My New Obsession….

SUPER OLD, VINTAGE CLOTH CHILDREN'S BOOKS!!!!

I would love help finding some of these gems!!!  If anyone has any that you no longer want or knows of a place that I could find some, please let me know!!!!
Until today, when my friend showed me her mother’s from when she was a child, I had NO CLUE they even made cloth books!!   I don’t know if it was the creases and cracks in the pictures, the frayed edges or the stitched spine but I IMMEDIATELY fell in love!!! What a treasure, especially when headed down from your family!!!

Pickin up where we left off….

Ok so, you saw Justin’s bday gift from myself and lil girl!

Now, I need to show you a few of the kiddos from one of the classes I’m helping with…

Some of the boys!

Franklin Kiddos! ....not quite the same ring as Kemp Kiddos...but they're precious anyway!!

Some more lil precious ones!

Adorable!

Last but not least, two more lil guys!

Those are just some of the kiddos I work with M-F.   Adorable. Smart. Funny. Sweet.  LOVE ‘EM!!!

Moving on….

Last weekend, Justin and I went on a canoeing trip that another couple in his flight had set up for who ever wanted to join.  We set off for ALABAMA (yes, we drove 2 hours to canoe a river when we have several right here in Columbus, but whatev!) thinking it would be about a 3 hour trip down the river- BOY WERE WE WRONG!!!

still thinking we only have 3 hours ahead of us!

The Whole Crew!

Climbed this big ole rock for a pic! =)

SIX HOURS LATER- we finally reached our stop….I’ve never been so relieved in my entire life!!! Fun lil trip but VERY, VERY long!!!

Next up, baby girls cutest new outfit…

"Killer"- Dollar Bin @ Target!! haha! Our new neighbor calls her Killer, so it seemed pretty perfect!

This past Friday was Justin’s flight’s solo party!  This is where they get their “call signs” and basically just celebrate the fact that they’ve all soloed.  Think: food, beer, roasting each other for stupid things and more beer- That was my Friday night! haha.

It really was a good time.  We had a lot of fun hearing all of the stories of mistakes the guys have made or dumb things they’ve said.  Justin’s call sign got “tabled” bc they couldn’t come up with one they all agreed on.  Who knows when they’ll figure it out?!?!

Love <3

Some of the guys!!

Just hanging out

Lil midnight snack- straight out of the pan!! Oh how I love you husband!

You are now OFFICIAL caught up!! YAY! =)

I’ll leave you guys with a few things on my wish list for my imaginary classroom!

Fabulous rug-Love it!!

Dry Erase Lap Boards

Amber's teacher sign! Soooo stinkin' cute!

And some giant rubber/foam dice, that I can’t seem to find again….do you still have that website Mom??

Such a beautiful day!!!

Today was an unseasonably cool mid-80s so we took full advantage of it!!

Loaded up the pooch, grabbed a couple sno-cones, and headed out to the baseball fields to let Paisley run wild- and that’s exactly what she did- for about 5 minutes and then it turned into a quick walk.

On our way to the park!!

So ready to run!!!

She's one quick lil girl!!!

Justin made her sit and stay on the pitcher's mound while he walked away!

But then she'd had enough of that!

Daddy caved and gave her a belly rub anyway!

A (blurry) action shot! =)

Taking a rest break on top of the dirt mound!

Ok, so enough of our trip to the fields…I need to catch you up on the past couple of weeks via pictures!

Justin's b-day present from his two fav girls!

Actually, it was just a place holder.  I bought a cheapy $1 water gun from Wal-Mart, spray painted it black and put a fake price tag on it- which you don’t see in the picture because he decided to turn on me one evening and come after me with a fully loaded water gun.  Tag got wet so I ripped it off.

His new toy! Smith&Wesson M&P 40

Trying desperately to be right-eye dominate....didn't work out!

**OK….as well as I was doing getting you guys caught up- The Hubs is pleading with me to not upload any more pics…for some reason, it delays our internet and therefore interrupts his Halo connection- HEAVEN FORBID!!! Oh, well I’ve got laundry to do and he’ll be studying tomorrow…I’ll finish catching you up then! Night all!

Another lazy post…

I actually have several pics to update with, but that would require walking downstairs and to my car- in the rain!

So sorry faithful readers, you’ll just have to wait! =)

But for now, I have a video on YouTube for you to watch that I should have shared with you guys a while ago.  My principal played this video at our Teacher In-Service.  Not only was it incredibly inspiring, it also made me so proud to be a Texan!! Way to go Dallas ISD for producing such an articulate and powerful lil speaker.  At 10 years old, this child is challenging the philosophies and goals of countless educators around the nation!!

