that was fun.

we spent the weekend with my parents at the 'country house' (we're still looking for a name, right mom?!)
it was soooo much fun.
of course almost too much fun, and those types of weekends make it tough to come back home and face the real world.  yuck.
but we are here now. 
i have picked up most of the house.
the girls have chilled out a little with their favorite little buddy caillou on t.v.
and i'm awaiting nap time-for the girls.
and another chapter in the book i'm reading.
i took a ton of pictures. duh.
i'll post them little by  little.
last leg of school for me this week.
yeah!
but have tons of stuff to do with not one extra minute to do it.
the pressure is on and so is the stomach ache.
happy memorial day!
~chat soon!

hi.

it's me.
sara.
pretty soon my mom is going to fuss at me that i haven't written anything.
sorry.
it's busy here.
anne's last day of kindergarten is tomorrow. 
i can't believe it.
i think i might cry.
i'm not kidding.
i thought kate had an ear infection today.
i interrupted my mothers day off so she took her to the doc. 
there is nothing wrong with kate, her ears are fine...maybe next time i will let her complain an extra day or three.
good by 25 dollars to a copay.
hello security that we should have a decent weekend.
truth be known, it's been a tough week.
the tornadic activity in mo is too much for the strongest of souls.
for anyone that may know of a storm-a-phobe ask them...it's been a tough week.
luckily, anne's fear has taught me to snap out of mine.
we had rough storms yesterday, but once again, made it.
anne was brave.  sort of.
so soon, very soon. i'll be back.
i don't know when. ;)
but i will be.
after tomorrow there are only 5 more school days for me.
barf.
that is a long time to have to do crowd control.
it is.  a really long time.
it really is.
but we will make it.
we always do.
and i'll cry when the buses pull away, behind my shades, like i always do.  so no one notices.
it's me.  i can't help it.
happy almost weekend....
~chat soon!

steppin' out of the box.-updated. spellchecked!

a few months ago, I got a phone call.
it was from my parents neighbor.
she was getting married.
she wanted me to be the photographer.
room got fuzzy, fast, and for a very long time.
i said yes.
then i thought....

WHAT IN THE WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR??????

i fretted, i sweated, i worried, i cussed....i fretted, did i say i cussed?
i was so incredible worried about my lack of experience, i could have barfed.
yesterday came.  i didn't sleep much the night before.
my partner in crime, michelle and i got there insanely early.
i gave myself a mental pep talk and away we went.
it turned out good.
if i do say so myself.
i enjoyed it, i loved it actually.  it was a different kind of work.  it was hard, but it was easy, all in the same breath.  weird huh?
anyway, so i stepped out of the box.
luckily, i didn't fall out of the box. 
i'm proud of myself.  not that i took the pictures, but that i did something so different then what i'm used to.
remember, my word for the year is determined.
i'm not sure how exactly the word determined fits with taking photos at a wedding.
but, trust me, i was determined!


i will stick a few pictures on here soon.  still sorting and editing...
~Chat soon!

more dance....

i like this one the best.
but don't worry, i still wrote a check for 25 bucks to they creepy guy that made her stand in front of a black sheet with squiggles on it and say I LOVE TO DANCE! 
next year i won't.
or at least, someone remind me.
okay?
~chat soon.

dance.... a little late.

here is a little smattering of what i took of anne at her recital.  the actual day.  you can't take a lot of pictures that day.  they don't like it.  i'm scared of the lady on recital day, so i don't cross her.  i took more at rehersal but haven't put them together yet.

anne did great.  she smiled, she preformed.  she was proud. what more could you ask for?

~chat soon!

weekend day 3-the end.

we were so sad to go.
kate thought we had moved there.
she cried so hard she had to hold her little head.
anne was ticked.
i guess that shows how good of time it was.
or that they don't like home much. :)
~chat soon!

Last weekend day 2 part 2....

i have been s-l-o-w- finishing up the posts on LAST weekend.
here it is.
pontoon rides, face painting....lots of lazy fun.
one more set to post and then the weekend is complete! :)

sweet.

i signed up for a technology class that is held one day a week for 4 weeks throughout the month of may.
as i told my mother today, in march, that always sounds like a grand idea.
now that it is may, i really would rather scratch the idea but....i have a loyalty issue, so i keep going...
anyway....
because of the class.
i ate Chinese for lunch-yumm!!!!!
i got to go to a kick butt book sale through scholastic and purchase new books for my new grade and new classroom. (gulp.)
picked up four 1 dollar books for the chicks...to which they both screeched YOU ARE THE BEST MOMMA EVER!
got to pick anne up from school from the parking lot, not after school care.
had a hot fudge sundae with anne at mcdonalds before picking up kate. (mean, i know.)
got anne to gymnastics on time and without huffing or sweating (bonus!)
and ended the day with a Chinese dinner (i had it on the menu, it was yummy, orange chicken, but it had snow peas and i hate snow peas, almost as much as the dentist....but i made it through and it was good.  easy.  maybe i'll share it to the 2 people that read this thing...)
so that is that.
i also didn't have a headache...which is a huge.deal.  i have had a bum tooth for quite sometime and apparently it has been giving me headaches.  yesterday i faced my fear right down and went and got it fixed.  thanks to a root canal i have the ability to CHEW ANYTHING (within reason) on that side of my mouth.,...but that is a whole 'nother post!
enough rambling for this day.
~chat soon!

