New School, New Classroom

The waiting game came to an end last week.  I will be teaching first grade at Stanley Elementary.  I am very much looking forward to being with the kiddos again!  My mind is whirling with all that I need and want to do to get ready for my first year back.  I went to Stanley last week and took pictures of the classroom that I will be in next year.  There is still construction equiptment in it since it's a brand new room, but here is what it looks like at this point.

After I get settled in, I will take and post the "finished" pictures!

Sushi Night

I recently had a girl's night and learned how to roll sushi!  It was a fabulous evening!  Sushi, wine and girl talk.  Fabulous, I tell you. 
Here are the pictures to prove it.


This is Ashley and I.  She is the Sushi Master.



Ashley telling Erica what to do.

YUM



Rice on the seaweed



All rolled up!

Ready to eat!

Ashley relaxing

We will be doing this again. 

Prayers

I really want to start recording Ava's prayers.  They are so cute and funny!  They always begin with, "Dear God Jesus".  The beginning of her prayer tonight went like this:
"Dear God Jesus, thank you for my love and my spit."  Okay.  Hmmm.  I guess we can be thankful for spit.  Anyways, then she went on to say that she was thankful for everything in her room and Nanny.  Love her!

God is Great!

Our Sunday was action packed, tiring and very long, but great things happened!  The kiddos were baptized at church and their loving grandparents were there to witness it.  They received baptism certificates and Bibles from the church.

Brecken's turn

Ava's turn

Walking with Pastor Kermit while the congregation sings "Jesus Loves Me".

Showing Mommy her big fake smile!  Happy to be at Red Robin for lunch with the grandparents.

B was in a trance as he watched the balloon man. 

Cleaning Papa's hands before lunch.

 
Another fabulous thing that happened on Sunday was that my niece, Erin, graduated from high school.  We're very proud of her!  Congrats, Erin!

Poor Little B-man

Oh, Brecken.  He is such a crazy little guy and didn't have such a great weekend.  On Saturday, he ended up pulling Erick's nightstand (small round table) on top of him, pulled Ava's dvd player on his face, got his leg stuck in his crib during his morning nap, and ran into the column in the middle of our living room.  And this was all before noon.  The boy does not stop.  Sunday, he stepped on a toy truck and slid into the splits.  He wasn't able to walk for over an hour because of a pulled muscle.  Wow.  If he's like this at one, I can't imagine what we have to look forward to. 

The mark across his nose and under his eye is from that naughty dvd player and you can see a little mark on the other side of his face on his eyebrow.  Just a tiny bump.  Poor guy.

Is God a Boy or a Girl?

Ava's question the other night was about God.  "Is God a boy or girl, Mommy?" Erick replied, "That's a good question, Ava."  We ended up answering by telling her that God was whatever she saw in her mind.  That seemed to satisfy her for now. 
Tonight, while reading a short story in her bible before bed, Ava asked a million questions.  It was the story of Moses.  Here were the questions: "Why was that man mean?  Why did he send them away?  Why did he put the baby in the river?  Does the mean man like me?"  I said yes to that last one, of course.  I didn't know what else to say!  She asked why he liked her and I said, "Because you're nice."  "And I'm pretty?"  she asked, smiling.  Yes, that too. :)  She continued to ask if the mean man (the Pharoah) liked me, Daddy and Brecken.  And then she asked several more times about Moses floating down the river in a basket.  "Is the basket like a bathtub?"  Too funny.  I love her questions!
In the car not too long ago, Ava was knocking on her window trying to get the attention of the man in the car beside us.  It's her new thing.  She tries to get the attention of someone and then she waves at them.  Anyway, this man didn't turn to her, of course, because he couldn't hear the knocking.  She kept asking why he wasn't waving at her.  Down the road a bit, she said, "I think I know why the man with the chocolate face didn't wave at me."  And she continued to say why, but all Erick and I heard was, "the man with the chocolate face."  Don't worry.  I talked with her at bedtime and let her know the "right" thing to say.  Also, found out later where she got it from--shout out to Evan. :)
I'm sure I have more funnies...I need to remember to write them all so I don't forget.  

Mommy's Day

I got to sleep in this morning.  It was fabulous!  I can't remember the last time I slept until nine.  That doesn't mean I slept all night without having to get up at three in the morning to put a three year old princess back to bed.  But I enjoyed sleeping in.
For Mother's Day, all I asked for was to go to church and be able to get some sun in the backyard in the afternoon.  I got what I wanted!  Plus, a few more things.

Flowers

Magazines to read while lounging in the backyard

Coasters that Ava made for me at Sunday school

Erick didn't let me lift a finger today.  He made lunch for the kiddos, put B down for a nap, made dinner, did laundry (which he actually does all the time), etc.  It was a good day.  I appreciated every bit of it. 

Lounging with Mommy

Daddy dressed B up in this silly outfit to play in the yard

Took a walk and Lady A rode her bike

Happy Mother's Day to moms everywhere!  Hope you enjoyed your day as much as I did mine!  Being a mom is my favorite job.

More and More

I have a million more pictures from Brecken's party.  These were taken by Erick's stepmom and my mom.

My dad was at the party for a bit, but was sick so he couldn't stay too long.  I think my sister has a couple of pics of him with B-man.  Hope to have those soon!  Erick's mom was also there and I am sure there are pictures of her somewhere. 
I think Brecken is pretty much the cutest little one year old boy ever.