Only 4 more days!

Well, as you might have gathered from my last post, this school year has gotten off to a rough start. However, things are starting to look up. My wonderful family came to my rescue a couple of weeks ago and it has made a world of difference. Most of my stress was coming from the fact that I felt like I wasn't able to get ahead with what I was wanting to do at school. So...mom, Jessica, Aunt Barbara and Valarie came down for a weekend and helped me work in my classroom! It was AWESOME! The weight that is off my shoulders since then is remarkable. We worked on Saturday from 9am to 6pm and then cut out some more laminating at my house later that evening. It was fun, but let me tell you how we knew our brains were friend toward the end of the day:
One of the things we were working on was making some winter type hands-on activities to go in my centers so my mom and Aunt Barbara were coloring and cutting out gingerbread men and gingerbread houses. Here is how the conversation went:
Mom: 'What color do you want your buttons Mr. Gingerbread Man?'
Silence
Mom: 'I can't hear you!'
Good times and yes, Aunt Barbara had her scissors packed in her purse. :)
There are still rough patches in every day, like today when we were walking down the hall on the way to lunch (always a disaster) and one kid tripped over another and before I knew it, four of them were on the ground. Dominoes! However, I have a bright moment everyday that reminds me why I do what I do. I think God gave me this year with these kids to remind me how much I need to lean on Him for strength and wisdom.
My most recent and consistent bright moment is one of my brand new little boys who came to me at the beginning of the year full of meltdowns and knowing the word 'fish'. That's it. Now I hear him say at least five new words every day and his smile will melt your heart. Sweet, sweet boy.
Well, time to go cook dinner and then off to volleyball. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Mercy!

I don't know what else to title this post. It is my most common word used this year at school. I have never experienced anything like the year I am having. In the past I thought people were crazy for getting burned out over their job, but now I understand where that is coming from. It is a combination of kid number one, data, three year olds, kid number two, data, ever-changing curriculum, kid number three who clawed kid number four in the neck today, data, 'oh, could you please change your room to look like this', kid number five, 'could you please switch _____ and ______ in their small groups for the millionth time', kid number six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve who have turned three within the last four months and are clueless, data, walking 18 three and four year olds down a forever long hallway to the playground, kid number thirteen who thinks its fun to flop on the ground 30-40 times a day in a four hour period while screaming, more data, 10 kids on the autism spectrum, one kid with Down's Syndrome, kid number forteen who likes to eat the rice in the sensory table, ARD meetings where no one listens to the teacher who works with the kid all day (after all what do I know), kid number fifteen who imitates EVERYTHING kid numbers one, two, and three say and/or do, data, kid number sixteen who likes to run away while looking back at you and smiling, data, kid number seventeen who will have an accident in his pants before he will just go to the bathroom if its not the next item on his schedule, did I mention data?, and finally kid number 18 who just started today after turning three last week.
Thanks for letting me vent! I'm sure none of that makes a bit of sense, but welcome to the world of my brain on a 24/7 basis. Too many kids and not enough hands is the moral of this story. I feel like I play 'Wack a Mole' everyday. I get one situated and then I turn around and another one is out of wack and on and on the day goes.
I keep thinking 'it will get better, its the beginning of the year'. Um...surprise! It's now November! I've resigned myself to the fact that this is going to be the norm for this school year! Thus, the title. I need it and the kids need it from me if we are all going to survive!
It used to be that my job was birth control. Now, I'm starting to think that if I get off birth control and have a child of my own life would be great! Only one to worry about, not 18! And... the only crazy parent to deal with is myself! :)
How many days until Thanksgiving break?

What a Day!

Well, I think life is about back to normal, I think. On Labor Day I completed my first Olympic distance triathlon and it was awesome!! I was able to race in honor of my former student, Ruth, and Matthew's brother, Samuel. It was such an honor and more of an emotional experience than I expected it to be. I knew I would get emotional when I crossed the finish line, and I did, but I got emotional several times throughout the race as well. It was so cool to have so many people out there cheering for me and our team. When I crossed the finish line it was the most amazing feeling to know all of the hard work I had put in both in training and fundraising had paid off. I had accomplished my goal in honoring those two sweet kiddos. They really were a source of inspiration. Any time throughout the process I felt like giving up I would remember why I was going through all of it and it was easy to keep going.

I am glad that it is over for now. I was ready for a break, but it is something that I will do again for sure. I would love to make it an annual way to honor those who've fought cancer. It is a great feeling to be a part of such a great cause.
I have to tell everyone that I have the most amazing husband and family. Jason has been to every single one of my races from start to finish. He gets up at 4:30am with me, helps me get ready, yells for me at many points in the race, and is always waiting for me at the finish line with a huge hug! My family was the only family that was there for the start of the race. They made me feel like an all star. Every time I saw them on the course it was a line of people behind their cameras, yelling for me while taking my picture. It was so much fun to have them there.



School is well underway and it is going okay. There are a lot of changes in my classroom and so I feel like I'm doing a lot of things for the first time and its hard. New schedule, new kids, new classroom arangement, new related service providers, etc. A lot to get used to. We are getting the hang of it and I know that it will be a good year.



Below are just a few pictures from race day. I will try and figure out a way to post them all (Matthew help!) because there are so many good ones. Maybe there is a way to do it on Facebook. I will do my best. I hope everyone is doing well. We are sure blessed here in Texas!

before the race











they found me in the water by standing on a bridge that I swam under and got some really cool shots!











me on the bike

the girls after the race

the transition area-yes my bike is in there somewhere. we had to drop our bikes off the day before the race. they had security all night long for this area.

