Summer Time, and the Living's Easy...

Could there be any better job than getting paid to do whatever you want during the summer?  It seriously makes up for all the stress of the school year.  We have been having a great, laid back summer so far.

Reading, reading, reading!

Splash Park

Hanging with cousins Madison and Taylor

Pretty much swimming everyday!

Bike Riding Fiend!

Slurpees and Swinging

Shopping at our fave store

Dressing up

I love the last picture because it shows some more freedom in our house.  We put all the girl's cups, plates, and bowls in a bottom drawer in the kitchen.  So whenever I get the "mommy, I'm thirsty" comment, they can now help themselves.  With a footstool I brought home from my classroom, they can drink water all day long!  This also helps with setting the table, and emptying the dishwasher.  They can do all of their own dishes!
Stay tuned for our big summer adventure, our road trip out to AZ.  I'm sure I will have lots of pictures and stories to blog about!

Low Key Weekend

We did absolutely NOTHING this weekend, and it was great.  We only got out of the house to go to church, the park and of coure to ride bikes.  We went to the dragon park, which both girls have been wanting to go to, but besides the cool dragon head there, the actual park was pretty lame.  And almost as soon as we got there Elia had to go potty.  Le sigh.



Picture found here.

This was Elia's first successful pedal pushing bike ride!

Back to Work Again!

Wednesday night I got the call that the next day would be my first day.  The teacher I am subbing for was put on bedrest and then induced the next day.  (baby and mama are doing fine!)

Its been an ok transition back to work- I am working with the same 3rd grade team I worked with last year plus my old teacher friend (the teacher I subbed for last year.)  So in that sense, its been great.  The hardest teaching part is getting adjusted to a whole new set of kids in such a short amount of time.  When you are teaching full time, you have 9ish months with them and are ready to let them go on to the next grade level.  But 3 months at a time is really hard.  I was getting to the point last semester in 2nd grade where I knew each student really well and could truly help them learn and grow.  And now that I am in a brand new class I am starting back at zero.  Learning a whole new set of names and a new schedule and switching gears to a new curriculum (not to mention worrying about the durn STAAR test!) is much harder than I remembered.  Its going to take me quite a while to get to that point with these 3rd graders where I can truly help them learn and grow.  I feel like it is a disservice to them.  They will survive of course, as will I, its just frustrating sometimes.

That, and its been really hard leaving the girls.  We had such a wonderful time with me being back at home for those 5 weeks.  They have been adjusting ok.  They both love their preschool and are super excited on the days they have it.  The daycare I am using is in home, and it is a 1/2 mile from our house.  The woman who runs it has a son at their preschool, so that has been great for them.  So honestly I think its just me missing them and they are really fine. 

I try to make the most of our precious time together.  Even if it is super cold I try and get them outside each day.

Going to Costco to shop and eat is one of our fave Friday nights!

Elia pushing the baby while G gets on her bike with her sweet new basket.

 

Obsessed with putting stuff in the basket- especially dandelions.

Running at the field by the park.

I already have a mental countdown- 11 weeks to go!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was so great!  We went to the pool (for the last time this season!  :/), the park, and had friends over to bbq.  The weather was amazing on Monday especially- the girls were cold playing outside!!

G rode her bike to the park- she hasn't gotten on that thing since June!  Too hot to take it outside.  She was pretty unsire of herself on the way to the park, but did awesome on the way home.

 Haven't been on swings at the park lately either because of the heat!!  They could have stayed on them for hours.

  

 

  

  Monday we were literally outside the entire day- for dinner too.  I made some pink lemonade pie- which the girls gobbled.  Every weekend should be 3 days long!

Good Weekend

Not too exciting of a weekend over here... its been a while since we have done nothing, so it was good. I got my first paycheck on Friday, and that was SUPER exciting. We celebrated by buying us some bikes. Now, if you are an avid mcrowles blog reader you might be asking yourself, wait, don't they already own bikes? I swear there have been posts involving bike rides! Well, we were holding them for our friends who were doing a Peace Corps trip for the past 2 years in Fiji. They wanted them back so we sent them a few months ago. And now that the weather is nice, we want to get biking again! We bought a 2-kid trailer a few years ago before Elia was a twinkle in our eyes, so the 4 of us can get around. Daddy took them on a ride while I stayed home and cleaned the. whole. house. Chris worked Sunday night so I took the girls to the library, Wendy's, and the park. Fun was had by all. (except for Chris when he had to work) So that was our weekend. Next weekend is going to be so great with Easter, and we are going to Dollar Days at the Horse track. Here are some pics from the weekend!

Riding in style.

At the library. Elia took apart a puzzle and put a piece on each stool.

At the park. Elia thinks she is so cool when she is on the big girl swing.

Late Nights

Chris has been working some late nights these past few weeks. Thank God the weather is so much nicer! We have been going to the park after nap time and riding their bikes in our back alley. I got some good shots of them riding.

Gianna's bike was the best $5 Santa ever spent on Craigslist. There is a small little compartment on the back of the bike where she and Elia like to hide all sorts of treasure- rocks, dirt, chalk, and even bugs.

Elia's bike is more like a scooter, and it doesn't really fit her toddler needs. Maybe Santa can find another $5 bike on Craigslist for her this year.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day started out on Friday for me! Chris came home from work and took the girls on a 90 minute bike ride. So I got to stay in a quiet, kid-free house and drink a beer while watching TV. It was seriously glorious. If Chris/Gianna hadn't gotten me anything else, I would have been happy with Friday night! Then on Saturday all 4 of us went on a bike ride together, with one of my mother's day gifts- a new pair of sports sunglasses. (Now that I am wearing contacts full time, I can finally wear sunglasses too-yay!) Our bike rides always end up at a park, so the girls have so much fun. Then on Sunday I slept in until 8am. If you don't have kids you might think that 8 is not a big deal, BUT IT IS! And when I finally rolled out of bed, I was treated to strawberry pancakes and eggs, yum yum. Then off to church and home again. We had a little family over for a bbq. The girls played outside on the new playground while the parents got to drink beer and talk about LOST. Anyway, a great day was had by all, but me especially! I am so thankful to have my sweet girls and great husband in my life!

PS Finally we can make comments on the blog! So give me some love guys!