Kinder and 3rd

Cannot believe that Owen started kindergarten today, and Caleb stated 3rd grade. They were so excited this morning.

Classroom before and after

I think I'm ready. My seester and I worked together in my classroom from 2 - 11 Friday night with only a two hour break. I'd done some things before yesterday ... but it all finally cane together last night. It's definitely MY space. Busy, colorful, fun. And I can't wait to share pics of the bulletin board I came up with for the hallway. I'm proud of my creativity.

Dapper diaper changer

My big guy changed his first diaper today. These pictures were so much funnier in person because Maddie decided to crawl away in the middle. Hahaha however, he did get the diaper on correctly. He's such a sweetie.

Fourth fun

We had a busy, exciting first fourth of July with Christian and Cayli. Started out by going to a family party and swimming, then watched Despicable Me 2 in 3D, went to a small fair in Winnebago and had some fun with face painting, and -of course-a fireworks finale.

Successful morning

Caleb, Christian and I had fun making origami figures on this rainy Saturday morning. Meanwhile, Owen explored the toys in the playroom. Today is vacation day 1 in Illinois with my boys and my man. I have waited a long time to be this happy again. And ... it was worth the wait. ♡

Traveling with my love

I feel so blessed to have found love after such devastating heartbreak and disappointment at the failure of my marriage. My boys had their first vacation trip with their dad since the divorce. My amazing "man-friend" offered to fly to Texas and drive with me to Wisconsin to pick the boys up from their dad at the end of their trip. So, he and I drove fron San Antonio to Wisconsin to do just that. Along the way, we were our silly selves and took some fun photos together. Here are a few of them.

Changes

Lots of changes have occurred in my life this last 12 months.

Things that are different:
1. I'm now a single mom.
1a. That means I'm a statistic. Uggg.
1b. So are my boys... :(
2. I taught at a 2A high school last year.
2a. I found out I love sophomores.
2b. I've forgotten how fun and frightening high school is/was.
3. I moved back to my hometown.
4. I figured out some of the great things in life I've been missing out on ... that I had no idea I was missing.
5. I became an aunt of triplet nieces.
5a. I experience, firsthand, the love my children have for their cousins and the girls love for my boys, in return.
5b. I get to play with girls ... and I secretly love to dress them in *eek!* pink.
6. I'm learning to live alone, yet not alone.
7. I found out I'm still desirable. Ha! Who knew?
8. I've learned to love myself again and that I'm worth "it" ... whatever "it" is ...
9. I've learned to stand up for what's best for my kids and how to speak my mind, effectively.
10. My sweet boys are now 8 and in 3rd grade and 5 and headed for kindergarten.  Woah. Really?!

There are more things to add to this list ... but that's good for now. Man ... I missed blogging. Here's to hoping I can remedy that.

Creative love

My Caleb made this heart balloon, complete with sky and sun for me tonight. He's so creative. I love him so.

Eye love you

Seriously. This boy has amazing eyelashes and such gorgeous hazel eyes. Today, they are a bit more on the brown shade... Still... I love his peepers. <3