Meet Molly

I wanted to officially introduce my blogging world to the new love of my life... not higher than
Phil of course, but in a sense my "daughter" :)

Molly is the newest addition to our family, she was my Christmas present from Phil. I love her to death, and dont worry yall shes a Texas girl too... picked her up from a friend in Pilot Point when we were down for Christmas.


Enjoy! :)
This is Molly in her coat..... Her first trip to the groomer.... her first trip home....

Shutterfly Christmas :)

I have a great site to share with yall! I'm sure you are all familiar with Shutterfly but if you haven't checked them out this year for your Christmas card then you have got to go check out their precious photo cards. Here are a few of the possible cards you may be finding in your mail box from me very soon.

My favorites are cards where the picture is the main focus.



These are fun and a little funky. I love the pink!


These are classic and both beautiful

Pick out your own dream card here!

Also, are you looking for a great gift? Check out the calendars Shutterfly has to offer! Mom has one with pictures of my sister and I, some months with recent pictures, some with childhood pictures, some with a mix. Last year for Christmas, my cousin Shelby gave our grandparents a Shutterfly calendar with a photo of Daisy from every month of her first year. They travel a lot and this was a great way to display her picture all the time in their motor home. Everyone needs a calendar! The best part?! Personalize the dates with family birthdays and special messages!

Ok, one last thing! Are you planning a party this holiday season? Unfortunately after throwing a Halloween bash I won't be but if you know me you know I love to throw a good party. If you do have a party coming up either for Christmas or to ring in 2011, Shutterfly also has the invites you're going to be looking for!

Now... Why did I post about Shutterfly today? If you have your own blog, go here to find out! Happy shopping!

1 Year Already!!

I am an awful blogger.... I get on here and read everyone else's blogs like daily, but I often feel I dont have anything important enough to blog about lol....

I thought I would give yall a summer update! :)

-We got all moved in to our house, and are slowly making adjustments to the house that we wanted to do like painting and fixing a few things here and there. Phil's parents came up for a week in May to help around the house a bit as well.
-We took a trip up to PA in June for Father's Day and for a Straw family reunion and I finally got to meet Phil's aunt and uncle and family who lives in Gabon, Africa right now. It was nice having an actual person to put in my mind when I talk to them on Facebook.
-July 4th weekend came along and Phil and I decided to take an early anniversary trip to Las Vegas. Phil's company takes off extra time for patriotic holidays so Phil didnt have to take many vacation days for our little outing. We had a blast and enjoyed just getting away for a few days by ourselves. :)
- July 15th we went down to Texas to see my family and a few friends while we were there (Yes, we traveled alot this summer) We were in Texas for a week and enjoyed it Greatly!!! You never know how much you truly miss someone until you have to leave them again. We then drove down to Orlando Florida for Jacob's select team Baseball tournament. Phil had to go back to work so he didnt stay long, but I stayed an extra week with my family. I missed baseball in my life and got a little of my southern tan back that I would never get in Iowa :) I just got back to Iowa yesterday just in time for our 1 year anniversary this Sunday.
Its amazing how time flies by. I have been truly blessed with the Godly man God chose to put me with for the rest of my life. I couldn't have asked for anyone better! :)

Love you all and miss yall dearly!!!! I start back with teacher inservices August 17th... my time is almost out for summer :(

From our home to yours! Love ya

Spring Break- Now we're old.

Spring Break finally got here, and now as always it is about to be over way to quickly. Its amazing how fast time flies by. It seems like just yesterday that Phil and I were moving up to Iowa, and I was looking for a job frantically. Now, I am almost done with my first year teaching with my precious 1st graders, and Phil and I just signed on a new house. Yes, that means we will be here a couple more years, but that was something we already knew with Phil's job. We are glad though that the snow has FINALLY melted.

Here are some things that make me feel old that have came to mind this year.

- Phil and I will both be turning 23 in a few weeks, it makes me feel so old.
- Buying our first house.
- My first real job.
- Jacob (my youngest brother) getting his drivers license
- Some of my best friends having babies.... yes Meag. that makes us old!
- My first graders had no idea what 9-11 was because they weren't even born.

-There are more, but thats all I have for the time being :)

Hope you guys have a great last few weeks until the end of the year!
LOVE YALL LOTS!

http://www.cbhrealty.com/Listing/default.aspx?mls=1000797

(Home we signed on)

Snow....Snow...Snow!

This seems to be whats in my weekly weather forecast ("Mrs. Luetchford thats a vocabulary word") It seems like all it ever does here is SNOW!! It never gives the old snow time to melt so the snow just continues to pile higher and higher on top of each other. I cant believe I would ever come to saying this since we often don't get snow in Texas, but I am officially tired of snow for the year!!

