A VERY Wordy Wednesday!

**I dedicate this post to my BEAUTIFUL cousin Lauren, who currently lives in NYC and almost always keeps her blog updated... When I grow up I hope I can be just like her! :) Love you La-La (yes... Colton is going to call you that too)

I can't believe that it has been over two months since my last post! AND that now summer is over and my days of being a stay-at-home mom are soon coming to an end... It has truly been a blessing being able to stay at home with my husband and little one this summer.. We have had so much fun traveling and spending time together.

Our summer started out with our first family vacation (as a family of three) and we decided that Southern California was calling our name! The weather was perfect... there was plenty to do... and we had a blast! Here are some pictures documenting our time in SoCal:

at the airport in Anaheim

driving around LA

this was for my boys... dodgers stadium!

day 2: found one of these ASAP

SEA WORLD SAN DIEGO

love this sweet face!

day 3: back in Anaheim at Disneyland

look at those big eyes!!

so pooped that he missed the fireworks!

day 4: back to San Diego... at the Zoo :)

and... Petco Park for a little Padres action

day 5: back to LA for Universal Studios

day 6: California Adventure park and we FINALLY see Mickey Mouse!

last day: Huntington Beach and Newport (it was PRETTY chilly!)

So obviously this is just a piece of my summer, but since it is now 11:43 and I have to get up in six short hours... I leave you with this series of pictures of my child and his new eating habits :)

Silly Sunday

A few days late... but hey, better late than never!

Sunday we got to celebrate Aunt Luvi's (Brittany) birthday at the Pruitt house and Colton LOVED being the center of attention!

How could you not love this sweet face?


YUM... ICE CREAM!

MORE MOMMA!!

There's none left??

I am SO ready to spend my summer with this handsome little man! I can't wait!

Here's to you, Dad

Today, 51 years ago, a woman named Maureen Johnson welcomed her third son into the world... He grew up... met a girl... went to college... got married... then they had ME! :)

So Happy Birthday Dad... from your favorite daughter! (I'm the favorite now because I got married AND had a little boy, which now means we have BOYS in our family, besides Dad)

For loving your girls and our activities (even though you might have had more fatherly fun with boys)

For showing me how to love my spouse

For always holding on... even when I wanted to be let go

For welcoming my husband into our family just like he was your own son

For loving my son as much as you love me

and

Just because...

I Love You!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope we get to spend many more together!

New beginnings

So, lots has happened since my last post!

1. I traveled down I-35 to Austin for our state track meet and our kids walked away with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th places... At the state level, this is an AWESOME accomplishment! I am SO proud of the two girls we took, but SO happy to finally have some down time.

2. I was named our new Math department head for the 2010-2011 school year and the years to follow. I am very sad to see our current head leave because she is an incredible person, teacher, and mentor. We have a few big changes coming in our department with people leaving and moving around. I am pretty excited about whats to come, but pretty anxious as well. So when you are thinking about it, send some prayers my way! I have some HUGE shoes to fill.

3. I got accepted into the Graduate Academic Partnership program at UTA (University of Texas at Arlington). This means I start my masters program THIS month!! CRAZY!! May 24th is the magic date and then 60 weeks later, if all goes as planned, I will graduate with my masters in Education. Although 60 weeks SOUNDS like a long time, it's really a short period of time to complete something like your masters degree.

4. This one isn't really #4, but as a teacher, you have to throw it out there... We have 6 REAL days of school left and then 8 days of OFYP. What is OFYP?? You don't want to know... but if you must... it's basically where the kids who didn't pass any part of TAKS, come to school and get more TAKS thrown in their face, while all of the other "angels" stay home and sleep and start their summer 8 days early!

So... new beginnings here I come. I truly believe that God has bigger and better plans for me at Poteet and that is why I didn't get that head volleyball position. God-1, Ashley-0... really its more like God-5 billion, Ashley-0... but you get the point!

Can't wait until summer... 3 weeks!!

Wordless Wednesday

perfect ending to my day...

I'll love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living

My baby you'll be

Today was a good day...

A very good day in fact... and just what the doctor ordered.

I have been so busy and so caught up in my work, that my family

has been coming in 2nd on the priorities list lately and that just isn't right.

So today, I woke up with nothing on my agenda... No TAKS test to administer... No Track meet... No wedding showers... No place to be... but of course with a monster headache and a very stuffed up nose... Lucky for me, my little angel just wanted to cuddle in bed with mom and went back to sleep along with his allergy-ridden mother. So around ten thirty, I finally rolled over to a sweet, smiling little boy and everything was right with the world. Forget the snot running down my nose... forget the scratchy-ness in my throat... Forget the huge headache between my eyes... My little one wanted to play and he wanted to play with his mommy! We did finally roll out of bed around eleven and Casey suggested we take a family trip to the Dallas World Aquarium. Well, we would have gone, if the entire world hadn't been in downtown today marching on behalf of something to do with immigration. I don't really even know what they were marching for... I just know it was about immigration. So yeah, we didn't go to the aquarium... BUT we did go to the zoo instead! Now, I will admit that at first, I was not completely sold on this idea... Don't tell my husband, but I just knew that it was going to be packed and absolutely miserable. Oh but God's a funny guy and must have been trying to teach me something today... It ended up being absolutely beautiful outside and not crowded at all! Kudos to you, hubby, it was a great idea and like I said before, just what the doctor ordered.

I absolutely loved watching Colton discover new things today. He is such a curious little boy and enjoys watching the world around him. He especially loved the fish in the Koi Pond and I'm pretty sure he and his daddy will be trying to catch those together one day.

Here are some pictures from our day:

Lesson learned - Take time to enjoy your family and all of the small things that we so often take for granted.

Yes, today was a very good day...