Reason # 4988347 I love my kids:

I went outside to check on the dogs and while I was out there apparently the door blew open- this has happened several times during the windy last couple of days. I heard the door shut while I was outside (kids shut it). When I walked back in Camden had his hands on his hips looking at me and Christian said, "Mama, how many times do Camden have to tell you to YUT DA DOOR!?!?" and Camden says, "Yeah, how many times do I have TELL YOU MAMA!?" I. LOVE. THEM.

Happy Birthday Christian!!! (A day late to post it to the blog...)

4 years ago today, an angel changed my world in more wonderful ways than I could ever begin to count! 



Christian,

Happy 4th birthday baby boy!! I guess I should say big boy, because you are so proud to be "gettin' ho big!"  You are the sweetest little thing.  You love to give me hugs and kisses and to pick me flowers at any chance you get.  You think it is so cool that you are big enough to get yourself and Camden a drink all on your own!  You weigh 37 pounds and are about 40 inches tall.  We will get the exact stats at your checkup on Friday.  Sleeping with Mama is really high up on your priority list these days!  You say, "Mama, I am 'cared in my room cause my wall goes like this 'click click'."  I always tell you that your wall does not make noises, but you don't believe me.  You say that if you had a "Cars" room you would not be scared....ha!  You absolutely LOVE Shelby and always say that she is your "hadorite dog cuh she wuh me ho muh!" ...and you are right, she loves you just as much as you love her, maybe even more!  You are back in another "Cars" obsession at the moment.  Jeans and Cars pjs are your favorite things to wear.  You always talk about Brody (from Oak Tree) and tell me how he is your best friend at school.  Mrs. Kelley says that you are such a sweet, quiet, well-behaved boy at school.  This is somewhat extremely shocking because you are so incredibly headstrong (can't imagine where you get that from!!) ;) You are super attached to the people you love and super shy around those that you don't know well.  You love Camden so much even though you fight with him pretty much non-stop!  (I know that feeling, too!)  I love you to the moon and the stars and the sky Christian Johnn!  I am so proud of you and the sweet little boy you are growing up to be. You really do light up my life!!!  Can we please slow down on this growing up business though?!

Wowwwwww

Yes, I am ACTUALLY POSTING!!! I haven't been busy or anything, just sitting around eating donuts ya know ;)  NOTTT!  Life is super exciting right now with only 9 days of actual student teaching left (without counting weekends, Thanksgiving break, etc).  Thats only 9 more times to watch Christian's sad eyes watching me leave and 9 more times worth of feeling sad to not have seen Camden each day until 4pm! (he's still asleep when I leave.)

Annnnnnywho, my main purpose in blogging is to give you the first 14 days worth of what I'm thankful for.  Today is November 14, and I write down one thing for each day in November that I am thankful for... so here we go! 

Thankful for…

Tuesdays… because they mean Monday is over!

My two precious little boys.  My life is filled with more love and joy than I ever knew possible because of them.

My mentor teacher.  She has been an amazing role model and friend to me.

80+ degree days in November.  I may have been born in the winter, but I am a summer girl at heart.

Animals.  They are the definition of unconditional love.

The degree I will finally receive in December.  I know how much it will mean for my family’s future.

My parents.  They have helped me in more ways and more times than I can even begin to count and loved me when I’ve been the most unlovable person in the world.  I will always feel eternally grateful to them. 

My big extended family.  I feel blessed to have a big, loving, close-knit family.  I don’t think there is a more precious group of people on this planet.

Life’s little reminders that everything is going to be okay. There’s nothing better than seeing a gorgeous sunrise through my heartbroken-to-leave-my-kids-each-morning tears.  It reminds me that this is just a moment in time and that this too shall pass.

Laughter.  I couldn’t make it through this crazy life without it, and my kids’ giggles are the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.

Our home.  Though I’m pretty sure I whine or complain about it being too small, etc on a daily basis- I am so grateful for a safe, clean, warm place to raise my babies.

