Christmas at Our House

Well, we had a wonderful Christmas at our house. Christmas Eve consisted of building gingerbread houses with the girls, then getting ready for church. We attended the candlelight service at church. Then we went out to eat at the best restaurant in town....LONGHORN! We got home about 8:45. Then we let the girls open their present from Nana and Papa Walty on the webcam....how cool is that?! I love Skype...it is my new favorite thing on the computer. It was so cool to see my parents and my sister and brother-in-law in person. I didn't feel so far from home and felt like we could share holiday memories with them.....tooooooo coooooool! Anyway, the girls were SO excited to open their present and about blew out all of our ears when they screamed when they saw what they got from Nana and Papa.....a Wii. The girls have wanted one of those for so long. I think Bailey actually got tears in her eyes when she chilled out for a minute to take it all in. It was too cute. She told me when I tucked her in that night that she felt like she was dreaming because she couldn't believe she now had a Wii. So needless to say it was a hit. Of course we had to play a few games before they headed off to bed to wait for Santa. Bailey did her typical of laying out the cookies and milk and note to Santa. Then our family tradition is to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and then Matthew in the Bible about the real meaning of Christmas. After tucking in Bailey and going through the cute fear she had ... she realized that this was the first time in her life that her and Sarah couldn't sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve. They have always done that since Bailey was born because Sarah always had the extra bed in her room. Well in our new house that isn't the case. She laid there trying to be brave because Santa being in our house "scares" her. Well I went in to tuck Sarah in, and as I was walking down the stairs, I hear this little voice from Bailey's room...."Mama, I am scared...can I sleep in Sarah's room on the floor. I don't care if there isn't a mattress." Then Sarah said, "Come on Bailey, you can sleep in my bed with me"....It was too precious to see both of my little girls tucked in a single bed snuggled together. Made me tear up myself because I realized that even though they are both growing up and at times can't stand each other, they love and care for each other more than we know. So then it was off to our elf work as the children were all snuggled up in their bed.

Christmas morning started at our house at 6:15ish. The girls were very excited to get all their gifts. As you can see from the picture, they were both shocked and excited that they got Guitar Hero. I love that picture because it was a perfect shot of both of their faces. And in the final picture, you can see them boxing each other on the Wii. It was so funny to watch them playing it. They literally played on it ALL DAY LONG! They have already put some time in it today as well. We just had a lazy day.

We overall had a wonderful day and I am so grateful to have my family both far and near. I really loved being able to see my family on the web too. Thanks to Melissa and Steve for that wonderful idea! And if you don't have Skype/a webcam, I highly recommend it to everyone!!!!!

Well, I am gonna close this entry by just saying.....Merry Christmas and I love you all!

Wow! We have been busy this past week! We had the children's musical at church, Sarah's band concerts, a Christmas dinner out with the managers from the restaurant, a Christmas dinner with friends, Christmas parties at school, last minute shopping, baking cookies with the girls, and trying to finish up the girls bedrooms! Needless to say I am tired, so I took a nap yesterday after church, and went to bed at 8:00 and slept till 7:00 this morning!
Let's see if I can update you on all of this. The children's musical was very cute and Bailey did very well. She had a speaking part in it and did great with it. All the kids practiced for a long time in the weeks prior, so I am glad it all came together nicely. I had a picture of it, but it looks like my camera has lost it....not too happy about that. Sarah had her band concert on Monday night and then she had to be at the concert for the high school on Tuesday for part of her grade. Their concert was good but they messed up the last song pretty bad. The reason for that is that the band teacher gave them their music literally two days before the concert. He then proceeded to get ticked off at them and acted like a child to the point that I had to write a nasty email to him. He cussed the kids out on stage after the curtain closed and then gave them all a low grade for the concert. I was so mad at him. I told him if he had not procrastinated in giving the kids their music that wouldn't have happened. There is a lot more to the story but let's just say he dropped their grade and wrote an apology letter to the students and parents. On Wednesday we took the managers to one of our favorite restaurants in Valdosta. It is called the Bistro and we go there for special occassions whenever we can. It was a very enjoyable evening for all of us. Our friends Beth and David has us over for a Christmas dinner the other night and we had fun there as well. We all ended up playing with their Wii, and sharing lots of laughs throughout the night. I was in charge of Bailey's Christmas party on Friday, so after leaving the preschool and my party there, I picked up Sarah at school early and we headed over to Bailey's school. We had a pizza party and enough junk food to feed an army. I couldn't get over the amount of stuff people had sent in. Sarah had Anna spend the night on Saturday and we went on our annual Tifton Tacky Light Tour. We found a few tacky houses, but was a bit disappointed in our tour this year as a lot of people didn't put up lights at all. I guess we are blaming that on the economy too......LOL Today we spent the day doing all of our holiday baking. The girls and I will head out to the fire department and the police department tomorrow to make deliveries of our cookies to them. We do that every year as our way of saying thank you to them for all that they do throughout the year. I also have been painting today. Anna's parents had a dresser and chest of drawers they were gonna get rid of, so they said we could have them which worked out great because we needed them for the girls rooms. I am having to paint them black since they were lime green and white. They look good, and I went to go buy new hardware for them to update their look. I should have them all done in the next few days so then the girls rooms will be almost done!
Well, I guess that is all for now.....I guess my next post will be after Christmas, so I hope you all have a blessed day and a relaxing few days off.
Hugs to you all and Merry Christmas!

Bailey's Recital

Bailey had her recital last night and she did well....especially considering we had to listen to 53 students play either the piano, guitar, drums, or VIOLIN!!! I am hear to tell you, me and the violin don't mix. I told Todd I would rather get my teeth drilled without novacaine than to have to listen to that again. I truly believe you really have to be a patient individual to teach these kids....especially the violin students....eek, eek, eek....that is all it sounds like. It is like nails on a chalkboard. Anyway, some of the kids sang too, and if I were Simon Cowell...I would have been really mean to a lot of them....that sounds horrible cuz they are only kids but I mean really, come on, some of these parents need to have a heart to heart with their kids and let them know it is time to find a new hobby.....LOL I have to say the piano kids were the easiest to listen to because most of their songs were short and too the point. But after going through that last night I feel as if I have earned a new place in heaven. I think that has been one of the most challenging moments of parenthood......LOL
Bailey's video is above and you can watch it. She made two small oopsies, but overall did great compared to a lot of the others. She has only been taking piano for a few months, so I was proud she even wanted to do the recital.....so you all can be honest and tell me if I need to have a heart to heart with my child too......LOL She did enjoy playing on the grand piano, and wants us to "get her one of those kind"....yeah right, got a couple thousand to loan me so I can run right out and get it for her??? She was nervous at first as you will see in the video. She kept asking Ms. Nettie (her piano teacher) to tell her when to start....and after she made her first oopsie, her face got all serious. When she went up to her second octave, I love how she looks over at us and smiles....too cute.
Anyway, I knew you would all want to hear it. Please remember if I die, I don't ever want violins played at my funeral....and if you do it to me, I will come back and haunt you all!!!
Have a great evening.

I am alive......

