Stop the hormonal roller coaster....

PLEASE! Oh how I wish I could stop this roller coaster of emotion. I am married to this man who is constant. He is pretty much low maintenance. He is the same most days. How nice must that be to wake up in the same mood you went to bed. He is pretty simple...and I don't mean that in a bad way... I just mean that he is not confusing. He doesn't require much work. Just give him something fun to do and feed him while you are doing it and he is a very happy man. Oh how I wish I could be like that. I've got to fret over what will be served to eat, what time will we eat, while we are waiting what will we do, will everyone be happy doing that, what if one person can't participate, should we still go with that plan, we should probably have a back up plan..... on and on and on and on. If I am making myself this crazy I can not even imagine what I am doing to those around me.
THEN... well let's throw in some hormones. Today its ok for the kids to be loud... but tomorrow I'm not in the mood for it. Tomorrow it is ok for them to not call and tell me where they are because I understand that you loss track of time... but the day after that... well watch out!
Do I want to be happy one day and not able to control my feelings of frustration the next? Well absolutely not! I want to wake up in the same mood I feel asleep in... that is if it was a good mood that day! I do not want to be sad when I have no idea what I am sad about... or overwhelmed when I logically realize it will all work out.
I love a good roller coaster.... but I've got to get off the hormonal roller coaster!

School has started...

The kids went back to school today. This is the first year I don't have someone in grade school. Change just keep happening whether you want it to or not! Now that school has started things will get complicated. The girls have volleyball practice but not at the same time. And games will start soon. They are on the same night most of the time... but in different towns. Then there is bedtime, homework, getting ready for tomorrow, tired parents.... We will survive.. it will just take us some time to get in the swing of things.
I got the word today that I passed my Praxis test. That is such a relief. Now I can start worrying about other things! I've been student teaching for 2 days. Both of these days have been spent in meetings and getting ready. Tomorrow we will have students. Can't wait to get going and meet all the kids.
We had our annual biscuits and gravy for breakfast followed by school morning pictures... thankfully something don't change.

Tomorrows the day...

Student teaching… I think I’m ready. The house is clean… bags are packed… legs are shaved, I was even extra careful on the knees…toe nails are painted… clothes are ready… I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. What else could I do to prepare? I’ve been praying. I’ve been counting down the hours. I guess I’m ready to grow up… we all have to at some point right?

Just some stuff....

I found this list I made from summer school. I had 2 classes. I broke the list down by what was due each week. Most of this was due in the first 4 weeks. Man I never thought that list would get done.... but it did!

This happened way too long ago to still look like this. But of course I used every drop of that paint and there is nothing left.... so now I have to repaint the whole thing! We all know you can never match paint.
So we decided to install these behind all the doors so that wouldn't happen again.
Yet.... Hannah and Jordan weren't getting along. And he told us he was strong... thats what he kept saying as we stood and looked at the hole in the wall. (notice the ps at the bottom)
Because... yes that door had a stopper on it too.... sure hope I have some of that paint left... and no it is not the same color of tan as the living room. I'm telling you... you can NEVER match paint on the wall!

PS... I noticed as I loaded these pictures that obviously that wall has already been patched once. I had not even noticed that.... Jordan must have been strong for a long time now!

Pictures from Makayla's camera

Sisters... they are such a contrast in beauty... it's hard to believe they have the same parents. Not only do they look so different... but they ACT so different. They are polar opposites in nearly every way.

There were 438 pictures on Makayla's camera.... no joking... about 500 of them were self-arm-length-portraits! She really does have an eye for photography... here are a few of my favorites...






Hello Chicago!

And this is why it was so hard to come home.
They are touching and smiling.... that doesn't happen very often.
I know we have talked about this before.... but that is me at the bottom of that hill and I did make it to the top. That is not an optical illusion.... it REALLY is that steep.
This picture reminds of of how she looked when she was a little girl.


That's a Leland smile right there...

We had to tell him to role over every 30 minutes... he was basting himself!


This is the beginning of the trip and Jordan was more willing to take some pictures.


Hannah is trying to decide if it is warm enough to go in.

When you are the 1st ones on the beach... this is what it looks like.
I miss you New Buffalo!


There is NO way you would catch me running into a flock of birds like that... but that is Jordan in the middle of that.

Thats the end of the vacation pictures. Wonder what I'm gonna talk about now....

pictures from Leland's camera...

Mt. Baldy...
Yes we climbed it and YES it was hard.... 1 step forward... 3 steps back
That is one tall pile of sand... sure you want to climb it?
The view from the top is beautiful... see Chicago over there?

Just a glimpse at the cute little town of New Buffalo... so cute!

Our last night there...
Good by beach... hope to see you again.

Vacation....

We were in New Buffalo Michigan. The weather was perfect and we had a great time. It was so good to get away. We are over booked, over scheduled, and over stressed. It was nice to go away and not have a schedule to keep. We sat on the beach for 10 hours on 2 days and would have stayed just as long on the 3rd day but it rained in the afternoon.




This is an example of what you don't want to see on the beach. LADY put your shirt back on! We did have a good laugh and I took a picture just because I didn't think anyone would believe me.

Hannah did not want to get fried like she did in Destin so she was very good about protecting her face.

Makayla on the other hand can not get enough of the sun!

Boys dig hole on the beach.... it's just what they do. These 2 yahoos even reach water!



This is the best one we got.... everyone was done with pictures by this point. I can't wait until Jordan grows up and has kids of his own who wont corporate! I REALLY thought we were past that stage... guess not!

And if that last one was hard this one was even harder... 7 people... its hard for everyone to keep their eyes opened!

Hannah did not want a sunburn the first day we were there.


You are such a goober Jordan... sure you'll take a picture now but how about later?
Makayla is trying to get her summer reading book read... Shepherd of the Hills... really? How boring!

Oh how I love to see to see that lighthouse! More pictures to come... this was just off one camera... we had 3 of them going!