Second Triathlon...Check

Well, I've now officially completed two triathlons and I'm definately hooked. Today I did one that was a 500m swim, a 14 mile bike and a 3 mile run. My personal goal was to finish in an hour and a half and I finished in one hour and 25 minutes, so I was pleased with that. I also improved on the pace of my run, from 8 minutes and something seconds per mile, to 7 minutes 17 seconds per mile.

A lot of the people I've been training with entered the race too, so it was fun to be on the course and see people that you knew that you could encourage and who also encouraged you.

The swim was less scary this time around and I did not run into a person swimming the back stroke this time. :)

Here are some pictures!

This is the 'alien' look for the swim before the race started!

Me coming out of the water. I am in the green shirt, not the sports bra just in case you can't tell!

Me almost to the finish line!

update on the triathlon

Sorry that last one was so long, but it was quite the experience!

This past weekend Jason and I held a bake sale at a nearby Sam's to help raise money for my race. We did really well and I met a lot of people with some amazing stories about how they had been affected by cancer. The two most powerful was the lady who was preparing to go to the funeral of her dad that coming Monday. He lost his fight with cancer. Then there was a sweet, sweet family who had their daughter with them. They told me that they lost their older daughter to leukemia when she was the age of the daughter they had with them. You hear stories like that and you don't even know what to say. It just made me really proud to be a part of such a great cause.

The funniest story of the day came from a cute little boy. Jason had made a poster that read 'Cookies for Cancer' and so that was one of the things we would say when people would approach our table. This family approached and they had a little boy that was about five years old. When they said they were interested in donating I walked them over to the table and asked the little boy if he would like to pick out a cookie. He looked at me with his big brown eyes like I was crazy! He said, 'you said those cookies were for cancer.' He would have nothing to do with the cookies even after I explained to him that the cookies didn't give him cancer. We were using the money to help people who were sick to be able to go to the doctor. He wasn't buying it! So cute!

I will end with this list after having three hours to watch the body language of people who knew you were asking for money:

Top 5 ways you know people are avoiding you:

-when the speed of their shopping cart accelerates dramatically as they go through the exit

-when they are suddenly in the midst of a very serious conversation on their cell phone

-when you hear them mumble to the person they are with 'just don't make eye contact'

-when you watch them head out the door in one direction and then see them cut back across the parking lot in the direction of where your booth is to where they REALLY parked their car

-when they suddenly can't get their sunglasses off the top of their head fast enough so they don't have to look at you!

After this experience I know that I will be a lot more respectful and appreciative of the effort of those organizations who choose to make money that way. It is hard work and definately puts you out of your comfort zone!

next...goose egg defeated!

The next big event of our summer was the camping trip with the whole family at Roaring River. I had so much fun catching up with people I hadn't seen in a long time! The only bad thing was how hot it was. It was not the chilly mornings where you need long sleeves that I remember from years past.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to represent the highlight of the trip, but I do have quite the story. Here goes...
We arrived on Thursday afternoon and Jason and I both bought tags and a fishing liscence to fish for the next two days. Well, on Friday the score ended Kristyn zero, fish six. Yes, that's right, I had six fish on my line at any given time and they ALL got off! Not a good day, but at least there was some action.
On Saturday, we all went out after breakfast and it was BORING! And for me, if I don't catch something within the first 30 minutes, I am bored! So I forced myself to last for two hours and then that was it for me. I went back to the camp ground and sat in the water with all the smart people.
Well, after two hours of freezing cold water, I decide I will ride my bike to the restroom and then over to the river to check and see how Jason and his dad are doing. I find them right when they are in the process of stringing up a fish. So, while they are working on that, I take the available fishing pole and just start fishing for the fun of it. Come to find out, they have caught all they are allowed to catch and are ready to go clean the fish and then head back to the camp site. I decide I will stay and fish for about 15 minutes while they clean their fish and then I will meet them at the fish cleaning site and we will all go back.
Well, don't you know that after they left me all by myself with only a fishing pole, I catch a fish. It was a little one and as soon as I hooked him my heart started pounding. This was it! My last chance to defeat the goose egg of no fish! My heart was pounding and I was talking to myself (although I don't think it was out loud). "Keep the rod tip up, be patient, nice and easy, don't rush it, let them play and get tired out". I get the fish to the land and I was so excited...and then I realized I had no way of getting this fish off the hook and home. Hmmm....quite the situation I've gotten myself into. "Oh! Don't panic! Just look up and down the bank for a nice looking man with a fishing vest on, he will know what to do." So I look up and down the bank and don't you know that there was not one fishing vest in sight! So, I start walking a bit and I finally find a man and ask him if he has any needlenose pliers. He does not. A lady overhears me and offers me her pliers that were not needlenose. The tip of these pliers were bigger than the fish's mouth. So...I did the only thing I could think to do. Stick my fingers down the fishes throat and try to get the hook out. No luck. Eventually after trying for quite a while the line breaks and the hook is lost in the fish. Well, that is over, but I still have a fish that is now dead because its been out of the water for too long and no way to get it home (most people have a stringer they put their fish on). Well, the cleaning area is not too far from where I am so I decide I will ride my bike to the cleaning area and ask another nice looking man if he will clean my fish for me (while all this is happening I have seen Jason's dad drive away in the truck, so I am thinking they left me and have gone back to the camp site). So I lip the fish in one hand, hold the pole in the other and climb on my bike. Since both of my hands are full I lean way forward and drive with my forearms....a bit wobbly to say the least. That was not a good plan because every time I hit a bump the fish's teeth really hurt my thumb. So while still moving on the bike I do a quick switch with the fish over to the hand holding the pole and am now holding the fish around his belly. And yes, in case you are wondering people are definately staring! I ride up to the cleaning area and just catch Jason and his dad as they are climbing in the truck ready to leave. I yell "Jason, wait! I caught a fish!" He looks at me on my bike holding a fishing pole and a fish and says 'so you did.' Then he laughs and cleans my fish for me while telling me how much he loves having a wife that will go through what I just did to catch a fish. Good times!