Okay....I am alive.....really I am! I have been so bad about posting here in the past few weeks. I know most of you know I am swamped, but for those of you that don't....I am swamped! I have literally been going nonstop, and with Christmas preparations on top of everything else, I don't have a second to myself. So please bear with me and know that I will get back in the swing of things eventually.
I feel like I have not written on here in forever, and I don't even know where to start to catch you all up. I guess I will start with the kids since they seem to take top priority in my life lately.

Sarah has finally finished up marching band. Our football team made it two rounds into the playoffs and then lost. Sarah was so bummed, but I on the other hand was doing backflips because I am so sick of running in the middle of the night to go pick her up etc. Their final marching happened last night at the Hometown Holiday Parade here in town. Sarah actually started crying because it is over for the season. I am so glad she has found something she loves that much. She also just tried out for the All District Honor Band on Saturday. She won't know if she makes it for a little bit, but she doesn't think she did very well, so we are not holding our breath. The other exciting news in her life is that she got her first kiss......not sure how I feel about that one. She shared every detail with me, so I guess I am lucky that we have a relationship where she feels comfortable to talk to me about it. But it still means my baby is growing up and soon I will be replaced by a boy who she will think hung the moon while I sit back and cry.

Bailey has been practicing hard for her piano recital. Her recital is tomorrow night in Sylvester which is a town about 30 minutes from us. They are having it at a church there, and she is so excited that she gets to play on a grand piano. She is playing Away in a Manger. She has it pretty much downpat, so I think she will do well. I just hope the crowd doesn't make her nervous. She continues to like piano a lot. We would love to buy her a piano, but right now all of our finances are going into the house and Christmas, so she will have to wait a while and continue to play on her keyboard. Bailey is also been picking up pecans all around our house. At last count she told me we had 8 pecan trees and that she intended on making lots of money selling her pecans. She even asked a girl that works at Adcock Pecans which is a local pecan distributor in our area how much she can make. They told her they pay $5 a pound but that they weren't buying anymore until next November. She is planning ahead already and has asked Santa for a pecan picker upper.......yes, they do make them and yes Santa is going to deliver. She is so funny about it. If it is nice outside, she grabs a basket I have given to her and she goes out to collect the pecans.....she is out there for quite sometime too. When she gets bored, she just puts down her basket, plays with the cats or Reilly, and then goes back to work. Too funny!

Todd has been very busy at work as he has lost his right hand man, Danny. Danny was promoted to GM of the Valdosta store, so Todd is having to pick up his work too until he gets a replacement manager. He is very tired by the time he gets home but he has remained diligent in helping me around the house, or straightening up the barn or whatever. He has gotten to go hunting 3 times this whole deer season which isn't a lot for him, but he is going when there is nothing else going on around here. He is still suffering badly with his leg cramps. I want him to go see a specialist or a chiropractor to see if we can get him some relief. I don't even know if there is such a thing as a "muscle" specialist. He is losing sleep which is already in short supply for him. He jumped up last night with a cramp so bad it made him sick to his stomach. The leg cramps seem to be getting worse, but no one and nothing seems to work. I have researched and researched on the internet, but unfortunately, most people who suffer with the same problem say there is little to no relief. I just hate seeing him hurting like this. It is pretty bad when he is learning to accept pain and sleeplessness as a normal thing......

As for me, I have been busy with work and the house. Work is going okay....I have one child that I am having major issue with, and he makes my days not so fun, but this too shall pass. I just can't blame him because I know it is his parents fault for the way he acts. They think it is all a laughing matter, and the dad encourages his behavior, so I am just not gonna fight it. As for the house, we have had construction guys in and out for about a week and a half. We started our remodel on the upstairs first. The girls have been sharing the guest room downstairs since we have moved in. None of their stuff has been moved upstairs so needless to say we are all cramped in the lower part of the house, all sharing one bathroom too! The good news is they should be in their own space by next weekend. They finished the upstairs on Friday. We had the bathroom completely gutted and redone. We had a closet built in Sarah's room since there wasn't one. We had all new doors put in. And we had the original hardwood floors refinished. They turned out soooo pretty. I love the color of them. Today I spent priming the walls, and I did get the bathroom painted. It looks so nice and so much better than what we had before. I am hoping to get the girl's rooms and the teen suite painted by Tuesday. Then I will work on all the trim work throughout the upstairs. Todd and I will move their beds in this week and we will order dressers for them to be delivered this week as well. Comforter sets have been purchased and Santa is gonna have to take care of the accessorizing of the rooms. We are not as concerned about furnishing the teen suite right now although all we really need for it is some seating and a tv. We are utilizing the funiture we had in our sunroom for their bookshelf and tv stand. We also had our concrete slabs poured and prepped for the building of walls. We have two slabs out by the barn where we will build a 16 x 30 garage for the storage of all of Todd's toys, and a 20 x20 that will become our game room for the pool table as well as my craft room. So we both will have our spaces. Concrete is so dang expensive....it is ridiculous, but at least that part is done. So we have made some progress. I am lacking in patience as I want all of the remodel done like yesterday, but I just need to let that weinie go and know that it will happen when it happens.

Well I guess that is about all for now. I am going to head to bed. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and your holiday season is going well so far. I am so thankful for all of you and for the wonderful family and friends and all the blessings I have. I didn't get to post that on Thanksgiving, but I hope you all know that.
Hugs from remodel central!!!

Getting back to normal.....

Well, I know it has been a while since I posted. It has been a combination of things. With the unpacking and trying to get settled in, that was enough of an excuse for me. On top of all of that, my laptop had to be sent off to be serviced, so I have literally been without one. The desktop we had crapped out on us as well, so today I went and got a new desktop for us so we at least have one computer now. What did we do before these things????
As far as the house is concerned, it is starting to settle down. All the boxes in the house are unpacked and things are starting to look like a home.....the girls are still downstairs in the guest room though. The contractor is supposed to come the week of Thanksgiving to refinish the floors upstairs, and gut the bathroom upstairs as well. Once all that is done, we will paint the girls rooms and then they can finally move into them. I know they will both feel better when they are in their own rooms and space. I think I will as well. That same week that the floors are being done, the concrete guy is coming to block off and resurface the pads we have outside for the garage and game room buildings to be built. Once those are done, our next project will be the bathroom downstairs in the house and then the kitchen floors. I have to do a lot of painting as well, but I can't start any of that until the floors are done because the dust will stick to everything from what I have been told. So my life is a work in progress, which if you know me well enough, I want it all done like yesterday!
The girls are both doing well. Bailey is having a bit of trouble adjusting to the new environment. She is getting better, but like I said, once we get through the upstairs redo, I think she will be better. Sarah is still doing well. The football team has made the state playoffs, so the band is travelling a lot further than normal for games. She got in at 3 this morning from yesterday's game. They play again next week up near Atlanta as well, so it will be another late night. I am so ready for this all to be over! I know she enjoys it immensely, but I am so tired of all the running around here and there.
Todd and I are looking forward to the holidays. We are hoping it will be a time for us to just get back to normal. We just need some family time to just chill and relax after the craziness of the move.
Reilly and the cats have finally adjusted and are all doing well. Reilly chased them up the tree several times but now she is learning to put up with them. The cats, Oliver and Shaft, are now in the barn and doing well out there. It took some convincing of Bailey to get her to understand they would be fine, but she finally is getting it.
I guess that is all for now. I could probably sit here and type for days on what has been happening, but I don't have the time right now to do that, so we will just consider it all a wash and just start anew here.
Hope you are all doing well.

