Hope.

I'm temporarily back from my hiatus to write a very important post.

As you know, I work at a pre-school and love it more than I ever imagined I would. It may seem odd, but I have learned so much from my three year olds and I feel like I know them as well as I know my friends. They are like little adults. I know the life of a three year old may not seem hard, but they really do have to deal with a lot at that age, I know so much about each kid's personality and I can imagine what they will be like as they get older. I learn so much from just watching them interact with each other.
The brilliant, yet simple statements that come from their mouths never cease to amaze me. I wish every person had the hearts of my kids. They are always telling each other to use "teamwork" and to "be kind". Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone followed those two things?

I could go on and on about my kids, but this post does have a very important point/request.

Hope, one of my little girls, is in St. Louis right now and she was scheduled to have an SDR surgery today for spastic cerebral palsy. After having pre-op procedures done, they discovered she was no longer a candidate for the surgery and that she doesn't even have spastic cp, but dystonic. The family is staying in St. Louis, hoping for a cancellation soon so they can learn about this new diagnosis and what it means for Hope's life.
I never realized how much I would learn from a three year old, and let me tell you, this one melts my heart. She is so sweet, always happy and makes me laugh all the time. I am with Hope five days a week and I never stop learning from her. I can't wait until she is back in school.


Please, please, please pray for Hope and her family as they try to figure out what's next for their beautiful daughter who has touched my heart in so many ways.

thanks, everyone :)

update.

Just a quick update to let you know that I'm alive: [thanks, Megs]

1. Fall break was absolutely wonderful.
2. I'm home for the weekend with my awesome family.
3. I'll be taking a little hiatus because of a paper and midterms that desperately need my full attention.


*I couldn't resist adding a new picture of Paisley. She looks so grown up in that outfit!

Have I mentioned how much I love fall?

Back to work. Adios, for now, blogging world.

Today was such a great day.
Lindsey came up from Kansas.
Went to church with Linds and saw lots of camp friends.
After church had lunch with Erin, Jody and Lindsey,
then went to Fall Festival at camp with Lindsey, Jody and Jason.

It was absolutely wonderful to be back at camp.
We all said "We're home!" when we turned in to good ol' CJH and we jammed to the camp cd the whole trip up and back to Lincoln.
I got assigned to boats today.
Obviously the woman doing the assigments had no idea who I was..I can't lift boats!
I'm seriously shocked I left uninjured.
Camp rules were totally not enforced, and the parents were worse than the kids about just climbing into boats without staff okaying it. Geesh.

I saw three of my campers and recognized a few more.
Caitlin, one of my more memorable campers, said
"I miss camp so much, I think about it everyday and I can't wait to come back this summer!"
That pretty much made my day, it's so great to know that we make an impact on these awesome kiddos.
I hear ya, Caitlin. I miss it, too!
Hook in his usual spot.

Mini staff reunion
The lake lost it's algae!


I really wish we would have had more time to roam around, I was really hoping to go to Inspiration, Springs and Trailhead.

Becca & Megan, I missed you today. Wish you ladies could have been there.

Preschool drama.

My kids at work have become obsessed with getting married.
Obsessed.
They're in preschool.
It all started when Britta said she wanted to marry Ben. Then I had two girls crying shortly after because they're lovers were taken.
Ben likes Britta. Ruby likes Ben. Rhett likes Ruby. Harper likes Rhett. Chloe and Hope are the smart ones of the bunch.
Oh, the drama.
Now not only do they talk about marrying each other, but they hold hands everywhere they go, and I've caught Ben and Britta kissing twice now!
This little relationship is so strange, it's not just chasing each other on the playground--if Ben gets a time out, Britta will go hold his hand and comfort him. I don't know how to handle 4 year old crushes, so I just tell them not to touch each other so they don't spread germs. My, my kids start younger all the time.
The kids then started asking me why I wasn't married.

*Ben: "Miss Alyssa, where is your wedding ring?"
Me: "I don't have one, Ben, I'm not married."
Ben: "But you're like 64 aren't you?"
Ben proposed to me shortly after this, and the kid thought I was his grandma's age 5 minutes earlier.

*Ellie: "Why aren't you married yet? Have you not picked your favorite boyfriend?"

* * * * * * *
This one has nothing to do with marriage, but it's hilarious.
Ruby: "My daddy is here!
Me: "It's only 3, Ruby, he's not here yet."
Ruby: "But I smell beer!"

don't worry our preschool does not serve beer,
but some days you would think the sippy cups are spiked with how hyper these kids get.

Never a dull moment, that's for sure.

Tonight the girls from my Bible study came over for a fun night of pizza and caramel apple making.
I was so tempted to go fancy and drizzle dark chocolate and vanilla all over, but my wallet doesn't allow fancy.
So they aren't the most glamorous apples I've ever seen, but my are they tasty!
I found fun fall leaf-shaped sprinkles, and also chopped up Reese's to roll the apples in.
Gotta have the peanut butter.

I'm so excited to get to know these wonderful ladies.




* * * * * * * *

So excited that tomorrow is Friday.
AND
it's chocolate day at work,
we all have to bring chocolate to share with the staff.
Man did I land a good job or what?
It's gonna be a good day.

Indecisive is my middle name.

Camp or Spain?
Switch majors or keep the one I have?

Both of these very large decsions have to be made either within the next week or by the end of the month.
And in case you weren't aware, I am the worst decision maker ever.
I have a very hard time understanding that sometimes there is not a "wrong choice" to make when you have two perfectly good options.
I don't want to make the "wrong decision" for fear I will spend the summer in Spain, wishing I was at camp, or vise versa.
I don't want to start a new major, realize I hate it then have wasted another semester.

Even though what I major in seems like a bigger life decision, (and the decision that needs to be made next week) I'm way more stressed about choosing between camp and Spain.
Probably because I feel that I have my whole life to finish school and decide what I want to do, and working at camp and going to Spain may only be opportunities for this coming summer.

I could go on and on and on, but I'll leave those ramblings inside my head for now to spare you all what could be multiple pages of thoughts.
But they're probably coming soon...writing helps me process.

If anyone has any good decision making tips, send them my way!
Please and thank you.

My little Paisley was baptized today.

I am such a proud Godmother :)
She didn't make a peep the whole service and barely flinched when her head was wet.
After that, we had a nice little lunch at the church with all of our family.
It was such a wonderful day.
(Wonderful food, too!)
I always take advantage of the real food at home and stuff myself to the brim.
Yay, brisket.

Day well spent.
I love my family.

fall, fall, fall.

Dear Fall,
Please don't ever leave.

I am so making these.
It's my favorite time of year again!
I love the weather so much. I've been taking the kids outside everyday, longer than "outside time" allows, just so I can savor the crisp air before it turns cold. (and maybe also to get more of their energy out) Nebraska is so beautiful in the fall, I love the gorgeous colors of the trees, especially when out in the country by the river. Ahh I can only imagine how beautiful camp is this time of year.

Fall is my favorite for many reasons..
First off, it's gorgeous weather and gorgeous scenery.
I love cardigans and scarves and jackets.
I love curling up in a blanket with a good book.
Three words--pumpkin spice lattes.
(or pumpkin anything for that matter)
Fall has so many memories--
It's so funny how a temperature, scenery or a smell can bring back so many memories.
Did anyone else rake up leaves and put them in those orange pumpkin garbage bags when you were little?
Fall always reminds me of home, that's for sure.

and what a lovely weekend at home it was.