Just a quick hello!

Ok friends and family, I just have a short update because it is getting further and further past my bedtime but I thought we should say hello!!  

The second semester of school is in full swing and I am already exhausted!!  Today was a crazy day at school, everybody showing off their new Christmas clothes (or hooker boots in the case of the kids at my school) and so many hugs for missed friends....middle school kids are too weird!  And just to top the day off we had a game!  Thank goodness my girls decided to come together and get a good win because I was going to be quite evil if we had lost all of our hard work from before Christmas!  So lucky them, I guess I will be nice tomorrow, at least at the first of practice! Ha ha!  

Brian will start methods tomorrow, which is the last set of classes that he takes before student teaching and graduation!! So we are so excited to get this last semester out of the way!  

I am so sad that the Christmas vacation is already over!  We are so blessed to have such great family surrounding us, we just ran and ran all through the holiday trying to get around to see everybody!  First we spent Christmas with my family in Shallowater, then a few days later went to Lovington, then a few days later went to Snyder, and then just a few days after that we were coasting along in sunny California with Brian's family.  We always have so much fun spending time with our families, especially when presents are involved!!  Not really....it just was an added perk!  We really did have a great holiday, it was just too fast!!!

Well, that was just a little snippet of what has been going on in "Cole Land" (that is what Brian's sister's boyfriend Garrett calls the Cole family gatherings) we have so many more stories and pictures to share, but maybe another day when it is not after my bedtime!!  

Tiny Dog Free!!

Brian and I (and I guess Riley) are free of little dogs taking over our house!  And that is what they did, we have made jokes about them coming between Brian and I because last night I slept on the couch with the little dogs, and Brian and Riley took the bedroom (they just need lots of lovin)!  We had a great time keeping the dogs, but I think that Riley is glad to have the full attention of his parents again, and I know the little dogs are glad to be back with their parents!!

  He got camera shy!!

Tomorrow is a big game against Mackenzi, so around 6:00 if you happen to be thinking about me, say a prayer for my sanity, patience...and maybe a miracle!  Haha!    I hope you have a great week, and hopefully we will be back with more stories soon!!  Lots of love, Brooke and Brian...and Riley!

I have missed you!!

Well hello blogger friends, it has been way too long since we have been together, but this year has turned out to be quite busy!!  So much has happened since October I don't even know where to begin, but I guess I will just update you on what is going on at the Cole household.

This weekend we are dog-sitting for my parents and my sister as they are off partying in Vegas (well not so much partying as they are watching the NFR and shopping, and more shopping, and more shopping) and it has turned out to be a bigger job than expected, and I don't think big ol' Riley likes being stuck outside while the little dogs get to snuggle inside where it is warm.  We bought a baby gate to keep the small dogs in while we are gone to school and thought it was the greatest idea to keep them contained...not so much!  Courtney's dog Angel probably weighs 3 pounds and is quite sneaky.  Thursday night we put the dogs in the kitchen and said goodnight and went to bed, well Angel decided she did not like to be trapped in the kitchen with Taz, so she hopped up on a chair and jumped over the baby gate and was barking at our door.  So lesson learned we moved all chairs away from the gate, put the dog back and went to bed.  Tonight we went to supper, put the dogs in the kitchen, and came home to find Angel, who is normally clothed (ask her mother) undressed and out of the kitchen.  The clothes that she was wearing apparently came off as she was squeezing herself though the baby gate!  Poor Taz is a little bit rounder than Angel and well, he did not get out of the baby gate!  Haha!

Angel's shirt is the teal colered thing inthe corner that is standing on its own!!

