Baseball and Nieces

I'm not sure if there is anything quite as sweet as what I witnessed the other night. My little brother (who really isn't so little anymore) had a double header baseball game, which meant we showed up to lend a little support and cheer him on.

My other brother and his new family of four even made it out to watch and I'm so glad that they did. It was so fun to watch Z follow "Uncle Jett" from outfield to dugout and back again. She was just so excited for him. He even waved to her when he was in the outfield -- she just couldn't stop laughing and clapping. Until he did one better, at the end of the inning he ran all the way over to where we were watching to see her. She was on cloud nine!

This is why being an aunt/uncle is simply amazing!

One of the not so great parts of the night -- my brother and sister-in-laws SUV. Not so great!!

Emmy Lou

June 23 was my 26th Birthday. I'm not a big birthday person. To me it's really just another day, but this year was much more special! Not only did I get to spent it with over 100 campers (who made sure to wish me Happy Birthday every chance they had), not only did I get to spent it with 2 guy counselors who share the same birthday as me (Nathan and Sam), but my new niece was born on my birthday! How cool is that??? And the best part, she is also my god-daughter.

Miss Emmy Lou was born on June 23 and came in around 9 lbs 5 oz. And let me just tell you that she is a doll!

(sorry this is blurry...my camera hates me today, so you get my mom's version)

Yesterday, she was baptized into God's gracious Kingdom with her uncle Josh and myself serving as Sponsors. What a blessing!!
I'm going to be home visiting for the next 3 weeks, so I'm hoping to get a lot of baby Emmy and big sister Zoey time!

Where am I?

I'll give you a few hints.

~ Over 100 kids.

~ Over 30 staff.

~ Sleepless nights, but lots of laughs.

~ BUNCO! (with over 100 kids)

~ Ultimate Team Competitions.

~ Way too much canteen.

~ Yoga. Sweatin' to the Oldies. Archery. Arts and Crafts. Line Dancing. And. So. Much. More.

If you guessed CAMP...you WIN! (okay...so there are no prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing you were right!)

Want to know how things are going...check out the camp blog! You can find it here!

Friday Five: Jobs I've had...

Kat from Living Like the Kings, is a faithful blogger. I am not. However, every week when she does her Friday Five, I find myself wanting to join in. Today, since I am sitting at my sister's doing her laundry and waiting for her to get back from class, I decided to join in on the fun! Thanks for helping me blog again Kat!

1. Carhop/Cook/Manager - Frosty Drive In
This was also my very first job. I started the fall of my 6th grade year and I was SOOOO excited. My best friend was working there as were both of her older sisters and I was ready to be added to the list of carhops. Steph and I loved working together and we worked a lot of days after school because our school let out just a wee bit sooner than the public school, and not going to lie Carol (our boss) loved us! I can still remember Steph and I spending our day at school scheming what crazy meal we were going to put together for our Work Order that night. Great times! Eventually, we moved inside and did the cooking, and then I soon found myself in the position of a Closing Manager. The best part is that I still work here when they need help (how crazy is that??) and I pretty much consider Carol (boss) family. I always make a point to stop in and visit!
2. Childcare Lead - Color My World Daycare
LOVED this job. It was crazy. It was funny. It was full of crazy kids, but it was worth every second. I started in the Baby Room, which was beyond words amazing. I fell so hard in love for those kids and was always sad to see them move to the 1 year old room, yet it was fun to see how independent they had become. Eventually, I moved into the 3-4 year old room and spent my summers planning an awesome day for those kiddos.

