Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

I took another blogging idea from the link Ami sent me when we began our May marathon. Tonight's inspiration is idea #98: Start an award and hand it out every week to other bloggers. After a little internet research on how to create my very own button, I used my tech savvy to design my award.

A little personal history before you read any further. I grew up on a farm in Kansas. I have so many fond memories of the days on the farm...picking strawberries right off the vine, playing hide-and-seek in the corn fields, swimming in the creek, and SO many more. One of our family traditions was to watch The Wizard of Oz together every year when it was on television. (Not an easy feat when there is only one television in a home that houses 5 adolescents!) Dorothy, an adventurer from Kansas, somehow ropes her newfound friends into following the yellow brick road with her. Despite the dangers they encounter along the way, the resounding theme of friendship and home can be seen throughout their journey.

I decided to create an award that lets the person I award it to know that I value their friendship (whether near or far) and am glad that they are a part of my journey. These friends have fearlessly linked their arms with mine as we skip together down the yellow brick road called life. (Possibly singing in our best munchkin voices "Follow the Yellow Brick Road"!) These friends have been there though the good and not so good times. They've seen me at my best and at my worst. And I like to think they love me anyways... :) These people inspire me to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife, a better friend, a better teacher, and a better blogger.

I named it Follow the Yellow Brick Road Award as a reminder that life is what you make of it. Live life to its fullest every day. Take nothing for granted. Inspire laughter and love in those around you, during times of happiness and times of sadness!

Drumroll please...

This week, I am bestowing my award on Ami Bunch! Thank you for inspiring me daily! To my readers who have not had a chance to stop by and become addicted to her blog, I will warn you in advance. You can't read just one. Ami is not only the amazing mom to three incredible triplets, she's an absolutely fantastic writer to boot! I encourage you to visit her blog if you haven't already!!!

Tumbling Down

We just got home from Bobby's baseball game. The kids just finished dinner and now we are getting baths started. Hopefully bedtime will soon follow. Knowing that it was going to be a long day, I guess I should have planned ahead and made this blog yesterday. :)

Tonight is going to be short and sweet. Katie had loads of fun playing on a grassy knoll at Purple Heart Park tonight. She decided to teach her little brother how to roll down the hill. First, she explained to Andy that they had to climb to the top of the hill. Then she showed him how to lay down and roll down the hill. Katie even had words of encouragement for her little brother.

Direct Instruction

Guided Practice

Independent Practice

EEI must run through her veins! She's such a good teacher and I love that she is such a good big sister!

Got words?

When I committed to a Blog-A-Day in May, Ami nicely sent me a list of ideas for blogging. One fun idea is to post a picture and let your readers caption it. I decided to let each one of my little ones have their own picture roll. These are some fun ones of Andy from the last 6 months. Caption just one or caption them all. I can't wait to read your comments! :) So, what should I title these Andy pictures???

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Happy Mother's Day

Today, I am enjoying my time with my 3 precious little ones.

Happy Mother's Day to you all!!!

Create your own free digital greeting

Obsess Much???

They say the first step of battling a problem is to admit you have a problem. So, I am publicly announcing:

"My name is Jennifer and I am a blog stalker."

It all started when my friend Ami began her blog. At the time, I was new to Cottonwood and hadn't gotten to know my new co-workers yet. I followed her blog secretly, as I didn't want to seem too stalkerish. We were both due around the same time, although since she was caring triplets her due date would most certainly arrive before mine. After a year at Cottonwood, I was asked to move to the Kindergarten team. I can honestly say that the fabulous ladies that I work with are not only my co-workers, they are some of my best friends!!! Ami convinced me to start my own blog and helped me set it up. Thus, my own blog was conceived.

Some of my close friends also have their own blogs that I check in on regularly, however I also follow some blogs of individuals that I've never met. I guess that is part of what makes technology so great; you become friends with people that life would otherwise not bring you into contact with. You can view just a few of the blogs that I am addicted to by looking on the side bar under "Favorites".

Recently, my addiction has grown. While I was looking for some ideas to go along with a new unit that I would be teaching in my classroom, I stumbled across a few teaching blogs. I visit them regularly now for new teaching ideas and fun give-aways. I'm even trying to start my own teaching blog and would like to develop some things that I can post for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers this summer. Here is the teaching blog that I have designed. There isn't much on it yet, but it is high on my summer "To Do" list!

A few days ago, I stopped by one of my favorite teaching blogs that has regular give-aways and entered to win. Yesterday I visited her site to see this:

Woo Hoo!!! I won a $50 gift certificate to Creative Teaching Press! I can't wait to go shopping! While I might spend valuable time that I could be sleeping at night blog hopping, my obsession has paid off!

Maybe I'm on a lucky streak! :)

I love my life!

After a long day at work, I looked forward to going home, getting out of the heat, listening to my kids laughter and just putting my feet up for a few minutes. I picked up Drew and Sophia on my way home for a play date. All of the kids get along so well and they absolutely love playing together. I am so thankful that my children have found such good friends!!!

Katie and Sophia

Drew and Bobby

The part that really made my day though was Andy taking my hand when I got home, saying "Come mommy!" and leading me into my room. He gave me the TV remote and said "Cars on!". Then, he climbed up on my bed, patted the pillow next to his, gazed up at me with his big brown eyes and said "Peez mommy?". How could I say no to some cuddle time with my little man?

I love my life!!!

To be or not to be...

I'm stealing ideas from my friends due to a lack of ingenuity this evening. Hey, what are friends for? :) Ami and Anabelle both wrote posts recently about having, or not having, more children. So, I thought I would tag in on this subject...

I have 3 beautiful, healthy children. Boy (7), girl (5), boy (2)... Yet people ask me rather frequently if we plan on having any more. I laughingly tell them these days that my husband would be rather upset with me should that happen.

Robby and I both come from "larger" families. We both wanted to have a big family and often talked about having 4 children. We also knew that we wanted them to be close together if possible. After saying our "I Do's" in 2002, we took a couple of years to get settled in to life in Tucson while Robby finished school. In 2004, Bobby joined our family. In 2006, Katie arrived. In 2009, we completed our family when Andy was born.

Although we had originally planned to have 4 children, while I was pregnant with Andy we discussed our future. After a lot of discussion, we both agreed that for numerous reasons we would stop at 3.

I LOVED being pregnant! Once we made the decision to stop at 3, I felt more than a touch of sadness. This would be the last time I felt a little miracle moving inside me. This would be the last time I could lay and watch my unborn child do summersaults in my womb. This would be the last time I stared at the ultrasound screen wondering if there would be any clues that would help me guess the gender of my unborn child. This would be the last time we would anxiously await hearing the words "Congratulations! It is a _____!" I wanted to rewind the clock and document every wonderful moment of being pregnant.

After making the decision to stop populating Cottonwood Elementary, my husband generously took one for the team. So while I CAN still have a baby, I don't think my marriage would survive such an announcement. I would have another baby in a heartbeat...IF I won the lottery! :) I watch Andy with a small tear in my eye. He's growing up so fast and I want these days to last forever.

So, to be or not to be. That is the question. Am I planning on having another baby? I say with a smile:

"My husband would be quite upset with me if I do."