Lately

My spring break consisted of working at school every day on National Boards. 

My friends and I got caught in a thunder storm on a 10 mile run which resulted in our first cop car ride. 

Griffin wore my super comfy scarf all afternoon. Daddy was not pleased! 

Bran and I went to Ft. Smith with our young adult group from church to hear Warren Barfield and Kirk Cameron at the Love Worth Fighting For event. 

We are sponsoring this sweet child. 

Griffin is still paci free. Taking it away cold turkey was a horrible idea. The gradual release model was perfect! 

I was super excited and surprised to find out I was nominated as Center Valley's Teacher of the Year! 

My new principal is pretty great! 

G still loves to read. 

I painted this at my church's Ladies Night Out event. So fun! 

Bath time! 

Another successful year if the Passion Play. Brandon always amazes me with his performances! 

Such a big boy now! 

Saying bye to his nursery friends. 

Excited to watch Thomas the Train. 

Coloring Easter eggs for the first time. 

Easter!!

First time skating at Madison's birthday party with Nannie. 

Brandon taught my kiddos about spiders and insects. He is a natural teacher. 

Third grade teachers after the district wide third grade kickball game. My B team won their division!!

My intern'a last day is Tuesday. I'm going to miss her! 

He loves to "play dirt."

My second half marathon and Brandon's first was yesterday. Russvegas was awesome! I had a bad run, but you win some and lose some. I'm going to back off running long distances for a while and focus on sprints and weight lifting. 

Griffin opening his Easter basket from Nana this morning. 

I am SO glad this busy season is winding down. My to do list now consists of: 

1. Write entry 1 and complete entry 4. 

2. Gather documentation and begin the submission process. NB entries due on May 16!

3. Wedding shower, Volleyball Night, and baby shower this weekend. 

4. WCR 5k in Conway next weekend. 

5. Wedding in the 17th. 

6. Plan Germany unit. 

7. Study for NB assessments on June 12. 

8. Get ready for VACATION!! Woot woot! Brandon and I are both getting end of the year bonuses through the school so we are going to Gulf Shores. We need a break! 

G is 2!

Griffin is 2! 

29 lbs and almost three feet tall

80% in height, 40% in weight, 75% in head circumference

Wears size 2T and size 7 shoe

Favorite movies are Cars, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc. 

He thinks the down feathers from our couch come from Donald Duck. 

He had a large vocabulary for a two year old, but isn't consistently forming coherent sentences. 

He loves playing outside, esp when bubbles are involved. 

He has watched Cars so many times, he can quote a lot of the movie. He also likes to tractor tip his cars just like Mater! 

He thinks my scarf is super comfy. 

He also loves coloring and drawing. 

He rarely walks... He prefers to run everywhere. He doesn't always watch where he is going, and consequently runs in to walls, furniture, etc. 

He's a rough, typical boy. He has to go to time out a lot these days for hitting. He doesn't always know how to express his feelings and sometimes he is just rotten, but we are working on using our soft hands. 

He's a pretty good eater! His favorite food group is fruit with carbs coming in a close second. He eats protein, but I have trouble getting any veggies in him. His sitter is really good about getting him to eat veggies. I need her to show me her tricks!!

This kid keeps me on my toes!! He must be watched at all times or stuff like this happens....

Bran and I are loving this stage of life with our precious little toddler. He has brought so much joy to our lives!

My baby is TWO

Time flies when you're having fun! 

My life...

is insane. 

I have so many fun things to update. Just no time to do it. 

After I got back from Florida from a work trip, things have just been so crazy. National Boards is in full swing. I'm working until six every night. Then coming home and working some more. And working all weekend. I now am the only one in charge of a new ministry at church, and our next event is Saturday. I'm still trying to get my training in for the half, but it's been super cold. I have Griffin's birthday parties coming up along with coaching Women Can Run. Then I have two baby showers to help host in April. All this along with my normal wife, mommy, and teacher duties. Conferences are coming up next week and my intern's first observation. It's hard to be a good mentor when you're pulled in so many directions. I also have my last formal eval soon and presenting at a faculty meeting. Someone shoot me. 

Life is just crazy. I'm praying I can make it the next few months. There is a light at the end of the tunnel... I just have to get past Benchmark, then my tests for NB. I think I need a huge vacation after this school year!!!!!

They are the reason I do what I do. My husband is the most amazing man. He has cooked and cleaned and folded laundry to help. I cannot speak highly enough if him. 

And he is just presh. 

