Jumping Jupiter

I met Tracey VanHoy and her 3 kiddos at Jumping Jupiter yesterday for some playtime and Jake had a blast. This place has only been open for 2 weeks and it is such a neat idea. It is just a big room with 5 huge bouncies.


Landry would not look at me! She was trying to locate her brother.
Tracey and Emerson posing with me and Landry
Jake had to have help getting to the top of the slides and in his down time he rode the toys they had laying around.

School hasn't started yet and I already have a new job that I feel MUCH better about! My resignation goes through tomorrow in Bossier Parish and I was laying in bed 2 nights ago and wondering what in the world happened over the last 2 weeks. I really wasn't sure about teaching an autistic class because I just wasn't qualified. Well, I got a call yesterday and will be teaching inclusion at Choudrant Elementary(pronounced Shoe-drant for those of you not familiar) and I like that idea a lot better. The commute will be maybe 15 minutes, which still beats my 30 minute commute to Parkway.

The babies go to their last MDO today as it is over for the summer. Mom spent the night with me last night and she will stay until tomorrow...she and dad have Landry for the weekend while we are off to Houston. We are going to the spa on Saturday(yes,Matt is too!!! ) and I am super pumped:). But today I am meeting an old running buddy for lunch and plan to catch up with my good friend Mary Catherine as she is in from Baton Rouge. Her dad had back surgery in Shreveport yesterday. I haven't seen her since she was married in January:(. Have a great day.

Outings

I had lunch yesterday with 3 friends that I teach with at Parkway. Rachel, Ginny, and Katie make teaching at Parkway SO much fun!!!! Ginny(in the purple dress) is due in August and she looks really good. We had a lot of fun....it was great to catch up.
Jake slept through his last Gymboree class yesterday, so when he got up we went to the Boardwalk to buy him some new shoes. He is growing out of EVERYTHING. At dinner we let Landry suck on some lemons. She really liked them and they entertained her well!
Jake's new thing is to wave at everyone. Anyone who came into the restaurant got a wave from him, even if they didn't look his way. He is campaigning early!
Daddy and Jake

This weekend we are going to Houston for a get-together with the people in Matt's district. His company pays for the entire weekend, plus the flight. I am looking forward to one last getaway before the rush to pack up and head to Ruston phase begins!

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BODHsU3hDo4 Don't forget to watch him tonight on Primetime at 9 central on ABC. Have a good day!

Yesterday

We had our summer treats yesterday as Jake tried to cool off with a popsicle and Landry had her cookie-type treat!
Jake working on his golf game at Aunt Lou's house(she cooked us yummy shrimp bisque)
I thought Landry looked just like her brother in this picture.
Matt and his family playing rook after Sunday lunch.

Big D came over to play with Jake and Landry yesterday too! We had lots of fun.

Several of you have asked me where I will be working in Ruston. There was an opening at Glen View Elementary in the autistic class where they needed a certified teacher. Although I am still working on my special ed. certification, I have already passed the Praxis in the spec. ed. and have a teaching certificate but it is in PE. I started working on my special ed certification 3 years ago when I was a displaced teacher and Parkway needed someone in that department. Didn't really like it at first, but have come to really enjoy my job. I love the people I work with and will miss them dearly. The fact that I am (almost) certified in 2 subjects and can teach grades 1-12 helped me since I was restricted to teaching just high school or elementary. Yes, this will be a challenging job but I had to get my foot in the door. It may or may not be long term, depending on if something else opens up later in the year or if I happen to like what I am doing.

Last Lecture

ATTENTION!!! On Tuesday night at 9pm(central time) on ABC you need to stop what you are doing and watch Primetime. It is about Randy Pausch and his "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon University. He has such a POWERFUL testimony and I promise it will be worth your time. His book(I have mentioned it before) is a bestseller. He has pancreatic cancer, 3 children under 6, is married to the love of his life, and has the most amazing story. Please watch the show if you haven't seen it before. It'll be WELL worth your time. I just saw the commercial and got excited because I wanted to see the lecture again. I cried like a baby the first time it aired last spring.

