Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

I know most of my thoughtful posts lately have been about my friends, but I do have to say I have some amazingly great friends!  I love that I have these women to depend on, and that they each help me be a better person, and each one of them has helped me become the friend, teacher, mom and wife that I am today.

Today's featured BFF is Susan!  We love Susan, and she has been a friend since my college days.  Susan and I went through the teaching program together in Irvine.  We both decided that we wanted to finish in four years, and with striving to do that, that meant we were in many of the same classes together.  Susan, along with two other girls, became my life lines during our junior and senior years.  We depended on each other for projects, working on TPAs, and surviving our student teaching.

Susan, Trish and I before graduation

The three girls that helped me through college!

After we graduated Susan moved up to Northern California to begin her teaching career while Tyler and I stayed in Orange County.  Then once we moved to Phoenix we traveled back to California during the summer of '09, and Susan went on our first massive road trip with us!  We drove from Northern California to Oregon to go visit Mer, another college friend of all of ours.  Our trip was a blast, and we enjoyed traveling with Susan.

Our trip to Oregon to visit Mer

Susan got to try our two year old wedding cake with us too!

Since then we have tried to get her to move to Phoenix!  She even came out to interview one year, but Bakersfield is where she ended up.  Susan has now been here multiple times to visit, and we still haven't made our way to Bakersfield to see her!  We will be stopping there next summer though, so I hope that she's ready for us and our darling children.  It's a good thing that she loves us, and our crazy kiddos!

Susan came out for B's baby shower

Visiting during Christmas Break '10

Came to meet Natalie, summer '13

Friday Five

1.  We are so excited Susan is here visiting us!! It's been about a year and a half since the last time she was here!

2. I can't believe next week is already the last week of summer, and my last week home with the kids!! I am going to miss being home with them.

3. My niece is the cutest!

4. I am so excited for my new adventure with my teacher blog!! I hope to start a regular posting schedule over there!

5. Brandon will be two in just a few weeks. People always tell you that high school flies by, and at times it felt like it did, but I can't believe how quickly time flies when you have kids!! It feels like just yesterday we found out we were pregnant with Brandon, and now Natalie is already three months old!!

Family of four . . . 13 weeks

New things about Brandon:  This week Brandon had his toys moved downstairs.  We bought a new entertainment center, so we moved around the toys downstairs.  Now Brandon has his own area that is just full of his toys.  He was able to spend a lot of time in the pool this past week.  Our friends came over for dinner Saturday night, so he loved being able to play in the pool with Abby and Derek, and then running around the house with them.  On Tuesday I went with Brandon and met Sarah at a splash pad down in Tempe and Brandon had a blast!!  My phone was acting funny though, so I don't have any pictures from our afternoon there!!  Then today the kids were able to go spend time at grandma and grandpa's house, and Brandon was able to go swimming with papa.

Brandon loves his sissy

He likes to try to pick her up too!

New things about Natalie:  Natalie is 3 months old today!!  It is crazy to think that it has already been three months!!  Really though, where has the time gone!  This week Natalie started to spend a lot more time on her play mat, and she is turning herself all around the mat.  She is almost able to roll over now too, but can't quite get all of the way over.  She hasn't slept through the night again yet, but last night she did sleep until 4:45 this morning, which we will consider sleeping through the night.  We just wish we could figure out why she sleeps that late on some nights, and not on all of them!

From our 3 month photo shoot today!

New things about Tyler:  He has been able to work in his room a few times this past week, and it is slowly getting there.  He has also been tutoring, but I believe that this was his last week tutoring.  He is ready to get back to work, and is ready to start having a more normal schedule again.

