LONG OVERDUE!

Seriously....I wish that I had time for all my pictures, scrapbooking, journaling, and keeping up with info about the kids! I thought the blog would make it easier to journal but I don't even find time for that!

So...6 months later I am going to type again!

Alyssa is in second grade now, and she is doing VERY well! She received all A's and E's the first 9 weeks! Last spring (and this fall) she was selected as Superintendent's Student of the Month! SOOO proud of her! Her reading is going great, along with her math. She is doing great on her spelling tests as well. Her teacher, Mrs. H, is very proud of what a great student she is. Alyssa still loves to play with all her dolls, including her doll, Allison. She loves to dress her up and let her play with her horse. ART is another FAVORITE thing for Alyssa. Santa bought her a new art easel that she has worked on almost nonstop since getting it put together. She enjoys playing games on the wii, including the dancing ones. Buddy is the elf she named, who comes to visit us at Christmas. She is an awesome helper and big sis. Nighttime is still not her favorite, and she wants someone nearby. Yesterday was the first time I finally convinced her to try her bike without training wheels. She was so worried about falling and geting hurt. She does not like to be outside of her comfort zone at all. This fall I coached her and 8 others in her first season of CYO volleyball. It was fun, and she improved GREATLY. She struggled with serving at first, but then she did great once she perfected the 'rock' with it. THEN, it lead to crying if she only got to serve once in a game. Bless her sweet heart. She LOVES to watch TV, including icarly and good luck charlie. Alyssa has only lost one tooth, it was after a football game at the coaches party. You still have your beautiful blue eyes and blond hair. You want to grow out your hair again; however, it drives me crazy when it is in your face. You love to drive the gator when we go to MoMo's house. You get frustrated with things easily, and we argue a lot. Unfortunately that is because we are so much alike. You poor girl! :-) You are still my rule follower, which I do appreciate. Although it makes you scared to try new things sometimes. A funny story that you wouldn't want me to write about, but how it made me giggle. (you don't like when I laugh at you...you don't want to be funny or have people laugh at you) One day you asked me if I knew what it meant to "give someone the middle finger." I said yes, do you? You said "Yes, it means you will do drugs and smoke cigarettes." I told you that was not it; however, you said "that is what everyone says." I only let you know it was sign language for a very bad word. If only that innocence could always be there. I love you girl!

Austin is almost 2.5 and still loves his friends at Missie's. He is a FUNNY little man who loves his big sister. He is still a picky eater, not interested in being potty trained, loves bugs, hates getting his haircut, loves tools, loves trains, and loves trucks, tractors, and cars! He is truly a momma's boy, he can identify all sports balls, LOVES M&M's, loves dum dum lollipops. I dread taking you to get your haircut. It is completely miserable. No chance you will let them put the cape on you, you hate when they spray the water, and we both get hair ALL over us! When counting, he doesn't like to include the number 3. He can count to about 15 though. He will not go to sleep on his own since I took away the pacifiers. He must sleep with his 'guys' - the animals we cut off of the last two pacifiers. He always wants milk before he goes to sleep, and he wants momma to lay with him. He almost ALWAYS wakes up in the middle of the night and comes to lay with mom & dad. He also likes to strum his guitar while singing! It's pretty comical. Santa brought him a big John Deere tractor that he can drive - he was very excited about it! When we went to see Santa at the mall, he was scared of him. Alyssa sat on Santa's lap, and we could barely even get him to just stand by Alyssa. I love when I tell him I don't have something, and his response is "Yes you do." It's so sweet! He loves chicken nuggets, fish sticks, and corn! He could eat those all the time! Austin has also mastered batting his eyes at you with the use of the word 'please.' I am in so much trouble! EVERYONE says you are a mini daddy! You look a lot like him, especially with your blue eyes! You love to ride the gator and tractor when we go to MoMo's, and you want to help daddy feed the cows. And, how could I forget that he LOVES Mickey Mouse! I love you little man!

At Halloween, Alyssa was a cowgirl and Austin was a cowboy. We went downtown for a little while, and then we trick or treated in our neighborhood for a while. Austin now loves to wear those cowboy boots. Although some days he tells me he doesn't want to be a cowboy!

The kids enjoyed the parade for the county fair, and they also both enjoyed the rides! Big sister was awesome and rode many of the kiddie rides with her little brother. Wurstfest was lots of fun too. They had fun running around there, along with riding the carousel.

I am still teaching math, and somedays wonder if I can do it until I have to retire. Society has changed so much, along with the work ethic of individuals. It is a struggle that I deal with, and I lose my patience easily. Hard working people that are determined to work and discover an answer is becoming a lost 'art.' Then there is the daily battle with phones in the classroom that is very distracting. Unfortunately I am also scared for kids for some of the things they 'post' in the social media. Don't get me wrong....definitely still great kids out there....but very frustrating on a daily basis.

Chad is still coaching football and baseball. He is also working in credit recovery this semester. Coaching definitely keeps him busy, especially as he prepares for another baseball season.

We also took a family getaway to the riverwalk a couple weeks ago, and that was alot of fun! Hopefully we can do that more often. We also met your aunt, uncle, niece and nephew there. It was so fun to ride the boat and look at all the lights.

Where Do I Begin?

Really....it's July, and I haven't posted since November! I don't even know where to begin on this!