Holiday Season

Wow! What a crazy week!! My principal informed us that we would all have an informal observation before Christmas break. Well, she didn't make it to me and then the last week of school was here and I was sweating bullets! What teacher would want to be observed the last week before Christmas vacation?!?! Monday passed. Tuesday was our plan day. She was in meetings all day Wednesday. Thursday was our Spelling Bee and Christmas program. I was at the point I would just laugh if she came in Friday!! Luckily she did come in, but not for an observation. She popped in to tell the kids Merry Christmas at our fabulous end of year party! I have the best parents this year. The party was fun and smooth sailing. 

My kids were SO sweet, and I felt so blessed to open up all their gifts. They were so happy to give them to me. I loved them all! 

Thursday my team and I exchanged gifts between one another when we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Colton's before the Christmas program. I love my team so much. I feel so blessed to work with them. In fact, I love all of the faculty at my school! Here are a few shots of our school Christmas party! 

Our new principal seems to be warming up to us as well. She is very sweet and has a great sense of humor. She gave all of us a free movie pass for Christmas! We are all going to go together I think. Our husbands will be in charge of the kiddos! Haha!! 

Wednesday night my ladies bible study group had a Christmas party. I haven't been able to go as much this semester, but hoping to go more often this upcoming year. My friend and I are trying to get a young couples group started. I think I have way too much on my plate for Spring with national boards, an intern, TESS, and helping a new ministry. Yikes!!

I wore my lumberjack shirt to school with my leopard print, sparkly slippers. Haha! Most comfy outfit!

Off to finish some Christmas shopping last weekend! 

A Day in my Life

So I was looking back at an old blog post and realized that my typical day has changed so much since a few years ago! Now that Griffin is here, things are much different. I can't wait to see how different it will be in another few years! 

4:30 Wake up

5:00-6:00 Run four miles and head back home

6:00-7:00 Shower, get ready, eat breakfast, and pack my lunch while trying to feed and wrangle a toddler. G usually wakes up while I'm running or right when I get home. Thankfully Brandon doesn't leave until 6:40, so he helps me get his milk and Mickey Mouse on the television. 

7:00-7:30 Drop G off at JoJo's house and head to school. 

8:00-10:30 Teach Spelling, Reading, and Writing

10:30-11:30 My break! I try to use my time wisely- grading papers or planning next week'a math lessons

11:30-12:30 lunch/recess

12:30-3:30 Teach Math, Science, and my intervention group. I have bus duty twice a week from 3:20-3:45. 

4:00-4:30 Leave school hopefully around four, pick up G, and head home. I stay late on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work and for meetings. My in laws get G those days. 

4:30-5:00 I love on my baby!!!

5:00-5:30 Fix dinner and we eat together at the table. 

5:30-6:00 I pick up the kitchen and house while Brandon gives G a bath. I usually put lotion on him afterwards and his pjs while Brandon either watches TV or heads to the gym. 

6:00-7:30 We veg together on the couch!! This is my favorite time of day. We cuddle up together and watch tv, look at books, plays with cars, or color on white paper. It's quiet and we just enjoy our kid. 

7:30 to 8:00ish is when Griffin goes to bed. If he is tired enough, he will put himself to bed and go straight to sleep without a fight. If it's too early or if he's beyond his limit, he will fight it. He still takes his paci at 22 months and sleeps with his Boo doll (from Monsters Inc). 

I'm usually in bed between 8:30 and 9:00. If I have any school work to do, I work after G is asleep. But since I get up so early, I am TIRED by 8:00. I sleep SO much better when I run in the mornings and have an overall better day. 

So that is my typical day! Nothing too crazy, but I'm about to be spending another 20+ hours every week on my National Boards. I am getting an intern next semester so I hope she is good! She will be a tremendous help with grading and the mundane paperwork tasks of teaching! 

And no post is complete without a few pictures!

I'm wearing some pretty crazy leggings these days. 

Griffin and Daddy walking across the stage for the kids Christmas Program. 

Enjoying a snow day in DECEMBER! 

Mailing our Christmas cards!

Griffin loved decorating the tree!

I just love dressing him in his church clothes!

An awesome girls night

A thoughtful gift 

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

21 Months

24 month and size 2T clothes

Size 4 diaper

12 teeth with four more coming in

Meets all the milestones listed for a two year old on the CDC website. 

And in a nutshell, he is a mess and acting just like a typical terrible two year old. 

I love him so much. He has taught me so many things, especially patience. 

There really hasn't been too many new things since my last update. He's still learning a TON of new words. The creepiest though is when he whispers "be quiet" really slow. Brandon and I thought it would be hysterical to teach him to say "I see dead people."

He mimics everything we do. His new favorite is pretending my old iPod is a phone. He walks around having a conversation on it in his jibberish. He also LOVES following the big kids around. He is pretty much a pest to them. 

I bought him one of my schools shirts!! Presh!!