New things about Cassandra:  I have been able to get into work a few times this week as well.  It is nice to be able to start setting up my room, even though I still can't 100% because there was a leak in my room on Monday.  Now they have to go back in to clean the carpets again since the leak left a huge stain!  This has given me time to switch out some bulletin boards though, and clean up my closet.  My next task to tackle will be my filing cabinets.  I am hoping that we will have our schedules after tomorrow, but if I don't get it until the fifth, I do have plenty to do still.  We have also been eating a ton of fruit and vegetables!  I love it, and can't wait to start August 1 with an exercise and healthy eating plan!!  I know I said I was going to start sooner, and for the month of July I have been really good about not drinking soda.  We really only had some when we went to the movies in the beginning of the month, and then again when we were drinking.  Other than that I have been sticking to mainly water, some juice and now gatorade.  The other exciting thing is that I am finally working on my teacher blog again!  I am so excited to start this, and I hope that I will be able to get into a groove with that blog, as I have done with updating you all about the kiddos too!!

Tyler's dinner from Sunday night, he was very proud of himself!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

My bible study girls have become some of my closest friends in the past year. I don't know what I would do without these special ladies in my life. It makes having my BFFs living far away so much easier. There are many days I wish we were still in Orange County to be close to Jon, Nicole and now baby Kinley. There are also many days I wish we were back in Nor Cal to be close to most of my family, and Bree an Kevin. Now that Chelsea and Allison have left too, I am going to miss them tons too!! I'm so thankful to have so many special ladies in my life though!! I love that I don't have to clean my house before any of them come over, it doesn't matter how long it's been since we talked, and I can wear my hair in a messy bun, sweats and a t shirt and they will still love me. I pray Natalie grows up to have some amazing friends in her life too!!

Friday Five

1. My niece was born this morning!! I'm so excited for Jon and Nicole, and I can't wait to go visit and meet her. I pray that our girls grow up to love each other, and count on each other as much as I love and count on Nicole!!

2.  My precious baby girl is getting so big and independent!! We are on our third night of sleeping through the night!! Last night was 7:30 - 6:00!! I love all of her expressions now too!!

3. We love summer!! Brandon loves swimming, and even though we didn't want one when we were looking for a house we are so blessed to have a pool in our backyard!

4.  We spent a little time at IKEA yesterday! We found a new entertainment center, and we love it!! The only downside so far is that now the TV is closer so B can touch it.

5. I love catching up with friends. I was able to finally talk with Bree today for like an hour!! I miss her and can't wait until we see each other again! One year ago we were in Hawaii!! This is the longest we've ever gone without seeing each other, so it means the next time will be extra special!!

Family of four . . . 12 weeks

New things about Brandon: the new word that he picked up in the last two days is "dude." Tyler was saying it in the car, and then all of a sudden so was Brandon. Still working in thank you and please too. While we were up in Prescott we went to church. Brandon was able to go play in their nursery again. Three weeks in a row. I know it was only an hour or so, but it's totally getting him ready for preschool!! Yesterday Brandon was able to go play at grandma and grandpa's timeshare with our friend Hans. The boys had a lot of fun playing in the splash pad, and pool their size. Then they went over and played a little in the big pool too. Earlier in the week Brandon and daddy were able to go swimming over at grandma and grandpa's house to go swimming in the big pool too! Brandon just loves swimming!!

New things about Natalie: she has "slept through the night" for the past two days!! The first time she slept from 8-6, and last night was 8-5. If we can keep her on this kind of schedule it will be great!! She has found her hands, and now is playing with them more. She is content for longer periods of time to be left alone layingon the   floor as well. She still isn't crazy about tummy time, but we are getting there.

New things about Tyler: Tyler has been working in his classroom a little bit this week, so he has been able to start setting up. He is looking forward to getting back into the classroom. He has also spent time reading, and playing games with me! We have a fierce game of Mario Party going on currently. We are also on the hunt for new school supplies. I think only teachers get excited about these things.

New things about Cassandra: I am enjoying my last few weeks at home with my babies. I can't believe how quickly it has gone!! I went into work a few times this week, but wasn't able to do anything in my classroom. We are getting time in the hallway, and they aren't cleaning our carpet until after that, so right now everything is just piled every where in my room. I am looking forward to diving in next week. I am looking to start a teaching blog as well, since I get so many ideas via blogs and Pinterest.

