The Climber

This past weekend Rylan spent her time doing a lot of climbing! She thinks she is pretty cute when she masters climbing up to something on her own. I tried my best to capture her little adventures around the house. She is pretty independent (but only at our house, I guess, because my mom says Rylan wants her MeMa close all the time at her house). She wonders off to do her own thing a lot. We try to give her a few moments to herself before checking in on her. Here are some of the ways I found her this weekend.

Sunday night I was working in the kitchen and knew that Rylan was in the TV room but wasn't quite sure what she was up to-she was so quiet. Turns out she was vegging on the couch. I asked her if she wanted a nap and she said yes so we took a 30-minute power nap.


Later on she felt accomplished for using her dog to get up in the rocking chair. She loves to sit with us in that chair and watch what is happening outside.


Rylan did not want to eat dinner on Sunday, but she did think she was funny when she got up to her daddy's chair after I took her out of her chair. She loves cheese and will say it now, even when I ask her to for a picture!


Monday I found her playing in one of her toy baskets. We love having this shelf in the living room for toys now and Rylan is getting into helping pick up at bed time. Yes!


To get on the entry way bench she pulled her diaper bag onto the floor and used it as a stepping stool. She was really proud of herself for getting up on this one!


Later in the evening, on the other couch in the TV room.



I am pretty thankful that we had Monday off. Ry and I needed some time to recover from a quick trip to Casper to see my cousin Kellie get baptized (woohoo!). We got lots of laundry done, the house picked up and vaccummed and even got to school to pack up half a cupboard. By we I mean mostly me, with some good and not so good help from Rylan. At school she undid most of the piles I was trying to make. Ugh. But she really is trying to help pick up messes. Oh, you probably don't know that my boss announced on Friday that anyone moving rooms needed to be out and into new territory by the last day of school. That means that in between finishing up grades and dealing with kids ready for summer that I have to find time to pack up my room by June 4th. I thought I was leaving a lot behind, but then cleaned out that half of a cupboard and had covered my counter in stuff I want to keep. I am trying to not be a pack rat but that Wilson blood runs deep, huh, Grandma?? We did get approval to use students to help with moving the last week of school, and while it's not the last week I am already putting them to work. Go me.

Our summer is shaping up to be really busy and totally exciting. The thoughts of all to come gives me motivation to put 9 and 10 year-olds to work packing boxes. This coming weekend Shaun and Dad are going to Utah to do their open-water dives. After much debate we decided that Rylan didn't need a ten-hour drive on Friday and another one on Sunday, especially since Shaun is not sure what time he will be done Sunday; it could be late afternoon before he heads back to WY. Sooo, mom, Ry and I are heading to Nebraska to see my Aunt Carmen and Uncle Scott. That will be fun! I might even take Friday afternoon off to go.

Once school is out Shaun and I have a weekend at the cabin planned. We seriously don't think we've had a weekend together since before Rylan came. Our trip to Coldplay was without her, but we were with my sister. The next week I am headed to Seattle for a few days. That's right-just me! I am totally stoked to spend some time with my Uncle A.G. and meet his girlfriend. And Seattle is one of my fav places in the world, so it will be the perfect place to get away and rejuvenate. The end of June we have friends coming to visit on their way to Mt. Rushmore. We haven't seen them since the summer after we got married and are looking forward to catching up.

July-holy cow-if we survive the month it will be a miracle. I am gone to a conference in Denver over my birthday. There are 14 people from school going and many are my good buddies. I got nominated to drive as long as I don't text. I never do that so we should be okay. The next week I get to see old friends from high school at a 10-year reunion picnic and the following day we are headed to Rapid for Hills Alive. It will be good to see old friends and good bands. I am really looking forward to Remedy Drive-they played in Wright last week and I L-O-V-E-D them. I plan on imitating the lead singer in our teacher performance at the Talent Show next week. He played a mean keyboard. The day after Hills Alive we are driving to Denver to catch a plane to Tennessee! We found cheap plane tickets and couldn't resist, especially since Ry flies for free still. We told Mimi Sharon it was her birthday present. Hopefully that was good enough-since her birthday was two weeks ago and the card is still on the piano!

In August life should slow down. I am trying to get a trip to Iowa planned to see my mom's relatives and spend some days with Elizabeth. I'm not sure we'll get to visit much with four children running around but we are going to try! Hopefully by then I will also have gotten some library projects done. The boss man is buying paint and I am taking advantage even though the library was just done in red, white, blue and tan a few years ago. Wait 'til you see what I have planned. The colors laid out are teal, lime green and purple for the "classroom" side, and purple, maroon and brown for the "coffehouse" side. I also have some prints picked out to hang throughout the library. Things like this and this. It's going to be awesome!

