The Bates Family: October 2009

Friday, October 30, 2009

Family Pictures 2009 by Tim Watson Photography

Here are the pictures we had done last weekend! We are so excited and thankful for our friends Tim and Stacey who scheduled this appointment for us. Thank you Tim Watson Photography for these very precious family memories.

If you need an awesome photographer here is the information you will need:

Tim Watson Photography
www.timwatsonphotography.com
timwatsonphoto@hotmail.com
214-289-1238

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Work Family

Lisa, Karen, Jeff and I - Colonial Day

Lister 2008

Lister 2009

I wanted to post this picture of my wonderful team from school taken at the beginning of this year. Jeff (middle), Claudia (top), Karen (bottom) and Katie who is new to our team this year (right). These guys plus Lisa who left us this year to stay home with her baby girl Sydney have been my amazing support system at work.

For the past two years they have been there for me and helped me get through some tough times. Aside from being the best team and truly some of the most amazing teachers I know - I feel they have been such a blessing in my life. When I switched schools two years ago God knew I needed these people in my life. I should have known during that first interview they were a crazy bunch... Only about a month after I accepted the job...(so we had only met 1 time prior to this) Lisa asked me to come to her house so we could start planning for next year. I was so appreciative since I was not going to be there at the beginning of the year due to having Luka in early August.... the team came together and surprised me with a little baby shower. Yes, the people I had only met once before not only opened their home but decorated the place and came with gifts!

We got together that summer I was pregnant with Luka (right before starting at Lister) and this team meeting took from 9 am until 7 pm...I did not stop laughing the entire time I was there! I remember leaving in the middle of it for my dr. appointment and was a little worried if I was going to be able to keep up with this group :). I got a text several hours later and they were still "meeting". :)

These guys have laughed and cried with me, they have celebrated every good day our family has had and have prayed for us when we needed prayers the most.... They have let me cry on their shoulders and taken care of me while Justin was in the hospital. Every morning started with "How's Justin?"...or "What can we do?"...

They are the kind of friends and coworkers that show up on a Friday night at your door unannounced carrying diapers, dinner and games while Justin was really sick last year....they are the kind of friends who take over my class on the days when they knew I didn't get very much rest or sleep to allow me to go home....they show up with baby formula randomly every month claiming they just found it around the house..... show up at the hospital to share the joy of our new family members......take care of my classes and lesson plans (not just once but twice in two years) during my maternity leave...not to mention listen to all my venting day in and day out.

They are also the kind of friends that will tell you to "man up" when necessary and celebrate with you in happy times. They are the kind of friends that will introduce you to Dave Ramsey and celebrate your accomplishments along that journey. I have truly been blessed to not only have these guys as my team for the past two years but to be able to call them my family.

When you walk down our fifth grade hallway you are promised a good share of laughter, see great teaching and get a true family feel...Yes - we have our moments of fighting like any family does but how many people can say they have such an amazing support system at work.

They would absolutely do anything for the kids they teach including giving some tough love when needed, have a few "come to Jesus" talks when times are rough, walk them home when there is an issue or wait on the corner by the school, call the parents from a cell phone, tutor 3 days a week after school, teach Saturday school before TAKS, put on a race between teachers on the rock climbing wall at Amazing Jakes while 130 fifth graders are cheering, play competitive kickball no matter how pregnant, make as many "ball" references as possible during the year, dress as Pilgrims on Colonial Day, go to the extra curricular activities on the weekends, sit through a 6 am garage sale to raise money for camp, get wet during the water balloon race on field day and bend over backwards during the year to make the fifth grade year the best year in those kids' lives.

Maybe in the process of teaching our kids to "man up" over the years we have not always made parents happy but we do it as a team and we stick by what we believe is in the best interest of our students.

Bottom line is - these are the teachers you would want teaching your kids, friends you would want on your journey of life and people I am proud to call my family.

Thank you Karen, Jeff, Lisa, Claudia and Katie for your love and support. Love you all!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Fall Fun With Our Little Pumpkins!

We had such a wonderful start to our weekend- I say that because we still have a whole other day tomorrow! Every Friday we get to enjoy having Uncle Tono over for the night. We love our Friday nights and are so thankful Uncle Tono keeps coming back even though we usually wake him up around 5-6 am on Saturday mornings. Sorry Tony! Luka also LOVES having Cooper "Michael Bates" (as he calls him) over at the house.

Last night Tony came over at the usual time and we headed to our church Fall Festival with the kiddos. We had a lot of fun and I know kiddos enjoyed it as well. Luka and Mia both got to ride one of the small horses and they had a blast. We were a little worried about Luka not wanting to get on when the time came but we were wrong! He wanted to stay on the horsie and was so upset when we had to leave. All in all we had a great time visiting with our friends and enjoying some family time together. The Festival was awesome and much, much larger than I expected.

Saturday morning we headed over to Tim Watson Photography studio bright and early to capture some "family.independent.newborn" pictures. We have not done professional pictures since before Mia was born. I know, I know! At least I have tons of pictures to record her life for the past 12 months. Thanks Tim, Stacey and Max for being such great friends and scheduling our appointment. The kids did much better than we expected and we are so excited to see the pictures.

After our fun little photo shoot we headed home to pick up a few things and soon after that we were on our way to Frisco to meet James, Sara, Emma, Emily and Josh at the annual RoughRiders Pumpkin Patch. We had a wonderful time! All of the pictures below are from today. This evening we took a walk and decided to make a stop in the grassy area overlooking the lake in our neighborhood. It was a perfect place for the kids to just run around, watch the planes, boats and cars driving by. We will be visiting that spot a lot! The kids had a lot of fun. So sorry for the overload! I just happen to have a hard time narrowing my choices down so here we go...