Lubbock or Leave it

So much can happen when you don't update your blog in seven months. Time flies when you are having fun, or something like that. We have had some major life changes in the Bading household, in what felt like one very short year.

As you know back in 2015 I went back to school. Partly out of necessity but I guess at this point that's neither here nor there. As you may know I started my first year as a teacher, teaching 3rd grade at Wood River Elementary School, where Reese attends school. Reese was in 2nd grade this last year and Brynn attended Pre-K at an amazing in home preschool called Mary's Little Lambs. Ryan was working from home as a consultant for Chromatin. Our fall in a nutshell included a few trips to College Station, lots of girl time with Daddy (because Mommy was ALWAYS at school) and lots of mental breakdowns for me thinking how would I ever make it through the first year teaching. It was awesome. I made it to Christmas break and was over the hump I suppose.

Recap: Ryan left Monsanto and began working as a consultant for Chromatin and then in January started as a full time employee. He is doing exactly what he was doing before only for a new company. While he is still breeding sorghum in South Texas, he will now also be working on breeding on the East Coast as well.

 Ryan and I hit the 10 year mark, we celebrated by dropping the kids off with his parents, and actually went away alone for the weekend. It was the first time since our honeymoon we went somewhere without our kids. It was nice. They got to have fun with Oma and Opa...it was a win-win.

A short time later, we were informed that Chromatin wanted all their breeders in one place, so we got word that we were headed west...and by west I mean WEST, as in REALLY far west, to the growing town of Lubbock, Texas. It's really far away.  Over Spring Break we packed up the kids and made the long 8 hour drive to Lubbock to look for houses. Our house was going to go on the market while we were gone. I figured one week of it being spotless would be good, because the thought of having the kids keep it clean for showings was already making me crazy.

We looked for houses, the kids and I, while Ryan worked. Shockingly the kids LOVED every house we looked at. While in Lubbock, we got a call that after one day on the market our house had two offers and by that night we were under contract. What a huge weight off my shoulders!!
 
It must have been all about the timing, because we had seen a BUNCH of houses but nothing was ringing our chimes. Wednesday night we were under contract on our house in Corpus and knew we would officially be homeless after Memorial Day. I got up bright and early the next a.m. and saw a brand new listing that fit all of Ryan's demands and some of mine. We made an offer that afternoon and we were no longer homeless...or so we thought.

From March to May it was a CRAZY time for the Bading family. A few little trips here and there, a lot of denial about having to pack things, and oh that little test the State makes you take in 3rd grade called the STAAR. It's not at all stressful for teachers in 3rd grade at all (I hope you sense my sarcasm because it's pretty thick). We packed the weekend before and after STAAR, and May 10th after STAAR was over I took my first deep breath. The moving company came May 16th and packed us up and we closed on the house here May 18th...second deep breath.

We ended up having to close on the house here in Corpus before school got out, which I do not recommend to anyone ever. It's almost as stress free as the STAAR test. We moved out on the 18th, closed on the house, and left Reese with some friends so she wouldn't miss school. Ryan, Brynn and I drove to Lubbock with a trailer full of stuff and closed on the house in Lubbock May 20th. The moving truck arrived on the 21st , and we left the house with all our stuff in it on the 22nd to head back to Corpus for the last week of school...third deep breath. Our amazing neighbors The Ferguson's let us crash with them for the last week of school.
 
The last week of school was busy. Reese accepted awards for Prefect Attendance, A Honor Roll, Science Fair (1st place in 2nd grade), and the STAR student award for her class. She also got certificates for competing in UIL Storytelling and for being in Choir.

       Sidenote: Over the course of the school year as I mentioned, Reese competed in the Science Fair, she placed 1st at school and went onto Regionals. She also completed in UIL Storytelling and placed 6th in the Region, and also was in Choir. The BIGGEST award of all was that Reese got picked for receiving the Good Character/Citizenship Award. She was picked out of ALL the 2nd graders at our school. She got that award in 1st grade as well and we were very proud of her for getting it in 2nd as well. It is an award they give a student who exemplifies exceptional character traits to his/her peers.

  On the last day of school, Reese and Brynn left with Ryan. Ryan dropped them off at his parents house, and he headed to Lubbock with the dogs. I am in Corpus as I type this finishing out my last week of in-service and will head to Lubbock (stopping to get the girls on the way) on Thursday. Then we will be a family again, all living under the same roof.

  Of course then the fun begin, unpacking and finding a place for everything. Lubbock is a GROWING city. It has more to offer than Corpus and is a college town, housing Texas Tech University. I am looking forward to being back in a college town. It will be nice to have access to sports, shows, and hopefully a vast pool of well educated college students who want to babysit. We live a little bit (about 10 min) outside of Lubbock, on an acre lot, in a home that was built one year ago. There is a pool and a HUGE barn out back.

