Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend we. . .

Went to the my favorite place...can you guess where we went?!

(I'm no fan of small dogs..but these two are pretty cute!)

You guessed it, we went to the lake! Dad, Jill, and I headed out to the lake Saturday afternoon. Duane joined us later, after his flag football game. We had a yummy lunch and then went out for a relaxing ride on the boat. It was a gorgeous day and we had a great time! I'm already anxious to get back on the boat this weekend! :)

We also took some pictures of this cute two year old . . .

That cute little girl is our niece. She turned two this weekend so her mom asked me to take a few pictures of her. I'm no professional, but I love to take pictures for fun, especially of adorable two year olds that happen to be my niece! :)

We also celebrated. . .

First, we celebrated Haylea's second birthday. It was so fun to watch her blow out candles and open presents. It's hard to believe she is already two..it seems like we were just getting the phone call that Elaina (our sister-in-law) was in labor. Time flies! We can't wait to get that phone call again in December when our new niece or nephew joins the family!

Finally, we finished off the weekend celebrating my dad and cousin's birthdays. Dad turned a whopping 53 earlier this month, so it was fun to celebrate with Dad's side of the family!

Whew, we had a busy weekend! I'm still trying to get back into the work-week mode after a fun weekend!

And you can't forget this cute face that took up the rest of our weekend. . .

She got lots of attention as well, even though we were super busy!

I hope you've had a great start to the week! Only 3 more days until a 3 day weekend! Now that's something to be excited about! Speaking of being excited...check the blog out this weekend for a couple exciting updates! Have a fabulous week! :)

The Odd Couple

Our assistant principal sent this video to us to show our kids. She warned us to watch it before we showed our kids because it was a tear jerker. I of course didn't so I was in tears while showing my class (luckily it was dark:)) I wanted to share it because I thought it was really cool especially if you love animals (particularly dogs) like I do...enjoy! :)

Happy Tuesday!

Kaia might drive Duane and I crazy...

But she sure is cute!

Happy Tuesday! :)

Summers End

I can't believe another summer is on it's way out. I also can't believe that I just finished my third week of school! Whew, time is flyin' right past us! Lots of things happening around here and I can't wait to blog about them soon!

I am summer's #1 fan, but I am also over all of this humidity! It has been in the 90s here in the midwest and the heat index is well into the 100s. All of this heat has made me long for fall. I'm ready to go to the apple orchard and get a carmel apple. Ready to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Ready to see all the trees light up with color. Ready for fall candles to make my house smell delicious. Ready to snuggle up on the couch on Sunday and watch the Colts. Yep, I think I'm ready for fall. I'm just not ready for what comes after fall...winter!!

I feel like I have a gazillion pictures I haven't posted this summer so I decided to post a few random ones. This summer was great and I want to look back in a few years and remember all the things we did but didn't have time to blog about.

Here's a look into our summer:

The end of July means one thing, the fair! I'm not sure if it's my cheerleading competition memories that make me love the fair or what, but I really enjoy going!

Duane, Steve, and Todd decided to start kayaking. They really liked it and now Duane is begging me to buy a kayak. We'll have to see about that....:)

We grilled out...a lot! We had lots of cookouts with our friends..a sure sign of summer! I'm sure there will be a few more before its al said and done! :)

Kaia played with her best friends (Daisy, Russ, and Audrey) a lot! She knows where they all live and if we even think about walking by their house without stopping Kaia makes an immediate bee line for the backyard!

I finished my third and final summer at Camp Cross Training. I've loved working at the day camp in the summers but I think it's time for me to use my summers as "kid breaks". I will miss the kids and counselors a lot but am ready to move on!

That's just a quick look at our summer. I'm counting down the days until fall but know I will be begging for summer once January hits.

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend! :)

Lazy Saturday

This is what lazy looks like . . .

And today Kaia and I are very lazy! The couch is the only place we want to be and will stay there until Duane gets home from golfing!

I've been trying to figure out how to make my pictures bigger for a while and after playing around with blogger, photoshop, and photobucket, I think I finally figure it out! I might not be that great with technology but give me some time and I'll eventually catch on! :)

Happy Saturday! :)

Anti-Bath!

Our sweet puppy just happens to hate bath time...but I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of our little drowned rat!

Starting to dry off and trying to decide whether she still likes Duane and I or not...:)

Edisto Island, SC

It seems like blogging has taken a backseat to everything else that's been going on in our life. Things have been nothing short of crazy around here (more on that later). I have been busy with school and my classroom is officially ready (or as ready as it will be) for my students to walk through the door tomorrow. I am very nervous (much more than I thought I'd be) about what this year will bring. I am anticipating many challenges, but I am also so excited to experience teaching in a new environment and the rewarding experiences that come along with that. I think people often underestimate the amount of work teachers do. I have heard so many times, "How hard can teaching be? If you went to elementary school you should be able to teach it." It is a lot more than teaching the abc's and coloring. Teaching is SO much work but I am a firm believer that every second of my time and effort is worth it if it helps impact the lives of kids. Ok, enough with the teacher talk. I've going to finally blog about our vacation!

A couple of weeks ago we headed to Edisto Beach, South Carolina for a family vacation with Duane's family. It was a great vacation full of sun (it was so hot!) and relaxation. We had the chance to visit Charleston (one of my favorite places) and Savannah, Georgia. The rest of our time was spent laying at the beach, bike riding, and spending time with family and the house we rented.

I took lots of pictures throughout the week. I won't bore you with them all, but here are some of my favorites from the week!

An old plantation house in Charelston. It was built in the 1700s and was so cool!

So many pretty flower boxes in Charleston!

Love the houses there!

A pretty fountain in Savannah

Duane and Haylea at the park

Haylea's cute footprints!

The beach!

Duane and I..excuse the tomato face and sweat!
Another pretty house

The house we stayed in on Edisto Island

I have lots more pictures that I will share later! :)