In 3 days....

In three days, my beautiful flower girl will be getting married. In three days, I will be one of her bridesmaids and my daughter will be one of her flower girls. It has come full circle. I cannot believe that beautiful 8 lbs 3 oz baby that I held when she was less than an hour old is now almost 23 and is getting married. I have babysat her just about every weekend when she was a baby up through childhood. She's more like a little sister than a niece and I cannot wait to share in her joy on Saturday!! Love you lots Brittany!

Movie Day

Saturday, we took the kiddos to see "Brave." It was a great movie and very action packed! What I liked that it wasn't the typical, boy rescues girl type of movie. In fact, there was no prince in this movie!! Very cute movie and I highly recommend it!

What a day!

Yesterday, Matt had the day off unexpectedly, so we took our two children, plus our 4 nephews and niece to Kings Island. I have been wanting to conquer my fear so I rode Diamondback with my niece. It was awesome and scary all in one! I screamed so much that my throat was raw for a few hours!! We had a fun time despite the heat and the kids cooled off by running through the splash area in Planet Snoopy.

After resting, I went out my sister, niece, niece's cousin and sister's friend for a Ladies Night. We went to downtown Cincinnati for dinner at Montgomery Inn's Boathouse and then a horse drawn carriage through the city. We also saw a concert at Fountain Square and had yummy Graeter's Ice Cream. It was such a fun night of firsts for many of us!! Yesterday was such a nice distraction from a lot of stress and worry.

Lazy Days

We are enjoying a few "slower" days in the middle of some crazy busy weeks. Appointments, wedding prep, and visits with friends have made this week quite busy. Luckily for us, we have Wednesday and Thursday with lots of time during the day to rest. We enjoyed sleeping late today and staying inside due to the extreme heat that is expected. We are fully in summer mode now!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, and uncles!! My children's father is the best father in the world to them. He thinks of the kids before himself and always tries to take them to fun places as much as he can. It takes extra love to father special needs kids and he is one-of-a-kind!

Pool Playdate

Yesterday, I babysat Cinderella's friend E for the day and since we were adding children to the mix, we invited Miss T to join for a little pool fun. Poor Mr. C was very outnumber in the boy population, but I didn't think he seemed to mind! He adores Miss E much to E's dismay!

They swam, pretended to be everything under the hot sun, and then somehow a sprinkler, cup, water bottle, and spoon became apart of the fun.

All the kids had a great time and it was a great way to stay cool in this heat! Popsicles followed the fun.

She is growing up too fast!

Yesterday, we spent the evening at Kings Island. We saw a lot of friends and I saw some of my former students as well. We had just gotten off the Stunt Coaster Ride, when Cinderella saw the Vortex roller  coaster (that goes up really high and has loops and cork screws) she wanted to ride it. We were hesitant at first, but she kept on insisting so Matt took her on it while Mr. C and I rode a few rides.

My baby rode a HUGE roller coaster at 7 years of age! I just can't believe how brave or how old she is getting!! It was fun evening and I definitely needed a mental distraction yesterday. I am just loving summer!

Splish Splash

I bought a fun and very cheap pool the evening of my last day of work at school. The kids were thrilled! So, yesterday we set it up (very easy) and filled with water. After lunch, we tested it. Despite the freezing temps, it was so much fun! It is almost 2.5 feet deep and 8 feet in diameter.....perfect for a family of 4!

Cinderella enjoyed it so much that she stayed in for over 4 hours!! You'll also note her Ariel doll as she stated that mermaids need to swim too!

Wordless Wednesday - VBS

Honk, honk!

It was quite a long day for everyone. The kids were getting out of the bathtub after the first evening of VBS at church, when I heard a very loud honk. I look outside to see a bus coming down our little dead-end street. Instantly, I know who is driving that bus. Quickly, I dress Mr. C and we wait patiently for it to come back to pick us up.

Then it arrives and Mr. C could hardly believe his eyes when the doors open and his bus driver, Uncle Jerry tells him to hop aboard. Inside were lots of neighbors and family! We took a quick bus drive with dogs, kids, and adults alike.

Mr. C  LOVES buses! Besides pianos and 4 wheelers, it ranks up there in the top 3! He has several different little buses he keeps in his hands at all times. I guess his obsession began in Gatlinburg when he bought his first bus.

It was a fun ride and changed everyone's mood this evening!! Doesn't everyone have an uncle who owns a bus and takes you for a ride at 9:30pm??? Summer nights!!!

Fun Weekend

We had a lot of fun this weekend! Friday evening, Matt and I went out on another date thanks to his parents. The date was completely free with gift certificates to Longhorn Steak House, Graeters' Ice Cream (absolutely heavenly!) and shopping! It was nice to enjoy a restaurant without little hands and feet going everywhere!!

Saturday, I helped my sister get her house ready for my niece's Bachelorette Party. We decorated with her wedding colors. We also caught a glimpse of the floral bouquets that everyone will be using at the wedding. They are gorgeous!! We had a fun night with games, food, and much much more!! We made memories that everyone will definitely not forget!!

My niece styled my hair for the party. I will be wearing my hair in an updo with spiral curls for the wedding.
The wedding is now less than 3 weeks away. Wow!! It's going to be such a wonderful day!

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school at my school. It finally arrived and although I am so very ready to start my summer vacation, I am so going to miss many students. The girls in my class were wonderful this year and as I was looking at them before I passed out the awards, I was getting very teary. I have only a year (9 months) with them to make an impact in their lives. Oh how I wish I made a difference! They are such a good group and I will so miss them!

As a way to celebrate the last day of school, we are going to head to Kings Island this afternoon and evening so I can blow off steam and have fun!!

I have to make the most of June so I have already planned some fun things for my kids and I to do!! Bring on SUMMER!

14 years ago today...

I married my best friend! I cannot believe it has been 14 years! Wow!! Life has thrown us quite a few curveballs and strikes, but we're still standing and I think that counts for something!

Pillow Reading Day

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Today was Pillow Reading Day in my classroom. Cinderella has been visiting our classroom for the past couple of school days. She has enjoyed meeting my class, eating summer birthday treats, and playing with my students. It's so cute because most of my girls swarm around her like bees on honey! She was the center of attention on the playground (and she was the only one out of dress code so she did "stand out.") She loved beach day and now Pillow Reading Day. She will be hanging out with Memaw tomorrow as I have a field trip off campus.

One week from tomorrow will be my last work day until mid-August. I so cannot wait!

Conversations wih Cinderella

We went out to dinner this weekend and while looking at the kid's menu, I had an interesting conversation with her. She saw a symbol + another symbol = answer and she exclaimed, "Look Mommy! An equation!" Wow! I didn't know she learned that in first grade this year!! She amazes me at least once a day with all that she can do despite having developmental delays!!

She is also spending a few days at my school and is enjoying things like Chapel and special fun days with my class. It has been great being able to spend time with her alone. This is the last week of school. It could not get here any quicker!!