Pic comparison

Back to teaching

I am teaching PE again and LOVING it! I found out I got the job in June and was full of all kinds of emotions- excited, scared terrified, and I really struggled with leaving Cole. However, I was completely blessed by the number of positive comments I received when people found out about my job and my fears seemed to grow less and less. 

I'm working part time - every day from 11:50-3:20 and it's the perfect amount of time!

I have also been incredibly blessed by Cole's babysitters. God has provided him with the most loving sitters I could ask for. It makes leaving him for a few hours a day, so much easier. 

So what's Ava doing during this time??? 

She's in Pre-K!! How did that even happen???

And she's equally loving it! She has amazing teachers and is making all kinds of friends. I don't know why I ever worried about her not knowing any of the kids, she's such a social butterfly!

So, so far our time as Oakdale Rockets has been wonderful. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow- we are starting soccer and parachute games! 

*Blessed*

Back to it!

Can it really be that I haven't blogged since 2011?!! Oops. Well now that the first NFL game has started and my sweet hubby will be wrapped up in Fantasy football, I have decided to use part of the time he is watching football, to blog....well at least that's my plan. I promise to do my best!

The Show's Over

I seriously can't believe it's over. It seems like just yesterday it was months away. I really think all the hard work paid off and I'm excited to do it again...someday.

I have so many people to say thank you too! My awesome mom helped wash, cut and pay for my all my fabric (thanks for making my profit actual profit mom!) and Aubrie and my in-laws watched Ava for me so I could sew or go to the show. Dustin's grandma provided the booth space and Aunt Cathy fed my hubby (so important to keep him fed!) So thank you, thank you, thank you! I seriously couldn't have done it without each of you!

So about the weekend:

We went up Thursday night so I could be there Friday to help set up the booth. That meant I had most of the day free Friday so of course we (my wonderful in-laws, Ava and I) hit up the KS state fair! Ava got to feed lots of animals and gave a homely bunny a kiss or two. And with Brad, we ate well to say the least. Of course by well I mean delicious and not good for our bodies at all!
Dustin made it for the last little bit of setting up on Friday night and then we ran a few errands before heading to his Grandma's house for the night. I of course thought of a million things that I NEEDED to do all at the last minute. So, without complaining my sweet husband helped me and we finally went to bed at 1:45 am...and then got up at 5. If you know Dustin very well, you know he can barely function with less than 7hrs of sleep sleep, but he was wonderful! (I think it helped that his Aunt Cathy kept buying him things like homemade cinnamon roles, biscuits and gravy and of course bierocks.) Thank goodness she was because when we arrived to unload all of our items, it was pouring and freezing! My socks and shoes were soaked by the time we finally opened up.

This is a pic of my section of the booth. (It was a laid out a little better than this at the beginning).

And here's my awesome helper. I seriously couldn't have done it without him. Love him so much!
We made it through the day. Cold and a little wet. And we enjoyed it. I am hoping I hear from some people who took my card that want outfits. Fingers crossed! :)

Sunday afternoon Ava got to spend some time with her sweet cousin Emma. Ava just adores her and we were so lucky to get to see her while she was in town. We were also really lucky to see Dustin's cousin Christopher. He's been oversea's serving our country and we are so happy to have him back! Thanks for all you do Chris!
Again, thanks to all of you that helped me out! I am so blessed! Love you guys!

Where's the love!

Lately I've been getting some glimpses into Ava's teenage years.

She only responds to Dustin and completely ignores me. She craves his attention and begs for him to put her to bed every night (he does this every night, but I guess she's afraid I might try and weasel my way in there). Dustin even has to make a game out of giving me a hug at night time in order for me to get a good night hug! Sigh. I know that she loves me, but it's so sad when you plan activities, play with her, and have to discipline her all day and only get a hurried, please get out of my room hug at night. Oh Parenting.

I better start praying harder for the next 16 years...

Two weeks in Idaho...Chapter 2

We were so lucky to catch Kyle and Serrah when they were both home (this never happens in the summer because they both fight forest fires and are ALWAYS gone in the summer), and had so much fun with them! They took us for some amazing Thai food one night and some awesome bagels and coffee in the morning. Then they showed us this...
Gorgeous! I can't believe I've never been there before! So we took some pics...


Then they took us to Dierkes (SP??) to get cooled off.

Ava had a blast with her Uncle Kyle and Aunt Serrah! I think it won't be long before I need to ship her off to them so they can teach her how to rock climb.

Back in Weiser, Ava did a lot of swimming, running through sprinklers, watering flowers (whether it was needed or not), and eating tons of popsicles with Grandma.

In the mean time I was probably sleeping or reading...I miss it already. sigh.

Ava also got to spend some time at the park with Grandpa and eat some much needed icecream from Jebs with Grandpa and her Great Uncle Dave.

Mom (aka Grandma) Dustin, Ava and I also went shopping, rode go carts, played miniature golf, went for walks (where sweatshirts were needed at the start), had dinner and game night with our wonderful friends the Clark's and so much more.

After Dustin left, the 3 of us did more shopping, went to the water park (which was AWESOME and I can't wait to take Ava back). This ultimately knocked Ava out so hard that she couldn't finish eating her pretzel before falling asleep...

Ava and I also got to spend some time with the Sorenson's and their sweet boys. We had a wonderful time reminiscing and talking about all that has changed from high school days to parenthood. We also spent time with the Coleman's. Well I think it may be more accurate to say Dan watched the girls while Di and I talked (thanks Dan!). Oh and one of the many high lights of the trip...Di let me help with HS Volleyball tryouts! I had so much fun and am so excited for the team this year. Those girls have some wonderful coaches and I wish so badly I could be there through out the season! ( I may have asked Dustin to quit his job, sale the house and move us there for the vb season...I don't think he went for it though).

We had a blast in Idaho and we can't wait to go again! Thanks for a great trip everyone! Love you all!

Two weeks in Idaho..Chapter 1

Sorry no pics this time around, but I promise to add them later.

Going to Idaho couldn't have come at a better time. I'm not sure what would have happened if we would have been stuck in Oklahoma a second longer, but I'm pretty sure it would have included us exploding from heat in some fashion. Our AC has not been working very well despite several AC guys trying to help us, there's just not a lot they can do at this point. Obviously it's livable, but at 5:30 when I'm cooking with a not so helpful toddler in our 82 degree house, I think it's fair to say I'm a tad bit cranky (total understatement). So like I said, an escape to Idaho was exactly what we needed.

I often forget how beautiful it is there. The grass is gorgeous...this is real grass people, the stuff you can actually walk on, think about sleeping on. It does not resemble anything that might look like grass in my front yard. It's so awesome that Ava was almost intimidated by it.

Oh and the mountains are gorgeous and even the air seems to smell better (except for Ontario!). (Is it obvious that I miss it???)

Those are all things I never appreciated enough growing up, but miss now. Don't get me wrong, I think Oklahoma is beautiful in a different way, seriously. I just miss what I grew up with too. :)

It was an amazing trip and I'm so glad all 3 of us got to go!