and this my friends...

is why i go to work each day.

my new little crew is renewing my hope for humanity.
and renewing my love for teaching.
seriously.  how could your heart not just melt over something found on your desk that said THAT?!
LOVE.IT.
happy monday.
~chat soon!

an empty saturday.

the definition of empty in our house, when referring to a day, means we have nothing to do.
saturday, was empty.
well, meaning we had no schedule to keep.
laundry, cleaning, grocery, maybe some pool time.
otherwise, no one was telling us we had to be there.
i got a message from julie around 8am.
she was heading to the orchard with her clan.
picking peaches and honeycrisp apples. (yum)
after several messages sent back and forth...
we all met at eckerts.
coolest place on the earth.
i had never been peach picking.
after a little conversation, neither had julie.
it was glorious.  the kids had a blast.
i ate enough peaches to have my own 'peach fuzz' on my lip! HHAHAAHAHA (i crack myself up)
i was glad we had an empty day to join them! ;)
thanks for the invite jules.

 obviously, every time i turned around it was a kodak moment.  sorry for the obnoxious amount of pictures....but one was cuter then the next! ;)

are you there...

it's me sara.
i haven't written anything for awhile.
but it's okay.
things are good.
very good.
just busy.
we are all trying very hard to get into the new school year routine.
we are doing okay.
not great.
but getting there.
today is wednesday.
last week at this time, i had just gotten home with anne and her broken arm, and my mom was still sitting in the waiting room of the e.r. to get her accident injuries checked out.
this wednesday, has been, calm. to say the least. ;)
2nd grade is good.  i'm catching on.
i'm still floundering, but each day is getting better.
i think.
this weekend, we don't have one thing on the calendar.
shhhh....
don't tell anyone.
because that is how it is going to stay.
i may stay in my jammies.
but probably not, because i promised the girls one more trip to the pool.
before the official end of summer.
*&^%#!!!!!!
so that is it.
things are good.
i have lots to catch up on, pictures to post, fun stuff to share about the new treetop ent. local etc....
but it needs to wait.
i have reading placement tests to grade.
and i need to make sure anne has a school uniform to wear for tomorrow.
and i need to see what i am going to wear....
and i need to pack our lunches....
and i need to have anne to read to me...
and i need to....
and i need to....
and i need to....
snooze!
~chat soon!

the first week...

so we all survived.
and i mean that honestly.
i made it through the first three days of second grade.
it is a real adjustment, but once the kinks are worked out, i think i will like it.
they ARE super cute....and that makes things easier!

the first day of school toward the end of the day, my phone rang.
it was an 'outside' ring...meaning it had to be adam.
i answered.
it was adam.
in my mind i was saying WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!  i have got to get these little kids on the bus!  it's the first day of school.
he says, sara, your mom is okay. (gulp.)
she has been in a car accident.  (room gets fuzzy)
i am going to get anne from school.  (she was on her way to get her)
IS MOM OKAY?
she has been burned (start sweating...i am picturing a fire)
BURNED?!
from the airbag.
OH! WHAT?! I  DON'T GET IT!
call your mom he says. ( i didn't think i should *bother* her right then....so i waited)
room still spinning, i turn around and look at 22 sets of darling eyes.
GET IT TOGETHER SARA.....
okay boys and girls, put your folders in your backpacks and lay your heads down.
what else does a girl do?????

In the end...mom was okay, suffering whiplash, chemical burns, and bumps and bruises.
many prayers of thanks for that....
she was hit by a car that wasn't looking while making a turn.
bummer.
did i say we were thankful for that she was okay???

mom's car.  :(

due to the mishap. we changed transportation details...so
  i took anne to gymnastics.
and then we had the arm episode.
all literally within 3 hours of each other.

*sidenote...the doc said that there is NO WORRY that her arm has broken twice in 10 months.  it was the neighbor  bone from the last break, not the same bone.  it is a common break in children when falling.  it is a buckle break that happens when you put your arm out to 'break' your fall.  so no need to worry that she is calcium deficient of is suffering from any other condition. ;)*

by the time i got home with anne...all i could do was laugh.
what else do you do???

she's really unhappy about all this can you tell?!

now it is saturday.  mom is on the road to recovery.  anne is casted.
i am cleaning the house.
we are going to a fundraiser dinner tonight to help raise money for the Joplin tornado victims. and an anniversary party for friends.
i get to wear a new dress ( one my sister talked me into buying this summer).
adam will wear a suit. (i melt when he wears suits....blush)
it will be fun.
happy weekend!
~chat soon!

today.

 anne broke her arm.
not at school.
not at gymnastics.
climbing a TREE after gymnastics.
happy 2nd day of school.

well...here we have...

a first grader.
i can't really believe it.
i didn't cry.
i thought about it.
my eyes got a little fuzzy.
but they never came out. (the tears, not my eyes)
she was darling.
i still can't believe it. 
a first grader.
how can that be?
i'm still 15!!!!

