One more video of the camping trip

See...they forgot all about getting muddy and decided it was all in fun. Haha.

Memorial Day slide show

Here are a few photos from the weekend...

Memorial Day MEMORIES...

I hope you all have had a restful weekend with an extra day off. Some people spend this time together for cookouts, some go to the beach, and some go camping. We did the latter. We joined my Mom and Dad camping up at the Ridge in Springville this past weekend, and took the kids with us. They had a great time riding with their Papa in the Razor and Jonathan was happy hogging the 4 wheeler all day long. I however, sat with Mom most of the day at the campsite, and we had a good time just sitting back, relaxing, and reading a book. What a wonderful weekend. I saw friends that I had not seen since I was a teenager, and that was nice...I made memories with my kids and my parents that we will all carry with us for a long time, and I had a great time relaxing. Thanks to my parents for inviting us to tag along for the fun!
Here are a few video's from the weekend...AND LET ME WARN YOU -THEY ARE PRICELESS! HAHA


Papa taking Megan and Ryan through the mud hole in the Razor:

And how did they feel about it, you ask?

...so, she doesn't like getting muddy-and Ryan's scream CRACKS ME UP!

But it didn't stop them from getting back on to ride again, AND they begged to go again all weekend...even cried when we packed up to come home!

Summer Lovin....havin a blast.

Ok, Ok...I know I haven't posted anything in quite a while...but really, we've been extreeeemly busy! And what little time I've had since school was over last week, I've been on a mental vacation-meaning, I've done VERY little of anything for the last few days. I've been a bum. I've been a slacker. I've been catching up on sleep, rest, and yes, fighting my summer cold. It's inevitable. The summer cold hits, and makes it's rounds among us. Ryan was the first to catch it, I'm getting over it and Ryan's still got it. Jonathan on the other hand...he had to "one up" us all. He decided to skip the summer cold, and go into a full fledge outbreak of POISON IVY from head to toe. Being the good little motivated husband that he is, he worked in the yard this weekend, clearing out the overgrown areas of the backyard, trying to clean up and beautify everything since we're wanting to sell the house. Well, all that work has consequences. He is home from work today because his poor hands and fingers are totally swollen and he can't move them. A trip to the doc yesterday resulted in a shot, and 2 prescriptions, but he is actually worse now. I feel his pain...being highly allergic to it myself, I got it after doing yard wok about 12 years ago, and it was then that I swore if off and promised NEVER to do it again! Landscaper, I aint! Yard Work, I won't! So much for having a pretty manicured yard around here....the weeds will just have to win, I guess.

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Today, I actually got out of the house with the kids. We packed a picnic lunch, and headed to the park. They had a blast playing around for about an hour or so. Here are a couple of shots I took today:

Then after the park, we walked into the library and signed the kids up for the summer reading program. I have really been battling Megan about reading lately. I want to encourage her to be a good reader, but for some reason, she went into a phase where she didn't want to read anymore. That was surprising me, since she's always loved to read. I finally figured out that she was intimidated by chapter books because it took so much longer to read them. She prefers the quick ending books, like Dr. Seuss, or her "Gigi, God's little Princess", etc. So, I decided that I needed to be a better example for her, and I need to read more books too. Lately, we've cut the TV off (gasp!), and had reading time. The Rules: both of the kids have to go get books to read, and Megan's has to be a chapter book. They can either read in the living room with me, or they can go to their bed. I tried letting them read outside, but it was too distracting for them because all they wanted to do was jump on the trampoline, or swing in the tire swing. Even though it was hard for them in the beginning (and yes, hard for me, because I really had to stick to my guns, and push it on them!), I can see improvements. Today at the library, we found a curio cabinet that had about 9 of the American Girl Dolls in them. Megan got so excited to see it and was thrilled to find out that they have the books there too. It will be great to check the books out there rather than purchasing them, but today's challenge was finding a book about the girl she wanted to read about, and finding the first in the series...we finally elected to read about "Julie" and unfortunately the first book wasn't available, but she really wanted the second...so who am I to say "NO" when she's BEGGING TO READ!? Wooo Hoo! VICTORY FOR MOM!
And what is my little angel doing right now?


Watching the dvd she checked out at the library...

Apparently, it was a small victory-and I still have some work to do. haha

SWEET LITTLE BROWNIE'S

Megan has really enjoyed doing Brownies this school year. Last week was one of the last meetings, and the troop went to a local Assited Living center to visit with the Seniors. The brought each of them flowers, a box of girl scout cookies, and then brought books to read and share with each of the residents. Megan shared her's with a really sweet lady who kept giving her hugs, and kisses. She was so very impressed with Megan and complimented her reading many times. I took a pic of them together, and the lady asked me if she could have one! I will have to send one to the nursing home for her.

Overall, it was a nice experience for Megan. She enjoyed herself, and I must say that a tear came to my eye at one point when I saw her interacting with the residents. Brownie's has been very good for her this year, and she is looking forward to more fun in the future.

Here are a few pics:

I'm APPRECIATED! (as a Teacher)

Today was a goodGREAT day! I was bombarded with kindness today as my precious little students arrived for class. This week is Teacher Appreciation week, and my sweet little angels arrived to class today with gifts in hand. And GOOD gifts too! Here are a few things I got:


















LOTS OF CANDY! (Seriously, I think I brought home 500 pounds of candy...or at least that is what I will weigh if I eat it all!!!)
I also got a cookie cake, but between my class, myself and my kids at home, it's just about gone...but it was gooooood!








One of my mom's owns a Home Decor store in Springville, and she gave me this birdhouse from her shop, and a bag full of Diet Dr. Pepper's (my favorite drink), and Hershey Kisses.










Lot's of cards, and homemade cards, and about $60 in Gift Certificates to eat out!!!!! Now I need a babysitter so Jonathan and I can have a date night!!!





It is certainly nice to feel loved and appreciated. I have truly had the most wonderful experience teaching preschool this year, and I am so very excited to do it again next year. The best part is, I'm graduating up to K3 with my current class, so chances are that I will have a lot of them again! I think the Lord has wonderful things in store for us next school year. Please remember HillDale Christian School in your prayers, and all of the teachers. We need them!

GIRLS ONLY BEACH TRIP!

I just got back from a long planned beach trip with 2 of my girlfriends and we had a WONDERFUL time! My boss was so good to us and let us rent her condo in Orange Beach this past weekend. We loved it and had the best time! It is really nice to get away for a few days and "be a girl"! Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our day to day assignments...."Mom", "Wife", "Teacher", "Church Responsibilities", "Girl Scouts", etc. I have learned over the last year how important it is for me to take some ME TIME. It reminds me that I am special-because it is a sacrifice that my husband makes to be able to alott that time for me. It reminds me how good it feels to have fun, to hang out with friends, and to realize that I am not drowning in my many roles...at least not alone. It allows me to make real connections with other friends that I hope are going to be around for life. As I said this weekend, I would love to go every year, and when we are in our 80's and still having our "girl time", what wonderful memories we'll have.

Thank You to my dear friends for going to the beach and helping me to create some wonderful memories! I LOVE YOU GALS!

Thank you to my WONDERFUL husband for taking on all the responsibility of the weekend...especially when the realtor called on Friday afternoon and informed him that she wanted to show the house that afternoon!...and it was a mess!...and he had to rush home and clean it all up! And I think he did a good job too!

Here are a few pics from the weekend of us GIRLS having fun!