On another note I am so sorry I have not updated in awhile. I read everyone else's blogs every day when there are new updates and think to myself how I need to write a new post, but I never know what to say, or somedays just don't feel like typing and talking more after a long day at the school. I am loving my little first graders, they are soooo full of energy. We are currently at a stressful crossroad because conference time is approaching, so I am frantically trying to get assessments and report cards all done in time. Phil is still loving his job, and is busy with playing his bass guitar, basketball games, grounds school (flying), and soccer games.... oh yeah and with work lol. I feel sometimes like I already have kids, but I guess he needs to get his fun in before we are overwhelmed with kid activities :)

We are currently looking for a new house too. Our lease in our apartment runs out in May, and we are going to try to take advantage of that new homebuyers $ that's out floating around right now. We have been looking at tons of homes that all have something we like about them, but not everything. Its been a few difficult process, but a fun one all at the same time. We found one home we really liked, but it fell through when the counter offer was CRAZY! lol So were back to looking again. Hopefully something will appear soon. Keep it in your prayers please.

Other than that not too much new in the Luetchford home. We had a great Christmas seeing both families and enjoy time in both PA and Texas. We will be back in Texas in April for AO's 50th anniversary! WHOO :)
Oh, and back in Texas in July for MICHAEL BUBLE'.... YES, I am VERY excited about this concert! I mean come on its Michael Buble' .... He makes my heart MELT!!!!


Love you all and Miss you tons!!

Lauren

I'm tired of it looking a lot like Christmas!

You know how the old saying goes, "Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas," or "I'm dreaming of a White Christmas." Well that has been and will be the case for Cedar Rapids this year. Although it will be my first REAL and TRUE White Christmas we have had snow falling, freezing temperatures, freezing rain, and ice for the past 2 weeks or so now. A huge snow storm is on its way and will be here for Christmas day as well. Fingers crossed our flights do not get delayed.

The Luetchfords though have been rather busy since my last update. Phil had a Big Band Christmas Concert at church last week, so I went to all 3 performances, what else was I suppose to do. :) I have been busy shopping, cooking Christmas treats for the offices, and of course teaching.
I got a new kid from Chicago Monday, which was 2 days before a break never do this to your children its CRAZY!!! This child has no manners, or proper language usage. Pray he comes back from Christmas "touched by an angel" or this is going to be a very LONG 2nd semester. We had our Christmas "WINTER" party Tuesday, and I got a load full of amazing and thoughtful gifts from my children... they are sooo sweet.
Today Phil and I got up, to freezing rain, and went down to Coralville (30 min drive) to get massages we had won earlier this year. What a way to start off our MUCH needed vacation. We did a little shopping and just enjoyed our day, even in the blistering cold. :( We came back home did a little housework and relaxed on the couch to watch a couple movies. Tomorrow I will start our new family Christmas tradtions and get ready for our many trips.
We are spending Christmas Day with just the 2 of us in Cedar Rapids, then flying out to Pennsylvania to spend some time with Phil's family for a few days. On the 29th we will be flying to Dallas and staying through the 3rd with my lovely family, and then its back to Iowa we fly. I am really looking forward to seeing my family and getting out of the snow for a little while.

It will be a new Christmas experience for sure, and it will be hard being away from my family on Christmas day. My brothers and I always woke up early to see our Santa presents, yes even to this day. We always made homemade Christmas cookies and with the leftover icing we made a 'poop' cookie for Santa (He just loves it!!! :) he he) We sing Christmas Carols at the top of our lungs and laugh hysterically. We travel to grandparents, and make up our Christmas program for that year in the car. Oh what great memories I will sure miss this year with my brothers and my family, I mean gosh Phil isn't near as funny as my boys (lol just kidding babe) I guess we all have to grow up sometime and make our own family. But things will be a lot easier once we move back home to Texas! :)

Wishing yall a very Merry CHRISTmas and a Happy 2010! (Were getting old!)
Love you all!!

-Phil and Lauren-

Things you thought you would never say

So I have 15 1st graders this year. I am really loving it, but of course every class comes with a few of those "headache" children. Well with Swine flu going around as well as teaching in a low economical area, with a lot of family problems as usual. So one of my headache kids was out sick and then had a family situation that left him out until tomorrow. I saw him after school when he came to pick up his sister. He RAN up to me and gave me a huge hug and said he missed me, not a little, but a lot. Shoot I was okay with just the hug or the I missed you a little, not all of it! I literally had tears in my eyes when I saw him and he hugged me. With our crazy society today its hard not to worry about a kid when they are gone that long, especially with bad home lives. Although it has been a little quieter the past few weeks I wouldn't trade that reunion today for the world. This is why and how teachers keep going on day after day, for the little moments when you know you are changing a child's life for the good, and especially when you know those children often don't get the love and attention at home.
I love my children!