School's Out for the Summer!!

Well, we finally made it through the year, and only slightly worse for wear! Mason and I started this final day of school down in our cellar. At about a quarter to five a random truck was driving up and down the road with their sirens on. Given all the storms going on we figured that was our warning that there could potentially be a tornado in the area. After about twenty minutes we ventured back inside and I finished getting ready for school. Aside from the fact that the kids were crazy, it was a great day! I really enjoyed the group of kids I had this year, and they will be missed. But, for now, I will enjoy my lazy days!

I was very excited to get out of school early since today was only a half-day, but mother nature again had other ideas. Missouri, as well as many surrounding states, has had a ridiculous number of tornadoes this year. Just as our entire faculty was getting ready to have our last meal together for the year, the sirens in Waynesville started going off, so we all had to take cover in the classrooms in the basement. Luckily that didn't last very long, but shortly before I got ready to go, they went off again. So needless to say, I didn't even leave school until well after when I would leave on a regular day. Then I was chosen for the random car inspection as I entered post. Awesome. It's not a big deal and I did finally make it home! Mason, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He is still stuck at a friend's house as I type this. He was driving home from work in the midst of these storms, and ended up stopping at his friend's house because it was hailing and getting pretty bad out. And now, he's stuck there because of flooding. Oh well! He's safe so that's the important thing!

On a better note, I plan on spending the next couple of days laying around and doing a lot of nothing. Mason and I are going down to Branson for the weekend, and then I start summer school on Tuesday. Luckily, they are only half-days and will go until June 17th, so it will go very fast! Eight days after that and I will become 'Kayla Heavin.' Weird! Here's hoping the next month goes smoothly! Congrats to all the students and teachers who are finished or will be finishing school soon!! We did it! And lets be sure to keep all those affected by all these storms in our thoughts and prayers, especially all the residents of Joplin, Missouri! Happy Summer!! : )

Busy Bees

Whew! It has been one crazy month, and it's only a little over halfway through! Well, we made our first big purchase as a couple. Her name is Piper and she is a 2010 Pontiac G6! It wasn't that we necessarily needed a different car, but both of Mason's vehicles have well over 200,000 miles, and we didn't want to chance one or more of them going out at once. So, we started looking and really liked this car and decided to go for it!

We started the first weekend of May up in Iowa, which was wonderful. And we got to test out the G6, and she ran great! I took a personal day on Friday so Mason and I could head up earlier. We hung out with some friends on Friday night and then Saturday I ditched Mason for a day full of girl time!! I had my first bridal shower, which thoroughly exceeded my expectations. Many of my aunts got together to help make it a beautiful day for me and I am incredibly grateful for the time and effort they put into it. Everyone was insanely generous and I enjoyed getting to see everyone again. From there, the girls (Lindsey, Ashley, Nichole, Nicole, Bailey, Laura, and Amy) and I headed to Cedar Falls where we hung out at the hotel for awhile. We decided to have dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which was delicious! Unfortunately, something didn't agree with my stomach, and I ended up getting sick. Even though we didn't end up going out like we had planned, I still had a great time hanging out with the girls in the hotel room. Sara (my aunt) and Amy (my cousin), also came up to hang out for awhile!

Me with my bridesmaids, minus Cara and Tabitha. From the left is my sister Laura, and friends Ashley, Lindsey, and Amy.

Amy with a few of the other lovely ladies that were able to come-- Nicole, Bailey, and Nichole!

Yes, we are related. And yes, you should be jealous! : )

This was my cute outfit for the evening! Even though I didn't get to go out because I didn't feel well, I still rocked it! : )

The Monday after my shower in Iowa I went in for my first dress fitting, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I wouldn't need any alterations-- thank heavens!! Then on Tuesday, a couple of my good friends at school threw me a bridal shower as well. It was complete with good company, wonderful food which included chocolate covered strawberries, and another generous amount of thoughtful gifts. It was nice to hang out with each of them without having to worry about school stuff! From there the week went very smoothly, until Thursday. We started the morning on lock down because they brought the drug dogs in to check lockers and classrooms. So naturally the kids got pretty wound up. At the beginning of third hour, we were told that we would be on lock down again. We continued to stay on lock down until about 1:00 in the afternoon. None of us really knew what was going on so we just went about our normal class routine. Come to find out there was a gunman not far from our school that the police were trying to find. Long story short, he ended up getting arrested right near Edgar Springs, which is way too close for comfort!!

