All Around Town

             What a week it has been!  I haven't looked this forward to a Friday in a while and 3:00 can't get here soon enough.  I remember growing up and my parents would tell me how things had changed since they were young and I always thought they just said that cause they're old.  Now that I'm "old" I see exactly how times change after only a couple of decades.  It's sad to me to see kids today growing as fast as they are, when do kids get to be kids?  A childhood should be comprised of just more than before they start kindergarten.  As a person ages the time they have in the childhood phase is only a small portion of their life, why rush through the part when you don't know about "dirty" movies or cuss words, or bills and car maintenance.  I remember growing up and watching Roseanne on tv with my dad.  There were some topics that I would get "red faced" about, but now those things are nothing in comparison with what we see on tv.  I'm pretty much to the point that most of the shows I watch I can't watch any of them with MG.  I see now why some families don't have tv or cable in their house.  I don't think I'm to that point, but I understand more than I did before.  I also don't blame tv for different things in life, I think it's more of a reflection to how certain things are not taboo in society any more.  When I first went to college I was unaware of many different things.  At first I felt embarrassed and I know I was thought of as being naive, but I appreciate now that I didn't have to grow up knowing some things.  I was given a chance to be a kid and that was nice.  Don't get me wrong, there are things in this world that I need to prepare my child for but I want to wait on those things as long as I can. Alright I'll get off of my soap box and tell you how we spent our time this week "All Around Town."

Day 1-24

It was such a nice day outside that MG and Tater played outside for a while.  They both love playing outside and Tater loves bringing every limb from the yard to the front of the yard and chewing them up.  He must be part Woodchuck.

Day 1-25

MG doesn't like bedtime unless you go to bed at the same time.  She always manages to sneak to wherever you are.  This night I was watching tv in the living room and she came down there. 

 Did you notice her slippers?

Day 1-26

I love scrapbooking!  I teach classes at Yoder's Family Traditions in Sylacauga.  This night we made these 9 x 9 accordian albums from CTMH.  Yoder's has several different types of craft classes each month for all different type crafts, not just scrapbooking.  They also have tons of different type of handmade goods in the store and the best dips you've ever had.  They are located on Norton.  Stop by and see the owner, Debi, tell  her I said hey!

Day 1-27

We have this place in town called Scoops of Fun.  They have arcade type games and ice cream.  Think Chuck E Cheese meets Dairy Queen.  It's not quiet as big as either of those but has a nice "your welcome here" feel.  MG loves this place, she calls it the Ice Cream Store.  The lady that runs the place is always so nice to MG when we go in there.  Robert had gone hunting so I decided to take her after school.  I give her a cup of tokens and when they are gone she's done.  They have an air hockey table in there that is alot of fun.  I'm a mean parent and don't let MG just win, which she didn't.  It won't take her long before she beats me, she's getting pretty good.

Day 1-28

On Saturday MG was invited to a birthday party at Whitman Art Gallery and Studio in Childersburg.  The kids had a great time and the instructors were so good with them.  They each painted a purple and pink background and then spray painted the word a picture on top.  I was really impressed.  I found out that they offer classes and also have open studio, which I thought was cool.  If you haven't checked them out you should.  I know I'm trying to figure out when I can go and paint one myself.

Day 1-29

On Sunday the Songbirds, children's choir, sang a cool version of Jesus Loves Me.  Can you see MG?  Look for the big white bow.

1-30

Why is it that as soon as your kids takes a bath they want to love all over the DOG!  Every time without fail, as soon as MG gets out of the tub she wants to love all over Tater. (Yes, those are Christmas pjs, but they are MG's favorite.)

Day 1-31

On Tuesday we went out to eat with Robert's parents, brother, and sister.  We went to Zaxby's, of course, and after we ate Aunt K started playing ringtones for MG.  She got so tickled she nearly fell in the floor.  This is a horrible picture, but they kept laughing so this is the one that was the least blurry.

Day 2-1

On Wednesday nights we have Songbirds and Faithweavers at church.  During the Faithweaver opening I call kids up to act of the skits that are played on the sound system.  Here is MG playing Anna when she first saw baby Jesus.

Day 2-2

Last night at Faithweavers they made Thankful Envelopes.  I didn't really notice what MG had done till I opened my purse this morning.  She often comes running downstairs and hands me stuff which I put in my bag or purse.  I do the closing for Faithweavers so I'm usually trying to get the kids in place.  I looked at the envelope and saw the paper that is sitting on top of it.  I'm sure she was trying to spell Tater.  MG is a "lazy" writer and often shortens words do she doesn't have to write as much.  I thought it was sweet that she put that on there.   There are times when Tater is doing something bad and we think for a minute that he is going to have to go, but then we remember how much MG loves him and no he is here to stay.  She also has started calling him Bubba.  When I asked her why she was calling him that she said, "Ever calls Lynn Bubba and since Tater is my brother I can call him Bubba."

