Let's try this again!

Ok, let's be honest: I have let this blog go. After realizing this I decided to give this another try. So hang tight and soon you will have the latest ramblings from this AppleBaker!!

1st Soccer Game

Aubrie had her first soccer game on Saturday. It was a hoot to watch, kept us all laughing. Let me give you some info about 5 year olds playing soccer.

1. They only play four on four

2. There is no goalie
3. They do not keep score

4. They play on a baby soccer field

So with that information let me explain about the game. Aubrie's team tried really hard to make a goal, they came quite close a few times, however the other team would steal the ball and make a goal. This happen quite often giving the other team about 20 goals, and no we never did make a goal. Once our best player, Chole, got to the game we thought things would turn around. Instead the poor thing got hit in the head with a soccer ball and she refused to play the rest of the game.

One thing I did notice was most of our players are new and have not played before, the other team you could tell had played together last year, thier coach even had notes and plays for his team. We were just excited that our girls were out there playing. Our coach has decided that we need to learn to work as a team and learn how to take the ball back from the other team. One good thing in Aubrie's favor is that she is one of the better kickers on the team. Some of the girls only tap the ball, Aubrie gives it a good whack.

Look Ma, No Training Wheels!

Thursday Aubrie decided she wanted to take off her training wheels after noticing her friend down the street had hers off. With a little bit of instruction, Aubrie was good to go. After a few tries and learning to balance, she was able to go. Now I decided to show Aubrie where the brakes were just in case of something; not sure if this was a good idea or not. Now Aubrie will start going, get scared, and put the brakes on. This is a little frustrating as she has the whole concept but reusing to go far. Not to mention the whole process was done with whining and a little tears; not because she didn't want to try, but because she is the new Applegath Drama Queen!!

Check out the pics:

Video of Aubrie riding:

Soccer Practice!

Aubrie decided she was going to try soccer this year after finding out that her friend Emily was playing. So Wednesday Aubrie had her first practice. She did very well and seemed to have fun. The only hiccup we had was when she told me near the end of practice that she needed to go potty. I than proceeded to tell her that she had to wait, I think she was starting to get a little bored or tired. We have two more practices this week and her first game on Saturday.

Here are some pics from the practice.

Labor Day

The Baker's and Brackett's decided to go to Lake Alan Henry for Labor Day. Brain already has a spot and a trailer there, as he takes care of a lot of lawns on North Ridge. Cody and I took our RV and hooked up next to Brain's. The spot Brian has doesn't have a lake view, but he has grass and has trimmed the trees back, so it was great. I brought my camera to take pics of the campsite, but I forgot to charge it, so no batteries = no pics. I did bring my video camera and took some videos of us tubing Sunday morning. Here are those videos.

Here is Aubrie & Meredith tubing together

Me Tubing!! I haven't tubed in about 10 years. I actually had fun. I really liked Meredith's Tube.

Cody Tubing - Notice how he has to outdo everyone by trying to do tricks.

Aubrie was so exhausted she actually fell asleep on the boat.

First Week of School

Well Aubrie and I both made it through our 1st week of school. Thanks to Mom being here, she helped a lot with Aubrie. Mom and I took Aubrie the 1st day, I drove her there and than had to leave to make it to my school on time; Mom walked her to her class and helped with the school supplies. Yes, I did cry a little.

Aubrie loves her teacher and computers (she takes after her mommy). However, she says her PE teacher is mean, I think she actually makes Aubrie exercise and she doesn't like it. Mom left on Wednesday and Than it was Cody's turn to take Aubrie to school. Cody wasn't real excited about changing his morning schedule to take Aubrie to school, but since there is no way i can take her and get to work on time he has adjusted, the first 2 days went well. Cody even insisted on walking Aubrie in on Friday instead of dropping her off.

Everything at school is going good for me; classes are no problem. However, I'm getting used to my three technology support periods. Right now most teachers are just asking for help with setting up their computers or trying to figure out what is the matter with there computer, my normal response for that is "send a help ticket in to Tech Support". My job consist of helping with programs and training on equipment, we have a team of people who fix computers in the district (this I can't do).

All-in-all it was a crazy but good week. Here are some pics of Aubrie her 1st day of school.

It's stating to look a lot like school

Wow, the first day of school is just around the corner. I'm completely ready for some things and way not ready for others.