Enjoy…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwjZe8u0-E

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while…

I’ll get around to updating pics in the next couple days….

for now, check out this video i found on a friend’s facebook page (Thanks Desiree!).  The guy’s name is Taylor Mali, he’s a slam poet and this is his answer to “What do teachers make?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU <~~click there and enjoy!

Our Masterpiece is complete! =)

Drum roll pleasee………….

TA-DA!!!!

Just a few sidenotes:

*Justin drew everything- and did so wonderfully, right?!

*I wrote the words…only after several minutes of serious anxiety and asking Justin to pretty please give me “notebook lines” to follow! He did!

*If you look cloesly you can tell my head is actually shorter than Justin’s (as in real life) BUT the artist purposely made sure my crown made me taller than he and his crown!! haha! I love it

* Even with stick figures, it took us close to 5 hours to complete this masterpiece!!

*We wanted to add Paisley but weren’t sure how we could accurately depict her- I mean, that is a LOT of hair to put in such a small space! Didn’t want it looking like a blob in the end!

I’m so over it!!

Justin still has not soloed!!!!!!!!! So, I’ve decided that I am going to quit building up the supposed date/time and just announce it once its DONE!!

On a far more exciting note,  I have recieved two packages this week!! Any one who knows me well, knows that I LOVE getting mail, especially packages!!!!

The first was from the Cranes- When we went to see them in April, Ashley made this phenomenal jalapeno ranch dip- I feel in love!!!  Well,  lo and behold, on Monday we received some from our lovely friends!! Thank you so much, Ashley!! You are so incredibly thoughtful =) Loveyou/Missyou!!

The second package just arrived this morning!!!  It was from my Dad who recently returned from a 10 day stay in Europe!! Super jealous!!!

While he and Petra were in Paris they visited, what might very well be, the largest Louis Vuitton store in the world!!!

4 stories of fabulousness!!!

And because they know me so well, they felt it would be a sin to visit such a store and not return with something in hand for yours truly!!  I know, I know….I’m super spoiled lucky!!!

That a girl!!

Sorry Paisley, those are for Mommy, you stick to your pink and black squeaky purse! Ok?! Thanks ma’am!

So, so happy!!

This one has already ventured out to lunch with me and received a few compliments!!  It’s the mini version of the Speedy bag that I got in Canada with Dad a few years back!!!

Alright well that’s all I have for you folks.  No Solo. Jalapeno Ranch Dip (be jealous!).  Teeny Tiny Louis Vuitton purses.

I’d say that’s a pretty nice, random post! =) You’re welcome.

Justin is soloing on Tuesday!

or at least, that’s what they are saying today!!!  You fly with the same IP (instructor pilot) 3 times in a row and then you get a new IP for another 3 flights and so on.  Well the IP he happens to have right now is either in the Guard or Reserves (I can’t remember which) and took a day of leave today, pushing his solo back to Tuesday!

I have my camera charged and ready to go, though!!  It’s going to be so cool to get to see him make this step!!  Such a big day for him =)

I told him, my only worry is if they can gather enough guys to help throw him in the tank!! At 6′3″ 220lbs, he is slightly larger than your average guy training to be a pilot!!!

Anyway, onto the events of this past weekend!!  Last week was an extremely long week- the guys were on late week meaning, they didn’t go in until 10:30am or so (YAY!!) but they also didn’t get home until 10:30 or 11:00 PM (BOO!!).  The later days made an already 12-hour long day, longer!

At one point in the week, Justin said “Let’s do something special this weekend!” and as I’m sure you can imagine my ears perked up and he had my attention!! “What do you mean something special?”, I ask.   “Well, not play Halo, for one” he responded……..WHOA! LET’S PAUSE RIGHT THERE!!! For those of you who know my husband at all, you know that he is an Xbox/PS3/FlightSim/any gaming system in the world, FANATIC!! So people, this is a big deal…no, no, no- HUGE DEAL!!!

Have I ever told you guys, I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!!! No doubt about it!

We did in fact have a special weekend with almost no Halo (I can’t fault him for sneaking in a quick game while I was getting ready!!).  I asked him to take me to Dandy Doodlez in Starkville, MS were we created a masterpiece!!  We were there for 4 or 5 hours and had a blast!!!  We’ll go back this next weekend to pick up our masterpiece so for now I’ll just give you a lil teaser…

Stay tuned for the full reveal sometime next weekend!

