Sunday, November 15, 2015

October Wedding!

In October, we attended a beautiful wedding for Cole and Kathryn Jost.
The wedding was in Wichita, KS at a Catholic church which was just beautiful!
The reception was also a huge hit!  There were about 500 people...biggest wedding I've ever been to!


Cole is Aaron's buddy from Hesston and they have played softball together for years.
The reception was held in a school gym, but they decorated so well that you couldn't even tell!



The live band and dancing was so much fun!



Here's our good friend Billye!


I didn't get a picture of the bride and groom, but I thought I would still document the day.  Cheers!
-Maria

Baby Reveal to our Family!

Baby on Board!
Hello!  We had a fun two weeks of traveling in October to tell our families the good news!
First, we told the Billings family in Garden City!  We drove out to just "hang out" for the weekend and then had a gift wrapped for Danielle's birthday...but little did she know it wasn't a birthday gift!  We surprised her with a onesie for little Madelyn that says...



Everyone loved it and it was a wonderful time talking and celebrating together!!  The Stucky kids don't have 1st cousins yet and we are going to bring them one soon!
(Madelyn looks like a life-size doll baby in Makenah's arms! hehe)



These two just love playing with Uncle Bear :)


Aren't they all just precious!??

Next up...fly to VA for Fall Break to tell the Yoders!
(The Royals were playing in the World Series play-offs as we were flying and so Aaron was decked out in his gear and watching the game!)


We gave my parents gifts to open for my Dad's birthday...but little did they know that it wasn't a birthday gift!  We had mugs made that said, "The best moms/dads get promoted to grandpas/grandmas!"  So fun!  Again, everyone was surprised and it was fun celebrating with everyone!


Here's our little peanut on October 20, 2015.  Less than 2 cm in length.


Yes, we have already have made many trips to Target to look at baby gear!  Aaron has been the best about finding which brands are good and which styles are easy to use.


We think Casey knows the news too :)


Here's our 2nd sono on November 12, 2015.  Doubled in size...4 cm.
At this appointment we saw the baby moving all over with arms and legs!  It was the coolest thing to see!


I have also been able to break the news to my First graders!  They are so excited for me and ask me questions all the time about the baby!  They want to know if it's a girl or boy really bad!  Another said she could see my belly growing.  Cute kids.

Hope you all are having a good weekend!
Love, Maria

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Hesston Barn Sale & family gathering - Oct. 2015

I will start this post by saying how much I appreciate my friend, Rachel Jennings.  She was one of my first friends I made after moving to Kansas.  She is so good at making friends and including people in fun activities.  She is so bubbly and I am so happy we still are friends, even though we don't work together at the preschool anymore.  

Anyways, this was our 2nd annual Hesston Barn Sale trip!  Yay for Fall, antiques, pumpkins, cinnamon rolls, red barns, crowds of people, and good company!  I love this time of year!  







After we had fun at the Barn Sale - Aaron drove us to Salina, Kansas for a Billings family reunion.  We went to one 2 years ago, and thought we should show our faces.  Aaron's sisters weren't able to make it, but we still had fun hanging out with Aaron's parents and seeing his aunts, uncles, and cousins.  


Happy October!
-Maria

September Garden City, KS visit!

We got to visit our Kansas family on the last weekend of September!  We weren't able to travel over Labor Day, so we wanted to say hello to everyone!

Logan has the sweetest smile and cutest personality!  We love you Logan!


These kids look good in everything!!  Loving the pink boots on Makenah!


Here's Aaron's middle-sister, Jenna, with Madelyn!  


We had some really nice weather and got to play outside a bit!






Aaron is the BEST with his nieces and nephew!



Love to all.
-Maria

Chiefs Season 2015!!

READY OR NOT.....football season is here to stay!!

Aaron went with his buddy Reed Hammond to the Chiefs vs. Broncos game!!!  He LOVES the Chiefs and cheers for them despite how they might play.  They usually make it on TV at least 1 time per game, because they sit in the front row (of the visitor side) and look like hard-core fans!!  Who wouldn't want to put these faces on TV!!??




I stay home.  But still cheered and watched the game!!  
I enjoy watching from the couch :)



Happy Football watching!!!
-Maria






Friday, August 28, 2015

1st Grade Classroom REVEAL

Classroom Pictures 2015-2016 
1st Grade
Mrs. Billings

Superhero theme this year!



Below is a quick over view of the calendar area (which has since had many things added), our reading group rotation chart (red), the writing center blue buckets of community supplies, and the schedule cards up close.


These are the curtains my mom had special delivered to me before school started!!  This is my 5th year of teaching and I just love having curtains made by my mom hanging in the room!  It's a little taste of home even out here in Kansas.


This is a view from the door facing my teacher desk.  The word wall is on the chalkboard...and I was missing A, B, and C.  I very much dislike doing a job twice...but it was a must for the word wall to have those 3 letters :)  So back to the copier I went and then the laminator.


These are the rules my kids came up with on the 1st day of school and they have since signed their names at the bottom to PROMISE to follow.  I definitely have some that have broken their promises ;)


BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!!!  Thursday evening before school started, about 13 families showed up to meet me and drop off their supplies.  A sweet family gave me this purple bucket of teacher goodies - boy have I enjoyed the chocolate!  

Side note - I have to have my family picture and a pic of my brothers on my desk!!


Ready for Back to school night!


1st day of school in the cafeteria


1st day of school - Find a Friend activity!


Another fun fact about the beginning of the year is that I made a "teacher wish-list" and the Harvey County United Way office filled my wish-list!!  Also, a big thanks to The Citizens Bank in Newton for helping to fund my classroom list!  It is always a burden at the beginning of the year to buy lots of items for the room that are essential to getting things set up!  So thankful for community support!  (Me holding the blue bag)


Our school has a therapy dog, Chip!


 Math games with partners!




Cheers to the weekend and lots of relaxation time!!  Football is beginning and you know that means Aaron will be busy many weekends/Friday nights/Sundays/etc... Also, the Royals are still in season so we have 2 sports to watch!
Love, Maria