We are still working on what we are going to do in the next 2 weeks. Matt is so against renting-he thinks it is throwing money away. So I will live with my parents(always said that I could NEVER do that but God is humoring me!) until at least September( Matt's territory will not change until October1, so he will be in and out until then) and we are looking into buying a smaller, older home while we sell the one here. Then we may rent it out in the future to students or sell it. Either way, renting or buying a small home, we are looking at the same amount of $$ per month. So who knows!

Here are a few pics:

Jake at MDO last week during water day. He wants to know what I am doing here while he is trying to play;). Just documenting your entire life is what I tell him!!!!

Landry is now holding her own bottle, but I always have to urge her to eat more. She might weigh 15 pounds now. Good thing about this is she has hardly grown out of any of her nice clothes. She'll catch up one day but for now she is my dainty princess....and perfect!

The Latest

Yesterday was crazy and very emotional, so I will update with some GOOD news...pictures of my babies!
My dear friend Ashley sent Landry this outfit and I thought it looked too cute on her! Ashley has been a good friend of mine for about 11 years and lives in Atlanta. We got the chance to meet up last summer when we were in Atlanta for my cousin's wedding. She and Jason were "wedding crashers" and came to the reception. We had a really good time!
Jake loves Landry's bows and will undoubtedly be the class clown with this face:)
This is Landry this morning when she woke up....I love the sweetness


Now onto our drama! I will preface this story by telling you we had taken our house off the market 2 months ago because Mark(Matt's brother) told us he wanted to buy our house. We put it on the market in October because we needed something bigger. Lots of our neighbors have their house for sell for various reasons, some due to job transfers, etc. But it makes selling a house difficult when there are 25 houses for sell in 1 neighborhood. So we were thrilled when Mark said he would buy it(plus that meant I didn't have to keep the house clean ALL THE TIME and leave on a minutes notice so someone could see it!)Well yesterday he told us he couldn't afford it. I have cried many tears because we are in a tough position here. Do we stay here and Matt commute or do we come to Ruston and hope to sell the house soon? I am also in the process of getting my certification complete in special education and that means I am taking 6 hours this fall at Tech, coaching cross country and that will tie me up 2 nights a week, plus Matt commuting to Ruston., plus taking care of my main priorities...2 babies!! And women are so emotional anyway...I suppose I had dealt with the realization that yes we are moving back and had been so excited once I found a job that yesterday was a HUGE letdown. So after not sleeping for 2 nights and countless prayers, I think we are going to move and rent something until we can sell our house in Benton. I told Matt it might sell once we get all these toys out of here(who knew you could accumulate SO much with babies!!). That is where we are right now. No buying a house and truthfully I really would like a 1 story house. Mom, PLEASE TURN YOUR CELL PHONE ON AND CALL ME IF YOU READ THIS:).Today, Matt has been wonderful enough to drive to Dallas to pick some of my runners up from camp, so I am here with the babies and hopefully we will get some rest. This past week has been draining:). Thanks for checking on us!

Well...............

So Matt and I went to Ruston for the third time and it proved to be the charm:). God is really opening doors when we were thinking that there was no chance(Matt was not panicking but I sure was). Today I found a job, we talked with a lady who lives 1.3 miles away from the potential house we hope to buy who will keep the babies, and have really been treated with open arms. Right now we are playing the bidding wars with the home owners and hope to come to an agreement on the price. You certainly can get more for your money in Ruston, but he is wanting a lot for the house(per square footage). I doubt we close before the end of next month as Matt thinks that is the best time...no use arguing with him. So I may be staying with my parents for a week or so when school starts.
My mom and dad have been in Canada for a week with my aunt and uncle. Dad is coming home today and mom is not coming home until NEXT WEDNESDAY. Talk about bad timing! It will be so good to be back home, but boy will we miss this area. I really don't like thinking about all the people we will leave behind, but God has always opened doors for us and he will not stop at this point. Just a new chapter in the lives of the Tyler family:)

Milestones

So Landry is almost efficiently crawling...backwards that is! She is now getting on all fours and starting to try and climb over little things. She is amazing us daily and constantly reminding us that SHE is boss:).


