Betsy Maddox

All You Need Is L♥ve!

2012-02-09T18:24:00.012-05:00

So, since February is the LOVE month, I thought I would share some things I love today!

1. Red Stamp. If you have an iPhone, you need to download this fun app!

You can use it to spice up your pictures and make cards. Here are just a few I did while I was playing around with it. So fun!

2. Laugh, Paint, Create

I found some of the cutest art work and craft projects for kids on this website and I just love getting new ideas. This is a project you could do for Earth Day from recycled cereal boxes and gallon milk jug lids. Isn't it adorable?

Happy I found this one!

3. My "Come Monday" Pandora radio station. I listen to it all. the. time. I love all my old school music...Van Morrison, Jimmy Buffet, Carole King, James Taylor, Jim Croce. Puts me in the best mood! :)

But my second favorite is my John Mayer radio with Adele and Norah Jones and Mat Kearney and Gavin DeGraw! See....I can be versatile! :)

4. Some sweet moments with my class this week. We've had a little "girl drama" lately and it has about driven me crazy some days. But God gave me the opportunity to turn it around and give some hugs and kisses and teach forgiveness and that each day is a new beginning.

5. Getting away. How soon can it get here? Even though this has been the mildest winters I think I can ever remember, I am still looking forward to some sunshine, salty air, palm trees, reading poolside, flip flops and warm breezes. Two weeks from now...

You know what else I love? My cozy bed. And it is calling my name right about now! Goodnight bloggy friends!

Finished (Almost!)

2012-02-04T15:40:00.010-05:00

Well, we finally got our kitchen counters finished! I told you I would share a few pictures, so here is what it looks like as of now.

I reframed the pictures I had in the kitchen...

...and bought a few new little things to go on our counters. We are still working on it, though. We are going to paint the kitchen, so that is the next step I'll show you when we are done.

It's funny how one thing leads to another in decorating. You get one thing done and then you realize you need to change something else to make it match, etc! I am trying to keep all that to a minimum if I can.

Anyway...that is the beginning of the extreme kitchen makeover. Haha!

In other news, it has been like spring here lately. Every day it makes you want to get outside and just enjoy the weather. Steve and I have been trying to walk a little bit and one day David came over to play on the porch.

He absolutely loved being outside. I know we are going to have so much fun this spring!

And even though it is spring-like outside, we pretended it was winter in my classroom this week and had some winter fun. We made these cute beaded snowflakes from thecraftjunkieblog...

and we did a science experiment and made borax crystal snowflakes...

They thought that was so neat! (I did too!)

And I finally finished my book, The Friday Night Knitting Club! Woo hoo! It only took me about 5 months! But, hey...at least I finished it. That is a big accomplishment for me during the school year. I got a new book for Christmas from one of the moms in my class. It is called Kisses From Katie and I am already about a fourth of the way through.

It is about a homecoming queen/class president from Nashville, TN who went to Uganda when she was 19 years old and just made it her home. She adopted 14 little girls and is being used by God in amazing ways. I already love it and would recommend it!

We are having a fun weekend. Mark came home this weekend so we have enjoyed catching up with him. And tonight we are going to one of our favorite Thai restaurants with some friends.

Are you doing anything for the Super Bowl? I think we are just going to order some wings and have appetizers and snacks. Ashley and John are coming over and my parents. We may have a few more people, too. Who knows? I don't really care much about who wins since the Panthers aren't in it. (They were FAR from being in it!) My next two choices would be the Saints or even the Broncos. But it will be fun anyway.

Hope you are having a good weekend, too!

Sweet Stuff

2012-01-26T19:37:00.006-05:00

We are having a good week. It feels like spring here. Where is winter this year? I'm not crazy about freezing cold weather, but I have to say I wouldn't mind a little snow. This winter has been kind of boring so far. Haha!

We have a bunch of guys in our house as we speak installing our new counter tops and our new tile and back splash. I am so excited. I think it's going to look great when it's all done! I will show you soon.

I got a sweet surprise at work this week. The office called me down and said I had a special delivery. When I got there, this was waiting for me...

No special occasion or anything. Just a sweet husband who I love alot! They are still sitting on my desk and they look so pretty. I know I'm a lucky girl!

Speaking of sweet stuff, I wanted to share a few sweet things I saw this week. First was a recipe I saw on my friend, Christal's blog. She said she got it from Pinterest (of course!). It is mini fruit pizzas and I thought they were such a cute idea. I think Christal said she went to a party recently where they had a mini fruit pizza bar and everyone made their own. I'm going to keep that in mind for a shower or party! Don't these look cute for Valentine's Day?

And I found this printable on Pinterest this week and loved it.

I think I am going to print it out and frame it to put in my classroom. I want my kids to remember to have sweet and loving attitudes with each other. They have been forgetting that a little bit lately. It would be cute to put somewhere in your home, too!

On another note, we are watching the NC State vs. Carolina basketball game tonight. That is fun game for us since I went to Carolina and Steve went to State. I am not nearly as huge a fan as Steve is and I actually feel a little torn for who to pull I since Mark is a student at NC State. But I'm looking forward to hanging out and watching it with Steve. And I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to watch American Idol or not this year. These tryout shows are my least favorite part. Some of these people are just crazy!! I like it better once it gets narrowed down a little. So...I guess we'll see once a few more weeks go by. Are you watching it this year?

Five

2012-01-23T20:02:00.005-05:00

It has been such a drizzly, foggy, cold day today. And a Monday too! I was sad to see the weekend go. It went by so fast.

Today I have five quick things to share with you...

1-Last week was a busy week for me. It was Spirit Week at school. Every day we had some kind of theme like Team Day, Neon Day, Tacky Day, etc... So basically every day was like Halloween. Haha! Then Friday was our Homecoming Pep Rally. The teachers surprised the kids and parents by doing a flash mob! We had practiced all week to get ready and it was so much fun! I am on the second row, second from the far end. It was blue and gold day so I am wearing a blue shirt and gold scarf. That was my first time being in a flash mob and I had such a good time.

2-Last week was a rough week in some ways, too. Monday night we went out to dinner with Ashley, John, and David. David was having the best time and was so happy. But later that night Ashley called and said he was throwing up and was so sick. Bless his little heart. He was very sick with some kind of stomach bug and was so pitiful. But thankfully he got better the next day so it didn't last long. But then a few days later, John got it and ended up in the ER because he was so dehydrated. And Friday night Ashley thought she was getting sick, too, so Steve and I picked David up and let him stay at our house overnight so Ashley could get some rest. I think she was just exhausted because she felt better the next day.

3-Did I tell you that we are redoing our kitchen counter tops? Our kitchen is a big mess right now & the dry wall is all ripped up waiting on new back splash. But everything should be done by Thursday so we are excited about that! I will take before and after pictures to show you soon.

