Best. Team. Ever!

These ladies are the ladies I spent the last year of teaching with.  They are the best.  Right here, this is the best team I have ever worked with.  We have so much fun together.  We do what we need to do and get our stuff done.  Most of us have taught 3rd grade together for many years!  We have been through so much like weddings, parties, and babies.  We hang out outside of school and our kids know each other and call each other friends too.  These ladies really are some of my best friends.  Since I see them everyday, they probably know the most about me.  We have no secrets and our husbands know that too :).  We are being split up next year and we sort of expected it.  It's sad and we don't like it but we will make the best of it.  I know that no matter what, we will NOT stop being friends.  We may not have the same lunch period but we still have our before and after school chats to look forward too.  (Which is really what makes the day).  No matter where we move, no one can keep us from being friends.  Nothing.  This moving stuff is for the birds and we will be ok even though it sucks. 

I know there are few people that can say they work with some of the greatest.  I can.  I feel truly blessed that I got to work with these ladies and I believe it was fate that led us all to each other because I honestly don't know what I would do without these girls in my life!  So to Andrea, Becky, Laurie, Patti, and Holly, I love you all!  You are what keeps me going when the going gets tough!  It's the end of an era but I know we still have good times to be had.  And WE will!

Remember...Chumbawumba!  We will get knocked down, but we will get up again!  And you better believe it!

Last Day At Miss Rose's!

Today was the first of two sad days headed my way. Today was the last day at Miss Rose's, our babysitter.  Forever.  She will not be watching kids next year.  I got her a plant and made a pot that said "Thanks for watching us grow over the years."

Then each of the kids put their handprint on it.

Here is the last picture of my kids and Miss Rose's kids, Jonathan, Brandon and Marianna.  My kids are pretty attached to them and they love them!  Marianna is so good with them.  I told her that she could come over and play and watch the kids some days over the summer so that I can get some stuff done!  My kids also love Jonathan.  He has always been Gracie's little buddy.  He has played with her since she was a baby and he was like 3 and now he's in 2nd grade!  Brandon..well, they love him too but he would rather not play with them.  At least they know his name.

See....Jonathan and Gracie are good buddies.  At least they will be able to  see each other at school next year!

Here is Miss Rose with the kids.  She has been great putting up with us all these years.  We have been going to her  since Gracie was 3 months old!  Just when she got used to her, I told her I would be having twins and she bravely took on that task.  She was so easy to work with and dealt with our crazy scheules at times. 

One last group hug!

I had tears in my  eyes as we said our goodbyes.

But I know that we'll see each other again in and out of school and that she will always be an important part of my kids' lives.

Thank you for all the years Miss Rose!  We'll miss you!

Blackberry Farms!

We went to Blackberry Farms the over the weekend.  That place is so neat and my kids love it. The drive isn't bad and it's perfect for small kids.  It's not huge and there are really no bg kids running around like crazy knocking over the little ones.  Plus it's never really crowded.   First up we went to the old schoolhouse.  The kids got to sit in desks and draw on slates.  Gracie thought that was pretty cool.

Gracie thinks this is what her kindergarten classroom will look like.  Ha!

The teacher asked Presley if he wanted to sit on the stool and wear the dunce cap. He said "no."

Gracie made smiley faces on her slate.  Maybe this means she will use the chalkboard we have at home.

Then the girls rode ponies.  They do have pony rides on the weekends.  The nice thing about this place is that you pay to get in and  then you can ride the ponies, the merry-go-round, the train, and the wagon ride as much as you want! 

Evie braved it and wanted to ride too.  She did good too.

Although he didn't want to ride the real horses, Bub opted to ride the merru-go-round.  In fact, that's all he wanted to do.  All day he kept asking to ride it again.

Evie and Gracie rode too.

They have great spots to eat lunch so we brought our picnic.  In fact, they are doing all kinds of remodeling including making a huge new picnic area!

After lunch, it was time to hit the pavement again.

Gracie liked the leading the way for us with her map. 

We went and rode the train next.  This was such a hit that we stayed on when it stopped and rode it again.

Presley loves his trains!

Evie was cool with it too.

And this is actually a really good picture of Gracie. 

So after 2 times on the train, it was back to the merry-go-round.

I love that there are never lines at this place.  You can walk right on everything!

It's pretty place with little ponds and lakes and covered bridges.

We finally decided it was time to see some of the animals there.  Evie had fun counting the goats.

And the little ones had fun telling the bunny to "hop, hop, hop."

It was also fun to watch them looking at all the baby chicks.

The girls looked so cute in their matching dresses.

We ended the day driving some tractors around.

It was a fun day!  I'm sure we will be visiting there again over the summer!

First Taste of Summer!

It was hot enough this weekend to finally roll out the pool.  The kids were so excited to play in it.

Presley was in charge of filling 'er up.

We improvised and made our own water slide. Hey, it was free from the neighbor.  We need practice because we are going to Wisconsin Dells in a few weeks to go to the waterpark!

The kids were also exited to wear their new swimming attire.  Gracie and Evie got Ariel and Bub got Thomas.

I also signed the kids up for swimming lessons this weekend, among other things.  But if I'm going to make a swimmer out of anyone, it's gonna be this little girl right here. She is the only one who doesn't freak out when her face gets wet and is a little bit fearless when it comes down to it.

We also brouught out the water table.  That is always a good way to kill some time outside.

Just being outside the other day made me really excited for the many days we can spend doing this over the summer.  Of course we don't have a real pool, (thanks Dad!) but we do know some people with pools and we often visited splash parks last summer.  We are set!

And of course no hot day is complete without eating a drippy popsicle.  They were pretty excited about their tongues. 

Our summer starts in just a few short days!  Yeah!

WE Will Always Have a Good Time!

See these ladies right here?  They are some of the bestest friends that a girl could ask for.  They are not only my coworkers, but my family.  There's nothing I wouldn't do for these chicas.  We had a work get together the other night and it was nothing short of fun! 

But whatever fun is, we go beyond that.  We know each other inside and out and have so many jokes that can make me crack up even when I am at home.  There is never a dull  moment when we are together.

I have been teaching with these girls for years. For some, it's been 11 years!  That's a long time. We have started teaching careers together, gone through masters classes together, celebrating each other's weddings, the joys of pregnancy, and the ups and downs of parenting.  Needless to say, there is so much more and our lunch conversations are never dull.

You see with these girls, it's easy to be yourself.  They know the minute I am sad and I know I can count on them to pick me up.  They even know how to build me up buttercup!

And of course it's great when you feel comfortable rapping "Baby got back" in front of total strangers.

You ain't gone none until you've got these friends hon!

Right here, this is my favorite picture.  This is my current team.  This will always be my favorite team.  My most favorite people to work with.  Some of them are moving to different grade levels and moving to different hallways.  I won't lie.  I am incredibly sad and depressesd.  It may seem silly but these girls are what makes my job fun.  I get up and go to work so I can see them everyday.  They give just the right balance to make all those negatives about work seem better.  I love these ladies with all my heart. 

If you know me, I don't like change.  Although the thought of working with all these hot teachers may help.  (We sang that song).

I can't imagine not working with these girls.  We are a strong, solid team that no matter what, I know will never change.  We will continue to be friends no matter what life throws at us. 

I know this is a pretty sappy post since I am posting all these pictures of us having a little too much fun but it's seems appropriate.  The school year ends a few days and I will say that I will miss seeing them everyday.  I know we will get together though.

And this crazy lady right here?  She doesn't even know how much she's been my rock all these years.  We have had many laughs, many tears, and many, many good times together! 

Haven't you heard?.........

I will always love the girls in third.