Potty Training Boot Camp, Lieutenant's Log, Day 1:
The soldier seems reluctant and screams at the thought of changing undergarmets. Motivation is the key, especially the large jar of rations (ie-candy, cars, dinosaurs, bugs). Watching time is also part of success. 0700 hours, soldier awakens and seems more comfortable with the idea. Troop must press on.
SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER!!
I just completed my 5th year of teaching. This is the first year I could honestly say I was ready for the students to move on. My students have been acting nothing but onry since state testing was over.
As you can see from the above paragraph, potty training boot camp has kicked in. That is priority #1 for this summer. Swimming lessons, time with family/friends, organizing, scrapbooking, sewing, and reading is also on the agenda for the summer months.
Daniel and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this year by taking a night off and going to The Hideaway Ranch in Glen Rose, TX. It is a working Longhorn Cattle Ranch with horseback riding, archery range, fishing, and hiking trails. Due to time constraints, didn't get to do the horseback riding we wanted, but enjoyed our time together.
I've lived in Texas all my life, and I've never noticed this type of crossing sign until we were out in cattle ranch area. I LOVE it!
Our view as we pulled into the property.
Our cabin.
View of living room.
What happens with John Wayne, stays with John Wayne. (sorry, couldn't resist!)
I woke up to this yummy breakfast my awesome husband made me!
Later that week, we went to visit family for a few days.On the way home, we took a detour to Terrell, TX to Ham's Orchard. We stopped and ate lunch and then picked blackberries. Its also a peach orchard, but you are not allowed to pick those.
Grant was excited to get going.
"I found the biggest one, Mommy!"
Helping Daddy.
Purple hands hath we.
After we finished the picking, we visited the 'gift shop' for some extraordinary soft serve strawberry and peach ice cream. Grant didn't waste time with his spoon.
We ended up with about 3/4 gallon of blueberries. Most of which were nice and fully ripe. So I had to figure out what to do with all this yummy goodness.
I decided on a blackberry cobbler. We already had some homemade vanilla Blue Bell ice cream on hand, and its always a good combo. I searched all my cookbooks for a decent cobbler recipe, one where I could do some lattice work. No such luck. So I turned to old Paula Deen. Can't go wrong with something that contains a stick of butter, can you? Surfing on the internet I go and a hour later...ta da! Not the most presentable thing, but so yummy!
I have to say that I have the greatest parents in the world.Forget yours, mine are the best. Today, they are celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary. Met in high school, survived a long distance relationship without cell phones or the internet, married, and raised three hooligans. 
When I was young, I thought my Dad was a cowboy (probably because I had not idea what a human resources department was!). He always drove a truck, wore boots, took care of our cattle and carried a pistol when we went fishing. Doesn't that make you a cowboy? He works hard and I find it hard for him to slow down. His idol is J.R. Ewing. In fact, if we went out to eat the night "Dallas" came on, we had to make sure we were home in time to watch it. DVR would have been lovely back then. He likes history and knowing where he came from. He reminds us often that we are Germans and that I am the 'fraulein' of the bunch. In fact, I am quite sure my son learned the term 'farm hand' and the phrase, "Where's the trouble, partner?" from watching "The Rifleman" with my Dad. He is quiet at times, but humorous and knowledgable when you get to know him. He never seems to get lost (my Mom might disagree with me) and seems like a human GPS. Unfortunatley he just passed that trait to only my sister. From him, I got my blue eyes, chicken legs, height and nose. We both majored in business and went to graduate school. Thank you Daddy for being there for me when I need you and being supportive of my decisions. I love watching you be PawPaw. 
My mom is pretty much my bff. I KNEW what she did growing up because she taught at the same school I attended. My Mom is friendly to everyone. It iss funny because when we go shopping, someone always asks for opinion on how they look in something. We decided she must have an honest face. Apparently she's the one that straightened my wild father out..haha. She is very smart and gifted in the math department. She helped me pass all my math classes. She helped me realize that I could be a great teacher and encourages me daily on being a good educator and example to my students. I get my creativity from her. All paintings in her home are done by her, her mother, or grandmother. My Mom is musically inclined and I love hearing her play the piano. Thanks for helping me with piano and flute lessons even though I can't remember much of both right now. From her I also get my voice (people think we are each other on the phone), skin type, and my good teeth. Some people say I look like her but I don't see it. I think I'm just a good mix of both. My Mom is a hands on Mom. She helped me win 1st place each year in the science fair, let me experiment in her kitchen baking goodies on the weekends, and took (and takes!) me shopping. And even though my husband doesn't believe me, we can go shopping all day and not buy a thing. 
If I type any more, I'll cry. So...Happy Anniversary!
Here is "B"'s little sister, "K". Such a sweet smile, again holding onto her blanket we made.
I got a stomach bug that had traveled around the children the week before, halfway through the week long trip. For about 2 days, you could see me with constantly with Sprite in my hand. I remember that this night I was so glad to be out of bed and back with the kids. Pictured is Anna and "S" and "M" (yes, I still remember their names!)