She received her first "bitter biscuit" tonight due to the fact she was super fussy and we had about 45 minutes until bedtime. She was entertained by this new finger food but oh my gosh IT IS MESSY! There is no way I could let her eat out with this thing as she got it all over herself and me! But she loved it.
I tried to capture some of the mess but she would not let me see her mouth due to the yummy cookie.

On another note Jake's surgery went well this morning and we got home around 1:30. He slept most of the afternoon and I was sure he would not go to bed at 7, but sure enough he was ready. We are going to Ruston again tomorrow to go to all the schools, but I have already talked to every principal in the parish(and surrounding parishes) and no one has any openings. Just trying to be patient:). If it doesn't work out, we will just stay here and Matt will commute. Have a great night!

Pictures from our fellowship....

Thought I would post some pictures from the fellowship with our SS class on Saturday night. We had a great time at Buddy Allen's parents' home in Plain Dealing. Jake was a super daredevil and jumped off the diving board and slid down the slide all night!! He had a super time and Landry did as well until the end and she would not let me put her down without the quivering chin cry as you will see below!

Found a House

Well, we found a house yesterday that we really like....it is a 2 story house with the kids' bedrooms and an office for Matt being upstairs. The upside to all of this is Matt's brother is going to buy our house, so we don't have to worry about selling ours. All I am waiting on is a job. There have been a couple of possible leads that I will check out this week. Jake is having surgery tomorrow so everything will be on hold for a couple of days. Here is the link to the house we are thinking about making an offer on, contingent upon me finding a job!!!!:
http://www.century21.com/search/property.jsp?svf=lsp&q=&mls=133879&mls=&mls=&mls=&proximity=&minprice=&maxprice=&minbeds=&maxbeds=&minbaths=&maxbaths=&minsqft=&maxsqft=

Update!

Thanks for those of you who have called and/or written in concern of our most recent news. Things have settled down and the dust is beginning to settle. Our main concern right now is me finding a job and day care for the babies. Whether you are moving 70 miles or 70,000 miles away, these things take precedence over the fact that we are going to miss our friends. There are no openings right now that I am aware of in Lincoln parish, but I will go back next week when I have time to hit the schools individually that I missed yesterday. My parents are in Canada for 2 weeks(dad will be back next week, but mom is staying and meeting up with her running buddies for another week to hike the Glacier mountains), so that makes it even more difficult because I can't bring the babies for them to watch while I run errands. We are going to look at houses tomorrow morning, but don't plan on moving unless I get a job...which I might add that I love my job teaching special education at Parkway. This doesn't help the fact that Matt's company says he has to be relocated by October 1. So things are up in the air right now and I need to be patient and know that God will provide. Just a little news! Have a great weekend.

We're Moving

I cannot believe I am typing this, but we found out yesterday that Matt's job is relocating us to Ruston. Yes Matt could commute, but we decided it would be very difficult with the children, since he is in charge of taking them to day care in the morning. They don't open up early enough, etc. So, I am going to Ruston today(after I drop the babies off at MDO) to turn in my resume at the school board. I cannot begin to tell you how much my heart is aching and tears are coming down as I type, but we know that God has a plan and he will be with us. Benton/Bossier has been home for a long time now. I have no idea how things will pan out in the next month, but we hope to be moved by the time school starts. I have NO idea where the kids will be in day care. All the places I looked at in the Ruston phonebook are a NO GO. Please pray for our family as we make this very QUICK transition. We are going to look at houses on Saturday tentatively.

Past Weekend!

