I'm retired!

Yup, it's true! Today was my last day ever at St. Matthew Catholic School, where I've been teaching since January 2002! I'm sad. Really sad. While I've only been working there once a week for the past two years, it has been my favorite role and I have loved every Tuesday being at my school with my friends having a blast.

After much discussion, Brian and decided that I really need to focus my attention on getting my name in the Monticello district so next year I will try to sub once a week instead of driving to Champaign to work.

What a wonderful school-they have been a tremendous support for my family over the past 9 years and we are forever grateful!

The past two years I have had the honor and priviledge to work for the 3 best kindergarten teachers ever! I mean it. These three ladies...Mrs. Rossi, Mrs. Feeney, and Mrs. Crawford are by far, the best kindergarten teachers I've ever seen. Their creativity is amazing, their devotion to their jobs and their students is commendable, and their work ethic, energy, and ability to do whatever it takes to make sure their students are getting the best education possible AND having an absolute BLAST is a joy to witness! I have loved every single Tuesday serving as a kindergarten aide and I will not just miss my job but my time with my 3 dear friends. We laughed ALOT and I am forever grateful to these ladies for showing me what kindergarteners, moms, and teachers are capable of!

And then my sweet husband suprised me by bringing me home the most stunning roses to celebrate my "retirement"! WOW, I'm lucky!

Amara's Birthday!

When you turn 3 in the Fulton house, you get breakfast in bed for the first time for your birthday and Amara was most excited going to bed Sunday night about that. But when we went to wake her this morning, it was the last thing on her mind....he was sound asleep and took quite a bit of convincing to get up.
But finally she woke

And our smiley birthday girl emerged!

Look at her pink sprinkles mustache! Sprinkles on toast- special treat!

Our kids get one gift from us and then get things to do together. This year, we made Amara a hoola hoop!

We measured her on the wall- she grew more than an inch since March!!

Another big thing today was Mara got to have her toenails painted for the first time! Grammy and Papa gave her her first nailpolish yesterday and they picked well....super light pink with sparkles! She loved it!

We went on a long bike ride and then headed to Bubba's school to play!

Mara and Daddy flew a kite together!

Alaric showed Daddy the peas he planted in his school's garden.

Then we packed up and headed to Clinton Beach for the day! Clinton Lake is only about 20 minutes away and has a great beach! Other than the fact that it was WINDY and we were being pelted by the sand at times, it was a perfect day and we had a blast!

We played in the water lots

and played in the sand even more!

Everyone ( except me) got buried!

No birthday would be complete without a special treat! Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl! I hope you had fun today!

Happy Birthday Amara Christine!

May 30, 2008
May 2009- 1st Birthday

May 2010-2nd Birthday

June

July

August

September

OctoberNovember

December

January

February

March

April

May

Happy Birthday Sweet Angel! We love you!

Annual Memorial Day Wiffle Ball Tournament!

Today was also the annual Memorial Day Wiffle Ball Tournament at The Dills and we LOVE it!

Before the adults take the field, the kids get to bat. Alaric tried his best.
We all sported our Cubs gear

Kids everywhere. More kids than adults. Around 60 or so people in all. The kids played, played, played and were all wonderful.

The games went on for hours. People watched the whole time or entertained their kid or ate or drank or something.

Mara ended up mostly naked by the end of the day but it didn't stop her from swinging, getting dirty, and playing with her friends.

We Love the Dills!

As do many other families who make this a tradition year after year. And everyone comes prepared with their own cooler!

Sunday-Funday!

After church today we headed to Chipotle to meet my brother and his kids. Everyone loves playing with Jack. He now has more hair than Papa!
Look at these sweeties who LOVE every second of being together!

This nephew of mine, really! He's pretty sweet. Smiles on demand!

Then back to Grammy and Papa's to open Mara's gifts...but not before she tried on Grammy's PINK high heels!A new little playhouse!FOUR Pinkalicious books!

An Activity pad and more. Everything was PINK!