Surprise!!!!

Short post for this beautiful Sunday afternoon... last night we celebrated my mother in law's 50th birthday with a surprise party for her with so many friends and family members.  It was a wonderful night of laughs and memories for a wonderful mother and grandmother that we love so much! 

Am I really that old???

I like to think of myself as a pretty fun, down to Earth, keep it light sorta person.  I try to see things from my students points of view on a regular basis as I was in their shoes not that long ago... However; over the past few weeks I am realizing quickly that things are MUCH different then when I was a kid.  I love all of my students and honestly would do anything for anyone of them, which is why I think I'm just now realizing this.  The high school girls (and even younger!) swearing like it's their jobs, and the disrespect I hear in the waiting rooms to their mothers, and the rolled eyes when asked to do something they don't wanna do... It's just becoming RIDICULOUS! 

So today, I want to share with you all a story from my past:
I was 15 years old and went out to dinner at Olive Garden with my parents and sister.  I brought up to my parents at that time, that my 17 year old boyfriend that lived in Cedar Falls had asked me to his prom.  My mother informed me I must have been out of my mind if I thought I was going.  I argued and cried and whined and finally said "you're ruining my life and I hate you!" to my mother.  Without skipping a beat, she reached over and smacked me across the mouth.  I was horrified (as were my sister and father who didn't take one eyeball off their pasta!) and sulked in my teenaged drama for weeks.

 It wasn't until these recent realizations of how disrespectful today's youth are that I realized how important that moment was for me.  Do I wish I could have gone still to this day, yes I do... but ultimately it was her decision and she did what she thought was best for me, because that was her job.  Thanks Mom, I really do appreciate that smack upside my head. 

So to all of you mom's out there that are "ruining your children's lives!!!" Great work, keep it up... you're making some really great adults :)

the Sconsin O'dells

In the middle of August, we took a MUCH needed family vacation to the Wisconsin Dells.  The kids call it the Sconsin O'dells, and it's quite possibly their favorite place on Earth.  We stayed at the Wilderness resort and the 8 waterparks, huge indoor playground, and ridiculous arcade were enough to keep us running around like crazy tourists for 3 days :)  The best part though, was having no schedule, and having time to hang out as a family.  It wasn't until we got this vacation rolling that we realized we'd never taken a vacation with just the 4 of us!  We've always gone with other family or friends, and although it's always fun, we definitely need this time to reconnect.  Here's a few highlights...

This was at a really super fun restaurant called Buffalo Phils.  A train brings you your food!

<>

Being silly downtown

Hooray for SWIMMING!!!!

This was on our mini golf course :)  Cracks me up everytime!