Lovin it!

It's hard to find the right words to express how happy I am to be at home playing with Braelyn and teaching her new things. We're having so much fun! Braelyn being goofy.
Braelyn annoying Maggie. Poor Maggie can't eat in peace.

Braelyn doing her best to give Maggie a hug.

Braelyn playing with Maggie.

Braelyn giving Maggie a hug.

Outside sledding

This smile happened after she saw Heath's dog, Dex.

She can't move too well in all of her gear. It's kinda like the little boy on the Christmas Story.

Ready to go sledding.

That's all for now. I'm sure there will be more pictures later because I still have 5 more days of my break left!

Christmas 2008

Here are a few snapshots from our Christmas celebration.

Smile!

All dressed up.

Grandpa Tom, Grandma Nae, and Braelyn

Grandpa Tom letting Braelyn open his gift.

Maggie and Braelyn waiting to open gifts!

Best Husband!

Have I told you that I have the best husband ever?!?!?! Well, I do. Heath has been doing so many great things for Braelyn and I lately.Tonight I surprised him with his favorite supper and a chocolate chocolate chip cake!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving...

Update!

Hello everyone!
I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as I did! We went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. I know everyone probably thinks their Grandma is the best cook, but I happen to know my Grandma is a wonderful cook! I mean, the lady gets $450+ for making one pie a month (It's a school fundraiser so the money goes to the school)! But, I tell ya, she's the best! I ate and ate and ate some more.
We celebrated Braelyn's birthday with my side as well. It was my cousin's kid's birthday so we had a joint birthday party. The girls loved it! Braelyn showed her true side and ate the whole cake, while Hallee dipped her fingers into the frosting. It was a good time!
On Friday, Braelyn and I attempted to shop. Um... enough said.
Saturday we went to Heath's side for their Thanksgiving. That night we met Mark and Tracy at Jersey's for wings. We had a good time! Thanks!
Yesterday Heath took his girls out for breakfast and then he worked on his garage while the girls took naps and watched Desperate Housewives (I had my own mini marathon!).
Now that brings me to today. My heart is heavy as I write about the most amazing lady that I've ever known. Sue was a speech teacher for many years at DR. When I was student teaching there, Sue would always meet me at the end of the hall during lunch break. We would chit chat about her daughter Katie (Katie and I grew up together and played on the same sports teams) and life. Sue was diagnosed with cancer roughly a year ago. Even when her life was coming to an end, she stayed positive and had a smile on her face. She has touched so many lives and so many hearts. She's in a better place where there's no pain and she can be with her grandchildren everyday and walk beside her daughter as she marries the man of her dreams.

Thankful

Tonight was the last night of Parent/Teacher conferences. I knew I was in for it tonight because I had 11 out of my 17 students' parents to visit with. Physically, I was prepared. Mentally, unprepared. This Holiday Season I'm going to sit back and think about how "good" of a life I have... a loving, devoted husband/father of our child, a strong-willed, smiley, energetic little daughter, a loving set of parents and brothers, caring in-laws, 2 sets of grandparents, a daycare provider who takes extremely good care of my daughter and her friends, a job, a roof over my head, a good health for myself, husband, and child, and the list could go on. I need to learn not to dwell on the small issues because they're really nothing compared to what others see/go through in a day. Sigh...

Wowzers!

I see the last time I posted was Halloween! Yikes! Well...