Things I'm ready for:

1. No more staff development for a while. I'm tired of looking at data or listening to speakers who like to talk more about their accomplishment than helping the students or give me and the other CATE teachers no help with guiding our PLC.

2. To actually know my schedule for next week. As Mr. V is still interviewing teachers for the FCS position, I still don't know if I my schedule will be plan A or plan B. We're hoping for plan A which allows me to be a part-time campus technology coordinator. However as Mr. V refuses to just hire a warm body, and instead actual wants a professional teacher, I guess I can wait to find out my schedule.

3. My mom coming in on Thursday.


Things I'm NOT ready for:

1. Aubrie starting school!!! Yes, Aubrie is finally starting Kindergarten this year. We went clothes shopping on Monday and she cannot wait to wear her new clothes. She is scared since she has been at the same daycare since she was 2. Aubrie is so ready to move on, sometimes she acts like she should be in 3rd grade. We meet her teacher Thursday evening

2. Tax-free weekend. I'm staying as far away from the malls and wal-mart as I can this weekend.

3. School supply shopping. Hopefully this will go okay, I haven't had time to shop but am going to try hard to get Aubrie's items before Saturday!!!


Good luck to the rest of the teachers out there.

Good luck to the parents sending thier kids off to school for the first time.

My Dyson is AWESOME!!

Okay, so I'm feeling a little better now. My new Dyson came, I was under the impression that I was getting a plain yellow Dyson, but when it arrived it was the PURPLE pet Dyson. If you don't know me well let me explain a few things - I love purple and have one cat and two dogs that are inside/outside dogs. I'm am stoked that I have the purple animal Dyson.

I Can't Believe It!

Right now I am not in the best mood, I should be as I am getting a new Dyson vacuum cleaner, but no I am pissed! I had gotten money out of my account yesterday for clothes and for the new vacuum. I left the correct amount at Cody's office for the vacuum cleaner and had the rest in my purse. Today I cannot find the $150 from my purse.

No, I didn't leave my purse unattended. I also have cleaned out my car today and it wasn't in it. I have looked everywhere and cannot find it. I know what my mom and sister are thinking right now, "She is always losing things...her purse, money, everything." In my defense I haven't lost anything in a few years, I had been doing pretty good. All I can hope for now is that the money will show up. At least I have a Dyson vacuum cleaner on its way.

It is now 7:17 at night and I am editing this post for a very good reason - I found my money. Well to be honest I didn't find it, Cody did. Apparently when I dropped off the money at Cody's office for my Dyson I left the bank envelope with the rest of my money on Meredith's desk. Thank goodness Cody found it this morning. Of course he made me sweat it out, but I think I will be careful about losing items for another few years.

Work, work, work!

I am now officially back to work. Adios summer, I already miss you!

I reported back to work on August 10th to fill my extended contract days. I am actually ahead of schedule this year. I have already called all my students for the work program and checked to see if they still have their jobs from last year.

I have also been promoted to the Technology supervisor over the High School. Of course, this will only happen if we can hire another FCS teacher, as we lost one last week. Please keep your fingers crossed as I really want this to happen. If it does I will be part-time technology and part-time FCS teacher.

I will try to post a blog twice a week (I hope this isn't wishful thinking), as it is work, work, work again.

A Little Lake Time

I was going through withdrawals, I didn't know how much linger I had before I completely shut down. It had been over a month since I had been to the lake. The horror, the thought, can you imagine the stress!

Okay, so I may exaggerate a little, but it was great to back to the lake. Cody, Aubrie, and I went today and just hung out. We got to Buffalo a little before noon. The wind was blowing and the water was choppy, however I still decided to wakeboard. I'm getting better, could do better if I can get over my fear of going over the wake. Cody says it just takes practice, i think i need some more. Definitely not X-games material.

After wakeboarding we went to the slow side to swim and suntan. Aubrie of course just swam, I don't think she knows the meaning of sitting still. After a while she drove us back to the fast side so she could tube. By now the water had calmed down and the waves weren't so bad. After some tubing we went back over to the slow side for some more tanning and swimming.

As it is Sunday and we all have to be up early tomorrow, Cody thinks he his getting up at 6am to work out, we'll see, we decided to leave at about 4pm. Overall had a great time. I think I am exhausted from this weekend. Friday we went to Midland for a funeral, than drove to Canyon for a graduation, spent the night in Amarillo, drove home Saturday and had a party to attend Saturday night. All in all a good and crazy weekend.

