Field Trip Time....

Being a teacher and a mommy of three is going to be a hard balance. Don't get me wrong...I love working and LOVE having the same schedule as the kiddos so I can always be there for all the fun on evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, and summer vacations, BUT....with that comes the fact that never will I have the opportunity to be a room mom or PTO president, and very rarely will I ever get the opportunity to chaperone a field trip....got to give a little to get a little, as the saying goes!!! (In my case I feel like I am getting A LOT....)

So, with me being on maternity leave as Trey is finishing up preschool, I was actually able to accompany him and his preschool class up to the Science Center in Des Moines yesterday. We had fun...lots to see and learn, and all the preschoolers survived the 90 mile bus ride, thanks to some very prepared, wonderful teachers. (Snacks & books can keep any kid busy for a little bit ;)

So, Trey (and Tylee & Taylen) as the years roll on, I may not be able to make it for all your school day functions, but you know I'm working hard so we can enjoy all the other WONDERFUL times we do get to spend together!!!

(Plus, unfortunately, I know there will come a time when Mom is just not "cool" enough for you guys...although, I'm hoping it's a short lasted phase! Even more reason why I'm so excited I got to go yesterday!!!)

Love you bunches and I'm so glad I got to spend the day with you, your friends, and your teachers.....

Enjoying the bus ride up...(and, for those of you wondering....he didn't sit this still the entire way up. 90 miles is a long way for excited, energetic 4 year olds!!!)

Cranking away and helping push the fruit along the conveyor belts....

Exploring with water and the power that can be created....

Working with his friends on the ball wall....all sorts of gizmos, gadgets, and routes for the balls....

Trey and his buddies....

Trey learning all about electrons....

Trey & his buddy, Clayton, exploring with electrons.....

Trey and his preschool class....along with Miss Lyn & Miss Suzie, all ready for the bus ride home!

What a GREAT day!!!

By the way, for those of you who have been following the craziness of our journey to Des Moines.......

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!

There's only ONE....

word that describes me best these days.....

Take a look at the picture below and see if you can take a wild guess about which word I could possibly be talking about.....

If you guessed....STRESSED...you are correct!! There are sooooo many things going on right now at the Weite House that it's AMAZING that Jason and I are keeping our heads on straight. I'll give you a little run-down to keep you posted on this CRAZY, BEAUTIFUL little thing we call LIFE!!!

1. Obviously we've added another cutie to our bunch and are now a family of FIVE! Taylen is officially 2 months old as I type and we are loving all those fun little things babies bring along with them. Things like: dirty diapers, night time feedings, sleepless nights, and just those little "worries" that parents of newborns always have in the back of their heads: "Is she getting sick?", "Why's she crying??", etc....

2. We've decided to make a MAJOR move up to Des Moines this summer....we've enjoyed Ottumwa tremendously and this town has been pretty wonderful to us, but it's time to move on to the next stage in our lives. With Trey starting kindergarten, we figured it would be the best time to take the plunge!!! So, on top of the new baby and two other adorable kiddos, we are taking on the biggest challenge of our adult lives....moving our family!!

3. Jason interviewed with and was offered a position in the Des Moines Public Schools, where he'll be teaching high school special education and coaching varsity football, which has ALWAYS been a goal of his. Jason is the most dedicated and passionate person I have ever met and LOVES everything football! He's super excited to pursue varsity coaching opportunities up in Des Moines and I know there are hundreds of high school athletes that will benefit tremendously from his football expertise and abilities. We wish him lots of luck and success on the upcoming season...we'll be there cheering and are always his number one fans, of course!!!

4. Once Jason got the news and signed his contract, we put the house on the market, hoping for a quick sale, given our time frame. We received our full asking price offer and officially sold the house about 2 weeks ago. The buyer's financing was secured, the inspections are in the works, and we will be closing on the morning of June 17th. So, great news there....