4-Have you ever watched Downton Abbey?

I have a few friends who really like it, so I am going back to Season 1 on Netflix and trying to catch up. We recently got Google TV so I can watch it on our TV. If you've seen it, do you like it?

5-And I am LOVING this video. Laura showed it to me and it is just so sweet. I had never heard of Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors before, but I really like their sound. And his wife, Ellie, is the daughter of Brown Bannister. He was the producer of lots of Amy Grant's albums back in the 80's & 90's. The musical genes obviously run in their family! I rarely watch videos that people put on their blogs just because I don't have time. But I bet you would really like this one, too!

Lately

2012-01-15T20:08:00.009-05:00

Well, our little nest is empty again. Laura went back to school today so now it's back to just Steve and me. But that's okay. We had such a good time with them home but I know they were ready to get back to school and get back into a routine and see their friends, etc.

School has been busy this week since it is the end of the first quarter. I have been working on getting report cards done and trying to wrap everything up. We also got iPads at school this week!! We played with them a little bit on Friday and my kids LOVED them! If you are a teacher, or even all you moms out there....what are your favorite learning apps for kids around third grade age? I need to get on my iPad and play around and see what's out there.

Guess what else happened this week? David got his first haircut!

His hair was getting long in the back, so Ashley took him to a cute little place called Doolittles and Laura and I met her there. He was so good the whole time and didn't shed a tear. He looked like such a big boy when he was done!

Saturday Laura, Ashley, and I went to Cardio Funk together. It's like Zumba and it's alot of fun. But we danced for a solid hour. Then I stopped and Ashley and Laura kept going for another 15 minutes! Whew! That is a workout! I really like it though. There were about 6-7 men there so I'm going to see if Steve would go with me sometime. haha I think he would like it!

Last night went out to dinner with Laura at Pei Wei.

We just wanted to hang out with her before she had to go back. It's going to be weird without her here. She's been home for a whole month! I will miss her.

Today was a bittersweet day for our family. We went to hear my brother, Blake, preach his last sermon at his church. He started that church 10 years ago and now God has called him to move on to some other things. So today he said goodbye to his congregation and we went to support him and to let him know how much we love him and that we will be praying for him and Angie as they start this new chapter of their lives.

He is an amazing preacher and he has touched so many lives during his ministry there. I know God has big things in store for him.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King day. That means I get the day off! Woo hoo! Steve and I are planning to go to lunch and do some furniture shopping. We are about to start a kitchen and den makeover, so I will keep you posted!

Two In 2012

2012-01-11T22:03:00.005-05:00

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year? I am not really a resolution kind of girl anymore. Usually I never keep them anyway. There are a couple of little things I would like to do this year though. I'm not promising myself anything, but I would like to TRY to do these two things if I can. I'm just keeping it simple!

1-Every year, I make it a goal to read the whole Bible through. I have never been able to do it so far. I really want to, but it takes commitment to get through some of those Old Testament books. I have a Chronological Bible that I really like so I am making myself a calendar and trying to see if I can do it this year. This is the Bible I have. It has tons of information to go along with each book and I love all that insight and history it has in it! I'm a history nerd. haha

Speaking of the Bible and religion...have you seen this yet? It was all over Facebook today but I loved it!

2-Another thing I'm hoping I can do this year is get back to some of the fun crafty stuff I used to do. I can sew and crochet and I've done tons of cross-stitching. But I haven't done any of that in so long! I really enjoy it, so hopefully this year somehow I can squeeze those things back into my life.

We'll see.

Last night I got to keep this sweet boy while Ashley and John went to a Bobcats game...

He is walking all over the place now. It is so amazing how one day they just get the hang of that and off they go! No matter what toys we have, none of them is as much fun as when we just pull out the pots and pans. He likes the simple things the best!

Tomorrow is my last day of school this week since it's the end of the quarter. Friday is a teacher workday. And Monday we have off for Martin Luther King day. Woo hoo! Yay for short weeks and long weekends!

Winter Deals & Other Stuff

2012-01-09T19:52:00.008-05:00

Confession...I go to Wal-Mart about 25 times a week. I am NOT a Wal-Mart fan, believe me. I hate the crowded aisles and the long lines. And our Wal-Mart has a Subway in it. Subway does not mix well with Wal-Mart. It always smells so weird in there.

Anyway...I DO find really good deals there from time to time, I have to admit. And this week I found two really good ones.

First of all, I am very cold natured, so I need warm, comfy clothes for when I am just hanging out at home in the winter. This week Wal Mart had all of their Valentines fleece pajama pants out and I just happened to walk by them. They looked so soft that I just had to feel them. Oh my goodness...I was sold! I almost bought this exact pair, but they didn't have my size...

...so I got plaid ones instead. And I have literally worn them every single day since! They are so warm and so comfortable and they were only like $12!

Then, today I saw a jacket exactly like this one for only $25. I popped it right into my cart!

This makes my third coat that I have bought from Wal Mart. I get compliments on one of the coats all the time. People are always surprised when I tell them it came from Wal Mart! Both of those coats are very well made and so warm. I have had them for years. I love good deals!

On another note, I have my own "The Help" this week. Laura is here till next weekend. So while she is here, she is helping me out! She helps me with cleaning and with running errands. And tonight she cooked dinner for us. She made Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shrimp. John, Ashley, and David came over to eat with us too. I love having someone cook dinner for me!

Steve is watching the LSU v. Alabama game tonight. We both lived in Louisiana growing up, so we are pulling for LSU. I may watch a little bit of it, but I'm pretty sure I'll be asleep before it's over. Six o'clock comes reaaaallly early! I'll just have to find out who won in the morning.

Nine Random Things

2012-01-07T11:25:00.010-05:00

Today is a list of nine random things...

1-This back to school week was the best I think I've ever had--just easy and non-stressful. Yay!!

2-I had a mom randomly email me yesterday and ask if she could bring my dinner. Um, really?? Why, yes you certainly can! And how nice is that?? It was homemade soup and salad with bread and homemade salad dressing. I want to remember to be that thoughtful. It means so much!

3-We saw "We Bought A Zoo" last night. It was so good! It was clean and just a sweet movie. I would totally recommend it.

4-Remember how cold it was at the beginning of the week? Well, now it has turned to spring. Seriously, you could wear shorts outside. I love it. People are out running and mowing their grass and eating outside. I can't believe it's just January!

