Where Have I Been???

Now that school is back in, I can't seem to find two extra minutes to blog. We have either Karate and/or soccer Monday through Thursday and two soccer games on Saturdays. Marissa and I scrapbooked last weekend, which has been the highlight of my week. Work is chaotic as I travel back and forth to two sites. This week I was off both of my campuses for two days of training to work with new teachers. I am enjoying the experience of Coaching, but I truly feel lost outside of the classroom. I need to go back next year for my own sanity.

My sister Holly is moving into her new house this weekend. I may have to pop up there to check it out, even though she said she didn't need any more help. You never know how much stuff you have until you have to pack it up and move it! I am so excited for her and Tim. They are going to really enjoy their first home.

We are surviving the puppy, although I tend to doubt my decision to take her home almost every day. I question if I can keep it up, but I'm giving it my best effort. It'll get better I'm sure.

Dog Days

Today I spent the day cleaning out the dog run, trying to get Maisie to do her thing on the grass rather than my carpet, and getting her used to her crate in the hopes that she will soon sleep in it all night. I feel like I just had another baby! Luckily she is such a good tempered pup that it'll all be worth the effort. She is so much fun to be around and she never barks or growls. She is always happy and ready to play with anyone who is willing.

Tonight we went to my dad's house for dinner. Maisie had a blast playing with their dad, Tiffany. I think Tiff was glad when we left so she could take a break.

Soccer Mania!

It's A Girl!

I finally got my baby girl! We were lucky enough to adopt a new puppy this week. It took us by surprise, and she's a lot of work, but we are happy to introduce you to Maisie Pearl. She is a Western Highland White Terrier and she's 5 months old. She is completely opposite of what we thought we wanted, but she is a perfect fit for our family. She is such a good girl. She never barks or growls and LOVES to play with people and other dogs. She is adjusting well to her new home and we are working on potty training!!! Wish us luck!!

So Long to Summer

Well, we all went back to school this week and things haven't been the same in our house ever since. Jaxon started 2nd Grade and is in Mrs. Tompkin's class. I don't know who go the better deal- me because she's my best friend, or him because she's an amazing teacher. It will be an awesome year! Jaxon is also thrilled to stay after school and play with the other teachers' kids. He feels like big stuff and gets a chance to hang out with his buddies Kaleigh and Addie.

On our last night of summer we celebrated with Ice Cream Sundaes. It was a nice way to end the season and begin a new school year!

A little of this, a little of that.

How to eat a smore.




















Wish my feet were here right now.

















I'm pretty sure Cancun doesn't look like this right now, with the hurricane and all, but it'll always look like this to me.















Cheesy grin you just gotta love!!!








I can't possibly believe that it's been over two weeks since I've posted. Thes have probably been the most layed back of the whole summer, so I guess I just have to blame it on laziness. Mason is still in Preschool two days a week. Between both boys we have soccer four nights a week and karate twice a week, plus 2 soccer games each Saturday. So I guess we have been busy. I went back to work yesterday. I'm trying to plan, prepare and organize some things for the beginning of the year. I am doing 1 and a half Staff Development says between my two schools. I have a love/hate relationship with presenting to my teachers. I love doing them, but hate preparing for them. Yet, somehow I love preparing for them as well. I am utterly confusing, I know.





I haven't posted pictures in a while, but here are some of my favorites from the past.

Karma

Yesterday, at this exact time, I was moping around Big Trees National Park for two reasons. First, I couldn't find my camera. Gasp! This has to be a scrapbookers nightmare. I am in a freakin' forest, with the most amazing photo opportunities, and I CAN"T FIND MY CAMERA!!! The horror...of having to...enjoy a beautiful day...without any way of capturing it on film. It was tough. So I decided to suck it up and look at it as a gift. I could actually enjoy the great outdoors and my family, without having to fight for someone to look at me and smile. This is torture for my entire family. They were thrilled to have me without having to pose for pictures. Fine, great, I was having fun with nature and watching my kids climb enormous trees and walk through tree tunnells and stand inside the trunk of a tree. Whatever, I'll get over it (not on your life). So then I notice it's getting a little sunny in this here tree forest. So I reach up on my head to grab my sunglasses (the only nice, expensive pair I've ever owned) and THEY ARE GONE!!! Somewhere along one of the trails I had dropped them and not noticed. So I turn around and retrace every single step in that damn forest. I stopped at every spot I had bent down to "be one with nature-(without taking any photos of it) and every spot I have stopped to show the boys up close (without taking any photos of it) and they were completely gone. So of course, I'm thinking "someone in this place is looking awefully cute right about now with my super cute sunglasses." I'm also thinking, maybe someone like me found them and will turn them in. Please, please, please. So we head to the Visitor's center...no luck. Fine, I give myself an attitude adjustment. There are bigger things in life that can go wrong (although right about then I couldn't think of many). So we truck along and walk more trails and enjoys this beautiful place on earth (without taking any photos and squinting just a little). Then we head to the car and eat lunch. I grab around the front pocket of my beach bag, looking for some chapstick and I FIND MY CAMERA!!! Yeehaw! So as we are leaving I make Shawn stop and we pose the kids in front of some stupid bear carved out of wood just so we can say we were here. I stop in one last time to the visitors center but still no glasses. That's ok, I would rather have my camera, I say to myself. The pictures on that are irreplaceable. So off we go, out of the park. As we drive throught the gates, I ask Shawn to stop and ask if anyone turned in glasses. You better believe, she comes around the corner with MY SUNGLASSES!!! I started crying and preaching to the kids about Karma and how lucky I am that an honest person found my glasses. Jaxon's shouting "Tears of Joy" in the back seat and Shawn and Mason are just staring blankly like "what the heck is wrong with these two". And all I can think is, see...if you put out good stuff, good stuff comes back to you. It's Karma Baby! And Good Karma at that!