Happy Birthday, to Me!

This year, my birthday fell on my very first day back at work. I had an enjoyable 12 hour celebration that included building meetings, team meetings & staff development, complete with a lunch catered by the school food service. Then, onto a few hours of open house to top off the fun!! Actually, it really was a good day. We had a lot of work time and I was able to meet 9 of my 15 students and their grown-ups at the open house.

Steve and the kids surprised me with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone for dessert, when I came home. Notice, I didn't have the right numerals for the cake, so I opted for three single candles and the numeral 8 to make 38....ha! Can't quite believe I am 38 years old, though. Two more years left and I will join the "40" club...yikes! It's a good thing I don't FEEL that old. I think having a little one running around keeps us young!!

The kids gave me a Starbuck's gift card and travel mug and Steve gave me the sweetest gift...he had my old rocking chair (from when I was a little girl) repaired and "polished up" so that Emma could use it. It looks so cute and she loves rocking in it!! I love thoughtful things like that! It made my day!!

Bay Beach

We planned to take the kids up to Green Bay to Bay Beach Amusement Park on Saturday. Our babysitter called to see if we could take her son, Seth, overnight that night, so she and her husband could have a "kid free" night. So, we just piled all four kids into the van and headed up late Saturday afternoon. The kids had fun and you can't beat the price. It's only 25 or 50 cents per ride (depending on the ride). It's great, cheap fun. Here are some pics from our night.

My Baby is 8!!

Today is Caleb's birthday. Eight years ago on this day, out popped a loud baby boy, complete with a pouting lip! Our family of three became a family of four...and I was outnumbered....three boys and one girl! Caleb was our fussy baby. He was loud and never quite content with anything. He cried ALL THE TIME!!! Steve & I made many doctor visits with him, trying to figure him out. Was it his ears, his tummy, colic...please....tell us it's something! Fast forward eight years and we now know our Caleb is just a "busy guy". He is always on the go, from the minute he wakes up until he falls asleep. He is extremely social and loves to be with friends. He loves the outside, animals & nature and being crazy. He always makes us laugh. Our house would be way too quiet & serious without our Caleb. Happy Birthday big guy. We love you!!

Wedding Reception...Bucky Style

My job share partner, Cheryl & her husband, Peter
First Grade Teacher, Jen & her husband, Kevin
First Grade Teacher Kari & her husband, Mike

My friend Kathy's son got married on Saturday. Kathy is one of the 5 other teachers on our first grade team at my school. Steve and I went down to Madison for the wedding and reception on Saturday. Both Kathy & her husband, Dave, as well as Michael and Jen (the groom & bride) all are UW-Madison graduates. So, the reception was complete with the real "Bucky" mascot. He stayed for about an hour to dance and take pictures with people. Here are some photos of the people I work with.

Check This Out

Our friend, Pat, is the Senior Pastor at a big church (like ours) in TN. He just began a new sermon series entitled "Dare You To Move" and he and the staff made a video to kick the series off. It features the staff's rendition of Dare You to Move, by Switchfoot. Click on this link to see it. It's pretty funny. The Switchfoot version is below. Enjoy...and check out the church website. If you need some great things to listen to on your iPod, I highly recommend his sermons. They are excellent! I listen to him when I excercise!

"Fee-oot" On!

Emma loves to put her swimming suit on....or as she calls it, her "fee-oot" on. She also loves her Dora swim diaper. Check out this cute video of her.

Wii're Having Fun!!

The boys have really wanted to get the Wii gaming system. We told them that it wouldn't even be an option until our basement was finished. So, they began saving up all of the Walmart giftcards they have received for various holidays in hopes of buying one by Christmas time. Well, now that the basement is done, we decided to meet them halfway and pay for the rest of it as their birthday gift from us. Caleb's birthday is August 11th and Noah's is September 11th, so we decided we'd better give them the gift soon, as they were wondering what we would be doing for their birthdays (to celebrate). We wrapped it up and gave it to them on Sunday....and were they excited!! Of course, this meant that they would only be able to invite one friend to go out to eat with us on their actual birthday, as we don't usually spend big amounts of money on gifts for the kids....but they were just fine with that. They've been playing non-stop the last few days! I figure they better get it out of their systems now, before school starts and we have to set stricter time limits on it.