5-My house is slowly getting back to being an empty nest again. Mark and Lindy are both back at school now but Laura has another week at home. It was so nice outside today that we both went out on our porch to read. This is how Laura ended up! :)

6-Mark called today to tell me about some things he had going on. We talked for about 20 minutes or so and when we were about to hang up he said, "Oh Mom...guess what I heard on NPR this week? When you talk to your mom on the phone, studies have shown that it brings your stress level down. I just wanted to tell you I heard that." Then he told me he loved me before we hung up. Sweet boy. I hope it really does bring his stress level down to talk to me!

Mark has alot going on right now. He only has one semester left till he is done with college! There are so many things to think about and I know he is a little stressed about deciding what to do once he graduates.

7-Thank you for your suggestions about what apps are good on the iPhone. If you have any more, I still want to know! And, let me say that the My Fitness Pal app has made me feel like a big fat cow! It says that in order for me to maintain my current weight, I need to only consume 1200 calories a day. Is that alot? That is HARD! When I put in what I eat, it usually goes over 1200. I told you that I'm not really trying to lose weight, but now I feel like I'm going to GAIN weight! Good grief. Not sure why I started that app. Haha!

8-Speaking of eating, one of my favorite things in the winter is soup. I think I could eat soup every day. Yesterday, I found a really good recipe for homemade chicken stock on Susan Branch's blog. I love all her books and calendars and art...

...and I love her blog!

Plus, it's always good to have chicken stock on hand for making yummy soup.

9-Steve and I are planning a trip to somewhere warm very soon. I love taking trips to warm places in the winter. I'm looking forward to that!

So...that's all for today! Nine random things.

Back To Business

2012-01-04T19:14:00.009-05:00

So...we're 4 days into the new year and so far it has been really good! Thank you God for new beginnings!

Steve and I rang in the New Year by going to one of our favorite restaurants that I'm sure you've heard me talk about before...Cajun Yard Dog. We actually went there last year, too, on NYE. We know all the waiters there and it's small and intimate and has amazing food and the TVs are always turned to a ball game so Steve likes that. :) We didn't do much after that. We were actually asleep for the first time I can ever remember when the ball dropped. We tried to get someone at the restaurant to take our picture, but it didn't turn out, so we just took one of ourselves to remember the night! ha!

We had to get to bed early because Ashley and John were bringing David over early Sunday morning. They went to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando to see South Carolina play and we kept David for them on Sunday and Monday while they were gone.

We had the best time keeping that sweetie pie.

He was so good the whole time. But...he is ACTIVE! He kept us on our toes every minute. He is starting to walk now and he also loves to climb and crawl so we didn't stop. I got lots of good sugar though and enjoyed every second of him being here. I was sad to see him go. But I know he missed his Mommy and Daddy. I love that boy!

Monday, since I had to work, Steve kept him all day. Mark and Laura and Lindy were here to help too. Ashley made us dress him in his Gamecocks shirt for the game! I think he had fun hanging out with the guys and watching football. :)

I wish I could have been home to watch the game and play with everybody, but it was back to work for me. Usually I am dreading going back, but not this year! It was a fun day and even oddly relaxing! haha I love my job and am so thankful for it.

It has turned super cold here all of a sudden over the past few days. Winter is definitely here. It has been down in the teens over the past few nights. Brrrr!! Now, please pass some snow! If it's going to be that cold, I would love some snow to go with it.

One of the things I have been doing a lot of this past week is learning about all my new apps on my iPhone. I have become addicted to Words With Friends and Hanging With Friends! Aaaahhh! So fun! So if you like playing those games, look me up!

And I just learned about My Fitness Pal app. Laura and Lindy told me about it and I think alot of my Twitter friends use it too. You enter all your meals and snacks for the day and it counts your calories for you. It also factors in any excercise and then it helps you set weight goals for yourself. I'm not really trying to lose weight, but it IS interesting seeing how many calories you eat in a day.

So true...right?

What apps are your favorites? I want to know about all the good ones!

Hope your 2012 is off to a good start!

2011-It Was The Best of Times...It Was The Worst of Times

2011-12-30T13:49:00.005-05:00

2011. What a year that was. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was probably the most difficult year that I can ever remember for us.

Every year on New Year's Eve, I always wonder what the new year is going to hold. What kinds of twists and turns will life take during the next 12 months? And every year there are joys and sorrows, celebrations and disappointments, ups and downs. But 2011 was just especially hard. Steve and I both had really difficult and stressful job situations and then we lost Steve's dad so suddenly. We were walking through a pretty dark valley for a while there. But...we also had the joy of welcoming our first grandchild and that has brought us so much happiness this year! If I could choose one phrase to sum up 2011, it would be "roller-coaster ride"!

So...needless to say, we are making a BIG toast to 2012 and are happy to be kissing 2011 good-bye!

Over the past few weeks and months, God has given both of us new career opportunities that we are loving and are excited about. And we made it through our first holiday season without Grandaddy and even though we missed him, it was still a happy and joyful time. I can see some sunshine breaking through the clouds and I know 2012 is going to be a great year! Bring it ON!!

As each New Year's Day approaches, I like to look back on the year gone by and remember all the highs and lows and important events that happened. A few years ago, I found these questions on someone's blog and I have been using them ever since. So...here is my 2011 in review!

1-What did you do in 2011 that you've never done before?
Well, let's see. I slept in an RV for the first time, visited the Georgia Aquarium, felt an earthquake, celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, and discovered Pinterest. I had never done any of those things before!

2-Did anyone close to you give birth? Yes! Ashley had our first precious grandbaby, David Walker Scott, on February 22! One of the best days ever.

3-Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. We were so sad to say goodbye for a little while to Steve's dad. He died on March 30. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on February 4, so he did not live long after that. We miss him very much.

We also lost Steve's beautiful cousin, Cynthia, who died suddenly while she was on vacation in New York.

It has been such a sad time for his family.

4-What date from 2011 will remain etched in your memory and why?
The two dates I just mentioned...February 22 and March 30... for obvious reasons.

5-What was your biggest acheivement this year?
My biggest achievement this year was getting a new job that I love! I am so thankful that God led me to the job I have now. It has made my life so much happier and so much less stressful.

6-Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Thankfully, no. Other than just little colds and things like that, I have been very healthy.

7-What was the best thing you bought?
Definitely my iPhone4! I love it and use it every day!

8-Where did most of your money go?
The same place it's gone for the past 7 years...college and food! :)

9-What song will always remind you of 2011?
I don't think I could pick just one! Here are a few...
Someone Like You/Rolling In The Deep-Adele, Makes Me Wanna Take A Back Road-Rodney Atkins, Barefoot Bluejean Night-Jake Owen, Just A Kiss-Lady Antebellum, Give Me Your Eyes-Brandon Heath, I Love The Way You Hold Me-Jamie Grace (I love this one because it reminds me of my class at school. They LOVE this song! It is such a "feel good" song!)

