Hesston Farm Parade

On Saturday Aaron and I decided to take Casey to the Hesston dog park.  Bad idea.  It's been so rainy and the park still had wet grass and puddles all over.  Casey got a bit dirty playing with the frisbee!  Oh and he got tired fairly quickly. ha!  After our quick and fun excursion, we saw some big machinery taking their places on the road so we took a little walk up the street.

Whoa.  Big stuff.

Casey was such a good boy!  And some little kids were very interested in him :)

School work days have begun!  Classroom cuteness to come!

Maria

Virginia Trip

At the end of the summer I was able to make a quick trip back to Virginia to see family and go to the beach!  Mom and Phil picked me up from the airport and we spent one night at VA Beach.  

For dinner we went to our regular George's Seafood Buffet, which is right across the street from the hotel. Yum-O!

 After dinner we took a walk on the boardwalk, and listened to some live music.

Here's our hotel, The Seahawk!  Last year Aaron was with us, but we were only engaged!  Time flies!

Next stop was driving to Christiansburg, VA to visit my brother and sister-in-law.  We had a wonderful lunch together with tons of fresh produce, grilled chicken, and Maggie's delicious pesto.  And of course we had to make Salsa together.

Thanks Nate and Maggie for hosting us for the day! 

Maria

What's new at our house?

One week ago we decided to take the plunge and get a dog!  Now you may be asking yourself, Maria with a dog?  Yes.  In fact, I have overcome most of my fear of dogs since my younger years.  This pup is so well trained, loving, and playful!  (Thanks to Danielle and Bryan Stucky!)

We walked to the Hesston Library and the boys rested while I went inside.

Always eager to play!

Oh, and did you know that Kansas has had NON-STOP thunderstorms this summer?  Here is a picture of the Billings' backyard.  It was literally a lake, along with every field in South Central Kansas.  We like the rain, but oh my goodness!

And finally, a tasty treat for your eyes!  

My mom's recipe for Busy Day Cake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream!

Maria

Cooking!

One of the things that I learned about Aaron early on when we were dating was that he is an AMAZING chef!  I do believe that Jeanne, his mom, encouraged him to go to culinary school!  I got myself a good one :)

Below is Chipotle's Cilantro Lime Rice...it is amazing and tastes just like the restaurants!  I don't ever want to make plain rice again.  Seriously.

My mom's recipe for sticky buns!  

Homemade pizza!  Thanks Susan Stoltzfus for the pizza stone!

Aaron made Baked Spaghetti, corn, and salad for me!  Ahh I love summer!

Maria

Getting Crafty

Say hello to my new little friends!  These guys are going to be used in my new classroom :)  I got this idea because my mom ALWAYS has finger puppets in her church bag for all of her little kids.  They love playing with them, especially Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf!  I also started this project because I don't really want to do any of my school curriculum reading...ha!   Anyways, I thought farm animals would be great for preschoolers!  Plus we can sing songs with them on our fingers!  I really want to make multiple of each animal so that every kid can have a choice.  If you have any suggestions for a certain animal, please let me know!  (Aaron thinks the 2 small pigs look like kittens...maybe I need to use the same shape but make some gray and black kitties! ha)  Oh and that black thing in the bottom left corner is an unfinished penguin.  

Enjoy!

-Maria

Summer Fun

Since moving to Hesston, the Possums, have been on a winning streak!  (I'm thinking Aaron brought some luck with him from Virginia!)  After many years of playing with the same group of guys, and not great luck in the tourneys, THEY WON IT ALL!  So proud of the team!   

After celebrating the teams victory on Friday evening, Aaron and I decided to head to Kansas City on Saturday afternoon.  Our first stop was Cabelas!  They have everything sports related you can think of PLUS animal exhibits all over the store!  It's like a zoo!  We could have been in that store all day.

After our Cabelas excursion we ate dinner at the Macroni Grill in Overland Park, Kansas City.  It had been years since either of us ate there so it was a special date.  Next stop...Kauffman Stadium to see the Royals!  We had ideal seats with shade the entire game.

I always love hanging out with this guy! :)

We ended our weekend trip with a visit to see some of our good friends, Calvin and Shannon Wenger (and baby Breken!)  Maybe I'll get pictures next time we visit.  We were both very happy to have a mini vacation together and do a few things that we both love!

Maria

New Job!

While my parents were in Hesston helping us move, we took an evening to drive around the area.  We stopped outside the building of where I'll be working in Newton, Kansas!  

The building on the right is about 3 years old and was added on to what is known as Cooper Station (a daycare that has been around awhile).  I'll probably have babies crying down the hallway from me!  So this week I went in to meet a few of the staff at Cooper Early Ed. Center and got a tour of the school!  I took a few pics my classroom in all it's summer glory (meaning packed away and looking bare). ha

Tons of storage...already filled with art supplies to the max!  Yes!

Little tables, chairs, and shelves!  The door you see here joins my partner teachers' classroom with mine.  During "center time" we'll open our doors up and let both classes mingle and choose where and who they want to play with!  Cool idea!

A much needed sink area!  I found out that one of the requirements for Head-Start is that the children have to wash their hands before every meal (and no, Germ Gel just won't do) Whoo this could be interesting the first week!

Ahh!!  Little couches for little people!

ADORABLE

I'll post pics later of my classroom after it's organized and kid friendly!

Maria