As many of you know already, but for those of you who don't, my volleyball team won the Consolation bracket for the City Tournament.  We had to really fight to win, and I was so proud of my team.  It was so exciting for them to win a trophy, and it was so exciting for me to accomplish this with my first volleyball team.  Now that we are on to basketball I thought it was going to be pretty laid back and easy, I have been told of how great this group of girls would be for me and that they were so talented in basketball, boy was I wrong.  Not that they aren't talented, because they could easily win all their games this season and go on to win the city tournament, but the girls have developed this attitude (I know who would have thought junior high girls with attitude) and are not listening or trusting me.  I have given this team a motto and it is "I do what I want" (you have to say it with a little ghetto in ya) and they hate it when I point it out to them.  But just as junior high girls will do, some days we have great practices and everybody is in a good mood, and most days we have some sort of drama...oh the life of a junior high girl!!!  Needless to say we are working hard and hopefully we can get it together and start playing to our potential!!  

Brian has also been working at Atkins with our Choir teacher and he absolutely loves it.  I knew that we had made the right choice in staying in Lubbock when he was offered to be employed by LISD and work with an amazing choir teacher, and get some good experience before he heads into student teaching.  It is so cool to see God's plan unfold, especially when you have to make a choice and you start feel that you made the wrong one, and God steps in and shows you why he put you where you are.  So Brian is really having a good time.  The kids love to come in and tell me that they saw Mr. Coach Cole (yes, not Mr. Cole, he is Mr. Coach Cole).  I also had a student come to PE the other day after Choir and she was so worried because Mr. Coach Cole wasnt wearing his wedding ring and she thought we werent married anymore. After explaining to them that he just left it at home they were very releived, but it is so sad that they automatically assume things like that.  I have been told over and over that we work with damaged kids, but it is hard to understand until you hear their stories and work firsthand with them.  I know that Brian and I were put at Atkins for a reason and I think that just seeing us together is help to them.  I know that Brian has definitely helped some of the boys at that school, and I love to hear them talk about how cool Mr. Cole is!!

Well I am not sure how much more I have to say right now, there are thousands of stories, funny and sad, that I have to share about our jobs and dogs, so stay tuned and hopefully it wont take me 3 months to post again!!  Have a great weekend!!

I hope you didnt forget about us!!

Well hello! Sorry we have not been on in so long, but I feel like we have been going and going so much that when I get a second to myself I just want to sit!!! But Brian is having a guys night, and I am procrastinating on grades, so here we are!

I feel like there is so much I need to catch you all up on, but I don't even know where to begin! My job is going good, it is tough, especially since we are getting into the silly "junior high girl drama", but I really enjoy my new school. It is also so fun since Brian is working there as a supplemental teacher with our choir teacher. I get to see him in the halls every once in a while and then after school most days. It is nice to see someone who you know is on your side and thinks you are doing a good job, especially when you are surrounded by junior high kids all day! I will admit, being a head coach at this age is tough!! And it is extremely hard be over people who are older than you and think they know more than you do, but I am learning and I do feel that I am getting a little thicker skin, and stronger back bone....that could be why my back hurts at the end of the day....or it could be from all the backstabbing...who knows!!! Ha, not really! One thing I can say, I have grown more in this first six weeks than I have through all college and my first year of teaching! Volleyball is so much fun!! I knew that I loved to play volleyball, but I LOVE to coach it. I look forward to practice everyday, and I am sad that we are almost done with our season!!

Riley Update - We still do not know what type of dog lives in our backyard, but he is quite possibly the cutest thing ever!! But this cute dog is also very accident prone!! We have come to know our vet very well, and I have the number on speed dial....well maybe that is a little exaggeration, but we have been to see them multiple times. So the other day we went out to see Riley and his poor little tail was just hanging between his legs, and it is normally wagging uncontrollably. So of course we were worried and took him to see his friend. On our way to the vet we were feeling like terrible parents who couldn't take care of our dog, and that we couldn't afford to take him in as often as we have, so we asked the vet about adoption, and once the words left our mouth the tears started flowing. It was like once we said it out loud we realized how bad of an idea that would be! The vet assured us that we were not bad parents, and as Brian and I sat there crying we decided to get him fixed and see if that would help calm him down. So the next Monday we took him in and we do feel that he is better now....and a little more cuddly!! So our $20 dog who has cost us ..... well way more than $20 is still at home, and snoring on his bed as we speak!! Gotta love him!!!

