Sea World with Mrs. Blevins' class

There could be some alternate titles for this post: The Mother of all Field Trips; Mom vs. 20 kindergartners; Tomato Arms-Don't look now, but Mom sun screened the kids and forgot herself; and last but not least-Brandon and Madison are just too darn cute! You'll see the proof below.


Sea World with 3 classes of kindergartners=what I call the Mother of all Field Trips. Don't get me wrong, I would never trade my time in with my kids for the WORLD, but this Sea World trip is a LOT of kids. Our school was there, plus our neighboring school Bill Brown, and about 4 hundred others. I was only responsible for 2, thank goodness. I was given 2 children once they got off the bus at 9:45am and gave 2 back to the bus @ 1:30pm. My job was done. And, we had tons of FUN in those 3 hrs 45 minutes, which seemed like 8 hours and 45 minutes on kinder time. Here's a couple of highlight pictures from the trip.

First we all lined up, got maps, and the kids couldn't wait to find the first thing on the map-the fountain. That lasted about 22 seconds.

The two I was responsible for. One lives in my house. And is very cute.

Then they try and get ya! $4 for a tray of fish to feed these guys!

First time anyone in the Taylor family has ever been able to touch one! He was just hanging out letting all the kids pet him. (Notice my arm...praying that he didn't fall in!)

"Mom, what?"

So, what do you do when your mom says no way to paying the 4 bucks for fish? You let your sweet friend Madison give you all of hers cause fish are yucky.

Proof # 1. Too cute. Buddies. They were very upset that both of their parents were going and that they couldn't be in the same group. So, Madison's mom & I stuck together. She's tons of fun anyway. :)

The group

Proof #2

and finally, proof # 3. My favorite. Friends.

Gotta stick my head in, proof I was there. (Madison's twin brother, Brandon, is beside her. Don't even get me started on how we keep the Brandon's straight.)

Brandon # 1 and Brandon # 2.

2 of the teachers with Madison, Brandon & Brandon

Me & my baby!!

Proof # 4.

Proof # 5. With their (really cool) teacher on way back to bus.

BIG shout out to teachers, especially the ones @ Arlon Seay. You rock. I don't know how teachers have the energy, all the time for these energetic kids! It is a huge blessing to have you guys help us raise our children. You have no idea how much I am grateful to your time, heart & patience!!

Easter 2009

baseball fun

(Click to see larger)

10 on Monday

OK, so I really don't know what that means, "10 on Monday" but I've seen other bloggers do it, so figured I'd do it too. But here's 10 random things for today.

1. I heart blogs. I love to every now and then go to a friend's blog, and click on one of their friends. Then click on a friend of theirs. And just keep clicking. You can find some pretty interesting stuff that way, let me tell you.

2. My sweet friend Brooke is 12 weeks pregnant already. It's already going so fast!

3. My dear friend Jamie just posted a muffin top picture of me on facebook. I politely sent her an email through facebook. I couldn't comment on something like that for the whole world to see. So, I'm blogging it instead. (If you don't know what a muffin top is, it's ok. I only found out about 2 months ago-from my Dad.) (And don't go check it out. It's embarrassing.) Not that anyone really reads my blog anyway. HA! Silly me. :)

4. Blake had my computer out yesterday and the dog stepped on the keyboard. The 4 key no-workie right. Then, as I figured out tonight, the 7 key no-workie right either. Or the 3 key. Damn dog. (I was not very nice to him about it either.)

5. In no sort of revenge, I accidentally washed Blake's blackberry. It's very clean and smells good, but the verdict on if it'll still work or not is still out. (He was, however, pretty darn nice to me about it! Sorry Blake!)

6. I have been blogging for about an hour and my phone had buzz...buzz'd about 25 times. Which means I have 25 new emails. Seriously? From 9-10pm? 25 emails?

7. My 4 key is sticking up and looking at me in this kind of "hi there, what ya doing?" kind of way right now.

8. Blake taught the boys to play 21 tonight. Monday nights is poker night with the boys. Which normally lasts for about 15 minutes with Brandon's attention span. I watered my dying plants while they were learning about gambling.

9. I love sitting down with my family at the table and eating dinner together.

10. Cowboy's had this sore spot on his foot ever since he came home from his surgery back in November. It sometimes acts like it's gonna get better, then he'll start licking it again. After a couple of trips to the vet including a shot this past Saturday, the vet suggested rubbing on Arrid Xtra Dry roll-on deodorant to get him to stop licking it. He hasn't licked it since! Who knew! It worked! Well, it has worked for 3 days. We'll see how long it lasts.

Off to bed for now! OH....here' a sweet picture of my boys! Aren't they handsome?!

The Secret Lives of Moms

There's a new show that I am excited about...In the Motherhood. For those of us who are Mom's, it's no wonder that they finally made a show about how FUNNY being a mom is, and that everyone is in the same boat-even though nobody knows it. I never watch Oprah, but I did yesterday, and she had a panel of ladies on there which gave the idea for the new show. The Oprah show was hilarious and just reminded me that #1, Moms are FUNNY, and #2, we are not in this alone.

It did remind me of this video though. I got to see Anita Renfroe @ Women of Faith last year, and she did this piece. This is someone else doing it, but still great. I don't care how many times I've heard it, it's still funny.



Here's one of my favorite tid-bits from the show...