Rain and Pain

What a Monday it has been.  Robert woke me up around 5:00, started grabbing pillows and blankets and got MG and put us in the hallway.  We sat there a while, Praise the Lord we all stayed safe. My brother, who lives in Clay, is safe and his house seemed to make it through without any damage.  School was delayed 3 hours. 

Day 18

I love dressing up Tater.  For Christmas I got him a scarf, that he managed to lose 1 hour later.  A couple of weeks ago I found him a shirt at Wal-Mart in one of their dollar bins.  When I came in from church on Wednesday I found his shirt, which he was wearing when we left for church, laying in the living room which he apparently chewed off of himself.  That dog will chew anything!  I'm glad I only paid a dollar for it.

Day 19

Kindergarten is not just cut and paste.  MG has homework most school nights, which includes a reading binder.  Last week it had been two days and she hadn't brought home her reading binder.  After questioning and a note to the teacher it was discovered that she was "forgetting" her binder at school, if you know what I mean.  They sure do learn how to escape work early on.  By Thursday, it was a short week, we had a reading binder plus extra assignments that I came up with.  That's what she gets for having a teacher for a mom.  It took me a while to get this picture with an actual smile on her face. 



 Day 20

I love Fridays!  This Friday I didn't have much planned, but had a couple of friends who came for a visit.  There girls came too and MG quickly took them to her room to play the Wii.

Day 21 

Saturday morning brought lots of rain with it.  I didn't think it had rained too much until I looked outside.

Day 22

Sunday after church I wanted to take a picture of MG in her "big girl" dress, but she was more interested in getting Robert to show her how to use the compass she got from her Aunt K. Robert had been hunting all weekend so MG was anxiously waiting for him to come inside from the his shop. 



Day 23

This was a crazy Monday.  With the storms this morning, the delay in school, and I had a doctor's appointment after school.  Remember the MRI I had last week, I got the results today.  I got OK news.  I have two disks that are slightly bulging, which isn't a big deal, and one disk which is protruding.  The doc explained it like this:  three stages 1-bulging 2- protruding 3-ruptured.  He said that is what is causing my issues.  He doesn't think I need surgery, but I am consulting a Surgeon next week just to see what he says.  Physical therapy may be needed or possibly pain management, which I really don't want.  If I don't feel any pain I will over do it and end up hurting worse.  After all of that, it was a quick trip to Piggly Wiggly and a kid's microwave meal for MG for dinner.  She was thrilled and made her a nice picnic in the kitchen.



Special Prayer goes out to all those affected by the storms today.  Feel free to leave a prayer request under comments so I can pray for specific needs.  Thank you Lord for hearing our prayers!

Time Flies When You're Living

I'm behind on posting, but glad to report that I'm not behind on taking my pictures.  On Day 10 I almost forgot about taking the picture of the day, but remember right before I fell asleep so I decided I would sneak in and take a picture of MG sleeping.  I found a surprise when I went in her room, Tater.  He was sleeping in our room, but somehow managed to sneak into MG's room without us knowing.  He sure loves MG!

 Day 10

If you will remember my last post you will remember the COOKIES.  Well on Wednesday Robert, MG, and I meet at Subway before church.  I'll give you two guesses as to what MG had to have.



Day 11

Kindergarten is full of fun activities and homework is no exception.  Here is a picture of the snowman decorated. She went through my scrapbook paper and found my Alabama paper. I let her pick out what she wanted to "dress" him with, but I did the cutting on the Cricut.

Day 12

I was off Friday so I picked MG and Ever up from school.  They had a spend the night party which ended in them watching a movie and wearing their sleeper masks.  With these girls you never know what to expect, but it'll be fun!



Day 13

On Saturday we meet up with Ever's mom, Treasure, and cleaned at the church.  We got a lot done, plus I was able to count down some of my "bags of trash" for the year.  The girls did more playing than cleaning, but she was worn out when we got home.

Day14

Sunday was church day and we went early for Praise Band practice.  Before we started the girls played with "Don Wan."  I love that the people at church care for and spend time with my kid and "Don Wan" is no exception, as you can see.

Day 15

Monday I was out of school, YAY, and I had a MRI done on my back and brain.  That sounds funny, brain.  I've had back issues for as long as I can remember.  I had MG take this picture.

