I passed!

Well, today I went to take my state and National exam to be a real estate agent. I wasn't really nervous on the way there. I had been taking practice tests all weekend and did well on them. I really felt prepared, until I walked in the building. After checking in, I sat down, waiting to get started. Three other guys walked in who had already taken the test before and failed. Suddenly I had butterflies in my stomach. They talked a little about how hard the test was. Oh I wanted to throw up.

Then I sat down at the computer to get started. After answering the first three questions, I wanted to start calculating how many questions I thought I was missing, but no I had to focus. By the end I thought for sure I had failed. When I clicked the "quit" button I closed my eyes as if I expected the screen to turn red and say, "YOU FAILED YOU BIG LOSER!" I nervously walked out to collect my scores from the proctor. He handed me the first piece of paper out of the printer and said, "These are the instructions for applying for your licence. They only give you these if you pass." It took a second for it to register what he was saying. Once my brain caught up with my ears, I did a quiet little jump. (Others were still testing) What a relief!!!

Of course, I had to call James and tell him the news. When I got home, Dylan greeted me at the door to say congratulations. What a sweet boy. I'm so excited to get started. It's still weeks down the road before I really get started, but I think I just jumped the biggest hurdle.

Where have I been?

I checked out the blog today to go visit my friend Sabrina's blog when I noticed the date of the last post. Oh my gosh, where have I been? Of course, I have been working on an online real estate course for about two weeks now, so I guess I do have an excuse not to be blogging like a mad woman. But I haven't been a terrible mother, ignoring my children. I have taken a couple of days here and there to have fun with them.

The other day we went to the water park. Dylan had been putting on the guilt trip a little bit about doing nothing fun. So, I turned off the computer and off we went. It was a cloudy day and very windy. I was freezing. How can someone be freezing on an 80 degree day? I don't know how, but I was. So, I laid out on the chair, with my shirt still on. Austin and Dylan went in the pool. After about thirty minutes they came out shivering with blue lips. They were whining about wanting to leave. I was thinking, I just paid nearly $20 for us to be here. We are staying, get back in the pool. Over the PA system came a saving voice: "A balloon animal maker will be down by the kiddie pool. If you'd like a balloon animal get in line. Oh yeah, it's absolutely free." The boys decided to get in line. They proceeded to wait about an hour and a half! But the wait was worth it. They were so patient. Lots of kids ended up giving up and getting out of line, but not Austin and Dylan. The balloon animals were amazing! The guy was stationed right next to my chair, so I got to watch him make the animals. He was very talented. Austin got a Road Runner and Dylan got a monkey on a banana tree.

Right as the boys got their balloon animals, the clouds parted and out came the sun. I babysat the balloon animals while the boys went down the water slides and played some more in the pool. I even ended up getting a little too much sun on my face. I didn't think I needed my floppy hat on such a cloudy day. Oh well, lesson learned. It ended up being a great day after all.

James and the boys are in Kentucky this weekend. I'm staying home to study for my state/National real estate test. I finished my first real estate course. I'm taking the test on Monday. Then I'll have another short course to take. My plan is to be finished before we leave for Mexico on the 14th. I want to have guilt free fun while I'm there. Oh well, I guess I'll get back to work. Just wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and having a great summer.

The Boys Are Back In Town

Well, the boys are back and here's what they have to say...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Our week started off by sending Austin off to Youth Front Camp in Kansas City. It's the Junior High camp that our church goes to every year. Other churches join our church there for the week. This is Austin's first experience going away anywhere without family. He was looking forward to swimming, playing in the lake and riding "The Blob". I hope it's a chance for him to make some lasting friendships with some of the kids from our church and other churches in the state.

On Tuesday we took Dylan to church to send him off to Camp Allen. This is the camp for elementary students at our church. Unlike Austin's camp, this camp is just for our church kids. Dylan was not as excited to go. He was concerned about me being sad on my birthday without him. He's such a sweetheart. James knew it would be hard on me to celebrate my first birthday without the boys, so we took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

After sending Dylan off to camp, we returned home to clean up the house and pack up our clothes. We made it to Charlotte (Yes, the same place I got stuck in not even a week ago.) without a problem. Then it was off to Myrtle Beach. We booked our hotel through Hotwire.com once we had our seats on the last plane. It wasn't a bad place. We stayed at the Ocean Dunes Resort. As soon as we got into our room, we went out onto the balcony. Oh how I've missed the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. The smell of the salty ocean air. I couldn't wait to get out on the beach. Off we went for a moonlit walk on the sand.

The next day I woke up at 8:00 ready to play on the beach. So, James reluctantly got out of bed and changed. We ate breakfast and went out on the beach. I was very proud of James. He only complained a little about the sand (He despises sand.)while we laid out on the beach. Then we played in the waves. James of course wanting to go out much further than myself. Then it was back to working on the tan. I love sleeping on the beach. The sounds of the waves and seagulls is so soothing to me. My dream is to one day have a house on the beach. Maybe in my forties. I started missing the boys a little while watching kids play in the sand and waves, but I kept reminding myself that they were having a great time at camp.