Catching up-4th of July

Hi everyone,

Wow! I am really behind! I need to go all the way back to the 4th of July. We spent the holiday in Alpine, TX with our good friends Katie and Philip. Alpine is Philip's hometown so we went back for some small town fun for the 4th. While there we ate a lot of good home town, hole-in-the-wall-type foods including the best lemonade I've ever had! We shot guns, yes even me. I shot a double barrel shot gun and almost hit the clay target flying through the air. I only tried once because it really hurts when it kicks against your shoulder. We also went on a really long hike and it actually took us longer to get down than it did to go up!

The area is beautiful! There are a lot of hills/mountains and the terrain is very dessert-like. We drove around Philip's ranch and got chased by some cows that were real mad that we didn't bring them any food!

We also of course watched fireworks and enjoyed a parade! On the way home we bought some peaches in a town called Fredricksburg and they were delicious!
We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

One view from the house we stayed in

The houe we stayed in

The four of us at the top of the mountain we climbed (yes, it was tall enough to not be a hill)

Blessings at work

God has been so faithful in keeping Jason super busy at work. Things are going really well for him. So well, that he has been doing work a lot in the evenings at home while we watch TV or I read or whatever. Tonight he was getting some extra help. It was so cute I just had to share. I felt like a mom when I said the words 'wait, I need to get my camera!' Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary

Jason and I celebrated our two year anniversary tonight! We went out to dinner at an italian restaurant near downtown that we've been wanting to try. I was very adventurous and had spaghetti. :) The food was very tasty. Then we walked around outside at a nearby park until it was time for us to head to The Melting Pot for our 9:00pm reservations for dessert. We had 'the original' which is milk chocolate swirled with crunchy peanut butter. Yum! Jason got me a sweet card, some beautiful pink roses, and a gift card to Starbucks. We didn't do big gifts this year because we just bought Jason some new irons for golf, golf lessons for both of us and me a new bike for the upcoming triathlon. So, we decided those things would be our gifts to each other. We had a great evening!

summer is flying by!

Hi everyone,

Well, I made it through the end of the year. It all went smoothly and I am glad to be finished. I won't go back to the building until July to do a little bit of work in my classroom and rearrange some things. Plus, my friend Katie is going to make me some new curtains, so I have to go and measure so we know how much material to buy.

I am in the midst of training for my next triathlon. I am competing in one on August 2nd and then the long one is on Labor Day. The training is going well and we are in the midst of trying to find me a bike. We have a couple of options, but one of them is on the internet and I'm kind of scared to buy something that expensive over the internet where I can't touch it and ride it.

I was gone all last week in Oklahoma visiting family and Jason had the house completely cleaned for me when I got home late Friday. He is the best!

My summer got off to a busy start and the trip to Oklahoma was a little scattered. We lost a treasured member of our family on June 15th. My grandma passed away peacefully with one of her daughters by her side. She lived a long life and passed along so much wisdom and knowledge to those of us who are following in her wake.

The minister at the funeral talked a lot about my grandma and mentioned a lot of memories both from her children and grandchildren. The minister mentioned one of his favorite memories of my grandma and it is from that memory that I think I've figured out where I got my passion for children. I didn't know that about my grandma and it made me feel a new connection to her even though she is not with us anymore. My grandma used to teach a Sunday school class at the church where this minister preached and she taught the class for years. At one point this minister decided that all of his teacher's needed a break and that he would give my grandma her break first because she had been such a faithful teacher for so long. When he went to her classroom to tell her he just knew he was going to get a pat on the back because he was about to make her so happy. So, he delivered the great news and was so surprised when he was greeted with silence and a quiet tear running down my grandma's cheek. When he asked her what was wrong she said 'Don't you want me to teach the kids anymore?' and he said 'Of course, we are just trying to give everyone a break.' She then told him that she didn't want a break, she was there to teach the children about Jesus. In the midst of that story, the minister used the word passion several times and it made me realize that my grandma and I share a passion for children and teaching with excellence. It made me so proud! We will miss her, but she will not be forgotten simply because she taught us all so much and it will always be passed down from generation to generation. I thought my mom put it so simply, but yet said it all when she wrote the following:

"Her strength came from the Lord, as her open Bible on the kitchen counter reminded us. her prayers were never ending.

Now we know how she raised eight kids without raising her voice.

If you were privileged to know Mom, you were blessed.

She was a living Bible."

Our friends from Nebraska left us sooner than we expected and they are missed. It is hard to have friends come and go, especially friends like these that you don't find everyday. I don't think its fully hit that they have moved, but we did drive by their old apartment complex today and it was sad to think that they weren't there anymore. So strange...this is the part of being an adult that is really hard. The pictures are of our group of friends at our last couple of dinners together. I am having to get better at Facebook so I can keep in touch a little better. The older I get the more I realize how precious friends are.

