Introducing Roxy!

I know, I know...over a month since the blog has been updated. With Facebook and Twitter and Instagram, obviously I haven't been updating.

But I wanted to introduce you all to our newest family member, Roxy! She was an early Christmas present we picked up on Saturday night.

I'd been missing my Kobe, and in October, I started searching for a puppy that would be ready at Christmas. Most were way out of our price range--we are not on a $600 dog budget--and couldn't find any. Then, when I was in San Antonio before Thanksgiving, a friend of mine's dog had 15 puppies, and they would be ready to go home at Christmas. Dad is a chocolate lab, Mom is a labradoodle (1/2 lab, 1/2 poodle).   I managed to convince Bobby to get one, and we kept her a secret from the girls. I kept updated on her progress through Facebook, and finally, Saturday night she came home with us.

I left "to go shopping" and went to get her. She'd just had a bath, was wrapped in a pink blanket and very sleepy. I drove home on a snow-covered roads with her on my lap. I put her in a Christmas bag and placed her on the front porch. I called Bobby, who told the girls "There's a present on the front porch, go look for it!" and there she was.

She's very sweet, very playful when she's awake, and the girls are in love. Both have told me thank you about 50 times. She had a rough night Sunday night--lots of whimpering and crying---but that's to be expected. She's used to being warm and cozy with Mom and lots of brothers and sisters, and now she's sleeping alone in a crate with a pink blanket and stuffed animals.

That's the story of Roxy for now...enjoy the pictures and I'll try to keep updating more often.

Birthday weekend!

Last week we took a little trip to Columbia. If you know me or Bobby at all, you know we like to do little trips and hate just staying home.

Kaylin had her MRI last Friday morning, and she did great! Watched Toy Story 3 and laid still for over an hour. She has been, and continues to be, a rock star with all her hip, spine, and teeth issues going on.

After that, we headed to Columbia for the weekend. Checked into the hotel, and Bobby took the girls swimming while I got a birthday nap in the hotel by myself! Beautiful!

Next stop was Shakespeare's--only the best pizza in CoMo, or the world.We love this place! Perfect birthday dinner.

Then we wandered around the iconic MU columns on a beautiful fall afternoon.  I LOVE that our girls like Mizzou as much as we do, and not just because we tell them too--they love Columbia and MU because we've taken them there, and they've grown up with it.

Kaylin and the columns:

Attempt #8 at a family pic--Kaylin is on my back, and Macy is on Bobby's.

My little budding photographer Macy took this one. She says she wants to be a photographer, and loves to take the big camera. She actually listens when I suggest things to make her pictures better. She came up with this one on her own!

Macy jumping off the columns. Took several times to get this one.

Both girls on the columns

Then we went to Hearnes Center for an MU volleyball game. Not the most glamorous way to spend my birthday, but our family was together having a good time, so that made it perfect.  We ran into Truman, MU won in 3 sets, and it was fun night.


Saturday we wandered around downtown in the little shops, bought some MU stuff, and ate at my  2nd favorite Columbia restaurant, Flat Branch. Then we headed to Rock Bridge State Park to do some exploring on the trails. The caves we went to several years ago were close due to "bat hibernation" and we were pretty disappointed. But we want to go back next summer when they are open and look around.


It was a perfect birthday weekend!

Halloween 2012

Day at North

Today, the girls were off school, but I wasn't. Bobby had to work, so they spent the day with me at North. Now that they are old enough to do that, it's so much easier. Here's a schedule of our day:

Before school:
Bought donuts from the Gateway kids
Went to one of the science rooms to see the animals.
Got to feed the turtles Larry and Curly (Mo lives somewhere else) some worms for breakfast

1st Hour:       
My plan hour; several students in j-lab and we looked up our Honey Boo Boo names on a              nickname generator.

2nd Hour: Newspaper
I talked with students, girls cut out out pictures of Taylor Swift, colored them and decorated a folder.

3rd Hour: Com Arts 3 (Junior English)
We were in the LMC computer lab. Girls played games on the computer, a student helped them get their headphones working so they could listen to music with their games.