I am going to try and type fast since I haven't updated in so long, but I am ready to go to bed!!! We started off Friday morning by going to SciPort with some neighbor friends of ours and had a great time. SciPort has a toddler area and we stayed there the whole time, with the exception of MY child escaping through the gate and trying to explore other areas. He also tried to climb onto one of the water exhibits....twice. Nice:). We then went to Chick-fil-a where they were having cow day(cow is now one of Jake's most favorite words) and Jake rode the cow train. He had a blast. We tried taking a picture with the cow mascot but to say he was scared is an understatement(all the pictures are on my photo website). We went home tired and took naps!
That evening I took the kids to the pool and Landry was loving the float while Jake was wondering around the food area bringing me old icees. Figured he was hungry so we decided to take a break for pizza.

Saturday we had a birthday party for Melanie Nolen that afternoon. Matt was out of town and I really wanted to take both babies, so mom and dad came over and mom went with me to the party. They had a good time and I am becoming aware that these birthday parties are serious business. I have already booked Jake's party for DECEMBER and the first date I wanted was already booked....come on people:)!!!! We got home from the party, put the babies in bed, and went to eat at Ernest's and boy was it yummy! Got home WAY too late and Jake was up at 6am. No rest for the weary!!

Sunday was busy as I heard our new preacher speak(we have been searching for over 2 years!) and he was really good. Then went out to Aunt Lou's for lunch. Poor Landry has not been feeling good and cried the whole time we were there. So we didn't stay long and ended up going back out there late in the afternoon so Jake could see the cows and ride the big tractor with Papaw. He LOVED it! I did not have my camera and was very upset.

Monday was LONG and I took Landry to the dr. where they gave her a shot and an antibiotic. She seems to be feeling better today after her early morning nap. I ended up taking her to MDO because she woke up smiling and I really needed a small break.

Last, we found out about 2 weeks ago that they are dissolving Matt's chronic constipation division (he is in pharmaceutical sales) and placing him somewhere else in his company. This means we may have to move to Ruston. I have been in Benton for 7 years, we met here, have a GREAT group of friends, I love my job, we have the kids enrolled in their schools, love our church family, I could go on and on and on. So needless to say we do not want to move, but we find out tomorrow or the next day. Please be thinking of us!!
Watching the train as we headed for SciPort Friday morning.
Jake in deep thought on the cow train at CFA. He loved this thing and it really is cute.
Just before we went swimming. Jake decided he would give Landry some attention and you can tell it was resciprocated well!
At the birthday party.
Mom was quite HOT but hung in there while Landry was taking everything in!

Post more tonight

Matt has been out of town since last Friday morning and did not get back until 7 pm yesterday. It has been a crazy couple of days and Landry is just not feeling well. I hope we have a better day today and she can go to MDO because I just need a break.....we will see . She is crying in the swing right now so I will be back tonight.

Lazy Days of Summer...Yeah Right!!!

Boy have we been staying busy this week! I have kept Landry home from MDO last week and last Tuesday due to her persistant cough and ugly snotty nose. I plan on taking her tomorrow and am going to get my hair done-yeah!! I posted more pictures than normal from today's events due to the number of cute pictures I took:). The first 5 were taken after the last 5, but I messed up when I loaded them. FYI. We headed out early this morning and went to get Jake's hair cut. He has had about 10 at this point in his life-he has a ton of hair! Then we went to a local library as they have a story teller every Wednesday. I just happened to have one of my runners meet me there to help out with the kiddos and I am SO glad she was there. I didn't really know what to expect, and it turns out we had to sit on the floor and Jake just roamed. Morgan was a big help and Landry enjoyed the time as well. The room was packed and it got really warm in there, so we lasted about 20 minutes and Landry started her growl so I knew she was just exhausted(it was her nap time).
My sweet little girl will be 7 MONTHS OLD tomorrow:(....
where has time gone! She has really started being mobile just over the past week! I walked in the living room yesterday and everything but her little head was under the couch! She is good at going backwards. Landry has also gotten pretty efficient at sitting up just over the past couple of days. No more leaving her in the swing, poppy, or changing table without being strapped in! Monday morning I put her in the swing(keep in mind I have a take along swing and it is very low to the ground) and went to get something. I heard Matt yell and it turns out she fell out of the swing..yes I am a terrible parent!!!! She just went from not doing much and over a weeks time she is into everything! Jake did all of this later in life due to the fact he was too big to move! We embrace the fact that our children are SO different:). They are also looking more and more alike and that is fun. OK enough typing; Enjoy the pictures!
Landry sitting up so well in her poppy. She can lift from the reclining position to this all by herself. I am so impressed. Note: She is not strapped in but I did not leave her.
Jake is into golf and balls. He is practicing his Tiger swing.
And Landry STARES at his every move. When he comes close to her she gets the biggest grin on her face and just laughs if she is lucky enough to get a hug from her big brother:)!
Jake woke up early from his nap, so we spent the next 1.5 hours outside killing time while Landry slept. He loves to put all his balls in the back of his car.
Finally figuring out that this bubble lawnmower really produces bubbles! He was intrigued.

