christmas morning...

for jaden, at least...

saturday was ashlyn's 2nd birthday party

sunday, i woke up to a living room COVERED in all of ashlyn's new toys

...that jaden had opened

...and that ashlyn wasn't allowed to touch!

crack for women...

so my family had their annual pigroast last night...

live band, LOTS of pulled pork, swimming, horshoes, dancing, and "beverages" {wink, wink}

we ended the evening around 1:20a.m. with a couple hands of euchre, during which i {politely} asked jackson to grab another chocolate cupcake for me...

he brought the whole container

so then my aunt walks out and asks what we're eating...

jackson replies (without hesitation and with a straight face) "crack for women"

this lady is such...

an inspiration to me...

this is my mother-in-law, and she's something!



on her 50th birthday this year, she went out and got this tattoo...
it's a dragonfly, which holds very special meaning to her

but i love the fact that she does what she wants, and worries only about making herself happy, rather than worrying what others might think

she's gone through some really rough patches with family and health, but she's never let that bother her or the way she relates to others...
she's helped me out and stood by me when i've gone through my own difficult times...
but, most of all, she loves me, and treats me like her own...
...i really am a lucky "in-law"

unpubbed...take 2

here is my lift for this week's layout by corey...

{i wish the colors would have come out more true to life...the pink on the die-cut paper is more of a coral than a pale pink, and the glitter is a very pretty deep turqoise}

check out the challenge at www.unpubbed.blogspot.com

hold onto your hats...

i've been scrappin!

here are a few pages that i worked on this past weekend...


...jackson and jaden making faces...i swear that there used to be some sort of rhyme about "hi, my name is chubs, my sister's name is chubs..." - but jackson thinks i'm insane...if anyone can back me up, let me know...



~ashlyn totally passed out at a friend's wedding reception...




~a group photo from my family's annual pigroast...aren't we a motley crew...

i'm gonna have a slight breakdown...

...because my baby is getting ready for kindergarten...






jaden is in passport to safety this week...it's kind of like our district's prerequiste to kindergarten
she's learning fire, pool, police, stranger, and school bus safety

today, she met sparky the firedog, and brought home a plastic fire hat

...which ashlyn promptly stole

what i did on my summer vacation...

hey, it fits...i am a school teacher, after all


i took the girls to visit my "grandma"...{she's really my sister's grandma, but she considers me to be "blood"}
~here she is with the girls





~and i absolutely love this shot of her and ashlyn giving each other bye kisses





she's had a rough summer...her only son {my sister's father} passed away suddenly...which was rough for my sister, too
i love her to death, and i feel bad that i don't have time to see her as much as i'd like to...

~jackson spent an evening giving the girls pedis...he's such a good dad!








~ashlyn having some fun at a friend's party







~jaden enjoying the tire swing...this thing is sooo cool...it's a "horse" made out of recycled tires, and i had a heck of the time getting the girls off of it to go home...






~jaden and ashlyn spending some time in the pool...i was so proud of jaden for jumping in on her own...





~we spent a weekend camping at long's retreat with my aunt becky and her family, and my daycare mom, tracy, and her family...there were so many people, we combined campsites, and started referring to our spots as our "compound"...

jaden playing in the lake and the splash park...




...and ashlyn lounging on her raft...look at those eyes!




...and the girls having a bounce off at the game area at long's...









~cincy red's game...it was UNBELEIVABLY hot!





jaden and her daddy...and some cotton candy, of course...

tee-hee...

i can't stop grinning!

i just saw on the news that dayton wised up and closed school tomorrow!

yaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm hoping that means we'll be off wed, and thurs., too, since it's supposed to be even hotter those two days...

i'm meelllllllllllltttting...

it was sooooooo unbearably hot in my classroom!

today was my first day back with the kids and it was over 100 degrees in my room by the end of the day...
it was actually hotter in there (with fans) than it was outside

that is just ridiculous, and, frankly, almost criminal...

those poor kids were sweating, lethargic, and definitely NOT interested in anything i had to say

the district was supposed to provide us with bottles of water...but we never saw that... not that i really expected to

i just hope that they take into consideration all of the buildings in the district that don't have air...it's rumored that thursday's high may reach 105 degrees!

my heart goes out...

to all those families in minnesota who lost loved lones, and to all those who survived such a bizarre accident...

aaaccckkk!!!

wow! they like me....they really like me!

i'm so honored...

i got a nod on the unpubbed blog
~http://www.unpubbed.blogspot.com/~