Sweater Party #2

After graduation we headed down to Emporia for the annual Rusco sweater party... perfect celebration to end the day with!

Girl group!

Vodka infused gummy bears= my new weakness.  Seriously... don't set the bowl near me or they will be devoured.

Love Trent's headgear ;)

The party hosts!

Had to post this for Gina and Lisa.  SO much fun with this crazy gal- even if she is wearing a Pilgrim inspired goose sweater ;)  And Gina... sorry for any texts you might've received that night.

The annual guys vs. gals flip cup tourney... which we lost miserably at this year :(  I don't know what was wrong!  Revenge on NYE!

Great Bend boys... and wild Wendy Jo.

Garage dance party!! Be glad this is the only picture I posted from the other 24 taken... along with a 5 minute video starring Wendy Rusco and her amazing dance skillz ;)  Classic.

Group shot to end the night!  Already looking forward to next year!

Master's Graduation!

4 years ago on a very cold (and blizzard-y) December day I finished my days as a Hornet by walking across the ESU stage.  While it was a super exciting day... it was also sad because I loved college. 

4 years later and I walked across another graduation stage on a very mild December day.  But this time as a Baker Wildcat.  But don't worry... I still consider myself a Hornet... I'll NEVER be a Wildcat.  Ugh... sounds too much like K-State.

Can you tell who I'm creating a scene for?!  Starts with J, rhymes with Erin?  I look like a clown compared to all the other dignified graduates.  But I had to make sure Jeryn saw me ;)

Walking across the stage for the last time ever!!!  I have NO desire to return to school ever again.

Our small graduation class.  It was only a ceremony for doctorates and masters in education.  Thank goodness or it would've lasted much longer.

Done-zo!

Thank goodness I had this girl along for the ride with me!  Wouldn't have survived without her!  Glad we went through it together :)

My fam

Trent's fam

Our marriage survived 18 months of school, homework, papers, and projects ;) This diploma is for him as much as it is for me haha.

All our family!  Thanks to everyone for lunch at Houlihan's, the gifts, and coming to my ceremony- it meant a lot to have you all there!

Slumber Par-tay

 We've gotten to babysit Jeryn alot lately and we've been loving it.  She's so much fun to have around the house.  Definitely livens up our nights at home! 

 More proof that she's always naked.  And slightly funny/inappropriate that she's playing with a nutcracker.

 My new favorite picture... hands down.  This was her rock hard tummy after eating THREE bowls of spaghetti bake.  This girl puts it down.

Reminds us of someone back in 2009... Jeryn must get it from her mama.  Did anyone else just start singing this song in their head?  No??  Just me then.

 But she really does wear clothes. Proof right here- her new pj's and Tio's work boots.

 My favorite part of the night was making a bed on the floor and snuggling up together to watch the Elf on a Shelf movie- which is really good btw.

I love this little girl :)

Sweater Party #1

We always look forward to our December weekends cause it guarantees we get to bust out the ugly Christmas sweaters!  Thank you Great Bend Salvation Army for providing us with these beauties.

 My little model ;) showing his front side...

...and his back side.

Several doilies were harmed in the making of this sweatshirt.  No it wasn't me who made this.

Typical Dave photo... I posted this to make his wife proud :)

You know you're officially old when... the guys hang out in the basement playing with toys and games...

...and the ladies stay upstairs to eat, drink, and gossip ;)

The whole crew in their finest duds!  Thanks to Adam and Shantel for hosting again this year!!

Westin Holiday Homes Tour

Back at the start of December Jobeth and Kyle invited us to go on a holiday homes tour.  Some of the oldest homes in Westin get all fancy and decorated and you get to walk all through their homes to hear the hundred year old history of the house.  Lots of cool decor ideas and holiday ideas.  Plus the tours started at the Pirtle Winery with a wine tasting and snackies.  I was in before I even knew about the wine ;)

Me and Jo with our purchase(s) of the evening :)

Self timer pic outside while the boys took the case of wine to the car.  And yes... we were laughed at by passerbys.