I apologize for the bumpy video of Aubrie tubing.

SPA Training

Just finished 3 days in Summer Planning Academy for LHS. Let me tell you after the first day my brain was fogged up with all the data and numbers they went over with us!! The second day was better, we had to remember all the data and use it to plan for the next year. Today we finished up our planning and problem-solving. Hopefully, everything will work out well; especially since the two teachers who were heading it up have now accepted jobs at a different school. Wish us luck.

Visiting Pittsburgh

Our trip to Pittsburgh went great. Aubrie had a great time. Mom and Dad have a great 2-story house with a large backyard that ends at a pasture with horses. Aubrie loved going down to see the horses, climb on the dirt hill, and visit her imaginary mountian lion friends. I forget at times the imagination my daughter has. She creted a family of mountian lions, all with names, and 12 steps you have to complete before they will show themselves to you. She had a great time!!!

We decided to try out the swimming pool at a local community center there. Let me just say that this was not any ordinary pool - it was top notch. The had two water slides, one for big kids and one in the toddler section, a floating lily pad game, and a section that was a little deeper for people to seim. Aubrie had a great time. The next day we took a girls day and eat at a local bakery and got pedicures and manicures. Aubrie had a blast. That evening Mom and I went to a casino and horse race, but that a story for later. OVerall Aubrie had a great time and enjoyed hanging out at Nana and Papa's. I even got to go into Pittsbugh and shop at Penn Mac, which is a grocery store that carries very good italian oil and cheeeses from all over. I had a great time too.

Niagara Falls & Kidney Stones

After arriving in Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening Mom, Dad, Aubrie, and I left Thursday evening for Niagara Falls. Coming from Texas a 4 hour trip is nothing, but to people of Pittsburgh it is almost unheard of!! We got a lot of people who thought four hours was just too long to drive - little did they know that I have to drive at least 5 hours to get to a major city.

We drove 1/2 way and stopped in Erie for the night and the made it to Niagara Falls, Canada by noon the next day. Mom had booked us a room at the Embassy Suites over looking the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Check out the pictures, it was an amazing view!

After scheduling a tour for the next day Mom and I drove to Niagara-on-the-lake, which is a quaint little town 30 minutes north. While we were driving and touring wineries, Dad and Aubrie were taking in the sites and riding the tall Sky Ferris Wheel.

Saturday we started our tour at 9am with an wonderful tour guide. He kept the tour going an extra 2 hours due to rain and a broken down 4d movie. Our tour included a Journey behind the Falls, the skyline tower, view of the whirlpools, the Flower Clock, Niagara Fury 4D Movie, and The Maid of the Mist.

The Journey behind the falls allowed us to travel down and look behind the Horseshoe falls. It was pretty awesome hearing and seeing the power of the falls.

The Maid of the Mist was a boat ride that allowed us to ride by the American Falls and into the mist of the Horseshoe Falls. Let me just say that the ride was NOT a dry one! Mom and I were up front and got quite soaked while Dad and Aubrie were in back and didn't get quite as wet as we did.

However we ended up leaving Niagara at about 9pm Saturday evening because I ended up with a Kidney stone. My stomach and back had been hurting all day, but I wasn't going to ruin our trip, I than went to diner but couldn't make it through. At this point my dad, who has had a bout of kidney stones before, started asking me questions about my pain and where it was and decided I had kidney stones. On the way to the hotel I broke down and told them they could call the hotel doctor. Instead dad took me to the emergency room, not a good idea in Canada. If you think it takes a long time here, triple that amount and that is the wait for Canada. We decided not to stay and finally decided to cross the border and go to the hospital in Buffalo, New York. While waiting for the car a doctor and his wife noticed that I wasn't doing good. After discussing my symptoms the doctor agreed I had kidney stones and gave me one of his wife's Perkiset and told me it would last 4 hours. This allowed me to relaxed a little and we decided to get farther than Buffalo. In between Buffalo and Erie, PA I passed the stone in a McDonald's on a toll road, went to sleep and woke up felling great. What a way to end a great trip. Since Erie didn't have any hotel rooms available Mom drove us back to Pittsburgh and we got to their house at about 3am. What a trip!!!