a few pictures.......

The Mullendore's came over the weekend of Labor Day and we decided to take a drive to the Beartooth Highway on Sun. The Beartooth Highway is the highest highway I believe in the US. It's really beautiful up there. It's cold (although you wouldn't be able to tell it from the way the boys are dressed) and stark in vegetation and the lakes are so crisp and clear. Unfortunately we didn't see much in the way of animal life (ususally a mountain goat or these ground squirrel type things can be seen), but fortunately no one got car sick (the boys and I usually need frequent stops!!!!) This is a picture from a turn-out place, where you can park and walk along a path that is kinda situated on the side of a very steep mountain. Fabulous views at the end viewing area!!

This is a picture of Cody's first day of school and his teacher coming out to greet the kids. I'm not sure why he's giving me this look, probably because I told him to smile (little stinker). He is absolutely loving school this year. His teacher is wonderful and encourages his enthusiasm(sp)! I volunteer in his class on Monday mornings and starting next week Tyler and I will have lunch with him on Mondays too, he's super excited. Cody got nominated as student of the month by his teacher and gets to have lunch with the Principal on Thurs. We are all very proud of him! He is excited to be having McDonald's on Thurs for lunch and oh yeah, lunch with the principal too! :)

This is Tyler after we got home from taking Cody to his first day. He loves to have his picture taken, at least for now! :) Tyler and I have a lot more time during the day to do stuff together while Cody is at school. The other day we went to the zoo with a friend of mine and her kids. We've already decided that, had we the choice, Tyler and Logyn (the little girl in the pictures) would get married when they're older!! They are seriously too cute together!! Here are some more pictures from that day at the zoo!........

My pirate name.....

My pirate name is:

Iron Anne Rackham

A pirate's life isn't easy; it takes a tough person. That's okay with you, though, since you a tough person. You have the good fortune of having a good name, since Rackham (pronounced RACKem, not rack-ham) is one of the coolest sounding surnames for a pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

For some reason this didn't line up right, but I got the idea from Kelly's blog (who got it from Jess and Lori) anyway, it was fun!

So, maybe not as much time as I thought! :)

I underestimated the "free" time I have. (I'm pretty sure we all do this) When I started this blog, I thought that it would be easy to post once or twice a week. Little did I know at the time just how busy the last week or two would be. I have pictures I've taken, but Jas has the camera at work with him, so I'll post those later.
Because of the school re-opening (where Cody goes) we had to start up a new PTA and let me tell you, it isn't the easiest nor funnest thing to do! But, it will be completely worth it once we get everything straightened out. The school is in sad need of a new playground. The current one is a series of splintered wood and huge tires (which turns childrens clothing BLACK, and it is nearly impossible to get it out) and one slide that is so steep and fast the kids have to be monitored on it. And sadly, not everyone can use the "big" equipment at the same time. Cody came home one day and told me that it wasn't their "turn" to play on the big equipment that day, it was the big kids turn. So, needless to say, we need new equipment. And for a new PTA (who starts in the red) it is daunting to say the least to try and come up with fundraisers, etc to raise the money needed for the playground! But, we're working on it.........
Jason was in Winachee, WA(sp) last Thurs and Fri for work and it was early out Thurs for the kids at school. So my neighbor and I decided to take the kids to ChuckECheese. It's a great place to dump a lot of cash :), if you're so inclined (I must of had too much wine or beer when I agreed to go :)) And if you win a bajillion "tickets" you can get a fabulous prize/toy, ya know like a plastic slinkey that breaks on the way to the car!! Oh well, the kids had fun.
When I told Jason that I started this blog he told me (and he told me to quote him) "That blogs are stupid, and it's just one more thing for you (Amber) to do during the day so that you (Amber) don't get anything done around the house." I told him I'd have no problem quoting him. He of course said this half joking, half serious. He honestly thinks blogs are a waste of time, but he just wanted to get my goat with the rest of the comment, and of course he did! :) turd.......
Anyway, I'll sign off for now and post pictures later.............................

Why not, me too!

After seeing all of the different blog's out there, I thought to myself......."self (that's what I call myself, haha JK) why not....might as well jump on the wagon and start one yourself, it will be fun to look back on in future months, years, whatever!" Besides, with Cody in all day school and Tyler still taking naps...somedays, I will have some time to record our day-to-days.

I was looking into taking an online course at a local school here that is a two-year program to get your teaching degree. But after looking into it further, it turned out to be 2 years online, plus 2 summers on campus and only 26 of my 100+ credits qualified for the program. So I'd of had to do 34 credits just to have all my pre-reqs. I figured, if I was going to be going to 3+ more years of college I'm going to get a degree that I'll make more money at, although summers off would be fantastic!!! :)

To those out there also going through this or recently having gone through it....I'm having a dickins of a time potty-training Tyler!! It is a battle-of-the-wills and sadly I am losing, really really losing!! What a stinker, he'll act all excited, like he's all gung-ho about it and then he'll wave his hand at me and say "But not right now, maybe later."

Cody is a 7-year-old, 1st grader who knows EVERYTHING!! Even if proven wrong he'll still argue about it.....I'm sure you Brunner's out there are thinking of his father and how Cody must be just like him :) and I have to agree :)

I am absolutely loving watching him learn this year, his teacher is wonderful! He will read books to Tyler and I before bed now, I have to slow him down and make him sound out words a lot, and remind him about the rules of reading (we have them hanging in his room), but for the most part he is doing really good and he is so proud of himself. We rode bikes to school this morning for the first time this year (his had a flat up until Friday when I FINALLY :) fixed it) and I'm not sure about anyone else, but I really like my morning coffee and it was a little bit of a challenge to ride my bike and not spill (I have Tyler in a pull-behind on my bike, it's a wonderful thing, that can be removed and used as a stroller too, I highly recomend it and at our Target right now, the one we bought 3 months ago is on clearance for half off......dangit anyway), good thing the school is only 2 1/2 blocks away.

Ok......wow, for a first blog, I really know how to ramble, oh well! It's all good! :)