Dylan at the Zoo!!

Feeding the goats! He just loves feeding the animals, and I love it when they are behind a gate and can't get me!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I like doing Top 10s, so today I am going to do a Top 10 about the most amazing woman I know, my mom!! Here it goes...



Top 10 Reasons I love my mommy...

10... she gave me an amazing childhood! I can remember playing with all of her things, her make-up, shoes, clothes, purses...I wanted to be just like her! I can remember one time loosing her cars keys, I was pretending to be her and I was "driving" (my car was the stairs) and I put her car keys in the purse I was using at the time!!



9...singing...no my mom and I are not good singers, but I sure thought we were when I was 10! My mom and I used to blast Hank Williams Jr's All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight, but we didn't blast it in some "mom car" we would blast it in her red camero with the
T-Tops off! I swore we would be just like The Judds, but we would be The Shavers!!



8...cool clothes, OK, they may not be cool now, but my mom always bought my sister and I the coolest clothes! I remember having "fashion shows" for my dad when we would do back to school shopping-he always thought Ash and I were the most beautiful models! I think the last one was, oh 2 years ago!! Yes, Ashley and I (OK, probably mostly me) convinced my parents a couple years ago that we needed "back to work clothes" and they still couldn't say no to their 2 daughters!



7...Thank You cards, I hated doing it, but for as long as I can remember my mom has always made us do thank you cards! When we would pick out birthday invitations we would also get our thank you cards! Every year-birthday and Christmas-I would have to get my thank you cards done by a certain day. She usually had to bug me everyday to get them done, but I did and I am so thankful for that now! I even do thank you cards from Dylan, and as soon as he is old enough to write, he will be writing them himself. I think it is so important to send them out, and a good lesson my mom taught me! Thanks mom!!!



6...being tough-I hated it in high school, but I am glad my mom was strict and enforced rules with me in high school. I was a rule breaker, and I know I was tough to raise in those teen years (especially since Ashley was perfect!!!!) but we all survived, and I thank my mom (and dad) for being there for me when I wasn't always good! But now I am perfect, so they have nothing to worry about-ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!



5...concerts...not all mother and daughters could hang out and go to concerts together, but honestly there is no one I would rather go to a concert with!! My mom, sister and I go to at least 1 concert a year together, and we have a blast!!



4...SHOPPING!!!!!!! I know my husband and dad may not like it, but my mom and I love to shop together!! We could walk around Kohls, Target, Walmart, the Mall for hours and not get bored! We don't even have to buy anything (but we always do!) we just enjoy the time together!



3...CLEANING...my mom is a cleaning fool and she always cleans my house when she comes up to watch Dylan! I may not find everything when she leaves, but my house is clean!



2...Holidays...I have inherited the love of decorating my house for all holidays because of my mommy! It reminds me of my childhood when I have my house decorated, and it makes it feel more like a home to me.



1...being my best friend...I can honestly say that my mom is my best friend. I call on her for everything I need. She is honest, caring, and a great listener. She is the best role model and everyday I hope to be more and more like her. She is an amazing person, and I am so lucky to be able to call her mom. She is the reason I say I am having kids until I have a girl--I want a relationship just like ours, it is the most beautiful thing in the world!

I love you mommy, Happy Birthday!

Bridan's Birthday

Saturday Dylan had a birthday party to go to!! It was his friend Bridan's 4th Birthday! The party was at Chuckee Cheese, and the boys had a lot of fun! A little overwhelming at first, but they got the hang of it! Chuckee Cheese came out to dance and the boys got right up there with him! They were clapping, dancing, giving fives and being little entertainers!!

I hope you had a good birthday Bridan!! Thanks for letting me join the fun!

Love,

Dylan

Lucky Us! A good friend of ours is a photographer, I mean, a FABULOUS photographer and the past 2 summers he has done our family pictures! It is so much fun because we do them outside, and we get to hang out with some friends for a couple hours!! We did them this year out at Lake Shawnee and they turned out GREAT! I added just a few here, they aren't really my favorites, because they are all so good and I can't pick a favorite! Like I have said before, I know I am his mommy, but do I not have the cutest 2 year old in the world!! He was a little bit of a pickle at the beginning and wouldn't really smile, but he we got a few out of him! It was a HOT summer night but it was worth it! Thanks Ken and Maggie, you guys are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

Feeding the ducks...we won't be going back! In this picture I am driving and if you look closely Seth is down the road! I had to go pick him up because the ducks were surrounding him! I was honking at the ducks, but they just wouldn't move! We enjoy feeding the ducks, and Dylan loves when we go, however, the past few times there have been so many ducks and they all come at you at once, that it is too scary! I doubt they would hurt us, but we're not taking any chances! The past 2 times I have picked up Dylan and ran to the car because they get too close. They are biting each other over the bread, and if you don't have any to throw at them you better get out of their way! We decided last time that we would have to find different ducks to feed!

Last Day of Summer!

Oh no, what happened to Dylan's hand!! Anyone want to take a guess??

Genius at 2!! Do you see that, I was naming off countries and he was pointing right at them! I need to call Oprah and get him on her show!!! Ok, really he thought it was a ball and was spinning it around and around!!
See, the boy is obsessed with balls! He has his favorite things, blankie, pillow, juice, and a ball!! All ready for a nap! And no, he didn't take the ball to bed with him! I do draw the line sometimes!
Stop mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am tired of pictures!

Here is my lovely new classroom!! Ok, well it isn't lovely yet, but it will be!! I have been going in this week to work in the mornings! I have gotten a lot done (even though it doesn't look like it!).
How do you like my tiny 1970s desk! It is small, but I don't sit there too much, so who cares! Today I took in a computer desk so it looks much better!

Here are the 2 main boards, I am finishing them up tomorrow. One is going to be book reviews and the other a star student board.
The backpack area! I love the cubbies underneath, they are much needed, the room is small and not a lot of storage room!
And the front of the room and the door to a closet.
Finally, my big helper!! I love the floors, they are the originals! The school was built in 1927!!!
I will post more when everything is done, and it actually looks like a classroom!

b

Brownies!!

Dylan and I enjoyed some time with his cousin Kylee today! We went into school for a while and I got a few things checked off my to do list, and thought of a million more things to add to my to do list!! I can't believe I go back to work next Wednesday and the kids come back 2 weeks from today! After working we had McDonalds and made brownies!!

As summer is coming to an end I think back at all the fun things Dylan and I got to do this summer! It really has been a fun summer! We went swimming, to the zoo, we had a tumbling class, visited the library several times, played at the park, rode the choo choo and played, played, played! Mommy also got to do some fun things, spent the weekend at the Plaza with the girls, went to Omaha with the family, went to Dallas with Ashley, tomorrow I am going to Wichita for the day and Friday night I am going to the Brad Paisley concert in KC!!! I love my summers with Dylan, but I have to admit I love going back to work every August! I get so anxious and excited to go back to school and meet my new group of students! I also love decorating my classroom and trying out new ideas I dreamt about all summer long!! This year is even more exciting since I will be teaching at a new school! I will miss Dylan like crazy but he is in good hands with Grandma and I know his cousins miss seeing him everyday!!