Alyssa....will be 7 in just 10 days! Oh my goodness! She did AWESOME in first grade. She simply loved her teacher Mrs. B, and she even had a ready, set, teach teacher from Canyon - Ms. Cheryl. Alyssa was named the 'soaring eagle' from her class the first nine weeks, and then she received a golden eagle award each nine weeks for all E's. Her reading level was above where it needed to be, and I was very proud for how much she improved on that! I got to attend her field trip as well - we went to the Magik Theatre in SA to see "If you give a pig a party...." and they got to eat/play in the park next to it. Always enlightening to spend a day with young children versus high school kids! We have done a lot of swimming this summer, and she is improving each day. I am very proud of her going underwater, jumping in the water - these seem like such HUGE steps for her from two summers ago! She is still an AWESOME big sister to Austin, and she loves to help little ones quite often. She can be quite the 'mother hen' at times. Alyssa LOVES to play with her baby dolls still, and she is VERY into watching all the episodes of Full House! She has been renting the DVD's of seasons from the library! She still gets her feelings hurt quite easily, and she has come out of the shy stage quite a bit. She rode the bus to my room all school year, and made some friends to play with in the afternoons. I think she really enjoyed that - although she doesn't like the high school kids to really talk to her. That is when she gets shy. We still have not lost any teeth! I helped coach a little diggers clinic, and she attended that. It was once or twice a week for about six weeks, and she struggled with that some. Volleyball was tough for the first time, and then she got her feelings hurt easily. So, that was an adjustment for all. However, she did MUCH better this summer at camp - I was impressed with her improvement. She was also much more comfortable with things, I think. This summer also included an art camp where she painted a beautiful sunflower painting - I was VERY impressed. Alyssa loves to draw, and I think she really enjoyed this 3 day camp. She also did an SV softball camp with her friend and enjoyed it. She still has basketball camp and a 3 day (all day) camp with a friend. Right now, it is VBS camp, and she is learning lots of songs. Alyssa also played softball in the fall & spring - another area of GREAT improvement. Hitting is not your strongest, but your EFFORT to get every ball is definitely a strength. You got upset in games that a ball didn't get hit to you. And, then in the spring, they actually started getting people out, not just running around all bases. You did not like getting out either!

Oh my baby Austin turns 2 tomorrow! WOW!!! Where has the time gone? Austin is totally into Cars theme toys, trucks, cars, trains, baseball, (all sports balls), tractors, Thomas, and Mickey Mouse! These are just some of the boy things he loves; however, he also likes to play with his sister's things. Yesterday, she and a friend had him decorated in all sorts of jewelry and even a clip in his hair. He still has his pacifier buddies, the frog and bear. These no longer have the pacifier, just the animal. He had one remaining, but we took it away this past Sunday. We are on day 3 right now without a pacifier - going okay so far. Austin enjoys wearing one of his hats when we are out and about, and people often comment on him always wearing his flip flops. He does NOT like to get haircuts. We have had at least five, and he has cried and thrown a fit every time. He loves to do everything his big sister does as well, and he is talking up a storm these days. He can tell us he will be 'two' but he is still working on showing us two. At nighttime he gives us night night kisses and hugs, along with saying "I Love You." He is enjoying the water as well. We don't really go under water yet, but he loves when we go. His favorite part of the bahn is probably riding the alligator on the lazy river! He also makes us laugh a lot - he is a funny little man! Of course, we might be nearing the terrible two's as he likes to hit and try to bite quickly when he doesn't get his way. We have a 'time out' corner at our house now, and he has found his way to it often this summer. Austin really enjoys going riding in the stroller as well. Today we actually went to the park for a long walk, playtime, and then to feed the ducks. He loved that! Nighttime is still pretty good for Austin - we can put him down, and he goes to sleep on his own. Big sister is a different story - out quickly, but still wants someone to lay down with her.

This summer has been a very busy one, but fun as well. It has included staff development for mom and dad, trips to the bahn, sliders baseball tournaments, time spent at the pools, trips to the grandparents' houses, sports camps, birthday parties, and hanging out with friends.

We are having a dual party for the kids at the jumpy place next week. It is a private party with about 30 kids invited. Should be lots of fun! We are also looking forward to our annual beach trip with my sis and her family, and my mom.

I am not really looking forward to starting another year of school - even though Alyssa is! Chad just finished up baseball for six months straight! He had an AWESOME season with the Rangers. He reached 100 wins, had a team that got along great, and reached the regional semifinals. Then he also got the award for the SA coach of the year! So proud of him. Then he went straight into another sliders season.

I also can't believe Chad & I are about to celebrate our 13th anniversary! I just can't believe how quickly life flies by us! I have once again been reminded of how precious life is, and we should not take any of it for granted. Canyon just lost two former grads - one was a Marine, and he was protecting our country, and the other was a recent grad that was killed in a car wreck. Both great kids, who had great smiles. Just doesn't seem right - so much ahead of them. But, we are reminded that God has a plan for each and every one of us. Enjoy every day to the fullest.

This past school year was a hectic one for me - I can't quite figure out why. I think I was maybe balancing too much, and I am simply a work-aholic. I have to find a better balance this next year - at least I hope to. I also can't believe we are nearing the 11 month mark since my dad's passing. Oh how I miss him! I wish he could see the kids as they are growing up, and I know Austin would light up his world. I know my dad loves all us girls - BUT deep down I think he always wanted boys. This little guy would have brought him many more smiles! Austin was often one of the things that would make him smile when we spent so much of last summer there. And at the same time....I still worry about my mom. We try to spend as much time there as possible...and my kiddos just love on their Momo! She definitely spoils them.

Almost forgot to report about Alyssa's weddings that she was in. She was in two over our Christmas break, and she was absolutely PRECIOUS, if I must say. She looked so grown up, and she did VERY well. I was so proud of her for breaking out of her shell to do both of these. And, I think she had a lot of fun at both of them. She enjoyed dancing, and seemed to have a lot of fun.

My mind races with so many things to write about, but I just can't catch up on everything I missed. I really am going to try to do better!