Weekend/Memorial Day

It was a great long weekend... I had been off work since Wednesday!  oh and those 6 days were fabulous.  :)  
I had a garage sale Thursday night and all day Friday... Thursday was a hit, Friday - not so much.  Oh well. 

Friday night we just hung out, movie and popcorn!
Saturday was a day just at home...  fiddle-farting around.  I did some cleaning, laundry, Kayson and I did a few errands together, we played random stuff and just enjoyed a nice day at home.  Saturday night we were going to try Smokey D's, as we were craving their chips (and maybe the meat too)... but the line was a mile long, so we opted for Jethro's.  Not as good!

Sunday we went to church, then got ourselves packed up.  I had wanted to get up to Clarion since last week knowing that Mom's headstone was in.  So I was antsy.  We got to Clarion... and it was a beautiful day, so we sat on Tricia and Greg's deck for a couple hours and just talked and laughed.  We ordered pizza in, then we went out to the cemetery.  What a beautiful time we had there.  

From there, Derek (Eden's boyfriend), mentioned playing some baseball... so we all (minus Ash and Ryan) went up to the softball fields, and had a little fun (not competitive) game!  Basically Ryan pitched to everyone, and everyone hit the ball, including Cora... we ran the bases... we had terrible throws and catches... and a load full of laughs.  Oh my gosh... what a great time!!

We got the kiddos to bed at a great time... and then we just sat and chilled.  The kids slept amazingly... nearly 11 hours!!  Yea kids.  

Monday morning Ryan, kids and I went out to the farm right away... and just hung out there, rode the gator, played catch... and just enjoyed the weather and the views.  Everyone else came out and we had lunch too.  

We got back to DSM around 4:30...  I grabbed groceries super quick (just enough to get us by this week)... and we had a quiet night.  

So much fun this weekend.  

Driving Papa's old truck... getting pizza!

Selfie with Ed!

Funniest picture ever. :)

Cora got sleepy... and let Aunt Jill hold her for a bit!

Hardy Monument - Complete

We went up to Clarion Sunday afternoon through Monday for a little Memorial Day get away... and spend time there.  

Mom and Dad's headstone is in... and beautiful.  Oh my gosh, I love it.   I guess to say I love it and it's beautiful, is an understatement.  It makes me gush tears, it makes my heart hurt, but also pound so fast, and brings a smile to my face too.  Every damn emotion.  I just wanted to stand there forever and look at it.  

Just being there makes me ache...  and I pray that Mom is there watching us.  Watching Cora pick the weeds, and take a stick and try to "dig to see her special bed".  I just hate that Mom is missing out on everything... on my kids, on my nieces and nephew.  

Random pics

Kayson - Last Day of 2nd Grade!

Ok, so I said last year went fast... NOPE - this year did!  Holy cow, it's summer, as of today at 3:40 for the kiddos.  Unbelievable. 

Kayson is now done with 2nd grade!  He's learned a lot, and I think he's grown up a little too.  I mean, we have our moments, but I can start to see some maturity in some things, and I really appreciate that.  ha. 

He had a great year, and says he now likes math.  :)  

Today was a beautiful day, weather wise - so Maple Grove was able to have their 'field day' of fun.  Kayson said they were busy all day, and was super fun... and sad!!  At the end of the day, they have a clap out for the 5th graders.  Well, one of those 5th graders is our cousin Duke, who's become a really good little friend to Kayson.  Cousins make great friends too.  I was told my Duke's mom that there was a very long big hug between the two of them, and some serious tears.  OMG.  Sooooo damn sweet, but also makes us giggle a little.  :)  We instantly think of Papa Dick - he was a very emotional man, would tear up at a lot - sad things and even happy things!  So we've come to the conclusion that Duke and Kayson have that Taylor blood of being emotional.  (K gets some from me too!) haha.

Anyway, super proud of this kid.  He got an awesome little start to a tan today too.  

 

Look at those tears and smiles.  *heart*

Personal Time Off

At my workplace, there has been an announcement (late last year, 2016), that Principal is 'removing' our PTO.  There's a lot that goes into this, and a lot of opinions as well.  But in a nutshell, the PTO that I've earned so far (and I continue to accrue time), I need to use it.  Basically, starting January 2018, we will go to the concept of "Flexible Time off", so basically you are able to take the time off that you need/want, as long as you work with your leaders and co workers to manage it.  Perfect.  (this is basically being done now, except the time comes out of a bucket!)