Last Friday Braelyn and I had a few doctor appointments so I took the day off to get them done. I had my eyes checked. They're healthy, but I'm blind. No lie... I cannot see a thing unless I have my glasses on or contacts in. Absolutely crazy! Then we headed for SF for my dermo appointment. My "itchies" are only present when I'm stressed. Hmmm... Well... I'm the type of person that can't seem to relax therefore I have "itchies" all of the time. I guess I'll just have to get used to it and continue to put my "special cream" on the spots. By special cream I mean that I have to go to a pharmacy specialist to have it made. Oh speaking of that... while I was waiting for them to make my concoction a lady came in asking for her dog's perscription :S. I just thought if your animal needed medicine it got the meds from a vet... not a human store. Anyways, then we had Braelyn's 1 year appointment (I still can't believe she's a year old)! She is in the 90% for height and head circumference and 50% for weight. She's doing what she's supposed to be doing at her age which made me feel good. Then she had her 3 shots. She was supposed to have 5, but I said I'd come back to do her other flu and the 2 she missed. No way was I going to let them poke her 3 different times. Plus last time she got shots... ufffta! I wasn't going to go through that again. So that ended our Friday.
Saturday Heath had Guards so Braelyn and I went to Howard to my friend Kim's Pampered Chef party. It's always good to gossip and see the ladies I used to work with. Then Braelyn and I came home to do some playing and cleaning and sleeping! Tracy and Caymen came over for a visit after Jack's B-day party which was super nice of them. Time goes by so slow when Heath is away.
Sunday Braelyn and I made a trip to DR to visit family and get books so I could do my lesson plans. Caitlin is on her week break from college so we were able to see her. My brother Rane and his girlfriend Aneta came as well. It was good to see the both of them because from now to March we'll only get to see Rane at basketball games (Basketball season rates right up there with Christmas for me)! We'll be making many trips to Vermillion to watch the Coyotes this winter! GO YOTES! I can't seem to put a picture on here tonight because my computer has some serious issues so here is a link to his bio... http://www.usdcoyotes.com/sports/mbball/bio.asp?PLAYER_ID=2137 When they say he made his only attempted three pointer, they should have said something about making a 92 ft shot! It was amazing!
Yesterday we had our first snow day! However, we so could have had school. I made it all of the way to DR and as I turned off of the interstate the radio announcer said, "No school for Dell Rapids Public, Dell Rapids St. Mary, and STRIVE High." Um... excuse me... I made it here! I had to get my dad's truck so he could take my car to get a new windshield anyways so it wasn't like I made the trip for nothing. And speaking of new windshield... I can see clearly now! I have new eyes and no cracks in my view! It's amazing!
Tomorrow is Parent/Teacher conferences. The worst time of the year. I dread them. I don't know why. They aren't that bad. But, I'd much rather be at home with my child and husband. It'll be okay because...Friday is 2 days away!!!!

Halloween

Trick or Treat!

Tracy and Braelyn

The gang!

Awww... so adorable!

K-9 Unit and the chicken!

Daddy took a picture of her in her Halloween outfit before she went to daycare! He's the best!

First Birthday!

Last week was Braelyn's first birthday. The whole week I had flashbacks from a year ago. Does that always happen or was it just because she's my first? Anyways, the story of Braelyn's arrival is quite funny. I was at parent/teacher conferences and all of a sudden I felt like I peed my pants a little bit. I knew that wasn't normal so I tried to end the conference as soon as I could and proceeded to the restroom. Well, I didn't feel like I had to go so I just washed my hands and went back to my classroom. I had two more conferences that I needed to prepare for. As I reached my classroom I felt it again. Except this time there was a little more. Hmmm... I think my water just broke! Um... Yea... Well, I started to walk towards my friend's classroom to ask her what it was like to break your water (This is my friend Shawna who helped me the whole way through my pregnancy. I don't think I would have made it w/o her!) and there was more... I made her come to the bathroom with me and she convinced me that my water did indeed break and that I should probably find a ride home. I thought... naw... I have two conferences left and I could make it through them. I asked her to go to the office and get me some maxi pads so I wouldn't look like I peed my pants (May I please remind you that I taught in a K-6 Elementary School?). She came back with these band-aid thin pads! What leak were these things going to stop? Okay... they were the only things I had so... here we go. I called Heath to tell him that I would be leaving shortly after my conferences and he should get off work and meet me at home. Of course he yelled at me, told me to get home now, and that I was an idiot for thinking I could make it 1/2 hr. As soon as I hung up the phone the flood gates opened! YIKES! I ran to the office, informed the secretary that I was leaving, and started for home. (p.s. I'm running out of the school with wet pants!) I drove the short distance home, switched clothes, hopped in my car, and took off for SF.

We arrived at the ER and the nurse informed us it would be a short wait and that I should sit down in a chair. I was fine until I looked down and saw that my pants were soaked to my shoes. Um... I knew better than that so I asked for a wheel chair instead. I quickly got in a chair! After 1/2 hr wait I was finally wheeled into a "Pre-delivery" room. Okay... so I'm not sure if that is what they truly call it, but they just wanted to make sure I was in labor. I was asked to change my clothes and as soon as I stood up the nurse saw Wild Water West on the seat, asked me to sit back down, and wheeled me to a delivery room.

Well, 12 hrs of labor, 3 puke bags, 2 epiderals, and an oxygen mask later, Braelyn Marie finally decided to join us!

I love my little blessing to pieces and I wouldn't change her for the world! Here are some pictures of her special day!

Braelyn in her Dora Ball Pit!

I know it doesn't look like it, but she loves her wagon!

Birthday Princess!

