How did I ever do it???

I don't know how I was able to stay sane and teach middle school for 2 years. I am working in an after school program at my old school once a week and the kids are driving me nuts! I'm so used to my High school students now that the maturity level, lack of listening skill, etc of the middle schoolers is making me pull my hair out. I could never go back now. The high school kids are just much more mature and focused, I love it!

More photos from this weekend

Moments/These are the days/You're gonna miss this

And whatever other song you can think of that talks about the memories we make and special little moments we have being with our children. That is what this weekend was all about as we had alot of fun playing together. This weekend was long but fun (That's what she said [just a little somthing for all you fellow office fans!]). For those of you who don't share the love for our favorite show, just disregard that last comment as you won't get it. We went to the HHS (Harmony High School, where I work) football game Friday night. It was the first home game of the year and unfortunately they just got worked! I didn't get to see much though, as I was manning a table with my Teenage Republicans club seeking donations and helping people get registered to vote or update their registration. For those of you who need to do that, get it done ASAP I know our deadline is 10/6 which is this week!!! Anyways on Saturday we went to the Magic Kingdom in the morning for a special annual pass holders premier of the new Tinkerbell movie. It was really nice as we were given treats, little tinkerbell toys and even got to have a meet and greet after the movie with the director, producer, writer & of course the fairies!!! The girls enjoyed it and Kylie even won a prize during Tinkerbell trivia. She was given a nice tinkerbell card making kit. She was so excited about the prize that she just couldn't wait to use it. We went over to Epcot in the afternoon to walk around the world and meet the princesses. This was really nice as we got to spend time with Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, Aladin, Jasmine, Genie, Snow White, Dopey and of course Mulan! Mulan was the whole reason for the trip over to Epcot as Reagan is officially obsessed with that movie. Mulan was awesome, as we were the only ones there waiting (we're such geeks!) for her when she arrived, she spent probably 5 minutes with just Kylie and Reagan. The girls just ate it up! She walked with them holding hands, took the usual photos and gave them her autograph but she also sat down on the bench where I was hanging out and just visited with the girls. She also gave Reagan a big kiss which left a mark on Reagans cheek, soooo cute! I had a chance to go to the UF Ole Miss game, but I'm so glad I kept my promise to the girls, as these moments are the ones we'll all cherish. They were just so happy and I would've missed out on all the Smiles, laughter and excitement as well as cheers! Reagan so loves the cheers Kylie does that she is constantly reciting them and all day as we went around the park and even as we ate lunch in the restaurant she was just cheering at the top of her lungs which everyone got a kick out of! Kylie just giggles and giggles when Reagan goes into cheerleading mode (as long as Reagan isn't yelling/cheering in her ear which she does on occasion). It is just so precious! I don't think we'll be able to afford to do the Disney passes again next year but what a great purchase they were for us this year. We have become total Disney geeks, as we constantly are spending our family time in one of the parks, but they are just so fun. Well afterwards we had a surprise 30th bday party to attend for a friend who lives near us. Kylie was so excited to use her new card making kit she won and made our friends bday card! After the party Amber & I went out with our wonderful friends the Hulings, who we hadn't seen in forever. We had a good time down at the comedy warehouse on Pleasure Island. It was the last night as Disney is closing all the clubs on PI and we had never been but heard good things. We were able to see 2 funny shows and had a blast laughing at some of the crazy drunk people wondering from the other clubs. Well this post has gotten very long so I'll wrap up in just a sec. I have figured recently that this would be my journal as we've been counseled to write regularly in a journal and I suck at doing it. So occasionally I may have these long posts but I want to be sure to preserve all these special little moments. Finally today after church and naps Kylie and I painted her new little birdhouse which was alot of fun as well. Reagan is glued to the TV watching Beauty & the Beast and Amber is at her stake youth meetings so this daddy daughter time was nice. I'll try to get as many of this weekends photos posted as possible so you can all enjoy these moments as well. We are so blessed to have such sweet little girls and I know that "These are the days to remember" and intend on making the most of every "moment". I also don't need the song to tell me I'm "gonna miss this" as I can't help but think of how sad it'll be when they get to that age when it's no longer cool to spend the entire weekend just hanging out with Mom & Dad. I hope I haven't put you all to sleep and want you to know we love and miss you all!

PS Amber heard the babies heart beat this week and we'll go together next month right before our cruise to see if they can determine the sex! As soon as we know we'll pass it along

High School is a whole different world!

