In Trouble Already!

Sage's first visit to the principal's office...hopefully she won't make a habit of it! He let her off with a warning this time.

Rubber Ducky

RARRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

Short and Sweet

It really didn't seem that long ago that I was blogging on my first day of summer and now here I sit on my last. This summer was by far the best summer that I've ever had and I am so thankful that I chose to be a teacher! (I may rethink that statement if Ankeny ever moves to a year-round schedule)

Sage and I had a few crazy-busy weeks throughout the summer, but for the most part we just enjoyed running errands, going on walks, and wrestling together. Yesterday we went with Lauren and Claire to visit our new daycare lady again. Although short, it reassured me that Sage would be in loving hands and making new friends while I was away corralling my 29 8 and 9-year-olds.

I'm thankful that I still get the itch to go back to work each fall and I enjoy what I do. I'm especially excited this year to be back in the classroom and at a new school and I'm hoping that I will finally be able to find a balance between being a wife, mom, and teacher.

Here are some pictures from our most recent adventure~The Blank Park Zoo. Mollie and I enjoyed a free morning with Sage, sponsored by Ross' work, while Ross and Brad hit the golf course. And although I forgot to take my camera, Sage also got to see all of the animals last night at the Iowa State Fair before the gates officially opened. I would highly recommend it! She didn't really know what to think of the alpacas, sheep, goats, horses, cows, and ostrich, but the grunting pig sure got her attention and even scared her a bit! :)

"Um, Guys...where did you go? That lion is going to eat me!"

And some more recent pictures:

Vail Pics

As promised... although these are only pictures from the house we stayed at. Everyone else took their cameras with us on day trips. :)

Ashlynn

Ashlynn and Caden with Grandma Connie

Audrey

Audrey with her dad, Cary

Breanna and Dallas with Opa

Caden, Ashlynn, and Breanna with Grandma Connie

Breanna, Savannah, Maly, and Audrey

Breanna

Sage

Ashlynn

Dallas and Ashlynn

Dallas and Audrey

Maly

Savannah

Sage, Caden, Maly, and Ashlynn

Sleepy Sage

Sage has been sleeping a ton since we got back from Vail. Monday she took 7 hours of naps and yesterday she took another 5 hours of naps. She's still sleeping 12 hours through the night as well! Thank goodness, since she didn't nap or sleep well the entire time we were gone. I took the camera up with me today when I got her out of her crib after a 3 hour nap. Yes, she is always this excited to see us after naptime. It's great!

Vail

What a crazy, crazy week! 19 people living in one house for an entire week can get a bit hairy, but we all made it work out wonderfully and had an awesome time making memories together! I will add more pictures later when I have time, but for now, here is Sage at 9-months.

Some of the week's highlights include, but in no specific order:

• Swedish massage at a spa resort (wow...I need to do that more often)
• Mountain biking down a path called Hank's Hideaway (a highly-technical path through trees, rocks, and weeds...a path that we should have never been on, but all survived...some more than others)
• Horseback riding through the mountains, along rocky slopes, in the pouring rain.
• Watching the kids play in the rushing creek just out our back door while rocking Sage to sleep on the glider on the lower deck. (that could never get old)
• Taking the gondola up the mountain and watching the kids take pony rides, climb rock walls, and jump on a bungee ride--then having a dance party of our own while enjoying our little picnic. (Lucas was worried that my mom's dancing would end up on YouTube.)
• Riding our bikes along the beautiful bike path.
• Taking Sage for morning strolls in our stroller to the nearby park and swinging.
• Driving up 10 miles on a curvy, BUMPY, sandstone road to enjoy nature at it's best and fishing on top of a mountain. (Maly even caught a fish)
• Watching Sage be totally spoiled with love and interacting with her cousins. (she grew up a lot in a week)
• Playing games every night after the kids went to bed and laughing until we had tears rolling down our faces and side-aches from laughter.
• Eating delicious, home-cooked meals every night. (I probably gained a good five pounds, but it was worth it)

AND...

• Enjoying Christmas in July, surrounded by family. We had a BLAST!

Catching up

It's been awhile since my last post because we are down one computer. Here a few pictures over the past month to get you caught up on our simple lives. :)

Sage still has totally sweet hair. This picture is over a month old, so it is a bit longer now, but Ross still insists on styling it into a faux hawk every chance he gets. Could she be any more like her dad? Seriously...I can take credit for her nose, eyelashes, and the smallest tint of red in her hair and that is about it!

We got a jogging stroller mid-June and I love it! Sage falls asleep just about every time that we go for a walk. It even has a speaker system that hooks up to our i-pod. Ross is too embarrassed to actually play music when we are out around the neighborhood, but Sage and I enjoy a little OAR or Stephen Kellogg. What we really need is a little "Eye of the Tiger" to get us moving in the morning. These days our walks are really early in the morning or at night--otherwise it's just too hot to be outside!

What? Not a picture of Sage? Can it really be? Yes! This picture made the blog because as most of you know, I am a pathetic cook. However, Lauren hooked us up with a couple of free-range chickens from a lady at work, so I thought I'd give it a try. I simply added chopped up lemons and fresh rosemary and garlic to the cavity (after taking out the innards) and coated the chicken in olive oil and butter. DELICIOUS!! I will admit that I had to call my mom for her to explain to me how to cook it "breast-up". No joke!


This picture doesn't really do the moment justice, but it's pretty cute nonetheless. Over the 4th of July, we stayed at my Mom and Warren's with Brad and Mollie. A few of my nieces and nephew stayed as well. Sage refused to go to bed one of the nights because she could hear the commotion in the other room known as story time. What you can't see here is her cousin, Caden, playing in the pack n' play at the foot of the bed. She wanted to be a part of the fun, so I took her over to the bedroom next door for a little slumber party. She acted like she had eaten a cup of sugar. It was hilarious to hear her squealing with laughter as she played with Caden. She wasn't tired at all. I made sure to take her out to witness the enormous bonfire before trying to put her down again.



After the swing sat in our garage for a month, Ross finally figured out a way to safely tie it up to the tree in our backyard. It is attached to chains that support over 200 lbs--talk about protective! Sage LOVES to swing!!

Most recently Sage and I have been trying to get over our sickness. I was treated for Strep a week ago and days later Sage came down with a fever. The poor thing had an ear infection in both ears and a sore throat. No wonder she wasn't sleeping very well! After a week of antibiotics (she loves the bubblegum flavor) we are feeling much better.
(And I can now rest knowing all of her toys have been sanitized :) )

One last note, after months of indecisiveness about what I wanted to do next school year, I have decided that my heart is really still in the classroom. I took a 3rd grade position with my old boss and instructional coach at another school in Ankeny. I am so excited to have my own group of students again and I'm looking forward to going back to work!