Opening her nice blanket from Great Grandma & Grandpa

Meredith and Elise came to visit!

Elise!

6-6

Tracy did this and I'm really bad at posting so I thought this would be easy enough. This is Braelyn when she was 5 months old. We thought she'd love an exersaucer, but she played it in maybe a dozen times. Now you're it! Go into your file... find the 6 folder and the 6th picture in it. Have fun!

Update

Um... okay... so it's been awhile! Let me see... Where do I start?

Last weekend I took Braelyn to get her 1 yr pictures taken. Yea... um... maybe 3 turned out. I'm not too happy about it. Oh well. I will order what I like and take her somewhere else to get some better ones.

Braelyn isn't feeling so hot. I mean, she's feeling way hot, but better now. At 4:00 am she was at 99 degrees and now she's down to 98 degrees. She's still crabby, but better than yesterday.

It snowed out yesterday and I'm not too happy about that either. That means winter is near... YUCK!

Heath is gone for guards... again. He's coming home tonight to get a few things, going to class tomorrow, and coming home to be with his family!

Saturday is Braelyn's 1st Birthday!!!! We'll be having Heath's family over for cake and ice cream. My parents and grandparents are coming as well, but we're having a birthday party for my side on Thanksgiving.

Other than that, school is school. Nothing too exciting.

Braelyn is turning ONE!!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Apple Orchard

On Saturday Braelyn and I met Tracy, her kids, Grandma Sandy, and Aunt Michelle down at the Apple Orchard. Tracy's kids had loads of fun playing on the inflatables while Braelyn took a ride on the pony. Then the kids rode the train. Braelyn wasn't too sure about it at first, but after awhile she got a smile on her face. As soon as the kids got off it started to down pour! EEEEKKK! After a few minutes it stopped so we got on the hayride to go look for pumpkins. After the Apple Orchard we went to Ground Round to eat. My aunt Kim took Braelyn home with her and Sandy and Michelle took Tracy's kids so we could do some shopping! I had a great time!

Saturday night I had a Signature Homes party. It was good to get some ladies together, drink, and spend some money!

Sunday Heath came home! Yippeeeee! We sat around, watched football, and had supper. Now he's giving Braelyn a bath so she can go to bed. She's been crabby because she didn't get a good nap so she'll be going to bed early!

Braelyn and I before we got on the hayride Dawson and Caymen on the train... Caymen trying to put up her hood b/c it started to rain!
The girls with their pumpkins
My sweets with her pumpkin
Getting these three to cooperate for a picture... um... yea...

Braelyn riding the pony On the train
Not too sure about it yet...
Here we go!

Apple Orchard... Here We Come!

Tomorrow we're going to the apple orchard! Finally! We're going! Yeah!

The Week is Almost Over With!

I don't know if I mentioned this in my last post but........ Braelyn is finally walking! Okay... so not a lot... but she can do it! All by herself!

Whew! This week flew by! By all means, that's quite fine with me!
We didn't do much this week. I had a student's parents visit me on Tuesday after school. I have a difficult time trying to make modicfications for students that need other help that I cannot offer them. I will try what the parents are asking of me; however, more needs to be done. I hope they soon realize that.

Tuesday night we were finally able to make it to SF to buy a bench I've been wanting. I've been trying to update the look of the interior of our house and I think this bench will do the trick in the porch.

My best friend left me for a couple of days. He's gone away for Guards, something he loves and I support. I try my hardest to be strong, but it's difficult. It's hard to come home at nights when it's just Braelyn and I. We play and have fun, but it's not the same. When Braelyn does something cute or funny, I laugh and smile and think I wish Heath was here to see that. It breaks my heart to think of him missing out on so much of her life. I will be strong... for Braelyn.

Weekend!

Friday night I received permission to buy pumpkins! I have this thing about decorating for the holidays and I sometimes start too early. Heath has put restrictions on when I can start decorating for holidays. He thinks some holidays are overlooked because of the bigger one that follows (Christmas). Anyways, I had to wait until October to buy pumpkins so Friday night we went and got some pumpkins!

Saturday Heath and Mark had to be at the Guard Unit so Tracy came to help me with insurance while the kids played. We ordered pizza for lunch and chit-chatted. Oh and she helped with my blog background. Now I need another class on how to get the thing on here. That night my friend Shawna and her husband came to Madison and we met at the Moonlight for supper. A good time was had by all!!!!

