Yesterday we had a picnic at the local splash park. Ryan and I picked Garrett up, and he made a list of what we should have at our picnic. His sandwich of choice was cucumber. He had never had one before, but that is what he wanted (he ended up eating Cajun roast beef like Ryan).

After everyone had eaten, we let them hit the water. It’s so hard to believe that last year the girls would not even get in the water.

I told her to strike a pose, and this is what she did.

Garrett enjoyed all of the splash area, but the buckets that dump on your head was his favorite. He even “tricked” Ryan into getting under a bucket.

Jonathan jumped in front of the camera, but check out G in the background.

And then there’s this:

I’m not sure what was going on here. The Heimlich, showing some man love, or saving a small child from Jonathan spraying water in their eyes???

Then there was this thing to climb on. We called it the Death Trap.

They were even a little scared by it. Who builds something that tall without serious padding underneath? I guess the thrill is why they liked it so much.

We had made Garrett sit still long enough to put a fresh coat of sunscreen on when he said this, “This is fun. Can we come back here on our next play outing?” How sweet is that.

He ran around in the water for at least two hours straight. That didn’t stop him from being silly in the car on the way home. He kept saying, “Look! I’m Ryan!” Silly boy.

Unfortunately the only photo I got of Caitlyn was when she was throwing a fit. She did calm down and have fun after this. We all had a good time.

Bossman is going to place an ad for our business in a trade magazine. He’s done this before, and we worked with a great gal at an creative agency. He work has always been really good with a modern edge. When tasked with a new ad for our company, this is what she sent to us today.

I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time. Leave  me a comment if you don’t get it because your mind doesn’t easily wander to the gutter, and I’ll explain it to you.

Hope this makes your Wednesday a little funnier!

Since I have Fridays off this summer, I thought it would be a great opportunity to spend some time with my cousin Garrett. He is about to be a big brother. Our first day out together was last Friday. We went to the zoo with the Websters. It was really neat to see what a sweet boy he is. At the middle of the day he looked up at me and said, “I’m having a lot of fun today.” He totally melted my heart.

I forgot that in the children’s section they have a stream that the kiddos can run through and cool off. It was fun to get a little wet and forget that it was rising towards 100 degrees outside.

Jonathan wasn’t feeling very good, so he rested wherever he could find a spot.

Garrett is growing up into such a little man. He was jumping down off the curb and fell. He quickly said, “I meant to do that!” Then at lunch I had him carry our tray to our table while I made the drinks. By the time I got there, he had eaten half of my hamburger. His reply was, “I was just checking to make sure it is good. It is. You can eat it now.”

No trip to the zoo would be complete without a ride on the monorail. Actually, we were too exhausted by that time to walk around the Africa part of the zoo, so we road around it instead.

Garrett has a real passion for taking pictures. He photographed the whole monorail ride. I have one question. Is this a boy thing or what? I have several pictures like this taken by Ryan.

We all had a great time. I can’t wait to see what other adventures this summer will hold. I also am so excited to get to know this awesome boy better.

Remember our favorite way to keep the girls busy while we have dinner? I handed over the camera again a week ago, and their skills have gotten much better!

Photographer Caitlyn

A true photographer will always catch the subject in their natural environment and frame of mind.

A cute little sister model never hurts either.

Photographer Faith

Bringing out the best in her subjects

Getting a rare shot of me in glasses

Here’s a few that I took.

I don’t know why I have ketchup all over my face?

She was extra smiley that night!

Man they love each other, and they are getting too big too fast!

6-8-09

Back at work with Bossman today. It’s so much easier than teaching!

6-9-09

I had a second interview today with the kindergarten team at this school, and I GOT THE POSITION! Go God!

6-10-09

Jenn and I celebrated my new position with a trip to the teacher store. I have decided that these will be my new calendar headers, and I think I am going to go with a puppy theme. I’m so excited about this fall!

6-11-09

The storm blew down two really large branches in our front yard and lifted up our shed in the back. Luckily there was no property damage.

6-12-09

Jonathan cut down all the branches today while Jenn and I visited more teacher stores. We all went to dinner together at Spring Creek BBQ. It isn’t as good as Dickey’s, but it was nice to try a new place. I’m not sure whether Ryan love them more or if they love him more!