For A Good Cause

Hi everyone,
Only 2 more days of school left!! I cannot WAIT to be finished! On the last day of school we are wearing our pajamas and watching movies all day. What is the point?
Well, we have been a revolving door with all the guests we've had lately. We had Jason's mom in town two weekends ago, friends of ours last weekend and this weekend Jason's dad is coming. Its been really fun though.
We are also getting ready to have to say goodbye to some really great friends of ours. They are moving back to Nebraska and we are SO sad. On Saturday we are going to all go float the river together and tomorrow night we are going out to eat at a fun restaurant on Lake Travis.

Now for the purpose behind the title. Some of you know that I completed my first triathlon the weekend of mother's day. Well, I've started training for my next one which is on Labor Day and it involves fundraising for cancer research. My website explains more of the details and the 'why' behind my choice to do triathlons in this way.

I would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to check out my website and if you are able to give a donation to help me towards my goal, I would really appreciate it! I will keep you updated on my progress through this blog as well as on the website. Here it is:
http://pages.teamintraining.org/ctx/austntri09/kallisosrs

Thanks in advance for your help!

the beauty of friendship

I remember several years back when Jessica was moving into a new apartment. My mom and dad bragged about how fast and easy the moving experience was because she had so many friends from her small group that came and helped. I remember thinking at that time that I wished I had a group of friends that would do something like that for me.
Well, my wish came true. This past Tuesday our bible study group offered to come over to our house and help us out with some 'fixing up' things that we needed to get done.
To back up a little bit, Jason and I are about ready to put our house on the market. We are going to try and sell it so that we can move closer to where he works. Right now he is driving almost an hour one way because of the traffic, so the closer we can get the better. The location won't affect me as much because of how early I would have to leave to get to work on time along with the fact that I would be traveling the opposite direction of the heaviest traffic.
So...we had mentioned to our friends that we were going to try and get the house on the market as quickly as we could and we told them what the realtor had told us to do to get it ready to sell. They just offered to give up their evening to come and help. We have the best friends ever! They came over a little after six that evening and we got started by around seven. Before 10pm we had almost everything done on our list! It was awesome! We did touch up painting (which also involved completely repainting one whole wall because the color we touched up with ended up not being the right one), fixing the hole in our ceiling that had been there almost a year, handing curtains and curtain rods, updating 3 faucets, trimming a tree branch that had fallen down, replacing the hardware on our back door and decluttering every area that I wanted to get to except for two! We got SO much done! We had a yard sale today with the help of Jason's family and managed to get rid of some more junk. We are having new carpet installed on Monday and then we should be able to meet with the realtor again next week and go from there!

We have been SO busy lately! I actually had the triathlon post done a while ago, but when I went to upload the pictures my computer froze and I was so frustrated that I just went to bed! You know how I feel about technology and I had had enough!

School has been nuts! There is so much paperwork to do at the end of the year it is just crazy! We have 7 more days left and then its over! It has been a FABULOUS year, but it is time for it to be over! Jason has been busier at work than he's ever been which is such a blessing considering the economy. He actually has two houses that are being featured in two different Parade of Homes here in Austin. I hate to brag, but he is good at what he does.

I started training for my next triathlon this past Monday. The race is on September 17 and it is quite a bit longer than the last one. The swim is 800m, the bike is 20 miles and the run is a 10K. I have joined a training team that actually does fundraising for lukemia and other blood cancers. I joined this team because it will be a way for me to help fund research for a cure in honor of the student that I lost last year to lukemia. I will be setting up a website and sending out letters to collect donations in the next week or so. Each race has a set amount that is a minimum for you to collect and 75% of those funds go back to the society to help these families that are affected and to fund the research. The other 25% covers our race entry fees, our trainings, uniforms, etc. It seems like it will be a really neat thing to be a part of and I am looking forward to it!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. I plan to be in Oklahoma June 17-21, splitting my time between OKC and Tulsa. I hope to see a lot of you and look forward to catching up! Everyone take care!

Mission Accomplished

my transition area

about to cross the finish line

right after I got out of the water

Well, its not often that I set a New Year's Resolution and actually accomplish it, but I made it through the triathlon! It was really fun and I start training for my next one on Monday.

