Sunny St. George

We decided to start our summer vacation a little early this year. I had a few vacation days left to use and Blake had several days off from work--so we packed up and off we went! I was really worried about how the kids would do on such a long car ride (almost 6 hours), but they were troopers! Plenty of snacks and some toys in the backseat kept them busy and entertained. We didn't even have to break out the DVD player--yep, we traveled the old fashioned way!

As soon as we got there, we unloaded our stuff and hit the pool!

 We went for a walk that night and found a trail along the river that led to a great playground

 The kids were tuckered out and slept in the next day. They were spoiled and got to watch TV shows in the morning. We don't subscribe to any cable/satellite/local TV channels so this was a big treat!

 We went for a drive after breakfast and did some shopping. Then, after lunch, Blake stayed home with Porter so he could nap and I spent the afternoon with Brooke at the pool.

 The next day was our big day at Zion's National Park. Blake and I had only briefly been there several years ago in the winter, so we were excited to go back.

 By far, Porter's favorite part of the whole day was getting to ride the bus.

 Starting our first hike:

 The kids loved getting wet. It was a  great reward after walking almost a mile to the falls. Even though we brought the backpack for Porter to ride in, he walked most of the day and only rode in it when the trail was too steep or technical for him.

 After the lower falls, we kept climbing up and up to the middle falls and then to the upper falls.

 A rattlesnake we saw along the way

 Porter at the upper falls.

 Hiking back down:

 Finished our first trail--the kids probably walked around 2 miles. Porter was a little grumpy on the walk back, but I kept promising him another bus ride at the end and that kept him motivated.

 Our second hike was to weeping rock--another hike that involved water and the kids getting wet. They loved it.

 On our third hike, we encoutered some very tame squirrels. The kids loved spotting them all over and Porter especially loved chasing them.

 We spotted this lizard on the way back to the car. Blake and I figured that the kids probably walked 3-4 miles during the day. They were such good sports about it being hot and their legs tired.

 After our long day at Zion's, we were treated to dinner by Blake's grandma who lives down the street from where we were staying. We love seeing her and I am always glad that our kids get to interact with their great-grandma.

 Another day was spent lounging by the pool. We needed it after all the hiking we did the day before! And of course we had to visit the park again.

 We had such a great trip and are definitely planning on visiting St. George again. It was the perfect vaction for our family.

End of an era {for now}

my 2013-2014 school pic

Today marks the last day of school for me. It also marks the end of my teaching days (for now). I have always said that Heavenly Father will let me know when it is time to leave my job. In January when I was looking ahead to the next school year and thinking about renewing my contract, I told my principal that I would like to go back to working part time. I did that the year after Porter was born and even though it was crazy, we adjusted and it worked out. This year, I made the decision to work full time. I don't know why. I felt like it was the right thing to do and I knew my kids would be in good hands with their sitter. But boy has it been a crazy year. I've had some difficult students (and some really great ones, too) that have made the days long. I have felt pulled in a million directions with work, trying to juggle time for errands before/after I pick up the kids, getting dinner ready, and giving my kids and husband the attention they need--all before bedtime. Why did I decide full time was for me? Little did I know it was a blessing in disguise.

My principal was great to work with me and try to find me a half-time teaching spot. Then came our big news that we were expecting another baby. In October--just two months into the new school year. I wrestled for several weeks with what to do. Would it work teaching half time? I love my job, and while some working moms would glady jump at the chance to stay at home, I really had conflicting feelings about it. But in my heart, I knew it was time. Brooke will be starting school this fall and adding a new baby to the mix...that's about has much craziness as I can handle right now. So, for now, I will hang up my teaching hat and be a full-time mom. I definitely don't think this is the end of my teaching days--so I'm just looking at it as a little break. It might be a year or 10 years, but I'm sure I'll find myself back in the classroom one day. Again, I'll trust that Heavenly Father will tell me when it's time. And looking back at this year working full time, I can definitely see our Father in Heaven's hand in my life--the extra savings and income will help as we make this new adjustment.

Adieu classroom and school that I've loved so dearly. 'Till we meet again!

Look Ma, two wheels!

