Halloween

Yeah, I had to start off the Halloween pics with something a little gory...the bad thing about the blood is that it wouldn't stop running or "bleeding." I thought I should get a close up view of "the bite!"

Yummy!
The freshman 15 can be a bitch! haha

Hobo clown...kinda creepy!

This is such an unflattering picture...but it gets the whole view.

He chose this instead of being my vampire...totally lame!

The only other girl for the night...a hot mad hatter & Sookie!

That's right...we ran into MJ at Woody's!

Fear and Loathing in Woody's...I love this costume!

Where do I go from this?

So I had a conversation that I never would've thought I would have. Somewhere along the past 2 months, my relationship w/my bf has apparently become "boring." I could feel something was different about a month ago, but I was so busy with work & trying to adjust. I've tried to act really silly & have some fun around him the past 2 wks, because I knew something was off. He wasn't into it & ignored me. I was kind of shocked by it but sometimes I can't tell with him. So we have the conversation tonight as we're going home from a game. It took me to be in tears & asking what is going on & trying to guess for him to finally bring it all up. I don't know why none of this was addressed sooner; I know we are both to blame. We agreed that we want to make it better & want to work on it. I'm just trying to figure out what to do, because I've been trying for awhile. I mean if things aren't meant to be then they aren't meant to be, but I feel like I really want to be in this for the long haul. Neither of us are boring people at all, so I'm just trying to figure out how it became this way. If anyone has any advice, PLEASE send it my way....

Shanna's Bachelorette Party

My cousin's bachelorette party was this past Saturday. Her fiance is a golf pro at Cambridge, so we decided to go with an argyle/golf theme for the evening. It was a good choice, because we had free drinks all night!

The crew!
Shanna's cake was tastefully suggestive!

Shanna jumped to the Wild Turkey way too early in the night!

Ummm...yeah...there was a male stripper at Fast Eddy's that night w/some other people. He decided to give Shanna & another bachelorette a special treat..he was gross...but Shanna was drunk!

Macie's 1st Birthday!

Macie's 1st birthday party was Saturday! It was such a cute Minnie Mouse theme. Of course, the best part was cake time!

Macie is just now digging in.
...and this was the aftermath!

Holiday World...last Saturday!

Yeah, yeah...I know it's been awhile....lol. Last Saturday, I went to Holiday World with the Broeker clan (minus Ben). We had so much fun & I think the pictures prove it!

Hannah literally passed out when she walked in the door!
Kyle finally decided it was naptime!

Poor Hannah only made it maybe 5 minutes until she passed out in the car!

My Brother's News

So today I found out that my brother is joining the Marines. He called me & texted me saying he needed my address, and I couldn't figure out why. When I called him back, he said "Mom and Traci didn't tell you?" I said, "Tell me what?" ...and then he told me. Apparently they need everyone's information on this paperwork...I can't say that I'm actually thrilled that he's doing this. I already have one person in my life that's going through this war, and I really don't want to add a blood relative this close to me. I think he decided about a month ago, and I don't think he's changing his mind. I honestly don't think he knows what he's getting himself into :-/

1st Scrapbooking Night of the School Year

The second week of school was definitely a good time for scrapbooking...well, only Renee scrapbooked. I decided to whip out the camera, and this is what I got..haha!

I told Hannah to smile...and apparently this is what she does....did mom teach her this?
Kyle couldn't let Hannah be the only one with a goofy picture!

I was going to just take a picture of Keelin, but Kyle was acting silly all night and jumped in this one too.

No, Macy, the camera is over here!

Cars...YUMMY!

1st Real Classroom

So I finally have my own classroom! It's exciting and stressful at the same time, but I love it. If I were to take a picture of my room at the present time, it would actually look a little different than this. I think that's what I love about teaching! It's ever changing!

This is the birthday wall. Each student has their own balloon for their birthday month.
I needed some color here since I'm facing the building...boring! Each cougar paw has the student's name on it.
The front of the room. Looks empty now....but it always changes

Jamie's Party

It was great hanging out with everyone for a last "hoorah" before school started. I'm pretty sure all the adults were outnumbered by babies, though. It's so nice to have a great bound with people you work with and have the ability to let loose once in awhile! Now we just need to set up our scrapbooking/wine drinking nights! haha

My Grandpa

I just found out that my grandpa has dementia. It came out of nowhere. One minute he'll make sense and have a coherent conversation, and the next minute he's talking about something else. He's been reliving his war days, and he talks about random things that happened 50-60 years ago. It's kind of scary. My grandma is surprisingly doing ok with all of it. The doctors think that he may not make it past the year. I know I'm praying for him, and I hope everyone else will do the same. Thanks!

Good News!

It's official so I can say it.....I will be teaching full-time next year @....Holy Spirit! I'm covering for the 2nd grade teacher as she takes a year off, but I'm happy I can stay at the school I love and I don't have to leave the kids! Hopefully I can prove myself as a teacher & good things will come of it!!

What to do...

Just when I think I've got it all together: experience, interviews, hope.....I don't. Every interview I've heard back from so far has hired internally. It doesn't matter that half the jobs I know I could do really well, because I've pretty much already done them. It makes me truly think that I should choose another career path. I'm thankful that I WILL have a teaching job for the fall but it's only for that year & it's not for my degree. I'm really just giving up hope; it's like God is telling me that I shouldn't be a teacher.

Rance & Sammi's wedding!

This past weekend we went back to Joe's hometown for his good friend's wedding. He was an usher for the ceremony, and he worked a brown tux with coral. It was an interesting color choice.

The ring bearer became fond of one of the groomsmen's stepdaughters.
The flower girl, Marley, sporting a moustache at the rehearsal dinner. They had all sorts of them in a vending machine, and they seemed to be the accessory of the night!

Ollie, the ringbearer, sporting his moustache with his new female friend!

Joe and Rance

Ollie was playing the drums with the pencils. It's hard to keep a 3 year old entertained.

The groomsmen, ushers, and ringbearer ready for pictures.

Joe carrying up the cross before the ceremony.

All the groomsmen lined up in the pew.

The lovely bridesmaids.

Rance and Sammi saying their vows.

Joe helping Ollie blow some bubbles.

The happy couple getting ready to leave the church.

The beautiful kiss in the bubbles.

Sammi's beautiful dress!

The bride and her bridesmaids....Marley really liked the flowers!

The brother and sister getting along so well.

My handsome usher!

Marley is such a doll!

The entire bridal party.

Travis' 19th birthday!

My brother's birthday was May 22, and he's a whole 19 years old now. My sister and I were poking around the mall while him and our mom were shopping. We thought it would be funny to make him a build a bear, since he's the only one in the family that doesn't have one. We named him Maximus Morrison.

Traci giving Maximus some love!
Ok here's the funny story....We were in such a hurry to finish him before we had to meet my brother & mom again. Traci was rushing to put on his tighty whities, and she put them on backwards. That means the tail hole was in the front. I was cracking up and said "Maximus doesn't have a peepee!" We thought it was hilarious, but then again we were on a sugar high.

Hanging with Maximus!

My friend Sally's visit!

Our friend, Sally, came down to visit, and we finally got to see baby Owen. He was adorable & such a calm baby! I'm so happy for her!

Joe holding a baby...we HAD to get a picture!!