Spring is here!

Two days from today, but who's counting?! Spring is my favorite season, and I'm so excited for the warmer weather and sunshine. Hopefully we'll have some nice weather this coming week, as the kids and I just started spring break. I'm looking forward to cleaning & some yard work. The garden needs some TLC as well as the rest of the yard. I noticed today that some of my daffodils in the front yard have already bloomed! I've got to get out tomorrow and get some pictures of them.

This past winter we spent several weekends at swim meets with Lenae, as well as on the hard court watching Ryan play basketball for the first time. Lenae did great, and even qualified for divisionals in the 50 fly. She was pretty excited, but I think Kerry and I were more excited for her! Ryan had fun at bball, but he really needs to get some height on him. He joined McPherson Strikers for the spring and is enjoying his new soccer team. He seems to do better at soccer. I think being on the smaller side in soccer isn't as much of a handicap as it is in bball. So far all of his sport experiences have been rec league, so, I am looking forward to watching him play his first game in a "real" uniform.

Kerry is running for city commission this year. He's been doing a radio show each Wednesday. I haven't been able to listen since I'm busy teaching when he's on the air. He's told me that he's heard good feedback from his friends. I know he really wants to get in and make a difference. It's so the opposite of me. I like to fade into the background if at all possible. Give me a room full of kids and I'm great. Put me in a room full of adults and I would just die! Funny how that works.

It's been a while

Wow! I really need to write something! Let's see, since my last update, we've been quite busy. We took a short trip to Colorado this summer to visit Kerry's cousin. We brought Kerry's dad along with us too. It's been around 20 years since he'd been there, and Kerry really wanted him to get away to see his brother and sister. We spent the bulk of the summer between the ball field & swimming pool. Ryan played coach pitch for the first time, and LOVED it! He also took swimming lessons at the YMCA. Lenae was on the summer AquaPups swim team where she earned 16 ribbons for the season! We spent every Tuesday evening at a meet, and Wednesday evenings at the ball diamond. We had a great time cheering them on.

At the end of July (the day after Ryan turned 6) we left for Tennessee. Having never been there before, we were all really looking forward to the trip. We spent a couple days in St. Louis first. Took the kids up in the Arch and played lots of cards with my Aunt Sharon & Uncle Clair. We then spent a week in Fairfield Glade, TN. While we were there, we spent a day at Dollywood, and another day in Nashville. We even went to Dave Ramsey's studio and got to watch him tape the last few minutes of his show. Of course we missed meeting him in person by just seconds. We were wanting to yell our DEBT FREE scream - live on the air. Instead, we bought some souviners. I got to meet one of my online scrappin' friends, Rhonda. That was fun, and we hope to meet up again.

After our week in TN, we headed to Kentucky to spend a few days with some friends that used to live here. We had a great time with Gerry & Cheryl and their girls. We got to spend a nice day with just the "adults" too! The four of us celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Gerry & Cheryl and Kerry & I were married on the exact same day, July 30th! We went to "Shaker Town" for lunch and then walked around the area. It was a lot of fun! We wound up the trip by spending a couple more days in St. Louis before heading home. It was a great vacation, and we hope to get back to that area again. Tennessee & Kentucky were absolutely gorgeous! I've never seen so many trees and winding roads!

Now, school has been in session for about a month and a half. The kids seem to be adjusting well, along with myself. I get the privilige (I think - LOL) of having Lenae in one of my classes this year. Hopefully it isn't all bad for her. :P Ryan is loving 1st grade, and being at the big school all day long. After school can get kind of crazy with trying to get things done with them both in my room, pestering each other. Of course there's after school activities too: Angel Choir and Winter Swim Team for Lenae, and Soccer for Ryan. It sure makes the days go by fast!

Hopefully I'll get back here before 5 months pass by again! Until next time......

Almost summer...

You'd think that after many years of teaching that I'd figure out to wear sunscreen on play day. Nope! I got home yesterday only to walk in and hear Kerry tell me, "Your red!" Of course you always feel it more the day after. My face is tight and my chest and arms are a little tender. *sigh*

Speaking of school, there is only one more week left for this year. My 6th grade homeroom students will be graduating on Tues. evening, which will be the last time I am with them. They were a pretty good group of kids. We had our challenges this year, as well as ups and downs, but overall I can honestly say that I am proud of how they conducted themselves as the year went along.

With that said, I am SOOOOO looking forward to summer! Back in March or April, Kerry and I made reservations at Wyndham Nashville. We were supposed to be going for a week in mid June. Of course with the recent flooding, our reservations have since been cancelled. I found a video on youtube showing just how high the water was at the resort...chest deep! The resort is right near the Cumberland River and just down the street from the Grand Ol Opry. So, we revamped our vacation plans. We are now going to Fairfield Glade, TN (another Wyndham resort) which is an hour and a half east of Nashville. We are still hoping to spend at least one day in Nashville. It'll be later on in the summer though.

Well, we are off to a graduation reception today. It's raining and chilly out, but what can you expect for spring?

Another day in the life

It's Saturday, finally! This week has just been a long week. Not for any particular reason, it just has. I think as spring and summer grow nearer, the anticipation of both make them seem like something far off in the distance.