4th hour: Com Arts 3 (Junior English)
Still in LMC computer lab. Girls getting bored with computer, did some rolling around on the chair with wheels and started bugging me about when lunch was.

5th hour: Lunch and Advanced Publications
We went to the Sculpture classroom to look at the creations. We looked at finished ones and talked with my students about what they were currently making. Girls most impressed with a cheerleader's Hello Kitty sculpture and a male student's bear without a head. We ate lunch, then a student showed them how to do Gangam style correctly--if you haven't watched Gangam style, google it--and we watched a bunch of You Tube video's.

6th hour: Com Arts 3 (Junior English)
Back to LMC. More videos and playing on computer.

7th hour: Creative Writing
Back in my classroom, girls colored and got to witness a student freak-out on his project partner and use some language I would rather they not have heard yet.

It was a fun day. I didn't feel 100% and was afraid they'd be a nuisance, but they were fine. The students were super polite to them, although I heard 85 times "Is it Take Your Child to Work Day?" and "Is your daughter taller than you?"

Girl Scout campers

I've been remiss in updating my blog for almost a month. I go to it almost every day, to use the links over on the side, and think everytime, "oh, I need to update!" and don't. Well, I am now.

A couple weeks ago I took Macy's Girl Scout troop camping for the weekend. We camped Friday and Saturday night, went on hikes, ziplined, and rode horses. We stuck all the kids in one tent, and the other leader and I slept in her camper. It was heavenly.

These pictures are out of order, but that's fine.

Macy and one of the horses in the barn.

Macy and her horse, Diaz. She LOVED horseback riding. She forgot to pack pants, and was mad at me that I made her wear her pj pants. She wasn't allowed to wear shorts.

I was towards the front of the group, so I would turn around and try to get pics of the girls when I could. We were in our group of 9, along with a few other people. The girls did GREAT. We had a minor freak out by one girl early, but the other leader dealt with it and I didn't find out until later.

This was breakfast Sunday morning. We had yummy breakfast burrito's, then did a short devotion about creation.  I love knowing the parents well enough that I can do a Bible lesson with them, and the parents don't freak out.

Here are the girls on a hike Saturday night.  These girls LOVE to hike (well, some of them did and the others quickly loved it as well.) They hiked so much. By Sunday morning, I was so exhausted and they wanted to go on another hike. I sent them off on their own so I could sit and put my feet up!

On our hike Saturday afternoon, we arrived at the overlook over the Missouri River. There was another couple there. The woman approached me, and said, "We just got engaged. Can you please take our picture?" I looked at her closer. Tears were in her eyes, and she was shaking. They had literally just got engaged! The girls and I made a huge deal of it for them, and took a bunch of pictures for them. The rest of the trip, the girls kept saying "That was so romantic!"

Saturday after lunch, while waiting to go horseback riding, the girls did an old-fashioned activity: hay bale jumping! Some were nervous, but by the end, all but one were jumping.

Macy jumping...

Saturday morning we woke up EARLY to get ziplining.  Here's the girls getting ready.

Macy ready to zipline

Ziplining... She had been waiting FOREVER to do this, and was so excited. It was over in about 5 seconds. I would love to take her on the one of the really long ones sometime.

Here's the group picture of the girls. I have known these little girls since they were 5, and they are 10 and 11 years old. I love them like their my own, and they even annoy me just like they were my own. :)

It was a fantastic weekend with the girls! They have been asking when they can go again. I told them to let me rest first.

Kaylin

My sweet Kaylin won 1st prize for all 3rd graders at her school, and GRAND PRIZE for all kids in the Jesse James Art contest for her white horse painting, pictured below. She was beyond ecstatic, and so happy. This child doesn't win much, so it was so neat to see her win something. Macy, of course, was insanely jealous.

Kaylin also performed a few weeks ago at the Kearney football game. She did a twirler's class where they practiced for a few nights with the high school twirlers, then performed before the game started. She had a great time, and was so excited to keep the real baton!