10-What do you wish you'd done more of/less of?
I wish I had blogged more. I was a slacker this year and I'm sad about that because I want to remember the details of every day. I wish I would have had more time last year to do that. In 2012 I also want to pray more/worry less, facebook/twitter (live electronically) less and spend more time with people face to face. I want to remember to reach out beyond my own little world and touch lives that are hurting. I want to give generously and hug on my children and husband and grandbaby as much as I can. I want to expect less and enjoy life more.

11-What was your favorite TV program?
Probably Hoda and Kathie Lee.

I TiVo that and watch it just about every day. I really don't watch too much TV, though. Other than that, we watch the news every night and we also love The Amazing Race.

12-What's the best book you read this year?
Unfortunately I didn't get to read very much. But I really liked The Friday Night Knitting Club...

and I started The Dirty Life and liked it, too. It kind of reminds me of Pioneer Woman's story. I need to finish it!

13-What was your favorite movie this year?
Definitely The Help. But I also really liked Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer. We saw both of those on Red Box.

14-What did you do on your birthday? How old were you?
Well, I know I turned 47 and I'm sure Steve did something really sweet for me. But I didn't blog about it and April was such a crazy month for us since Steve's dad had just passed away that I honestly don't remember a THING about my birthday! Wow. I definitely need to start blogging regularly again!!

15-Did you travel anywhere this year?
Yes. We went on a few fun trips this year. For Spring Break Steve and I went to Clearwater Beach, Florida.

We also went to Destin, Florida with Steve's family over the summer.

We went to Atlanta and Mississippi to visit family. And my girls and I went to New York City for fall break.

16-What national/world event stirred you the most?
My favorite story of the year was the Royal Wedding. I remember watching Prince Charles and Princess Diana get married when I was in high school so it was fun seeing Prince William and Kate get married. She was a gorgeous bride I thought!

I think the death of Osama Bin Laden was another news event I will never forget. We have been trying for so long to get him and I hope his death will bring more peace to our world.

17-Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
I think this year I have learned that God is good all the time. Even when I am walking through the darkest valley, He is there with me. He loves me and will walk through it with me. And He will give me comfort and peace. And no matter what happens in my life, I choose to praise Him. He has been so good to me.

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Be

2011-12-29T13:59:00.011-05:00

Aren't the days after Christmas the best? I think they are almost as good as the days before Christmas in a different sort of way! It just feels so great to have all the "to-do" lists done and all the activity dies down and you can really relax! Whew! Anyway...we've all really enjoyed just being at home and being lazy and not having anything to do.

One of the things we've been doing alot of is watching movies. Laura and Lindy and I went to see War Horse the other day. We saw it on Broadway back in October and loved it and we loved the movie too.

I have gotten to see this sweet boy alot this week. Is he not the cutest thing?? Ashley brought him over in one of the outfits he got for Christmas and I had to get his picture since he looked so cute!

Yesterday I had some of the little girls from my class last year over to make cookies. I had promised them I would have them over and they didn't let me forget about it! We had lots of fun together. They are so well-mannered and excited and appreciative of everything. I love them!

Tonight we are watching Baylor play in the Alamo Bowl. My brother and I both went to Baylor and so did my parents and my sister-in-law. We are all so excited about the awesome year they are having!

Tomorrow is "Take Down The Tree" day. I am not looking forward to that. But I know I will love having the house all clean and clutter-free. I can't believe 2011 is almost over. I have to say I am not too sad to see it go. I will write more about that tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T17:03:00.039-05:00

We had the best Christmas. I don't know how it happened this year, but other than the week and a half of non-stop events, our Christmas was very relaxed. We all agreed that it seemed low-key and really enjoyable. So yay for that!

One thing I did differently this year was to wrap most of our presents early so that I wasn't stuck in a room wrapping all day on Christmas Eve. Plus we scaled back our budget so there wasn't as much shopping to do. And Laura and Lindy were pretty much my personal little elves this year and helped me do so much! How would I do it without them?

On Christmas Eve we went to an afternoon service at church. Normally David goes to the nursery, but Ashley brought him into church this time and he did so good!

After church, we always go over to Steve's sister Debbie's house for soup and chili. She is sweet to host us every year. We had fun visiting with Steve's family and eating some good food!

We didn't stay too long this year, though, since they were going to another service after dinner. We all came home and got in our pajamas and watched some Christmas movies until Santa came. Santa went to bed early this year and got a good night's sleep! (That's the fun of having college age kids, right? Nobody's fighting sleep or getting up at the crack of dawn!)

On Christmas morning, we just took our time opening presents and eating breakfast. I always make a sausage, egg, and cheese casserole that my kids love with some fruit and other breakfast goodies.

Usually my parents come over and join us, but since it was Sunday morning, my dad had to preach, so they came over around 1:00 along with my brother and his family.

John, Ashley, and David came over later in the afternoon so we could spoil David rotten with toys. It was so much fun this year getting to buy toys and fun stuff instead of just clothes. That seems like all we've been buying for the last few years or so. That and money are all my kids want any more. :)

In between all this, we got to take naps and read and just relax!

Christmas night we went over to Steve's mom's house and had another round of food and fun. She made all kinds of yummy stuff and I brought my strawberry pretzel salad.

Bless David's heart. By the time we got over there, he had been up all day & he was ready for bed! But he did stay up long enough to open some presents and say hi to everyone.

The rest of us had a fun night just hanging out and visiting together. We love our family!

Christmas is always so much fun, but I have to say I almost love the day or two after Christmas just as much. Sleeping in and sitting around in pajamas almost all day has been so nice. We are so blessed.

I hope your Christmas was wonderful too!

It's December...Party On!

2011-12-22T09:56:00.028-05:00

I can't keep up. Everything has been moving so fast these past few weeks that there is no way I could blog about it all as it happened. I'm sure you feel the same way. This is such a fun and busy time of year. The events and parties are one after the other. So today I'm just going to have to do a quick catch-up.

Let's see...where to begin?? Let me backtrack all the way back to last Sunday. That was our Sunday School Class Christmas party. We have recently stepped down from our role as co-teachers in that class. We have been with them for six years and have loved sharing life with them and watching all the couples in the class go from newlyweds to having families of their own. So it was a little bittersweet knowing this would be our last Christmas party with them. But I know we will still keep in touch and see them around church.

Last week we also celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful parents. They have set an example for us and for our children of what a godly marriage looks like. They have weathered lots of trials just like every marriage does, but they are still in love and they still are each other's best friend. They just have fun together and are still enjoying life side by side. I am so thankful God has blessed them with 50 wonderful years together.

They didn't want a big party, so we just took them out for a family dinner. Then we are sending them on a trip to Europe this spring. They like to travel so I know they will really enjoy that!

