the wrath of the storm

I wasn't kidding when I said it was a crazy night! I didn't notice this broken limb until I got home from school at noon, but I'm pretty sure it happened during the night. I'm just glad the branch behind it didn't blow into our window.

I guess we will be trimming that tree up this weekend. (And when I say we, I mean my sweet husband!)

what a night

Spending some quality time with my hubby and my puppy (and both of our computers) in our coat closet while the tornado sirens go off.

I was really scared for a little bit, but I think it has blown through and we are safe now.

fun giveaway

Check out a fun giveaway at www.thedesigngirlblogdesign.com.

sonic in the summer

Is it just me, or does Sonic taste so much better in the summer?

There is just something about an ice cold Diet Coke with Vanilla on a hot summer day, especially when you go during happy hour and get it for less than a dollar. I have an abundance of gift cards that are quickly vanishing because of my frequent stops to Sonic this summer.

What is your favorite Sonic drink?

back to school

Yup....you read that right.

Back to School

School is not out yet for me. I will be teaching summer school for the next 4 weeks. My husband has told me that I can put in granite countertops if I work summer school. Hopefully it won't be to bad. It's only from 7:30-11:30, I only have 11 kids and I have an aid in my room all day to help with a child that has special needs.

When July 3rd rolls around, I will be jumping for joy, because I will finally be able to say that "SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!" And hopefully I'll have some granite countertops, too!!

poker & pedicures

Saturday night we hung out with our ABF from church. The guys all stayed back at a couple's apartment and played some poker while the girls walked over to the mall to get pedicures.

We were all reminded of this video after we left the spa. It really could not be a more accurate video of what it's like to go to a nail salon!!

We got done with our pedicures pretty fast, so we got a Sonic drink and sat outside and talked until the mall cops kicked us out at 9pm because the mall was closing. We had such a good time getting to know each other better and talking about everything under the sun. It sure was good to have a little girl time!!

I didn't get any pictures of the guys, but I know that they had a lot of fun playing poker and having some man time.

i need your opinion

**Update:
Thanks SO much for all of your help. Option 2 is the actual winner, but when I turned in my blog order, Option 1 was the winner. So when my blog is all beautified, you will be seeing Option 1. Be sure to stop back by in a week or two to see my new design!!!


I'm in the process of getting a blog makeover. I'm hoping to get it done within the next two weeks.


Here is where I need your opinion....


Our blog will still be called "The Link Home", but I'm having trouble decided on what I want the tagline to be.


Should it be....

Option 1:

Having someplace to go is HOME.

Having someone to love is FAMILY.

Having both is a BLESSING

OR

Option 2:

No matter what, No matter where, It's always HOME when love is there.

So leave a comment letting me know which option your like better, Option 1 or Option 2.


Thanks!!

not your typical frozen yogurt

Matt and I have been playing co-ed softball with our church. We had a game last night and we won, which has been a rare thing this season (Did I just write that?? Oops.) So we decided to go celebrate with our team.

We went to a place called Yogurtville.

You start out the process by filling up your bowl with however much yogurt your want. There are about 10 choices yogurts ranging from vanilla to pomegranate to peppermint patty.

After you fill up your bowl with frozen yogurt you can go to the topping bar and choose from about 50 toppings. Matt got birthday cake with assortment of toppings and I got cheesecake with a really random assortment of toppings. You can put a little or a lot, it's totally up to you. When it's all said and done, you pay .35 cents an ounce for whatever you get.

Matt and I ended up paying $5.82 for our delicious creations. Not to bad!!

**Please ignore my nasty "just played softball" hair and the bad "I forgot my camera, so I'll use my iPhone" quality pictures.

goodbye and hello

This is the group of ladies that I have taught with for the past 2 years. These ladies are not only wonderful teachers, but they have become wonderful friends over the past two years. Last year we were the only team that didn't change at all. It was so fun to come back for my 2nd year knowing everyone on my team and not having any changes.

