My Special Moment

I went home to Grand Haven to speak at Central High Schools 2008 Commencement Ceremony last night. I walked into Lakeshore Middle School to be flooded with emotions. Being in my old high school where many bad adolescent decisions were made was very hard. I realized something last night as I stood in front of old teachers, administration, school board members, students, and family, I am proud of myself. I am proud of who I am and how hard I have worked to get to this point in my life.


This is an email I recieved today from Paul Kunde the principal at Central High School:

Cari -

It was great meeting you yesterday. Thanks again for speaking at our graduation ceremony last night. You did an AWESOME JOB!!!!! I received so many positive comments about your speech. Some of our board members and Sue Richards, the Asst. Susp, all said they had tears when you talked.

If you ever need a change and want to come back and teach in Grand Haven, just let me know, I'm sure we can work something out. It's rare to find someone passionate about Alternative Ed.

Good Luck and Keep it Touch.


Paul Kunde

Memorial Day Weekend

What a great way to start the summer. Being a teacher is great...always having weekends, holidays, and random breaks off...but having a husband who works many weekends is hard. This weekend was special for us because we had all four days to spend together as a family. Even Tyler said he was on vacation. For all of you who don't know, Tyler works and he makes apple juice at his work!

We got the boat out of storage on Saturday and it fired right up. Hemlock Lake is quite small, but for a 3 year old it is the greatest lake ever. Tyler loved driving and Sam of course wouldn't sit still. It was nice to see the boat and how excited Tyler was to find out it was "ours". Tyler has become daddy's little shadow fixing and helping at every chance. So it was great for the two boys to go get the boat and put it in at the landing and then come pick us girls up.


With Samantha going to bed at 7:30 we can now have fires. Last summer fires were hard. Tyler was unpredictable and Sam would get up 4 times a night for bottles. Dan and I went to bed as early as possible. We had smores everynight. FYI...4 roasted marshmellows are only 100 calories! Oh, and marshmellows will make a tired little boy talk your ear off! Marshmellows do to Tyler what a few drinks do to Uncle Jim...YEAH!

Another great weekend for the Houston family!

Kids Paradise

What an evening. I have to say we are a bit spoiled with me getting out of work at 2:15 and Dan getting up around 2:00. We get to have some great evenings.
Tyler has swimming class at the Portage YMCA on Wednesday evenings at 5:30. Therefore, with gas at $3.99 a gallon we tend to run ALL errands on swim days. Sometimes this works well and others the kids are tired and impatient before we even get to the YMCA. Tonight was a good night. We went to KLS for mulch, Menards for a hose, Old Navy, JCPenney and Niskers all before swimming. The kids did fabulous!

Tyler swam all by himself...of course he still wants me in the pool for support. I feel we are almost to the point of mom not going in the pool (YEAH). He swims so well with his muscles on :) He doesn't like to blow bubbles and he isn't into diving but boy can the boy kick and scoop! He moves in the water and he wants EVERYONE to watch. He says to every parent and child..."watch this"...it is so funny.



After swimming we all wanted to play some more...none of us were ready to call it a night. We headed to Paw Paw and drove by Grandma trains to see if she wanted to come with to check out the new Kids Paradise (Tyler calls these the "all peoples playground"). They both had a blast...Sam didn't even eat the sand!

Samantha Scootin' in the Chair!

After Tyler had enough of the camera the focus went to Sam D....of course she hammed it up for the camera. Whats new...she is already a drama queen.

2 seconds after the camera went off she fell flat on her face. OOPS>>>good mom!

100% Tyler Bret

This is completely 100% Tyler Bret! We were hanging out in the camper Saturday morning, waiting for daddy to arrive and for it to warm up outside. I decided to break out the camera. Tyler ussually doesn't like his picture taken and NEVER smiles big when it is out....for some reason he was hammin' it up for me and I captured the smile that I love so much!

Landscaping the Lake

We have officially made the camper "work"! We headed to the lake after I got home from school to work on the landscaping around the deck. It is going to look so nice when we are finished. I took the kids for a walk and down to the lake while Dan worked...he did good for a guy with one hand in a cast. I was a GREAT supervisor, like always. It was a great evening...we even had hot dogs on the grill before heading back home.

OH so tired

This is what happens when Tyler doesn't get a nap at Kristi's

When he is tired there is no stopping him from falling asleep.

Sprinkler

My first blog....

I figure there are many of you who don't get to see my children enough. How fast they are growing or the funny things the say and do. They are absolutely the most beautiful blessings in my life. I can't wait to share some of our special moments...

Monday, 5.5.2008
better quality next time..I'm learning

I called in (shhh, don't tell)...Dan had the day off due to his hand surgery on Friday. We had all weekend to spend at the camper and I needed another day with my family. The weekend is just to short sometimes.

We came home Monday morning after our first weekend at the lake (http://www.hemlocklakecg.com/). Dan went and took a nap, his body isn't recovering to fast or easy. So, the kids and I headed outside. It was a beautiful day to play in the water. Sam wasn't to sure about the sprinkler, nor did she trust any sudden moves by her big brother. Tyler hates water in his face but doesn't have a problem "accidentally" squirting his sister. Tyler had so much fun with two bowls and the sprinkler on low. He watered my flowers, plants, driveway, and deck. It occupied him for over an hour, which is a very long time for my overactive little man.

After today I have made a commitment to my family....I am going to make this summer full of little moments of love....whether it be a run through the sprinkler, watering the driveway or just a walk around the block...whatever it may be, housework can wait, laundry will be there tomorrow and the vaccuum will always work-its a dyson! ~but these special moments are what matters. These past few years have already gone to fast....and I find myself forgetting moments or wishing I had more...I am going to enjoy all the time I have with them this summer...documenting it all and changing batteries in my camera constantly.

This will be the greatest summer ever!