Boxes, Boxes Everywhere

Well, we are finally in the house! It has been a crazy week and a half. We just got the internet up and working as of last night, so I have a ton of catching up to do but not enough time to do it!
Just to give you all a quick update...
We ended up living at the Holiday Inn for three extra days due to not being able to get in our house until three days after closing.....a minor detail we didn't know was in the contract.....I still can't find it either but whatever it is water under the bridge at this point. When I did finally get the keys, I was shocked at how dirty the house was left. It took me two and a half hours to just clean the bathroom! We have a ton of painting to do as well, but I can handle that. I have boxes and stuff everywhere. This is like my worst nightmare because as a highly organized individual, this is like hell to me.....LOL, but yesterday I felt like I made a little headway. Todd is off today and tomorrow too, so we should be able to get some things accomplished, I hope anyway. It just seems like the boxes are reproducing while we sleep! But as they say, this too shall pass. I am just gonna do what I can as I can, and if people judge me on how my house looks right now, well then that is their problem.
The kids have done well with the move. They got their kittens Saturday and have been loving the daylights out of them. We have changed their names like ten times too. I think we have settled on Oliver (Bailey's) and Shaft (Sarah's). They are brothers and they are very sweet kittens.
Well, that is the quick update for now. I have to go wake the kids up for school. Please bear with me as far as postings during this transition.
Have a great week.

Home Sweet Temporary Home

Well we are officially homeless. That is to say we are totally out of our house on Seminole Tr. We are living temporarily at the Holiday Inn for the next three days. We close on Seminole tomorrow and then our house late Tuesday afternoon. It feels weird to be staying in a hotel in the town where we live. Kinda like you are out of town but not.....
The packing went well and we had the truck loaded in about 2 and 1/2 hours. We slept on our mattresses on the floor last night and then loaded them up this morning. We relocated the moving truck, both cars and the dog to the hotel. To keep busy today we took Bailey to see High School Musical 3 at the movies. Sarah is away at a band competition and should be in tonight. We also went to see the Vietnam Moving Wall that is here visiting in Tifton. Tifton is the only town in Georgia getting the wall this year. For those of you that don't know what it is, it is a replica of the wall that is in Washington that contains over 58000 names of vietnam vets that died in the war. What an emotional experience to actually see all the names. Although the wall is 1/3 of the size of the one in Washington, it still was very impressive in size. I had to take 3 separate shots of it from a far distance just to get all of it. Although I can't download it on here cuz my cord to my camera is packed. I will have to catch you all up on it when I get settled in the new house. We really were impressed with the whole thing though.
Well, we are off to our fall festival for Halloween at church tonight. Bailey is dressed as a present. She is "God's gift to the world" Too funny! I will post pictures of that too at a later date.
Well, I do have internet service here so you can drop me an email or call me on my cell for the next few days. Our phone should be up and working again soon in a few days. Same number....different address.
Hugs to all!

Great Grades

Well, both the girls got their report cards for the first quarter of school. Bailey did great and was recognized at the PRIDE program they had at her school for making All "A" Honor Roll. She was so excited because she is now old enough to be on Honor Roll.....she feels like she is all grown up like Sarah! You can see her at it in the picture. She was insistent that I take her picture even though she was supposed to be facing forward and paying attention to the speaker. Okay she is smart, but not always obedient....LOL

Sarah did great as well. She got all A's, except Biology, where she got a B (88) in the class from hell. I am so proud of her for passing her nine week exam and pulling it off like she did. She has nine more weeks to go in that class and then she is done.

We started Fall Break today. We basically have a long weekend. There were parent conferences today, and then they are off Friday and Monday. Sarah is babysitting for my friend Susan and Bailey has a friend over playing today. Sarah will participate in our church's youth retreat this weekend as well. Todd should be home late Saturday nite, so I will update you all on his trip. Hopefully he had a good time. We are missing him pretty bad today, but we know we only have two and a half more days to make it.

Please keep us in your prayers this next week and a half that our house closings go smoothly. Next weekend we will be packing the truck up with the last big items we have, then a night or two in a hotel and then hopefully we are in our new home. You all know how closing can go, so I just hope there are no glitches.....I know, think positive....

Well, I guess that is all for now.

Hugs!

Growing up and Rainbows.....again!

Well....my baby went to homecoming this evening. She looked so beautiful and grown up. I have been boohooing all day. I just am so overwhelmed by how quickly time has flown by. It was only yesterday that she was in my arms and tonight she is dancing in the arms of someone else......I am not okay with that in all reality, but like they say life happens and I can't change that. She had a good time getting ready for it. She got her nails done yesterday, and then today we went and got her hair done. They ate at Longhorn tonight where Danny and Chris(Todd's managers) both kept an eye on her. Chris texted me and said he "questioned" Tripp and so far he has passed the preliminary interview because he said "yes sir and no sir" when answering the questions. Cracks me up because they are probably worse than Todd would have been. Moses came over before Tripp got here and told me he was gonna keep an eye on Tripp, and take care of things if he needed to.....too cute.He also told Sarah she looked like she was 18. I guess that is as close to a compliment that she is gonna get from Mo. Then he posed for a picture with Sarah. When Tripp got here, he gave Sarah her coursage. His mom and I were both boohooing, which of course embarassed both of them, but we as mommas understood each other. I then took them to Longhorn. When I dropped them off, I was proud yet sad. I pulled out of the parking lot feeling sorry for myself, but also saying a small prayer for my child's safety and guidance. No sooner do I look up and there in the sky is a HUGE rainbow that is a full arc. And above the left side of the arc is a double rainbow. Now most of you have already read about my "rainbow experience" during the house hunt, and my thoughts and feelings on that, but how weird is that.....just after saying a quick prayer, I look up and there it is again! I pulled off the highway to take a picture of it. I knew at that moment, it was all going to be alright.

So tonight I am snuggling up with Bailey on the couch watching a movie and enjoying the beauty and innocence of her youth. Knowing in my heart someday she will be going to her own homecoming. But for now, I am going to enjoy her being 9. As for Sarah, she will always be in my heart, and I know our relationship will forever be different once this dating thing starts. But as I slowly cut the apron strings, I know that she will always be a part of me and although her heart is going in a different direction right now, she will always come back to me for what she needs most, unconditional love.

Have a great evening.