But the thing is -- this time that I've earned so far, in my almost 19 year career, I am going to use it - I completely deserve it.  I've done a pretty good job of using some random days here and there so far... and I'll be taking several days over the next 3 weeks (a long Memorial Day weekend, and our beach vacation). 

And with that, I've really started to enjoy those random days off.  I just may be doing random things, or it's a full day of errands, cleaning, catching up on house stuff - but it's a day for me.  Sometimes I just need a day of nothing - a day of quiet (not hearing "Mom" 1,000 times!)  Regardless, I feel like I'm unplugging from work, and recharging...  and I have no guilt in that!!  I'm totally going to use the time, cuz I earned it.

I used to be a hoarder of my PTO - my hubby may disagree (not like he is!!), but I was actually.  We had the ability to 'buy' PTO at the end of the year (for the following year), and I would... just in case.  What if we needed time off for sick kids, or we had an emergency.  You just don't know what will happen, and I was prepared.  I knew when I started at Principal 18 years ago, I wanted to have enough PTO to take vacations, and be prepped for those sick days...  and so far, I have been prepped, but we have never taken a vacation - until this year!!  And I'm excited about that.  I deserve it, and so does my husband. 

I saw this quote the other day that triggered these thoughts.

Cora - Tumbling (Season 1 done)

I've done a terrible job at documenting Cora's tumbling experience.  She started back in September... every Monday, for 30 minutes.  It's gone well.  Yes, (as I've written before), she likes to throw fits from time to time when going in to class, but really, in a nutshell - she's done well.  

She's learned a lot I feel.  She seems stronger too, which is fun. I like me some strong little people!  

Here are some recent pics of the little one.  Her last class for the season was last night.  We'll have the summer off, then we'll start again - doing tumbling again.  She's doing the class again mainly because she'll JUST be turning 5, and it seems to still be a good fit for her. 

Her main teacher was Miss Hayley.  However, she's now graduated from HS, and moving on - going to be an Iowa State dancer!!  So Cora's last class last night was taught by Brittlyn, which was super fun... and Cora was super silly for her.  Imagine that.  :)

Teachers Britt and Abby

Weekend

Friday:
Yet another rainy day... cold, windy, yuk.  Kayson's baseball game was canceled.  Jill's were planning on coming to the game, so just decided to come down anyway, which made me happy.  They brought Dad with too, so that was nice.  We just sat around, ate pizza and giggled.  I think Dad had a nice time - him, Ryan and Jeff just sat at the kitchen table and talked and talked...  that, too, made me happy.  He's been so down.

Cora was a goofball most of the night... so her, Linds and Ash played well and made many more giggles happen.  Ryan and Kayson played the PS4 - boy stuff.  :)  It was a super nice night. 

Saturday:
I got my butt out of bed at 6:15 and headed to the gym!!!  My friend Jess was going to one of the classes, so she asked me to go with...  and I did.  I'm actually shocked that I did, but I did it. (not sure if that'll happen again!?!?)  I'm still sore from it!  ha.  

I got home around 8:15 and the kids had JUST woken up!  Holy cow.  We hung out for a bit, then got ready for our day.  Ryan took Kayson to a friend's birthday party - Kaed (neighbor friend).  It was at Climb Iowa, and Ryan just stuck around for the whole party... I guess Kayson did really well with the climbing.  So cool!!!  and such boy stuff!  ha.   Meanwhile, Cora and I did a few errands... then back home to have a quick lunch. 

We were going to go to a grad party, but we decided against it...  so we just hung out in the afternoon.  Cora took a little rest, I took a 20 minute one, which was heaven.  

Saturday afternoon, around 4:30, we went over to our friends Jess and Lex's - they were having a family/friend birthday party for their littlest, Dax.  He's turning 3, they like to have family/friend which is always fun.  The weather was super random, but they ended up having a bounce house, which was awesome for the kids.  The adults sat and chatted, and had a yummy supper.  Very nice.

Sunday:
And once again, we had to wake the kids!  Tired kiddos.  We went to church, then back home.  Not much this afternoon, which is nice...  Cora took a great rest, Kayson did a little reading, I got groceries.  And now Ryan and K are helping with the start of our church shoe drive.  

Kids last Sunday school class until September.   #ThankfulLinks

Oh I'm proud.  ha.

We were also informed that Mom's headstone is in and set.  I can't wait to see it next weekend... it just brings tears to my eyes. Pictures to come.  Man, I miss her.