Monday, December 12, 2016

Murder

I'm going to start off this post with a quote.  Because this happened to be the title of the post, and when else was I supposed to get this in here?
(Lol all of my dad's family has names starting with R. I think they just wanted a menacing family.)
I named this post "Murder" because there was a murder in my office this week, I went through several killing sprees of flies, and I recently heard the song "we murderers because we kill time," and because I couldn't think of another title. Anyway....

An old find...

I recently reconnected with Nicole Masco from my old school and we swapped ideas back and forth. She needed lesson ideas for Health and I needed ideas for kinder and 1st grade PE. I miss Health. And it was great to hear from an old friend. Summit was great. Anyway, because I was looking for lessons, I had to look through my external hard drive that has everything from my old computer. On there I found the slideshow of pictures that we had playing at our wedding. So cute. 

Here it is.... 

I am so upset. Gilmore Girls was Murdered Too!

Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life finally came out and I was so excited. I watched it. And I was severely disappointed with it. What were the writers thinking? Also, they did this because people hated the lack of closure from the finale of the last season and then they ended this one the same way! Ugh. So here's my ramble about that. Scroll down if you have a life and don't care about the fake world of Stars Hollow.

Why is Rory suddenly an adulterer? Why was her character brilliant and driven all along only to become unemployed  with no prospects? Why did they waste so much time on the whole baby thing if Loralai and Luke didn't end up doing it? Why did there need to be a random song and dance thing in the middle? It was terrible, and when you're only doing 4 episodes and trying to give your audience a ton of information, it was a total waste of time. Why do you tantalize the possibility of Rory and Jess if you're not going to go anywhere with it? The shameless appearances of all the Parenthood people was stupid, unrelated, and unnecessary. By this point shouldn't they both have their lives together? The part where Loralai decides to hike the whole world or something because of all her emotional damage or bla bla bla..... that was dumb. As an audience we want to know that it was a happily ever after. Not that life gets worse, they never make more friends, have unsuccessful careers, get divorced, fight with family, cheat on boyfriends, have accidental pregnancies, and become hollow emotionally. BUT.... Emily Gilmore's story was refreshing and I thought it was brilliantly done.
Whew. I think that's it. 

My Pups are "Killin' It!"

Lol had to find a way to stick with the title. I love a good word challenge. Anyway, Aaron, Declan, and Lincoln requested an all doggie video from us because they liked the vacation video and wedding video so much. I was just honored. (They're just kids, I know, but since I'm new at this I was so flattered that they loved it that much.) I couldn't do it until we got home because I had to use every video I had of them previously and that was on my old computer. But anyway, I got back into my video-editing mode and I could not stop myself until it was done. Granted, this one didn't take nearly as long. But I stayed up a few hours past my bedtime and did half of the editing in the bath tub because I couldn't stop. So anyway I enjoyed myself. 

Here is the link just in case the video below won't play from the blog. 


I was elated to find that the boys were just as happy with it as I was. This photo is just priceless and their expressions are so funny. I'm glad to see that they've developed a love for animals like I have because I think it's so good for young kids. 

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

Our christmas decorations take up an entire refrigerator box. But I still need more. Lol 
Anyway I don't know how Santa's getting in because there's no fireplace in this house. So I just hung the stockings on the wall and left 2 for my dad and shelly when they come. I made that garland by the way! We got to turn on the heater for the first time since we moved here. This is what Dallin said. 
"I love the smell the heater makes when it turns on for the first time of the season. So I guess dust and  bacteria." Lol so for christmas I'm getting him a "dust and bacteria" scented candle. 

Mini tree in the kitchen
 When we were in Utah I asked Dave how people hang their Christmas lights because I've learned command strips really don't work. His response was, "You pay people to hang them for you." LOL
Well I figured it out! Jordan let us borrow his ladder and I did it all by myself. So I found out that in Utah people use clips on their rain gutters. Here, none of the houses have rain gutters at all! It's just wood below your roof. People just put little nails up and string them along it. And I looked and ours already had nails in it. I'm not going to lie I was scuurrrrred at that top part. It's higher than it looks. (So to keep with the cheesey theme.... that roof line almost murdered me! lol)
I found that chalk board at Target for 3 bucks! Steal of a deal. 
While I had the ladder, I put the Jesus picture and flower pot up in that REALLY high window part above the stairs. And I almost lost my life a second time. #worthitfordecor
My tablet takes terrible pictures but I freaking love the new fire pit and the cutesie little chair pads I got for the chairs. Jake is un-enthused. But Josie loves it. I lift her up on the chair next to me and she will sit and stare at the fire too. :)  
Look how spoiled Jakey is. But also how cute. You do not mess with his bed time, he goes up at 10pm and gets in my bed even if he's alone and we're still up.