18 Years and Counting!!!

Well, yesterday was our anniversary. We have made it 18 years together, and boy it has been an interesting 18 years. We have been through so much, and yet here we are still standing stronger than ever. If you would have asked me on October 6th, 1990, what my life with my new husband was going to be like, I would have told you in my young naivity that is was going to be wonderful and like a fairy tale. And although at times it has been that, the reality of it all is marriage is hard work. Those of you who have been married for a while, know what I am talking about. It is a job in itself, but the rewards of it are beyond words. Through our 18 years there have been tears and hurts, but there have been more wonderful moments than I care to even try to count. Todd and I have a very unique relationship. We are different in a lot of ways, but we are alike in a lot of ways as well. Trying not to steal the line from the movie, Jerry Maquire, "You complete me" tends to sum up our relationship. Todd is probably one of the most easy going guys I have ever met. That tends to help when you are probably one of the most uptight, stressed person on the face of the planet. He calms me. He makes me laugh more than you know, and always has something funny to say, making a stressful moment seem not so bad. He is a hard worker, who cares about providing for his family more than anyone I know. He also is unpredictable at times too.....like yesterday. Todd has never been one to make a big deal out of birthdays and anniversaries. I have learned to accept that over the years and know that although he doesn't always "get me something", his love for me is there and undeniable. But yesterday he surprised me more than you could know. He sent me 18 beautiful red roses to my work for our anniversary. I actually didn't believe my boss when she gave them to me that they were mine. I was shocked to say the least, and my insides got the same butterflies you get when you first start dating someone you really like. It was a neat moment for me because I realized that although he doesn't always do those "romantic" things, he is a romantic in his own way. See after you are married for a while, you realize that it is more romantic to take out the garbage, mow the lawn or pick-up the kids when your schedule is as tight as it can be. I know that sounds very hum drum to most, but to me that means he cares about my every need and my well being is more important to him than showing off to others that he did this or that for me. When I went to the restaurant to say thank you to him, he laughed and said he doesn't buy roses for me very often because it makes it more of a surprise when he does.....always the comic. Anyway, it made for a great day for me. We finished off the day with going to dinner together, and then on to Home Depot to window shop for upgrades for our new house......isn't that sweet.......I thought so.
On a side note, I do want to encourage all of you to go see the movie, Fireproof. Once you see it, you will understand why I say that after talking about my anniversary. It is a movie about marriage that was filmed right here in Albany, Georgia. You will not regret seeing it, I promise.

Okay, as far as the other picture, today was tacky day at Sarah's school because it is homecoming week. She looked like a complete fool, but she is having fun and that is all that counts. She is getting excited about the dance this weekend. She got her dress, has made her hair appointment, and is counting down the days. She is going with a boy that finally had enought guts to ask her in person as opposed to a text message.....welcome to dating in the 2000's. I will post pictures on the weekend.

Todd leaves Thursday for his annual moose hunt with his dad and brother in Canada. Once he gets back, we will be one week out from closing on our house. I can't wait to get in the new house and to start decorating.

Well, I guess that is all for today. Have a great rest of the week.

Teachers......

Well, I know I start off most of my blogs lately telling you how tired I am, or how busy I am, which still holds true, but I am not going to write about that tonight. I am instead going to vent a bit......don't I always do that? LOL

My subject tonight is going to be about teachers.......

I truly am a teachers biggest fan, and I know that they have a very stressful and often unfulfilling and unappreciated job. I also know they have the certain joys that come along with teaching as well. Some of my dearest friends are teachers, and I hear their side of the story quite often, which to be honest with you is probably why I appreciate them so much. But tonight I am writing from the side of a very frustrated parent. I have dealt with my share of "tough" teachers throughout not only my childhood/young adulthood, but also through my children's lives. Some of these tough teachers have been actual blessings in our lives. And I know there are teachers that will work very well with you or your child and then there are just some that really don't need to be teachers at all. Well, Sarah's biology teacher falls into the latter. Sarah has been having quite a time in biology this year, which to be honest with you I was beginning to wonder if it is a genetic thing because I had the same issue. She is doing great on all of the classwork/projects, but when it comes time for the tests, she is quite honestly bombing them. She has studied so hard for all of them, and still is failing them despite the 3 hours a nite of studying. We have tried every which way there is to study. We have done all that the teacher tells us to do, but she is still choking on these tests. I have repeatedly emailed the teacher, and he will not respond to my emails, so today I took my little self right up to the school and walked in to his classroom first thing. After he hummed and hawed about why he hasn't responded to my emails, he attempted to talk to me about Sarah's grades. I use the term attempted because he made absolutely no sense what so ever. He didn't even know which class my child was in! He couldn't answer anything I asked him, and spoke so over my head with all his scientific terms, that I was even more frustrated than when I had walked in there. I thought to myself, he can't even speak to an adult without confusing them, how in the heck is my child understanding what he is trying to say. He told me she just needs to study more. I told him she is studying every nite, to the point I have to tell her to go to bed because she will stay up until she is exhausted. She can't study any more than she is. He said "oh, well I don't know what is wrong then". Okay, that helped out a lot....thanks, moron! He will not give the tests back to the kids so they can see what they got wrong, he won't give them any guidelines as to what to study, he won't review anything because he feels it is all up to the children. GRRRRRR! Why the heck are you a teacher then???????

After complete frustration, I left totally unsatisfied. I went to the guidance office to talk to someone. I was told it is too late for us to switch Sarah out of AP Biology, so I have requested that she be able to switch teachers for the next 9 weeks. The guidance counselor said she would have to get with the principal because they have had "a ton" of other parents request the same thing and they can't honor everyone's request. She informed me that Mr. Forkner seems to be the object of a lot of complaints lately. So.......why is the principal not doing something about this????? I am sorry, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this "scientist" needs to go!!!! So in the meantime, my child will be taking another test in his class next week....her 9 week exam....and I am suppose to sit back and watch her fail this one too?????? If she doesn't pass this test and/or this class, she will have to take Biology again next year, and it will all go in her transcripts that colleges look at. Needless to say I am ready to put on my fighting gloves and whip up a little yankee on them. I don't know what it is gonna take, but something will be done.
Ya know, if a teacher is not going to teach, and put their children's best interest at heart, then he should just go ahead and quit. I will one hundred percent stand behind a teacher if they are right. I will even give them the benefit of the doubt if they are wrong, but I will not stand back and let them ruin something my child has worked so hard for. It would be one thing if Sarah was misbehaving and not doing what was expected of her. I also am a parent that doesn't expect her to always bring home A's. In fact, I want her to be challenged. But when I see she is putting forth every effort possible and it just isn't working out, I am gonna question matters. I feel it is my momma's right to protect my baby.
Okay, now that I have gotten that off my chest, please know that I am not bashing all teachers. Sarah just happened to get the one bad apple in the bunch, and I am ready to make applesauce out of him! LOL
Have a great evening and thanks for listening.

On the Move.....

Sorry it has been a week since I have posted. The good news is that we made it past their due diligence period, so they are locked into the house!!! Wahoo! We have been packing all week a little at a time, usually taking a couple of loads of stuff to the storage unit we have. It has been exhausting, but we are making progress. We had the home inspection done on the house we are buying and there are no major issues with the house which is a relief as well, especially because of the age of the house. Our paperwork is in the works as well.
Sarah was asked to homecoming this week as well. She is going with another freshman named Tripp Burgess. She was very excited and is looking forward to going now. We are probably gonna go shopping tomorrow so she can get some stuff to wear to it.
We once again have been very busy this week. I had jury duty on Monday, but the cases we were supposed to be brought in on all hit a plea deal, so I was lucky to get off on that as well.
Todd's mom is here visiting just for the weekend. She arrived here on Friday. She came to see Sarah march at the football game. She was introduced to Friday nite football in the south.....it is like what the NFL is to those that are up north.....huge stadium, huge crowds,tailgating, etc. If you have ever seen that show Friday Night Lights, it is like that here. She was amazed at it all. She was also shocked to here the prayer before the game. She couldn't believe they prayed at a school game. We quickly explained to her that in the bible belt, there is no such thing as separation of church and state. It was a neat experience I think for her. Anyway, she is headed home early Tuesday morning, so in the mean time, she is helping us pack up all the do dads we have in the house.
Well that is the update for now. I hope everyone is doing well. I will post later in the week.
Hugs to everyone.