posing

mee too had to join in!

a FIRST GRADER!

seriously...how can you not have a good day with foot wear like that?

we made it.

last day....

thursday was the last 'official' day of our summer.
we got together with my sweet friend julie, and her darling kids.
we went to purina farms.
it was perfect weather, perfect time, perfect lunch, just perfect.
the kind of perfect that you drive away and say....man, why can't EVER day be this WAy?!
it was AWESOME!
*the pictures are in order from last to first..*
i am just to lazy to fix them...

the  chicks!

catching up on summer reading!

sydney is soooo stinkin' cute!

all 5.  cracks me up.

wagon ride

loving the wagon ride!

kate and sydney were just the 'right height'...no big kids ALLOWED!

syd on the tractor

finally! something she liked!

we saw jackson, katy, and syds cousins!  how cool!  they are all checking out the fish...

swings!

PULL!

some of the buds!

momma! they are HERE!

they are HERE!

wonder what's in there?

terrible pic, but marking where we were!

not good.

so that is how i am.
not good.
nothing to worry about.
just a little wobbly. emotionally.
it's back to school time.
it sends me into a tail spin.
this year i am teaching 2nd grade instead of 3rd.
i am happy for the change.
i like change.
but now i am nervous.
and wondering if i made the right change.
i know i can do it.
but it is different.  unchartered waters. scary.
the team i will be with is great.
i have known them for forever.
they are friendly, helpful, it will be fine.
but they don't really 'know' me.
like my old chicks did.
tuesday i had a workshop i signed up for.
no big deal.  just a little refresher on a unique reading program that our district does.
i flitted into the room like i owned the place.
after teaching in the same district, same grade almost 15 years, it's a given, i usually know people.
i didn't know a soul.
not one.
i got queasy.
room got fuzzy.
i sat down and started sucking on my diet coke.
i realized i had a lump in my throat.
what the WHAT?!  SARA get it TOGETHER.
you are 30+ years old.  you aren't afraid.
GET IT TOGETHER.
so i did the only thing i could think of....
i grabbed my cell phone and pretended it was one of those fancy smart phones...
and played with the screen.
mine is not fancy.
not one bit.
but it sucked me out of reality for a couple minutes.
i made it.
until lunch.
when everyone started leaving to be with their 'friends' or at least fellow lunch-ees.
i went to d.q.
and ate in my car.
alone.
it sucked.
more then anything.
but i lived.
i went back, and found out the workshop would be shortened.
i listened some more.
and then was dismissed.
i came home and sat on my bed and cried.
a cleansing cry.
and then laughed.
a cleansing laugh.
at myself.  for being a dork.
for being nervous.
for being....well...me.
it's teaching me quickly that while change is good, it's hard.
i'm really not changing all that much. my good girls will be at school like always.
the ones that know my looks, they are still there.
i just have new people that will learn my looks.
enough babble.
i just haven't been blogging much.
lots of stuff to do and this gets pushed to the back burner.
tomorrow is open house at anne's school. gulp.
better get the disinfecting wipes...i feel a little barf coming!

~chat soon!

she thinks she can....she thinks she can....*UPDATE*

Well...yesterday I went and peeked on the little babes...guess what!?  they are all DEAD.

i think maybe i can't hide my distaste of birds very well.

maybe they know that?  

oh well...we are not a bird hatching, bird living, bird making it kind of house.

ha.

better luck next time.

anyway, who builds a nest, lays eggs, and then cares for them in 110 degree heat?!

wasn't meant to be.

bummer...again, disappointment.

remember a few weeks ago when i had the post of this?
well....the birds didn't make it due to the cow bird egg disaster.
my sweet friend, joyce, from school alerted me to the fact that the speckled egg in the nest was a cow bird egg.
they take over the nest, basically and choke out the babes.
she is so smart, all the time.
again, she was right.
the birds died.
adams office manager had to help me ditch them.
i'm a wuss when it comes to dead things.
just ask michelle what happened when larry, my class guinea pig died, while we were all at lunch. ewww.
anyway.....
i was bummed, but not too bad, because my camera was gone.
well, lo and behold.
that momma bird came back.
and laid 4 perfect eggs.
no stupid cow bird came into the nest and took over.
the girls are having so much fun watching them grow.
anne is quite upset though because 'they seem blind'.
and in fact they do....
but if we tweet loud enough, the all pop up and open their mouths.
picture perfect!
sometimes i just love motherhood.
for some reason, a nest of new baby birds just makes me want to pop.
weird.
i know....
here is the lifecycle so far...

if you look real close the middle bird was STILL IN THE EGG!  we got to see it bust OUT!  all of us.  we got to see it.  amazing....the girls ran in and got adam, who ran out thinking it was serious.  he smiled, but i am pretty sure he said something in his head like 'really, sara?  a bird busting out of an egg?'

look at those sweet little beaks!