Over the weekend we went to the mountains for our annual get-together with our neighbors. We call it Chili and Cheer. Usually we just get together at one of our houses, but this year we went to our neighbors' mountain house to celebrate. Our kids have grown up together and they love each other like brothers and sisters so they always look forward to it. We ate at our favorite restaurants-The Daniel Boone Inn and Mellow Mushroom. Saturday morning when we woke up, it was snowing! So pretty! We shopped and went for walks. We played games and worked puzzles and played pool and ping-pong. We got in the hot tub. And mostly we just hung out together and enjoyed talking and laughing and spending time with people we love.

When we got back it was time to get together with my family. My brother, Blake, and his wife Angie had us over for our favorite....Mexican food! So we called it our Family Fiesta. :) We had such a good time just visiting and sitting around the fire pit and laughing together. We love our family and we always look forward to getting all the kids together and spending time together during the holidays!

In between all this we also threw in two other dinners...one with Steve's company and one with lifelong friends of ours that we get together with every Christmas. And I had a gingerbread house party at school along with our class Christmas party.

I think we are all done with all our events now. Whew!! Mark's girlfriend, Kate, is here for a few days to visit and we had a big family dinner at our house last night then they all went over to Steve's mom's house to play cards. But the next few days are pretty low key. I think I see some Christmas movies and lots of relaxation in my future!

Let Your Heart Be Light

2011-12-11T12:45:00.013-05:00

We have been busy with lots of Christmas-y stuff for the past few weeks. I haven't done a very good job of blogging, so today is going to be a little bit of playing catch up and just some things I've been thinking about!

*This is the first year in a reeeaaally long time that Christmas hasn't been super stressful for me. Thank you Lord!! I've been saying for years that I wanted to keep Christmas simple and sweet and focused on what really matters--Jesus' birth! And somehow I feel like I have finally gotten there. (Pretty close, anyway!)

I have gotten most of my shopping done already and I am ready to start wrapping. That NEVER happens this early! Plus I have had more time to enjoy watching Christmas movies and reading some Christmas books this year. I get the whole week before Christmas off, so I am looking forward to making some yummy things and I hope we can all pile up in the car one night and drive around looking at Christmas lights! My kids still love doing that! :)

This year Steve and I scaled back our Christmas budget and overall, we have stuck to it. Overspending is not a good way to keep yourself calm and unfrazzled. And, anyway, we all have everything we could possibly need!

This probably sounds "Scrooge-like", but one of my least favorite parts of Christmas is shopping. Fighting crowds and trying to find parking and wandering through stores trying to find just the right gift can be exhausting. I talked with my brothers and my sisters-in-law about it and we were all in agreement that what we really love about Christmas is just our time spent together. The gifts aren't important. We just want to hang out together and enjoy the season. So we decided we wouldn't exchange gifts anymore since our kids are all grown up now (except for my two little nieces and we will still get them something!) ...and everyone is so happy about it. I love that!

*I just discovered what a Christmas necessity candy melts are. Have you ever used them? You can get them at Michael's or AC Moore but for some reason I have never used them before. But this year, I am all about them! We are making white chocolate pretzel rods and chocolate dipping spoons for parent gifts in my class and they are perfect for that. And I thought these pretzel rods in this bright little can (from Pinterest, of course) were a really cute gift idea.

These Candy Cane Mint Milanos are on my to-do list. You use the red candy meltaways for them and they look super easy!

*Friday I took the day off and Steve and I went to lunch together, then went Christmas shopping. It was so much fun. Then yesterday, we met Laura in Hickory for lunch and a little shopping. We met at Jason's Deli and had fun catching up for a while...

Then we stopped by Starbucks, Laura's favorite, before we headed to the mall. It was packed and Santa was staying very busy!!

We bought some holiday candles and a crossed a few items off of our list before we headed back to Charlotte. It was a fun day.

*This week is "Christmas Party Central" for us! Starting tonight, we have 5 parties in the next 8 days. But they are all so much fun because it is all with people we love to see and spend time with. I am looking forward to every minute.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T22:33:00.018-05:00

We had such a nice Thanksgiving Day! It was full of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, perfect fall weather, lots of family, friends, and food. I feel very blessed. God has been so good to us despite some hard things we have been through this year. The biggest blessing this year has been our sweet grandbaby, David. He has brought us so much joy and we are thankful for his little life. Here are the pictures from our day. I bet they look alot like yours!

...today and everyday! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Girl's Day Out

2011-11-19T20:45:00.015-05:00

Today was fun! This morning I got to keep David for a little while so Ashley and Laura could go to an excercise class. He didn't stay long, but it was enough time to get lots of kisses on his chubby cheeks!

It was a chilly fall day today but he loves to be outside, so we sat on the porch for a little while so he could laugh at Rocky. He LOVES Rocky!

He loved feeling the crunchy leaves, too.

Earlier this week, one of my students from last year called me. I have been missing my class so much but I didn't know how to get in touch with them, so I was so excited when one of my little girls called! I forgot that I gave her my phone number. We talked for a while and I ended up telling her I would love to come get her and take her and any other girls who could go, to lunch and to the mall. It turned out three girls could go, so today was the day to do that!

Oh my goodness...I wish you could have seen how excited they were! They acted like it was Christmas or something. We had the best time! We went to Chik-Fil-A, Justice, Claire's, Yoforia, Bath and Body Works, and they just giggled and talked their heads off. They were so cute. I told them that over Christmas maybe they could come over and bake cookies and watch a movie. I love them!

Tonight I took dinner to some good friends of ours who had a baby boy last week. Their story is really a miracle so we are sooo happy for them to finally get that precious child here!

We grilled hamburgers for dinner even though it's cold and now we're watching Water For Elephants since Steve hasn't seen it yet. Tomorrow all my kids will be home from college and I will have a full house again. It's going to be a good week!

Thinking About Thanksgiving

2011-11-17T20:35:00.011-05:00

Can you believe how fast November is going? Is Thanksgiving really next week?

I'm am looking forward to having everyone home and having a full house for Thanksgiving dinner. Last year Mark was in Spain and we missed him so much, so it will be nice having him back this year.

Thanksgiving at our house is always a lot of people and everyone brings something so that makes it easy. I do the turkey and a few little things and everyone else does the rest.

This is our Thanksgiving Menu this year (and pretty much every year!)

Turkey & Dressing (do you call it dressing or stuffing? I think in the south we all call it dressing, right?) We have regular dressing and spicy sausage dressing.
Ham
Mashed potatoes
Green beans
Sweet potato casserole
Roasted broccoli
Asparagus casserole
Corn casserole
Strawberry-Pretzel salad
Copper Pennies (marinated carrots)
Deviled eggs
Pink lady salad
Cranberry sauce (this is just right out of the can & sliced up on a plate! haha! But I like it that way & that's the way we've always done it! It goes really good with a bite of turkey & dressing!)
Pumpkin crunch
Apple pie
Pecan pie

And then we pretty much roll ourselves home after that. Lord have mercy!!