Jamboree and Rainbows

Well, we have had some very long and stressful days this weekend. My day started off on Friday with a phone call from Todd that the people that are buying our house were coming by to bring a contractor to look at "repairs". My heart dropped because they had just had the inspection done, and I thought they were going to pull out of the deal. I felt nauseous all day. We heard nothing from them all weekend though so I guess we are all good with God's help anyway. I just need to get through Tuesday and then their due diligence period is over which is the only time they can pull out of the deal. We had to work the football game on Friday nite again till about midnight. We got home, and then we were up and going again first thing in the morning because Sarah had a band competition with 7 other high school marching bands that day called the Southern Marching Band Jamboree. Tift County hosted it so needless to say we were running around all day doing band parent stuff..... We were at the stadium until about 5:30 pm. The kids did great and had a blast. As you can see in the pictures, it is a pretty good size band. I couldn't even fit them all in the frame of my camera. Sarah is the 6th one in on the middle picture. I was upset all day Saturday still about the "repair" issue. Our real estate agent called us several times and told us no news was good news, but that still wasn't making me feel any better. After we got home from the jamboree, Todd and I headed out to the house we are buying to sign our contract. As we were heading out there, I was telling Todd how stressed I was still about the whole thing, and he told me to stay calm and that God was in control. What is meant to be is meant to be. No sooner does he say that and I look out the window of the car and there is a rainbow in the sky. I just started to cry. The funny thing about this is that ever since we started looking for houses, every single time we go out, I express how I hope we are making the right decision, how I hope God will lead us to the right house etc. Well, each time we have looked, there has been a small rainbow in the sky. No Lie! It has always been just a small little rainbow, but each time I tell Todd that God must be watching over us. As most of you know, in the bible, God sent a rainbow after Noah had left the ark to show his promise to us that he will never flood the earth again and that he was making a covenant that he will always be there for us, and he wouldn't forsake us. Well, when I looked in that sky and saw what I would say was a large rainbow, I knew that we were doing the right thing. I tried to take pictures with my camera on my cell phone, but not all of them came out very well, and you can't really see the size of the rainbow, but it was a big one. The rainbow was literally over the land we are purchasing. It was the most amazing thing. (I also teased Todd and said it was the luck of the Irish too, to which he made some German wisecrack!) So with that being said, I felt so much better about the happenings of Friday and Saturday, and went on to the house to do the paperwork. We have it stated in the contract that we must sell our house first or we can pull out, as to protect us during that "due diligence" period, so I knew signing them was okay because we have our out should something happen between now and Tuesday. So I ask you all to say a little prayer for us that it all goes through, and nothing does happen, cuz I love this new house!!!
Tomorrow, I get to report to jury duty......ugh! I hope I can get off. We will see.
I will keep you posted.
Hugs from us.

House and New Additions

Here are some shots of the house/barn. We took them driving by, so sorry for the blur. If you click on them you can get a better look. Also, the girls went to meet their new kittens tonight which will be our barn cats. Sarah has named hers "Pooter" and Bailey is still undecided on a name. The girl that has the kittens works with me and told me she would keep them until we move in. Just wanted to post the pictures quick, but now I am going to bed.

Our new home

Well, we finally found a house. We put our earnest money down last night on it. Todd and I are both very excited about this house, and very much at peace with our decision. The best part of the deal is that we will maintain the same house payment we have now, if not a few dollars less, and we will be able to keep a 15 year mortgage which is very important to both of us. We don't want to live above our means, and we still want to have a life too. We still want to be able to take vacations, go out to dinner etc. Now for the house.....I will try to take a picture of it today and post it on here when I can.....it is a country farm house built in 1915 that has been completely renovated. It is a 2400 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bath home on 5 acres. A majority of the acreage is fenced pasture, so Todd will not have the huge yard we have had here to mow. There is a barn, complete with a hay loft and 4 animal stalls. Bailey and Sarah are already on their daddy about getting a Nigerian Dwarf Goat......look them up on the internet, they are tooooooo cute. There are two cement pads already poured where the farm used to have grain bins on them. They are not there anymore so Todd will utilize the cement pads to put his "workshop/storage sheds". The house itself is so cute. The family that we are buying it from bought it 10 years ago, and completely gutted it. They put in new plumbing, electric, central heat and air, roof, septic etc. The house is vinyl sided with a big front porch. When you walk in the front door you are in what they call the "keeping room". There is a fireplace right in front of you. Off to the right is the guest bedroom. There is also a bathroom down the hall from that. If you go to the left you go into the living room. Then through the living room to the kitchen. There is a mud room/laundry room off of the kitchen and the master bedroom is also off the kitchen also. The master has a fireplace in it, as well as french doors that go out to a huge back deck completely covered in shade by a big pecan tree. There is a dressing room/closet off of the master as well that literally is the size of Sarah's room now. There is a wooden staircase in the kitchen that goes upstairs to the girl's rooms. The entire downstairs with the exception of the kitchen, has the original hardwood floors that have been completely refinished, and look beautiful. The upstairs is neat for the girls. There are two bedrooms and a bath off of what we are calling the "teen suite". It is basically a cool hang out area where the girls can put a tv and a couch or whatever to just be there own space. We are probably going to refinish the floors upstairs eventually. They are the original floors as well, but they haven't been refinished yet. We will use throw rugs until we get a bonus check to do the floors. They aren't bad at all, but I know I will want to get them to look like the ones downstairs. The only other thing we are going to do to the house is we are going to replace the floors in the kitchen and baths. They have laminate flooring down in the kitchen and I think it clashes with the cabinets....they are basically brand new floors, but I really think eventually we will put ceramic tile down just to appease my decorating sense. Other than that, the house is exactly what we wanted. It is quaint and very much a livable space.
So now we move on to the packing process of this journey......yeh. Todd and I packed up some china etc. on Tuesday, and tonight he is gonna attack the garage a bit and I will probably work on my craft room. Todd arranged a space for us to put all of our stuff, so we have a storage spot we can slowly take our stuff too over the next few weeks. We will probably schedule the closing a few days after our closing on this house, so we will spend a few days in a hotel, but nothing ridiculous.
I am so happy and at peace about this process. It has been amazing how God has taken care of us. I know this is the right decision, and although I will hate to leave this home we are in right now because it has been a great house for us, I know we are going to make more memories together in our new home. So thanks to all of you who have been cheering us on and praying for a great outcome for us. We appreciate your support more than you know.
Have a great day!