The drama started on Saturday when we went to pick up our race packets and the bike that I rented. Since it was a rookie triathlon, I expected the people there to offer a lot of information about what to expect and the rules, etc. Well, there was none of that and it really added to my anxiety about the whole thing. After we picked up our packets and were in the car I was reading the handbook and it said that we had to have our race numbers displayed on the front of our bodies when we begin the running part of the race. Well, I was planning on wearing the same thing throughout the race so I couldn't figure out what I was to do with my number because it was on paper and that wasn't going to make it through the water, but I didn't want to have to take the time to pin it to my shirt in the middle of the race. Oh the stress! So that led to some tears and the two of us getting back out of the car to go and see if we could find what the book called a 'race belt'. Well, we did and no thanks to the race coordinators outside the store, we figured out how it worked and all was well...until 4am on Sunday morning. At that point I was thinking the triathlon was a really bad idea. Not only was it early, but I was going to have to swim in the lake. I do not like to be in lakes, I do not like to not be able to see my feet, I do not like to put my face in the water, and I hadn't swam the freestyle since my last swimming lesson in elementary school. We practiced in a lake on Saturday and it was disgusting! We looked rediculous by the way. We go out in our swim gear complete with swim cap and goggles (Jason is doing this with me to see if there is any possible way he can make it through the race with no pain) and I don't last 10 minutes. There was seaweed attacking me and with the water being dirty it would be right in your face before you knew it!
Anyway, Sunday arrives and I am really nervous! Jason told me he had never seen me like that before and he felt bad because there was nothing he could do to make me feel better. He was great the whole day though. He was so patient with me and so proud of me when I finished. We got there at about 6:15am and the first thing I had to do was get 'body marked' where they write your race number on both of your arms and thighs and then they write your age on your calf. Then I put my race number on my bike and take all my stuff into the transition area. There were about 1000 participants in this particular race so there were bikes everywhere. I found my spot and set out all my stuff. Jason wasn't allowed to go in that area with me, so when I was finished setting up I took a picture and then showed him to make sure I wasn't forgettting anything. After that, we went and got my time chip that I wore around my ankle and then it was standing in line at the bathroom. I did a practice swim at around 7:30am, managed to get down some energy goo (it is disgusting) after that and then the race started at 8:00am sharp! They released you in flights by age so my flight was about five from the beginning. They count down from 10 for each flight and then a horn goes off and everyone takes off! The swim was really annoying. First of all the water smelled really bad. Second, people were in my way. At one point early on in the race I was just getting into a rythm when I bumped into something. When I popped my head up I was staring the face of another competitor. What's wrong with this picture? Hmm...she was just taking her dear sweet time and BACKSTROKING her way through the water. Now, I'm an awful swimmer, but I'm still competitive and I was annoyed. People were just in the way. I finally gave up and just ran over people. You can't see anything in that water and I was running out of energy. I was never so happy to get out of the water. Then on to the bike ride and the run. Out of 1000 participants I finished 259th and my time for all three events was 1 hour and 9 minutes. Not too bad for a rookie. I had a good time and I will definately do it again.

2 days and counting...

Well, the triathlon is almost here. When I stop and think about it, I get butterflies. I will be starting the race at 8:18am on Sunday morning. Sad news, I will be doing the race by myself. Jason got hurt on Sunday and has seperated the cartlidge from his ribs and is in a lot of pain. The doctor told him doing the triathlon would not be a wise idea. Bummer! So, he'll be there to cheer me on. One swim tonight, a run in the morning, a short bike and run on Saturday and that's it!
We had my parents visit two weekends ago and we had a great time! I am so blessed to have the parents I do. The guys played golf and my mom and I went shopping and got manicures and pedicures together. Then on Monday my mom and dad came to school with me and got to meet all my kids and see what I do every day. My dad left at lunch time to head further south to visit his dad and my mom stayed the entire day. My dad was in the housekeeping center being coaxed into pretending to eat a carrot and I believe the quote of the day was, "It's only 10:30am?" "It feels like the day should be over by now." I really enjoyed having them there to watch me do what I love to do because they played a huge part in me being where I am today.
School is keeping me VERY busy! I don't think it will stop until June 3rd when school is over! I had two new kids start over the past two weeks and they are wearing me out. I forget how clueless they are when they are just starting. I've been very spoiled by how 'trained' they all are. I don't know how I make it through the beginning of the year when they are all like that.
I'll let everyone know how the race goes. Pray for me! I'm sure I'll have some great stories about all the things I forget to do, but it is sure to be quite the experience. Have a great weekend!

Coming up for Air

Whew! It has been so busy here! Jason has been super busy at work which I'm trying not to complain about since he has a job, but it has been tough. I've been busy at school still transitioning quite a few of my kids to kindergarten and preparing things for new kids coming in. I have two new kids starting next week and three more meetings on kids that are turning three over the summer and will start with me next year. As of right now I already have 11 kids with special needs and 6 staff kids lined up for next year. Yikes! We've also been training for the triathlon which is less than a month away so that is taking up quite a bit of time as well.

This last weekend we enjoyed having Eric and Jessica come and visit for Easter. They arrived later on Thursday evening and left early Monday morning. We kept ourselves very busy while they were here and had a great time.
On Thursday evening we went straight to dinner at a wing place called Pluckers because they were starving after their flight had been delayed by 4 hours! Friday, we got up and lounged around in the morning (Jason had to work) then we drove an hour out to the house Jason is working on for the 2009 Austin Parade of Homes so they could see the project and then we ate lunch there. After lunch we went downtown and walked around sightseeing a little bit including going in the capital for a little while. Friday evening we went out to eat with all our bible study friends and then everyone came over to our place to play games.
Saturday we slept in, Jessica and I worked out and then we went to an area called the Domain (lots of little shops with crazy big price tags) and walked around and then that evening we went to watch the AAA baseball team play.
Sunday was church and an Easter brunch at a place called Stubb's. It was great food and they had a gospel choir singing while the buffet was being served. Nap time and then to the driving range inspired by the beautiful day and watching the Master's and out to eat again that evening and then off to the airport with Jason early Monday morning. It was a good time!
I am attempting my first field trip tomorrow. Pray for no rain! We are actually having a petting zoo come to our school so the kids can pet and feed lots of different animals. I am most excited to see the pig! Hopefully it goes well.
This weekend it will be more triathlon training, our school carnival, and meeting up with friends to go listen to Philip play and sing at Starbucks.
That's all I can think of for now. I am trying to use the computer before Jason gets home because we have to finish our taxes tonight! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, I know. :)

Yes, that is me dancing!

Last weekend we were in the wedding of two of our good friends from our small group. It was a fun day and they got me out on the dance floor for slow dances only.