This year will be a little different. Take the three ladies on the right off, and all that will be left net year is me and Krissy. Sarah is moving to Waco to teach where her soon to be fiance will be going to school, Penny is going to be the counselor, and Jan is retiring. I am so happy for all of them, but selfishly, I wish they were all staying because I have grown so close to them. Next year is going to be so different. I am sad about losing three teachers from our team but at the same time I am excited to welcome the three new ladies onto our team.

So this summer I'm not only going to pray for my kids, but I'm going to also pray for the new members of our Kindergarten team.

moving on

We had a little surprise at our final staff meeting today.

We got our class lists for NEXT YEAR!! Crazy, huh?

It was a huge shock to all of us, because they usually keep them very secret until about 3 days before school starts. The administration wants everything to be set in stone before they give us our lists. The office really doesn't like to make changes after they give us our class list.

Our principal told us that the reason he gave us our class lists today was so that we could pray for our students by name all summer long! How cool is that??

this is why teachers need a summer

When one of my kids was asked to sit on the red line* for calling other people stupid at recess, this was the response I got.....

"NO TO YOUR DUMB RED LINE!"

*no parking fire lane=the line you sit on for timeout in Kindergarten

summer is so close...

.....I can smell it.

Doesn't the smell of a grill just make you think of summer?

We just bought a grill last weekend and fired it up tonight for the first time tonight, and it sure did smell like summer at our house.

1 more day until summer!!!

if dogs could talk

What do you think Izzie would be saying or thinking???

starting off right

Somehow Matt and I managed to go to the gym only twice in the month of May.

We started off right by going today, the first day of the month. Hopefully we will be going to the gym a lot more than twice this month.

As soon as school is out on Thursday, I am going to make a schedule of work out classes that I would like to go to weekly. There are a couple that I have never done, that I would like to try out. I really want to get into cycling this summer.

I always have good intentions to stay really active in the summer, but I always seem to find other stuff to fill my time with instead of going to the gym. I have a long list of this that I want to do this summer, but I'm going to make sure working out and staying in shape stays close to the top.

As soon as school is over I'll fill you in on some of the things I hope to be doing this summer!!

may restaurant review

This month Matt and I tried Mastergrill. Since I have really been into coupons lately, it just kills me to go out to eat and not have a coupon. I was rummaging through our coupons and found a "Buy One Entree Get One Entree Free" coupon to the Mastergrill at the Firewheel Mall. Matt was super excited to go to this restaurant.

Mastergrill is very similar to Texas de Brazil except on a way cheaper scale. Entrees are about $50 a person at Texas de Brazil where at Mastergrill they are $25. ($22 on Sunday)

Our waitress said that the meal was a two step process. You start off with the Salad Bar and when you are ready for meat you turn over your Yes/No card. When your card says Yes, they bring you meat.

There were a ton of yummy things on the Salad Bar. I had some potatoes, salad, shrimp cocktail, tomatoes with mozzarella and basil, all sorts of cheeses. There was a lot more, but I couldn't eat it all.

When we flipped over our card, these "gauchos" started bring us meat.

This was definitely Matt's favorite part. I think we tried almost all of the 25 different kinds of meats. I wasn't a fan of much of the beef. I have never really liked steak. It all just tastes like rubber to me. Matt thought it was all pretty good though. His favorite meat was the Top Sirloin, and mine was the barbecue chicken or the chicken wrapped in bacon.

But our absolute favorite thing the gauchos brought out was Roasted Cinnamon Pineapple. It was to die for. It was warm and juicy and so tasteful. Mmmmm....I really want to find a recipe for it.

For dessert they brought out fried bananas that were coated with cinnamon sugar. They were so delicious.

2 Entrees ($22 for Sunday Price)

2 Waters

1 coupon for Buy1Get1Free

tip

$29

Two thumbs up from The Links.

