Ode to Dollar Tree

I have to just say how much I love having a Dollar Tree close by! Everything in the store is a dollar! And it's not like those other dollar stores where the stuff looks cheap and you would never buy anything from there. This stuff is actually nice and I always feel like I get a great deal.
The other day, I went there looking for little snacks for Ayden. I didn't think I would find much. There was so much stuff! Name brand stuff! The treasures just kept coming!
I was really excited when Jeremy saw all the stuff I got! (Silly, I know!) And I was always proud to say, "Yep, that was only a dollar!"
So I just wanted to say THANKS! Dollar tree, for your great, cheap things!

Butterflies and Cookies

This is a great post for guys, isn't it?!?
Decorating is a thing I love to do! I finally put up Ayden's butterfly pictures today.














I've had these wooden plaque things from Hobby Lobby forever. I bought them because they were on sale, and I thought I could think of something to use them for. (I do this often! Do you?)














I painted them myself and they weren't exactly what I imagined, but they turned out pretty good. The wall looks a little empty around them still. I was thinking flowers on the wall somehow. Any ideas? I'm set on her room theme being butterflies :) It was going to be sun, moon, and stars at first so that I would have neutral things for the next kid, but it's more fun to make things pretty and girly!
Yesterday was dessert day for us. What better thing to do then to make a bunch of desserts on a rainy day? There were brownies, rice krispy treats, and black and white cookies!














These are Jeremy's favorite! I always make them for his birthday, father's day, or whenever he requests them! After watching the Seinfeld episode about them so many times, Jeremy really wanted to try black and white cookies. I searched everywhere to find them, calling every bakery I could think of. A place in the Frisco mall said they had them, and I was so excited to surprise Jeremy! Turns out they just had cookies with chocolate and white chips. So we searched the internet and found this recipe. They are really good! And they turn out so pretty!

Game Day

Jeremy had his first volleyball game on Thursday last week, and a second on Monday.














The first one I brought Ayden to. We ended up leaving because she was tired and crying. I rounded up a babysitter for the next one. Thanks mom!














It was fun to watch the games and watch Jeremy be a coach. I don't know what he was saying, but he looked great! I know it's alot of work, but I think it's happy work for him.














Watching all those middle school kids brought back a lot of memories. I wish I would have played sports in school. Now I think I would like to join a volleyball league for older adults who haven't played in years!

Movies!

We love to go see movies! Pretty much all of our dates are dinner and a movie, but we don't mind at all. I love going out to eat and get pretty excited about it! I love to try new things and Jeremy too. Anyone know of a restaurant we just have to try?
We doubled with Jeremy's brother and his wife Saturday. Since they were going to see the Tropic thunder movie we went to a different one. The only one available around the same time was the Mummy 3. So we saw it against Amy's recommendation! It was ok. Not as bad as I was expecting, but not as good as the first two. I wish they would have had the same actress for his wife. Looks like Twilight will be coming out in a few months! I'm excited to see the movie, and I'm hoping I can drag Jeremy to see it with me. I would really like him to see it with me :) I was wondering what actor they would get to play Edward since he's suppose to be drop dead gorgeous. I'm curious who you all would pick? On one of our dates Jeremy asked me to pick my top 5 actors who I thought were really cute. I had a hard time thinking of any!

Jeremy takes the wheel for a moment

I just wanted the opportunity to express a few thoughts. Recently Tina and I were able to get away for a few days without the kids for a little vacation. It was great. We stayed in a nice hotel in Irving and wined and dined ourselves for 3 nights. We saw 4 movies and ate some good food. We were able to see the best movie of the year so far in my opinion which is "The Dark Night". This was a sweet movie. Christian Bale is great. Michael Cain is greatness. Aaron Eckert is always good. But the movie was really stolen by Heath Ledger's performance. He was truly masterful in this movie. He was brilliant. The movie was fantastic. I think the direction and mood they have established in the first two Batman movies is intriguing, interesting, fascinating and brilliant. I am more cynical these days and don't just stamp my approval on every entertaining movie. But this was truly great. We also saw the new Hulk movie. This is an underrated movie as well. It cant be at exciting as Batman because of the general story line but it was a good show.

As Tina blogged previously, I have been hired to work for Princeton ISD in the Junior High. This district was in my top 5 to work for because I have done some volunteer work with them in the past and I am familiar with the administration. We feel very blessed to have this opportunity. Those of you who have known me for some time, know I have pondered on what my occupation should be for over 10 years. I have put the matter to prayer dozens and dozens of times. After I got laid off from EDS back in 2001 I prayed about what I should do. My answer was to go to school, get my degree and be a teacher/coach. Well with the signing of my contract last week the entire effort was culminated. I am excited to begin. I have to give a shout out to Tina. She is a wonderful woman. Not many woman could have put up with me over the past 5 years. When it comes to jobs and college majors I can be very frustrating. I have constantly switched jobs over the years. Sometimes I have just quit jobs because I could no longer stand them, with no fall back in place. I have changed college majors over the past 5 years probably 15 times (this is not an embellishment). I have been admitted to graduate programs in the following fields: Criminal Justice, Criminology, Speech Language Pathology, Kinesiology, MBA and Accounting to name a few. It has been a source of embarrassment to me that I couldn't find anything I truly liked. She has stuck with me, without complaint, over the past 5 years when I was delivering pizzas, working for grocery stores, etc... Tina is not a material girl, which is one of the things that makes her great. She is happy with what she has. That is the way she was raised. Her parents did a great job. Anyway, I will turn the keys to the blog back over to Tina. Peace out.

Asher's Baptism

This past Saturday Asher was baptized! He looked so handsome in his tie, and was really excited!
We had lots of family come including Asher's grandparents from Oregon.



















When Jeremy dunked Asher underwater, one little kid said Whoa! I think it was because Jeremy wanted to make sure he went under all the way and kind of dunked him deep.
After all the pictures (which Asher was ready to be done after the first one!), we headed to our house for refreshments. We had chocolate pudding pie, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate brownies, and pumpkin pie. Can you guess what Asher's favorite flavor is?
We are so proud of Asher and thankful that he chose to get baptized!

Coach Scott

Jeremy is officially a teacher and coach!!! He signed a contract with Princeton ISD a few days ago! We are so proud of Jeremy! And we feel that we have been really blessed.
Jeremy has spent countless hours thinking and praying about what he should do for a career. We have thought of and tried almost everything, but Jeremy kept coming back to teaching and coaching. When he passed that social studies composite test that was a clear sign from Heavenly Father that hey you need to do this! And now He has blessed Jeremy with a great job!
He will be coaching girl's softball, volleyball, and track, and teaching Texas history!
We are so proud of you babe! I know what a difficult road this has been, and I am thankful that you won't have to worry about things anymore. I love you!