Landry doing what she does best! Sucking those darn fingers
Landry and Morgan at story time this morning.
Jake and Landry watching the story lady sing to the music.
He thought the lady was going to read to ONLY HIM and was trying to push the other children out of the way.
Now he had gotten ahold of the dancing to music and there was no turning back now!!!

Busy Weekend

Whew! We have had a really busy weekend and it is almost over. We started out early Saturday morning by heading to Ruston. Matt had to stay as he was umpiring baseball and Jake thought he would try to drive my Yukon as you can see below:

For the last 3 months he has been dead set on feeding himself. As you can see it gets pretty messy when you feed him ravioli and meatballs. Glad we were at my parents and could take his shirt off at least! Then Jake found Big Mama's running shoes and was more than determined to walk around their house in them. He did a pretty good job I might add.
Saturday night we went out to eat with my Aunt Liz(my dad's brother's wife) as she was in for her 50th high school reunion(doesn't she look great!)
Miss Landry had so much fun playing with her!
Then this morning we headed back to Benton in this morning to see my cousin Nancy before she headed back to Baton Rouge. She was staying with my grandmother and was in for her 20th high school reunion. Then we went to Sunday school, home to take quick naps, and then to Aunt Lou's house for Sunday lunch. Is there a time out I can take?????

On another note, I must say that the Olympic trials are an exciting event to watch. Those of you who keep up with running know (or should) Jordan Hassay. She is a 16 year old phenom from California and I have been watching her since she was in the eighth grade. Well, Friday night I was up WAY later than normal and we were watching the trials. The 1500m came on and this HIGH SCHOOL sophomore qualified for tonight's final in a stellar and high school record time of 4:14 for the event. If my conversion is right, that would equal about a 4:29 mile. She would beat most high school boys around the country with that time. The record in the boys mile where I went to high school is 4:19 just to give you some perspective on HOW fast this girl is! Good for her. Who knows what the future holds...she probably will not make the Olympic team this year, but she has a very bright future in front of her. I'll be rooting for her tonight as she runs her heart out.
Enjoy the rest of your day and I will try to relax:)

Wanna Play?

My children have gone to bed and my roomie at Auburn, Bri, challenged those who read her blog to play a game with her. So you have to play as well if you read MY blog!!!

10 years ago I was:

In between my freshman and sophomore years of college. I had spent the first half at Auburn and ran cross country for the Tigers, then transferred at mid-term to LSU where I thought I would further my running career. Due to lack of self esteem, self motivation, and being homesick, I just went home to continue my education at Louisiana Tech that summer. If I looked back all the time, I would kick myself for not realizing the opportunities I had given up at the time. Yet my life would be different as I would never had met my husband among many other things! I worked at the Tech bookstore that summer and went to school until I got mono. It was also the longest time I had gone without running since starting in the 10th grade: 6 months! That was before my children came along. Not to worry as I plan to start up again seriously sometime in the near future!