SOLD

Well, the house if officially sold. And so begins our search for a new home. We have about two weeks to find something. Needless to say our stress level has suddenly elevated. We will close on the sale of this house on October 27th, so hopefully we will close on a house for us to move into right after that. Key is finding the house first!
We have been so busy this week and we are all absolutely drained. But I have to accept in my head that I will not be able to relax any until about November now. Between packing and unpacking, football games, competitions, piano lessons, work, and the normal day to day chores/errands we have, it really will be around Thanksgiving before I can hopefully say I can slow down.
We were at the football game last night till midnight, got up this morning at 6 to be at the high school to catch the bus to the Omega Parade that Sarah marched in. Got home about 2, but had to turn around and go get Bailey who had an all night lock-in last night at church. She was exhausted when she got done, but had a great time. Tomorrow, Sarah is playing in the church orchestra and has to be at church by 8:15. I do have a little play time from 2-5 with some of my friends coming over to stamp. Tomorrow night I am planning on relaxing a bit after shuffling the kids to church and back for evening activities. Monday and Tuesday, Todd and I are going to look at houses in the evening. Also, on Tuesday, a guy is coming to disassemble the pool table for us. So with him being at the house, that will force me to be home for a while so I can start to pack up some china and stuff I don't use that often.
On top of our crazy schedule, I got a lovely letter in the mail telling me I was being summoned to jury duty on Sept. 22nd! AHHHHH! Never done it before but it is for superior court, so I am hoping I can get off cuz I can't have it be drug out for days/weeks......that would put me belly up to the bar with a stiff drink!
Well, that is the update today. I am sorry I haven't posted pictures in the past few posts. I truly haven't had time.
Hope you all have a good week!

Been Busy

Sorry I haven't really posted in a few days. We have been extremely busy with just day to day stuff, and it is going to continue into the weekend. I will try to post late Sunday with updates as to what is going on. But just to give you all a heads up, we got an offer on the house that is reasonable, so we are counter offering today. If all goes well, we may be moving in the next few weeks! The couple that came to see it yesterday hand delivered an offer to our agent within an hour of seeing the house, so they must really like it. They had never seen it before either. It is a young couple and he is a severely disabled vet....must be from Iraq,I guess. They said the house was perfect for them. So say a prayer for us and we will keep you all updated.
Talk to you soon.

Got Gas? Part 2

Okay....just to update you all. Friday my radiator crapped the bed and today I was grilling chicken and our gas grill ran out of gas! Also, my father in law is here visiting and he took Todd to the hunting land and on the way there his low fuel light came on...........need I say more?
LOL

Got Gas?

No, not that kind of gas.....we are always in full supply of that at our house.....I am talking about the kind that is making every household in America poorer by the day.....
My day started off with Todd leaving first thing this morning to go fishing with his friend Chris up to Lake Blackshear. He took the van because it has the hitch on it, so I was left to take the girls to school in the Escort.....not a problem at all. I shuffle the girls into the car, start it and notice the Low Fuel light is on and then look at the gas gauge to see we are sucking fumes. So I go up to the corner and fill up which was not a big deal but you know as a mom, it is just one more thing on my list of to do's. $45 later we are on our way.....I remember when $45 filled my van, now it is filling a little Escort. Then Todd arrives home only to have to head out again because he is selling his hunting trailer and a guy calls about it that wants to see it. He proceeds to tell me he is going to take the motorcycle to "save on gas". Great....no problem. I go to leave to pick up Bailey after school and go to get the car keys and they are no where to be found. I was going to take the car because when you are sitting in a car pool line for 30 minutes....yes, it takes that long to get my child from school...you tend to burn gas sitting there, and it is too dang hot to not have the air on, so rolling down the windows with the car turned off is not gonna happen when it is 95 outside....sorry call me spoiled. Todd must have the keys in his pocket, so I get in the van instead to go to the school. Lo and behold, I turn on the van and imagine that the Low Fuel light is on. All I can do is laugh because it is par for the course for the day. I am giggling to myself because I know a lot of women....my mom was one of them, who don't pump gas, and here I am sitting there thinking two cars in one day.....funny, but I am a modern day woman....hear me roar....no biggie again. Go up to the same corner and fill up the van....$76 later I am on my way again. I arrive back home only to tell Bailey she has 20 minutes before she has to go to her piano lesson, so get your homework done as much as you can. Fifteen minutes goes by and we are getting ready to leave. The phone rings. "Hello", "Hi honey. You aren't gonna believe this but the motorcycle ran out of gas." "What? Where are you?" " I am on the road the hunting land is on. I tried to push it as far as I could so I could get cell phone service. I have gone about a mile now, but I am no where near a gas station. Can you bring me the red gas can?" "Why don't you put it on the reserve tank?" "I must have already been on it and I forgot" "Todd, I have to take Bailey to piano lessons and see if I can get someone to pick her up. You will have to wait a bit" "I know, I am sorry" "Okay, I will be there as soon as I can". I hang up and just start laughing uncontrollably. This is a joke right? What today I am gas girl? Is my husband really that air-headed that he doesn't see three vehicles without gas in them? Okay, God....take me back to last week with my lecture to myself on being where I needed to be in that moment......OHM! OHM! BREATHE! OHM!.....not working.....
All I can say is thank God for my friend Susan. She went out of her way to pick up Bailey for me so I could drive 30 minutes to Alapaha to deliver gas to my pitiful husband who is baking on the side of the road waiting for me. I drive 30 minutes back home just giggling to myself because I am reflecting on his words as he left earlier about trying to save gas by riding the motorcycle. By the time I get back to town, I look at my gas gauge on the van that I just filled up...I have already burned a 1/4 of a tank of gas.....hmmm.....where does all the money go from week to week? That is a question that I know he won't ask me for a while.....I'll make sure of that! LOL
Have a great evening!

Just Plain Tired

For heaven's sake....I am just exhausted! It has been a long week. Thursday and Friday especially put us all down for the count. Sarah marched for the first time at the first football game of the season. She did fantastic and looked so cute out there. I was very proud! Todd, Bailey and I worked the concession stands. I have to tell you.....I am about sick of popcorn. That is all I did last night is make popcorn. And I couldn't make it fast enough.....we sold between 500-600 boxes of just popcorn last night!!!! Anyway, after the game, Todd and I had to count all the money taken in from programs and concessions.......all $16,000 of it.......that is a lot of money spent on snacks!!!! We got in at about 12:15am. We all crashed immediately upon walking in the door. As much as I wanted to sleep in this morning, my body and brain were not in agreement. I was just anticipating everything I had to get caught up on around the house, so my mind wouldn't let my body rest. So needless to say, I was up at 6:30. It is around 5:30 pm right now, and I am starting to go into crash mode. Sarah is supposed to go to the movies tonight, so I am gonna attempt to take a little power nap before I have to take her at 7:30. Then I have to hit the grocery store to get a few things...pick her up at about 9:30 and then crash for the evening. I have never been so happy to have a three day weekend! I need to catch up on a ton....including my sleep. Well that is the update for now.....sorry such a short post.

