Busy, Busy Bees!

Where, or where, have I ... or should I say we! been?! We've been BUSY! With school in full swing for both of us - the weeks are just flying on by and the camera has been MIA at the bottom of my messy purse somewhere. We've done a lot to keep us moving, but I have been horrible at capturing the moments. Oops! Anyway, I have had my phone around the past month or so - so lets catch up, shall we!?

Being silly with the girls one Friday night!

Every Friday afternoon you can catch me at Happy Hour with my "teacher friends"! :)
We are really good at HH, btw...

Britt finally reached the "50 Club" at World of Beer! (That's 50 DIFFERENT beers bought) Justin and Melissa came over and cooked/grilled for me not too long ago! It was DELISH! :) Zach and I hit up a Bucs game (or 2!) .. and we WON!
It has been pretty exciting and Science-full in my classroom!
One week we did marble rollercoasters *kinetic vs. mechanical energy*
for the Science Olympics - two students from my class won and get to go compete at MOSI! :)
Meet Max... our class fish! :) He sits on my desk and is my bff as I work!
It has been quite rainy around these parts... but many rainbows have been present!!
Another fun Science project... Can you light a bulb with just a D batt and a paperclip!?

After lots of exploration *and burnt fingers* - my kids can! :)

My days go by so fast, but so do my nights and weekends! I love my class and I really enjoy teaching fifth grade a lot more than I thought I would! All they really are ... are older fourth graders. lol. :)

-Ashley

Birthday Celebrations

Not last Saturday, but the one before - man, I'm behind my parents took Justin, Melissa, Zach, and I out to dinner at Macoroni Grill. It was a lot of fun getting to catch up with everyone and getting a chance to celebrate M AND J's bday! Melissa's bday iss on Aug. 14th and Justin's bday is Aug 19th - one year and 5 days apart *I won't say that Melissa is older though* lol! Thanks for the dinner, Mom and Dad! :)

On the way to dinner! After dinner...

With their bday gelato! Making a wish! :)

-Ashley

Back to School!

Last Tuesday the students made their way back into the classroom! After spending over a week in the classroom before they got there - I was ready to welcome all 20 of them with open arms! :) This year the school has a under water theme, specifically: Reeling in Success, Fishing for an "A"! Fifth grade has a dolphin mascot... I tried my hardest to get as underwater looking as I could, but unfortunately I didn't take updated pictures of my classroom so you get the 79% finished product! Ooops?! I am enjoying my class - I knew all of them the first day since I worked with/saw all of them last year when I taught fourth. A great group of kids... but I'm still not used to the 5:45am alarm! Ick!! Anyway.. a sneak peek into my classroom!

Door is to on the wall the right of the black intercom box...

Continuing my board...

Above the wall with all 3 of my computers...

This is on the wall with the door into the room...

At this point my library was missing labels... and not all books were put up yet!

The kids LOVE the carpet!

I think I will take some new pics tomorrow and post soon!

-Ashley

Baby, Baby, Baby! (ohhhh) !

At some point in December three out of my 6 bridesmaids called and let me know that they were all expecting a baby and due within a week of each other! Crazy?! Very! Anyway, all three of them have delivered now so I thought I'd post a congrats to all of them at one time!! My bff's Kelly and Ashley ended up delivering a few weeks early.. and my sister-in-law delivered today.

Kelly's baby - We welcomed Emily Dawn on July 31st!

I'm hoping to meet her next weekend... and see her amazing BIG brother Aiden too! :)

Ashley's bundle of joy - Jacob Ryan!

Absolutely precious little guy! I got to hold all 5lbs of him! :)Visiting Jake with Britt!

Leigh Anne's baby - Ansley Elizabeth!

Hoping to meet my niece at Christmas! :)

Congrats ladies!!! I am excited for you all and can't wait to watch these little ones grow up and be apart of their lives! :)

-Ashley

Painting With a Twist!!

