So apparantly I haven't updated my blog since April 9th. Big surprise there! We have been busy, things have been crazy, I sometimes forgot, but mostly I'm just pretty lazy. So this is my attempt to catch you all up on the Baker business over the past 4 months. Here goes...
April came and went, along with my 29th birthday. As a kid the anticipation of another birthday was almost more than I could handle. I loved looking through catalogs or walking through Wal-Mart trying to decide what I wanted for my birthday. Then I started creeping ever so close to the dreaded 30's. I absolutely am not looking forward to my 30th birthday. I know that this is something everyone goes through, that it's just a matter of time, that 40 is the new 30, which would make 30 the new 20 (?), but I don't want to be 20 again, either. 28 was a great age. Old enough to be considered a mature young adult but young enough to be able to brag about still being in my 20's without the 30's looming over me. But I guess when it comes down to it being 29 still has to be way better than 39, right??!!
May brought the most stressful time of our jobs....end of the year testing. We spend 7 months teaching teenagers everything they need to know about a specific subject, 1 month re-cramming it into their brains hoping they will retain something, and then they spend 2 hours determining my fate. Will these tests show I'm a good teacher? A bad teacher? Somewhere in the middle? I am forced to base my capabilities as a teacher on a hormone-driven 14 year old kid who couldn't care less about Algebra I or Geometry. After all, their favorite question to ask is "Mrs. Baker, when will I ever need to use this is real life?". My answer "When you become a math teacher". None of them ever think I'm very funny.
May also brought my new found love; couponing. When I had just gotten married my mom used to tell me that I should start couponing. I thought she was crazy. In my mind, couponing was buying 1 paper on Sunday, clipping all the coupons, and going to the store and buying every item I had a coupon for. It was wasteful and more expensive than if I'd just gone and gotten what I needed in the Great Value brand. Then along came TLC's Extreme Couponing. OMG- what an eye opener! Once I researched and learned the correct way to use coupons to maximize your savings I became totally addicted! If I have to buy something at full price it stresses me out. Heck, if I have to spend over a $1 on something it stresses me out! Nathanael told me about a month ago that I need to lay off the deodorant and body wash. It seems I have enough to last us both well over a year! Just the other day I found Lucky Charms at Wal-Mart on clearance for $1 so I bought every box they had (8). If only I'd had a coupon for that, it would have been dirt cheap! (Well, dirt cheap-er!) Since we are both teachers with 2 kids in daycare which runs us $600 a month this has been an amazing way to get the name brands that we love for next to nothing. My favorite thing is running out and not having to stop what I'm doing to go to the store....I just go to my stockpile and grab another!
June brought us many exciting events! 1st I had a garage sale and got rid of all my baby items. Gone, adios, see ya! Since we have decided we are happy with 2 girls it was time to get rid of the storage unit. It was a lot of hard work but totally worth it! We also headed back to good ole' KBA! Every summer Nathanael and I move to Talihina, OK to work at Kiamichi Baptist Assembly. Actually, he works and I get to be a stay-at-home-mom for the summer! His parents are the directors and his brother is the head of maintenance, so his sister-in-law and 2 nieces live there also. We always have a great time hanging out with his family and get lots of down time in between camps. We also went on our 1st vacation! We took the girls to San Antonio and hit up Sea World, the Riverwalk, the Alamo, the San Antonio Children's Museum, and briefly the San Antonio Zoo. We spent some time in the hotel pool and we saw Kung Fu Panda 2. Great time- I highly recommend Sea World to anyone with kids of any age!
July 4th we spent in Sentinel for the annual celebratory bash. My brother Riley is opening up a drive-thru convenience store in Sentinel so we built a replica of his building and entered it as a float in the parade. The girls threw candy and had a blast, even though it was ridiculously hot, and he ended up winning 1st place! Woohoo! After the parade we headed down to the park where McKenna participated in the Miss Tiny Tot contest and won Runner-Up! She did look pretty cute, even if I am a little biased. Our winning streak came to an end during Bingo, unfortunately, and the only prize I took home was a pity gift from my cousin Harli.
The rest of July literally flew by and before we knew it the summer was coming to an end and we found ourselves back in Anadarko for the start of a new school year. Nathanael will be teaching Geometry, Algebra 2, and Algebra 3 and I will be teaching Algebra I and Geometry. Keely will still be going to Kim's, a home daycare, and McKenna got accepted into the 3 year old Head Start Program. She starts her classes tomorrow so this momma is already a little teary eyed just thinking about it. I know that she is going to absolutely love her classes- they go to the library once a week and once a month they will take a field trip. I think she is most excited about riding the bus to the high school everyday to be dropped off after school.
On a sad note, we said goodbye to one our best friends on Friday, August 5th. The temperatures have been ridiculously hot (110 every day) and when we left for the afternoon she was in the backyard without us knowing it and didn't have any water. By the time we got back home she was already gone. Our hearts were literally broken because she was not just our pet, she was a member of our family. We have so many fond memories of our Liby Dog, and we will never forget her. Although it was an extremely hard day, it made me realize how lucky I was to have such beautiful daughters and a husband who loves me. God has blessed me beyond measure and I truly am a lucky girl!
About that 29 thing...Well, my baby girl turned 30 this year. Her friends had a Dirty 30 party for her...Whatever that is. LOL I think it just rhymes. Now that being said. I turned 57 this year. It hit me last year that at 56 I was now closer to 60 than 50. My grandparents were 54 or so when I was born and I always thought that they were old. Now I have come to the conclusion that being old is a state of mind. I too don't want to be 20 again. I would not go back through those tough times again for anything. I will tell you this. Getting older really isn't that bad. I thought it would be when I was 30, but I have decided that I like the freedom of being older. I can do and go pretty much anywhere I want anytime I want. That is pretty cool. I have great daughters and wonderful Grandchildren and Mike is still working. Yep, getting older has its perks. Some people even think you have answers cause you are older. LOL Enjoy your last year in your 20's and embrace your 30's...no one will believe you are 30 when you tell them anyway.
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