Michigan in the Fall

There's just really no place like Michigan in the Fall. I absolutely love the beautiful colors and chilly temps! I miss waking up to that brisk Autumn air and watching the sunrise on my drive into school. I miss wearing a jacket or vest to stay warm. I miss the smell of the leaves and of the campfires the neighbors have. Yes, it's true, there really is no place like Michigan in the Fall!!

I just spent an action packed weekend in Michigan. It was a fast trip and I was busy most of the time, but I am thrilled I made the trip. I spent most of my time with my family, specifically the sweetest baby ever...Cooper. I was also able to see a few friends and many students from last year when I stopped by the school that where I used to teach. Since there really weren't many big events to tell about from the weekend, I'll let a few pictures do the talking!

Have a great week everyone!

Look at Cooper's blue eyes!

Soooo serious! He wasn't loving those leaves.

He is just such a cutie!

Look at that smile!

Me with my mom and Cooper

Ready for some cool weather...

The title says it all. This sweet little guy is ready for some cooler weather. I am heading to Michigan tomorrow night and can't wait to see him!!! I feel like I am missing so much of his life and it is hard. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely happy right now, but I can't help but feel like I am missing out on so much of Cooper's life. Good thing I love to fly. I'll have LOTS of pictures to share from this weekend.

Proposals, Weddings, and More...

Life doesn't always make sense when we are in the midst of it, but later on when we are able to look back, it makes perfect sense. At times, my life hasn't taken the course I expected it to, but now I know why!! Barry asked me to marry him! He is truly the man I prayed for God to send me. I've never believed there was just one person for everyone. But, I have always believed that God would lead me to a man I prayed about and asked Him for. He did! Barry has so many amazing qualities. I wanted to marry someone who was a christian that would be a spriritual leader for our family and Barry is that for sure. I truly wanted to find someone who I could trust and would never betray me. I know how important that is to him as well. Barry makes me laugh...sometimes at things he says, sometimes at the way he says them. He is kind and thoughtful and quite the romantic. He loves his family...and mine....and he wants to have a family of his own...I know he will be a wonderful father. Most of all I prayed for a man who would be my friend....who I would just enjoy hanging out with and he is definitely that man!
During his proposal, Barry said a lot of things, but one that really sticks out is the fact that he wants to keep God at the center of our relationship and that he knows that if He is, then we can make it through anything. Even though he knows we will have tough times, he knows we can make it if we trust each other and God. I couldn't agree more!

We've decided on a date for the beginning of our life together...December 31st. It might sound a bit cliche, but it has some special meaning for us. We had been talking for a while and that was the day we realized we liked eachother and wanted to spend some time getting to know one another better. We spent the entire day talking. :) We don't have many details yet, but we hope to make some decisions soon. We know it will be small and very meaningful to both of us.

Here's a picutre from a couple weekends ago. We went to his parent's house for his mom's birthday. What a fun day!

Odds and Ends

I just can't seem to make time to update my blog on a regular basis. I was going to make a new header for the fall tonight and then couldn't stay with it long enough to get it done. Soooo....I went with a default format for now with some minor adjustments to the color. Let me know if it's too hard on the eyes.

School has been keeping me busy! I am enjoying it, but once again I seem to volunteer for too many things! Ha! Some things just never change. Barry didn't have any games to officiate on Saturday so we got to spend the entire day together. It was great! We went to lunch and then just ran some errands. We also stopped and checked out some new developments closer to where I am teaching. Well, let me just say that the developers must not think people want a backyard. The yards were soooo small!!! His current house has a great backyard and also a pool. The houses we looked at have a TINY backyard and not even room for a kiddie pool. We just couldn't see paying so much more for so much less. His house is older, but he has done soooo much work on it and it is really perfect for us right now. It has an open floorplan which we want in anything we buy down the road. For now, we have decided that we aren't going to make any plans right now. We weren't planning on doing anything right this second anyway....just for anyone who is curious. We aren't engaged yet, just doing some planning for the future. :) We are enjoying spending time together and seeing one another more than once a month. As hard as it was for me to move, my moving here has been a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know one another even better. We know that God has great things planned for us. I feel very blessed to have Barry in my life.

I'm flying back to Michigan at the end of the month. I'll get to see my family...especially one adorable little baby!!! Julie is even going to let me keep Cooper overnight. I can't wait to see everyone. It will be a short, but fun trip. Hopefully, I'll have some great pics of Cooper to share. Julie isn't too good at taking pictures and forwarding them on to me.
I'll try to update more regularly for those few who actually read my page. For now, I'll leave you with a couple pics.

A cold evening visit to grandma's house needed the fleece one piece outfit. Not even sure what to call it. I think he looks so sweet sleeping in his carseat. Of course I am bias!!

Sam and KC playing around the pool. Sam would not leave that poor girl alone!

Why do we do what we do?

Two weeks have flown by so fast. I checked my blog and couldn't believe it had been so long since I posted. School has kept me busy. I work with a great team of teachers and have a fun group of students who definitely keep me on my toes. I'm enjoying my time with Barry. Have I mentioned what a truly good guy he is? I am so lucky to have found him!