So, sorry this is so long, but I haven't blogged in forever! Hopefully I can stay a little more updated, but we shall see! Have a great weekend!

Brian's Birthday (Not Really)

Courtney's friend Kimberly has a little girl named Kambree, and she decided that she wanted birthday cake.  She also decided that today would be Brian's birthday.  Kambree then told us that he was turning 42 tonight!!  We had alot of fun playing "pretend birthday" so here are some pics for you!!  Happy Birthday Brian!!

Brian cutting his birthday cake.

Courtney with her "cake lips"!  Kambree kept saying "don't kiss her, don't kiss her".

Kambree wanted all the balloons that were on the cake, so Brian gave her ALL the balloons!  She had a plate full of cake...and a mouthful!! 

The Tornado is Coming!!

Well I am so sorry it has been so long, but I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for a few weeks now!!  To start it off I will give you just a little idea of what has been happening at the Cole house.

We started our teacher in-service last week, and I was so excited to get to know everybody.  It has been so much fun hanging out with the other teachers. There is a group that we all go out to eat with, and they have been so welcoming to me.  I am really starting to figure out everybodies personalities, and it is making me feel like Atkins is where I am meant to be.  In our second week of in-service we were really getting tired of sitting and listening and ready to see some kids, so finally on Thursday night we had "meet the parent" night and it was super fun!!  I got to meet about 40 families, and I lead my first meeting as the head coach.  I was so nervous that I was sweating profusely and a little sick to my stomach, but after talking to my first parent and student I felt so much better.  The meeting went well, and I left with a good feeling, but sore feet!!

During this time Brian's parents came to bring one of his sisters back to school and were staying at out house.  While they were here they were busy little bees...well not literally bees, but they worked hard around our house.  Julie and the girls (and Garrett) helped pull down border and paint our guest bathroom, and it looks a thousand times better.  During this time Doug found some problems in our shower and got busy fixing them.  We also decided that if we ever wanted to grow grass in our front yard we would have to get rid of some trees.  As sad as it is to cut down trees we had three removed from our house during this time also.  So within one week we had our bathroom painted, shower fixed, and trees removed. So thanks to my wonderful in-laws my house looks better!  

So that is just a little clip of what has been going on around here.  Brian has been working hard all summer and it has all paid off because now he will just work part time and go to school, so he is way excited about that.  He is also excited because we were able to buy him a keyboard that he has been drooling over for a few years now.  

Well I guess that is all for now!  I hope that I can be a little better about posting when school starts, but we shall see!!  Love you all!!!  Have a great week, especially you teachers...a new year starts on Monday!!  So get ready...the tornadoes are coming.

Back to School!

Well sort of back to school! I have been getting ready for next year, and I was told that one of my duties is to decorate the trophy cases outside of the gym! So thanks to my Mom and Husband we got it done, and not without a little blood shed...let's just say I don't get along with staplers, and Mom had a fight with the exacto knife! I also got to meet one of the other girls I will be coaching with and she was VERY informative, and so nice! I have also realized that there is no way that I will live up the the FABULOUS lady that I am replacing! I am sure she was awesome, but so far I feel as though there is alot to live up to, and I am not ready to take over a motherly position (she was the "mom" of the group, I mean she was here for 30YEARS!!! She should have been the "grandma" ha), but I will have to be on the ball because everything is set a certain way and has a spot!! Very serious business up here let me tell you, don't you think about taking a t-shirt without checking it out!!! But all jokes aside I am SUPER excited to get to know everybody, and get going with this school year!! So I better get busy with lesson plans (no Madeline Hunter though, for you teacher people, such a waste of time, but don't tell Stutler hehe)!! Love you all!!