Happiness Is...

Keith Urban - Get Closer Tour 2011

Last Sunday night Cole and I got to experience Keith Urban's Get Closer tour in Dallas.  Keith Urban didn't disappoint, and he just keeps getting better and better every time I see him live.  And just in case you've forgotten, when I saw him in 2009 I touched him.  As he walked directly in front of me.  Yep - I touched Keith Urban!! 

This time we didn't have floor seats, so there was no touching of Keith Urban, but it really didn't matter because he played for 2 hours and 15 minutes without stopping, involved the audience on numerous occasions and in some pretty unique ways, and pretty much just brought down the house.  

Due to the mechanical mishap with my good old Sony camera last Christmas Eve, it is no longer in working condition and it had to be replaced with a camera that doesn't quite have what it takes to get great concert shots, but I got some good ones.  Nothing quite like the little gem to the right (which was taken about 10 minutes after I touched him in 2009), but decent enough.  And it was actually kind of nice to not watch the concert through my camera lens.  I'm posting a few of the better ones at the end.

If you've never seen Keith Urban live - do it!  I sacrificed a night of sleep on a Sunday night (I had to work Monday) in order to attend this concert and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  I can't understand why Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney keep beating him out for Entertainer of the Year.  I just find it hard to believe that they could put on a better show than he does.

The are 2 very happy teenage girls in the DFW area thanks to this concert.  One took a sign that said she wanted to hug him and he called her onstage and did just that.  And the other was given an autographed guitar while he was playing in the walkway of the section to her right.  I had never seen these two things done at a concert before and it was really pretty cool.  

Words can't describe it...you just have to be there.  And I'll be there again the next time he hits Texas no matter how much sleep I lose because of it.  He's that good!

 

1 3 5 8

Can you guess the significance of those numbers?  I was inspired by Lost.  But it has nothing to do with Lost.  Those numbers are in reference to my life...and today, which is far less interesting than Lost.  But still.  

Give up?  Here's what the numbers mean:

1 - my first day of school as a teacher

3 - Collin is in 3rd grade

5 - Kaelin is in 5th grade

8 - Brendan is in 8th grade.  

Earth-shattering, I know.

Today was a good day.  I was expecting my kiddos to have at least a meltdown or two, but nothing like that happened.  I did spend a good part of my morning in a kindergarten class that kept us hopping.  God bless you kindergarten teachers - you really do deserve an extra $20,000 or so.  I won't deny that I'm stressed about learning all about special ed paperwork, but lots of people have learned it, so I suppose I can, too.  I really enjoyed meeting some of my kids for the first time and seeing the ones again that I met previously.  I'm very excited to spend this year with them, hopefully being successful in helping them be successful in learning to function in a world they don't quite understand.  

The hardest thing for me - the mom part of me - was to not be able to walk Kaelin and Collin to class and take their picture.  Cole had to do it and he didn't take half as many pictures as I usually do, but he did take some pictures.  They both requested their picture be taken outside the classroom rather than inside, but I can live with that.  Of course, there are no pictures of Brendan on his first day of 8th grade.  Maybe Cole can take a couple tomorrow - his 2nd day of 8th grade. : )

Here are Kaelin and Collin before leaving the house:

Cookie was caught peaking out the window beside the front door:

Here's Kaelin in her new outfit from Justice.  She got it in exchange for not going to Fiesta Texas with the reading ticket she earned last year.  

And here's Collin:

Pictures taken at school:

How Harry Potter Should Have Ended

Somebody tweeted this and it's too awesome not to share.  Love it!

 

Trust and Obey

Last week our church hosted its annual choir camp.  Kaelin loves it and looks forward to choir camp all year.  This year the name of the musical was "That's So Daniel" and Kaelin had a solo in "Trust and Obey."  I'm very impressed with how well she sings, especially since neither Cole or I can sing a note on key.  And I'm also impressed that she has the guts to stand up in front of an audience and sing.  That's my girl!

 

Sometimes Dreams Really Do Come True

And sometimes you have to wait a while for that to happen, but, when it does, it's worth the wait.  Just a couple of hours ago I got an offer for a teaching job.  I'll be working with autistic kids part of the time and doing resource/inclusion the rest of the time.  And it's at the elementary school that Kaelin and Collin go to, so it's just perfect!  

To say I'm excited is an understatement.  I'm completely over the moon about this job - for a lot of reasons.  It's been a long time coming, I've worked so hard to get here, and I've had a lot of people rooting for me and encouraging me and it really has meant the world to me.  

I feel like I'm accepting an Oscar, but I can't not thank my friends, family, and coworkers who have been there every step of the way.  Without all of them I don't think I would have had the strength to keep trying.  It's been a long 2 years full of twists and turns and what a journey it's been!   I've met so many incredible people along the way and I'm so grateful for the journey.  I know I'm a much better teacher now than I was 2 years ago. 

And I can't not acknowledge the awesome principal who has believed in me since day 1 and who has kept her word.  Many years ago I had an experience with a different principal who didn't keep her word, and at times it was hard to trust, but I never stopped believing that she meant what she said and, in the end, she followed through.  I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to teach on her campus.  

I also have to say a word of thanks and praise to God for having a plan for me and leading me down the road I've been on that got me to this job.  His hand has been on me the whole time and during all the times that I felt so hopeless He was there leading me through it.  God is so good!