My students.  I was somehow blessed with an extremely challenging group for my student teaching.  They teach me something new every single day.  I’m pretty sure I now feel prepared for …well, pretty much anything.

Hope.  Without it life would be just plain overwhelming.

My husband.  I have put him through every ringer there is and he always comes out the other side still loving me.

Stay tuned for the second half later on in November!  Hopefully I will be able to make a post before another month goes by!! :)

Another "From the mouths of Christian and Camden" ....

Christian: "Cam, you are my hay-dor-it (favorite) brudder."
Camden: "And Mama you are my hay-dor-it (favorite) mama."
Christian: "Yeah, you our hay-dor-it mama. We wuh you hooooo much!"
Camden: "Yeah we wuh you Mama!"

the most precious souls ever live in my house :)

Scott was awarded FIREFIGHTER OF THE YEAR!!

Click here to read the article :)




a couple more pics from that evening...

Man...

I have really dropped the ball on posting, huh!!  In the past two weeks, I have probably cried more than I have in the past 10 years!  No not really, but I seem to have my meltdowns about missing my kids on Wednesdays lol.  I'm shooting for a tear-free Wednesday this week!  So far, so good!  For a Monday, today went really well.  I have been leading the morning routine (months/days of the week/lunch count/attendance/weather) every morning for a little over a week now. Tomorrow I'm going to lead a guided/independent writing lesson... I'm very nervous, so please send happy thoughts my way around 9:05 tomorrow morning ;) GRACIAS!

I'm so thankful for all of the support from everyone- keeping kids, kind words/thoughts/gifts.  I appreciate everything and everyone's help more than you know!

Debbie gave me a book yesterday that is inspirational quotes for teachers (THANK YOU Debbie!).  I haven't read all of them yet but I will share one of my favorites that I read yesterday...  AND it applies for everyone, not just teachers....

"Dear Jesus, help me not be so busy that I miss the small pleasures You've sprinkled throughout my day....Give me a child's heart that sees the lovely simple things in life."  I absolutely LOVE it.  Soooo many of life's blessings are overlooked because we're all running around like crazy!  If you can, try to slow down even just a little tomorrow and take in everything- even if it means getting up 5 minutes early so that you won't be so rushed.  You will notice things and be grateful for things that you so often miss!  I am sure I will have more great quotes to share from the book.  That one got me through today in much better spirits, though-- so I thought I would go ahead and share :)

Here's a quick couple of pictures I took of the boys with their Grandparent's day project :) 

We like to rap ;)

Camden & the counting rap song

Kinder babies!

So I went to my kinder class(student teaching) yesterday so sad about being away from my own babies and asking myself WHY I am doing this right now. WHY would I have ever thought I would feel okay with leaving them for 13 weeks Mon-Fri???  WHY didn't I wait until they started school?  We read a book called "Can Do Kid" and were doing an "I can __" project to go with the book. I asked one little boy what he CAN do so that I could help him sound it out & write it and he said "I can share Jesus and I can love." Right then, I remembered why I am doing this-- I love it! So precious! 

Nothing will change the fact that it breaks my heart every single day to leave Christian & Camden, but I was reminded of WHY I am doing it and how great it is that one day I will be earning money by doing something I love. Now, if I can just get through 62 more days of leaving my babies.....!!

Happyyyyyyy Birthdayyyyyyyy!!!

Happy 32nd birthday to Scott!! WOW you're old!! ;)  Have fun with our little angels today and enjoy all the REAL FOOD you get to FINALLY eat!!


I love you!!!! Tell Christian and Camden that I love & miss them!!! 

Look!

At all my cute school goodies that Debbie & Keith brought to me this evening!  So sweet and so cute- thank
y'all!!  :)

Now....