A few weels ago I spent my evening at a a place called "Painting with a Twist"! It's in South Tampa and was so fun! I went with three other girls on a night when they were painting "Blue Floral". They have a calendar online that shows each painting of the night, and you can sign up online, pay, and show up with a bottle of wine! The instructor takes you step by step and it was a great experience - can't wait to do it again soon! :)

On the wall...

Part of the studio
My blank canvas - about to start!

Cristina and Stephanie ready to go...

Jenn and I - we taught 4th grade together last year.

Starting...

Continuing...

Mixing colors!

My final product!!

-Ashley

Beach Days!

We've been back from our mini beach getaway for almost a week. Zach isn't a HUGE beach person, but we had a great time! We had clear skies for 95% of the time - lucky us!

On the night of our anniversary I talked my dad into taking some shots of Z and I...

some of them turned out really cute!

Mom and Z talking about something...

Jet skiing on our anni!

Watching the sunset!

Close up shot!

Another shot of the sand..

Take 2!

Nothing like a piggy back ride!

My brother and sis-in-law came on Saturday and we hung out on the beach and went to St. Armands Circle to have some ice cream - the best ever, actually! Can't wait for LBK 2012! I go back to work on Monday - where, oh where, did the summer go!?!

-Ashley

A + Z = 5YR

Today Z and I celebrate FIVE years of marriage. I can't even believe it... where did the time go?! We are spending our weekend at the beach, with my parents, and are having a blast enjoying the sun and the beautiful views! Today started with Z giving me a full body massage... after breakfast we headed to Siesta Key to go jet skiing.. and then we came back for lunch and another round of the sun! Tonight, instead of going out to dinner, my dad is cooking my fav. - filets! and Z's - lobster! Hopefully we will have a nice sunset so we can get some cute pictures in!

Happy Anniversary my sweet, loving husband!!! I LOVE YOU!

-Ashley

Big Event!!

Just incase Z or I forgot... this showed up on my Facebook page today! :) Thanks, FB, for keeping my in the loop!! :)You know how they say your "golden birthday" is the age you turn on the date you were born.. ie - April 24th was my golden bday last year because I turned 24. We "turn" 5 on the 5th so I'm thinking it's our golden anniversary! Or do I have to wait until our 50th!? This is confusing. I think I will go google it.





-Ashley

Just Another Random Post!

I can't believe I only have TWO full weeks left of my summer... then it's back to work on August 15th. Where oh where did the past 2 months go!? I definitely feel like the summer was much needed, and I'm ready to go back to work... but only after our annual family trip to Longboat Key!! I am so excited to spend a few days with my hubby, parents, and siblings at the beach! It's guranteed to be a great time filled with tan lines, drinks, laughs, sandy flip-flops, sunsets, and yummy food! :) My parents have the condo for two weeks, but we won't be staying the whole time. Zach and I will be heading down on Wednesday and staying until Saturday night. During that time we will be spending our FIVE year WEDDING anniversary together (on Friday). I can't believe it! I am getting so old...

Anyway, can't wait to post pictures from our trip! LBK, here we come!!

-Ashley

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Happy TWENTY-SEVENTH Birthday to my favorite husband ever! ;)

Zach, I love you very much and hope you have a fantastic day/week/month/year!!

Keep working hard and I know you'll achieve everything you wish to! XO

-Ash

Our New Home - The Living Room

After being in the house for a week and a half we're pretty much all set up! Some things here and there still need to find a spot, but for the most part we're all settled in! Some of Z's family has asked for pics of our new place so I decided it would be easier to do a post for each room in the house for sorting pictures and posting purposes. I'm going to start with the living room... Enjoy (LA and Deb!) lol!

This is a picture of our newest piece of furniture!

My parents bought it and we put it together last night!Another housewarming gift from my bro/sis-in-law:

a lucky bamboo plant! :)

A view of the living room from the dining room...
Another view from dining room...

View from the kitchen... front door/window.

-Ashley