5 years ago I was:

Teaching PE at Benton Elementary school, living with my grandmother in Benton; for the summer I was living in Ruston with my parents and working on my master's degree in school administration. I was also engaged and planning a wedding for that December, so that pretty much took up A LOT of time:). Matt was also living in Ruston, going to school and working on his masters in education, and was a GA for the Tech football team. It was also the summer that I was introduced to my friend Emily Norton Pruitt, who got me interested in the sport of triathlons. She was doing them that summer and although I did not attempt my first one until a year later, it was she who got me going. She was my running partner though and a good one at that!

1 year ago I was:

Raising a 6 month old and wondering HOW ON EARTH I was going to do raise 2 babies SO close together. I think I worried so much that I did not enjoy the entire pregnancy. I did not even tell my principal until late summer that I was pregnant because I was embarrassed that I was pregnant again so soon! Boy how selfish was I! God knows what we can handle and it has been great. Yes, the first 12 weeks were HARD, but we got through it! I was also coaching cross country full time and took 4 runners to Brevard, NC and was away for 8 days from my baby which about killed me but I did it and my athletes really loved camp so it was worth it.

5 things to do list for tomorrow(since today is over):

1) Feed the babies when they wake up and get them dressed

2) Go to Ruston as my aunt from Birmingham is in and wants to take us out to dinner

3) Run some needless errands

4) Make sure Jake and Landry have their naps during certain times of the day so they will be in a good mood at 6pm when we go out to eat

5)Pretty boring list so I won't bore you with any more details:)

5 snacks I enjoy:

1) Dr. Pepper(I consider that a snack)

2) Peanut butter and bananas

3) Popcorn

4) Oreos and milk

5) That's all

If I were a billionaire I would:

Quit my job and be a stay at home mom, many other things and give the rest to charity...who needs all that money!

5 people I would want to have lunch with:

1) My grandparents MaMa and Pop, who I never got a chance to fully appreciate in my young and immature years.

2) My papaw who was an "old school" high school football coach. I would love to discuss with him his philosophies on coaching among other things.

3) Randy Pausch who is dying of pancreatic cancer who has chosen to live his last months of life as a Tigger and not an Eeyore.

4) Elizabeth...she is just a great friend who I can say anything to and she will just tell me like it is!

5) Mom-I never appreciated her as a teenager and cringe at the way I used to treat her. You never really know what moms feel for their children until you have one. She is my role model and I love her so much. Never thought God would bless me with a daughter that I can hopefully share the same relationship that I have with my mother now( hope that made sense).

5 places I have lived:
1) Ruston

2) Auburn, AL

3) Baton Rouge

4) West Monroe

5) Benton

6 jobs I've had:

1) Middle school PE teacher

2) Elementary school PE teacher

3) Pool manager

4) High school PE teacher

5) Cross country coach

6) High school special education teacher

I spent WAY too much time typing this post so I hope you enjoyed it!

And the picture is from our 4th of July dinner today

Firecracker 5K

We hit the ground running this morning to get ready for the Firecracker 5K. Matt's mom met us as well and we loaded them up and headed for the starting line! I reminisced briefly about years earlier when I would race this event(and might add I won it back in 2000...oh so long ago) but this year we were all about walking. There was a record number of people there this morning. I am sure there were about 4000 there, so the turnout was great! We listened to the National Anthem and thought about the freedom that we too often take for granted. Jake and Landry had on their red, white, and blue to show appreciation to those who have dedicated and given their lives for our freedom.

Our neighbors, Stacey and Jason Hess were there along with their 2 boys Cooper and Marshall. Jake and Cooper were playing ball as we waited for the start.
Landry would not look at me but she did great during the walk and pretty much slept the whole time.
My friend Emily, who finished second in the race, gave Landry some words of advice on race strategy!
Jake was pooped coming back while sissy chirped the entire trip home....who needs sleep when I've already got my nap in was what she was saying:)