Group shot in front of the tree at happy hour

One of the coolest ideas I got at the first house.  How cute/easy/unique.  They had the apples everywhere! It was even the ornaments on their tree.  Both me and Jo fell in love with the idea!  Don't be surprised if you see us decorating with vintage spoons, twine, and apples next year...

After touring the 6 homes we headed to the bar/brewery O'Malleys.  Coolest bar ever.  1. It was underground... like so underground we had no cell phone/Internet/texting capabilities.  It was actually nice to not be attached to my phone for once. 2. There was a live band who may or may not have had a Zac Brown look alike. 3. It's straight up Irish and your clothes will smell like it the next day.  We would like to organize a group outing cause it's that cool- who's in??

Our reviews of the evening.
-The homes are wayyyy cooler than ours.
-Kala and Jobeth have very expensive taste much to our husband's dismays.
-O'Malley's is like something straight from Ireland.
-Totally making this an annual thing!

I miss my student teacher

I really miss my student teacher.  Today was a rough day in the 5th grade... I miss having Mrs. Phipps around (in the middle).  But thank heavens for the most wonderful para in the world- without Mrs. Swords (on the left) my world would come crashing down.  Me and my students absolutely LOVE her... and her Alabama accent :)

**PS- check out my new blinged out shirt one of my girls made me!  She knows her teacher all too well ;)  Is it wrong if I want to wear it on every casual Friday?

Here's to hoping that tomorrow is a better day...

Thanksgiving 2011

Lots to be thankful for this year!  Here's the quick rundown how we spent our turkey day(s)...

 Trent took advantage of the nice weather and put up our lights.

 I got a fancy new apron from Trent's grandma to wear as the hostess.

 With such beautiful weather we spent part of the evening on the deck.

 My dad and bro

 Joshua and Uncle Trent throwing the football as they waited on dinnertime.

 Our HUGE spread of food.  Ridiculously good.

 Group shot of our families in our home.

 3 generations of McMillans

 Friday night- after a LONG day of Black Friday shopping... Lora and Angie surprised us "kids" with Christmas themed shirts to wear on our holiday light trip to Longview Lake.  Hilarious.

 My favorite purchase from my Black Friday shopping... Bieber's Christmas album!!!  Am I 26 or 13?  The boys enjoyed the CD as well :)

 I think Trent and my mom had their fill of Biebs' singing after listening to the CD straight through... 3 times.

 The lights at Longview Lake are amazing.  It has definitely become a Christmas tradition to head out there the Friday night after Thanksgiving... a little bit of a drive from Gardner to Lee's Summit but totally worth it!

 Country Mouth Jr. LOVED the lights.  **Disclaimer- the car wasn't moving and Ashley was holding onto her when this pic was taken ;)**

 Tradition #2 is stopping by the house of  "the crazy blow up people" to walk through all their decorations.  Don't worry... you're allowed to walk through their yard.  They have signs saying so :)

 Lots of tunnels and walkways to poke around in.

 One of no-shave-November's victims

 One guess who Joshua was annoyed at.  Haha... love this picture... so much brotherly love going on.

 And the big picture look of the place.  But it doesn't even begin to describe it.  Pictures seriously don't do it justice.  This is something you have to see to believe.

 And our new tradition we added this year that I'm most excited about- our Thanksgiving book.

 It's just a cheap journal that I bought last minute at Wal-Mart and threw some scrapbooking stickers on.

Inside on the first page we'll glue in the group picture.  Then on the following pages everyone that was at our house had to write what they were thankful for.  Even Jeryn had to get in on the action with her scribbles.  Each year we'll keep adding to the book as our families grow and change.  I'm excited to think that with kids you'd be able to see how their spelling/writing changes as they grow up.  Thank you to some lady in blog-land who thought up this cool idea!