Dee-Dee is currently a stay-at-home mom, but she was a working mother once too. "The competition is there because we create it for ourselves," she says. "There's really no reason to compete, because [stay-at-home moms] are just as busy as the working mom. The working mom is just as busy as we are. We just tend to sometimes put the focus on the wrong things. We're all busy 24/7. I consider myself an at-home working mother." Amy says these wars arise out of our own uncertainties as mothers. "We're insecure about the choices we're making—that's why we're judging each other," she says. "We need to give ourselves a collective break." Try Amy and Trisha's judgment exercise. "Have compassion for each other," Trisha says. "Realize we all have issues, and we're all doing the best we can."

OH yeah, one lady on the show started a blog when she was pregnant with her first baby. She just was REAL about the pregnancy & about becoming a mom. Her husband has quit his job, and they both full time run this blog. Why you ask? Cause she gets $40k a MONTH in advertising $ for her blog. WHAT? Seriously. I think I am almost there. Anyone want some advertising on mine?

Brandon's class made the paper!

From THE BULVERDE NEWSPAPER---

Teachers Wendy Clark, Rachel Kaspar and Mary Blevins, and their students are all smiles as the Comal Education Foundation awards a $4,206 grant: Outdoor Classroom: Green for the Greenhouse.

Way to go Teachers!! So proud, and you'll have SO MUCH fun building your greenhouse!

I showed this to Brandon, and he said, "Yeah Mom, I know. I told the kids 'Let ME in!' so I could get in the picture!" Front and center. Don't know where he gets that from...hmmmm...

Spring is here...and I LOVE IT!

Spring...the time to get back outside! I LOVE the Spring. (Well, spring and fall. Not too cold, not too hot.) Here's some Taylor spring activities...

BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here's Brandon

Camron

There WILL be plenty of baseball pics in the next couple of months. I had concession duty on the first game.

Smores @ the fire pit with the neighbors! (& Ben's Pop)

Ben's mom Terry & her friend

My sweet dear friend Brooke & Blake (Brooke waiting patiently for her 2nd smore)

Me & boys and Brandon's marshmallow

Spring Break @ the Kelly's lakehouse

Kids on the boat

THE GARDEN!!!

I love gardening. I am not really that good at it, but MAN...do I love it! Just planted last week and I can't wait till they start blooming.

My stab at the "insta garden", my huge Celebrity. (It has 3 blooms already! yeah!)

I sacrificed my strawberries this year to Blake's new pepper stash. He has 11 planted, if we can keep the bugs away! They've already had a snack of habeneros.


Just a big prayer for rain to keep the thing going!!

And then there's the BABIES! We have Court, Rachel, Cathi, Anne Lynette, Wendy, BROOKE and I am sure more that I've missed! They are a coming! Get your stock in some huggies.

Happy Spring!

kids answers about me

I originally did this for facebook, but am now posting this here thanks to the idea from Jenny's sister Stacy, who just has the cutest family! So here it is...from Camron (8) & Brandon (6).

1. What is something mom always says to you?
C-I love you
B-I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
C-us being good
B-us being happy (now seperating boys so they don't say the same thing)

3. What makes mom sad?
C-us diobeying you
B-when I don't obey you

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
C-making funny faces & doing funny stuff
B-tickling you

5. What was your mom like as a child?
C-nice
B-didn't have a big nose, haven't lost any teeth, no earings, had a pony tail, and wasn't wearing that shirt, and skin was lighter

6. How old is your mom?
C-32
B-32

7. How tall is your mom?
C-5'8"
B-32 inches

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
C-watch us
B-kiss & hug me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
C-work and mom stuff
B-sleep

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
C-being the greatest mom in the world
B-clarinet player

11. What is your mom really good at?
C-doing laundry, cleaning dishes, cleaning, and work
B-working

12. What is your mom not very good at?
C-beating me in races
B-catching things that are too high

13. What does your mom do for a job?
C-work for our Church
B-make copies, run errands

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
C-oatmeal
B-cereal

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
C-all the stuff you do for me
B-that she's pretty

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
C-Sandy
B-Cinderella

17. What do you and your mom do together?
C-a whole bunch of stuff
B-eat ice cream

18. How are you and your mom the same?
C-from the same family
B-we're not the same! oh, that are skin is the same

19. How are you and your mom different?
C-you're a girl and I'm a boy
B-because you have blue eyes and I don't

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
C-you do a whole bunch of stuff for me
B-because you kiss me & hug me

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
C-he loves you
B-he's handsome

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
C-gringos
B-gringos

Upward Fun

Here's a little video from the kids' Upward Award Ceremony, with a twist.

Field Trip

I was lucky to have been picked to chaparone Cam's 2nd grade field trip to KSAT12 this week. It was really a cool field trip to go on, I just hope the kids ahd as much fun as the grown ups! We took a tour of the whole studio & set, saw how everything works, got to sit through the whole Noon Broadcast, and got to do a "Good Morning San Antonio" hello and wave that aired that next morning on the news! All 60+ kids sat VERY quietly through the hour long live broadcast, which blew my mind!

The kids on the set.

Here's the shot as if it were on TV.

The whole class. Such sweet & energetic kids!

The KSAT12 morning crew on the job

The 2nd grade teachers with the crew. Such HUGE hearts for kids these great women have!