Teachers are paid TOO much!

One day, I found a piece of paper folded up sticking in our door. At first I thought it was just junk...I opened it and found this....(given to me by a good neighbor friend!)

Aren't you all sick of those high-paid teachers?

Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do....baby-sit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage. That is right. I would give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45am to 4:00pm with 45 min. off for lunch).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for those teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now, how many do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

Let's see...that's $585 x 180 - $105,300 per year.

(Hold on....my calculator must need batteries!)

What about those special teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair, round it off to $7 an hour. That would be $7 times 6 1/2 hours times 30 children times 180 days = $245,700 per year.

Wait a minute...there is something wrong here!

There sure is, DUH!

The average teacher salary is $50,000/180 days - $277 per day/30 students = $9.23/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student). Very inexpensive babysitter and they even educate your kids!

Oh wait....and I know a few teachers who have been spit at, hit, kicked, pinched, cut, chairs thrown at them, desks knocked over, and the list goes on.....all in an elementary school classroom!

To all my teacher friends....you have one of the most important jobs of all time...you are greatly appreciated and I can only hope and pray that when my little ones are in school they will have teachers just like you...or better yet...you!

Giving Thanks

Taylor brought home a book from Sunday School with a picture on each page of all the things she is thankful for...you know, like food, mom and dad, the bible, Jesus.

If I were to make a book just like hers....
here is what would be on each of my pages....

My husband...why in the WORLD do I not tell him every day how thankful I am for him???

My beautiful little girl

My precious baby boy

Parents...Dave's and Mine

Aunts, Uncles and Cousins...near and far

Great Aunts and Uncles

Babysitters...oh my, how we are spoiled and we KNOW we take this for granted! It means so much to us to have people so close to us who will watch our kids and love every minute of it ANYTIME!

Our home

Okay, my dog too.

Being able to be a stay-at-home mom

Meaning the next page, would have to be my Premier business...since that is WHY!

Good health

My computer

Friends....old friends and new friends

Our Small Group

Our Church

and most of all....

That I, this undeserving person who messes up time and time again, am able to have a personal relationship with Jesus...and know that because of that relationship, I will spend eternity with him.

That's my "Thankful Book".

I hope you have just as many and MORE things to be thankful about in your life!

Happy Thanksgiving!

TAGGED!

My friend Danelle tagged me. This is the first time EVER I've been tagged! HOW FUN!

I see all the time on blogs where people are tagged and have to share random facts about themselves...well, go figure, my first time to be tagged and the questions are about Dave! That's okay though, he's more interesting.

So here goes:

Husbands name: John David Balzer.....wow, if you didn't know this already, you learned something ALREADY! His mom actually wanted him to be called "John David" not just John. That didn't fly for long, if at all!

How long married: 4 years in January.

How long dated: a year and 10 months.

How old is he: 29....WOW, 30 in April. The checkout lady at Wal-mart said he looked 16 or 18 or something like that. And then proceeded to tell me that I look much older than he is (I am almost 3 years younger!) I just have this feeling I will be hearing that the rest of my life...he DOES pull off that young look pretty well.

Taller: I don't think I've ever been taller than anyone...so of course, him.

Who can sing the best: well, if this means who THINKS they can sing the best...him. Or if this means who belts out singing and making up words to songs all the time...him again. He sings at work, with 4 other men probably making strange faces at him all day. He sings in the car, he sings in the shower. And yes, he is the master of making up new words at the spur of the moment when he doesn't know the real words.

Smart: if it's anything to do with his hands...he's a genius! He can fix anything, build anything, and is altogether the hardest worker I have ever known! I definitely have the books smart...but in real life...what does that really even do for ya?

Laundry: oh my, this is one big struggle at our house. I would say he does more laundry than I do. The problem is that neither of us mind running loads of laundry through the machines...it's the putting away of clothes that we can't stand! Me especially! He's just good at laundry because he sticks with it...he can sit and keep laundry going all day. I get one load in, move on to something else and forget! (If you've read the Waffles and Spaghetti book I mentioned in this post , you know why this is!)

Paying bills: Our roles over the last 4 years have gone back and forth. I used to do it all, then he used to do it all, then we did it together. As far as knowing when bills are due, how much they are, etc....this is HIM and he is VERY good at it! But as far as the details and record keeping...this is ALL me!

Who sleeps on the right side of bed: depends which way you look at it. If you are looking at the bed, I sleep on the right side.

Mows the lawn: 100% him. He takes GREAT pride in our yard and enjoys it. The one time I decided to ask if I could help mow...2 minutes later I ran over a stump in the yard and broke the mower completely! I haven't attempted since. He just loves being outside...much more than I do.
Cooks dinner: If you mean, putting ingredients together, following a recipe and making something really yummy...that's me. He'll do it if I plan it and leave it out for him. But, he does dinner MANY nights when I am at jewelry shows...he's SO good at making sure the kids are fed. If that means frozen pizza...no complaints by me! He is a master at grilling and smoking though! And also makes some awesome chili and soup!