James and I finished the day walking to dinner. Along the way we picked out houses we'd like to own some day. James even got a picture of our top pick on his iphone. We'll have to upload it later. I had a great birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant. And we enjoyed one last walk on the beach. It just might have been the best birthday ever!

When life gives you lemons...

Well, how does it go? When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. That's exactly what we did. Well, not actual lemonade, but we did make the most of a pretty crappy situation. Since my James is a pilot we get to fly for free. This sounds great, right. Well, sometimes it can be. Other times it's not. We were suppose to meet James in Miami yesterday. I've been missing the beach terribly and was super excited. When we made it to Charlotte, NC I was getting even more excited. Then the downward spiral began. It seems everyone and their brother was trying to get to Miami also. As other standby passengers went up to the gate counter and were met by sad faces and sometimes laughs from the gate agents, I knew it wasn't going to be a good day.



But after missing two flights and being told they all looked pretty bad, the boys and I made an executive decision to stay in Charlotte. We checked into the lovely Econo Lodge that Austin picked out from the airport poster. They had everything we needed to enjoy ourselves: a pool, free breakfast and Cracker Barrel within walking distance. The pictures are of us enjoying ourselves in what felt like our own private pool. I worked on my tan and we all swam a lot. We swam not once, but twice yesterday. That's a good day in my book. I knew it was a success when as we laid our heads on our pillows, the boys said, "We didn't need to go to Miami to have fun."


Here's hoping James and I make it to Myrtle Beach next week while the boys are at church camp. Wish me luck!

Dylan's 10!!!!!!!

It was a sad day for me yesterday. My baby turned 10 years old. He is no longer in the single digits. For those of you with small children, this might not seem like such a big deal. But trust me it is. You start thinking about how he'll be a teenager in three years. Then driving in three more. Then out of the house in two more. I have to stop thinking about it.

Really it was a great day. I spent most of it at school, my last day hooray! James took the boys and three of their friends to the neighborhood waterpark. They had a great time swimming, going down the waterslides, having a picnic and receiving some hot sunburns. Then I came home with Dylan's Indiana Jones birthday cake. We enjoyed cake and ice cream with the boys, then shooed them away so we could go to the movies. When we sat down to watch Indiana Jones, Austin informed us that he forgot to put in his contacts. So, Austin watched the movie on the front row, while James, Dylan and I went further up. There were some pretty scary parts for a 10 and 11 year old. James and I kept waiting for Austin to run up where we were, but he didn't. He must be growing up!

After the movie we went to Red Robin, the best hamburger place ever! While Dylan was on the phone talking to my mom, the waiter was taking our drink order. I slyly mentioned that it was Dylan's birthday and he was talking to his grandma. Later, while we were eating, Dylan threatened to hurt me if I told the waiter it was his birthday. He missed the previous statement. I was hoping the waiter would think about coming over to sing. Sure enough, not long after Dylan threatened to hurt his dear mother, along comes the Red Robin staff carrying balloons and a sundae. He wasn't too embarrassed. He just hid behind the balloons. But he did enjoy the sundae.




Lastly, the boys did some male bonding playing Rock Band (Dylan's present) together. I never got a turn and ended up falling asleep in the big leather recliner. Birthdays are exhausting!

What a busy time!

Well, when I last left you, we had just returned from Memphis. My life has been a whirlwind since we got back. I returned to school where I had to finish up testing, grades and report cards. We had a field trip to the park, where a child was lost for about an hour (not one of ours, but still very scary). Friday was field day where I received a great sunburn. Then it was off on another trip, with Buster in tow, to Nashville. These pictures are of Austin and Dylan at a gas station in Metropolis, Illinois (Home of Superman). Of course, I didn't want anyone labeled as "the girl", so we had to trade positions and take more photos. Once we arrived in Nashville, we celebrated my mom's birthday at my sister Sharon's house. Then it was off to Castalian Springs to stay at Pam's house for two days. I was taking care of my nephew Ethan, who just had cleft palate surgery. I forgot how exhausting it is to take care of toddlers. That's why I have no pictures of Ethan and Hannah. The boys enjoyed spending time with family, but then it was time to come back home.

After returning home at 10:00 on Tuesday night, it was back to school at 7:00 am. I was greeted with many hugs and "We sure are glad you're back, Mrs. Roberts." Maybe they do appreciate me after all. Most of last week was spent filling out records, packing up my room and watching movies. Everyone at work keeps telling me how much they'll miss me and how they can't believe I'm giving up teaching. It probably won't be forever, but for a good while. It definitely feels right. I wasn't sad at all packing all my stuff into the basement. Instead it felt more like relief. Just two more days!