Day 16

When Ever came over Friday night she showed MG how to play Mariocart on the Wii.  She came in and went straight to her room and played until we made her eat dinner and then played some more until it was bath time.  I love that she is figuring out how to do things on her own, even though it does make me a little sad.

Day 17

Well that's our week, time sure flies when your living!

Temptation

"Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation.
                                                                                      For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”

Matthew 26:41

Temptation is everywhere.  Sometimes we don't realize its there because we have learned not to give into a particular temptation.  For me food is probably the biggest temptation that I am at a constant battle.  I had a battle with temptation today, the culprit COOKIES!  These weren't just any cookies these were homemade cookies.  I did well this morning eating a banana for breakfast and was so proud of my accomplishments this past week.  I go into my classroom and checked my email to find a message that said that there were homemade cookies in the teacher's lounge.  My first thought was that I did well last week and I just had a banana for breakfast maybe one wouldn't hurt.  My second thought was, I know I won't be able to just have one, it's not just limited to Pringles.  I went on about my day not thinking about the yummy cookies that were only about 30 steps away, until I needed to go to the bathroom.  The teacher's bathroom is located in the,  you guessed it, teacher's lounge. DUN DUN DUNNNNN. As soon as you opened the door you could smell it, like going to grandma's house.  I paused for a moment and then quickly went into the restroom. Since I'm drinking more water then I usually do I made several trips throughout the day.  I think I even seemed a little scary when someone was eating one and I said to her "you mean you are eating those horrible cookies!" I know this seems silly and slightly dramatic but if you have ever struggled with weight then you have had these same thoughts.  I tried to rationalized eating a cookie all day; I won't eat a snack or I'll make sure I'll exercise today, or even I will just have a cheat day today.  Don't we do that all the time, try to justify doing something that we know we shouldn't just to make it "ok" to do.  I knew that if I ate even a pinch of a cookie then the rest of my week would be blown and then I would hate myself even more.  Now I have not given up cookies for the rest of my life, but I need to get my head straight for a while before I have one or at least when it is actually a cheat moment.  I try to plan those, if not every moment will be a cheat moment.  My mom's doctor told her that she could eat a steak every now and then just not to eat the whole cow.  I love that and thought about that today. It's important to know your limitations and stay within those.  There are things in life that we shouldn't even "nibble" when tempted. To summarize a very long story, when faced with temptation of any kind it's important to look within but if it's up to us, we would eat all the cookies!

Day 9

I took this picture at the end of the day.  These are the cookies that were left, there were a couple more plates and tons of them.  I'm sure they were great, but don't ask me cause I didn't eat any! 

Everyday Life

I love having time off of work and spending time with friends and family, but it sure is nice getting back into the swing of things.  I've been back to work for a week and MG has been two days.  The first day she had homework which included decorating a "mitten"  for the Mitten Tree at school.  You'll see her finished project below.  I let her design it by herself with little suggestions from me here and there.

 Day 5

On Friday she got to ride the school bus to the high school for the first time.  She was really nervous about it, which she usually is whenever she first experiences something.  She got invited to go to Chuckee Cheese with a friend and they left from the high school.  When she came home she was tired but not too tired to play around with Tater in the kitchen.  She was doing the "chicken dance"  as you can see in this picture.

 Day 6

Saturday we hung around the house, first time in a long time I haven't had anything planned to do.  We went to Wal-Mart and bought groceries and found a shirt for Tater.  MG decided that she would dress up too and put on her Cinderella dress.  I took some pictures of both of them and was going to use one of those as my picture of the day, but when I looked through the pictures I saw that MG had taken a few of her own pictures.  By the angle you can tell that she left it sitting on the table, that stinker!

 Day 7

Today we went to church and later went back to church for Praise Band practice.  While we were practicing MG, Ever, and Cooper started drawing on the chalkboard and I knew that would be my picture for today. 



Day 8

MG is growing so fast!  I knew she was but I have really noticed over the past couple of weeks.  The pjs she has on are now capri length and the Cinderella dress is now at her knees.  She will be 6 in May and I am so excited that she is growing and learning, but at times it just seems to be too fast.  I'm so afraid I'm going to miss something.  I hope to capture a few extra moments with these pictures so that I can tell her stories of her childhood, but also so I don't forget the everyday moments that create a life.

