HEATWAVE

I have that song from White Christmas in my head tonight...."We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave oh the temperatures rising it isn't surprising she certainly can...CANCAN"

Well I can't CanCan...well I can try but it certainly isn't pretty.  It's just HOT here.  We are experience record breaking heat, drought conditions and it's just yucky right now.  I like hot weather but it is scary hot.

Praying for rain, cooler temps and believe it or not...I'm actually hoping for SNOW this winter....I do believe that the heat is messing with my brain cells cuz I don't really like SNOW at all..

Captain Spaghetti Face

Hi!  You want some of my yummy dinner?

What??

I can't believe that!

Its so yummy!   What makes you think that I like this?  Do I have something on my face?

What can I say!  This boy eats spaghetti with all his worth and really enjoys it!  YUMMY!

Happy 4th of July!

I am thankful for freedom,  for the blessings we have here in America.  I am grateful to be more blessed than most of the world and to have the opportunity to be Free.

To the men and women of our Armed Forces who have fought, served and died to protect our liberty and freedoms!  Thank you!

Happy Independence Day!

A New Phase of Life

Janea has joined the youth group!  I can't believe that she is now old enough to be a member of the youth group.  I can't believe she is going to be in 7th grade!
We have now entered the years of youth activities, nighttime activities and busier schedules!

Where did my little girl go?  I can't believe she is getting so be so grown up!

A Good Day

Happy Anniversary to Us!  We have made it to this lucky number!

 It's hard to believe that we have been married for 13 years!  Sometimes it feels like we were getting married yesterday and othertimes it feels like we have been married forever!  This year for our anniversary we decided to spend the day together, just us, no kid!  YEAH!!!  Been quite awhile since we have done that.  Janea and Jaron are busy with Summer School and Jayden already goes to the sitter's everyday so it was a no brainer...Dan and I each took the day off and we just hung out!  I love getting to do that!  We decided it made more since to celebrate on the day before our anniversary since it's a Tuesday this year and it would be weird to work a day, take off a day and then work the rest of the week.  So we enjoyed a 3 day weekend.

Our day was full of delightful things like going to...

 If you have kids you know that a bookstore is not a fun place to be with children who do not read for longer than 15-20 minutes.  Dan and I enjoyed looking at books in a wide variety of sections, wishing we had more money to spend on books, and actually being able to read backs and covers without fear of what the kids might do.  We were in the store for over an hour and had a delightful time!  We only spent 15 dollars but we had a nice relaxing time in the bookstore...I love bookstores!

We then went and saw a movie.  Yes we saw a movie that was probably kid appropriate but so much more enjoyable without children.  Plus, I had a gift card from a student, it was an early morning matinee so it was FREE!!!!  I love FREE!!!  We enjoyed seeing Men in Black III and would recommend it to others.

After the movie we went and enjoyed fajitas at one of our favorite restaurants.

 YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I am super happy and blessed to be married to a great guy and looking forward to many more years and fun times together!

My Quirky Kids

As the kids are getting older, maturing their personalities are so different from each other.  I'm getting to know these guys as they mature and change and develop and it's fun and exhausting all at the same time.

Janea is her own person.  At times she is sweet and loving, at other times she is smart and sassy most of the time lately she seems to be grumpy.  She is growing into her teen age self and struggling with being 12.  She's excited about being in 7th grade and yet at the same time I feel like her defensiveness is just a way of keeping her guard up.  We are working on helping her to grow into lady full of grace and beauty but it is a hard and challenging process.

Jaron is full of energy and VOLUME!  Seriously, I don't think he understands the meaning of be quiet.  He is the one who we are constantly reminding to turn down his volume and calm down.  He does everything full of gusto.  He is a great big brother to Jayden, an annoying little brother to Janea and we are working on having him be more of Dan's helper on things.

Jayden is quite the charmer when he wants to, a screamer when he wants something, a give me what I want or I will throw a fit kid, he's either happy or sad...there really isn't a middle ground with him.  It's challenging to be starting over with the toddler phase but we are enjoying it too.  I won't lie, I will not be sad when he is potty trained!  I don't enjoy diapers.

So that's some of what I have been thinking about lately!  Love my kiddos!

Peaceful

Bennett Spring....one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  The kids took their annual camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa last week.  Jaron was successful in casting, hooking, and reeling in 2 fish all by himself!  First time that has ever happened!  Janea wasn't as successful but she learned how to prepare the fish for cooking this year with Grandma and they set up their own tent!

Dan and I came down on Janea's birthday(Friday) to celebrate and enjoy God's great creation.  We didn't camp but stayed in a nearby hotel with Jayden and let me tell you he thought that was so much fun!  It was good to get away even for just a night as we are weekend people this summer.