Well, Summer has come and gone entirely too fast and it's student teaching for me starting Monday.  I have been excited, but now I am just sad about leaving my kids.  Really, really sad.  Like, randomly-crying-during-the-day sad.  Questioning why I didn't wait until they started school sad.  I'm going to miss their meet the teacher and ALL of their days of school this semester.  Lets just hope I can hold it together Monday morning- doubtful, but hopeful.  I just keep telling myself if I can just get through the next 13 weeks, I will have the next 2-3 YEARS to stay with them.
.
On a brighter note, I officially made an "A" in my last online course!  Now, if I can make an "A" or "B" in student teaching, I will graduate magna cum laude.  I wanted summa cum laude but thanks to Bible courses that's not going to happen! Anyway FINGERS CROSSED for at least SOME honors!

I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Camden Wii bowling...haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3InJXpjhEU

Click the above link to watch!!

TUG OF WAR!

Christian vs. Blyss  <---click to watch

Summer is coming to an end! :(

Well, one week from Monday you can find me in a Kindergarten class Mon-Fri 7:45-3:45! I met my mentor teacher and she is really sweet and supposed to be a wonderful teacher to learn from, so I am excited!  I also met most of the kiddos in her class- they were all so cute of course!  Christian and Camden start school September 6! I am anxious to see if history is going to repeat itself and Camden is going to cry every day for the first semester like Christian did...I hope not, but I'm pretty sure he is going to.  We shall see!

Here are some pictures of Christian and Camden....


If "Camden" was in the dictionary- I'm pretty certain this is the picture that would be there!  Hungry and messy!


Christian is such a big boy!


Camden looks so much older compared to the pool pic from the beginning of summer...



Little Scooter



Oh Summer, how we love you....even if you are entirely too hot!

Christian & Camden

Well guys & gals, as you can tell- life has been super busy (what's new huh?!?!)  Anyway, I wanted to update you about my babies, it's been awhile...



Christian is now 3 years and 8 months (almost 9 months) old and TOTALLY full of personality.  He is about 39 inches tall (we measured ourselves, I think he may be almost 40 inches).  He usually weighs about 34 lbs (they like to weigh!).  Christian doesn't necessarily have a favorite show right now.  He is into The Little Mermaid, Dora, Diego, Strawberry Shortcake, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, & Mickey Mouse  (don't worry, he doesn't watch all of these in one day's time).  He can count to "nedenteen" (17).  He loves singing the ABC's, "the Mack song" aka Life is a Highway off of the Cars movie, "Straw-ba-ba-ba-ba-berry Yurtcake" (Strawberry Shortcake), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and the Spongebob song (I don't like that show and have to approve the episode IF I let them watch it).  Every night he choses from the above list of songs for me and Scott (when he's home) to sing.  He sleeps in his own bed with the closet door open for light and a mini-fan going in his room so he "can't hear a dog bark". Christian & Shelby are definitely a pair.  He has to take a flashlight, a drink, usually at least one toy, sometimes one of my/Scott's shirts, sometimes a picture, and sometimes a stuffed "animure" (animal)!  Putting him to bed takes approximately 15 minutes and you can be sure he will call you back in his room a MINIMUM of one/two times for one reason or another.  He sleeps from 8:30 or 9 until 6:30-7.  He tells me "I wuh (love) you for all all day" alot .... and also "I don't love you this much, I love you THIS much! :)




Camden..or Camdey-Cam, Cammy, Cam, Camo...whatever happens to come out! :)  Cammy is now 2 years 4 months old and 37-37.5 inches tall.  He weighs in at 32-33 lbs! (Yes, only 1-2 lbs less than his big brother!)  He cracks me up with the entire conversations that he is capable of having.  Sometimes I just look at him, amazed at the long & flowing sentences he produces! Camdey can usually count to "aweh-den-teen" (11).  He also loves singing the ABC's & can recognize most of the letters when playing a letter game on my phone.  His favorite show is definitely "bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-berry, baw-berry YURTCAKE!" He loves "Pupcake" and "Cuh-turd" (Custard) on the show. He also enjoys all of the above shows that Christian likes (he usually goes with the flow on that!).  He & Buzz are in love.  Buzz lets him rip his hair out, and Camden lets Buzz lick the excess food off of his arms ..haha!  THE CHILD COULD EAT ALL DAY LONG, EVERY SINGLE DAY!! (So long as it's not meat).  He sleeps in his own bed as well and with a single night light.  He doesn't take anything to bed at the moment, which is odd because he used to sleep with like 45 stuffed animals- he's going through a stage where he wants EVERYTHING OUT of his bed except for his pillow and two, yes two, blankets.  We sing ABC's and You've Got a Friend in Me every night.  He knows every single word of and LOVES that song. He sleeps from 8:30 or 8:45- 8ish. He also eats his toes.