We also went on our first bike ride on road bikes to train for the triathlon. It was really fun! I like riding a road bike a lot better! That went really well and we have rented them again for this weekend to get some more training in. Last night we went swimming for the first time. It was HARD! I really haven't swam the correct way (with your head down and breathing to the side) since swimming lessons and the breathing part freaked me out! I was so afraid of swallowing water. I could only make it 100 m before I had to stop. That's half of what we have to do for this race. There is some work left to do for that portion of the race. It is a good thing the swimming is first because it is really hard to get that swim cap on over all my hair. Val, do you have any suggestions?

I'm home from school for the second day in a row with pink eye again. Let's just say I've gone through a lot of Lysol spray and Clorox wipes. No fun! I have so much to do and most of it is on the computer at school. Oh well, such is life. It will get done some how.

So Good When It Hits Your Lips!

Hi everyone!

I have some catching up to do! We have been busy, busy! Last weekend (the beginning of my Spring Break) we went to Rolla, MO for Jason's alumni basketball tournament. We missed it last year because he didn't think they had it for lack of interest, so he wanted to make sure and go this year. We had a great time and his team won first place! We were able to see my entire family briefly as we spent the night with my parents on our way through on Thursday night and got to eat lunch Friday with mom, dad, Jess, and Matthew before heading the rest of the way to Rolla.
While in Rolla we saw Jason's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law and grandma. He also got to see a lot of old friends and enjoyed catching up with them after winning the championship at Applebee's.

On our way to Rolla, right before we got to the Rolla exit, up ahead I notice a funny looking car (I am driving at this point). I think it is the Oscar Myer car and Jason tells me to catch it! It wasn't the real one, but a mini and we definately rolled down the window to take pictures. The guy driving didn't even look at us! It was headed somewhere for St. Patrick's Day, but not to Rolla's parade.

Rolla always has a big parade on the weekend near St. Patrick's Day and we had to miss it this year because one of Jason's games was at the same time. They paint the streets green and the local hamburger place serves green soda and milkshakes.

Speaking of local hamburger place, the title of this post is the quote by Jason after he takes his first bite out of his Maid-Rite hamburger. It is his absoute favorite and it is always our first stop when we get in town (yes, even ahead of family). He decided to document his trip to his favorite restaurant, so enjoy the pictures.

We had a great trip and the twelve hours really wasn't that bad. My favorite part was stopping back by my parent's house on Sunday in time for my mom's Sunday roast dinner. There is nothing better in my book and it had been way too long since I had that meal! Enjoy the pictures!

put your feet on 1 and 3

So...in an effort to avoid skin cancer (Emily this is for you:) I recently experienced my first mystic tan and I thought I should share my experience with you. I did the mystic tan right before the gala last weekend and as a practice run for the wedding I am in later this month.

So I was very nervous about turning orange and having drip marks on me so I actually stopped by the tanning salon like a month ahead of when I wanted to do this to ask them all kinds of questions: do I have to exfoliate my skin before I tan, will I turn orange, how long does it last, how much does it cost, etc. I think they thought I was crazy because I just said thank you and then left.

Then the day came. I was very nervous! I didn't want Jason to have a carrot for a wife at this gala with the owner of his company. I showed up at the tanning salon and told them that I wanted to do the mystic tan. They asked me if I wanted the clear formula or the one with bronzer. I looked at the girl like a deer gazes into headlights I'm sure and said 'I have no idea, I've never done this before.' Then I asked her what she thought. This conversation continued for a few minutes and we finally decided on the clear formula. Just so you know the difference is that the one with the bronzer shows up right away and the other one takes 4-6 hours.

She then hands me a brochure about how the formula has not yet been tested so I should buy their lip protection (aka chapstick) and nose plugs (just use the cotton they supply). So, here I am trying to avoid cancer in the tanning bed and probably breathing in something worse.

Anyway, the next step is for me to watch a video about the mystic tan experience. It tells you how to work the machine, safety precautions, and what not. The worst part was having to watch it in the waiting area in front of everyone. Might was well put a sign on me that says 'Mystic Tan Rookie'.

I go back to the booth with the worker and she asks me if I have any other questions. I ask her again about turning orange and how I prevent drip marks from appearing on me. Then the process begins. There is a chart on the wall describing the before and after steps you are to take and I swear I read it about five times. I put the cotton in my nose which was not a fun experience. I was real worried I would stick it up there to far or forget it was there and breath in really deep and have cotton stuck in my nose. Just what I need! Then I put the cap on over my hair. The most important step was the blending cream. You are to apply this to your hands and feet including your fingernails and toenails and under your fingernails if they are really long. But DO NOT put this on the bottom of your feet.

Okay...so finally I am ready. I step in the machine and start the process. It walks you through the entire thing by talking to you. 'Put your feet on 1 and 3'. 'The spraying will start in 3...2...1'. And then you feel like you are in a car wash. The nozzle moves from your head to your toes and it is FREEZING!! During the spray I am trying not to breathe and I also have my eyes closed because they were out of clean goggles. So here is how this goes. 'Put your feet on 1 and 3'. 'The spraying will start in 3...2'...take a really deep breath, hold it and close your eyes...'1'. Open my eyes and breath. 'Turn to your right and put your feet on 2 and 4'. 'The spraying will start in 3...2'...take a really deep breath, hold it and close your eyes...'1'. You get the idea. This happens four times and by the end you do not enjoy the taste in your mouth and you have goosebumps from the freezing spray.

Once out of the booth you shut the door because of the fumes and begin undoing everything you spent so much time doing. You are supposed to wipe the blending cream off when you are finished. This is supposed to happen with baby wipes, but guess what! They were out of those too. So, I wiped off my hands and feet with a dry paper towel.