All in all a peaceful and relaxing time!

Hello? Anyone still here?

I have been away from the old blog for over a month.  Wow!  I have always posted at least once a month and I didn't post at all in the month of May.   And I realized I do miss blogging.  My life has changed though I don't find myself with the time I used to have to both read the blogs of others and update mine the way I once did.  I blame the addition of another child, a full time job, a husband who works the same shift as me and just the busyness of life. 
I've been thinking about what I want to blog about and I think I will use it now for pictures and other things that are important in our life and leave the mundane stuff for awhile.  I'm also not going to be as whiny...you don't need to read about my ups and downs...I may also address topics that are important to me and post fun projects that I do in my preschool class as a tool to one help me remember and help other teachers who may need help.

So here's what is up with us:

SUMMER...but not a break from school. I am working Monday-Thursday while the kids are in summer school and we get 3 day weekends.  So we will get to swim and have fun at the pool on the weekends and be busy with school during the week.

WALKING...Jayden is full on walking, almost running and getting into EVERYTHING! 

TODDLERDOM...boy I forgot what life with a toddler is like.  WOW! It's crazy at our house...Jayden is a busy boy, a screamy boy, a give me what I want or I will throw a fit boy, a fun boy, needs his routine boy and I am working on adapting life to fit around his routine rather than the other way around....otherwise we are all frustrated at the end of the day.

VACATION...we are not taking a true vacation but the big kids are going camping with their grandparents and Dan and I are going to hang out with them and get away for an overnight.  It will be good!

So that's a brief update...will post pictures soon.

2 Easters in 1 Year

How blessed we were to get to celebrate Easter twice since Jayden was born! Last Easter he was able to fit in the basket this year he got to enjoy all the fun!

Let Him Eat Cake

High Five for the Birthday Buddies!

First taste of his cake!

MMMMMmmm this is yummy!

Am I messy???

Jayden certainly enjoyed eating his first taste of Birthday cake.  I had planned on making him a gorgeous little cake for his birthday....didn't happen I am definitely not a cake decorator!  That didn't stop us from letting him eat my pathetic attempt at a cake and he certainly enjoyed it.  Happy Birthday Baby!

What? Really?? Am I that Late???

So I decided to take a peek here on the old blog and realized that I haven't posted anything in the month of April...lots has happened and I have recorded nothing....nada, not a letter, comma or anything...so if anyone is still reading this....here's a little bit going on with us.

Saw the HUNGER GAMES movie and I was very pleased with it...sat in the 2nd row and got a neck cramp but other than that I really enjoyed the movie.

Easter Weekend...Birthday weekend.  My sister and Jayden share a birthday and so we had a super busy weekend.  Friday we had the day off for Good Friday and so my mother, Janea, Jayden and I went to get her a dress for the Spring Masquerade Banquet that Calvary was having...then we went back to Grandma's to dye eggs.  Saturday the big kids got to go to the Kaufmen Center and see Narnia the Musical and then everyone came over to my house to celebrate Jayden's and Wendy's birthdays.  Complete with cake, icecream and a yummy bbq dinner!  Then on Sunday the whole family was over again to celebrate that Christ is Risen!  It was a  busy and full weekend.

Jayden is now one and not quite walking.  He's still rather chicken to try and take steps but we are making progress as he did walk 3 or 4 last night to get to his water table.  My parents got him this AWESOME water table for his birthday and since it's still too cold for waterplay we have legos and other toys in it and it's a great height for him to pull up on and work in.  He also got 2 toy cell phones that he really enjoys playing with.

I have lots of pictures but I am currently not on my personal computer so I will have to wait on them.

Well, that's a little bit going on with us...hopefully I will post sooner rather than later...

Super Excited!!!!

I read all the Hunger Games books and have been eagerly anticipating the movie being released!  Well, I get to go see it with Dan and Janea today....opening weekend!!!!


Mom and Dad are watching the boys and it will be a gorgeous day for them to go to the park....yeah!!!

Time is slipping away!

I can't believe that March is almost over!

I've turned 35 this month, my baby is almost a year old and walking! 

Life is just moving so fast!

11 months old

Wow!  My baby is already 11 month's old.  It's been a great 11 months and I am looking forward to the months, weeks, years ahead with him!