So there you have it.  I've always wanted to make a difference in the lives of kids and I finally have my chance to do it as a full-time job.  I'm so excited to see what this year holds for me.  It will be yet another adventure, I'm sure!

A Few of His Favorite things...Legos

Collin loves Legos.  Last Christmas he wrote Legos on his Christmas list 3 times.  It's his favorite thing to play with.  So we decided to take him to Legoland.  That's actually what we built the vacation around.  It just so happens that Legoland is conveniently located between San Diego and Hollywood, so it worked perfectly.  

Legoland has some rides but they're really made for smaller children.  But the creations they have that are made out of Legos are amazing.  We saw Harry Potter, Hagrid, Darth Vader, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Bob the Builder, as well as Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Francisco, and New York, just to name a few.  The coolest part about Legoland for us was seeing what people can build out of Legos.  I can't even imagine where one would start with those creations, but you can tell exactly what they're meant to be. 

I'm glad we went when we did, because even though the rides didn't thrill my kids, they were able to appreciate all of it.  And Collin loved it.  He and Brendan bought a Star Wars Lego set and had it put together within ours after we returned home.  

I took about 200 pictures at Legoland, so it's very hard to pick just a few to post.  

Brendan and Collin on the airplane ride.

Kaelin driving a boat.  These boats aren't on a track...you're actually driving them.

San Francisco.

New York City.

Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas.

Chewbacca and the kids.

Kaelin and me.

At the entrance to Legoland.  

The San Diego Zoo

We flew into San Diego around lunchtime, and, after we ate, headed for the zoo.  It's a great zoo, but a lot of the animals were resting in the shade, so we didn't see them.  You see, California was experiencing a heat wave, and it was almost 90 degrees while we were there.  So the animals headed for cooler places.  The kids got to see the animals they claimed were there favorites.  Kaelin's was a snow leopard.  I honestly don't remember what the boys wanted to see, except I think giraffes and bears are always exciting for kids.  But everybody was happy and when we had seen it all, we headed for the hotel pool.  

I've posted some pictures from the first day of our vacation.  It was July 4th, so we finished our day by watching fireworks.  

Kaelin and Collin waiting for the train ride at the zoo.

Angie, this one's for you.  And I have about 50 more pictures of flamingos because Kaelin kept telling me that flamingos are your favorite animal and we need to take some pictures for Ms. Angie.  

I have no idea what my sons are doing...I'm just glad the snake that Kaelin has her hand on is made of stone.

Some type of giant cactus.

I thought the hippo statue was cute so I made the kids sit in front of it so I could take a picture.

Every family should have their picture taken in front of a bush shaped like an elephant.

This is where we watched the fireworks.  It's only the second time in my life that I've worn a jacket to watch the fireworks.  The other time was 6 years ago when Cole and I were in Lake Tahoe for our 10th anniversary.  

Friends are Friends Forever...Even If 1 of Them Moves to California

That's right.  I just quoted a Michael W. Smith song (sort of).  In this situation it's fitting.  

I'm continuing on with posting pictures from our vacation, and one of my favorite things that we did was to visit my sweet friend, Jen, and her precious family.  Jen and I met 9 years ago when I was doing home daycare and she called me to see if I could watch Ben.  Ben is 2 months older than Kaelin and it worked out really well.  Ben and Kaelin grew up together for their first couple of years and Jen and I got to be really close friends.  She moved to California 7 years (I think I have the number right) ago and I've missed her ever since.  She's now married to a wonderful man and has 4 beautiful kids.  I  had never met 2 of her kiddos before, so it was a lot of fun for me to get to see her baby girls.  

Jen and Mark invited us over for burgers.  It was one of my favorite days of our vacation because (a) I got to see Jen!!  and (b) it was so nice to relax for a while and not eat in a restaurant.  We're so grateful for the time we got to spend with our friends.  Jen, I still miss you, but hopefully I will see you again very soon...like when someone we both know turns 40.  ; )

Mykenna and Kaelin...such pretty girls!  They could almost be sisters!

I got to meet Megan!  Enjoyed holding a baby again, but, no, it didn't make me want another one!!

The boys eating their burgers.

Beautiful, beautiful Megan.  Gorgeous blue eyes!!

Kaelin wanted to be in a picture with Megan.

Cole and Morgan playing ball.

Morgan really likes the pink ball!  So cute!

Ben and Kaelin.  Kaelin enjoys telling people she got to see her first best friend.  : )

The dads and Megan.

Brendan and Ben...I love Ben's GQ pose!

Jen and Megan.

All the kiddos.

And Jen and me. 

The Surf, The Sand, The Pictures

The strangest thing just happened.  I had typed a couple of paragraphs, then I uploaded 2 pictures, and now the paragraphs are gone.  Weird.  Gotta love technology - especially when it doesn't work.

Anyway, the point of this blogpost is to share some of my favorite pics from our vacation that we took almost a month ago.  I had planned to blog each night, but slow hotel internet connections prevented me from doing that.  Below you will find my favorite pics from our time spent at the beach in and around San Diego.  The picture of Brendan and Collin is one of my all-time favorites of those 2.  You can see the mischief written all over Collin's face.