6-13-09

Since our atrium roof leaks and we use this space for the dogs, we pulled up the carpet. That was the easy part. Getting all the glue off the floor is another story. We hope to finish this weekend and then get the concrete stained for easy cleanup.

6-14-09

Paying bills is  a little more fun with these cool stamps. Eat my shorts!

I started the summer off right! Friday night Jenn and I went to visit an old (as in not anymore, not age) team member she taught with last year. I had only met Amber a few times in the past, but I loved every minute we spent chatting and visiting with this little guy.

I pray my children have red hair like this. We girls chatted it up past midnight and made future plans for a Canton trip. Jonathan and the girls stayed at our house with Ryan. By the time we got home, we decided it was time for a Jack in the Box trip. When all was said and done, it was after 2am, “and nothing good happens after 2am” -name that quote.  Since Jenn and I were heading to a scrapbook convention the next day, the whole crew spent the night.

The next day, Jenn and I spent 7 hours in scrapbook shopping bliss. All the paper and supplies were a feast for our eyes with over 100 exhibitors and the convention. We even met Cricut Dan and had some good laughs.

The boys did manly things like go to the barber and download Super Mario 3 for the Wii. On our way home, Jenn and I started talking about the upcoming Harry Potter movie. When you have read the books all of the details start to run together. We hatched a plan to have the fun continue with fajitas at their house while we watched the Order of the Phoenix.

We were enjoying the movie until it happened. Ryan stepped out of the bathroom and said, “You have a problem in your bathroom.” Now I immediately thought he had stopped up the toilet and needed a plunger, but the problem was a wasp. Ryan is deathly afraid of wasps, and I found out that so is Jenn. That left me and Jonathan to take care of it.

Ironically, Amber saw a wasp on her curtain the night before while we were over there. She had the great idea to suck it up with the vacuum. So, Dyson to the rescue again. I took Ryan’s man card and headed for the bathroom. This is my “you want a piece of me” face.

Jennifer started laughing hysterically when she looked at the picture on her camera, but the mission had to continue. Jonathan manned the button on the vacuum. I stepped in, sucked the wasp up, and Jonathan threw the vacuum in the garage. We all laughed so hard. Who knew that part of our crew was such wussies. LOL! This will definitely be a night that lives in infamy and the source of many internal jokes!

I started back working for Bossman on Monday, and it actually is going well. I forgot how much easier this is than teaching. The great part is that I get to work from home two days a week, and I’m taking Fridays off. I’m going to use my Fridays relaxing and spending time with my cousin G! Oh, the fun things I have planned!

Yesterday I had a second interview with McKinney ISD to meet the team. I was open to teaching in either Plano, McKinney, or Dallas next year until I went to the interview a week ago. This team is great, and McKinney is a wonderful district to work for. My heart starting setting its sights on McKinney.

The interview went really well. At one point the team lead stopped and said, “your beliefs and methods align completely with ours.” Woohoo! I felt like the position was mine, and then I got a call last night. I am their candidate of choice! That’s right Internets, no more Dallas ISD for me!

I’ve taken to heart dooce’s experience about blogging about your work. After my contract with McKinney is signed, I’ll start telling you a bit about my experiences there. But for now, I’m enjoying the moment! I look back at what my life was like in January, and I’m in complete awe of how quickly things can change. At one point I told Ryan that a huge blessing must be on the way because of the attack we were under. Boy was I right! God’s blessings abound!

6-1-09

I brought home a lot of my teaching stuff today. It’s hard to believe that I accumulated all that crap.

6-2-09

I put together bags for my kids at school. I hope they really like them.

6-3-09

Cupcake cake for the last day of school party

6-4-09

Not my class anymore. The teacher taking over my position started moving her things in today. All traces of me and my class are gone.

6-5-09

Isabelle was growling at Charlie because he had her hedgehog and would not let her have it.

6-6-09

Jenn and I had so much fun at the scrapbook convention. We even got to meet Cricut Dan and get our picture taken with him. There also was a wasp incident later in the evening. I’ll blog about that later.

6-7-09

Ryan and I have become addicted to chocolate shakes and mango limeades from Sonic. We both usually get both when we go there!