Speaking of all that food, I saw this on Pinterest and thought it was cute...

Today my friend, Sophia, gave some good tips on how to make your turkey really moist here. She says to bake it upside down! I may have to try that!

One of the things I love to do at this time of year is burn all those fall Bath & Body Works candles that smell like heaven. And I also put potpourri on the stove sometimes and just let it simmer. I found this recipe for potpourri on Pinterest and I thought it looked really good. My recipe is very similar to this, but this one is so much prettier!

It almost looks good enough to drink, so you know it's going to smell great!

And, this doesn't have anything to do with Thanksgiving, but Steve and I met Ashley and David out for dinner at Q'doba tonight and he was being a cutie pie! So I just wanted to include a picture of his happy little self.

Have a great night!

Little Things

2011-11-14T17:24:00.017-05:00

This month is the month of thankfulness and I know lots of people are doing a whole month of things they are thankful for. I am not that organized unfortunately, so I haven't been doing that. But I do have lots of things I am thankful for. I think you appreciate things more when you have been through a difficult time. Last year at this time, I was thankful, but I was so stressed out that it kind of overshadowed everything else. This year is a whole different story.

I was just talking to a friend of mine this weekend and she asked me how I was doing and I told her just how much better things are for me this year. I usually am feeling so overwhelmed when holiday time rolls around. It is like I already have so much on my plate that one more thing might just send me over the edge. But this year I am really looking forward to it! I already have my Pandora Christmas music going and I can't wait for all the holiday fun to begin! :) So, number one, is thank you to God for a job I love and for so much less stress. That makes such a big difference!

The past few weeks have been full of all kinds of fun and lots of fall stuff so even though I'm not doing a whole month of thanksgiving, I want to remember a few things that I am thankful for right now! So...here we go!

*The fall leaves.

Every day when I drive through my neighborhood, I feel like I am in a fall wonderland. It is seriously gorgeous. I took a few pictures from my car the other day, but they just don't do it justice because you have to see these leaves up close and in real life so you can get the full effect. So beautiful!

*This sweet boy.

Is this not the cutest face? We kept him on Saturday so Ashley and John could go to a wedding. He was an angel the whole time.

We took him on a walk.

Steve's mom came over for dinner and read to him and helped me give him his bath.

He doesn't want to sit in the bathtub anymore so he is a slippery little thing! I have to hold on to him the whole time.

Here he is all ready for bed...

There is nothing cuter than a baby in pajamas when they are so clean and they smell so good! :)

*Time with my girls.

Laura and Lindy came home for the weekend and we had alot of fun together. We got Starbucks, made cookies, went to lunch after church together...

and did a little Christmas shopping.

Here they are having fun with Ashley and John at the wedding they went to! I love that they have a good time together.

I have been making some of my favorite fall recipes lately, too! I made a big pot of Spicy Chicken Vegetable soup this weekend and I have been sipping on hot apple cider and Russian tea on these chilly nights. Yummm! I've shared these recipes with you before, but I thought I would link up to them again in case you would like the recipes!

Anyway...those are just little things, but I am thankful for all the joy they bring to my life everyday!

A Little Late

2011-11-05T13:36:00.016-04:00

I am a little late to the Halloween party but I want to remember what we did this Halloween since it was our first Halloween with David!

Having a grandbaby came just at the right time for us since all our kids are in college or all grown up now. Halloween just isn't as fun when there are no kids around, so I was glad David got to come help us celebrate this year.

I told Ashley I would keep him last Saturday while she went to lunch with some friends. When she got back, she brought a pumpkin and we carved it.

David was coming down with a little cold/fever virus, so he wasn't really feeling very good, but I think he had fun touching the pumpkin and feeling all those gooey pumpkin seeds!

On Halloween night, we had Ashley and John and David over for dinner. I fixed a big pot of chili and we got ready for the hundreds (and I am not even exaggerating!) of Trick-or-Treaters that always come to our door. We have SO many kids in this neighborhood it's really unbelievable.

Anyway...David dressed up like the cutest lion you've ever seen and Ashley and John took him just to the houses of a few good friends in our neighborhood. He was still sick and wasn't really in the mood to be in a lion costume for very long. haha!

On another note, we are having a wonderful fall. I love living in North Carolina at this time of year because it is absolutely beautiful.

We have been busy working, but on the weekends we have been going to dinner with friends, having David over to play, watching movies and football, and doing things at church. We watched a really good movie a few weekends ago called Limitless.

Have you seen it? We just picked it up at Red Box and we really enjoyed it.

Plus I have also had more time to read! Yippee! I am reading The Friday Night Knitting Club right now and I really like it!

I think tonight we are going to grill some steaks and flip channels between the South Carolina and the Alabama v. LSU game and just lay around in our pajamas!

I hope you are having a good weekend, too!

NYC

2011-10-23T13:05:00.018-04:00

One of my favorite things to do with my girls is to take a "girls trip" up to New York City. We have gone together three or four times now and we always have a great time together. We all love NYC! Our favorite things to do include finding really good restaurants (of which there are millions to choose from!), shopping, and going to Broadway shows. But we also love the people watching, strolling through all the cute neighborhoods, and hanging out in Central Park. We pretty much love everything about it. So when we get a chance, NYC is always at the top of our "fun places to visit" list.

Laura and Lindy's fall break was last week, so we took a few days and had a long weekend in the city. Ashley couldn't go with us this year, unfortunately. That's what happens when you're a new mommy! :)

We saw War Horse on Broadway and it was amazing. It is coming out as a movie soon, so we are excited to see it. We ate at lots of good restaurants! A few of our favorites were Dos Cominos for Mexican, Two Little Red Hens for the best muffins in New York, and The Corner Shop Cafe on Broadway and Bleecker. We stayed in Tribeca this time and so we were close to all the SoHo shopping that we like. We had a lot of fun!

Here are a few pictures from our trip. They aren't really in any order, but I think you can get the idea of how much fun we had. :)

Boone & Blowing Rock

2011-10-09T13:57:00.029-04:00

I wish I could bottle up this gorgeous fall weather we are having this weekend. It almost makes up for the month of August (almost!) haha

Yesterday we went up to Boone and Blowing Rock to visit Laura and hang out. Just about every year since our kids were really little, we have gone up there around this time so it is kind of a tradition with our family. And now Laura goes to school up there, so we get to go visit her when we are there!

Ashley brought David with her this time so he got to join in the fun!