I have to share a story from school I need to share from this week. "Sally" is a girl in my class that apparently was mad at the world last year. She hated school and didn't care to do much work at all that was assigned to her. This year she has a new best friend and so far says she loves school. She slipped me a note the first week of school at the end of the day. It was soooo cute. She wrote..."Dear Ms. _____ You rock! Not only are you a good teacher, but my new best friend." She went on to say, "Since you are my new best friend I might as well tell you who I like." She then proceeds to name her #1 crush. BUT...doesn't stop with that. She goes on to name three other boys that she has "smaller crushes" on. How cute is that?!!! I know some teachers may not appreciate note passing, but it just makes my day for a child to trust me enough to share some personal info. with me. :)

This week we have been working on writing "lively leads" during process writing. "Sally" as I mentioned hated school last year and rarely wrote. Well, Wednesday we worked on three different types of leads. I had the students write a lead to any story they chose for each of those three types. Not the entire story....just the lead. "Sally" has a colorful home life so she has many life experiences that many 5th graders haven't had to face. When I read her leads it reminded me of just what kind of things many kids face at home...when I asked her to share her experience that prompted her to write these leads I was near tears.

#1
I'll never forget his watery, blue eyes or his bright, red, cherry lips. I'll remember the
sound of his sweet, sweet voice and remember the love we shared, heart to heart."
#2
"Wow, look how shiny the coffin is," said my sister "Carrie". Brian is dead and you are
happy, that is so wrong," I replied sadly.
#3
I know I have to let go, Brian is never coming back. It's hard to do, but I have to move
on. I'll always love him, but it's time to say goodbye.

Ok...so maybe reading them online, they don't quite evoke the same kind of emotion as they did when I read them in class. But, you also can't see this sweet child standing in front of you with tears in her eyes. When I gently asked her what the story was behind these leads she told me this story.
I knew Brian for seven years. He was a friend and the love of my life. (sweet 5th grade
love) He was taken away from him mom and put in a foster home. They said his mom
was not a good mom to him. Brian had asthma and the people he was staying with didn't
have his inhaler. So when Brian had an asthma attack, they didn't have his medicine for
him and he died right there. (I'm barely holding back the tears by this point.) He was only 10
years old when he died and it was stupid for it to happen.
WOW! I already know that "Sally" doesn't have the life of so many children with parents that have a lot to give her. She has many reasons to hate life as her previous teachers told me, but this just broke my heart. I told her that this was soooo powerful and it made me so proud that she was in my class. That as much as I love to teach writing, I love to read student writing even more. I felt that she has a story inside of her about Brian and told her so. I made a deal with her....if she writes the story this year, I'll help her edit it and then I'll find someone to publish it. Even if it's just for us. There are those companies out there that will do it. She was beaming as the tears threatened to spill over her eyelids. I asked her if I could read it to the rest of the class and she graciously agreed. I think the students were shocked to see this type of writing from her. She enjoyed the praise from the class...I don't think it has happened a lot in the past.

You see....to me...this is what teaching is all about. If I can make a difference in the life of one child, I will have made a difference in the world. But, the real truth is that she has made a difference in my life and that makes me a better person. I learn from kids like "Sally" and all the others than I ever imagined when I began my teaching career.

Long Overdue!

Wow! It's been ages since I've posted anything. Not that I have many followers. Julie and mom...you better be reading! So much has happened since my last post I'm not sure where to begin.

I'm safely settled in Texas. Well, maybe settled isn't the right word. I'm here! I started back to work a week after my arrival so I hastily unpacked and still have some stuff to work on. I'm a bit of a neat freak and have to organize things my own way so that took a bit of time. Especially in the kitchen. I really only need to work on the office. That's had to wait since I've started back to school.

I love my new school. The building is only two years old and absolutely beautiful! I'm teaching 5th grade...well I am going to be teaching 5th grade. The students don't actually start until the 27th. There are many new teachers that were hired this year and we have a really great staff as well as a wonderful principal and assistant principal. I believe it's going to be a great year!
It's been great getting to see Barry everyday and spend time together. Of course he abandoned me pretty quick for a few days in Houston and he's in New Orleans this week. His company keeps him busy this time of year. It's been tough because I don't have anyone to come and let Sam out so I can't spend as much time in my classroom as I would like to. Of course I suppose that could also be a good thing!

I'll share some funny stories about our drive from Michigan to Texas another time. Barry flew to Michigan and spent a couple days before we drove 18 hours to Texas. We had Sam and the two cats with us. Need I say more? Right now, I'm going to work on some school stuff.
I'll share some pictures from Barry's short time in Michigan as well as some pictures of Cooper. They are some of my favorites so far. Of course if I got any new ones sent to me on a regular basis I might be able to update with newer ones. HINT HINT! :)

One of the pictures I took for his birth announcement. In just LOVE this one!

Since the night he was born he's loved to put his arms above his head. He wiggles out of his blanket after Julie swaddles him. He wants to be free! :)

Cooper sleeping on our drive to Lexington Michigan to show Barry Lake Huron.

Barry and me (with Cooper). We bundled him all up because it was so windy.

Julie, me (holding Cooper...I'm a baby hog!) and mom

Sweet Baby Boy

Here are some of my favorite pics of Cooper so far. He is just such a sweetie! I am hoping to go spend some time with him tomorrow. I have been trying to pack and once that's done, I'm free! My moving truck comes on Wednesday and then I plan to leave the following Saturday or Sunday (Aug 4 or 5).

Enjoy the pics of this cutie!