Get dressed and leave.

Go out to dinner with some friends for her birthday and then over to their house to play Nerts. I explain the whole process to her and she thinks its pretty cool that I am going to walk out of her house tan when I walked in white.

I keep looking at my watch as the night goes on and my skin is not getting any darker. I am starting to panic after 6 hours have gone by and the only thing turning orange is my palms. If you are planning on doing the mystic tan take your own baby wipes because dry paper towels do not work. So we laughed about my orange palms and about the fact that I must've gotten sprayed with water because nothing was happening.

I was grumpy when we got home because the tanning didn't seem to be working. Some things never change: broken bumper boats, broken bumper cars, broken go cart, clear tanning solution that stays clear. Stuff like this always happens to me.

The next morning the first words out of Jason's mouth are 'Hey, I think your tan worked!' To which I responded 'Shut up!' because I thought he was just being mean. But, it really had worked and everything turned out fine. I just tried not to show the palms of my hands while at the gala.

So if you decide to participate in mystic tanning and choose the clear formula, make sure you have way longer than they say for it to start working. Also, take your own baby wipes because dry paper towels don't work and your palms will turn orange.

And remember...listen to the machine and turn when it says to so that you don't look like Ross on Friends.

Have a great weekend!

Money, money, money!

Well, Jason and I had a great weekend! We spent Friday evening out to dinner with some friends to celebrate a birthday and then played Nerts for quite some time.

Then Saturday I spent the afternoon at the capitol helping a friend with her bridal portraits. I was amazed at how many people acted like they had never seen a bride before!

Saturday evening Jason and I went to a gala for one of the near by school districts. It was FANCY! We could not believe the money that was being spent. For example, a reserved parking space for a high school student for the entire school year was bought for $6000! Jason's response to that was that we would not be spending that much on our child's car, much less on where they park. :) There was also a pair of diamond earrings that went for $7500 and a two day hunting trip for African animals IN Texas for $11000! It was just crazy! We had a really good time living large for the evening and Jason looked so handsome!

Busy, busy!

Well, I'm happy to be posting again. It's been awhile. I was sick over Valentine's Day and the following week with some kind of viral bronchitis. It's a wonder that it wasn't worse considering I've had the flu, strep throat, and pnemonia going around in my classroom at school.

We had a good Valentine's Day in spite of me not feeling well. We went back to the place where Jason proposed in Georgetown and took some pictures (see attached). This area was flooded really bad not long after we moved here and it looks so different than it did when he proposed. We were going to have a picnic, but it was (surprise) too cold that day in Texas. So instead, we went to a local pizza place and had a heart shaped pizza. I meant to take a picture and I forgot until it was too late.

We've been studying 'The Case for Faith' by Lee Stroebel in our small group. It is a really good book if you want to start some good theological discussions. I am also reading 'The Shack' right now and I would recommend reading it along with 'The Case for Faith'. It was an accident for me to read them at the same time, but it has a lot of parallels.

School is going really well. It is really busy as I am in the middle of a lot of meetings so that my seven students that are eligible for kindergarten can transition successfully.

Jason and I are going to a gala on Saturday night with his boss. It is for the school district that the children of his boss attend and he purchased a table and wants us to come. It is very fancy, so we will have to spiffy up. They are supposed to have both a silent and live auction, several different bands, dinner, and then a fake casino. Here is something funny. Jason is the one out of the two of us who never plans ahead (I bet you never would have guessed that) and he thought he was going to have to buy a new suit for this occasion because the pants to the suit he has are too small. When he went to try on his suit, he realized that he thought ahead and bought the next size up in the pants...planning to gain some weight I guess. :) It made me laugh, but I was very thankful because it saved us quite a bit of money. I'll put pictures up next time I post.

March is going to be a busy month. We are ending February with the gala, the next weekend my friend and I are hosting a bridal shower for our friend who is getting married, the next weekend we are traveling to Rolla so Jason can play in his high school alumni basketball tournament, then my friends have their wedding and then it is the last week of March.

I will close this post by saying: only 12 more Fridays until school is out for the summer!!!!

Just an Update

Hi everyone,
Well, its been awhile since I've updated. However, I've managed to wear matching shoes everyday since the last time I wrote. :) Believe me, I double check every morning. Last weekend was a busy one. I went on a women's retreat with the church we've been visiting recently. It was great! We went to a small town nearby called Fredricksburg and stayed in a cute place there. I met a lot of great women and learned a lot. The topic was 'Conversations with Women' and looked at three different moments in the New Testament where Jesus has unique encounters with women. The verse that resonated with me the most was in the story of Mary and Martha in Martha's home. Jesus' words say, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her." I substitued "Martha, Martha" with "Kristyn, Kristyn" and it made me take a deep breath and relax a little bit. My A type-ness gets in the way of what is more important more often than I would like to admit. It was a good lesson spoken in love by our teacher.
On Sunday we had our small group friends over for the Super Bowl and had a great time. We were all actually cheering for the same team, which is a rare occurance. Jason made a Super Bowl questionaire and the winner received a gift card. We didn't win our own game. :)
School is super busy right now and I am already feeling the pressure and stress of the end of the year. I have seven kiddos who can potentially move on to kindergarten which means a lot of meetings with parents, paperwork and tough decisions as to who is ready for kindergarten and who is not. After that there are more meetings and more paperwork and somewhere in the midst of all of that I am supposed to love my kids and teach them something. Thank goodness I have such awesome help in my classroom or I would never make it. I had a tough meeting on Tuesday morning where I had to be the one to tell a mom that her little boy was mentally retarded and would more than likely never be on the same level as his twin sister who started kindergarten this year. That was really hard. We both cried.
On a better note, I think we have decided to switch churches. We started visiting Fellowship Bible Church a while ago when our good friend, Philip started leading worship there to fill in for their previous worship leader. We really liked it and Philip just got offered the full time position as their worship leader. The church is about 6 years old and is supposed to break ground on their new building in June.
One more day until the weekend. It is supposed to be really nice here, so I think Jason and I are going to try and play golf, which we haven't done in a long time. I will let you know how that goes. It could be ugly. :)
Everyone have a great weekend!