We think this is definitely a fun date night place to go to! You should try it!!

relaxin' in the hammock

My Mom and Dad bought us this hammock in Mexico back in October. We finally got it put up the other day!!

It is amazing!! I can't wait to curl up in it with a good book my computer this summer.

I'm not so sure Izzie loves it as much as I do.

5 more school days until I can do this every afternoon!!

first etsy purchase

I made my first purchase on Etsy today!! I bought a camera strap slipcover. As soon as I get it mailed to me, I'll be taking pictures in style!!

Well...that is as soon as I figure out how to use my new camera!!

Outside fabric

Inside fabric

Isn't it adorable? Here is the Etsy store where I bought it.

dear mrs. link

Here is a note I got in one of my kid's folder today....

Dear Mrs. Link-

I did not bring "Little Johnny" to school yesterday because he was not feeling well. Please excuse his absence.

-"Little Johnny's Dad"

I guess he didn't get the memo that we don't have school on Memorial Day.

I wonder if his son was really sick???

I'm thinking probably not.

happy birthday ellie grace

Happy Birthday sweet girl!! Matty and I love you!!

Yesterday Matt and I hung out over at his sister's house to celebrate Ellie's 5th birthday! We had such a great time watching all the kids play at her Hello Kitty pool party.

I wanted to take my camera too play with so bad, but I don't have a case for it yet, so I was scared to bring it. And I wasn't sure that I wanted my camera's first outing to be a pool party.

I think I'm being a little paranoid, but I really don't want to mess this camera up. (I don't have the greatest record of keeping cameras in good shape. I wear them out pretty quick!)

After the party, all the family stayed for a traditional Memorial Day cook out. Hamburgers!! Yum, Yum!!

Seriously....who doesn't cook out on Memorial Day??

Hope you enjoyed your day off!!

i just robbed CVS

This morning I made a quick CVS run hoping to catch a couple of sales. Before I left, I carefully looked over the ad and pulled all the corresponding coupons. I was planning on buying 12 items, and I had coupons for all 12 off them. I bought the first 2 items I needed on one transaction and paid $3.31. I purchased everything else on another transaction. I had no idea that ticket that the ticket would look like this....

That has never happened to me. I feel like I had a coupon break through today!!

If I paid for all of this full price with nothing on sale, it would have cost me around $32. Let me explain how I got all the stuff pictured above for only $3.31.

1st Transaction:

Playtex tampons ($3.99) combined with

$1 off coupon and $2 extra bucks

.99

Toothpaste-($2.99) combined with

.75 coupon

2.24

Total Bill:

$3.31

earned $3 Extra Bucks

earned $2 Extra Bucks

2nd Transaction

2 Soft Scrubs (2/$5) combined with

Buy One Get One Free coupon and $1 off coupon

.75 each

Palmolive Dish Soap (.99) combined with

.75 coupon

.25

Cascade Dishwasher Detergent (2.99) combined with

$1 off coupon

1.99

2 Colgate Toothpaste (.88) combined with

.75 off coupon

.13 each

2 Colgate Toothbrushes (.88) combined with

.75 off coupon and $1 off coupon

.1 for both

2 Packs of Trident gum (1.29) combined with

.75 off coupons for each one

.54 each

All of this combined with my $2 Extra Bucks and $3 Extra Buck

Total:

$0.00

The only bum thing about this trip is that I could have walked away without paying a thing if I would have remember that I had a CVS giftcard (from a prescription transfer) with $10 left on it. Oh well....I'll use it next time.

Anyways....

The trick to shopping at CVS is only buying things that you have a coupon for AND they are on sale. If you have items that are going to earn you Extra Bucks, purchase those items first. Purchase all of your other items in a second transaction so you can use your Extra Bucks earned in the first transaction immediately. It takes a while to catch on to the CVS Extra Bucks thing, but you'll get it! It just takes some practice.

Hope this helps you "legally rob" CVS too!!