First Day K and 4th!

 

The boys and I had an awesome first day of school today!

 I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year!

I have always had my picture with Ethan outside of my classroom every first day! This year Davin joined us!

Mrs. Sarah Yanez is such an awesome and crafty teacher!

 

 Davin and Ms. Sarah

 Ethan took this pic and blurred us....

 in the classroom

 with his pal, Brody!

 Ethan and Mrs. Bickford! He is going to love 4th grade!

 Rachel and Mrs. Maze

 The boys is my newly renovated classroom!

 It was a pain in the rear packing up all this stuff and moving it all back in, but today proved that it was so worth it! I love have the ceiling mounted projector. I can have my do camera off to the side of my smartboard, and I don't have to move the cart a million times a day. I also loved my mic that runs to my classroom speaker <3 p="p">

 I am going to have to get used to the noise with the tile, 

but at least I don't have vomit stained carpet anymore!

 

 This evening we celebrated my 33rd birthday!

We were all pretty tired, but overall it was an awesome day!

 I am just grateful that I am still physically able to teach!

Claire is 3!!!

Our pretty little Claire is already 3 years old! Going to the water park is one of her favorite past times. She is just like her brothers in that she loves anything to do with the outdoors, and loves riding her pink princess bike. She is all girl, and had become so outspoken recently. She loves Hello Kitty, anything princess, baby dolls, SHOES, and books. She also often pretends to build a piano out of blocks and sits and sings.

We hosted a birthday party/end of summer bash on the Saturday before Claire's birthday. Doug smoked brisket and chicken.

 

 Claire boo opening her present from Lila.

 

 She was all about her Toms from Aunt Whitney.

        

 She got the dream light she wanted!

         

 

 She loves her Kate and Anna.

 Sarah

 with her Great Grandpa

 the gang

 Micah loves his ice cream and cake

 The boys did the dishes!

 Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Whitney

 She passed out on Mommy on the couch in the end.

 

 Modeling her birthday marker mustache.

   
 
 

 Monday, August 20th was her official 3rd birthday. She choose to go to Chuck E Cheeses for dinner. Of course, we had to have another cake, and she opened her Baby Alive from Mommy and Daddy.

 She is showing everyone she is finally 3!

Happy birthday, precious girl! We are so blessed to have you!

Redneck Reunion

 A couple of weekends ago, we lucked out and were able to have an impromptu redneck reunion with the crew! The guys got a kick out of these shortest to tallest pics on the sloped driveway.

Me with a couple of my sweet best girls! We always have a great time together. I hope that we are able to see each other more often very soon! I can't believe how grown up our kids are. Cindy and Kari both have boys in high school this fall! Yikes!!!

Six Flags 2012

 I am so glad that Six Flags offers their "Read to Succeed" program because the kids and I go every year with free tickets that we have earned. This year we were able to have Miguel join us! Sarah and Rachel met us at the park. Once again, we didn't have to wait in line very often at all. I guess most people aren't as willing to brave Six Flags when it's 104 degrees like me!

 Sarah was such a fun partner in crime, and she was such a trooper! She had awful blisters on her feet, shorts that just wouldn't seem to get dry, and there wasn't a heck of a lot there she could eat. She even had to stop and buy herself some flip flops because her feet hurt so bad, but she didn't complain and kept on trucking! We were stuck on the Texas Giant together! Fun times! Rachel, Davin, and Miguel were stuck in the chicken coop waiting for maintenance to come get us off for 25 minutes! We went and rode the Titan almost immediately afterwards!

The kids did awesome as usual, but Davin wasn't as brave this year as last year. He acted like he was scared before we got on most of the rides, and flat refused to ride the Shockwave this year. The Shockwave did Miguel in as well, because that was the last big ride he would get on!

I am so thankful that I was able to go have such an awesome day with these awesome kiddos!

"A Crocodile"

I am so glad my kids love the water because I do too. One of the first questions I asked in regards to any potential surgical procedures this summer was, "When can I swim again?" I still have 5 more days until I can submerge my neck, but I decided to take the kiddos to the city pool and hang out in the shallow end.  Claire went down this slide a million times. One time this summer I said, "Claire, you are just a little fish!" She said, "No I not, I a crocodile!" I also think it is funny that she swims in a "swimming soup," and Davin always remembers his "sunscream."

Ethan likes to play "Water polo" since the Olympic have been on.

 I had intended for these very brief little videos to be a still shots, and hit the wrong button.

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Miss Lila's first birthday!

Happy birthday, Lila! They change so much the first year!

The Larynx Whisperer

Click here  to go to the blog that explains so well why I had so much anxiety about my little thyroid procedure! It also explains why my life vocally is going to get better since, thanks be to God,  I was fortunate enough to have a fantastic surgeon and anesthesiologist who both performed outstandingly! Well, in all honesty, my life in general in going to be better as I no longer have to concentrate at times to swallow; I have noticed I can take much more relaxed, deep breathes; and I no longer experience pain or pressure in my neck when I sneeze, yawn, or sing!

I am so lucky that Heidi has agreed to assist me with my post surgery vocal therapy! She was also my voice instructor at UNT, and I was fortunate enough to be able to keep in touch with her and remain friends post graduation. She is my favorite teacher ever! I do not think I would have been able to cross the undergraduate finish line without her. I am pretty sure that the soprano angels in heaven sound just like her.

Our first "therapy session" was just 5 days post right thyroid lobe removal. My surgeon said it will take 2 months for all the swelling to go away, and for the muscles to heal and regain full strength, and for my range and stamina to be what it was before the surgery. I am very encouraged by this because I really haven't lost any range. I don't feel like I am having to work so hard to get a good breath, and the tension in my neck has disappeared. I also feel like I have more space, and that I am not getting nearly as much of the pinched nasal sound that I just couldn't figure out what the hell else I could do to make it go away! I have enjoyed and looked forward to practicing this week for the first time since my junior year of college! I am going to have to work to break some bad habits that unbeknownst to me at the time were created  to compensate for the issues that my massive growth was causing by occupying space, and putting pressure on my esophagus and larynx. I am full of hope, and look forward to seeing what the next couple months bring!