Picture catch-up!

Ok, people...Kodak is finally working for me. So, are you ready for a ton of random pictures to get you caught up??? Be patient with me :)

The girls, babies, and me at our last playdate. Emily and Donovan, me and Gavin, Lindsay and Carson, Megan and Lexi. I'm going to miss those playdates!

Taking a break from packing...Tori and Zoe were down to help me pack before we left, and we took and break to let the kiddos swim. Of course, Shirley didn't think that was very fair. It was her pool, afterall!

Trying his first McDonald's cheeseburger on our way to New York. He loved it!

Searching for rocks at the rest stop on our way to New York.

Mommy and Gavin at Taste of Rochester
Deep Fried Oreos - AMAZING!!!!

Daddy, Gavin and Shirley at Watkins Glen State Park
Mommy and Gavin at the state park
"What are you thinking, Mom? I'm too young to feed myself!!!" (as he rubbed yogurt all over his eyes...)

Watkins Glen

We ventured out for the day on our first New York road trip. Jarrod had the day off, so we loaded Gavin and Shirley in the car and headed to Watkins Glen. The drive down Seneca Lake was gorgeous. It's such a beautiful area, that's for sure. I can't wait to show it off to the family next month. Watkins Glen State Park was amazing...but we are obviously NY State Parks rookies. The trails weren't all dog-friendly, and they weren't labeled well so we didn't know where Shirley was allowed and where she wasn't. And the trails were definitely not stroller friendly. Carrying Gavin up those steep hills and stairs was not fun. So, about 20 minutes later, we were leaving. :) But, the family time was worth it. Now we're prepared for next time!

I haven't uploaded the pictures yet. That's on my list for tomorrow! But here's one from the Internet that I found. So beautiful!!!

Back to civilization!

We have internet again!!! :) Slowly but surely, we're getting settled and making New York home. Here's the low-down on the move. The movers came last Friday, loaded the truck in an hour and a half (WOW!) and then took off. Jarrod and I cleaned the house, went to Mitch's to take showers, and then got on the road ourselves. Gavin and Shirley did great on the ride. We made a stop at a rest stop and another at McDonald's, and got to NY in 8 hours. The moving truck came on Sunday, but since our first floor apartment wasn't ready, we unloaded everything into the garage.

On Tuesday, our place was ready, so thanks to Dan and John, Jarrod was able to get all our furniture into our first floor place. It is SO nice to not have to worry about the stairs! We're slowly unpacking boxes and finally went grocery shopping last night. No more eating our for every meal! :) I don't have pictures to post yet, but I promise as soon as things settle a little more, I'll resume our Wordless Wednesday and Flashback Friday posts and add pictures of our new place.

I don't want to post it for the world to see, so if you want our new address, just email me! ~mrspate22@yahoo.com~

Well, back to unpacking and trying to find a vacation spot for next month when the family comes to see us before Gavin wakes up from his nap. It's been a half hour...he should be up any minute! :)

Love you all!

Great friends are hard to find

...but I always seem to find them! I remember leaving Toledo thinking, "I'll never meet friends as great as Angie, Heidi, and Lauren." I love those girls so much and I still look forward to any chance we can all get together. But I must say, I feel so lucky to have met so many more great friends here in Dayton, especially Lindsay, Sara, and Tori. They have been more than supportive since Jarrod's been gone, and I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be a single mom without them! Here are some pictures from the going away party that we had at Marion's for Tracy and me. Tracy is also leaving Shaw and moving to a new place with her family.

With Laura

Sara, Tori and me
Me and Sara

Lynne, Kristen and me

Lindsay, Tori and me with the babies

Gavin, Carson, and Zoe

These are pictures from my last day as a Shaw School employee. Our teacher work day was Monday, and I took lots of pictures of the girls and me, and the phenomenal people I work with. I'm going to miss them all, but I am so excited to start the new chapter in my life with my family back together again!

Tori, Sara, me and Lindsay with the Sebastian the Shaw Tiger :)
My new favorite picture...Love you girls!

With Theresa - where would I be without her wisdom and words of encouragement? I appreciate everything you've said and done, Theresa. Thank you!!!

The Jens ~ looking much skinnier than the last time we had a picture taken together. I'll always remember our pregnant walks, Jen. Thanks for being a great friend and for being such a support during our pregnancies and motherhood. Give Andrew a hug for me!

Lynne - where would I be without this woman??? She saved me so many times, through maternity leave to my stint as a single mom. What a wonderful friend and teacher! You need to hire her, Beavercreek City Schools! You don't know what you're missing out on! :)

Of course, the Shaw family and I are going to stay in touch! I'll be sending them updates and links to the blog frequently, and I'm sure I'll be by to visit on trips home. It was quite strange turning in my key Monday and leaving for the very last time as a Shaw 1st grade teacher...but guess what? I'm a STAY AT HOME MOM! I get to enjoy every last minute with my little bug! I can't wait!!!

