Bring It On

Kindergarten begins on Monday...and I am totally ready for it!  I've had all summer to prepare, and a week longer than all the other teachers at my school (because kindergarten starts a week later), and last night I was panicking because I wasn't prepared.  My sister was gracious enough to take my daughter for the morning, and without my little helper*, I got soo much more accomplished and walked away from my classroom with a grin on my face and excitement in my tummy for the first day!  I can't wait!  We've got a cute bunch of Kindergarteners, and I got to keep my large and spacious room, so I am super stoked for the year to begin.  After three years, and three different classroom, I feel the best about this year!  Bring it on, you snot-nosed, creative, silly, and adorable five year-olds!

*little helper: in 20 minutes, she manages to take the letter D off my wall because is has a picture of a "puppy" on it, dump out my container of magnetic letters, spread post-it notes all over the floor, visit a 4th grade classroom and a 6th grade classroom, convince our secretary to give her smarties, drag books off the shelf, and have a poopy diaper.  It was much easier when she just sat!!!

Phoenix...Hot, Hot, Hot!

Two weekends ago, Sammy and I packed up with Savy and headed down to hot Arizona.  Sam had work to do on Monday, so we decided to make it a long weekend and get a last minute vacation in before school starts for me.  Many people thought we were crazy to visit Phoenix in August...and we were.  It was fairly hot...like 106 degrees.  The first day down, we walked around ASU campus, and about died!  While walking around, I took the stroller in many crazy paths trying to jump from one shady spot on the sidewalk to the next.  We spent most of the weekend by the pool at our resort, but we did make it out to a Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game and dinner with one of Sam's buddies and his girl.  

Savana did great on the plane ride.  There were a lot of empty seats, so she got to sit in a chair all by herself most of the time.  Sam was gracious enough to entertain her on the flight down so I could read my book.  However, I was on my own on the flight home.  Sam stayed behind for work, so it was was just me, Savy, a whole row to ourselves, and a bag full of tricks and treats!

The Diamondbacks play in an indoor field where the roof can retract when needed.  The Braves stomped all over the Diamondbacks, but it was exciting to eat hot dogs we payed way too much for and cheer for the home team!  And after the game, they shot off fireworks for us!

The rest of the time was spent at our pool.  The resort came with a little water park with a lazy river, kiddie pool, and a couple other pools.  Savana loved the water and playing with her daddy, but most of all, she liked walking up and down the stairs.  They were the perfect height for her to maneuver around on.  All in all, it was a great, much-needed getaway with my sweet little family!

Strawberry Reservoir

I know, I know...it's been ages since I've had a chance to post. You're going through Sambervana withdrawals. Quick update...I got to keep my big classroom AND we got another full-time Kindergarten teacher...Baby Eli was joined the Bezzant family and it the cutest, smallest, sweetest looking thing I've seen in over a year...I've been a complete and total slacker in the workout department after my two weeks of going strong (but tomorrow's the day to fix that)...I think Joshua's big booty is mesmerizing to watch and I can't wait to see him shake it later on this week (if you don't know who Joshua is...tune in Wednesday night, 8:00, channel 13...you'll be glad to meet him)...and Sammy and I get to go on a little family vacation with Savy to Phoenix on Friday. Yipee.

And, since a post isn't complete without some pictures, here's som beautiful photos from my family camping trip to Strawberry Reservoir. Sorry, no pictures of me...my eye was swollen and too hideous to have pictures of. But enjoy the ones we've got...


My two beautiful younger sisters. Mallory likes double-decker chocolate things and Brynnie is (almost) a better swimmer than Jack.

And meet my daughter...she's not afraid of the water one bit! I tried to confine her to a little pool so I wouldn't have to chase her around in the lake, but she was only satisfied with that for a few minutes. And then she was out running toward the shore.


She also enjoyed the pool back at camp. She even climbed in it fully clothed once. Water is a magnet for Savana. She MUST jump in a splash around...even if it's only a half-an-inch deep!


Mallory also enjoys dressing other people up so she's not be the wierdest looking thing around.


This is Noah, Savy's caretaker. The first thing out of his mouth every morning as he walked from his tent to the campfire was "Can I take care of Savana today?" And he did a great job of doing just that!


Sam spent the majority of his time at the lake building a castle. It's great to have my heart taken by a 12 -year old kid in a 27 year old body!


Sammy's castle was tough, but not tough enough for the fierce tidal waves at Strawberry. His creation partially crumbled after only a few hours.


And my cute sisters trying to catch a fish. We were unlucky, once again, but we did catch quite a few crawfish. The little boys were fascinated with them, and loved shoving the crawfish in your face in an attempt to hear your screams.


Other highlights: watching Celeste cast her whole fishing reel into the lake with her first cast...and then watching her inch out in the freezing cold water to retrieve it, enjoying the peaceful outdoors (except between the hours of 8-11 PM when our neighbors listened to classic rock a little too loud), delicious tinfoil dinners made by yours truly, sweating all day and then freezing all night, playing games around the campfire, watching the Bezzant boys and Bailey boys nearly kill themselves taking their trikes down a steep dirt hill, and making memories with the family. Thanks for the great trip, everyone!