Then came Sunday... For some reason I haven't been able to sleep. I'm not sure why. I got up at six and went to the store to get a Sunday paper. I knew there was going to be an article about Heath's deployment in there, but had no idea it was front page! YIKES! It was a well written article. Anyways, Braelyn work up crying at 8. She never wakes up crying in the morning. I changed her and she continued to cry. I thought maybe she was hungry. She ate a muffin and had some milk and continued to be crabby. This behavior is unlike her. I decided to give her a bath thinking that would help. After I got her out of the tub she threw up... a lot! Whatever. Not a big deal. Got her ready for the day. But this whole time she cried. I began doing a process of elimination: teeth, ear, tummy ache... Gave her some teething tablets that numb the pain... no sign of relief... awhile later.... ear drops.... no relief... motrin.... um still nothing. Have I mentioned this whole time she is crying? Not like a feel sorry for me cry... a cry of pain. I had no idea. At 10:45 I decided to take her to the ER to see if it truly was an ear ache or what the heck was going on. Um... as I was signing papers at the front desk... she lost her cookies... AGAIN... ALL OVER herself, myself, desk, and floor. Not cool. Long story short... she had some sort of bug. And the rest of the day she was fine. She took a 4 hr nap and played. And by the way, it was my birthday... nice, right? Oh well, could have been worse!

Picture Overload!

Heath and Braelyn watching the parade


The girls!



Braelyn and myself at SMHS/DRHS parade



First haircut

Way to go Kerrie!

Braelyn and her boyfriend Seth

Braelyn cheering on SMHS!

That's all I had... just pictures... got to go... Grey's is on... My second favorite show...

Mad Mama

Okay... So I'm really bad about keeping this updated. In all honesty... I've been busy! So here we go...

I called Heath on my way home and he informed me that there was a problem with the foundation he's built for his garage. When he applied for the building permit he was told he could build 2.8 ft FROM THE ALLEY! On Friday (after he has EVERYTHING ready for cement) he was informed he needed to go 2.8 ft from the property pins that this man could NOT find! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I was one mad mama! I don't normally speak my mind, but I tell ya, this time I did. I'm still mad about it. (p.s. The whole time the man is telling Heath that Heath will have to move his garage, this man is looking at the neighbor's freshly built garage thinking 'There's no way that man built from his property pins') UGH!

Friday night DR played MHS for homecoming. Since I live in Madison and work at DR I thought I'd take Braelyn and go to the game. Let me just say... it was nice catching up with Kindra and Kerrie. DR kicked the daylights out of MHS. Enough said.

Saturday I was busy cleaning and doing laundry. No fun, but someone has to do it.

On Sunday we went to DR to my old church. I miss my church. Actually, I miss attending Catholic services so I've decided I'm going back! YEAH! Anyways, after church there was a turkey dinner at the school. I have one word for how I felt afterwards: FAT! Oh! But the food was so worth every minute of feeling uncomfortable! YUMMMY! Afterwards, we came home and I baked cookies and took a nap.

Monday was Monday. Nothing special happened.

So that brings me to today. I got an email from a lady I used to teach with. It read... 'Did you place an order at Scholastic? We have a huge box here with your name on it.' Okay... Seriously? In Howard? When I placed my order the lady asked if I was still in Howard and I replied "No, I'm in DR now". I figured she had the address on hand. Well, she didn't change my information. Therefore my order was sent to Howard. I asked my friend to pick it up for me and we met for supper. It was good to see her and catch up. But, I'm not too happy with Scholastic right now. Plus, receiving my Scholastic order is like Christmas EVERY month! I love it! And I had to wait until 7:00 pm to open my box. Not cool! But what is cool is all of the free books I received! I won't stay mad at Scholastic long... I have another order to place!

Update

Well, this past weekend we took Braelyn to Kerrie's to get her hair cut! Kerrie trimmed Braelyn's hair so now she doesn't look like Joe Dirt's child! Awesome job Kerrie! Thanks!

Saturday and Sunday I went to SF to buy things for Braelyn. I don't know why I think she needs more clothes, but that's what she got. There were a lot of good deals that I couldn't pass up.

Yesterday a couple of people came from the Argus Leader to interview Heath, his parents, and myself about the upcoming deployment. The only question I was asked made me cry. I don't even remember the question but my answer was "Raising Braelyn alone." And while I'm drying my tears I hear the camera going. Nice. Real nice. Now my face is going to be plastered on the Argus Leader with runny mascara. Please pray we get a new president that will bring our troops home and won't make others go over!

Braelyn

First of all, thank you for the inspiring words. Sometimes I just need to vent and get it off my chest!

