The End

'Tis a bittersweet day.  Today is officially my last day as a teacher.

I have so many fond memories of my nine years in the classroom.  Nine year's of children's smiling faces, relationships with their families, being a part of their lives.  Helping them to learn and grow.  Watching the magic that is a child learning to read.  It has been good.

It has also been stressful, time consuming, hair pulling, difficult.  But it wouldn't be teaching if we didn't throw in a little bit of that, am I right?  Teaching is not for the weak.  It is not for the faint of heart.  It takes a warrior to walk into that classroom every day, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. 

But for now, I am hanging up my battle gear.  I am entering into a new phase of wonderful, difficult, magical, hair pulling delight- the magic that is motherhood.

I am so looking forward to spending my days with the nugget, going on adventures of our own, watching my own little one learn and grow. 

It'll be just like teaching, only a million times better, because the student is my baby, and our classroom is the world.

Fun in the Sun

We live in the south.  It's June.  It's HOT.

We've been spending lots of time in the water!

Photo bomb: commence.

Splash!

This boy seriously likes the water.

He LOVES this water table from Grammy.

Sliding down the slide is more fun when you're wet!

Dumping water on your head really cools you down.

Always with the tongue out these days.

Fish face!

Getting sprayed with the hose.

My daddy is so fun!

This. Is. Awesome.

Water on the ground = mud.  He's a real boy!

Look at this sweet face.

Stay cool, everyone!

A Happy Father's Day

Yes, I know I'm late.  You know I never post on the weekends, and well, Monday just got away from me.  What can I say?

In any case, we had a lovely Father's Day in our happy household.  J, being the prince that he is, let me sleep in, even though it was his special day.  When I awoke from my peaceful slumber, I quickly whipped up some waffles and bacon for my main squeeze, and we enjoyed a nice family breakfast.  After our meal, the nugget and I gave Daddy a few gifts, then let him enjoy unlimited x-box time.  Really, there are few things in life that make him happier.

After nap time (both mine and Gabe's), we took a trip to the pool, and splashed and played in the late afternoon sun.  It was a delightful family outing.  We ended the evening with one of J's favorite meals.  All in all, such a nice family day.

J, I must say, you are an even better father than I imagined you'd be.  Thank you for loving that nugget the way that you do, for taking care of him, for wanting to spend time with him, for looking forward to all of the fun times to come with him. 

And to my own dad, thank you for helping to raise me to be the woman I am today.  I imagine that I have you to thank for knowing what kind of guy I should choose to be the father to my own children.

You dads deserve to be celebrated!

Big Boy Move

Apparently, when my little man is hungry, he is now capable enough to help himself.  As in, open the pantry, grab a snack, and climb up onto the couch to enjoy it.

Case in point.

 Although, he does have to shove his entire arm into the box to reach the O's at the bottom.  Maybe he's still a little bit of a baby?

Bliss

This weekend, I left my boys at home and headed off to the lake for a girl's weekend.  Ahhhh......

Several of my favorites and I left the boyfriends, husbands and children behind (and of course we missed them terribly...nudge, nudge, wink, wink) and settled in at a friend's home on beautiful Lake Gaston.  We sunbathed, chatted, giggled, swam, ate, drank, slept.  It was utter peace and happiness.

I never knew what it really meant to relax in this kind of way before the nugget was born.  At the lake, I could turn off the mommy switch.  I definitely can't ever do that at home!

As I was busy soaking up every moment of this incredible weekend, I didn't snap even a single picture.  THAT's how relaxing it was.

But my favorite part?  Seeing the smiling faces of my boys upon my return home last night.  Okay, maybe I did miss them a little after all. 

Life is good.

MIA

I know, I know...I've been missing lately.  J's parents were here visiting all the way from Mexico, so we wanted to devote all of our time to catching up with them.  (And, true to form, I had to clean like a crazy person prior to their arrival, thus taking up copious amounts of time last week.)  The blog has been neglected.  I will do my best to make it a priority once again!  Bear with me, dear readers.