And that about sums it up. I really planned on just posting the pics of Rylan but I get so caught up thinking about summer that I spilled over onto the keyboard. The last pic is Rylan and her Daddy at the Remedy Drive concert. She is a girl after our hearts-already enjoying rockin' out to a good band!

Fun Stuff

I feel a little vain devoting part of this blog to my hair. However, I told Elizabeth I would send her some pics of the new color that I was so proud of, so I figured I'd just put them on here. Shaun thinks that I've lost some of the blonde already but I still love it. I didn't realize that having lots of blonde on top and dark underneath would make my students comment like they have or I might have done it sooner! I've heard that it looks much better and I look much younger. Ha. Gotta love 4th graders-they tell the truth no matter the consequence (I took it all in stride, though, and laughed at each comment)!

My sister Echo was pulling her hair back like this years ago and I am just catching up.


It's not quite as extreme as this look I sported back in '96 but I'm trying not to be boring!


Shaun loves it when I have my hair pulled back or wear it curly. Curly doesn't happen much since I hate the frizz that comes with.


Last night I was putting away Rylan's clothes and she decided that it was time for bed. She took her blanket and crawled up in the rocking chair with her devotional book that we read from every night. She is saying "men" (amen) now when we finish praying. So sweet. When you lay her down in her crib she waves and says "Bye!"


Shaun is a saint and stayed awake this morning so I could get ready for church. He gave her a bath, got her ready and then they fed Ry's new fish that live in the office. She calls them "sh."


Such a goofball


I love this pic Shaun got of her when I walked in the room.


So there you go. Fun stuff.

A Post with Pictures!!

We were pretty busy this past weekend with family and lots of activities. Friday night we went into Women's Resource Center (where my sis Echo volunteers as the Education guru-she is awesome and I am proud of her work!) so that my Aunt Betty Jo could do an ultrasound on Daunee'. We got to see the baby move all over the place! I wish I had pics to share. It was fun to see the new baby and I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl so I can start shopping!

Saturday morning after causing a serious back-up in the Starbucks line with a seven drink order we got to watch my cousin Kellie play AAU Volleyball. I feel so old watching her. When I lived with her family in college she was three!! I think her team ending up taking second but don't quote me on that. She is a super player and it will be great to cheer her on when she is playing for Kelly Walsh against the Camels.

That afternoon Rylan hung out with my cousin Chloe while I worked on my skit for church the next day. Then my sisters, Mom and I got to see a movie. We went to "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past." It was cute and we enjoyed some time together. In the evening a couple of my girlfriends from work and church, along with my sisters met up at the Bachelor Auction to be Tucker's cheering section. It was entertaining for sure. Echo left with one of her friends and Daunee took off with my vehicle before Tucker was auctioned off. I was in the restroom when Daunee' called to say that she had been pulled over in the Pilot for not having her headlights on. I've been getting grief from my fam for not having them in "auto" mode, but it's just one of my OCD things to turn my lights on and off. Anyway, Tucker wanted us at the auction to save him if he thought things weren't going well and had money with so we could bid. His signal was going to be putting his hand on his chest (later when I asked he said he chose that because it's how Rylan says please)! My friend Wendy didn't bid on anyone but she was brave enough to email a Math teacher who was in the auction and she got herself a free date! It was a fun girls night out. Oh, and Tucker wasn't thrilled with who won the auction and said eye contact should have been enough signal for us to raise our paddle and save him. One date won't kill him, though.

Sunday at church I performed "The Invisible Woman" by Nicole Johnson. It went really well. I had the script next to me on a stand and the one time I looked at it I realized I had been right on, but still tripped on my tongue. Oh well. Hopefully God used the drama to touch some mother's heart who feels like no one sees the work she does. The boys grilled lunch for the family and mom had lots of other goodies prepared. We got to have some yummy cake to celebrate Daunee' getting her Bachelors in Nursing. She spent the last year working nights full time, taking classes online and getting clincal hours in. I'm not sure how she managed to not lose her mind but we're proud of all her hard work!

While we were busy running around Saturday, Shaun, Damion and Dad were at home working on the sprinkler system. Sunday after lunch they worked on it some more and just about have it done. I can't even tell you what Shaun has left to do, but it's close to being fully operational. Now on to his other projects!! I think our family is going to travel with him to Utah in a few weeks when he and Dad get their open water dives done. He's getting his hair cut tomorrow! Woohoo!! It hasn't been short since last summer--so the curls are getting out of control. I can't wait to see him with short hair again. It will make my day.

Rylan is turning into quite the independent little girl. She can follow some simple instructions now, like finding her shoes and coat or getting a diaper out. She thinks she needs to sit like a big girl in her booster at the table instead of in her high chair. I don't think we will ever have to doubt what she wants as she gets older. We had to go to Sturgis yesterday so I could visit the dentist and get a temporary crown put on and she did awesome traveling. She spends her time talking to everything she sees out the window or taking her shoes and socks off and laughing hysterically at her accomplishments. I really thought that after she reached a year old we wouldn't notice how she changes as much, but she continues to amaze me every day. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. We are blessed, too, to be surrounded with close family and friends we can share the adventures of life with!