5. We've spent the last 6 weekends (LOTS of GAS at these ANNOYING prices) up in West Des Moines looking for a house of our own. After many, many looks at many, many different types of houses, I am happy to say that we put an offer in on one about a week ago, which was countered, and we accepted!!! Assuming all inspections go well on that end, we will be closing on that house on the afternoon of June 17th and moving that weekend...(oh, the thought of packing and moving all our stuff makes me cringe, but I know it's part of the deal)

6. In the midst of traveling back and forth, I received a phone call letting me know that I had an interview with the Johnston Community School District, which is a suburb a little north of Des Moines and not a far drive at all from the house we ended up wanting. Johnston is a fantastic school district and I was stressed, to say the least, for the entire week leading up to the interview. Long story short, I received a phone call three days ago saying that everything went extremely well and they wanted to offer me a job, BUT, they are waiting on a few preschool issues to clear up. See, the new Governor of Iowa (who I did NOT vote for) doesn't really put a lot of effort into supporting educational issues. Preschool is one of the areas of concern and if legislation doesn't pass to keep it, Johnston will have 3 preschool teachers that will have the right to take any openings in the district that they are qualified for. (Three of those spots being one of the teaching positions I would get!!! See why I'm stressed??) If they keep preschool as is, then I'll be good to go and will hopefully be signing a contract soon....So it's just a waiting game for now. My mother in law just informed me this morning that they announced on the news that the politicians say the preschool issue will be among the last issues to be decided on. Which is rather annoying!!! I keep telling myself that worst case scenario, I could sub for the year now that I've already had an interview and then, hopefully, get hired on the next year. I'd really, really like to stay in the classroom, but we'll have to see how things work out....

So, as you can see, there are A TON of things going on around here, all of which are keeping us on our toes!!! I will conitnue to keep you updated as things progress....

I know above I said that there's only ONE word to describe me these days: STRESSED!!

Well. I lied because I'm also EXCITED and PROUD.....

ESPECIALLY of these little ones........

They, without a doubt, are the most important things in my life and the driving force behind everything Jason and I do. Our one goal is to create a healthy environment and provide them with the opportunities to be the best each of them can possibly be. When it's all said and done....every second and millisecond of STRESS will all be worth it!! One look at those adorable faces and there's no way anyone can possibly disagree with me!!!

KICKBALL TIME!!!!

I've blogged before about how much I love our YMCA here in town and all the activities they try to organize for the kids.....

Trey's latest session involves a little KICKBALL fun!! I mean organized kickball...there's a thought! Kickball was ALWAYS one of my playground favorites, but we never had anything like this!! I think I was more excited than Trey was!!

Trey's never played kickball before, so today was definitely a LEARNING the RULES day, but he had fun and did quite well once he got the hang of it.....

Waiting for everyone to show up....

Tylee ready to watch her big bro...she's sooooo ready to get out their and play with the big kids! She even brought her own water bottle!!!

My three munchkins...I LOVE this pic!!!

Stretching before game time....(we had to play inside today because of the rainy weather, but the games are supposed to be outside)

Trey kicking....

Trey figuring out it works better if you get a little bit of a running start and meet the ball to give it a whack!!!

Trey running off second base...great hustle!!!

Good job at your first kickball game, Trey Man! You'll get the hang of the rules and it'll totally help you when you start playing baseball! We are pumped to continue to watch you play anything and everything you love!! Always have fun and give 110%

Carnival FUN....

Thursday evening held a little carnival fun for Trey & Ty. Their daycare/preschool center (Indian Hills) put on a little end-of-the-year carnival for the preschool class and their families....

We appreciate all their efforts and are so glad the kids got a chance to get together with their school friends and enjoy fun games, food, and a bounce house. (Although Trey & his friends were hard to round up for pictures. They were having too much fun running around in all directions!!! Kiddie carnivals are so fun!!

Trey all ready to take us to his school carnival....

Snake Time.....

Taylen enjoying the carnival in her own little cute way :)

STRIKE! Tylee doing a little bowling....

Ty and her buddy Elliott having fun with their prizes.....

Trey guessing how many M&M's were in the water bottle....he picked 1,000

Carnival SuperStars.....

Ty decorating her visor....

And, showing off her crafty work...LOVE it, baby girl!!!

Bounce House FUN!!!

Grubbin' on hot dogs, chips, and lemonade....

Thanks, Indian Hills and all the wonderful teachers for putting together this event for the kiddos! They had a ball....

My baby is....

TWO months old!! (Actually, yesterday was the official day...May 13, 2011) Yeah...I'm a little late! Sorry, Baby Girl!!!

12 lbs 2 oz & 23 3/4 inches

Dear Miss Taylen....