This has been an interesting week.  I got great news yesterday, my dad's scans and tests came back clear!  My mom said she cried when they told her over the phone, I know she is relieved.  They are still going to watch things, but everything looks great now.  He has an appointment with a doctor this month to talk about Lupus, we'll see how that goes.  Giving God Praise with every step! 
I went to work on Monday but stayed in meetings, so Tuesday was the first day back in my classroom.  I was welcomed back with an interesting smell.  After a period of two I didn't notice it anymore (mainly because I can't hardly smell things anyway), except for the fact that every class mentioned it as they came in.  Today the smell was much worse, even I noticed it ALL DAY.  During 7th period I was teaching and walking around the room as I sometimes do and had a thought, I wonder if the smell is coming from the holes in my floors.  My classroom was originally set up for a Science Lab so there are the square things that can be pulled up.  I had already started looking in cabinets and in my desks draws.  I always make sure that I don't leave anything over long breaks so I don't come back to surprises.  I stopped and opened one of the squares and sure enough I found the reason for the smell.  It was about the size of my hand, nice and furry, and at some point I'm sure it liked cheese.  I'm hoping by tomorrow the smell will be gone.

I told you it's been interesting!

Yesterday I decided that Day 3 pic should be of my other child, the furry one, Tater.  MG got him for her birthday last year.  She tells people that he's her brother.  They fight like sister and brother and she blames things on him, seems like two siblings interacting to me.  Tater likes to run in the yard and he barks at the dogs in the yard behind ours, but mostly he sits on his "chair" in the living room.

Day 3

Tonight we went to church for Praise Band practice.  While there they were taking down Christmas decorations, MG pitched in so I snapped a pic.  Here she is standing with Justin, the youth leader and good friend of mine.  I think he is the only person at church that is louder than I am.

Day 4

Here's hoping the rest of the week goes good and smells good too!

Day 2 Pic

I had to go back to work today, BOOOOOO, MG went to her Aunt K's house.  When she came home she tormented the dog for a while, ate dinner, then went in her room to play the Wii.  I grabbed my camera and she posed, of course, but since I like playing with angles I took a pic sitting in the floor and saw that I could get her initals on the wall in the picture. A friend of mine had done this previously so it wasn't an orginal thought.  I hate that MG's hair is everywhere, but this is her and I love her from my tippie toes to the top of my head.

A New Year

I am not always glad to see a New Year, other than being thankful that God has granted me another one, because I usually just see it as having a semester left till summer vacation.  I know all my fellow teachers just gave me and AMEN!  This year is different, I have a sense of Hope and Peace about what's going to happen next.  No, I have no idea what is going to happen but I think it's going to be Collosal!  I'm sure there will be bumps in the road and most likely things won't always go my way, but I feel confident that as long as I keep my focus on God I will be just fine.

Another reason I'm glad to see a new year is because this one has not been my favorite.  My mom had a heart attack in June, it wasn't anything minor mainly because she decided to wait over 8 hours before she told anyone she was having symptoms.  She actually said "I didn't want to bother anybody."  I appreciate her constantly thining of others, but come on even Ms. Manners would excuse you from bothering someone because you are having a heart attack.  She's doing great now.  She and my dad came to my house for Christmas and she looks better than she has in years.  The holodays are never her happiest times; however, she seemed happier than as far back as I can remember.  I think it has something to do with the fact that she is taking really good care of herself.  This makes me very happy! 

If mom's health issues weren't enough to make a year seem long, my dad was put in the hospital back in October.  He had fluid around his heart.  They took I know at least 2 liters worth the first day, not sure the total amount but it was alot.  They put in a "window" to make sure that the fluid doesn't build up again.  The also foind some spots on his lungs while he was there and some other tests have come up "fishy".  We are waiting results to see what needs to happen next.  Lots of prayers are needed!

There are some other things here and there that have been a pain, but I'd just be complaining.

I have made some goals for myself, not resolutions, because I want to accomplish some things and any Life Coach or Oparah would tell you that you must start with making a list.  So I leave you with my list and then a few pics if I can get them on before my computer decides to go to sleep.

1.  Do the 365 picture a day project.
2.  Get rid of 40 bags of junk from my house.  (I already did 2!)
3.  Complete 100 scrapbook pages (did 5 today).
4.  Make 50 cards (this one is going to be hard for me,
5.  Lose 60 pounds.  (I'm giving myself a year to do it, I lost 50 before, but I gained it back plus 10 so I had to say 60)
6.  Participate in every Birmingham Emmaus Walks this year in some form (whether attending or doing things from a far)

That's it for now.  They may not seem big, but they are something I want to do.  Now of course there are other things in my life that are goals and important and will be put above anything on my list.  I just hate saying I want to do this or that but never do, so there ya go.

 My dad, mom, brother, and MG doing a peace sign in some crazy shorts.

This is Day 1 pic of the 365 project.  MG was outside riding her bike Gran gave her and she stopped and let me take some pics.  I liked this one because she has a sweet presence with a touch of goofy!