Kellie taking a break from her games


Mema with Aiden and Rylan


Chloe hanging out with Rylan


Shaun, Tucker and Damion working on the sprinkler system


After church-with no shoes and playing with Daddy's tools-what a good mom she has!


Trying to get the camera from Mommy


Chillin on the deck with Daddy and Titus


Two of her favs: Her cell phone and her rocking chair


She treated the cup like a microphone and sang into it for a long time!

The Latest...

Well, my mom needs to know right off that I'm not going to include any pics in this post, just like I didn't in the last either. And like she needs to see them--she sees the main subject nearly every day in person!! Stop reading here, mom!!

Here's the background on the job for the rest of you faithful readers. I have spent the past year of my teaching job feeling unsettled and unmotivated. One problem right off the bat was that I had too many irons in the fire. A few days before spring break I got over my wimpy self and resigned from doing musicals. I will greatly miss working with Marie to put together a show, but this fall I was not a good assistant, or a good teacher or a good mom/wife. It was too much!! With that off my plate, I tried to get enthused about how nice the fall would be. But the truth is, I still wasn't excited. My job this year has been tough. Managing 22 students with multiple needs in a high stakes world drags a girl like me down. I've felt like a failure every time I see test scores (and we do a lot of it nowadays) because of how "low" things would turn out. I've had some psycho parents this year that have caused me to about lose my mind. And I've felt like a failure as a mom every time I have left a sick Rylan home with her Mema or Daddy. It should be my job to be home with her! Instead when I am home I find myself on the phone with said psycho parents, grading papers or planning lessons.

My new job will entail starting a new program-teaching Library Skills to every class, K-6. I will still have the opportunity to work with students that way. I will also be working with my first teaching partner again as she is the Technology teacher. We'll hopefully piggy-back some projects across all grade levels. Steve has also said that I will be involved with reading interventions in the primary grades. the most exciting part for me right now, though, is visualizing and planning how to rearrange the library. I envision setting up different areas-one for media, one for small group learning and my favorite one-a coffeehouse type area, complete with a couch, bean bags, music, and maybe the occasional drinks! I'd love it if our library had a place for teachers to bring their class for small lessons or poetry coffeehouses.

Shaun also has a couple of exciting things going on. First, and the biggest, is that he is working on getting his scuba certification. He has completed half of the classwork and his inside dives done (am I saying that all right? Not sure). Next he and dad will be headed to Utah to do their open water dives. Then next January he will get to scuba dive in Belize when we are on our 7-day Western Caribbean cruise! Mom's youth group is getting together to celebrate turning 50 and children were invited. I didn't hesitate to take them up on the invite! And hey, being a librarian means not having to write sub plans for a week! Haha!!

He will also be installing sprinkler system with our brother-in-law Damion's assistance this weekend. That project is long overdue and he's pretty excited about it. He also has plans this summer to build a fence across the back yard so Titus can have his space and we can bring back what Titus and Sadie have ruined the last four years. We're also going to tear out the deck, as we know there is a concrete pad underneath to work with for now and the deck is so gross and nasty. Fun stuff!!

Rylan continues to woo the world wherever she goes. God finally got through to me that I need to be on my knees praying for her future and how He will use her somehow irresistible little personality. I don't get it. I mean, I think she's cute as can be and all, but I can't figure out how or why she is able to draw others in. My friend Lindsay recently told me that she is "addictive." Weird. This past weekend a lady at Walmart told her she was just as adorable as her mom. I'll take that compliment! Mom was helping me shop at Maurices the other day for an interview outfit and Rylan let out a loud toot in her Mema's arms. She held up her hand, waving it back and forth, and said, "Stinky!" (her version of the world at least). Ahhhh, a girl after her mommy's heart. I'm so excited that there are only 4 1/2 weeks of school left. I am ready to spend the days playing with her and having great adventures.

Finally, I think it's safe to reveal that we are going to have a new niece or nephew in November. We are so excited!! From what I hear Daunee' is starting to show a bit and just glowing. I can't wait to see her and spend time with her and the Reynolds this weekend. Daunee', Echo and several girls from school and I will be going to the Bachelor Auction on Saturday night to cheer on Tucker. It benefits the Relay for Life and should be a blast to watch!! Hope this post finds you all enjoying beautiful spring weather and happy times!

New News!!

Here's the email that just got sent to all staff at Conestoga:

We interviewed 3 very strong candidates for the Library job at Conestoga and I am pleased to announce McKenzie Dudley will be our new librarian.


Steve

Steve would be my boss. And I could say lots more but I have to watch Idol and get to bed, so more about this exciting news and the rest of what we're up to at another time!