This is from the beginning of May: Brooke learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! I was probably more nervous about it than Brooke was. She can be kind of a scaredy-cat about certain things, so I thought she would be scared about this too, but she wasn't! All it took was a little coaching from Dad and she was off!

Off she goes:

And not be outdone by his older sister, Porter decided he has to be a daredevil on his bike as well. He'll go down the driveway and let go of the handlebars. He's fell off his bike a couple of times doing this--I think we need to get a helmet for this guy!

 Blake caught me doing my favorite Sunday afternoon activity: sitting out on the deck and reading while sipping a soda. Nothing is better.

 Mother's Day weekend, the firestation did a free community breakfast. We ate pancakes, eggs, and sausage and the kids loved being able to climb in the firetrucks and their firehats they got to keep. Porter shed some tears when it was time to go.

My {deep} thoughts on..

Dogs: I loath barking dogs. In our neighborhood there are a lot of barking dogs. They drive me crazy. They ruin a peaceful evening out on our deck. They ruin lazy Sunday mornings when we are trying to sleep in. They ruin Blake's sleep cycle when he's trying to sleep during the day after working a night shift. See, Blake and I, we don't have a dog. We will probably never get a dog. We know that we would be bad dog owners. We wouldn't be able to give them the attention they need because we're already so busy. In my opinion, dog owners should be sensitive to the fact that we all share the air in a neighborhood. People don't like to listen to your dog bark incessently. And likewise, we (I'm speaking for Blake and I) sure as heck don't like it when you let your dogs out to run around without a leash or without being supervised at all and they come into our yard and pee and poop everywhere! There is an unresponsible-dog-owner-epidemic going on in our community and I feel like I'm the only one annoyed by it. Dog owners love their pets, but unless it is quiet, doesn't jump on me, and doesn't use my yard as a toilet, chances are I hate your dog.

Books: I have a pretty high (or low, I guess, depending on how you look at it) filter when it comes to books. Sometimes I feel bad about rating books on goodreads because I would hate for someone to try a book I recommend and be offended by it. Pretty much know that any book I read comes with a "read at your own risk" stamp across it. I always read a book with two hats. 1) as a book lover who just likes to be swept away by a good story 2)as a parent/teacher who would be horrified if my child/student picked up one of these supposed "YA" books to read. Some of them are really bad (i.e. language/sex/underage drug or drinking). I guess maybe that's why I can enjoy it (that sounds weird, I know). To me, these books are more like an adult book that just happen to have teenage characters--even though they say YA, they aren't for young readers.

 Has anyone read Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn? This is actually a book meant for adults, not YA. One word: CRAZY!!! I loved/hated that book. I need someone to talk to about it.

Having 3 kids: We are anxious/excited to have a new baby in our home. However, having a boy and a girl complicates things just a little. We have a bedroom in our basement, but don't feel ready to send one of the kids downstairs quite yet--so we're going to have 2 of them share for now. But who? Does Porter share with the baby? Does Brooke? Do Porter and Brooke share? So many pros and cons to each option. We are also considering not finding out the gender--we already have one of each so we're ready for either a boy or a girl. I'm not sure if we'll be able to contain our curiosity once we go for the ultra-sound in a few weeks, but we'll try ;)

Technology: This topic has been on my mind a lot lately. It's interesting to think that my children will grow up in a world never knowing what it is like not to have things like cell phones, ipods/pads, regular access to the internet, video games, etc... This is a great, yet scary thing. A few months ago Brooke was playing on the ipad and we asked her to get off to help with a chore. She was so upset she threw the ipad down on the couch and stomped off. That was a huge reality check for Blake and I. Since then, Brooke has been grounded from the ipad. Obvioulsy it was becoming a problem and Brooke was demonstrating that she was not responsible enough to know how to take care of such an exspensive item. At firs,t Brooke would ask about using the ipad, but then she stopped and has found other things to do. This outburst of Brooke's has also helped Blake and I reevaluate our own technology use. I really had to look long and hard at myself and admit that I needed to cut back. I found this quote from Stephanie Nielson (NieNie Dialogues) and really liked it: "Don't teach your children you can multitask them and your social media accounts. Someday they will do the same to you and you won't like it."

The Common Core: just kidding! I won't be crossing that minefield again. My wise cousin told me, "a man convinced against his will, will be of the same opinion still...."