Kaylin has been diagnosed with scoliosis.  We don't know much yet, but she is seeing tomorrow (Tuesday) her hip doctor. She's seen Dr. Sinclair since she was 1, and he knows her and her condition. I'm obviously not an orthopedic surgeon, but it's pretty obvious now that she's favoring that hip, and making her spine curve in the other direction. I am anxious to see what he has to say.

Split Allegiences

I'm starting to feel torn.

I've been teaching for Liberty for 12 years, at North for the last two. And I love my job--love the students, the facilities, the program I built from scratch, my principal, my co-workers, the laptop I'm able to use. I feel comfortable and at home. It's a peaceful feeling. We've lived in Kearney for 8 years, and the girls are starting to be involved with things through the school district. This is where the difficulty lies.

Then days like today happen. All day long, in my pigtails with yellow hair ribbons, I am asked over and over again "Hey, are you going to the game tonight?" One of things I pride myself on is making connections with my students, building relationships with them. And they were horrified to find out that not only was I not going to the tailgate and the game, but that I was going to the RIVAL (gasp!) school's football game.

So I came home, washed the LN off my face, changed my hair ribbons, changed my shirt and headed to the Kearney game. Then the guilt started from the other side. "Why don't we go to more Kearney games? Why don't you teach for Kearney?" And then I start thinking about what it would be like to teach at Kearney, where I would know first-hand my daughter's teachers, where I would be in the building if they needed me, where I don't feel torn between two schools. I would teach with several people we currently go to church with; how fun would that be?

In less than two years, this decision will come up. The man whose job I would want at Kearney is retiring in no more than two years. Do I leave North, where it's comfortable and familiar and feels like home, to take a chance on the unknown? It would be beyond words difficult to leave North, to leave students and co-workers and family behind, but it would be beyond words amazing to go to a football game where the players/cheerleaders/band members are not only my students, but my daughter's friends. 

There are pro's and con's, of course. A pretty significant one would be the pay cut I would have to take. But at some point, the intangible's can outweigh the material aspects. And there's a million variables--the most important one is that I might not even get an interview or be offered the job. Then all this thinking and contemplating is for naught.

No doubt this is not a decision I am going to make lightly. No doubt this is a decision that will be weighing on me until the moment it comes.

Instagram Fun

Just some random pictures I have taken lately, and ran through an Instagram filter.

Pumpkin patch in our front yard. The blooms are HUGE in the mornings. we hopefully will have a few pumpkins in a couple weeks. 

Macy stole her dad's tie at the wedding on Saturday night.

These little girls are as thick as thieves. Every day after school, they are either at our house or one of the other girls' houses all the way until bedtime. The mom's do the modern day version of yelling out the front door: we text each other to send our kid home.

Us at the wedding on Saturday night. There was a photobooth, and we may have gone in there 6 or 7 times.

My dad and his youngest granddaughters on his 73rd birthday last weekend

Macy has stolen my bike. Granted, I didn't use it much. But she's riding around on my super expensive mountain bike.

Just some slices of life around here!

Grumpy

It's Tuesday and I'm grumpy. I'm going to complain for a minute, then pull myself out of my funk and have a great day.

I'm tired. Last night was Open House. So happy our principal keeps scheduling it for Monday night, of the first full week of school (insert sarcasm). Makes for a long night and a longer week.

My alarm is set for 6:15. But the last few weeks, I keep waking up about 5, and dozing until 6:15. It's driving me crazy. My body either needs to stop doing this, or I need to get up at 5 and do something productive. Neither is probably going to happen.

Ok, that is all. Grumpies out of the way and I'm ready for a Terrific Tuesday. :)

1st Day of School!

School started back on Thursday for the girls. I was able to work my schedule again to be able to take them. I'm so thankful I haven't missed one first day of school.

Kaylin started 3rd grade.

She wanted little braids on either side of her head like this. It looked cute!

Macy started 5th grade. She and her good friend Kaylee both wore their concert shirts from the Big Time Rush concert.

At school. This is the last year I get to to take Macy to school, and it made me sad. I didn't cry though.