  I would post pics but our laptop broke and we are in the process of getting it fixed. A new city means having to find new repairs shops etc.

  So if you want to reach us, give us a call (our cell phones are the same...or find us on FB) and we will give you our new address. If you are ever passing through Lubbock let us know, we would love to see you...and we know, Lubbock is VERY far away.

In other words, that might be when I post my next lengthily blog to inform you all of what has been going on with us. Until then I will be grading papers, and writing lesson plans!

Long and Very Overdue

Good Morning! Sorry it has been so long since my last blog post. A LOT has happened/changed since my last post. I decided to go back to school, for various reasons, and obtain my teaching certification. It has been a long and busy process but right now I have officially obtained my probationary certificate, and after teaching this coming year will have my standard certificate. On top of going to school on nights and weekends, I also started substituting in our school district. It was a CRAZY time from Jan. through May, many times subbing all day, coming home around 3:30 or 4 and leaving again at 5:15 for class until 9 p.m. at night. I subbed a lot at Reese's school and was very excited and extremely grateful to get offered a position there for this fall. I seriously hit the jackpot on that one. My program director of the certification program said I must have been doing an unreal job subbing because Calallen isn't a school that hires brand new teachers. I had a lot of teachers at the elementary school requesting me for their classes. I spent 3 weeks in the same 3rd grade class and just had a BLAST with those kiddos.
I will be teaching 3rd grade, math, science and social studies and Wood River Elementary School is .6 miles from our house. In April I tested over all the core subjects, plus art, music and physical education for grades K-6. I passed my test and a huge weight was taken off my shoulders! In June, I started full day classes for 5 weeks to learn everything there was to know about being a teacher in a very short time. LOTS of important info, and crazy amounts of great information.
For the next three weeks (well now more like 2) I have some time to "relax" with the kiddos before I get my classroom keys and can begin setting up my classroom. Then it's a week and a half of teacher in-service and then school starts. AHHH! During the school year I will have some work due to my certification program, have classes one Saturday a month, and of course all the regular work that comes with teaching. It will be another busy year but I am looking forward to it.
 Now you might wonder what Brynn will be doing now that I am going back to work. I was very lucky and found an amazing in-home preschool which is run by a certified teacher and is located about 5 miles from our house. She started June 1st, since I had school for 5 weeks and has been attending some in July to keep some sort of routine. She absolutely loves her new school and has learned so much. Right now it's a summer schedule so there is a lot of playing and center time, but in Aug. the curriculum will begin. She has already picked up some awesome stuff so I can't wait to hear how much more she learns once classes actually start.
 Reese was busy this summer, with some camps, and a big week and a half trip to Meme's and Grampy's alone. I was lucky to have my Mom and Dad take Reese to Kingwood since I was out of things for her to do the days I was in school. It was a HUGE help to have her occupied and taken care of while I was at class. I was also very lucky and had a few friends who were able to watch her on the afternoons when I was in class when her camps were half days. She attended a VBS, a cheer camp and was dancer of the week for her age group. I was fortunate to have help this summer with her, otherwise it would have been hard to handle. This spring she played softball and had a great time. She made the All-Star team and played very well. We got rained out a LOT, I missed a LOT of games for school, but when I did get to see her play she always had a great time and tried her best. She really improved during the All Star season, with the more intense practices. At school she received some awards (pictures below). She got one for A Honor Roll, one for participating in the Science Fair and one for making it to the Regional Science Fair. She had a great school year and is looking forward to 2nd grade. She is really excited for me to be teaching at her school and is looking forward to being my helper in the afternoons. She is going to be my desk cleaner and pencil sharpener. I think she's the most excited that every day after school she can come into my room and draw on the white board. She loved doing that the afternoons I was subbing. Here are some pics from the last few months.

Easter:
Easter egg hunting with the cousins
LOTS of girl cousins!


Waiting to see what the Easter Bunny left for them.
Silly B
Riding her bike to school! Twinkies! When your Mom subs, you can both wear the same shirt to school!
a b-day party where they got their faces painted
We had a LOT of rain this Spring...a LOT
On average the entrance to our neighborhood was under water at least 2-3 times a week.
Piggies!

 Awards day at school. I was so excited for her!

 Brynn's first day of preschool!!! She loves it!

 Sweaty bands! Someone has a big forehead in this pic. :)

 While Reese was at MeMe and Grampy's having a blast on her own, Brynn and I hit the beach by ourselves on my day off from school. She had a GREAT time. While I know the girls missed each other (Brynn asked me everyday when we were going to get Reese) they each had a GREAT time on their own. Reese ruled the roost, went to the library everyday, read a ton of books, swam a ton, hung out with Nana and Grandma at their respective residents and keep everyone entertained. The best part was hearing how well behaved she was for everyone.

