"This is true love. Do you think this happens everyday?"

--Wesley; from the movie "The Princess Bride"

Today is our 7 year anniversary.

When I got married I realized I was marrying someone completely crazy. We made a good match, he and I, but I had no idea my life would be filled with so much laughter and love. I was hoping, but I never could have imagined how wonderful life could really be. Thank you Ryan, for giving me that life. I love you.

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Ah, the Joys of Joy School.

This week Sam started school. He was very excited and only slightly confused when he didn't actually leave to go to school. I was the teacher this week. So therefore, the kids came here and we started our rotation of Joy school. I was a bit hesitant to teach because my few talents don't lie in the same category as teacher, especially to a group of 3-4 year old's. But, I was lucky enough to be able to choose my own subject and I chose Art Appreciation. Yes, I did choose my favorite subject in school, and yes we did have a fabulous week! The kids meet Tue/Wed/Thur from 9 am to 11:30 am. We have a set schedule we go by. Circle time, alphabet time, snack time, play time, lesson etc. I had a hard time deciding which artists to highlight and what type of art to introduce to them. Then I realized, it didn't matter. So I printed off some pictures of some famous paintings and sculptures and art appreciation week began.

We looked at Art and talked about the paintings. We tried our hands at mimicking a famous artist's work, painted a mural and we even attempted sculpture.

Sam and Ben made towers every day out of the alphabet letters after alphabet time.

Asher and Stephen loved playing with the magnet animals, choosing different outfits for their super hero's!

Starry, Starry Night. Black paper makes a great night sky, and we used chalk to draw our stars.

With out even planning it, the hit of the week was "A" is for airplane! They wanted to make airplanes everyday out of their favorite colors.

Snack time!

Sculpture! I made white play dough, so they wouldn't stain their clothes. I was going to let their sculptures harden overnight so they could take them home the next day but then after trying unsuccessfully to get them to not destroy what they did make, I just sent them home with the play dough to keep.

Hard at work.

Alphabet time activity. Recognizing letters in their own names.

I think the hit of the week was painting our mural. This one, I let the kids do on their own. It was wild and fun, and I think the kids liked this project the best. Who doesn't like to make a big mess? and no one got in trouble for painting the wall today!

I hope the kids had as much fun as I did. They did awesome! I look forward to the next time I get to teach. It was crazy having all those kids around at once(even though 2 of the kids were absent this week!). I don't have to teach for a while and that's probably a good thing because I am worn out! To all those teachers out there-You rock! Teaching is tough stuff.

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When Weeks go by...

We've been in Georgia for 2 months now and things are feeling settled in.
Ryan is enjoying his residency. It seems like they are keeping him busy with procedures that are both interesting and exciting. We already feel like this move and residency was a very good decision for us and we are grateful for the opportunity. Time is flying by quickly and I'm sure we'll be packing before we know it.

While Ryan is away at work, the kids and I try to fill our days with excitement. So between naps and meals and all those other daily necessities we work at fitting in a little bit of fun.
Anyone who knows me, knows my idea of fun includes: a fresh set of paints, my favorite brush and a clean white piece of paper. (Watercolors, 1" flat , Arches 300 lb, if you're interested)
I figure it's best to start them early:



That brush was bound to only last so long.

The kids really seem to enjoy painting and coloring. I think it may be the mess associated with it but I can hope otherwise:)

-Feeding the ducks is another one of our favorite things to do. We live really close to a few very large ponds and there are resident ducks living by them. Grandma and Grandpa Bailey should get the credit of finding them. They introduced us when we got back from our sailing trip. I have to say though, that I'm sure it's our regular visits that have created that special bond between us and the ducks. Now, when they see our stroller, they come running, and they start to fight over the best spots...

I wish I had a good photo of the new little ducklings. There has to be at least 15-20 of them. It is the sweetest thing watching them come running together all in a long tiny row. They crowd into a little bunch sitting on top of each other watching the older ducks eat our treats. We've started naming the ducks, well, I have started naming the ducks and I've named a few of the regulars. Snape, the big black creepy one, professor Quirrell, the skittish loopy one, Ron, who has really red feathers. I think you see the theme here. We've come to really like our ducks!

On a different note:

-Ever Wonder why Sam is so thin? Are you interested in what we like to call the "Sam Diet"?

Check it out...

So there you have it, just dance while you eat. You'll shed those extra pounds before you know it!

-So, keeping with the food theme, Russell has been eating strangely too. We can't decide whether he thinks the food is going to dissolve or disappear before he can get it to his mouth or if it's something else entirely.

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