Kaylin and her teacher, Mrs. Q. Macy had Mrs. Q in 3rd grade also. We really like the way she is firm but nice, and really works with the kids on organization. Kaylin really needs that.

Macy and her teacher, Mrs. Ritter. I don't know much about her, but she seems nice.

They have had a great first couple days. I love that they love school and are good students. Looking forward to a good year!

First day of 2nd and 4th here:
First day of 1st and 3rd here
First day of Kindergarten and 2nd here
First day of preschool here and 1st here
First day of preschool here  Kindergarten here

Wow...that was a trip down memory lane.

Saturday thoughts

Whew. It's been a heck of a week, and I am tired. I'm sitting in the living room, enjoying the peace and quiet that I can until the girls wake up. I'm also enjoying the fact that it's 9:45 and they are both still sleeping--they had a heck of a week too, and clearly they are tired as well.

Two inservice days this past week,and I still feel like I have so much to do to get ready for the first day of school on Wednesday.

Today we need to do back to school shopping because, just like Christmas shopping, I wait until the last minute.

Please pray for Kaylin--she needs some tests done and I'll leave it at that for now.

Happy Saturday!

Wordless Wednesday

Been blessed this week to spend time at church camp with this pretty girl. We come home Wednesday night. I predict we both will be asleep by 7 pm. Kaylin will have to fend for herself.

Pricey Branson

I grew up going to Branson every summer. My aunt and uncle owned a lake cabin near there, and it was a usual summer vacation spot. Great memories there.  Go-carts and Silver Dollar City, sometimes Shepheard of the Hills is what we'd hit. Maybe a show or two. Branson used to be a cheap vacation place for us when the girls were little. Not so much anymore.  I added up all the prices of everything the girls wanted to do while we were there. Prices are for 4 people, except the ejection seat because there is no way Bobby and I would do that one.

Ride the Ducks: $54
Dixie Stampede: $186
Ripley's Believe or Not: $54
Hannah's Maze of Mirrors/Wax Museum: $76
Ejection seat: $24 (just the girls)
Zipline: $120
Mini-golf $35
Titanic Museum: $61
Wild World: $50

Grand total: $660

Insane! I spent the entire time telling the girls, "No, we can't do that. Too expensive." I felt so bad, but they have no idea how much stuff costs. Just look at those prices! And that's not even including a show. We did go-carts, Silver Dollar City and White Water, and that was about it.

Time to find another cheap vacation spot.

Wordless Wednesday

The one where we went to a concert and got a hug

Remember this post? About watching Big Time Rush at Worlds of Fun? Well, fast forward a year and Big Time Rush came to the Sprint Center. (talk about an upgrade in venue!) We got tickets back in February-ish, and have been anxiously counting down the days.

First up: dinner at Power and Light and some pictures!

Me and my pretty girls.

The whole crew...

We headed over to Sprint for the concert. We had bought the cheapest seats, and when we got there, we found out our seats had been moved closer (they closed the upper level) and we ended up with pretty great seats! Score!

This was more like a real concert than the one at WOF last year. BTR sang for over an hour, probably close to two. Girls were standing up, singing, dancing, acting goofy. They were seriously having the best time of their lives. I was enjoying watching them.  And then.

Carlos, one of the singers, came down at the end of our aisle, singing. All the guys were out in the audience like that.  Next thing I knew, girls were bolting down the aisle. Then a couple minutes later,  they were back, tears streaming down their faces. MACY GOT A HUG FROM CARLOS!! (in all caps because she was crying hysterically). I seriously thought she was going to hyperventilate.

My friend Jennifer took this, and sorry it's blurry. But seriously...look at Macy's face. She was barely holding it together!!

She talked about nothing else for days. She would walk up to people and say, "I got a hug from Carlos" instead of a hello. She won't let me wash the shirt she wore. Her sweat and Carlos' sweat had mingled on that shirt. It was beyond funny to listen to her.

Of course, as I put on Facebook, if any of the New Kids on the Block had hugged me when I was her age, I would reacted the same way.

One final picture as we were leaving Sprint:

According to the girls, it was "the best night of their lives and the best concert they've ever seen."