Back to School 2012!

Hello, friends!

I have been MIA for a bit due to prepping for the new school year,

and I have NEVER been more excited to go back to work!

I am venturing into a new adventure in my teaching career as an ART teacher!!

My classroom is completely out of this world.

I have so much space, and the view out of my ginormous windows is beautiful!

Every single time I walk into the room,

I have to pinch myself.

I feel so blessed to have found a career that doesn't feel like a job.

With that being said, I must thank my parents

for instilling in me the strong value of an education.

Despite the fact that I had a newborn baby,

I was determined to finish college and earn my degree.

That degree has enabled me to find my dream "job".

Thank you,

Mama and Daddy!

 

On that note, checkout my new art studio

where all kinds of fun will take place with

the 700+ little artists at my school...including my own son, Carter!

 Here's a quick look at my huge windows!

 Can you see the "word" ART on top of my bookshelf?

 My desk area.

 

Look at all my storage!

 I painted this dresser with chalkboard paint and used 8 different colorful knobs for the drawers.

 This room makes me happy!

 Welcome!

 One of the posters I made last year.

 I love all the brand spankin' new supplies!

 The ART letters I made over the summer

 The "chandelier" I made =)

The bulletin board outside my room

"Art is everywhere!"

The ART letters are made from cardboard.

 

I love this.

My principal asked me to decorate on of the display cases at the front of the school.

This is what I came up with:

 The Starry Night

Van Gogh's Cafe

I love this quote.

 

I cannot wait to see what this year holds!

Carter is so excited that I will be at school with him again this year.

I love that kid.

Here's to a great school year, friends!!

We now have a sophomore in high school...WHAT??!!...a 6th grader, 5th grader and 3rd grader.

Where does time go!

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!



Hello From Lake Hamilton!

Hello from beautiful Lake Hamilton!

Ryan and our 3 little guys packed up the car on Sunday and headed out for the lake

while Austin stayed behind with me because he didn't want me to drive by myself

 as I had a 3 day art staff development to attend. 

They were just a tad excited.

Can you tell?

 The dogs had their own spot in the backseat.

 As soon as they arrived, the fun began!

 I was so proud of Ryan for taking pictures while I wasn't there.

I've trained him well.

 What is it about the boys wanting to cover themselves with clay?

They did the same thing last year.

Boys.

Gotta love 'em!

 On Wednesday, Ryan got together with a family we're friends with from Prosper,

and the kids had a blast together.

 Raleigh and Carter

 They brought their dog, Junebug, along for the ride.

Normal dogs like the water.

Ours are terrified.

I'm convinced they're not real dogs.

 The whole crew...minus Preston.

He's not a huge fan of picture taking.

 Austin and I packed up on Wednesday and waited for my

SIL to drop off my niece, Ashlynn,

who was going with us.

I adore her.

We arrived in Hot Springs late Wednesday night, and the boys were so excited to see their cousin.

The good times continued into Thursday.

 The Teenager couldn't wait to get into the tube!

 See all the beer cans at Carter's feet?

He collected all of them from the bottom of the lake at a sandbar.

He's saving the planet one beer can at a time.

That's my boy.

 Typical Trysten.

Love him!

 Do you know how much food it takes to feed 5 kids every day?!

A lot.

 Brothers...

 My favorite captain.

 Carter and I

I'm seeing braces in his future. =)

 And I leave you with a quick video as we're about go out on the boat for the rest of the day.

It's about a family tradition we have here at Lake Hamilton.

See, there's a dam at one part of the lake where the water

comes in from the very bottom of Lake Ouachita on the other side.

You can imagine how incredibly cold the water is.

It's so crystal clear that you can see straight to the bottom,

and it begs you to jump in.

In fact, when Ryan took us there for the first time,

The Teenager and I jumped in

only to immediately climb the ladder to get out.

It is so cold that it literally takes your breath away.

This time it was Ashlynn's turn.

Poor Ash.

She was such a good sport!

Have a great weekend!!

All Over the Place

I decided to title this post

All Over the Place

because that's exactly what it is.

So much has been going on lately,

and frankly, I don't sit down at the computer enough to document

our lives on a daily basis,

so here it all is in one ginormous post.

* We have spent a lot of time at several different Hawaiian Falls locations.

Love these kids!

My little man

We've gone with some of my girlfriends and their little ones.

Carter was a maniac going across these.

The kid has some skills.

This was the one time where Trysten's height hindered his ability!

I love watching the boys together.

* We recently celebrated Preston's 11th birthday.

My babies are growing up waaaay too fast.

He wanted to go to Jump Street for the day,

so the indoor trampoline mecca it was!
I wasn't very successful at taking pictures because the boys were in constant motion.

See?

Check it out:

 The boys were definitely in their element.

That would be the birthday boy on the left.

He was not into having his picture taken.

Too busy.

Dear Preston,

You are such an incredible kid!

You're smart, creative, imaginative, funny and responsible beyond your years.

I am so proud to be your mother.

Happy birthday, buddy!

Love,

Mom

* We are desperately missing Trysten right now

as he was gone all of last week in Florida with his mom's family,

and on their drive back to Texas,

they dropped him off at camp for another week!

He comes home Saturday,

and we literally leave bright and early Sunday morning for the lake house.

He is going to be one tired little guy.

We are able to go online to the camp's website and see pictures of him

Today they posted this one:

{That's T in the white hat.}

I am sure he's having the time of his life,

and that makes us so happy.

Tonight he will receive the first of the little surprises we sent with him

in a camp care package.

I wrote a clue on each tag with a clue as to what was inside the bag.

I hope he likes them!

* Have you ever heard of the reality TV show on the Style Network called

Big Rich Texas

Well, a good friend of mine and her daughter in

the neighborhood were cast in a role for its 3rd season.

Now, I've watched it on and off for the first 2 seasons since it's filmed here in Texas,

so I know the story lines and have seen the cat fights.

With that being said,

when she invited Ryan and I to 2 of their tapings, I was in.

I mean, who wouldn't want to go see what those shows are really like.

Ryan was not excited about going,

but he was a good sport.

The first taping was a casino night at the country club seen in the show,

and I'm pretty sure that when the episode is aired,

Ryan will be seen because 3 of the women kept standing by

him at the craps table while he was playing.

The second taping was a crab boil at my friend's house here in the hood.

We had a total blast,

and as the night went on,

we completely forgot what we were there for.

At one point, all the women were in the kitchen arguing over something.

Completely cracks me up.

She invited us to a taping for a barbecue this past Sunday,

but 2 was definitely enough.

* Our 5th anniversary trip is officially booked!

On October 4th, we are headed to Cozumel for 5 days and 4 nights of bliss here:

Cannot wait.

Only 60 something days away!

Annnnnnd done!

Are you still here?

Have a great week!!