Why I love my job...

Loving the people you work with...priceless

Watching your students make progress...priceless

Receiving compliments from your boss...priceless

Learning to laugh at yourself...priceless

Wearing two different colors of boots (brown and black) to work and not realizing it until 2:00pm in the afternoon...HILLARIOUS!!!

Yes, it really happened! It my defense, it is hard to tell!

New Year's Resolution Underway

Hi everyone,
Well, the big news for this week is an update on our New Year's Resolution. For those of you who didn't know, Jason and I want to do a triathlon this year. So...yesterday we registered for our first one on May 10th. This first one is called the Rookie Triathlon, so it is shorter, designed for either beginners or pros using it as a warm up for their season. We will swim 300m, bike 12 miles and run 2 miles. If all goes well, we will then race in one in August and then the big Austin Triathlon over Labor Day. The last two races are longer, swimming 700m, biking ____ miles and running a 5k. All are Sprint Triathlons which are shorter than Olympic Triathlons. We found a place for me to rent a road bike for the first race to make sure I like it and then there are several options for gear after that.
Jason and I went on a bike ride this afternoon, as it is 72 degrees here. It is really nice to have so many options of active things to do here in Austin.
School is going really well. I have a new student starting Tuesday when we get back. That will give me 12 kiddos with special needs and five typically developing kiddos for a total of 17. This is my first new kid to get this year. Last year at this time I already had about 5. I love my job and those I work with. My story for the week is about a little boy that I suspect is on the autism spectrum. He does talk, but a majority of his talking is 'TV talk' which means that he hears a word in his environment around him that triggers a memory of something he has seen on TV and that starts him reciting the show from beginning to end with little hope of anyone stopping that until he is at the end. So...it is hard to engage him at all in any kind of conversation. We really only get words to us when we give him a choice between two objects and he tells us what he wants. So, the other day I was playing with him and I started reciting 'Hickory Dickory Dock' occasionally stopping to see if he would fill in the blank. He did, so I kept going. Eventually I ended up singing songs to him and stopping to see what he would do. Not only did he fill in the blank, but he sang the word instead of just saying it. He would even sing several words in a row with me occasionally. We did this for about three songs worth. At one point, I just started laughing because my only other choice was to cry. He looked right at me, wrinkled his nose, and started laughing with me. It was a precious moment and a reminder of why I do what I do; for little moments of breakthrough like that.
We have been visiting a new church lately. It is called Fellowship Bible Church. We started going there because one of our good friends from small group started doing some substitue worship leading there. Well, it looks like he may get a full time job offer and even if he doesn't, we really like the church and are considering making it our home. We will keep you posted. We have prayed and prayed about church because we never really felt settled at our current church. It is currently meeting in a movie theater, but have building plans and are supposed to break ground in June of this year. I think it will be exciting to be in on the ground level of opening a church. We wanted so badly for Life Church to come our way, but maybe this is God's answer to our church prayers. We'll see.
Jason continues to stay busy at work and is currently in the process of landing some pretty big jobs. We are feeling extremely blessed considering the current state of the economy. God is good! Have a good week everyone!

Made it through the week!

Well, I don't know who had the bright idea of a full week back after Christmas break, but they obviously have never taught in a classroom or they would never wish that on anyone. :) The first four days were like a dream, but then reality hit on Friday. They lost their minds!!! Thank goodness next week is a four day week. That will help. Students and teachers alike were suffering from a lack of sleep and it was manifesting itself in ugly ways!
The week was fine really. It was good to be back in a routine. We started back to our small group on Wednesday and had fun seeing everyone again and catching up.
Now for OU...
How many times are they going to get to a big bowl game and choke? Especially the National Championship!!! I was not impressed and thought they deserved to lose if they were going to play like that. Each team had almost identical penalties and turnovers, but Florida managed to get in the endzone instead of getting on the one yard line twice and just admiring how nice it looked from the outside. Pitiful! I wanted to wear my OU shirt to school on Friday, but that didn't happen. I do like Tebo though. What a great example for Christianity.
Tonight we are going to listen to our friend Philip play a gig at a coffee shop and then we are going to go play shuffle board, darts, pool, etc. with the whole gang afterwards. Church tomorrow and then back to the grind on Monday!

New Beginnings

Well, I've decided to try and overcome my extreme dislike for technology and make this a new way to keep everyone up to date on what is going on in Austin. We had a very busy 2008 with lots of travel and time with new friends. We enjoyed spending time with everyone for Christmas and are looking forward to 2009. Our first days in 2009 consisted of quite a few hours in our garage. I have no before pictures because it was too embarassing, but lets just say that you couldn't walk through it without tripping on something. We've made some good progress, but still have a ways to go. We need to have a yard sale and then the garbage man will have his work cut out for him on Tuesday. :)