Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Oliver's First Day of School

In August, Oliver began Transitional Kindergarten at St. Joan of Arc. He absolutely loves it and is so excited to go to school everyday! I can't believe everything he's already learned! It's so exciting to see him grow to love learning!
Ready for his first day of TK!
These two are the best of buddies...
Oliver and his teacher, Mrs. O'Bryan
Out to breakfast with mommy and daddy after TK Round-Up
Oliver and his best bud, Maria...4 years together :(
My babies
Ready to take on the world!!!

Family Pics 2015

Back in May, we had the chance to have our family pictures updated by our wonderful photographer, Ashley Ernstberger. I absolutely love the wonderful moments she's captured of our family over the years. Here are a few of my favorites...















A New Adventure

Last winter, I was nominated by my principal for a pretty amazing opportunity...a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. After an extremely long and intensive process, two interviews and LOTS of paperwork, I was stunned to find out that I was accepted. So, I will be spending the next year attending classes at the University of Indianapolis to earn my MBA in Education Leadership. The schedule is CRAZY and the workload is crazier, but I've been given an unbelievable opportunity to earn this degree for FREE so I feel incredibly blessed. Plus, I have a pretty amazing husband who is supporting me 100%.

I got to meet all the other amazing Fellows in a trial by fire trip to Chicago! Luckily, there was a familiar face in the crowd...my crazy friend and former colleague, Lindsay! We had an absolute blast getting to know everyone. There are some INCREDIBLE educators in this group!

Once we returned from our 4 days in Chicago, we began classes which meant we were spending 60+ hours a week together. These people became family pretty quickly. It was a crazy 6 weeks, but somehow we all survived. Now we see each other about once a month, and it's like a big family reunion! I'm so glad I get to spend so much time with this group!

The CC group enjoying the skyline
Lindsay, Kayla and me on Navy Pier
We had a ton of fun on Navy Pier, riding the ferris wheel and hanging out.
Cohort 2B...love these peeps!
Our official announcement with Governor Pence
Friends for years...now taking on a new adventure!
My SENSE/Woodrow people

Oliver Thomas is 4 Years Old!

Someone turned the big 4!!! This birthday was so much fun to plan since he really understood it this year. We had some fun the night before, and morning of, his birthday. At his request, we "booby-trapped" his bedroom door with streamers. Somehow, he managed to get out of his room in the morning without disrupting any of the streamers...LOL!

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we had to move his outdoor birthday party back to the house. We still had a great time, though, eating pizza and cake with friends and family. It was so much fun celebrating my little guy! I can't believe he's 4 already!

Birthday presents ready to go for when the birthday boy wakes up!
Someone was so excited in the morning!
A Paw Patrol lunchbox for school!
A Paw Patrol backpack to match!
Chocolate cake...yum!

Winter 2015

Lots of fun things going on this past winter. Here's a glimpse at some of the fun things we did...

The day after Christmas was insanely warm so we headed to a park to get some fresh air.
Pigtails!
Enjoying her new trike!
Hanging out while big brother gets a haircut.
Sleepy with Gigi
Loving the fresh air
This boy loves to swing!
Painting a birdhouse
Family walk at Holliday Park
Mommy and Oliver date at the Children's Museum
Sliding with Pawpaw
Mommy time