Both of these babies keep me laughing.  They do make me want to pull my hair out, but it's never long until they say or do something to make me smile and put my hair back in ;)  I LOVE THEM more than words could every say! (Camden also is more willing to take pictures with me!)

Thought I'd share my cool find :) .....

Milk= DISGUSTING. I hate the idea of it, period. BUT, I found Silk Almond "Milk" at the store a few days ago. It is NOT dairy, it has 50% more calcium in it than milk, more antioxidants, and less calories and fat! That's a winner in my book!  I bought the vanilla flavored one.  I usually eat cereal plain because I do NOTTT like milk mainly because of the idea of it.  However, I got to eat cereal like a "normal" person this morning and added some calcium to my life in a non-dairy way...whoop!! 



http://silkpurealmond.com/?gclid=CK3I3bCBwKoCFYVgTAodnmOa4w#a=3;r=1   <---click that link to read more about it :)

From the mouths of Christian & Camden.... #84 ;)

Camden: "Mama, you ho(so) pwetty!"
Christian: (handing me a mirror) "Yeah Mama, hold dis and yook at how pwetty you are."

Ohhh my goodness... I have the most precious children EVER :) :) :)

Balloon Race!!!

Christian & Camden's first ferris wheel ride    <---click for video


We had a great time at the balloon race.  There was not an airshow, I guess because of the wind.  However, it was nice and cool (well, coolER), because of that wind!  When we walked up to the gate to buy tickets, a lady gave us FREE ONES and asked us to help a handicapped person in the future (pay it forward!)  Nice people DO still exist!!  The kids were SO excited that Popo went with us, too!



This wagon was the best thing we've ever taken anywhere with us...



Christian's top concern was finding the train to ride.  HE REMEMBERED riding a train last year at the balloon races!





First ferris wheel ride!! They were both totally silent during it- I'm thinking they were trying to figure out whether to be scared or not!  However, they said they liked it!







Cammey on the trian ride :)



Playing in one of the play areas


Of course we didn't leave out the eating part...


Camden found out funnel cake is delicious...




Then Christian did, too!  They were both grabbing as much as they could before the other could get it..














Last year, the balloon glow made Christian cry...this year..... HE LOVED IT!




and so did Camden!!...


This ballon was SOOOO BIG!  It took probably 20+ minutes for it to air up!


Of course Camzilla worked on my glasses for me...



I just love the balloon race!! I can see us continuing to go to it for many, many years!

Happy Birthday NANNO!!!

Cheers with a Shasta!! I can't believe we're not still this age- "oh dear" (Christian's new fave saying), time flies sooo quickly!! We hope your birthday is GREAT!!! Thanks for being such a good Nanno to my babies, we ♥ you!!

OHHHH so dramatic!!!

Me: “Ok guys, time to pick up some of these toys. Grab two and I will help get the rest.”
Christian: “Mama you are makin’ us cwaydee” (Crazy)
Me: “What? I’m making you crazy???”
Christian: “Yeah Mama, ‘cause we did want to lay down ‘cause our backs are hurtin’. You are makin’ us hurt our backs (hunched over while walking).”

Another WEEK!

Wow, time is flying by so quickly!  We have been going 90mph it feels like!  This coming week's excitement?! THE EAST TEXAS BALLOON RACE.  Yes, I realize it is 105 degrees outside with a 110 heat index, but I LOVVVVVVE going to this- and so did my kids last time!  I can't believe it's already been another year and time for this again! You will find us there either Friday afternoon/evening or Saturday afternoon/evening, not sure which yet!


I will try to post some recent pics before another week goes by!!