Unfortunately John had to do some landscaping work since this is their busiest time of the year, so he couldn't come. :(

When we got there, we met Laura and went to her apartment so Ashley could see it. Ashley has been so busy getting married and having babies that she hasn't had a chance to see where Laura and Lindy live! Laura has her apartment fixed up so cute. I love going in there because it reflects her personality so much!

Then we shopped around a little bit in Boone and walked around campus while we waited for Mark to get there.

Appalachian has a beautiful campus!

When Mark got to Boone, we all went to lunch at Our Daily Bread. It was so good. Boone is one of those towns that has very few "chain" type restaurants. Everything is local and that makes the food extra good in my opinion!

We always have to make a trip to the Mast General Store when we're in Boone. David doesn't appreciate it now, but one day this will be one of his favorite parts of coming to the mountains. It has huge barrels of every kind of candy you can think of and tons of old-fashioned toys that are tried and true.

I bought him a slingshot, (I mean, after all, his name IS David!) and we all had fun playing with it when we got to the lake! :)

They were also giving samples of hot apple cider so I bought some of their mulling spices. Yummm!!

When we left there, we headed to Bass Lake. We walked all the way around the lake (which really isn't far). Ashley carried David in her K'tan baby carrier so her back was starting to hurt after a while. That boy is a chunk!!

But it was so pretty and we got lots of good pictures.

It was back to Blowing Rock after our walk. Blowing Rock is such a quaint little town with the cutest shops and restaurants. I think everybody and their brother had the same idea we had to go up there this weekend, though, because I have NEVER seen it that crowded! We shopped and got free candy samples and drinks and watched the candle making and strolled around for a long time. Then we went to the park across the street and let David get down and play. He loved being able to crawl around in the grass and pick up leaves and be down for a while. He was so adorable! We all enjoyed just sitting out on the grass together and enjoying the day. Steve said he felt like we were in a Norman Rockwell painting because it is so "picturesque".

By then, it was getting late so we headed to one of our favorite places to eat... Woodland's Barbeque. It is delicious and not expensive. That's a winner for us! Barbeque, cole slaw, hushpuppies, onion rings, sweet tea....delish!

After dinner, we said goodbye to Mark and we took Laura back to her apartment and then headed back to Charlotte. It was such a fun day! I love spending time with my family! We always have the best time together.

What I Love About October

2011-10-06T21:04:00.010-04:00

October is here! This is one of my favorite months for lots of reasons. One of the best things about it is the weather. Today was a perfect example of one of those perfect fall days where the temperature is exactly right and you wish you could stay outside the whole day. (I did let my class play outside just a little longer than usual today just because it was too gorgeous to come back inside!)

October is also the month my hubby was born so that's a great thing, right? Today was his birthday and I am so thankful for him. We have fun together and just enjoy sharing life together. God has blessed me by giving me such a wonderful person to live my life with. (He also happens to have a twin sister, Susan, so I wanted to wish her a happy birthday, too!)

Anyway...we went to dinner at one of his favorite places tonight...Cajun Yard Dog. It's never a small gathering when our family gets together and we always have fun catching up. We love their fried catfish and cheese grits. And we got a big piece of their chocolate pecan pie for dessert and we all shared it.

It was Steve's birthday, but David was really the center of attention!

And Lindy and Mark were both home for fall break, so that was fun.

My parents joined us, too, but I didn't get their picture somehow!

Another thing that I love about October is our trips to the mountains. We go every year and this weekend we are headed up there to celebrate a little bit more with Laura and just to enjoy the leaves and the beauty!

And October is the month of fall breaks! Laura and Lindy are on theirs right now and next week the three of us are headed to New York City for a long girl's weekend. I can't wait!

One more thing I'm looking forward to this month is getting an iPhone. I've never had one, but I have an iTouch and Steve has an iPad and I know I am going to love it. I was sad to hear that Steve Jobs died this week. His creativity and vision and accomplishments were amazing. I will remember him while I'm on my new iPhone! :)

Hope you're having a good October!

Girlfriends

2011-10-01T18:12:00.008-04:00

Having good friends is really important to me. I love looking back over my life and knowing that I am still good friends with some girls that I have known since kindergarten!

And I am always happy to hear from an old high school friend on Facebook or to see them at reunions or just around town. Every neighborhood I have lived in and every teaching job I have had has brought me some of my sweetest friendships and I am so thankful for that. But it takes time and effort to keep relationships going. Sometimes I get so caught up in life that I don't take the time to get together with my friends even though I love them and enjoy their company so much.

But recently I have been able to make more time to get together with girlfriends. Somehow it worked out this week that I had three days in a row of "girlfriend" fun. Thursday night I went to dinner with a friend I taught with last year. She was such a good friend to me when we were teaching together and I always have the best time talking with her. It was a beautiful night and we sat outside and seriously talked (over an absolutely delicious meal) for about three hours! I think good "girlfriend talk" is made so much better when there is some yummy food involved, don't you? What I love about her is that she keeps it real. She is genuine and tells it like it is and I appreciate that. She makes me laugh and she is smart and we see eye to eye on lots of things in life. She's just fun to be with.

Then last night I went to a friend's house for a "Ladies Night...Bring Your Favorite Thing". I sing in the choir at my church and all the choir ladies were invited to come and bring some idea or recipe or product that you loved. (Kind of like Oprah's Favorite Things!) And there was guacamole there, so that is a party to me! I got some great ideas from where to find the best cowboy boots and which lip gloss works best to where to find a good fitting pair of jeans and what face soap can make your skin glow! Plus I love those ladies and it was fun just hanging out and spending the whole night talking "girl talk".

I forgot to mention that I met three friends for Mexican food last week, too. I hadn't seen them in a while and they have the BEST stories to tell. We are all very different so that makes it fun. We literally stayed at that restaurant for almost three hours gabbing our heads off!

Anyway...to keep the girlfriend fun going, today I gave a shower for one of the girls in my Sunday School class. She has also become one of my sweet friends even though she is way younger than me! I was so glad that I was able to help give her a shower because she is always doing so much for other people, so now it is her turn! She is having a little boy in November. She has waited a long time for this baby and I know she is going to be a wonderful mother.

So, this week I just feel very blessed that I have such good girlfriends. I think we all need them. They encourage you and inform you and relate to you and understand you. They are really a gift from God and I am thankful that He has blessed me with such sweet ladies in my life!

Just Doing Life

2011-09-26T17:27:00.015-04:00

Today I am just going to play a little catch up with what we have had going on lately. My life makes me laugh sometimes because it never slows down. Oh well....I guess I just have to accept that I live in a rat race! :)

Here are a few of the things we've been up to...

*We babysat for David a few Friday nights ago and he was so precious. We got to give him a bath and he LOVED it. He just cooed and smiled the whole time and I could have just squeezed him to death.

