Two More Blog Contributors!

Susan Van Sickle:

Hey there! I'm Suzie (Baitland) Van Sickle! I married into this awesome teaching family! The moment I found out that Brandon's mom and sister were both teachers, I knew he understood what he was getting into when marrying me. We married in 2007, (2 weeks after Sarah and John), and have been living in Spring, Texas ever since. Needless to say, this family just goes with the flow!

I grew up in Sugar Land, Texas. My mom and sister are both teachers too... so it's kinda in our blood! I taught for 7 years before becoming a stay at home mommy to my two precious TWINS! Yes, I am that crazy twin lady, but I wouldn't want my life any other way. My background is in Early Childhood Education, and I have a masters in Educational Leadership. I taught kinder for 5 years and second grade for 2 years. I plan on going back to education one day!

I don't get a paycheck or have a quarterly bonus, but I take what I do each day like a job. A really fun job! Each day the boys bring new joy to our house, and I just hope we can share a little bit of fun along the way!

Sarah McCoy:

I'm Sarah (Van Sickle) McCoy...see a trend here? Growing up with a mom like mine, learning was something that happened so naturally. She had a way of taking something we were interested in and creating an atmosphere of fun around it. What I didn't know at the time was that through all of this fun, I was learning. What I did know was that it was fun to be creative and so I began to teach at young age. I taught my little brother, my friends, little kiddos in the Church Nursery, and children I babysat whether they wanted to be taught or not! :) I caught the teaching bug and there was no way around it!

I married John over three years ago and the adventures began! We now have a son, Carter, dog named Lucy and live in China (the country, not China, Texas)! Before becoming a mommy, I was a teacher. I taught Pre-K, First Grade and PYP Reading/Writing in Norway.

Mommy-hood is so special! I love every bit of spending time with my little Carter-Bear. However, this is not at all the "Mommy-hood" I imagined growing up. Living abroad is such a great experience in many ways but it can be challenging as well. We don't have a backyard, a front yard, a playroom and in fact, Carter sleeps in our storage room. We don't have a car, Hobby Lobby, Target or other simple conveniences that fit into my early dreams of mommy-hood. Needless to say, I've had to be a bit more creative in giving Carter all the experiences I want for him. I hope to share some of these experiences to help grow the teacher in you!