That Saturday, I made my first trip to Branson with a little over 100 7th grade National Junior Honor Society members. Since I am going to be the adviser for NJHS next year, I was invited to tag along. I had a blast wandering around Silver Dollar City, so Mason and I decided to get season passes and will be heading back down there for a visit next weekend!

In between all that craziness, Mason finally finished this semester! He was incredibly happy to be finished, and he did very well. He is signed up to take the CBASE test this June. If he passes, it will allow him to be enrolled in the college of education at Drury. He still has a little ways to go until he's finished, but he's definitely making progress. My brother, Jonathan, was also very happy to be done with school. He graduated last week with his Master's of Social Work degree. He has worked incredibly hard to get to this point, and I am a very proud sister! He'll definitely do great things!

This weekend Mason's mom Shelly and step dad Eric are coming down to stay with us because I'm having another bridal shower down here. Tabitha, Greg, and Carson are already down here but we haven't had the opportunity to see them yet. Carson is already over a month old and has changed so much!!  Other than that, I'm just working hard to get through the rest of the school year. T-4 days and summer vacation will be here! Since I'm teaching summer school, I guess I'm not technically on summer vacation yet, but they are only half days so I'll still get a break! I. Can't. Wait.

Carson Lee Wacker

Baby Carson will be the primary topic of conversation for this particular blog, so I feel like I should apologize in advance for all the baby chatter. : ) Tabitha (Mason's older sister) had Carson last Tuesday (April 12th), and he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. I was pretty surprised, and I think others were as well, that he wasn't bigger than that. But he sure is a cute little thing. Since it was the middle of the week that he was born, Mason and I had to wait till the following weekend to go visit. That actually worked out pretty well since they stayed in the hospital until Friday. We got up to St. Joseph on that Friday night and were able to spend some time with Tabitha, Greg (her husband), and Carson before we all called it a night, which was very nice. I'm typically not what one would call a "baby" person, but I sure loved getting to hold and love on him! He is a very mild-mannered baby, and doesn't seem to get too shook up about anything. He didn't seem to particularly enjoy having his diaper changed, but that was mostly because of the cold wet wipes, I think....On Saturday we spent about half the day there and then went to do some shopping with Mason's mom, Shelly. I found some super cute baby sunglasses, thinking that they would fit great, only to find out they were actually quite large on the handsome little man.

 

We stopped by again Sunday morning for a few hours before we came back down to Edgar, and I had the chance to feed and hold him again, which was great! I never thought I'd be so excited to have a little nephew, but it's sure a neat feeling, especially since I'll get to see him grow since birth. I just wish we all lived a little closer so we could see each other on a more regular basis. 

As you can see, Mason is pretty smitten with the little guy as well! He'll be a good uncle!

As I mentioned in a previous post, my friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband Joey, is also pregnant, with TWIN boys, and is due in August. I actually just had an amazing conversation with her tonight, and she is having a wonderful pregnancy, which is great! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her at the wedding, so hopefully everything will continue to go well for her! I definitely can't wait to meet those two little boys either!

Completely switching topics, Mason shot a turkey this morning! Looks like turkey breast for supper tomorrow night! Yum! He went out at about 5:45 this morning, and had one by 6:15. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone at home so he wasn't able to let me know until I got home. It was a pretty good-sized turkey, weighing around 20 pounds. The beard was about 9 and a quarter, so he seemed to be pleased with it! It wasn't quite as big as the bird he got last year, but at least he didn't cut open his forehead this time! I tried to upload some pictures of his turkey, but for some reason it didn't want to let me.  Mason also found about 70 mushrooms the other day, so we got to chow down on some fried mushrooms. Completely unhealthy, but totally worth it! : )

Other than that not too much has been going on. We celebrated Mason's 22nd birthday on the 10th. He was hopeful that Carson would be born on the same day, but it just wasn't in the cards. We celebrated by going out to dinner at Colton's Steakhouse with a couple of friends. He got a scope, a pair of boots, and a cute cake from me, and I think he was happy with that!

I also found out I'm probably going to get to teach summer school which is also great! Our school year officially ends on May 25th (completely unbelievable..this year flew), and then summer school will start May 31st and go through June 17th. Summer school is only half days, which is nice. It will be perfect timing, because that will still give me about a week before the wedding to prepare for whatever we need to do when that time comes. Speaking of which, on Monday there will be exactly two months until the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly excited to marry Mason, but I'm also very excited to get to see everyone!! Invitations have been sent, so hopefully we'll start getting replies soon!