Afterwards, he took me to get some Hot-n-Ready pizza from Little Caesars!! YUMMMMMMMM, I’ve missed it so much!!

Later that evening we went to Restaurant Tyler (back to Starkville) with some friends and then hung out afterward at a bar above the restaurant.  Very nice evening to sit out on the patio!!!

LOVEEEE this pic!! Thanks Mykel!

Ok, well I pics of us with some friends as well but wordpress sucks and is not uploading them right now!! I’ll try again later!!

Lastly, I have a small lil DIY (Do-it-yourself) project to share with you guys!!  Early Saturday morning, Amber and I headed to the base for a base-wide yard sale.  It was in a parking lot and over 35 people had signed up to sell their stuff.  We figured out of that many families, there had to be something we would like!!  Well sure enough, we were right.  I find a few children’s books- hard back for $0.50, sorry but you can’t pass that up!  A “Complete Guide to Fighters & Bombers” book for the hubs- $1 and then this lil gem….

What do you think?

Please excuse the photo quality, it’s from my cell phone!  Anyway, this is a 27″x32″ beveled-edge framed mirror!  When I first saw it I thought “great mirror, good size, cute frame, HIDEOUS color!”  But as I’ve learned from a few blogs I’ve been reading, a lil sanding & some spray paint can go a longggggg way!!

So, I asked the guy how much it was and he said “well what would u pay for it?” haha!! I dunno?!?!  Which is exactly what I told him.  He offered me $10 and I snatched it up!!

While Justin studied on Sunday, I decided to work on my mirror.  From start to finish it probably took me about an hour.  Granted, it wasn’a huge project but I think the transformation is pretty stinkin’ good…..

VOILA!! Instant shabby chic!

Again, it’s just a color change but for me it completely changes the mirror!! It takes it from 1970s gold w/ brown glaze to shabby chic!!   I can, now, see this sitting at a Marshalls or TJMaxx for about 39.99 or maybe even 49.99!! For me it was $10 + $2.97 for spray paint!!! YAY $13 mirror!!!

And lastly, a close up on the detail of the frame…

Paisley lovessss sitting in front of it!

I think I’ve decide it’s going to be hung on the big empty wall in our bathroom but I’ll have to have Justin’s help hanging it so that’ll probably wait until the weekend!!  I would do it on my own but it is SOOOOO heavy that it will have to have wall anchors and those make me nervous! haha!

Have a great week everyone!

Happy 3rd Birthday Maverick and

Happy 3 year anniversary to Justin on his original solo!!

These two guys each had a very memorable day, in it’s on special way, on July 25, 2006….

One started a fabulous life in the George family

One month old!

Sweet lil baby Mav!!

and the other flew solo for the first time ever!!!

Safely back on the ground!

Ethan, his instructor, "cutting his tail feathers off"

Flying has kept him on cloud nine ever since!

Coincidentally, Justin is set up to, most likely, solo on Monday- 3 years and a day after he soloed for his private pilots license.  However, this time it won’t be in a Cessna 182, it’ll be a military aircraft, the T-6 Texan II and when he returns he won’t stay as dry as he did in the above photos!

More pics to come asap!

quick post!

while J gets a lil more studying in before bedtime!!

this evening was the T-6 Spouses Orientation….I swear I’ve been to 800 “spouses orientations” where you receive the same packet of info about “where to eat” and “where to get your haircut”….ummm, hello??! i’ve been here since November!! that info would have been more helpful, oh say, 6-7 months ago!!

but, thankfully, this one proved to be more informative!! rather than harping on and on about Columbus not being “all that bad” (again, convincing me upon just moving here would have been much easier than 8 months later, i’ve already come to my own conclusions!)  it was all about what exactly the guys are doing while they are gone for 12 LONG hours every day!

we got a tour of the squadron and were supposed to get a tour of a T-6 but the sky decided to bottom-out and that got post-poned (more pics to come when we cash in our rain check on that tour!)

here are a couple pics I got from our tour…

Trying on Lt. Col. Ketterer's g-suit

this was a long process!

and now for the harness...

and finally, the helmet!

I'm ready to fly me a T-6!!

After getting out of all of that, I walk around the corner to find the most handsome pilot I’ve ever seen in my life…

SEXY!

And, then lastly, the spouses in front of the solo dunk tank (more pics on that at a later time…i’m super sleepy!)

Kati, Me, Ann, Amber and Ashley