the weekend. day two, part 1

The first morning was rough.  We were on the 3rd floor and our neighbors upstairs were quite crazy until the wee hours of the morning.  we also woke up to thunderstorm.  anne is a storm-a-phobe so it was extra tough.  we quickly went to breakfast and peddled off to arts and crafts.  the girls fell in love with ceramics.  by the time we were finished with our masterpieces, the skies cleared.  PRAISE THE LORD!  we headed to our carriage ride and anne was honored enough to make the list of pony rides. (which simply was me putting her name on it....but lets all believe she had to work for it....) she insists it was horse, but i'm thinking it was a pony.  kate screamed at the thought of the carriage ride. we later figured out she thought we were just going to chuck her on top of a horse and send her into the sunset.  strange.   none the less, we had a great time with these activities.  i said it before and i'll say it again....it was GREAT!  try it, you'll like it! :)

 

anne in arts and crafts...loving cermaics

kate, painting a unicorn

working as  team....i forgot the hair gel, don't mind adam's hair!

at 'the ranch'

working on calming the anxiety of the horse idea.

carriage ride.

loving the 'horse' ride.  i spelled out pony and anne quickly said.  'it totally was a HORSE mommy.'

so proud of herself!

the weekend. day one.

Kate hit a HOLE IN ONE.  seriously, it's like bowling for me...i can hardly get in on the green let alone in the hole.

not in love with golfing...mother's daughter...

total love birds...

sas.

this weekend we took a trip to trout lodge.
it isn't far away from home.  we have heard others talk about it.
we have never gone.
we bought a weekend stay at the auction for anne's school back in February and decided to use it this weekend.
i was a little nervous this week. i had never been. i was worried it would be like a weird movie where we all had to sit around and sing campfire songs etc. (not that there is anything wrong with that, i just wasn't sure i wanted to do it.)
we left mid day friday.
drove there.  and instantly fell in love.
there were more activities then we could possibly accomplish.
everything was safe.  you really aren't encouraged to drive, so the children can run around as they wish....
we did some scouting around friday, and into the evening and then mapped out the rest of the trip....
boat rides, carriage rides, pony rides, splashing in the lake,  playing in the sand, crafts galore, movie night...complete with hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies (we were watching CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY of course!), bike riding, mini golf, shuffleboard.  the list goes on and one.
we even committed to going at least one more time this summer.  just for a short jaunt.
it is perfect for that.
oh, and did i mention, no t.v.'s, phones, or computers??????
that means anyone that happens to be work-a-holic can totally relax and rejuvenate.
it was AWESOME!
i'll share more.
~chat soon!

WOW!

that's all i have to say for right now.
amazing weekend.
best place EVER.
so glad we went!
more to come!
Happy Mother's Day to all my favorite momma's!
~chat soon!

are you there?

i'm here...
just up to my ears....(hence the picture. i took that once this winter when i was home with kate, she was sick.)
this time of year is intense. the end of a school year.  its full on freak-out. isn't it?
dance recitals, girl scout ceremonies, classroom plays to direct/organize/dream up, classrooms to pack up and move, oh my.
i still have recital pictures to  post, and other super fun stuff....but can't seem to find the second to do it.
tonight was anne's first night of gymnastics, and her court of awards ceremony for girl scouts. it was sweet. t hey got a pin and then a patch for selling cookies, and a little headband that has the school's name on it.
i forgot my camera so i have not one photographic  memory of the thing, but i hopefully will not forget how innocent they all looked standing on the alter....:(
i'm moving grade levels next year AND classrooms.  i have been in the room i am currently in for 10 years.  i have 10 years of crud-ola to either ditch or move...some people get tickled about this kind of a job to tackle, i get nauseous.  really, i do. or teary whichever, it isn't pleasant.
i know it will get done. it always has.  i just am having a tough time getting my head around the to-do list.
we are escaping this weekend. i will not forget my camera.  i can not wait.
a little family outing.
exciting.
gets me going.
as much as the idea of the place having black out curtains and us all sleeping till TEN in the MORNING! :)
~chat soon!

venting...

so here it is. my soap box. 
may 1st.  busy day.
school picnic.  lots of laundry.
finally bedtime.
watching t.v.
the 'special report' music came on.
my heart sank.  since i have been a kid, i have hated that noise.
it never is good news.  or up beat news.
always something scarey.
adam and i perked our ears to see....
OSAMA bIN LADEN IS DEAD.
What?
When did this happen?
How did this happen?
OH MY GOODNESS....
silence.  we had nothing to say.
all the memories of this horrible mans actions came flooding back.
we were glued to the tv for an hour.
President Obama came on to explain.
people were shown outside of the White House 'celebrating'.
I just couldn't feel the excitment.
I felt the relief, the weight of the monster man, the mega-mind of so many sinful acts, gone. 
but i wasn't celebrating.
both adam and i were very quiet.
'what comes next', i said.
'who's the next HIM?'
adam of course said, 'i don't know, we don't need to worry about that'....(he's always calm and smooth like that)
all day, i peeked at yahoo and fox news to read and see the pictures.
i salute the men that brought him down.
if i could hug them i would.
i get teary eyed--the admiration for the military is just too much sometimes for me to handle.
but, the men, aren't celebrating either.  (i don't think...)
they simply did their jobs.
put their faith in God.
stormed the devils workshop, and brought justice and closure to a terrible, terrible situation.
 i know that the two people that read this are thinking, 'oh dear sara, you are really off your rocker'...that is okay.
i know that no one really reads this thing...
but i'm saying, right here and now,
my prayers have all night (i didn't sleep much) and all day been for the families that lost loved ones in 9-11, those fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and  for the special unit that carried out this very successful and heroic act.  i pray that my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren NEVER have to deal with such an evil being...i pray for the continued safety of all our military...i pray for our nations safety.
God was truly watching over everyone.  He always does.
i'm stepping down now....off of my soapbox.
~chat soon!