First to admit they are wrong: Him...hands down.

Who kissed first: I guess he kissed me first. But it's not like I didn't know it was coming.

Who wears the pants: Different situations call for a different pants-wearer! I think we are pretty well balanced.


And here he is....the most wonderful man in the whole wide world (wearing Taylor's farmer hat).I am VERY thankful!

Now, I guess I'm supposed to tag three people. So here's who's getting tagged: Kendall, Jess, and Shannon.

he's back

If you're a K-State fan, or even just a college football fan, this is old news to you....
Bill Snyder is returning to K-State!

I LOVED Bill Snyder! (notice the past tense)

I still like him, he did amazing things at K-State and actually has been quoted as the "coach of the century". I just hope he can do the same amazing things this time around. If anything, I'm sure he will bring the K-State Family all back together again after these last 2 losing seasons.

I'm definitely a bigger "Bill fan" than Dave...go figure. He is predicting now that he will just be average...will never be a contender for the Big 12 title. He won't do anything like he did 10 years ago. And he will hurt his name.

A little harsh I would say.

I predict that Bill will do some good things...nothing miraculous, but I think he WILL improve the program and get things going in a positive direction...I just hope he can leave again with as much pride as the first time!

So we'll see.

baby legs

I just have to share something that I am just LOVING these days!

You gotta flashback to the 80's with me....

LEGWARMERS! After a conversation at church with some girls and trying to explain how cute they are...I decided to do a post to SHOW you all!You HAVE to agree these are the cutest things ever!

My sister got Taylor a pair last year from Baby Gap. I wasn't too sure about them at first, although when Taylor did finally wear them they were super cute.

This year, for some reason, these toddler and baby leg warmers are EVERYWHERE and I am hooked!

I'm especially excited about them because Taylor and her 2 girl cousins are all getting these CUTE black and pink tutus for Christmas...the big fluffy, fancy ones! I'm sure you will be seeing pictures later.

So of course they all need leg warmers to go with them!If you are having a hard time falling in love with these for GIRLS...then you will have a really hard time with the rest of this post!

BOYS can wear them too!
I'm not sure if I could do them on a toddler boy...but under one year...ADORABLE!

So yes, I WILL be trying this on Mason! Don't think I'm crazy.

We'll be getting his 9 month pictures taken soon...so I am thinking these....with a white or black onsie and a Santa hat! So stinkin cute! If you can't tell, I'm excited!

So if you didn't love leg warmers before now, hopefully I've inspired you! They go super under little girls skirts and dresses. You can pull them all the up to the diaper and they will appear more like leggings. Taylor wears hers with her nightgowns, so she doesn't have bare legs around the house when it's cold! So they don't HAVE to be just for accessorizing purposes...or yes, they can be....you can EVEN accessorize pajamas!

Okay, so I know you are now dying to get your little ones some leg warmers, or buy a baby gift for someone....HERE is where I got some from etsy! Although there are TONS of different sellers! You can also go to this site: BabyLegs

Or you can just buy a pair of women's knee high socks from Walmart of Target like this and then go have a photo shoot like this one.
Just admit...you LOVE leg warmers too!

Flashback Friday: Sent from Above

This post is a little late, well, a lot late...but I still wanted to share.

Back in September, we had Mason dedicated at our church. Thanks Rachel, for sending us this picture. Several of our friends were on stage with us, as they dedicated their little boys as well. Funny story...when they introduced Mason to come up on stage, they showed a picture of him on the big screen. Taylor yelled "BABY!" when she saw her brother's picture. This was loud enough for the entire church to hear. Very cute...and fitting! His name around here is "Baby". She refuses to call him Mason, and has thus caused us to frequently refer to him as "Baby" too. We were so blessed to have lots of our family alongside us this day. Sweet little Mason, slept all the way through it.

We thank God every day for blessing us and entrusting this little life in our hands. It was hard for us to fathom how you could really love a second child as much as the first. Until he was born. The love that God allows you to feel for children is indescribable. Our goal on this day was to stand and say that we will try our hardest, every single day, to raise this little boy in a way that God will shine through all that we do.

We make mistakes. We've made many of them in these few short 2 years of being parents. We try so hard to be the best parents we can be...but sometimes we fall short. Thank goodness God forgives.

But in the end, if there is one thing we do right...we hope that we raise these two little ones to know the Lord, to have him live in their hearts and lives. We want them to know that He loves them more than their daddy and I ever could. We want them to find that peace...that happiness...that strength that will get them through anything...because we can't always be there...but He will.