The Epic Christmas Concert

 The last couple weeks of school have been lots and lots and lots of preparation for the Christmas concert. My role was helping to facilitate their practicing. I definitely missed PE. lol But they nailed their performance so it was all worth it. (Or so I hear. I was the grinch who didn't go. But I've seen them practice so many times I know the songs myself. So I basically saw it.) This is a picture of all the kindergarten classes together practicing.
This was the madness of trying to fit all of the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades on the stage at once. lol They were cozy but it worked. Elizabeth came up with really creative ideas for everyone to perform from different parts of the room and I think after this is all over she will really feel accomplished. 

 Elizabeth had to put so much work into this thing it was insane. She had a lot of help from parents and teachers and us specials too. This was it all set up before the first day.
I'm just glad there's no concerts to do with PE. Lol 
So, that part was just a joke and in all seriousness, I have decided to be more positive just in general now. I've heard so much negativity lately that it's becoming like this infectious poison and I want to break the norm and "choose to be happy," "see the good," "spread the love," and any other happy cliche saying you can think of. I basically had a melt down on Wednesday because I was being so hard on myself and the students Dallin reminded me that I have to look for what's going right as well as what's going wrong. Thursday, when I was looking at the students in a completely different way and having an attitude of fun, it was so good and the whole day went better. So I'm trying to be infectious at work but just in the opposite way. Instead of feeding into the negativity, I will try and talk up the positive things. We'll see if I succeed. 

This is a typical work outfit for me. It's kind of awesome that I get to wear sweats every day.... until someone tells you your pants look like pajamas. For those of you who know how hard I try to make sweats look professional, you know how frustrating hearing that is. 

Best lines from students the last couple weeks:
  • "Mrs. Graff are we allowed to make up at school? You know, the kissing thing?"
  • "This one time I squeezed a bug so hard I killed it. So I buried it in my yard and prayed over the grave."
  • "I like your look. Do you like my look?"
  • "Teacher, she keeps mooning us!" (I look over and she is saying "moo" repeatedly.)
  • "What in Tarnation?!"
  • "I'm mostly okay I just can't breathe is all."
  • "You should always obey cuz if you don't your mommy will get mad and you won't be able to go to baseball games anymore."
  • "Can I have some money?"
  • "Your earrings look pregnant."

My Model Children

This was the photo shoot we did by the tree. Lol They are so used to me taking pictures that they will do any position and stay there for soooooooo long while I take pictures. It's hilarious to me. I think that means I'm becoming Kim Davis. Or my mom or Grandma.
Anyway, didn't like how far apart they were on this one but loved Josie in the basket.
 So I moved them together. (Josie got a little bored/tired by this point.)
 Josie took a solo shot. :)
And this one's the winner :) Lol Jake balancing on a stool, her in the basket, holding still and looking at me while I take it from a thousand different angles. Seriously these dogs are better models than most people are. 
 Look how much she loves him. Don't worry she's getting groomed soon. She is feeling loads better by the way. Her ears are clean as a whistle!

 Guess what was on TV?

The Miss Arizona USA was on Tv and we watched it. I was counting my blessings that I'm not doing that anymore. Every single one of those girls would be considered knock-out gorgeous if you saw them on the street, but then you put them all in a contest like this and it makes people more judgmental and it all gets crazy nit-picky. Anyway, the person I wanted to win didn't. But that's because the person I want to win never wins in pageants. 

 ALA District Party

The district threw a christmas party at the Flipside fun center. There was bowling, free dinner, lazer tag and maze, jungle gym, arcade games, bumper cars, etc. It was really fun! This was the first time we've gone to a work party that was actually for my work instead of Dallin's so I was excited about that. 
This is Mr. McCarrell, my dad's doppelganger. That was the laser maze. You have to go through it without touching a laser as quickly as possible. Santa was there as well! The bumper cars were my favorite.

Dallin's Game

He had friends over to play again, and this time they stayed until 6 am. Literally. But hey- they brought me wings and pizza.
While they gamed, me and Jake watched Hunger Games. lol I thought it was funny that he actually sat and watched the tv.

Nails

I'm only putting up pics of new ones now. Not the same old. These 2 I got a lot of compliments on. 


Winter in AZ Rocks.

It's December, and it's 75 degrees outside. I am not exaggerating one bit! I love it. No icy roads to drive on, no wet feet, no numb body parts. Ahhh this is life. 
Mrs. Haas and I are doing a winter camp during Christmas break and we are excited about it because we are just going to play games and make crafts and have fun. Her daughter made this flier and I thought it turned out cute.