It's Spring!

A lot has gone on in the last month since I have written on here, and for the most part, it has all been awesome! I could definitely tell that cabin fever had set in with all my kiddos, because in the weeks before spring break, they were (to put it nicely) insane! However, I can't say that I blame them; I was the same way! It's been great to finally have the windows open and not have the heat run constantly, and to be able to go outside in just a t-shirt! And even better, I don't freeze to death every time I let the dog in or out! Hey, it's the little things, right?! ; )

Despite the craziness of the kids, and teachers at times, school is continuing to go very well! I feel more confident each day with the content and kids I'm teaching, which is great. I've heard that it takes at least 3 years to really start becoming comfortable with a teaching style and with the content that is taught, and I definitely feel that next year (being my third year with 7th grade language arts) will be very promising! On a side note, please try not to judge any errors I make in this just because I'm a language teacher. : ) I have to say I can't believe there are only 9 more Mondays before the school year is OVER...where on earth has the time gone?! It seems like we just barely got started!

As I said, a lot has gone on this month, and it started with a fun weekend in Hannibal with Sara (my aunt) and Amy (my cousin). We met in Hannibal on the morning of the 12th and had lunch before we were able to check into our hotel room. We had big intentions of going to do the touristy stuff when we got there, but we had too much fun chatting in the room that we never actually left (except when our power went out). Don't worry, we got it turned back on. : ) After ordering in pizza and talking about just about everything one could think to talk about we decided it was probably a good idea to go to bed around 2:00 am. The next morning we got up and moving around with the hopes of doing the touristy stuff that day, momentarily forgetting it was Sunday and nothing opened until around noon. So...we went to the same restaurant as the day before and then wandered around to the different shops downtown and went on a little tour that had information about Mark Twain; all the while we made sure to keep an eye out for Injun Joe, just in case. ; ) Shortly after, we decided we better head our separate ways, but it was definitely a fun weekend that I hope we can repeat soon!

Once I got home on Sunday, I did a quick-clean on the house, just in time for JJ (my brother) and Bailey (his girlfriend) to come down for spring break! Mason and I were both supposed to work on Monday but Mason got rained out so he was able to keep our guests company for the day. On Tuesday, JJ, Bailey, and I made the trek to the lake. I took care of the cake stuff for the wedding, and then we did a little shopping at the outlet mall. From there we went back to Edgar so we could meet Mason for supper before he had to go to class. However, the little stinker that he is, skipped class, so we began a vicious game of The Farming Game. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's the best game EVER! Seriously. I still need to purchase myself a new copy from when it burned in the fire, but luckily my brother brought his down and the farming began! We played for a few hours and then decided that if we were going to be coherent for our trip to St. Louis we had better go to bed.

Our first stop in St. Louis was the Anheuser-Busch Brewery. Although I've been here several times, Mason had never been, so we wanted to make sure he had the opportunity. It's probably one of my favorite places to visit in the city. No, not just because of the product they produce, but it's really a unique place with some neat history!

After going on the tour and spending some quality time in the hospitality room trying some of their frothy beverages, we went over to the Science Center. It's a pretty neat place too, but seemed to be geared more toward kids. Don't get me wrong, we had fun, but I don't think that we'll go again until we have kids of our own that are old enough to enjoy it. After the Science Center we were on a mission to find food (I get cranky when I'm hungry...). We wanted something different than normal, but literally every place we stopped at was either closed down or weren't open yet for the day. So, we settled for Long John Silvers. Definitely not our first choice, but by that point we were desperate. We scarfed down and went to one of the malls to do a little more shopping. Unfortunately, I got sick from good ole Long John Silvers so we came back home to finish our Farming Game we started the night before!

Thursday we pretty much just hung out and lounged around all day, which was kind of nice. Since it was St. Patrick's Day we decided to go to The Tater Patch and have their amazing tenderloins and celebrate there. Our friends Duane and Paige both came as well, and we had a good time singing, dancing, and just hanging out. We got home around 12:15 and received a surprise phone call from our friend Adam who had literally just made it down to Missouri and was at the Tater Patch looking for us. He was originally going to come down but then was unable to, so we weren't expecting him. So he ended up driving the rest of the way to Edgar so we could all hang out. Even though he didn't get to celebrate with us, it was still great to see him!

