Andy's Movie Making Experience

For Andy's 3rd grade class, he decided to make a video on Windows Movie Maker when he was the surfer (student) of the week. He and I decided to work together on this assignment...it was a lot of fun!! He picked all of the pictures, transitions, songs, and background and we worked together to configure the timing. It amazes me how quickly he learns!

Fall 2010

My baby boy is growing up way too fast. He's now in the 3rd grade and playing tackle football.

The time flies for everyone keeping super busy between work, school, and athletics as well as enjoying the family. We have spent a lot of time camping this summer all over the state of Michigan...especially along the coast of Lake Michigan. A lot of fun fmily times.

The fall has been gorgeous! All of the beautiful fall colors surrounding everything. We went to a park for a picnic a couple weeks ago and took advantage of the beautiful weather. The kids were having a lot of fun and began posing for pictures along the streams and bridges

Jessi is becoming a fun young lady! She's beginning to remind me of myself as a kid, but a little more girly than I remember being. She's a lot of fun!! She's in preschool this year and already writing her name. I can't believe in less than a year she'll be in Kindergarten!

Both of the kids are getting excited for Halloween. Andy's going to be a werewolf and Jessi is going to be a clown. I think they're both more excited about the school parties than getting candy...trust me we aren't complaining :)

Paul's still working full time as well as taking classes. I'm teaching technology and art to elementary students as well as algebra for the local Community College. We're very busy!! But enjoying every minute of it, especially when we're with the family. Holly is loving have a huge fenced yard to run in while we're at work. Andy's hoping to get her a playmate soon.

Hopefully I won't take so long to update the blog. Until next time, take care!

JCC Rose Run 5 Mile Relay

During this years Rose Run events, Andy teamed up with his Dad and Uncle Eric for the 5 mile relay event. Andy ran the 3rd leg for 1.5 miles to bring in the Gold winning relay team at an amazing split time of 10:30. He averaged a 7 minute mile at the age of 8, cutting of nearly 3 minutes from his last years split time. Man does he ever love running!!

A few weeks earlier Andy ran a 5K with other area schools and placed second in his age group with an amazing time of 27:25! About a little under a 9 minute mile pace. I'm pretty sure we're going to have a runner on our hands as he gets older.

2009 - 2010 School Year

Wow, this past school year flew by so fast. Andy and Jessi have kept us all very busy! Andy enjoyed playing football, basketball, Boy Scouts, and running this year.

Jessi on the other hand decided it was time to get involved in extracurricular activities, so she joined ballet! Who ever thought that my little girl would be a ballerina?! She sure makes a beautiful one!!

This summer we have a lot of camping trips planned all over the state of Michigan: Traverse City, Warren Dunes, Muskegon, Mackinac Island, and the UP! It's nice that Paul and I are both on the teacher schedule now, even though we're both teaching summer school. We'll be taking long weekends and a couple weeks during August for the majority of our adventures.



Andy will be starting 3rd grade next year and Jessi will be in Preschool! They're both growing up so fast and are a lot of fun.

Andy's First Day of 2nd Grade!

Andy started second grade this year and mommy finally got to put him on the bus! Andy and Jessi get on the bus at Jessi's daycare, so Jessi gets to see him off every morning.

5 Mile Relay

Andy did a lot of ruuning during the Mileage club at his school and was invited to participate in the Jackson County Rose Run. He wanted to do the 5 mile relay with his dad and me. Two runners ran 1.5 miles and the third ran 2. Andy ran 1.5 miles in about 13 minutes...yes, he is 7! He's an amazing runner. We ended up placing third.

It was Andy's first metal that he earned in an actual race. He's a natural runner. His goal is to be able to run a 5K by the end of the summer. We'll let you know how it comes out! Here are a few pics of Andy and us from the race.

Time for Fishing

Andy, Jessi, and I took up a new activity of fishing. My dad and I decided that my kids needed to learn how to fish. They both caught on quickly. We haven't tried the great lakes yet, but have been enjoying fishing at the near by lakes.

We have a lot of time to spend together with family and it's been a lot of fun. My nephews have gone fishing with a us a couple of times as well as my dad. It brings back so many childhood memories of when I was a kid. My dad and I used to fish a lot!

I currently am looking for employment and hoping to finally close on a house. We're trying to keep busy with the kids and side jobs for now. I swear looking for a job is a full time job! We know that everything will fall together like it always does, it's just not easy waiting. Sorry for not updating sooner. Now that I'm on summer break and have a little extra time, I can keep posting new pics and updates. Hope everyone's doing well. God Bless!