Braelyn is now saying her second word. Or it sounds like it. She's saying 'hey' or a form of it. It's pretty funny. Last night we had her saying 'hey dada'. Heath and I were both laughing. So much attitude and she's only 10 months old! She's been crabby trying to get a tooth in and last night I was bored so I opened her birthday gift. We got her a dollie stroller, pack n' play, swing, and floor thing. She loves to push her doll around in the stroller.

I'm so ready for the weekend. I love to stay in bed as long as I can and wear sweats all day. I love not having to put on make up or deal with little stinkers (except my own ;)). I love focusing on Braelyn; reading, playing, and laughing with her.

I'm thinking about taking Braelyn to the Apple Orchard in Harrisburg some weekend... Has anyone gone or know when they start their fall festivities?

Questions

What do you do when someone hurts you so bad your heart hurts?
Why doesn't prayer help take the pain of the awful words away?
Why don't others understand your pain?
Will the pain ever go away?
Why can't people understand that I don't have to share my child if I don't want to?
Will people see that I'm trying to raise my daughter to the best of my ability?
Why do I have to live away from my family?
Why did I have to lose my job and start a new one?
Why don't I get to work with my best friend anymore?
Will I ever have fun at work again?
Will I still enjoy teaching after this year?
Why is it that every time I start to feel better something comes up and I feel sick again?

Weekend!

It's hard to believe it's Monday already... Oh well!

Heath was busy playing Weekend Warrior this weekend so it was a girls weekend for Braelyn and I! Saturday we ran a few errands and had lunch with Tracy and her kiddos! After lunch we had a Family Support Meeting. Okay... one of my BIGGEST pet peeves is when people call a meeting and they're not organized to have a meeting. I don't do well when that happens. Also, I cannot work with people who are unorganized. It just doesn't happen for me. Anyways, I think we got a few things understood and accomplished. Or at least we did at my end of the table ;)!

Saturday night we had a retirement party. Heath informed me on Sunday that it's not good news when the women of the full timers get together! haha! I'm not sure what he's talking about... maybe we were getting a little too lippy with the crabby waitress? haha! That's good stuff! We also went to a wedding reception for a lady I used to work with.

Sunday was a busy day of laundry and lesson plans! Yuck! Braelyn's top tooth FINALLY popped through! She's been working on that one for a long time!

Tomorrow is picture day! Whoop!

Doctor Appointment #2

Well, on Thursday I went to my second doctor appointment. Stress was the answer for that one as well. I itch all over... all of the time... and it drives me nuts! Well, the doctor said it was most likely stress induced. Seriously?!?! She gave me some products that might help; otherwise I need to deal with it. Great life I have!
Tonight Braelyn and I went to SMHS football game! It was the battle of the Alma Maters (sp?) of Heath and I. SMHS was kicking some tail when we left (52-14 I think). Both of my cousins, Colby and Cody, had great games! Caitlin was there so we were able to talk with her.
Well, it's time for me to enjoy the little weekend I have!

Doctor Appointment #1

So, I've been having some chest pain for awhile now. This past weekend it really started hurting so I figured it was time to get it checked out. I was a nervous wreck all day! Ugh! I HATE doctor appointments! Anyways, the main reason I was freaking out is because my dad's side has a history of bad blood and hearts. 7 out of the 8 boys in his family have high blood pressure and some have been treated for heart problems; including my father, twice! EEKK! Odds are against me big time! Well, no lumps, heart and lungs sound good... it's got to be the stress! What stress? LOL I have another doctor appointment tomorrow. This time I will see if they've figured out why I itch! I'm sure it's because of the stress. I think it's time I pick a stress free occupation... hmmm... any ideas?

Weekend!

Well, I had a three day weekend which means a LONG Tuesday!
Saturday the family drove to Lake Benton to visit Heath's parents and a foster child they had 8 years ago. We pretty much sat in a camper. Not the way I would have liked to spend my Saturday, but there are some things you just do to please your husband.
Sunday we went to the fair to see my friend and her family. I have never been to the SD State Fair so I was really looking forward to it. And when we got there, I was really disappointed in it. I thought there would be more vendors and such. To my disappointment there weren't. There were a lot of animals which Braelyn enjoyed seeing. I also got to see my friend that I miss very much. There aren't a lot of things I miss from Howard, but I do miss teaching with, talking with, and seeing her.
On Monday, Braelyn and I went to see Caitlin. I miss her too! It was good to see her. "The Ladies", as Heath calls us (my mom, aunt Kim, Caitlin, and Grandma), hung around and talked! It's always a good time.
Braelyn is getting to be such a big girl! Tonight I had her balance for a few seconds! I was so proud of her! It won't be long! I know she's going to take off one of these days. Ugh! I just miss her so much every day. I feel like I'm missing out on her life... Did I make the right decision to go back to teaching? Or should I have stayed home?