You are getting bigger and more alert by the second!!! You are starting to babble and "coo" and always keep us smiling. Actually, you are really smiling a lot yourself and becoming quite a cheeser!!! Sleeping is going well for you...about a 6-7 hour stretch each night!! YAY! Trey & Tylee are still in love with you and are wonderful at showing it. Trey stops and give you a kiss each and EVERY time he passes by and Tylee Jean sings you at least 10 songs a day and tells you ALL about all the things she's going to teach you when you get bigger, including how to talk, brush your teeth, do puzzles, paint your nails, play in the bathtub, drink out of a sippy cup, color, tuck yourself into bed, etc... She's going to be the best teacher!! I know you can't wait ;) Your not tootin' as much, but your newest thing is to go a day or so without a poopy diaper and then have a major BLOWOUT to clear your system!!! Yesterday, I actually threw away an entire outfit and a blanket because the mess was soooooooo big. Needless to say, you went straight into the tub and got all cleaned up!! Hopefully this trend passes quickly :) Although, you could have 100 blowouts a day and I'd still love you to pieces!!! Happy 2nd Month Birthday, Peanut!!

Lots of Love, Snuggles, Hugs, and Kisses,

Mommy

What great tribute video footage....

of the 2011 Dylan Meier "Get Busy Livin'" Foundation Run/Walk....

Click Here to See the Video... or view below..... (be patient and let it load..it's worth the wait :)

As I was browsing facebook this afternoon, I ran across this YouTube video that Shadley shared on his page. It does waaaaaay more justice to this past weekend's 5K Fun Run/Friendship Walk down in Pittsburg, Kansas than my few candid photos on the last blog entry....my pictures featured mostly us and this video really shows you just how many supporters showed up that day to Get Busy Livin'....

The video also just happens to capture Shadley, Adam, and Kerry honoring their brother, along with Trey & Tylee enjoying the kids' fun race at the end. I'm really hoping I can find a way to save this YouTube video for Trey, Tylee, and Taylen to one day have to go along with all the wonderful stories, pictures, and articles I want to share with them about Dylan and his amazing way of living!! (So any input from all you "techies" out there would be greatly appreciated!!!) They had fun racing that day and eventually will be able to realize the entire reason we were there to show our support.....

Here's to the success of the foundation and for everyone to really GET BUSY LIVIN'......

#9, You TRULY will NEVER be FORGOTTEN

and your tremendous zest for life will continue to live on in all those that you touched! Just one look at the picture below and you can begin to see just how many people turned out for the Get Busy Livin' 5k & 1 Mile Friendship Walk. 

Whether people turned out for the run, a little walking, to volunteer, or just to show support, everyone was there to honor the beautiful life of my 1st cousin, who tragically passed away last year in a hiking accident. Although his life was cut entirely too short, Dylan did more livin' in his years than most people could do in a hundred years.

In Dylan's memory, the Get Busy Livin' foundation has been established by a few of his long-time friends. (Visit www.getbusylivin.org for more detailed information) And, we were lucky enough to be able to make the journey down to Pittsburg, Kansas this past weekend to participate in their first big fundraising event.

We (the hubs, Trey, Tylee, Taylen, and I) hit the road on Saturday morning about 3 AM, ready to face the 6 hour drive and arrive just in time for the race. The weather was ABSOLUTELY gorgeous and the atmosphere could not have been better.

Grandfather, Grandma Jean, Dad, Donna, Cory, Calie, and Haley all came down from St. Louis and met up with us to spend the day celebrating Dylan's Get Busy Livin' outlook on life. We changed into our shirts, lathered up in sunscreen, and headed to the high school stadium to get our walk on......

It was great to see everyone else who made the trip and we know those who weren't able to make were definitely there with us in spirit!! The kids had a blast and the rest of us spent the entire day reliving all of our favorite Dylan memories.....

Jason and the kiddos ready to hit the track....

Starting the 1 mile walk....hand in hand! LOVE it!!!

Ty walking with her Great Grandparents.....too cute!!

One of my faves!!!

This is where we ended up after the first lap...Trey had to go!!

Working on our second lap...Taylen even joined in the fun!!!

Trey & Grandfather getting the fruit ready for the runners' table....

Trey & Ty getting lined up for the Kids' Fun Run.....

Trey finishing the last leg of the Fun Run with Shad right by his side....

Ty hustling across the finish line...Way to Go!!!

Aunt Calie holding Taylen while the rest of the kids were running....so comfy!!

Taylen hanging out with her Great Grandma Jean and Great Grandfather for the first time...she was checking them out and loving what she was seeing!!!

What a fabulous day and, Dylan, we will continue to get out there and live life!! You are a true inspiration and I look forward to sharing all of your little "Dylan-isms" with my three little ones....We love and miss you!!!