Just an update

Two people died....the accident was caused by a wrong way driver......click here to see the story.

http://www.tiftongazette.com/local/local_story_239114007.html

Remember to be patient today and also to be thankful.
Hugs

God's Little Lessons

As I sit at my computer this morning, I just feel like typing a few of my thoughts for the morning. I like to think I learned one of God's little lessons this morning......
Yesterday was an unusually "cranky" day for me. You know, the typical monthly hormonal issues that most of us women deal with. It was a day I would have rathered to have stayed in my pj's and sat around and watched a dumb movie and eaten chocolate and potato chips, and not been a mom, wife etc....just let me be. But as most of us know, that is not an option even though I'd wished it was. I dealt with the typical morning bickering between the girls, dropped them off at school, and went on to work. The kids in my class were all in rare form yesterday....or actually I know it was me in rare form, and I just didn't want to be there, but for lesson sake I am gonna blame it on them. LOL I made it through the morning, but by 12:30 I was ready to be home. I arrived home to the tons of chores I had put off from my fun, yet rainy weekend. I did what needed to be done, and made it to car pool line to pick up the kids, only for the skies to open up once again, dumping more rain on us, and adding a little lightning to boot. I find out the evenings activities have been cancelled due to the bad weather which at that time made me very happy to be able to relax in my own little world. Then Todd arrived home from his dad's with yet another thing to add to his collection of "crap" in the garage around 8pm. This of course doesn't sit very well with me. If you know me well enough, all I want to do is park my car in my garage to unload groceries....haven't been able to do that since we moved here almost five years ago, and was one of the reasons I picked this house cuz the pantry is right off the garage.....I can't do that because Todd fills the garage with his "toys". Now I know I should be feeling blessed because we can afford these things and there are so many that have nothing, but me being in the mood I was in, and acting like a spoiled brat, fussed at him which in turn put me in an even worse mood, cuz then I am feeling guilty for being such a bitch. At this point I am ready to just go to bed. Just before I decide I am fed up with the day, I got a phone call from my friend, Susan. She tells me that an accident that happened earlier that morning involved a 13 year old from our church, and friend of Sarah's. The girl is in fair condition at the hospital, but it makes me stop and think......okay, my life could be worse.....so with that, I give myself a pep talk and try to resurrect the evening I was already ruining. Todd and I ended up staying up till about 10 just talking, and I know I wouldn't have had that time with him with the attitude I had started off with. The evening ended up being okay afterall. Lesson learned.......
Well then this morning, I wake up with my allergies killing me.....sore throat, headache, sinus pressure......just feeling yucky. I am dragging myself to get ready to take the girls to school. Sarah comes to me right at 7:30 and says, "Mom, I have a Y Club meeting at 7:30....I need to get there." I ask her why she waits until 7:30 to tell me this, and she replies that she just forgot, but can we please hurry up to get there. I am starting to feel myself get aggravated because I already feel like a NYC cab driver this school year, and now my child is becoming a disgruntled customer about my cab service. We all rush to get in the car. Bailey has to run back in to get her lunch she forgot. I tell Bailey that I am going to take Sarah to school first due to the meeting. This causes Bailey to fuss at Sarah cuz she likes to be dropped off first etc. etc. etc.. So as the two of them are fussing, I get on the interstate feeling my blood pressure go up. As we are driving down the interstate, I see ahead of me an accident take place.....a bad one......all I see is a semi slam on his brakes, a rust colored SUV fly up on the center wall and a black car just is a flash going down the highway. We all slam on our brakes. I tell the girls to look the other way because it looked bad. There are people getting out of their cars and running to the black car. I slowly drive around the wreckage and see the black car. I immediately know the driver is dead....there was no way someone could have survived that after seeing the car the way it was mangled. I feel a bit helpless, as I see others already on their cells calling 911, so all I do is say a prayer for the driver and the passenger and their families. I actually started crying because I realize if Sarah would have not forgot about her meeting and if Bailey had not forgotten her lunch...the things that started me off being aggravated....we would have left the house a few minutes earlier, and that could have been us. God's second lesson for me.....Lesson Learned again....it obviously wasn't learned the night before, like I thought. God knows I can be stubborn and pig headed at times so I guess he really wanted to hit it home for me. Sarah and Bailey were just silent for a minute, and then Sarah asks me why I am crying because I don't even know the people. I explain to her that despite that we don't know them, it is still someone's loved one, and it could have been us in that accident based on just a few split seconds. Needless to say when we get to her school, I tell her I love her.....with just a little more emotion than normal. Bailey is quiet on the way to her school, and then I ask her if she is alright. She says she is, but that she is sorry she fought with her sister that morning........God taught her a lesson too, one I am grateful for. I kiss her goodbye, and pick up the phone to call my husband and tell him I love him. I hear on the radio that the accident had one fatality, and no other details are known.......but I know the details that went on in my life and for that I am thankful for the lesson I learned today.
So I will go through my day with a completely different perspective. Remember, if you are delayed by a tiny detail...be it your children forgetting things, or a slow driver in front of you, or a long line at the grocery store, a train stop....just know you are exactly where you are suppose to be at that moment. God knows what he is doing. And as for the driver that died, God knew what he was doing there too.......we aren't suppose to question that I guess, so all I am going to do is say another prayer for her and her family.
Have a great day and remember to be patient.......

Auntie Em, Auntie Em

Well we survived the storm. I posted pictures on here to show you how much rain we got. If you look at Friday's post, I put a picture of our pond in our backyard. In it you will see the boat barely in the water. But as you can see in the above picture, the boat is totally floating. We got A LOT of rain! We lost some limbs from our pine trees too. You can't really see it in the bottom picture, but right at the base of the tree to the right there is a branch that is literally sticking straight out of the ground. The wind was pretty strong at times. I had my friends over for a day of stamping, and around dinner time, the tornado sirens went off. We went and watched the news as they were telling us a tornado was heading our way. We put Bailey and her friend Emily in the hallway right outside the bathroom....just in case.....I have to admit, I never freak out in storms, but this one made me nervous. A bit too close for comfort I would say. But we were lucky and nothing happened, but it really makes you take stock when it is all going on.

Bailey had fun with Emily being here, and I had a great time with my friends as well. It was a nice day of just hanging out, which we all needed. Sarah should be home tonight from Atlanta. The only communication I have gotten from her is that last night they were eating at Chili's and their server was hot.......that is what the text message sent from her said.....such is the life of my teenage daughter. Todd called me from SC and said it was sunny and great there. He and his dad had gone to a car show together. So as our house was in the grasp of a tornado, and we are worried sick, Todd and Sarah were having a grand time......figures! LOL

Well, I just thought I would update everyone.

Talk to you soon.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head

Well Hurricane Fay has hit South Georgia and all we have is rain, rain, and more rain. There is some wind at times, but not hurricane force by any means. It is just kinda dreary out, as you can see in the backyard picture I posted. We got home from school today, and Bailey and her friend Emily went and put on pjs and said that they wanted to have a pj weekend. I have to say I kinda agreed with them, so I went and put my pjs on too. Weekends like this require no thought....just have fun and relax. That is my opinion anyway. They are predicting 4-6", so we really don't need to be out driving in it anyway. So Bailey has her play day planned with Emily and they already have gotten into it by playing dolls together.
Sarah is heading to Atlanta with her friends for a birthday weekend. Her friend Laura is celebrating her birthday by going to Atlanta, spending the night in a hotel downtown, going to Hard Rock Cafe and going shopping at the Mall of Georgia. Todd headed to South Carolina to go to a car show and work on his car he is rebuilding with his dad. So I have a play day planned too. My friends, Susan, Beth, and Stacey are coming over and we are gonna stamp all day. We are gonna order lunch to be delivered, and we are gonna just have fun too. So the rain is forcing us all do relax and do what we want, and I am so okay with that.
Well, I guess that is the update for today. I hope you all have a great weekend....I know I will....wet but enjoyable.
Hugs to share.

