Don't Do It!!!!

Mom, we know you thought you weren't in a lot of Fourth of July pictures, but you don't have to end it! Really!
Love you! :-)

Summer Vacation and 4th of July

We had a great trip to Silver Dollar City. We took our nephew, Teddy, with us. We wondered how it would be with a Kindergartener, a First Grader, and a Second Grader on vacation, but it was surprisingly very relaxing. The kids behaved well, and they had a great time. Teddy rode a lot of rides with Richard and I.....he's a bit fearless, so that was really fun. My two munchkins rode rides, too, but Alyssa screamed the entire time on all of them.....and in the lines on the way to get on them! Then when the rides were over, at least for most of them, she said she liked them.......go figure! The weather was great.....low 80s for the high each day, which was awesome! Even getting soaked on the water rides was fun.....one day we all ate lunch soaking wet! The hotel where we stayed had a dalmation statue right as you come in the lobby, so Alyssa had to pet it each day and have a picture before we left. The first day we were there, we ordered pizza for dinner and had it delivered to the hotel because everyone was so tired. Then when it arrived, we realized we didn't have plates! So, we introduced the kids to creative problem solving and eating pizza like college kids.....we made plates out of the box lids! They thought it was funny, but they enjoyed the pizza.

Skunk Boy! Jonathan just happened to be wearing black and white, and then he put on a skunk skin hat which made him really look like a skunk. He, of course, thought it was very funny!
"Milking" a cow in the new barnyard area of Silver Dollar City. The boys tried to milk the fake cow, and they did okay. But then Richard showed them how a pro does it.......not bad for a city boy from Tulsa!
On the way back we stopped at the Precious Moments Chapel and let the kids stretch their legs. They enjoyed stopping and walking around, I think. And it was a good thing for Jonathan to see since he loves Art so much.

The Fourth of July was spent at Beth's House, and we shot fireworks in her front yard. There was a lot of cooking and a lot of shooting........we had a good time. And we all enjoyed seeing the newest member of the family, Baby Will.

On the fifth we went to Jerry and Cindy's house to visit and swim. The kids spent 3 hours in the pool and had a great time....but I think Richard had the best time of all the kids! Jonathan, however, about slept through dinner afterwards! He was so tired from all the swimming. And, both kids slept ALL the way home and then until 8:30 this morning. They were really worn out from all the fun. All in all, it was a good trip, a relaxing time with family, and a great time together.

Summer Fun....Photo Montage

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Last night we went to Dallas' Fair Park to see the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. It was FABULOUS. The orchestra did a great job, the performers were wonderful, and the special effects were really cool. The car really did fly - several times! Jonathan thought it was so cool that he said really loudly, "No strings Mom! Cool!" I just loved seeing the musical interpretation of a movie I grew up loving, and I enjoyed all the songs. The spies were hilarious, too. And, since it was a Thursday night, it wasn't crowded, so we plenty of room to see. It was a great experience, and Alyssa's first musical.

Busy, but Great, Day!

Well, today was a busy day. I worked a while on updating my resume and reformatting it. I also typed a cover letter that I will deliver tomorrow. I hope the committee likes it and me enough to hire me. I'm excited about the possibilities, but nervous about the whole process, and anxious about waiting. But someone special told me that God was trying to teach me something through all this. And, this morning I was reading my Bible and God brought me to a verse that basically was a good reminder that we need to trust Him not only in the bad times, but also in the best of times. It was a good scripture, and reminded me that I have to trust Him with the situation......no matter what.

I also worked on what we will do for staff development the first week back, and I tried to call about our reservations.....which will have to be changed b/c of scheduling that week. No luck. I'll try again tomorrow.

Today also brought around some firsts. Jonathan and Alyssa had their first piano lessons with me! Alyssa sat still, listened, but is still a little young. She's eager, though, so we'll keep going as long as she wants to. Jonathan, however, about killed me. He could not sit still, and had trouble with it because he wasn't listening. Finally, I got onto him, and he listened better. Then, amazingly, he got it quickly! What a concept! Listening helps learning! LOL ;-) It's definitely harder to teach your own child. Thank goodness he has had music in school........he has learned a lot of good theory already, so it helped.

After we got done with piano lessons, I played for a bit. It was nice to just play.....haven't done that in a while. Alyssa came along soon, though, and wanted to bake with her little cooking set Mimi got her. So, we donned our aprons, got domestic, and made Nana's pie crust--just 1/2 a recipe. We put it in the tiny tart pans and saved the extra for cinnamon pie crackers. We took wild blueberries (they are really tiny) and some blackberries, coated them in flour, sugar, and cinnamon, and poured them in the shells. Then, we baked them and waited not so patiently for them to be done. I think we checked the oven 6 or 7 times. While waiting, we played Wii bowling and golf, and I lost at golf to my 7 year old.........it's just SAD! (He LOVED it by the way)

Anyway, once the tiny tarts were done, we enjoyed them as a family......and they were PERFECT! Alyssa did such a good job, and she smiled her blueberry covered smile of contentment when we told her! It was a good day!

First Grade Awards!!!

Jonathan had his First Grade Awards Ceremony this morning. He received all A's this year, so he got a certificate and a medal for the A Honor Roll all year, and he also got a special class award............Most Curious! His teacher really knows him well!!! :-) Nana came to see Jonathan get his awards, and so did Richard...........both made Jonathan really happy.

He had a great year, and I am so thankful that he had such a wonderful teacher. He went from reading a DRA level 14 at the beginning of the year to reading a DRA level 40 at the end. The library program that gives us reading levels so students can choose books on their independent level recorded him at a beginning fourth grade reading level. That's a HUGE improvement in one year, and I truly believe that his teacher did a great job pushing him this year. His math is getting better, too, but he still has to work on focusing and completing his work instead of drawing or talking.............I'm not sure WHERE he gets that from!?!?!!?

Field Day 2009

Field Day this year was a TON of FUN! We started off with a parade of classes around the stadium, and then we had a flag ceremony led by our scouts - Jonathan was so excited! Then the big kids ran races and did obstacle courses, and our first graders played various relay games, had potato sack races, played with a huge parachute, and had a great time! Richard and another dad cooked hot dogs for the kids and fajitas for the parents/teachers. They were really yummy! The fire department even came out later and turned on their big hose so the kids could play in the water. I think it was good for both the fire fighters (who had just come from a fatal wreck) and the kids. I know it was good for the teachers, because it gave us an hour of cooled down fun with the kiddos. And, yes, everyone was a MESS when the day was over. At least Jonathan had a change of clothes for the ride home!