So even though we'll make lots more mistakes...we are committed to this journey and we know we can't do it alone. God has sent us the 2 most precious gifts we could ever dream of. We are so thankful. Every day we will try to do better than the day before.

poor little man

Is this mean of me??? To take pictures of him while he's crying???

I knew he didn't really need anything...just being fussy.

Oh such a horrible life...

Oh, little Mason....what a challenge you are sometimes...but oh, how much fun you are! We love you!

purple power...or not so much

We try to make it back for at least one K-State football game a year...well, by my request anyway.

This morning, we headed to Manhattan, all 4 of us in our K-State purple...ready to bear the cold.

We met up with our good friends from Winfield who have a parking spot and tailgate in their HEATED RV! The kids would not have gone with us otherwise.

Taylor LOVED driving the RV!I think the heat made us popular...because we had several visitors who stopped by to chat for awhile! Just kidding, I know they really wanted to see us!

I was so excited that lots of my Pi Phi sisters from college, were going to this game too...Jill and Lawrin, it was SOOO nice catching up (well, as much as we could!) Thanks for stopping to chat!Stef and Steve (Dave's sister and husband) and their friends who were wearing RED....came to visit too!

Guess who we saw walking through the parking lot???

WILLIE the Wildcat!!

We grabbed the kids and RAN out to get a picture! I pretty much just threw Mason in Willie's arms....Mason, has no idea what's going on. Taylor on the other hand was NOT a big fan. This is probably a sign of what's to come with Santa!

We did manage to get a picture with all of us and Willie, it's just on someone else's camera...so hopefully I can get a hold of that!Mason took a nap all snuggled up in the warm RV, and we took Taylor to see more of my Pi Phi friends and then on into her FIRST football game!

Jill, Laura, Taylor and Betsy

Callie (bottom), Liz (top) and Betsy (pink hat) were 3 of my roommates my senior year.

Jenny, we missed you! Andrea, I'm sad I missed you too!Finally, we made it into the game! Taylor was in awe. When everyone cheered (which didn't happen very much)...she just lit up with a HUGE smile!

We didn't last too long....then back to the warm RV!

Thanks Norma, for staying with Mason!

I love Manhattan, I love K-State football, I love purple, I love tailgating, I loved seeing old friends, I loved being cold (oh wait, just kidding), I would have loved it much more if the Wildcats had won...or at least if they were any good! But I especially loved taking our kiddos to experience K-State football....maybe just not at their finest!

inspired

For those of you who have been following my blog for some time, you know that last spring I was completely inspired by this. My friend Amy printed a years worth of her blog into the coolest book ever at www.blurb.com

Here are some sample pictures from the website. But you DEFINITELY have to check out Amy's blog to see her finished product.

So I've been working on our 2007 blog book for about a month now. My goal is to have it by Christmas. Then again, I haven't checked to see how long it takes to publish and ship...so I may be pushing my luck.

Amy's book inspired me to use my blog to record and journal lots of our family memories. I love to scrapbook...but let's just say that I have YET to complete Taylor's first year....and I have not even begun a book for Mason (and probably won't...I think I'll take another route for him) And when I do scrapbook, I always hated journaling....but yet I hated that I hated journaling, because I know recording the stories is so important.

So now I get it all down, day by day, week by week, through my blog. I find it therapeutic...relaxing...satisfying....it just makes me feel successful. Before my blog, I cringed at all the memories I failed to get in pictures or on paper.

I'm so excited to have the stories of our family into such nice books...a treasure that I HOPE our kids will appreciate one day.

shhhhhhhhhhh

Don't tell Dave.....
This is ONLY the beginning!

Target's my friend

I'll start this post by giving you a little history..

A few weeks ago, I was in Wichita, returning something to Best Buy. When I got back to my car, I couldn't find my keys in my purse. I was SURE I had locked the car, I ALWAYS do when I'm out and about. So I started freaking! I looked in the car, only to see my keys in the ignition. BUT, to my surprise...I forgot to lock the car...the door opened!

All I could think was "oh my, Dave would KILL me if he had to come all the way to Wichita because I locked my keys in the car."

So now we'll fast forward to last night.

I had a show in Wichita, and I figured while I was there on business, I might as well take back some returns so I don't have that extra mileage! So I hit up Target after my show.

I returned things, then of course, did some more shopping. By the time I was done, Target was closing and as I was walking through the parking lot, I couldn't find my keys. I searched my purse frantically and then went back inside. I could have sworn I had them in my hands along with my bag of returns. They were trying to lock the doors and I had to ask if I could come in to look for my keys. A handful of employees were helping me check the area I had been in. No luck.

I asked for a flashlight to check the parking lot. Then decided to use the light to check inside the truck. There they were....my keys, in the ignition...and this time the doors WERE locked!