 E week at school!! This is just one of the amazing projects she comes home with each week! I love her school!!

The girls and I headed to the beach yesterday for a girls only trip. They got sprinkle doughnuts for the car ride and we played for 3 hours at the beach. No one was there and it was lots of fun to have the beach to ourselves. They rode the waves in on their boogie boards, made lots of sand castles and found lots of shells. 

We have been hitting the pool a LOT and everyone is improving on their swimming skills. Reese is a pro at jumping off the diving board and swimming in the deep end. I don't think she even hangs out in the shallow end anymore unless she is tired from jumping. Brynn has spent the summer swimmie free and has been doing an amazing job swimming on her own. It's crazy to think she's not even 4. She has mastered the doggie paddle (a skill needed to pass the swim test), can swim under water and come up for air before going back under and now can dive down to the bottom of the pool on her own to pick up toys. This last weekend she swam half the width of her pool on her own even going under the lane ropes. If she would work on floating on her back a little more I have no doubt she would be able to pass the swim test, meaning she would be able to go into the deep end and jump off the diving board. We still have a few weeks to practice so we'll see how she does. She is a FISH just like her big sister. I think next summer we will be in the deep end a lot because I bet both of them will be passing the swim test as soon as summer starts. I love how much they love to swim. We are three VERY tan people, that's for sure.

I bet you thought I forget about my blog...

Yup, it’s really been since October that I last blogged. I guess life just got in my way. Sorry. We went to Disney World in January and had a FABULOUS time. I could go to Disney World once a year because the wonder on those little faces is just awesome. We had a great time with everyone, and I can tell you confidently everyone enjoyed the amazing food Disney has to offer. Brynn asks to go back to Disney World at least 3 times a week and I know Reese would go back tomorrow if we let her (I would too). Here are just a few of the pictures I took while in Disney.

What more can two little girls ask for than dining with their best Disney Junior pals. Brynn was stunned when she met Doc McStuffins.

Phineas and Ferb!

Ryan and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on our first day in Disney!

We hit the Magic Kingdom, riding the Royal Carousel, and Dumbo (B’s favorite ride), an awesome parade, and meeting The Little Mermaid. We also ate dinner with Winnie and Pooh and friends, watched the fireworks show and got to meet Tinkerbell…who told Brynn she must have been in a Tinker trance because Brynn was literally speechless when Tink said Hi to her.

We were back at the Magic Kingdom. Brynn braved yet another roller coaster, with panic in her eyes (and all over her face) and the girls met Elsa and Anna from Frozen. I can’t begin to tell you how much they loved that meet and greet. It was awe inspiring for them. For dinner we dinner with Cinderella, Prince Charming, along with Lady Tremaine and her daughter (Cinderella’s step-mother and sisters)

Animal Kingdom was another stop on our adventure. Breakfast in Africa with Mickey and his gang, meeting all our Jungle Book friends, along with Pocahontas and some others.

When we met Rafiki we pretended Brynn was little baby Simba and held her up in the air!

Everybody LOVES Baloo and King Louie. Hadley wanted to ride the Kali River Rapids ride but it wasn’t warm enough for anyone else to want to commit to getting soaking wet…well everyone except Brynn. We got her all ready in Leslie’s raincoat and off she went with Hadley for the adventure. Everyone came off the ride soaking wet except Brynn.

This kiddo had a HUGE grin on her face the entire ride and when she got off. She had so much fun with Hadley and I think she knew how cool she was for braving the water ride like a champ.

She looked as if she were hovering on the ground with how the jacket was the perfect length for her.

School for the girls has been plugging along. Brynn is learning a TON of stuff and Reese is doing well. They both enjoy school immensely and never complain about going. Spring Break came and went. We visited Meems and Grampy in Houston, saw the new Cinderella movie and went to Brownsville to the Gladys Porter Zoo. The girls enjoyed themselves on all our little outings.

Reese is playing softball this year and has had two games already. The seem to be doing well and we look forward to a full season. This last week Reese was given a very special award for being a “Student of Character”. She was chosen as the 1st grader for this award, and we were very honored for her to receive this. Each time I go to her school, which is often as I volunteer A LOT, I am stopped by staff members who tell me what a joy it is to have her on campus. I have been told that she is the bright spot in their day. She is extremely caring towards other students and always looks out for others. We are very proud of her for earning this award. Reese receiving her award from the Superintendent.

All the students from Calallen ISD who received the award (each grade level picked a student)

Here's to hoping I can get around to Easter pictures soon. My old trusty shortcut app for writing my blog quit working and this long way was a pain in my booty-heiny (as Brynn calls it)