No Change!

No change... Actually, I had one kid change. He's one of my best behaved students! haha Who would have thought?!?! I still have 4 kids who don't work, have bad attitudes, don't know how to hold pencils, talk without a break, daydream, pick on others, etc. I have my hands full! It's sad when the whole staff tells me I have my hands full and they don't know how I do it! Hmm... maybe that's a problem? Oh well! I will do my best because that's why I get paid the BIG bucks! ha! Who am I kidding?

Heath will be home tomorrow!!!! No more traveling for awhile!!!!!!

Oh! Braelyn and I had a good time tonight with Tracy and her kids and Kristi and Suze! More on that later! Super tired!

It's Time For the Weekend!

It's time for the weekend! It's been a looong week!
Traveling Teddy is home with us for the weekend! haha You're probably like, "This woman is mad!". Actually, Traveling Teddy is a teddy bear that will go home with a different student each weekend. The student must write in the journal, that comes along with Teddy, about Teddy's weekend. Students are also able to add pictures. If I was thinking, which I wasn't of course, I should have had Tracy's daycare kids take a picture with her. That was her first true stop! I will post pictures of Teddy's weekend later. haha I'm such a teacher, but I love it!
Heath made it home! It feels good to have him back. We get to enjoy him for 2 days and then he's off to Chamberlin for 3 days. I'll be happy and less stressed when this traveling is over with.
Caitlin is moving to Sioux City tomorrow. She'll be attending Briar Cliff this fall. It's hard for me to think that she's old enough to be in college. Caitlin is truly my only girl cousin on my mom's side. However, we're more like sisters. I remember the day she was born and when she annoyed me sooooo much. I remember playing house and taking "family" pictures with all of our dolls. She was my water girl for high school basketball and probably my biggest fan. I remember asking her everyday what she'd like for lunch. Everyday it was Mac N' Cheese! It just doesn't seem right that she's moving away. I will miss going to her volleyball and basketball games and track meets. I guess I'll have to resort to phone calls, txt messages, and emails. Thank goodness for technology!

Off to School... Off to School... To Prove I am a Fool!

Today was my first day of school! Yipee! Every year my mom calls me, wishes me luck, and asks if I've taken my picture. Um... No... That's what those silly school pictures are for. And seriously, I take the WORST school pictures. I don't get it. When I get them back I will post. I promise. I will even post the past years. They're awful!
In the years prior I haven't needed my mom's luck... until today. Holy smokes! I have a couple of VERY NAUGHTY boys! Who gets in trouble on their first day of school and doesn't get a sticker? These two kids! Who sticks their tongue out at the teacher? These two kids! Who rolls their eyes, sits in their desks, and refuses to work? These two kids! I'm serious... they'd better shape up or they're going to miss out on a lot of fun activities! Once I get the year rolling I hope they understand that I'M IN CHARGE and their little attitudes WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in my classroom!
I'm looking forward to this weekend already. Not because I'm back at work. Okay... a little because I'm back at work and need a break already ;), but because I need Heath home. I'm not a very good single mom. My house is a MESS, Dex (Heath's dog) doesn't get any attention, I don't have an adult conversation except when I pick up Braelyn from Tracy's, and I'm lacking sleep. Stress I tell ya!

Inservice, Open House, First Day of School!

I suppose I better tell ya about my weekend first. Heath got a new vehicle! And no Kerrie, it's not a Fancy Dancy Van like you got. He thought he needed a truck, so that's what he got. We went to SF, got groceries, and went to Scheels. We came home that night and sat around. Today I was busy getting lesson plans ready and some last minute things for open house. Other than that we didn't do much.

Tomorrow is the TRUE start of a new school year. We start the day with inservice and end with an open house. Tuesday we start classes!
Tomorrow Heath leaves for Rapid City for the week. He has some Guard thing, so once again, Braelyn and I are on our own.

It's so hard to believe summer is over. It seems like yesterday I was packing up my classroom at Howard and looking forward to the summer. Now I'm looking forward to Braelyn's First Birthday and Christmas! Those are going to be pretty big events in our house this year!!!

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

Braelyn and I after our nap!

Braelyn loves to crawl up on the coffee table.

And in her toy boxes!