Penny Lane

I'm not sure if you noticed, but there has been some serious dead silence going on here on this blog. The culprit?

Well, we got our puppy.

Everyone, meet Penny.

She is adorable and rambunctious and smart and cuddly and chilled out and the perfect addition to our family.

Rob has been asking for a dog FOREVER. As soon as we bought our house, he started REALLY talking about it, but I always pushed away the idea. See, I'm not a dog person. AT ALL. In fact, I have spent more of my life TERRIFIED of dogs than not. I stopped thinking that all dogs wanted to kill and eat me sometime in high school, so the idea of accepting one as a new member of our family was ridiculous.

Then, I had a dream. And I mentioned to Rob that it might not be a TERRIBLE idea. And before I finished the sentence, he had whipped out the PetFinder app and found MANY dogs that he loved. But Penelope was his favorite. This was the photo they used:

And she soon became my favorite. So I said that I wouldn't mind meeting her, and in less than a week, he scheduled a day for us to pick her up in Mississippi.

I didn't sleep for a week leading up to us meeting her. I was nervous. I was afraid that I wouldn't like her and Rob would resent me for it.

But then they brought her into the room that Saturday, and I immediately fell in love. She is the softest, sweetest, most adorable puppy I've ever seen. Everyone who meets her instantly falls in love. Here we are on our way home with her:

In fact, a local photographer contacted me and asked to take the professional pictures of her to build her portfolio. And I'm not going to lie, my new puppy mama self teared up when I saw them. :) Her pictures are sreiously TO DIE FOR. She took all of the pictures on this post other than the one from the shelter and the one on the way home. Check her out at: Apple Eye Photography. She takes pictures of humans, too! :)

But in all honestly, having a puppy is tough. She pees and poops a lot (and not always outside). I feel guilty leaving her alone at home after a long day of work, so my social life is suffering. I don't sleep when it's raining because I'm worried that she will be scared. I am emotional and tired...but I am so, so loved by this sweet dog.

I know that one day, it will seem like she has been a part of our life forever (it already kind of does). She will be the dog who helps us welcome a new baby into our family one day. She will be the dog who keeps us active for the rest of our lives (we are already working on running with her). She is the best decision we've ever made as a couple. She is the PERFECT addition to our Haney family. :)

Things I Love Thursday

Here are some things I love Thursday (and let's be honest - EVERY DAY!!)

1.

These fun painted houses!

2. 

eighteen25 is my FAVORITE crafting/gift blog! Their St. Patty's stuff is ON POINT!!

3. 

SOMEONE TEACH ME TO SEW ASAP.

4. 

Y'all, this sounds is my favorite right now. I get so ghetto for God when I sing this! hahahahaha

5. Did I mention that we're adopting a puppy? Rob has been wanting one, and we just fell in love with her. We are picking her up on Saturday morning. I'm literally so nervous and excited that I haven't slept all week! I promise that I won't flood my blog with (TOO) many pictures of her, but SERIOUSLY!!!

6. 

Daily. Reminder. :) Did you need this today, too? I sure did!!

7. 

I'm ending with this... my sweet friend Celeste hooked me up with this GORGEOUS ring box! She puts the **GOLD GLITTER** vinyl on the boxes! She has the boxes in white or mint! I just love it! Need one, too? Check her Facebook page: 7 Cee's Creations

So... what are you loving on this lovely Thursday evening?

The New Old House

A few people kindly reminded me today that I haven't blogged about the house yet, so I decided to spend a little time this evening doing JUST THAT!

Here's a little back story on the house - we had been saving money for a kitchen remodel, and right before he proposed, Rob mentioned that he was interested in putting the money into buying a second house instead. It was something that we had discussed before, but we never REALLY looked at our finances to see if it was a possibility. When he mentioned it, I was apprehensive (because I REALLY want a new kitchen), but I am always open minded when it comes to ideas that Rob has because he is good at managing finances/business situations. We found a house a few streets away from where we live now that we fell in love with and we found our "new old house" in Thibodaux around the same time. We seriously considered buying both of them, but in the end, we couldn't financially make it happen....because, well, teacher salary. haha The struggle is REAL.