Pudding??????

Well, my days at school continue to be great....don't know what I did to deserve it, but I am gonna take it and just say Thank God!!!
Today's funny story has to do with my child. At about 11:30 this morning, I got a call on my cell from Bailey's school. When I answered it, it was Bailey. She was crying and telling me she was in the nurse's office because she got "poopie" on her pants. I of course tell her to calm down and tell her I will be there in a few minutes. I proceed to get my boss to fill in in my classroom and rush home to go get her clothes. I rush up to the school to give her the clothes. I walk into the nurse's office only to not find my child in there. The nurse says, " I sent her back to class because it was only a spot about this big" as she holds her hands up into a circle shape. I am kinda ticked at this point that the nurse has sent my child back to class with crap on her, but I just proceed down to her class to get her, to mad to say something rational at that point. I arrive at her classroom and open the door. She comes walking out, and then says "Mom, it is strarting to dry already"....I am a bit afraid to look, but I do and notice it doesn't look anything like poop......but more like pudding. I say, "Bailey, why does that look like pudding". She says, "it is pudding". I proceed to fuss at her cuz she told me it was poopie on the phone, and I had to get a sub for my class, only to rush over to find out it is pudding!!!!! She said, "I said pudding mom". We go back and forth about it and I ask her why she was crying if it was just pudding. She said because she thought I would be mad if she got pudding on her new clothes! Now I know I can be a strict mom, but I never have gotten mad at my children for spilling stuff on their clothes! I told her she better not call me for silly stuff like that again. See I am having to retrain her after her teacher last year fell for every whimper she ever had......grrrr...it makes me so mad! So the next time you have some pudding, you can all think of me driving like a mad woman to Bailey's school to give her some new clothes!!!!
Have a great evening!

Great First Day

Well, just a quick post today. But I had to tell everyone I had a GREAT first day with my kids. We had only one that cried and it lasted all of 3 minutes. As soon as the mom left, she stopped. It was a wonderful day! I am kinda in shock cuz I have never had a first day like that. I had 15 children all listen, participate, and follow everything I asked them to do. It was almost scary how well it went. We actually accomplished everything we need to do in the first week on the first day!!!! Woo Hoo!
Anyway, the girls are doing great. Bailey is starting to settle into her class and seems happy. Sarah is running on a full schedule but still seems upbeat and enjoying it all.
I guess that is all for today. I have to clean up the house before I have to head to carpool.
Have a great day!

Back to School

Well yesterday was the first day back to school for the girls. They were both excited and nervous, as anyone would expect. At the end of the day, they both came home happy but exhausted. Sarah was more talkative then Bailey about her day, but it was mostly about her friends and her teachers. As any teenager is, she is just disturbed by the "rules" one of her teachers has, and is mad so and so isn't in her class or so and so is in her class.....I just laugh and know it is all gonna adjust in a few days for her. Bailey is a bit different in the sense that she is disappointed none of her friends are in her class, and is saying the year is not going to be good because she didn't get the teacher she wanted and she knows nobody. She is of course being Bailey with her drama, but in the same sense I worry more about her because she is already an independent soul who doesn't make friends as easily as her sister. I am hoping over the next few days things will get better for her, but please keep her in your prayers as she adjusts to this. Bailey started at a new school this year as well as her sister, so I think all of it is very overwhelming for her.
I have had teacher work days yesterday, today, Monday and Tuesday, and then the students come on Wednesday. I, myself, have been overwhelmed, I think, with all the emotions of my girls starting new schools as well as my own stuff going on, that I completely forgot about Bailey's piano lesson yesterday, which is not like me at all. Those of you who know me well enough, know that I am highly organized and I just don't normally forget stuff like that. I beat myself up most of the evening last night about it, but I am over it now. I am hoping today will be a better day for me. I am going to try and get caught up on a few things today around the house, and take this weekend to regroup and then hopefully things will be off to a better start on Monday.
I hope you all have a great weekend. I will not be posting this weekend, so I will talk to you all again next week.

Brigade

Here is my now high school baby......I cried when she put on her uniform for the first time. She has wanted to be in the Blue Devil Brigade for several years now....all she wanted was to were one of those "plumey-feathery" things on her head. Now she has one and she is so excited. Actually when they are in full uniform her hair is required to be pulled up, but for this quick snapshot for mom, her hair is down. She was so cute when she first put on the uniform. She couldn't believe that I started crying. She kept saying "Walk away, mom, walk away. Don't, mom, don't". But I couldn't help it.....if you are a mom, you understand why, and I don't need to explain myself.

This is a shot of the whole Brigade. You can't see Sarah in it, but she is in the second row. There are 126 members total this year which is a good size band for our school. This is Sarah's new "love interest"......yeah right! His name is Chase and he is a nice kid. He had all of us laughing all week. He is one of the drummers in the band. His parents are in the Booster Club with us. Bailey kept calling him "her man" all week because he kept calling her "his girl". I think Bailey was a little jealous of her sister when she got this picture made....LOL

Half way through the week, Bailey got her braces off finally! She was so excited to get them off! She kept licking her teeth and saying she felt like all she had in her mouth were gums. She kept biting her tongue all day because she was not used to having "smooth" teeth. She has a permanent retainer on the back of her two front teeth now. She looks different to me without them now.
This is one of the many long mornings that Sarah spent in the field doing the marching drills. She is in the pink. She was so beat by the end of the day, but as she put it she has some "power calves" now from all the exercise! It really was amazing how long these kids were out there and with little to no complaints. They did a great job learning parts of their half time show.
On Thursday night, the Brigade had a show and tell for all their parents/families. At one point they had the students go and get one of their family members out of the stands to make them march with their instruments and go through what they have done all week. Let's just say we are glad Sarah plays the flute cuz some of those parents had to carry a tuba or a set of drums that weigh about 75 pounds. Sarah got Bailey to do it, which I thought was very sweet of her. This picture is of Sarah giving Bailey the "instructions" before they started. Bailey did quite well for a first timer. She was so proud of herself when she was done, and Sarah was proud of her too cuz Sarah said she did better than the actual band girl that is in the picture in pink.
And here is my favorite picture of my baby! She looks so grown up and it was at this moment that I realized that my baby is officially in high school. I am so proud of the young woman that she has become. No mother could be prouder. She is such a sweet, beautiful, loving and kind person. I am very humbled by the wonderful child I have been blessed with. I know as she starts on this journey of her high school years, she will make mistakes and sometimes she will make poor judgement calls, but I know in my heart of hearts, she is a great kid. I can only pray that she will follow what she has been taught, and that she will come out of it all a better person than she already is. I hope that she has tons of fun, makes lots of memories and most of all that she fulfills all she can in what hopefully will be some of the best years of her life. I will end tonights post with the words from one of my favorite children's book, "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch. This is a book I used to read to Sarah all the time when she was a baby........
I'll love you forever. I'll like you for always. As long as I am living, forever my baby you'll be.

Have a good weekend.