Bittersweet

School is out. I'm so glad the make-up days are finally complete. The year seemed to last forever. But, no matter how excited I am to stay at home with Gavin and be back with Jarrod again, I'm going to miss Shaw. I'm going to miss my fellow teachers and fabulous friends. I'm going to miss the kids. My morning Jesse-hugs. The funny things they say... "You don't even know what the Jitterbug is!" "Yes I do...it's a cell phone!" (Think about it... jitterbug... jitterbug...) Deciphering their stories, especially when their version of a word makes the story take a whole new meaning! Having second graders come back to give me hugs and ask how Gavin is. Oh...there are so many more memories. I could go on forever. Jeffrey crying his eyes out on the very first day of my first year of teaching because they didn't have pizza for lunch. Giuseppe's vocabulary. Edward's jokes and his collection of 'nuts.' Hayden coming into the room, announcing for everyone to hear, "I'm going to stink today!" Jayashree wishing me a "Happy ______ Day" ... she had something for nearly everyday. Surviving Praxis with Sara. Pregnant walks with Jen. Baby stories with Martha, Lindsay, Tori, Jen, Kelly, Brian, Nick, Megan, Jill...crazy, huh? Sharing tears with Pat. Listening to Susan sing in the hallways. Recher's hats. P.E. with my kids and Mrs. Knopp. Telling Pat I was engaged and watching her nearly fall down. Pies in the face with Nick. Mentoring Tori. Barb playing games at the staff party :) It was such an emotional day. And we still have our teacher work day! I'm looking forward to my future, but I'll always remember my past. I love you, Shaw. Thanks for 5 amazing years!

Wordless Wednesday and Flashback Friday

...are taking a hiatus! :) There is so much going on right now, and as much as I love sharing pictures with you all, it's just going to have to wait. Friday is the last day of school. Jarrod flies home Wednesday (a week from today) and the movers come a week from Friday. Once we get to NY, we'll probably be without internet for a couple weeks. Once we're all settled and the internet gets rolling, I promise lots of pictures and lots of updates. I will be a stay at home mom, afterall! :) Tons of time on my hands, right??? :) But...one cute picture to hold you over! Gavin's favorite thing right now is to take everything out of any basket or container he can find and climb into...and that includes Shirley's water bowl! Didn't get a picture of that one because it didn't seem too safe to leave him balancing in the water bowl (which are on a stand at least a foot high) on the tile floor of the bathroom.)

Helping out

Mom and Rosi came up with the kids for the weekend. We were planning to get some things done with packing and getting the spare room painted, and we were having a garage sale to try and sell all the stuff I didn't want to move.
Friday night we went out for pizza, and when we left the restaurant, we could see smoke in the air south of us. As we got closer to home, we realized that apartments in West Carrollton were on fire, just about 5 minutes from our home. We could see flames shooting into the sky. From what we heard on the news, 6 families lost everything.
Saturday was a gorgeous day and our sale went really well. We sold all of the big items I wanted to get rid of except for the mattress. It really was a relief to know I had that checked off my list. But, it felt even better when we boxed up all the extra clothes and took them to the Centerville Park Apartments for the fire victims. Between my clothes and mom's things she'd brought up for the sale, we donated 6 boxes and 3 garbage bags full of clothes. They're out of our garage, and into the homes of people who lost everything!

Of course I'd get sick...

There's so much to do...so of course I'd get sick. I'm trying to pack up the house, pack up my classroom, get things ready for the moving sale tomorrow, and do report cards, so why not throw strep throat into the mix! Ugh! What timing...

But, on a positive note, my mom and aunt are on their way up to spend the weekend. They're going to be here to help out with the moving sale tomorrow and to help my pack some things. Mom is going to paint the spare bedroom for me and hopefully we'll get a lot done.

Wordless Wednesday

End-of-the-year Staff Party

Gavin and went to the end of the year staff party last Friday. It was a beautiful night and we were at Tori's beautiful home. What more could we ask for? I took my camera with all intentions of taking lots of pictures of my Shaw friends, but didn't take it out of my bag until I was loading the car up to leave! Duh! We had a great time, eating great food, and hanging out and talking. Sara, Tori, Laura and I played cornhole in the rain...so fun! I'm going to miss everyone from Shaw so much. What great people to work with, and great friends to have!

In the car on the way over...don't you just love the hat???

Sara, Tori, Gavin and me just before leaving for the night

Random cuteness

I LOVE taking Gavin's picture! I swear he poses for pictures now because he's so used to the camera being in his face. So, here are just some of the recent pics I've taken!

I let him loose with yogurt and a spoon to see what he'd do and he actually did pretty well feeding himself! Made quite a mess, but got some in his mouth!

Cute little teeth shining through! This was a few days after falling off the bed, hence the nose...
Eating, and LOVING, a meatball! Yay!

We spend a lot of time outside now. He loves crawling everywhere, especially on the concrete. Poor little guy is going to have sore knees!

Getting tired! And I have no idea where that scratch came from...
Such a sweet boy!

And, yes...he's going to hate me someday!