At this point, the store was officially closed and I had to ask if I could wait inside until my ride came. There was NO way I was waiting outside in a dark, empty Target parking lot.

The manager was nice but I could also tell he just wanted to go home. He said managers can't be in the store alone, so he had to have employees stay with him. So not only am I annoying ONE person, but 3!

I made the dreaded phone call to Dave...and of course the Target manager was even MORE pleased to find out that my ride was coming from Newton. My sister-in-law lives in West Wichita, but Dave could pretty much get to me just as fast. But she did suggest that I call ABC Taxi...they unlock cars for $25. They said they could get to me in 15-30 minutes. So Dave stopped heading my way, and I sat PRAYING that the taxi company would come in the amount of time they said they would....as the Target workers are just WAITING to go home. I called the number for the Taxi company 3 times...the lady was getting frustrated with me, but I just wanted to know how much longer! I kept second guessing myself like crazy and thought I should have just had Dave come all along.

40 min. later, ABC Taxi pulled up. The Target workers darted. And to top it all off, when the man got out of the van, he was not the most pleasant looking person. I was alone, in a dark parking lot, with this man that did not make me feel very comfortable at all. I called Dave and made him talk to me while the guy unlocked my car and I paid him. He could tell by my voice that this man was a little on the sketchy side.

The store manager and I made a deal...he would be okay with staying late, and I would spend LOTS of money there later. This deal was my idea....good one, huh? He went for it, so now I have to hold up my end of the bargain. Sorry Dave!

So Thankful!

We are so thankful for this group of people...

Well, we're not just thankful for those pictured....there are lots more.

Our Young Married's Sunday School class had a fall party last Friday night....out in the country, in a big barn, yummy food, lots of room for the kiddos to run and play (and fall off big 4 wheeler vehicles, head first...she was okay though...and NO, the vehicle was not moving...the kids just wanted to climb on it)...and my favoite part of the night....guitars and singing by the campfire! Unfortuneatly, this was the part of the night that was cut short by our little ones.

So back to why we are thankful...

A year ago, we were attending the church Dave grew up in. A great church, we loved it, and we now miss seeing grandpa and grandma there, and other familiar faces. We loved our pastor, he married us...but he moved to California.

But we both felt that we weren't in the right place. We knew God had other plans for us...step 2, that is.

I think Step 1 (which had already happened), was when Joel and Kendall (my teacher friend at the time) invited us to join their small group, even though we didn't attend their church. SO glad they invited us, and SO glad we said yes! I did a post about our group a few weeks ago....check it out here if you missed it.

Big churches scared us both. We both grew up in small churches, so we were convinced we would not fit in or be happy in a big church. But as always, God had a plan for us.

Being able to connect and build some great relationships with couples in our small group, allowed us to feel a bit more comfortable about trying out the "big" church. So when we finally took that step and visited a new church....we LOVED it! To our surprise, we didn't feel "lost in the crowd" on bit!

We are so happy where we are now. We love our Sunday School class, and feel so blessed to be a part of such a BIG group of awesome young married couples! We love our new church and are so glad we made that step to change.

I'm sure God has more in store for us.

rub-a-dub-dub

Bath time in the baby bath and sink are over! Mason (1 week old) Mason (4 months)


I'm so glad to be done with separate bath times. It's just so much more fun TOGETHER! Especially because we can sit and watch....while Taylor gets her brother clean!

Pumpkin Patch

We had plans at the first signs of fall to make it to the pumpkin patch.

It came down to the final day we could go. And it may have been the coldest and windiest day we've had so far. I had been in all day, and didn't realize what it was like outside. I don't think either of us realized it until we got out in the country. Thank goodness Gma and Papa had a blanket for Mason to borrow in their car!

It was a quick little trip...but just enough fun for a 2 year old!

Mason loved the pool of corn....can't you tell? They have the neatest underground slide...She loved it!And of course, Dave got in on the fun too!Hot dogs, pumpkin chili and pumpkin cookies on our way out! YUM!

It was such a neat place...next year we can hopefully enjoy more on a warm, sunnier day!

boy, boy, boy

Oh MY MY! This little boy of ours is definitely ALL BOY! In the last month, not only has he started crawling (everywhere!), but he just wants to stand up ALL day long!This table of ours, in the basement has become his enemy... He pulls up, falls down, knocks his head or chin, cries, I pick him up, hold him, put him back down the play....he crawls back to the table, pulls up, falls down, knocks his head or chin, cries, I pick him up, hold him, put him back down to play.

This goes on pretty much ALL day! I think we may put some sort of cushioning all the way around it. We never had to do anything like this for Taylor. We also didn't have to lock up any cabinets....but this time around is definitely DIFFERENT!They are so different, but that's what makes them each so special...I LOVE that!