The Daintys

Happy Halloween from our pumpkin to you!

Greetings friends, Thanks to all your prayers and support over these last months, my job search is finally over.  It ended where it began, in the principal's office at Marian High School, a Catholic high school in Mishawaka, IN, about 5 minutes from our house. I will be teaching 11th and 12th grade English-- 4 sections of honors Junior composition, and 1 Senior world literature course.  Both Nicole and I are very excited about this opportunity, as we will now be on the same schedules with breaks and will, of course, have the summers off to travel and visit all of you, our family and friends. I am observing the teacher who is resigning over the next week, and I will begin on my own Monday, November 3, just in time for Nikki to go into labor, necessitating my finding a sub for a week or so?!  Oh well, what can you do? Thanks again to all of you who have prayed earnestly that this challenging time would pass.  We are truly blessed by all of you.

My sixth grade class has been working on persuasive essays this quarter, and one of their first assignments was to write a persuasive piece on what Mr. and Mrs. Dainty should name their baby! They worked in partners, and they got to choose either a girl's name or a boy's name. Their responses were quite interesting and they have certainly given us some chuckles. Here are some of the highlights. (Spelling and grammar errors have been left in for comedic purposes.) Most Unique Supporting Details "Isabella is a perfect name because Queen Isabella helped supply Colombus for his trip across the sea. When we were younger we wished that there were famous people with our names. Many people may think Isabella is a weird name, but we think it is very beautiful." "I picked the name Tera because it is easy to spll , and Tera sownds like she will be smart like her mother. Her mother is so smarte . And she will want to be a techer like her." (This child obviously ...

At long last, the nursery is just about ready for our little one to arrive. The furniture has been assembled, the horrid blinds that we got with the house have been replaced, and tiny baby socks, bibs, booties, and overalls now occupy the drawers. My mom, sister, and grandma helped us come up with a satisfying furniture arrangment when they visited the other weekend. Here are some pictures! Welcome! Baby will have to share a closet with Daddy. I love seeing these teeny dresses hanging right by Ryan's dress shirts and khakis and carharts... Here's a close up of Ryan's chairrail handiwork!

I have found that something about a pregnant lady makes people say things that they wouldn't normally say. And, then of course, there is also a sudden decrease in personal space awareness. I am almost not surprised anymore when a stranger puts her hand on my belly for a prolonged amount of time in a public restroom while she tells me horror stories about delivering the 15 th of her 17 children. Here are a few of my favorite encounters: 1. An elderly man came over to me at the grocery store in the produce section looking very stern and asked me if I was trying to steal a watermelon. (He then broke into a semi-toothless grin.) 2. A kindergartner came running up to me while I was on recess duty, put her hand on my tummy and said, "Mrs. Dainty! I just saw your belly MOVING! Is that your baby? Is she having recess, too?" 3. Lucy (our dog) gave me several annoyed glances as she tried to snuggle up to me while we were watching TV and kept getting nudged in the face by t...

This past weekend our moms and sisters threw us a most wonderful baby shower in the Chicago area. It was a lot of fun to see family and friends we haven't seen in a while, and to have them guess the approximate circum- ference of my belly, of course. It has been very satisfying to my nesting urges to stock the nursery upon returning from the shower, too! Lucy has taken quite a liking to a yellow ducky that is supposed to be reserved for baby's bath time, and she has been checking out the baby swing as well. Here are some pictures of the event. Thanks to all who were with us, and to those of you who couldn't be! We are so blessed to have such a supportive and loving family.

Here are some pictures of the nursery in stages.  The first few show just plain primed walls with painting tape.  The next couple show us starting to paint, followed by the adventure that was putting up the chair rail.  The last photos are finishing the painting, doing some touch ups, and the finished product.  It was a lot of fun, and Nicole's nesting urges were satisfied for the time being.  We're doing a ladybug theme, with the green and pink being the dominant colors. We do have some accents like picture frames, shelves, and hanging baskets that are being painted red.  All we need now is some baby furniture.  Enjoy the photos and comment away.