December and January were busy months. I did most of the Christmas meal to help my mom out since her back surgery. She still did too much, but unless I was to lock her in a room, I don't think I could stop her, LOL! We both had a good time right before Christmas when I took her to Hutch to do some last minute shopping. Luckily, every where we went the stores had those motorized carts. If not, I don't think we would have been able to shop as long as we did. We both finished up the shopping we needed to, and we got to spend the evening together - bonus!

Kerry, the kids, and I rang in the New Year with our friend's the Jakaboskys. We always have a good time when we get together. We spent the night at their house out in the country, and then got up and made a New Year's breakfast. It was a good time, with even better friends!

January was spent driving all over. Lenae finally had her first swim meet on Jan. 9th in Topeka! She did great...even though she had nervous jitters the entire day before the meet. We had the next weekend off - in which I played catch-up. The following weekend we spent in Wichita with my brother since she had a meet there on Sat. & Sun. Then the last weekend of the month was spent in Salina and her final meet for the short course season. She ended up earning her first ribbon at the Salina meet - 6th place in the 100 IM! WOO HOO! That gave her a ton of confidence, and some acknowledgement that she really is competition worthy.



It's been exciting being a "swim mom" and I know this summer will be filled with running around to different towns for meets. I hear they are less hectic, except for the divisionals. Either way, I'm looking forward to it! Oh...and throw in Ryan's activities of soccer and probably t-ball too. We are finally starting to be what most families are for their kids...taxis! I love it!

The Christmas Countdown is on!

Well, I missed a couple of months, but here I am. September was spent getting back into the swing of the school routine. I had to convince Ryan that he has school every day now. He loves kindergarten, but is ready to be at the "big school" all day. September also brought us a new experience...soccer! This was Ryan's first year for being on a team. He sure had a great time playing and running around with the other kids. The coaches were awesome, and we can't wait until spring to get him going again.

October brought a new experience for Lenae, swim team! She does such a great job too. It amazes me how many laps they do at practice. I think I'd be dead after the first 10 minutes. She was supposed to have her first meet Nov. 20th, but after arriving we found out it had been cancelled. That was pretty disappointing. She spent most of the day in a funk until she and her other team member got together in the evening for a movie at the theater and a sleepover.

Mom had back surgery in November. I spent 4 days in Wichita with her, and have been trying to help out Dad as much as I can now that they've been home since the 10th. She's recovering quite well! I know she feels slow, but I can see how much better she moves now then pre-surgery. She still has several weeks/months of recovery since it was a pretty invasive procedure. I'm excited for the summer when we'll get to do so much more together with my kids. This year we had big "dreams" but nothing came to fruition because of her pain.

Mom and I did Thanksgiving together. She'll tell you that I did it all, but that's not true. She helped a ton! The only rotten part was I got sick the night before. I started out with a headache and fever and then it went downhill from there. I ended up with the flu, bronchitis with developing pneumonia. YAY! I've got one more day of "drugs" then my treatment will be complete. I ended up being down with a fever for 10 full days, and missed a week of work in the process.

Monday, the 7th was my first day back, and then yesterday and today were snow days! At least I've gotten some extra time to recoupe. I took a much needed nap today.

Now it's time to get in the shopping mode. With being sick, I haven't done a darn thing. I have a feeling I'll be out at the last minute this year, which I hate, but I guess I gotta do what I gotta do. Don't want to let the kiddos down. :) Hopefully I'll have another post over the holidays, but if not, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Summer Accomplishments

I have officially 4 days left of *MY* summer vacation, and I got to thinking...we've really done a lot this summer! So, I thought I'd see if I can remember what all we've done.

1. Traveled to 8 states: Oklahoma(twice), Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Utah, and Colorado.

2. Visited 4 National Parks: Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, Zion & Arches

3. Watched Lenae overcome her fear of diving off the block into 5 foot water - something the swim team has to do to compete.

4. Finally convinced Lenae that she's needs to join the swim team. Well, actually someone else made a comment that he thought she had some budding talent and that she should join. Thanks Doug! I owe you!

5. Hauled in 9.5 tons of sand to make a pad for our pool. Doggone it, this year it's gonna be level!

6. Saw Ryan finally JUMP into the water, allowing his whole head to go under, and LIKE it!

7. Sold some of our backyard stuff on craigslist so I can get my patio back to how I want it. It's great for BBQs and entertaining now!

8. Listened to Kerry's doubt on what he didn't think was going to be a successful garden. I've harvested TONS of cucumbers and tomatoes. I've also gotten 5 canteloupe (so far), many peppers on the way, my carrots are getting good sized, and the 2 watermelons are almost ready. Oh, my sunflowers were HUGE!

9. Painted Lenae's room.

10. Re-finished Lenae's wood floors after we ripped out her carpet.

11. Watched Ryan watch Lenae diving...he wanted to do it too. HE DID, and he does a great job too! Now, to learn to swim without his life-vest. :)

12. Almost forgot - We went camping for the very first time! Well, Kerry has camped before (in the army) and has always said he'd never do it for "fun". His cousin can get him to do just about anything though. So she invited us camping, and we went! It was so much fun!

That's all I can think of for now. If I remember more, I'll come back and add to my list.

Ryan doing the hula hoop!