Alright it's been a while, I know, but seriously when posting to FB and updating my status and adding photos is so easy what do you expect from me! Well here is a brief overview. In April I flew to Long Beach California for a 5 day long conference. This was the first work trip I took by myself, I flew into LAX for the experience (my choice, which turned out to be a bad one). I have now had the experience and won't ever do it again! Let's just say the Department of Homeland Security was detaining someone less than 10 feet from me at one point! The conferences in Long Beach was fantastic but it was the National Conference for On Course (the new book we are adopting for the Orientation class at school) and I attended the National Conference prior to the Session 1 and 2 trainings. So I left with a lot of excitement for the subject but a lot of missing pieces on how to use it in the classroom. Just 3 short weeks after returning from Long Beach, I flew back to California to attend Part 1 of the training in San Francisco, CA. This time I few out 5 days early and took Erin a long with me. My parents watched the boys in Topeka while Erin and I took a much needed vacation. We have never left the boys for this long of a time frame or even been this far away from them. We expected them to miss us at least a little but but they didn't want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's house once Erin came back. I ended up being away from them for 11 days that trip! Once I came home from SanFran I was there for 2 days then flew back out to Baltimore, Maryland for 5 more days. This was for Part 2 of the conference. By the time all the training had ended I was jet lagged and exhausted. I was mentally drained from all the training and the time change was starting to catch up with me! I am happy to be home and very excited about my new skills. Due to attending this training I will be able to create a new course for our students to take once they finish their GED's but prior to starting College. We are hoping this will make the transition a little smoother and the students success rate higher! Guess we will see! All I can say for now is I am glad my next flight isn't for another 3 month! At that time I will be returning to Long Beach to give my own presentation at a National Conference! I am excited and nervous at the same time!
At home we have been keeping busy with outdoor projects! The garden is doing well this year but I wish I would have planted more lettuce, corn and onions and fewer cherry/grape/roma tomatoes, I love growing tomatoes but no one in the family eats them, especially the small ones, so we struggle to find a good use for them! Right now they are solely being watered for Maks entertainment! He loves to pick them and put them in his bucket but like me he never eats them! My cucumbers look great but they are not producing in this heat and the potatoes got taken over by weeds so although when I dig them there are more than enough they are sure hard to find in all the weeds! My shade garden was neglected during my travels so I am struggling to bring it back but our new sprinkler system is helping but one end of it is not watered much so I still have to drag he hose out there for part of it.
Did I mention I got a new sprinkler system? My dream has finally come true. We had a well drilled a few weeks ago and the sprinkler system was put in shortly after. I am still feeling out the sprinkler system. I had gotten estimates and had it laid out but they changed it when they arrived. I am going back and forth now on my decision to not add the extra zone (which would allow me to water the gardens on their own) but I guess we will see. I can have them come back out and change it if I want but I am testing it for a few weeks before I make a decision. The other thing is that we got a new play set for the boys and in the back yard the sprinklers are the oscillating ones that spray into the air. With the new wooden playset I am not sure I want that. I think we may switch out the heads and go with the fountain ones to help control the spray a little more. We also got our new concrete poured for the new patio! I am loving the look but the stain sure makes it hot during these summer days!
Erin's job at the credit union is going well (oh ya, if you didn't already know Erin doesn't work for Dillon's anymore! He now works for Envista Credit Union). He is full-time now and starting to get the hang of all the paperwork that is required on Loans and such!
Kale has started at his new School (Central Christian). He really enjoys all the new kids and activities they do. He lost his spot at Early Ed due to employee kids and grandkids getting priority. This school has more bible content that he is used to but he is really liking it. He prays before meals now and loves learning about God. He teaches us his lessons each day when he gets home. He is very excited for Maks to start in August.
Maks is still at Miss Debbies until August. We felt that he would be best served if he switched when they were starting more structured classes rather than the laid back "summer camp" feel it has at the moment. He is really excited to start his new school but we are not sure how he will do in such large classes (10 kids per class). At Miss Debbies the most she has ever had at one time is 7 and usually it is closer to 5. Maks doesn't do as well with new as Kale does. This summer Maks has started to play his first team sport. T-Ball has been a great experience for him. He loves to hit the ball and is finally coming around to actually chasing the ball when he is in the outfield! Kids sports are very entertaining at this age to say the least!
Well that is about all on the updates right now! I will hopefully get more pictures added soon!
Here is a picture of the letters I made from a Pinterest. I first started with the cheap paper maiche (sp?) letter blocks! I think I got them for about $1.39 each. These just look like brown cardboard letters. I then purchased a can of Gold Metallic spray paint. I took them outside and started to put light layers of paint on them. I did this on a very windy day so the paint took no time at all to dry! I put a few layers on let them dry and then Viola I had nice gold letters for my bedroom wall that look metal and expensive but actually super cheap, light weight for easy hanging and cardboard! 
