and go and workout after school, instead of watching ABC Family for 3 hours a night.... yes, I am a TOTAL tv junkie!!! Although, I do have to admit, I am so excited about the fact that they put the show Everwood in the nightly line-up (6pm)... because I love that show and I didn't get into it when it first started... so now I get to go back and watch the first few seasons! :)

Anyway, that's all I'm excited about now... I have another photo shoot of an 8-month old this weekend, so I am pumped for that! Pat and I are also going to a high-school football game on Friday (his boss' son's game) and I'm taking pics there too, so that should be fun!

Happy Day everyone! :)

"Back in the Day"...

So lately... Mindy and I have been living "back in the day"... you know the "day" I'm talking about... the college-days. We've been thinking that we are still young and hip enough to go out on the weekends, have some drinks, dance, sing, act silly, etc.... and still be able to be rested for the next work week. (what are we thinking???)

It's pretty funny actually, considering that we didn't even know each other "back in the day"... maybe that's why we feel the need to go live it up. Regardless, we are having a good time!

This weekend we are taking a weekend off... we need a break from the maddness! So, in honor of the two of us living "back in the day", I am posting a picture from one of our recent evenings out!

Who knows when we'll get this out of our system.. I honestly think though it's because we feel like we got cheated out of this during our college years because we didn't know each other then.... I do know though, that if we had known each other "back in the day"... it would have been crazy and fun!!!

Mindy is one fun chica and we always have a good time together! I love ya Mindy!!! :)

We *heart* America!

Here it is.... our fun 2nd grade hallway project! This is the first time I have done this project with my students and I am so thrilled with how it turned out! For my readers who are not teachers, you may or may not appreciate this as much... but let me tell you... this was a LOT of work!

First, we all talked about reasons we are glad we live in America. This was at the culmination of a unit on immigration and American Symbols. My students brainstormed a bunch of pretty good reasons!

Next, we did a vocabulary lesson on synonyms. We used a thesaurus to think of synonyms for the word "happy". We came up with some GREAT synonyms (ecstatic, joyful, tickled, elated, etc.)

Then, each kid wrote on an index card "I am (synonym for happy) to live in America because..." and they wrote their reason.

Finally, we had each student create a self portrait. We used multi-cultural construction paper, yarn, felt, pipe cleaners, ribbon, etc. Mindy and I helped with the self-portraits, giving ideas and helping them with the technicalties.

Overall, I am so thrilled with how they turned out! I will definitely do this project again next year!














(Mindy and I) :)

Bad Blogger...

I'm sorry... I've been such a bad blogger this month... I am so overwhelmed with school and everything that I have neglected this... Oh well... at least I don't have that many readers to disappoint! :) I'll do a post this weekend with pics from a really fun project I did with my kids at school!

That's it - Just wanted to let ya'll know I'm still alive (to the few readers who may still visit me here)... :)

Happy Day,
Kristi

How Sweet it is...

To beat the Hurricanes in MIAMI!!!!! What a game!!!!! My beloved Seminoles are off to a great start, let's hope the rest of the season is as sweet as our first win was! Go Noles!!!

Boredom....

So, can I tell you how much I loathe hurricanes/tropical storms? We have been out of school for the past 2 days for NOTHING! It barely rained here! And now, we will have to make up those days - yuck!!! There goes our first early release day and our first teacher work day! Boo! Anyway, the media just hypes these things up and makes everyone get panicked and then it causes us to have to sit home for two days when we could be working! I am at the point too where I am pretty bored - I'm definitely ready to go back to work tomorrow!

Oh well, nothing I can do now. At least I got to scrap a bit... I finished some assignments for Scrapjazz for the first of the month and also got to scrap a bit for myself! Yay!

Here's my favorite layout that I created during my "tropical storm break":