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

I have loved being off since the end of April, and I am not looking forward to going back to work and leaving my kiddos for ten hour days again. At the same time I am really looking forward to the routine that being in school brings. Hopefully we will be able to get Natalie into a pretty good routine so I'll be able to work out before work, or after bed time. I'm also going to work really hard to make sure that when I get home, until bed time it is all about my kids. I know these years are going to go by quickly, and then they won't want to hang out with me.

Friday Five

Today's Friday Five is all Pinterest inspired.  Thank you summer, and thank you Pinterest!

1.  I loved this idea that I found on Pinterest from Kathleen's blog.  I found fonts I liked, and typed it up and printed it on colored paper that will match the rest of my room!

2.  I have been looking for new ways to organize my classroom this year, as I will have 26 students!  The most that I have ever had, and more than I have had in many years.  Last year I had 19 when all students were in class, but most days I only had 18.  I was looking for different ideas, and found some really cool toolbox ideas.  I couldn't find a toolbox that was going to fit what I wanted, so instead I bought these drawer organizers at Walmart (it was cheaper than Target), and can't wait to put the colored pencils in here.  I hope this will help keep our community supplies a little more organized.  I am going to do the same thing with crayons. 

3.  We have been eating a lot of Pinterest inspired meals while we have been up at m parent's house.  The picture below, even though it doesn't look very good is a delicious chicken dish!  We loved it, and will be trying it again.  Below the chicken is a picture of the biscuits I made to go with it.  I followed the directions in the recipe, but next time I will not cook it nearly as long.  The biscuits were hard when we went to eat them.  I cooked them way too long.

                                      

4.  We also tried some other Pinterest recipes, but I forgot to take pictures of them.  One of our favorites is for a buffalo chicken, that we then turn into sliders.  I made this multiple times for Chelsea, and my mom requested it too!  With the leftovers we made a buffalo chicken mac and cheese, which was also delicious!  We only put blue cheese on half of it though, as Tyler doesn't enjoy blue cheese.  It made up A TON so we have been eating it all week for left overs too.  With a leftover chicken breast from the chicken dish pictured above we made a chicken salad dish.  I wasn't as impressed with this one, so I don't know if we'll make it again.  My piece of advice for that one is to make sure you are going to eat it all in one sitting.  We had saved some to eat later, and by the next day it had turned since it is made up primarily of avocado.

5.  The last thing we found on Pinterest that we experimented with while my family was in town were some drinks.  There were some delicious ones that we will have again, and some that are for sure never going to be poured in our house again.  My favorite was A Summers Dream, and even though the picture didn't look like this it was YUMMY!!  We tried another drink, called Sex in the Driveway, and it was GROSS!!  I even added orange juice to try and make it taste better, and it just wasn't happening.  I almost don't even want to give you the link, because it really wasn't good.  If you are going to make it, you are taking your own risk.  I am advising you to have a summers dream, not sex in the driveway!

Family of four . . . 11 weeks

New things about Brandon: Brandon has loved swimming and playing up at grandma and grandpa's house this week. It had been very warm for Prescott, so the pool has been great for him. We have also been working on talking since he is supposed to have 15 words by his birthday. I think that we are getting close. He has mastered mama, dada, Buba, GG, papa (in a whisper). He also has many animal noises; cat, dog, lion, bird, owl, and monkey.  We are working on up, please, thank you and grandma. He has also enjoyed coloring this week. Thank you Uncle Al, Aunt Vickey, and Alycia for our new crayons and coloring pages.  We gave Brandon another hair cut at home too!!  We bribed him with a Sonic slush and grandpa's homemade popcorn!!

New things about Natalie: Praise God Natalie is really close to sleeping through the night. She is going for anywhere from 5-8 hour stretches at night! She is also going to bed between 7-8 now. So much easier than her 9:00 bed time. Hopefully we can keep her on this schedule. She has been getting up around 3:30-4:20 to eat. Then, after I feed her I would have time to get in a workout before I get ready for work. I wouldn't have any more excuses. We have also been making Natalie do more tummy and back time. She likes loves to be held, so when I make her lay on her own she doesn't enjoy it as much. Today she managed to turn herself one hundred and eighty degrees!! She will be doing things sooner than Brandon, but just so she can catch up to him!!