Some Facts and Stats:
Happy, smiley fun
Loves to play with his older brother and sister
Loves the outside
Big eater...starting to eat many more table foods
wears size 4 diapers and 12 month old clothes
has slept through the night exactly 1 time...I'm convinced his never going to do it consistently!
starting to cruise and walk holding on to fingers, still not standing on his own

Magnet Fun

I was going to write a really profound post on how fast this year seems to be zipping by...but I'm not now.  No, I've been distracted by my 10 month soon to be 11 month old.  He is currently sitting on the kitchen floor with a shoebox full of magnet and he is having the time of his life!  So many colors, pieces and things to do!  Is it going to be a mess...probably, does it worry me, not really...is it keeping him occupied...definitely and that's a good thing.

Jayden is a busy, busy boy.  I've forgotten this phase of life.  My older kids are busy but now you can direct that into other stuff.  Right now Jaron is playing a new Wii game and Janea is off entertaining herself in her room listening to the radio and either reading or working on a project and that is good.  It's nice to have a minute of peace where he is entertaining himself and not looking for attention.  So later we will pick up the magnets and get them out again later. 

I love my kids, but I do get tired of having to keep someone busy all the time.  Oh, gotta go....Jayden is now done with the magnets....

Jayden Eats Spaghetti

We have started eating table food and I introduced Jayden to spaghetti.

He seemed to like it.  Sorry if I am a little loud in the video

10 months old

My big and happy boy is almost 1!  I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by!  I also can't believe he still isn't sleeping through the night.

at 10 months Jayden is:

24 pounds and 31.5 inches

7 full teeth and one coming in

crawling and pulling up on everything

not sleeping through the night

an eating machine...favorites include yogurt and fruits

shows love by giving hugs

full of energy!



What....February is over on Wednesday???

I've been meaning to post...really I have.  However the timing of said posts have not been working and I just realized it will be March before I post my February stuff unless I sit down and blog.  So I will be posting a lot of quick posts today and hopefully when I look back on the year I won't be so behind in what I am thinking and doing!

Difference a Year Makes

I've been reflecting on the changes that have occured over the last year.  The difference I see and the perspective I have gained are great.  I'm thankful

Winter:  Last winter I was STRESSED out.  We had a very very Snowy winter complete with a Blizzard!  This winter has been warm, we have had less than an inch of snow for the entire winter so far and I've not had to worry about snow days at all.  In fact, some days I have had to remind the kids to wear a coat!  What a difference a year makes.

Baby:  Last year I was pregnant and freaking out that I couldn't be a mom to 3.  Well, turns out I can be a mom to 3.  The baby is doing really well, we are enjoying him very much.  It's hard work to have a baby in the house but I do have a great husband and helpful big kids and that makes it great.  We also have been so blessed with a wonderful babysitter who takes such great care of Jayden so I can work. 

JOB:  It's nice to have a job I like.  Last year I was contemplating quitting and freaking out about finances.  This year I have a great job, looking forward to summer and next year and I genuinelly enjoy what I am doing.  I have a rough class at times but honestly I love what I do!

So that's a bit of a difference between then and now. I certainly enjoying what I am doing now and this year more than my memory of last year.

What a Week

I have had a VERY long week for different reasons.  It's not necessarily been a bad week but a very long one.

Monday:
Today was more stressful than normal because a coworker lost her job today.  It was the right move for our school and it was deserved but it's always stressful knowing something is coming and then seeing it play out.  Then you also have the added stress of how that person is going to react to the news.  I hope that it continues to be a good and easy transition. 

Tuesday:
We had a good day in my class, the kids had a good day at school, we had an okay dinner, life was normal till around 6:30...then I started feeling bad.  Very thankful Jayden went down for a nap easily and slept okay. Momma was definitely not up to snuff.

Wednesday:
I woke up feeling AWFUL.  Wednesday is also my highest number day at school and knowing this I made an attempt to go to work.  My bosses could totally see I wasnt' feeling good and they let me go home early.  I got home around 1:00 and after eating some lunch I slept for the entire afternoon.  I was so thankful for rest, for a great babysitter to watch Jayden, and then for AWANA that night for the big kids.  I was able to rest and start to feeling better.

Thursday:
My day was fine...but yet again I inserted my foot in my mouth in regards to my feelings.  Dan doesn't react well to things that I say sometimes and I made a statement that he didn't find good and it made for a stressful evening betweent he two of us.  Marriage can be so hard sometimes.  I am thankful that we have worked through it but I hate that feeling when we are in the middle of it all.

Friday:
Long day at work...due to rain!  It rained all day long!  Rainy days when your stuck inside is more challenging especially with a lot of boys in the classroom.  Dan also had a more stressful commute since he took the van and the van's windshield wipers don't always work and he wanted me to be safe.  Once he got home we all went out for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and boy was it a nice meal together without anyone having to cook.  Another bonus--PAYDAY!!! 

The weekend is full of birthday's, friends, family and hopefully I will get all the laundry done too.