Swim lessons 2012

We signed the boys up for swim lessons this summer.  I am not a swimmer, not even a little bit, but my hubby grew up with a pool in the backyard and is a great swimmer.  We both wanted our boys to be comfortable in the water and know how to swim.  Our local pool offers lessons for all ages and abilities.  The boys' lessons are all at the same time, so I get 30 glorious minutes to sit and read since they don't allow the parents to be near the pools.  The boys are all in different classes and they are enjoying their swim lessons!!  These are pictures I got on the first day.  (Parents are allowed to be closer and see what's going on the first day only). 

Joshua just got tested and is waiting for his wristband

Jackson's with the bigger kids! 

Jonathan getting his water belt strapped on

Little cutie on the wall

Jonathan doing the alligator walk and blowing bubbles

Jackson playing "What time is it, Mr. Fox?"

Bible Presentation

Our church recognizes students as they graduate kindergarten and get ready for first grade.  They have a Bible presentation, where each student gets his own Bible and the following Sunday they start first grade Sunday School, which is separate from the preschool Sunday School rooms.  It's a pretty big deal!  :)  Well, Jackson got his Bible today and it was very sweet! 

A special morning

Father and son sharing a moment before the presentation started

Shaking hands with the Sunday School workers before walking across the bridge

Looking up a Bible verse in his new Bible

All the kids holding up their Bibles and promising to ask mom and dad to read with them each night

So proud of my little man!

A Saturday together

Our weekends are pretty busy--soccer games, baseball practice, 31 parties, etc.  However, yesterday was a rare Saturday where our calendar was completely empty!  :)  We decided to head out to Lake Geneva and spend the day at the beach.  It was great!  The boys love the water and it was a nice and relaxing way to spend the day together.  We had a nice lunch, played for a few hours, had some ice cream, and then headed home for dinner and bedtime.  I love my family and days like this!!

My handsome hubby who is always the driver on road trips

Antics in the car!  And reading Waldo books in the back

Looking handsome in new sunglasses

My loves!

We take a picture by this water fountain each time we're here

The water was cold

A rare picture of the two of us

Playing follow the leader in the water

Looking at the boats and dreaming!

We had a great day!! 

Last day

Today marked the last day of my 11th year of teaching!! How did that happen?? Seems like just yesterday I was graduating from college and looking to start my teaching career. Wow!! Today was also my last day of teaching 5th grade. I was there for only a year. I'm sad about that---I really liked 5th grade. However, because of my teammates and a very uncomfortable team situation, I asked my principal to move me to a different grade level. Starting in the fall, I will be teaching 4th grade. I am excited about the change, excited about my new teammates, excited about a new beginning and looking to plant some roots in 4th grade! The boys have been on vacation with AW all week and they are loving time with their daddy. He took them to the pool this afternoon while I stayed home and nursed a bad sunburn. :( I am looking forward to many fun days home this summer with my boys! The first full day of vacation officially begins tomorrow!! Can't wait! I have lots of pictures that I need to get on here, too, but that will have to wait till tomorrow. The couch is calling my name. :)

He's FIVE!!

I can't believe our Josh celebrated his fifth birthday this weekend.  We decided to have a friend party and invite his pre-K class and have it at the local gym.  It was a great time!  I know our little guy had a great time with his friends and brothers. 

Friends

At the riverwalk with good friends!  It was a fun night, filled with yummy food, playing at the park, chasing geese (and getting hissed at), throwing rocks, laughing, running, and just having a wonderful time!  We are blessed to have such great friends!

Bunny ears?

Yep, bunny ears!  Jackson learned how to tie his shoes this week!!  He's doing the bunny ears and it doing a great job!  I'm just thrilled he's not in third grade!  :) 

Jackson has really been working hard at doing well in school and this week he got his name on the Character Counts door for responsibility!!  We are so proud of him!!  He also has mentioned several times that he's proud of himself!!

Way to go, Jackson!!!

Cabinets, cabinets!

We've only lived in this house for a year and a half, so projects and updates are still going on.  This house is perfect for us, but cosmetically needed some work.  The biggest thing that I wanted to change were cabinets (they're all oak!) and the trim.  I want white trim throughout, which will not be easy to change.  The cabinets have been our project since January.  We have done the kitchen, the downstairs bathroom, and now our master bathroom is a soothing grey color.  I love it!  Our kitchen was less than $100 to update!  Two panels of beadboard for the island, one gallon of paint, and some sanding supplies, that's all I needed for this project!  I really love the way it looks!!  (And I'm pretty proud of my work, since this was my project and my hubby did very little!) 

The island, with beadboard on the side--all the other cabinets are still the orangey oak color. 

The finished kitchen!  Love how the white cabinets make the granite countertops and appliances stand out!

The bathroom cabinet door, before we painted.  This orange oak color is everywhere in our house.  (hopefully not for too much longer!)

I painted the bathroom vanity a dark gray color that I absolutely love!! 

Service Project

Our church participated in a wonderful service project this morning, and J-man and I were so glad to be a part of it!  We packed 1,100 boxes of food that will be passed out to hungry people in need!  It was wonderful to share this experience with our oldest, and I think he really enjoyed helping and being a part of it all.  (I took these pictures with my phone, so they are not the best quality, but it gives a good idea of what our morning was like!)

Getting ready to add the oatmeal to the food boxes

That was our station---we were the oatmeal table!  :)

After helping with the oatmeal for a while, we decided to help pack the boxes.  Jackson was so proud of his boxes!!

Lots and lots of empty boxes, jsut waiting to be filled!

A finished box that we are about to load up on the food truck!  Love that smile!!

An update

Well, it's been a while since my last post.  OOPS!  Life has been quite busy this last month or so.  Let's just do some highlights!

• Boys have been super cute! 
• I turned another year older
• I started a new adventure by becoming a consultant for Thirty-One
• We realized we have way too much debt, hence the 31 work
• We are painting our kitchen cabinets white
• Work has been going okay
• Valentine's Day was cute, we got little gifts for the boys and shared some fun gifts with each other
• We realized that our church is awesome and we love it!

I'm sure there's been much more, but those are some of the highlights.  I hope to get back to more regular posts with pictures, once I feel like things have settled down and we're into some kind of a good routine!