One Roller Coaster of a Ride

I love roller coasters, but the ride I’ve been on this year was way too much of a ride for me.

So much has happened that I’m not sure were to start and I'm sure I won't touch upon everything. I finished my second year teaching in June and then pretty much hibernated from everyone. It was one of my worst years teaching. I can’t even begin to explain. I was so emotionally and physically spent that I just had to crawl in a hole and hide for a few weeks.

It wasn’t pretty, but I was told by my pastor, Bill Clay, that it was my way of healing me. The up side of the time that this happened was that Eclipse was released and I saw it several times. It was a good release for me. I didn’t have to think and I could just escape or a few hours with no worries. Oh and when I say several time, I mean 10 times!

There have been other personal struggles that I choose not to delve into, but as I look back … this year was definitely a year of growth for me.

At the end of last year I posted some things I wanted to work on for this year and I can say that I may have accomplished one, maybe even more? Like I said I’ve been on one major rollercoaster ride with more downs than ups, but I can say I am very grateful for my job, especially in this economy and I find that speaking the truth can be very liberating.

I am truly looking forward to the new year and another fun filled ride.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Holiday Hats

Brent has quite a collection of holiday hats.

Can you guess which one is his favorite?

Abbey

I was asked to take some family pictures of a dear friend which was great. There were some really awesome shots, but this one stole the show.

You would never guess that she's quite the "wild woman".

Cinnamon Ornaments

What do you do when you over plan and make 3 batches of cinnamon ornament dough for your class and only used a batch and a half? You bring home the extra and let your son go to town. It actually worked out well, cause we (Brent and I) always make ornaments for friends and family. Brent had a great time rolling and cutting out the ornaments. The up side is that the house smells great. The down side is that it takes 3 to 5 days for them to dry and your supposed to turn them every half hour so they dry right.

Oh the trials of ornament making!

The Torpey Family

The Torpey family asked me to take their family pictures a few weeks ago. I had such a good time photographing them. They are so photogenic and just great people to know. There were so many pictures that I loved that I could only post a few. So here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy!

Wheelie Boy

Here are some photos of Brent trying and succeeding in pulling a wheelie on his ATV today. He's really getting good!

More Trooper

Here are the most recent pictures of Trooper. Enjoy!

Trooper

"Trooper"

Meet the newest member of our family. He's only 4 week old so we don't get him until the end of June. If your wondering what he is, well, he's a mini dachshund. How cute is he? I mean really, who can resist that face? He is definitely going to be a spoiled puppy.

Lawn Mowing

I had to share this picture of Brent mowing the lawn this weekend. Aaron was away and wanted Brent to mow the lawn. That's all well and good, except that the wind was so bad and everything was blowing in his face.

So what's the remedy ... a motorcycle helmet! Yup, you heard right. He put on his motorcycle helmet and finished the yard in no time.

Quite the smart one! Isn't he?

Brent

I can't believe that your 10! Where has the time gone? It just seems like yesterday that you were born and now ~ you just amaze me with all that you have accomplished and overcome these past ten years!

Happy birthday my sweet and wonderful boy! I love you with all my heart!

A Day at Work

Today was "Take Your Child To Work Day". I don't know if this is done nationally, but I do know that the area where I live does it. This was the second year the Brent came to work with me. He doesn't go to work with Aaron on this day because he is always there helping after school and on the weekends.
I think he had a good time, but I also know that my class is very demanding, difficult, and has "Energy" to spare. I have never had an easy day with my class and that was so evident today, so I can probably say that he did and didn't have a good day. I know he was exhausted when the day ended. He said, "Can we go home now!" My poor boy.

Here he is playing with the salt dough that we made today with the kids. This was definitely the highlight for the whole class including Brent. As soon as we made the dough, there was a mass exodus from all the other learning labs to see what we were doing. Soon all 13 students that were there wanting to play with the dough.

They all had so much fun playing and watching Brent make his creations.

It's never done ...

Here is a lovely and glamerous picture that Brent took of me folding the seven + loads of laundry over the weekend. Seriously, where did it come from ... the neighbors?

The top ten things I couldn't live without

1. God
2. Aaron
3. Brent
4. jeans
5. flip-flops
6. bracelets
7. my glasses
8. sleep
9. yummy dips
(like my buffalo chicken dip)
10. peace of mind

Happy Easter ...

... to all my peeps! God bless!

Cousins

Last Sunday we went to my brother and sister-in-laws house to celebrate my niece and nephews 12th birthday. It's always a great time when we get together and the kids have so much fun. This year was no exception. We had a great dinner and a yummy cookie dessert. As you can see by the pictures it was all smiles and a little chaos!

The whole clan: Jake, Jack, Chase, Brent, Cory and Dani

The Taraska Boys

Dani sporting some killer peace sign shades!

Cory and Brent.

I have another picture of these two in my house. I'll have to post them together so you can see how much they've changed. It's pretty cool.

One of the many group shot taken.

It took a few minutes and my sister-in-law Alli to wrangle them in!

This one's a keeper!

Refashioned Threads

Last Spring I bought this dress. It's a size 12 and I couldn't pass up the clearance rack price. I was sure that I would wear it during the summer some place, but alas I did not.

Fast forward to this Spring. I still have the dress and it's still a size 12, but I'm not. I now fluctuate between an 8 and a 10. I love the print and still wanted to wear it, but it just didn't fit right, so ...

... I did some alterations to the dress and made it into a skirt. I had to take out the zipper, gathered the waist and sewed in some elastic. Not bad for an hours worth of work? I wore it today to church and got several compliments on it. I liked that! Cute huh?

What's Up?

Wow, I can't believe that March is half over and I've only made done one post. So let's see, what's been up!

Things have been better at work lately. I've came up with a few new strategies for myself and my assistant to help us better manage some of our more difficult children. They seem to be working, but we did just start them this week. Brent was also in the emergency room right after Aaron.s birthday. Luck for us, it turned out to be nothing!

All the snow we had melted and then we had those torrential rains. Needless to say, the pond behind our house crested as well and the irrigation run-off pond. Can you say muddy waters? Brent is loving it though. We bought him new boots and he can't stay out of the water!

Brent's best friend Brandon turned 10! I can't believe Brent is going to be 10 next month. No more single digits! I told him this will be the last time that your going to be a single digit. He didn't seem to mind either way.

Brent and Brandon found a new way to fly a kite! They attached it to the back of Brent's quad and Brent drove it around the backyard. They were having fun until is got caught in a tree. It's still there today! Oh well.

Lastly I have to say that Brent has been such an amazing kid lately. He's always been a great kid, but lately he's been helping out more around the house and not complaining about doing things that he's asked, so I couldn't resist letting him buy some songs for his iTouch. He even found a great place to chill out and listen to them ... my bed!

Well, I think that about wraps up the past few weeks! This coming weekend looks crazy with a party for my neice Cory and nephew Jake who are turning 12, a birthday movie for Brent's friend Brandon, and I'm hosting a purse party ... so I'll try to post before then.

To Aaron

Happy Birthday to my amazingly wonderful and handsome husband! Aaron, I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else. You make the world a better place just by being you. You're my everything!