3. SPED Paraprofessional - Valentine Middle School
In between my Sophomore and Junior years of college, I decided to take a year off. I wanted to move back home to try and figure out a lot of things in my life. Things like whether or not I could live in Valentine for the rest of my life (although, I did go back to school in WI, I did learn that I could do it and would love it) and if I wanted to teach in public school or Christian Day School (CDS). Upon moving home, I quickly landed a job as a Special Education Para in the Middle School. This job challenged me in SO many ways. I was cleaning up poop from 6th graders, I was shoved into a locker by a student, I was almost taken out by a student throwing a baseball at me. It. Was. Crazy. But through it all I learned how much I loved those students. The ones who challenged me every day. The ones who made me have to live life on my toes and to be ready for whatever crazy thing they were going to throw at me next.

Not only did I learn so much about myself that year, I also met some amazing people. When you grow up in a small community like Valentine, you "know" everyone. I can walk down the street and tell you if that person lives in Valentine or is someone visiting, but that year I got to really know and fall in love with the people in Valentine. Some of my greatest mentors were the teachers I worked beside every day. So blessed!

That year also taught me that I wanted to be CDS teacher. Not because public school stinks, (I'm a true fan of public school -- it's all about what works for your family!) but because I couldn't imagine having to teach students without being able to talk about God and faith. It is the most important thing in my life, and I couldn't imagine not being able to share it. SO...I moved back to WI and re-enrolled in the Teaching Program at Immanuel. The End. (Whew...)

4. Claims Mentor - UnitedHealth Group
Oh boy. I had a love-hate relationship with this job. I started out as a claims processor and it was BORING. So incredibly boring! BUT it was 20 hours a week from 4-9, M-Th. Seriously, could a student find a better schedule? I had my weekends free and I never had to worry about my class/work schedule getting messed up. HOWEVER my job meant I sat at a computer for 5 hours every night pushing the same buttons over and over and over. Eventually, my supervisor started giving me special projects and then I started to like the job. Soon those projects led to my supervisor suggesting I apply for the mentor job and then I loved my job. I was teaching people, I was working on special projects, I was troubleshooting....I was in love! I eventually graduated and moved into a full-time position and the big projects just kept coming. I was one of two mentors chosen to do a meet and greet demo for the President of the Company. WHAT?!? However, just as I was getting ready to start interviewing for a new job (Claims Process Planner--the one I was working towards), I found out I had the call to teach at a little school in Middleton. Best Day Ever!

5. Video Associate?? - Family Video
(I'm not really sure what my title is -- the part-time peon) I'm actually employed here currently. It's part-time and it's pretty fun. I am still amazed about how much you actually do have to and know to work at a video rental store, but I love that it's a job where I can shut off my brain and just do it. It's a mind-free job and I love that about it.

Well...this was much longer than I ever anticipated. Thanks for staying and making it through! Remember to check out Kat's Friday Five's at Living Like the Kings!

Two Down...

I can't believe I am done with my second year of teaching! It's amazing how fast time flies. I feel like just yesterday we were gearing up for Christmas vacation and now here I am almost 3 weeks into summer break!

We had a great end to our school year! On the last week of school, we had our End of the Year Fun Night and boy was it packed full of fun. This year we served our guests a Spaghetti Dinner. I was pretty nervous to serve a spaghetti meal because it's not something you can really make too far ahead, and my nerves proved true as we finished serving the 1st course, salad, to find out that our noodles were far from done. The good part was that we have a gas stove at school, so it boils water super duper fast. The other great part was that we were serving some of the sweetest and most understanding people out there! Gotta love parents and grandparents who are just happy to see their children in action, and not too concerned about the food coming their way!

After the Spaghetti meal, the students put on the play "The TRUE Story of the Three Little Pigs." It was cute, but pretty short! I found it's very hard to come up with a suitable play for a K and 1st grader and then 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. This one worked out pretty well though. My little boys made the cutest little pigs! (I had a picture to add, but blogger hates me right now!)

Overall, a fun end to a great year. Three weeks later I can confidently say that I have finished up everything from last year and I am moving into the planning stages for the 2011-2012 school year. It looks like I'll have 2 students. Yep, not a misprint. Two boys, 1st grade and 7th grade, and I'm so excited for all of the fun boys activities I get to plan!!