After weighing the pros and cons, we opted for the house that we bought (obviously). We loved that the other house had two bedrooms and a bigger backyard, but it needed A LOT more work, so we were leaning toward the yellow house. After we saw the inside, our creative brains were ON FIRE!!! We put in an offer less than a week later - actually, it was the day after we got engaged. :) A few weeks later, and the house is ours! We have SO MANY plans for our little house, and we're planning on putting it up for rent in a bout a year. :)

So...before I show you the BEFORE pictures, I want to talk about our plans for the little house. The following things are our dreams for the house:
**New Windows (all 8 of them)
**Paint the ceilings
**Buy new light fixtures/fan for the bedroom and living room
**Paint the walls
**Paint the cabinets OR buy new cabinets (undecided about which one)
**New countertops
**Paint pantry
**Floating shelves in the bathroom
**New sink in the bathroom
**Rip up the floor and refinish the original hardwood that is below it (Can we get a WHOOP WHOOP?)
**Built ins OR a fun table for the dining room (maybe both)
**Buy a new stove
**Fix up the front "porch" area
**Fix the back stairs
**New backdoor/screendoor
**Fix up the laundry room/shed

As you can see, we have LOTS to do...but we are SO excited to get in there and get started. For now, we are buying stock in lysol/air purifiers because the house smells SO OLD. hahahahaha :)

Now for the reason you REALLY opened up this link... the pictures!

The New Old House

Bathroom

Bedroom

Dining room/nook

Kitchen

Living room

I REALLY wish that I had a before picture of the shed/covered patio in the back. It's SO nice! I will swing by tomorrow to catch that!

Anyway, I hope that you guys enjoyed learning about how we found this little diamond in the rough. :) I can't wait to blog about our progress throughout the next year! I MIGHT even ask for some opinions here and there... be prepared! :)

Happy World Read Aloud Day!

While I LOVE home projects, my heart is really in teaching Kindergarten at this stage in my life. As a Kindergarten teacher, there are few things that I think are as important as instilling a love of reading in your children. You can do this by expressing your own love of reading, reading to them daily, and (gasp!) reading on your own in front of them! I tell my students every single day that story time is my favorite time, I compliment their reading (even if they're just looking at pictures), and I talk to them about how I read every morning and every night before bed!

Since today is world read aloud day, I thought I would share some of my favorite books. Today, I'll share my favorite books for the littles (or littles at heart). I will share my adult favorites another day! :)

If I was forced to choose just one FAVORITE, this would be it. Elmer is such a great, feel good story! The illustrations are incredible and the message is my favorite (be yourself)!

This one has a special place in my heart because my godchild Joshie can probably recite every rhyme in it without looking at the pages! I bought this for him when he was really little, and he WORE THIS BOOK OUT - Just ask my poor sister who can also recite the entire book verbatim. ;) Sorry, sis! I love this one for the little boys (or girls) in your life who love nursery rhymes and cars!

This is not necessarily MY favorite, but this is at the top of my class's list for BEST BOOK EVER! It is all about a cat who thinks he is a chihuahua. Every time he enters his closet, it is a different world-Animal Narnia, y'all!

A book that doubles as a song AND has a good message?? LOVE!!! All Pete the Cat books are amazing, but the Christmas one is my personal favorite. I may or may not sing the song in my head on a daily basis. Bonus points for Pete the Cat books - they ALL come with a free reading of the book/song that you can download off of their site! SWEET!!!

This is my favorite collection of poems. I love everything that Shel Silverstein puts his hands on (specifically this and The Giving Tree)! My personal favorite is the poem in this book is the one about the lady with all the snakes. <3

This story is a classic, and it has some of my favorite illustrations ever! This book also gives you a great opportunity to read a book and then watch the movie to compare (Venn diagram, anyone?)!

I can't help but love a story with a good lesson behind it! I also love the illustrations in this story! Can you even imagine the art projects that go along with this one??? EEK!!
 

This is a new favorite! My nephews (who both love reading) introduced this to me, and I immediately bought it for my class! We laughed so hard at this interactive book. My practicum student told me that she went to buy it RIGHT after we read it because she loved it so much, too!

If you want to transition your child into chapter books, READ THIS TO THEM!!! This is perfect for a read aloud because Junie B. uses some inappropriate language (she uses the words stupid and hate often), so you can change that up a bit! She also says some things wrong (ex. "nouncements" for announcements). I change those, too, when I'm reading aloud. Junie B. is a VERY naughty little Kindergarten student who happens to be one of my K students' favorite characters! They can't get over how hysterical she is! We read a chapter or two a day. I'd suggest recapping what you read the night before if you do this with your child. :)

I just couldn't compile a list of my favorite books for kids without a Dr. Seuss classic! I love ALL Dr. Seuss books, but this one is my favorite! We read it when we learned about the food guide pyramid and we were talking about proteins! I made green eggs and ham by putting green food coloring in scrambled eggs and rubbing it on deli ham. The kids LOVED it! You could do this at home with your own kids! Giving them experiences with books is a great way for them to fall in love with reading!

While the list could go on and on and on and on FOREVER, I narrowed it down (a bit). Which books are favorites in your house/classroom/childhood? Have you learned about any new books? Are you RUSHING to Amazon to order some of these? Please do!!! If you do anything for your children, READ to them! It is the greatest gift! :)

(Need hints to get your non-readers reading? E-mail me, and I can give you some suggestions! :))