Don't get me wrong I love it and don't think I could go back now to middle school. The kids are so much more mature, focused & well behaved. It seems to be alot more work though. For example I was there until 7:30 tonight and still am not completely caught up! Oh well, at least I'm truly enjoying it alot more. The teachers are also great and I have a wonderful department as well. They are begging me to coach the JV basketball team but I am sticking to refing. I can set my own schedule, work less hours, have less hastle and actually make more money! Another thing I'm doing this year is I started a TARS (TeenAge Republicans) club on campus which is fun. The principal and the school as a whole seems to be very excited about it. We are actually doing a big push this Friday night at our first home football game as well as next week during lunches to get those eligible voters registered for the November election before next weeks deadline. We're also going to organize a debate and mock election for the entire student body. I'll keep you up to date on how those activities go. Finally as this blog is concerned I know many of you maintain blogs of your own so please send me the addresses so we can follow them and post the links here for everyone. Well I hope you all have a great weekend! We're off to Disney (again, man we love those passes!) to see a special sneek preview of the new tinker bell movie and so Reagan can meet Mulan. She has developed a recent obsession with Mulan so this will be a big day for her! We'll take photos and be sure to post them next week. I'll also try and post some more cheerleading photos tonight.

Our Little Cheerleaders!

Lucky me, I'm team mom. One of the many perks of staying home with the girls this year. Kylie finally was getting into it last night. She's the youngest one on the team and yes, one of most uncoordinated! Still so cute. They both are. Reagan is our unofficial mascot. She gets a kick out of watching any age cheerleaders. Go Longhorns!

Love ya'll!

And the new calling is......

Ward mission leader. Which is actually exciting because I had a feeling since the bishop first told me he would be making changes that 's what it would be. The spirit was whispering to me all week new ideas and things that could be done in the ward with respect to missionary work. It was cool when the bishop told me because this is the first time I've ever really had such a strong feeling that I would be called to a certain position. The bishop is also very excited to be working closely with me and really wants to get the work going. I think we actually have been doing pretty well as we have had lots of baptisms over the past 2 & a half years we've been here but there is always room for improvement. I look forward to serving with the Elders as some of the sweetest spiritual experiences come through misionary work. Well Kylie has a game tonight so I'll try to get some pictures taken to post over the weekend. Finally all of you who are in my address book should have received an email from me last night about Obama. I don't normally get involved in political emails and I know it can be a touchy subject for many so I apalogize if I offended anyone but it was so shocking to me and I truly felt it had to be shared. I have heard of partial birth abortions (which I personally don't agree with) but this was way worse! On a happier note we love you all and hope you have a great weekend!!!

No news is good news...I guess

Well as I was just reading the new posts to Des & Nates blog I decided to check ours out and see what my dear wife had done in the last couple of weeks...nothing! Well I guess no news is good news as everything in our world continues as usual. To Ambers defense she has not been feeling well lately as this pregnancy is giving her a little bit of a run for her money. Nothing serious, just the usual occasional nausea and lack of energy but for her it is strange as the first 2 pregnancies were so easy. It's a little strange for me as well trying to adjust to a tired wife versus the constantly energetic go getter Amber we're all used to. Well anyways the news for us has been callings. Amber was just called into the Stake YW presidency!!! She's finally graduated from primary, yeah! I have been told by our bishop to expect a new calling as I have been "pigeon holed" into YM now for too long. He actually said I hid many skills and attributes that would be very useful in other areas, wow! So we are expecting a call to be the ward mission leader as ours was just called to be the new Elders Quorum president. We'll let you know what happens there. The girls are doing great! Kylie still loves school and Reagan loves getting daily mommy time just for her. They also love cheer leading!!! Kylie has started cheering for our pop warner flag team and Reagan has memorized the cheers and does them now all the time. As a matter of fact I was helping out in nursery yesterday and a relief society sister game in to do a cheer about Enrichment night for the nursery sisters and Reagan all of a sudden stopped playing and sat down real still just devoting all her attention to this "cheer leader". Then once she was done Reagan began doing her cheers!!! It is so cute! Every week at Kylies game Reagan wants so bad to be out there with the team. Well I guess that is it. Sorry no pictures this time but our camera is broken :{ we need to get it fixed or replaced as soon as we have the funds. Hopefully tonight I can download some stuff from the video camera so we'll at least have memory there to take still shots. For those of you who are aware of my parents problems with the house things are looking up and they expect to be back home within a week!!!