Happy 14th Birthday Austin!

 

In the blink of an eye, our oldest son has turned 14!  Really, I swear that we were just living in Lansing, kansas and nervously bringing our first little bundle of joy home.  Now, he's nearly as tall as I am and we are nervously headed to the DMV to get Austin's driver's permit.  Holy Moly!  

For the past several years, we've spent Memorial Day Weekend, which is always Austin's birthday weekend, camping at Briggs Woods.  He loves having his family party at the campground.  However, Mother Nature apparently didn't approve of our festivities this year and tried to rain on Austin's parade.  However, Papa and Grandma Di graciously opened their home to everyone so that we could celebrate with Austin without melting...because I am made of sugar. (Look out Grandma Ween, we may need to crash your place next year!)  

When Mother Nature decides to cooperate, Austin is going to have the opportunity to take flight with Half Fast Flying Adventures with Brian Aukes in one of his vintage planes.  Ever since we flew a few years back when we went on a family cruise, Austin has been enamored with planes. Since Aaron works with Brian, we arranged for him to have this amazing experience. Austin's beyond excited, and I can only imagine the exhilaration he'll feel flying in an open cockpit! His mother on the other hand might be feeling something other than exhilaration.  

We feel so blessed that our entire family was able to come and celebrate Austin.  As everyone's schedules get busier and busier, we cherish the times everyone can get together.  

Happy 14th Birthday Austin!  We love you more than you'll ever know!

My new profession

is going to be in the dentistry field right after I get over my gag reflex issues.  I received a call from Carter's school this morning about him having chipped off about a quarter of one of his big chompers in the back of his mouth.  UGH!  That child of mine spends more of his time and my money at the dentist dealing with his chipped teeth.

Since it was already a loose tooth, and a baby one at that, I wasn't quite sure what needed to be done.  My very sweet dentist told me to bring him in just to take a quick peek and make sure everything was okay with it.  Really, I think the dentist just misses me.  I don't think he's seen us in at least a couple of months!  Well...I take that back.  I just saw him at a graduation reception last weekend.  That's apparently not enough!

One look at Chip's tooth and it was pretty evident it was going to need extraction.  Apparently a nice little bit of angry flesh full of very temperamental nerves had grown between the baby tooth and the adult tooth underneath.  It was some big long fancy term the dentist spouted at me (and even had me look at it!)  I'll remember what it was called when I need to spout it to my new dental patients! Oooey gooey that gag reflex of mine kicked right in when I peered into Carter's mouth!  Needless to say, Carter handled it like a champ and that sassy chomper was out before we knew it.  

Now, if any of you would like to contribute to Carter's dental fund, or my new start up profession...

Happiness in my heart

Being remembered by the middle school kids I've taught as they are graduating from high school really does make my heart sing.  It's normal for them to invite many of their high school teachers as they still see them on a daily basis. As a middle school teacher, I am further removed from their minds so it's pretty special to see the invites roll in. 

As the invites for open houses show up in the mailbox, I am reminded of the awesome responsibility I have as an educator and the impact that I can have on each of the children in my classroom.  I have the power with my every word and action to influence these kids in either a positive or negative way. It's quite overwhelming when you step back and think about it.  My profession is not one in which you can always see the fruits of your labor on a daily basis or a weekly basis for that matter.  Sometimes it's not until years later when a former student or parent is kind enough to share the impact you've had that I know the words I spoke and the actions I displayed were ones that had a positive influence. It's those moments that easily keep me trucking in the world of education.

So, as I'm traveling from one reception to another, my heart smiles from the inside.  I can't wait for the students to find in their stack of cards the letter they wrote to themselves as an 8th grader. Will the advice they gave themselves have been heeded or the predictions they made come true? Shoot...will they even remember writing that letter on the last day of middle school?  What will they think of my note that I stuck in that envelope at the end of 8th grade?  Will it put a smile on their face? I can only hope that each of my students finds nothing but success and happiness in their future, as it's a future that's just beginning.

Here's to graduation reception season!  

Oh the irony

Yesterday I received this email in my inbox...

Early Purchase Discount on Summer Pool Passes runs through May 15

Only 15 more days to receive the early purchase discount!    Purchase now to receive the discount and avoid lines on opening day!    Today I see this outside my front door... I'm not sure the pool pass will be necessary this summer!

Working man

Carter had the opportunity to volunteer some time to help out his school by working at Culver’s tonight.  Leave it to him and his buddy Colton to sign up to work the same shift!  Those two are nearly inseparable and I'm sure enjoyed every minute of being able to work together. 

There was a pretty good turnout while we were there, so there was no getting bored. He had a great time and managed to deliver food to many tables and even cars waiting outside at the drive-through without dropping a thing!

March Madness

March Madness is in full swing and the little guys love being a part of it just as much as the big guys.







Carter’s team had the opportunity to play in the Pacesetter State Tournament at UNI Saturday and had a very successful day.  After earning the #1 seed after morning pool play, they ended up winning the 5th grade boys championship.  

This win earns them the opportunity to play in the Target Center in Minneapolis later on this year against the top teams from three other states. Needless to say, the team is beyond excited!  

Who knows...maybe a signature or two on this ball will be worth something some day!

Our last day

Since I was already in the running for mother of the year with taking the boys to Hooters, I figured I might as well seal up the award by capping off our time with one more visit to the Riverwalk to eat and hang out at Dick's Last Resort.  How to describe Dick's? Everything is pretty rude and crude ~ and right up Ace's alley!  

Ace ordered a beer.  Somehow our waitress convinced him that he needed a tower beer.  Never one to turn something fun sounding down, he agreed and ended up being the center of attention with the contraption that was delivered to the table.  You know he L.O.V.E.D. every moment of people talking and taking pictures of him and his tower beer!  

He was even so kind and entertaining as to finish it off in style! (I'm sure you are all surprised by this.)

The boys really wanted to experience the 4D House of Mirrors before we left, so that was our last stop at the Riverwalk before heading to the AT&T Center to watch our hometown Harrison Barnes and the Golden State Warriors take on the San Antonio Spurs.  

Carter was pretty excited to be sporting a friend's Barnes' jersey to the game and didn't even mind all the heckling he received. The heckling really wasn't too bad until he lost a tooth chomping on some popcorn during the second half of the game.  

As he was taking care of rinsing his mouth out in the restroom (with help from Austin of course!) a Spurs fan came up to him and said, "Somebody punch you in da mouth for wearing dat jersey?"  Carter said no, but apparently had spit a wad of popcorn out in the sink and the man peered at it and asked him, "Is dat yo teeth?" over and over again sure that someone had punched him for wearing a Warriors jersey.  I'm pretty sure after the 4th time he asked, "Is dat yo teeth?" the boys just hightailed it back to our seats as Carter came with a handful of paper towels and blood still spurting! In true mother of the year fashion, I couldn't stop laughing when they told us the story!  Maybe next time I should make sure Ace goes along to protect my little flock...

What an ending to our 2400 mile spring break trek!  We had a wonderful time and created a bunch of fun family memories together.