Here are just a few pictures of our St. Patrick's celebration. Unfortunately, I didn't get any of Adam this time around. For the next few days I felt like a terrible hostess, because I literally felt terrible. From Friday to Monday I had terrible abdominal cramps. It felt like someone was taking my stomach and twisting it like a rag. I thought it might be food poisoning, but never did find out for sure. It was the worst on Saturday. I had good intentions of going to school on Monday, but the pain was still bad enough that it just wasn't going to happen. So instead I spent about 3 hours at the doctor. They took my blood and let me know that I didn't have appendicitis and that my kidneys and liver were functioning properly; essentially taking my money without really being able to tell me anything. At this point I feel 100 times better, so I guess that's the most important thing!

It was definitely an eventful week, but one that Mason and I thoroughly enjoyed! I can't wait until we go up to Iowa the beginning of May for my bridal shower so we can see everyone again. I'm still continuing to plan the wedding. Even though it's coming quick, I can honestly say I'm to the point (again) where I really wish we would have eloped. Although I'm incredibly excited for it and for everyone to be here, I feel like it's becoming a bit of a hassle for everyone involved. Maybe that's just the stress talking. Everyone says it will be okay, so I'm hoping that's true!

Anyways, if you actually made it to the end of this novel, I applaud you and I hope this finds you well! I'm sure there will be more updates to come! : )

School, Babies, and Life in General

I just felt like writing tonight, so if you are reading this, please bear with my random blabbering because it's quite possible it will be all over the place! Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

Everything has been going well in the Steffen/Heavin household, just busy, busy! I believe I mentioned in one of my last posts that Mason was going to be taking the paraprofessional praxis. Well, we found out that he passed it according to Missouri standards! So, we were definitely very excited about that! That means he can apply to be a paraprofessional this fall, so we're hopeful that a position will open up that will be a good fit for him. He has also been busy this semester with classes, especially since he is working full time as well. The last couple semesters he was able to have class on just Tuesday and Thursday nights, but this one he has class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Though I miss him when he's gone, I can catch up on some other important stuff...like The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, and Grey's Anatomy. : )

School has been going well for me as well. I've never referred to "school" as "work." Even though teaching is definitely challenging at times, I've never really looked at it as a job. I just really enjoy going and getting to work with my students (most of the time). : ) I'm really fortunate this year because our team has a pretty good group of kids, and I have a great team to work with. So even on those tough teaching days, it's refreshing to know that during 7th hour, we can all chat and I have that support system available.

On another note, Mason and I had an enjoyable weekend. His mom Shelly and step-dad Eric came down from St. Joseph for Tabitha's baby shower. It's crazy to think that she will be having a baby in mid-April. We're definitely looking forward to meeting Baby Carson, and are excited to be getting a new nephew! Tabitha's baby shower was given by her in-laws up in Owensville, and it was a great day aside from the yucky weather. Everything looked super cute, and Tabitha seemed to have a wonderful time which is the most important thing. Let me just say, that is going to be one stylish kid! I don't think I've ever seen so many baby clothes! Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but he does have a lot of super cute clothes!

This is a picture of Tabitha and her husband Greg, along with Carson of course! :)

Speaking of babies, I think there must be something in the water because A LOT of people I know are expecting, in addition to Tabitha. My Uncle Joe and Aunt Renee are due in August (if I remember correctly), my good friend Cara who is stationed in Georgia with her husband are having TWINS in August, Mason's Aunt Avery is due in May, my cousin Jess is due in June I believe, plus there are a couple ladies at school who are expecting this summer. Sorry if I forgot anyone... It's super exciting, and it will be fun to meet all these tiny humans!

In other news, Mason and I are REALLY excited for spring break because JJ (my brother), his girlfriend Bailey, and possibly our friend Adam are coming down for a visit. I'm not really sure what we are going to do, other than visit the Tater Patch, but I'm sure it will be a good time. It will definitely be great to see some familiar faces from my Iowa home since I probably won't be up there again until May. That will make almost 5 months since I've been home or seen anyone from up that way, so it will be great!

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much. We've just been hanging out and getting ready for the big day. Only 123 days left....CRAZY!! I'm so ready for it to be here, along with our trip to Cozumel, Mexico! :) Well, it's almost time for this girl to head to bed, so I hope all is well with everyone, and have a great night!