3 Parties Later, We have a 5 Year Old!

It took 3 parties to make it official, but Teague is now 5 years old! 4 feet tall now and I cannot believe how fast those 5 years went. It feels like yesterday that my water burst all over the treadmill (afterall I wasn't sure if it was real labor!) and 10 pounds later, there was my monkey. Teague, you've brought us nothing but pure enjoyment and happiness. You make us so proud. You love to love, to snuggle, to tell stories, play make believe, and you are so nurturing - you remind me so much of your dad. I love you to the moon and back, monkey!

Swimming Lessons

Teague had swimming lessons the end of June. He did FABULOUS! I knew he would love it as he loves the water. Some of the lesson was a bit elementary for him as he swims without a life jacket already and I knew he was really ready when the instructor jokingly asked them the first day if any of them wanted to jump off of the diving board (without life jackets) and he was the only one who very enthusiastically volunteered. He loved it!

No Training Wheels!

I knew he could do it without training wheels!! I knew it!! Teague learned to ride his bike without training wheels right before he turned 5. What a big boy! Unfortunately we don't have a lot of room (no sidewalks like in town) to practice, but we still worked at it whenever we can get to the trails and in our driveway.

Literally Enjoying the Fruits of Our Labor!

I have tried in vain to have a garden every year since we moved out to our house. Every year my plants grow about half their size and then stop growing and then the garden will become overgrown with weeds. This year I did a lot of reading and research and decided to try a raised garden bed in a new location in our yard. It is a small garden, since it was on trial basis, and it has worked beautifully! Next year I'll add another raised bed and I'm going to start a compost pile too. I start all my plants from seed as it give me a sense of accomplishment! I even got some help from Teague this year and he has loved helping me pick items from the garden.

My strawberry plants were still a little young this year so we got a few extra from our neighborhood strawberry patch.

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Espana y Portugal; June 3-12, 2012

I have finally recovered (for the most part!) from my 9 day adventure with my co-worker, Joy and 29 of the most awesome students from Melrose HS to Spain and Portugal. Everything was great, no flight delays, we didn't lose anyone!, we saw so many parts of Spain and Portugal, and it was a great time getting to know my students on a completely different level. We traveled to Madrid, Toledo, Avila and Salamanca Spain and then onto Porto, Combria, Fatima and Lisbon Portugal. For some students this was not only their first flight, but their first time ever leaving MN! What an experience for all of us. My co-worker, Joy, plans one of these trips for her students every year. I knew she was talented and organized before, but I have a whole new respect for all she does to make these trips so fabulous for our students now. I feel so grateful that I was asked to help her on this trip! Below are a FEW of the pictures from my trip.