New things about Tyler: Tyler went home a few times this week to tutor. He is helping out some kids over the summer, so this gave him time to start working in his new classroom too. He is so happy to finally be in the new building at work. (Maybe I'll be able to sneak some pictures  you guys so you can see how different our rooms are.)

New things about Cassandra: I have been working on a lot of school stuff this week. The back to school sales started so Office Max and I have become very good friends. I wish they would up their teacher limits again, but they still haven't. Makes it hard to buy what you want as a teacher. Just means more trips for me. It was great to be able to spend time with my family who came in to visit too. My aunt, uncle and cousin came to visit for the fourth. We had a great time hanging out at my parent's house. Brandon loved playing with them too!!

Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Tuesday

Is a teachers job really ever done? I know I joke around about loving teacher for breaks and summers, but I really do love my kids and teaching! If I didn't why would I spend all summer pinning away on Pinterest, hitting up back to school sales the day they start, looking at curriculum and playing with my Cricut to design awesome stuff for class?!

Friday Five

1. This week has been so much cooler!! We are loving our time up at my parent's house!! Loving that it's 20 degrees cooler up here!!

2. I finished the last book in the Baxter series by Karen Kingsbury. I'm so sad I finished them. Now time to move on to another author. I'm open to suggestions, as I've almost finished all the Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult novels as well.

3. We have been doing a lot of adult beverages this week! Thanks to Pinterest and friends we have tried quite a few new drinks!

4. I forgot how much we love playing the Wii. We have been playing golf, bowling and baseball. We love it!!

5. We are so thankful for Skype! It gives us the chance to talk with family who love far away, and for the kids to see their great grandparents! If you want to Skype with us, or iChat, just let me know!

Family of four . . . 10 weeks

New things about Brandon: Brandon is now a fish!! This past week he started swimming by himself and he now jumps off the edge of the pool!! That took some building up to, but he has no fear now. Up at my parent's house, he jumps into his little kiddy pool here too. I'm just afraid that he's going to break something jumping here. Brandon is loving playing outside up at grandma and grandpa's house, and playing in his pool.

New things about Natalie: Natalie has been sleeping longer at night! She has been going down between 7:15 and 7:45 for the past couple of days. She has been getting up around 3:30 to eat, and then goes back to sleep. The only downside is that she is then up again around 6:00 and is then up for a little while. She is loving her new swing that we borrowed from Abby and Sarah. She enjoys her nap time in her swing, but still loves taking a nap with mommy too.

New things about Tyler: Tyler was able to take this week off, as we have been up at my parent's house. He enjoyed being able to relax, and read a lot! He is having fun playing with Brandon up here in the cooler weather as well.

New things about Cassandra: I am enjoying being up at my parent's house. It is so much cooler up here. Tyler and I celebrated six years of marriage this week, and we were able to escape to Sedona for two nights to celebrate. It was nice being able to watch a movie without having to pause to change a diaper, get a bottle, or put a baby to bed. We were also able to go out to eat, and eat our own food! Plus we were able to go to the movies too!! We are so thankful to my parents that they watched the kids for us so that way we could go and do this.

Wordless Wednesday

Bubba loves his sissy!

Thoughtful Tuesday

It's crazy to believe that Tyler and I have never been married for six years!  So much has happened over the past six years, and we have come so far.  We have been blessed with an amazing family who loves and supports us.  We have two beautiful children, who I wouldn't trade for the world.  We have friends who have become our family in multiple states.  I wish there was a way we could have everyone we love in one place, so we could always spend time with those that we love.  Even though we are all spread out, it makes those times when we get to spend time with those who are far away even more special.

Our awesome family in early May for Natalie's newborn photos, by Christina at Patchwork Photography