Murder in My Office!

I had a code red the other day. I was in my office chillin' in the morning and saw a real live mouse crawl into the garbage can! I screamed like a maniac and hauled butt outta there, causing the parents and students standing right outside to think I'm a total idiot. The janitor set a couple traps and the next morning there was a mouse with a flattened head in one of them. The news that there was a dead mouse in my office spread pretty quickly and within minutes there were about 20 small children begging to gawk or touch the thing. The janitor came again (thank the Lord) to throw it away and reset them. The traps have been there ever since and luckily no more mice. I'm so relieved because my biggest worry was that one being the tip of the ice burg and an entire family was living in there. So, sorry to the mouse who lost his life that day. But also..... Yuck! 

Roll Tide

I was texting my dad while we watched the Alabama game vs. Florida. I think he just likes to root for whoever is playing Alabama just to bug Dallin, because I don't remember him ever being pro-gators. lol But of course it didn't matter because Alabama won!

I'll be honest, I staged this picture. But she did stay like that for a good long while! She thought it was a comfy set up!

Our Family Pictures are Done

Here are some of my favorites. I think they turned out pretty good.





I could be wrong, but I think the "bros" love each other.
It's cute how happy they make Dallin. It's so hard to get a real smile in pictures sometimes. But not when he's with them. Besties.

The Graff Girls!
Straight out of GQ

They tried to do a funny 80's picture that they saw online. I don't think it ended up as funny but that's okay. This will be such a legacy for them to treasure ;) lol
This is what they were going for when they did that. I can't understand how that was seen as cute at one time.

Coworkers rock!

This is Dallin, Jordan, and Spencer at the Scottsdale Mall for the last incentive. They gave away a ton of cash for the top selling reps. He said it was really fun.

Here they are with their winnings!


My cute gift from Jaron. He is such a nice guy.


We went to a Polar Express PJ party on Friday with my coworkers. It was really fun. We did a gift exchange and met lots of new people. Dallin played corn hole and we did a trivia game too. For the gift exchange one of my gifts was a selfie stick so we used it to get the group shot! The beautiful cake was made by Brianna's sister!

More Murder

Jakey likes to do this thing where he stands half way in and half way out of the dog door and just looks around. While he does that, millions of flies come in. If you know me, you know I cannot stand flies and mosquitos. So while Dallin is just chilling watching TV on a Saturday, I'm losing my mind hunting down these flies and I can't stop 'till they're all dead. Lol sounds morbid, but I hate flies. I once heard they poop every time they land. Anyway, because of that, I've gotten very good at it. Dallin's fly swatting skills are laughable by the way. It must be that he just doesn't have the same vengeance that I do. They seriously turn me into a crazy person. Dallin was laughing because when I'd kill one I'd yell "Avada Kadavra!" Or if I drown them by washing them down the drain I'd yell, "Crucio!" lol
I got 2 of these fly catchers and they don't work nearly as well as me. 

The Kids with Santa

I don't know why I look so old in this picture. I must be getting old. Dallin is such a sweetheart for taking me and the J's to do this when he probably knows it's stupid. To me it's real. They're my kids, so why wouldn't they need to see Santa every year? lol 
While we were there, they got a new feeding mat that makes it hard to get the food out so I thought it would be kind of a fun challenge for them. Jake figured out way too quickly that if he just kicks the thing it's no longer difficult. 
 I can't stop myself with all this Christmas cheer happening! So I hung more garland!
 We had a fire last night and the whole time Jake sat like that staring up into the tree. There was a bird up there so he was just tortured over it. lol But Josie enjoyed her chair next to us. :)
 Let's play a game called, "Find the Jake" lol This one I really did not stage at all. He will rearrange his own pillows and blankets.
This was early this morning before work. They come down with me while I eat breakfast. It's nice.
I always make a christmas card but I'm too cheap to print them. So here is our Facebook, non-printed christmas card. I try to make them about the major events of that year. So this year, it was getting a new car, moving to AZ, Ben getting married,  and seeing Kobe Bryant's last game. lol okay maybe those seem strange but it's also about just picking from the pictures I've got. 
I'm excited to spend my first Christmas in warm, sunny Arizona! My dad and Shelly are coming and we are excited. We have a bunch of stuff planned. 
I usually write every 2 weeks so it may be that I don't write again until after Christmas. In the mean time we're Christmas shopping while trying not to go broke.
"We wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas, we wish you a merry christmas and a happy new year!"

I guess that's it!    -Sydney