*We have pretty much lived in a steam bath for the past few weeks. The humidity and rain is about to wash us all away. Please, fall, come soon!!

*Steve spent time with Nicholas, his "little brother"...

*The Panthers had their first win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the middle of pouring down rain. That was probably the worst rain I've ever seen during a football game.

*I got all our arrangements finalized for our trip to NYC in a few weeks!

*I attended a choir retreat to start getting ready for our Christmas music.

*I came down with a cold. It is no fun.

*We went to the wedding of one of Ashley's best friends growing up...Erin. She looked to pretty and it was such a nice wedding!

These three girls were like the Three Muskateers back in the day...

*We've been doing normal life stuff...cleaning, yard work, going out to dinner, hanging out with the kids when they come home, working, church, making plans, doing things with friends...all the same stuff.

So...that's about it for a me right now. I can't believe September is almost over. I'm looking forward to October! I hope you are all doing good!

Ten Years

2011-09-11T06:00:00.004-04:00

It is so hard to believe that ten years has gone by since September 11, 2001. This weekend, we have spent a lot of time watching all the TV specials that have replayed everything that happened that day. When I see it, I feel like I am traveling back in time and reliving every bit of shock and disbelief that I felt as I was watching those events unfold before my eyes. It still feels the same, even after ten years.

I think everyone has their "I'll never forget where I was..." stories to tell, but I don't think I've ever written mine down before, so I wanted to record it here.

I was teaching second grade at McKee Road Elementary School. My classroom was outside in a mobile unit so I remember what a beautiful, cool day it was. We had our door open and I remember thinking how blue the sky was. It was just gorgeous.

I walked my class into the building to go to art around 8:45 and as I was walking back to my classroom, I noticed a group of teachers gathered around a TV in the library. I walked up to them and asked what they were watching and they said, "An airplane just flew into one of the World Trade Centers!" Really??? I remember thinking, "That's crazy! How on earth was a plane flying that low? Something must have been wrong with that pilot." Then I returned to my classroom and since there were no children in there, I turned on my TV.

I was watching the Today show and as Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were sitting there talking about what had just happened, ANOTHER plane flew into the other World Trade Center tower! This is exactly what I saw...

I remember at that point, feeling a chill run through me. I realized that this wasn't an accident. We were being attacked! I remember my mind racing trying to figure out who in the world would want to attack America? Where was this coming from??? I was glued to the TV for the rest of that period until I had to go pick my class up from art.

Our school was buzzing. Parents were calling and some teachers had their TV's on letting their classes watch the events. That may not have been the best idea, but that is just what was going on.

It wasn't 5 minutes after I got back to my classroom that I heard the Pentagon had been hit. We had been instructed by then not to say anything else to our students for fear of upsetting them, so I quickly wrote a note saying, "The Pentagon has been hit," and I ran out of my door across the sidewalk to the mobile unit beside mine and handed to the note to the teacher in that classroom. We both stood there wide-eyed just looking at each other and wondering what in the world was going on and should we be worried for the safety of our children?

Soon after this, parents started flooding the school picking up their children. Moms were crying as they came to get their kids and it was just such a scary and sad day.

We stayed at school with a handful of students until the end of the day. As I drove home, flags were flying EVERYWHERE! It seemed like every single person in our neighborhood had a flag out.

I came in and turned on my TV and pretty much stayed glued to it for the next week or so. I remember wanting to fight back. I was so mad! I felt like America needed to find out who did this to us and attack them back! I know that probably isn't the best response, but that is how I felt.

The heroism on that day was inspiring and humbling. I remember watching all those firemen and first responders who were so brave and watching how Americans everywhere came together to do whatever they could to help.

I was amazed at how people would give their lives to save the lives of people they didn't even know and I was so proud to be part of such a wonderful country!

There were so many emotions that it was hard to sort them all out. But more than anything, I knew our world would never be the same.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flash forward 10 years...

I was talking to my third graders last week about 9/11 and none of them were even alive when it happened. One little boy in my class said his mom found out she was pregnant with him on that day...9/11/01.

That was such a metaphor to me. Life goes on. Even in our darkest days, God still surprises us with hope. He lets us know He is in control. He will take care of us and protect us.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” Psalms 46:1,2

So that is my 9/11 story. And today I just want to remember all the people whose lives were taken in such a violent and horrendous way. I know I will never forget that day.

The world is a very different place now. But I know I don't need to fear for my future or the future of my children and grandchilren. God is in control and He will take care of us.

This Week

2011-09-10T16:26:00.008-04:00

It has been a nice quiet weekend here. This week went by fast since we only had four days. Several things I was thankful for this week...

1-Since I teach at my church's school, the preschool is also right there. So I got to go down when I had a minute and see David in his little class. I love that I can get a baby fix whenever I want one! That is a definite benefit of working there.

2-I am always somewhat tired on Fridays, but I am much less tired this year than I was last year. Last year on Fridays I felt like I was just dragging myself home and all I wanted to do was collapse on the couch and not move for the rest of the night. But I guess since I have less mental stress, I just have more energy! Yipee! So Friday afternoon after school, I met Ashley and David for frozen yogurt. He looked adorable in his little red gingham overalls. And he was loving that yogurt!

Friday night Steve and I used a gift card to Carraba's that my parents had given us for our anniversary. Then we came home and watched the Dateline special on 9/11. (I want to write more about that tomorrow. What a heart-wrenching time that was!) Amazingly, I stayed up for the whole show! Believe me, that is a small miracle.

3-The weather has finally cooled off a little, praise the Lord! One afternoon this week I just took a book out on my porch and read while Steve mowed the grass. It was so nice and pleasant outside. I think fall is finally on its way.

4-This morning Ashley brought David over and we went on a little walk around the neighborhood while it was still cool. That was so nice. I hope I can do that more since I won't have to sweat to death.

5-And finally, two teaching things...

First, I bought this book this week and it is really good. I happen to love Ron Clark and think he is one energetic, dedicated individual. I wish I could visit his school just to admire the work he and his staff of teachers do. They inspire me!

Second, Pinterest is a gold mine, y'all. Seriously. I love all the teaching ideas (and just ideas in general!) that I have gotten on there. This is one new teaching blog that I found...

It is full of good ideas and information. I can't wait to browse my way through it.

Tonight we are making some chili and watching the South Carolina game and not doing much of anything. That's a good Saturday to me!

So Ready

2011-09-06T06:00:00.003-04:00

Confession...

Summer is my favorite season ever. I love everything about it. But towards the end of August/first of September, I have to say I am done with it. I am just over it and ready to move on. Right about now, I start wishing for fall & looking forward to football and chili and pretty leaves and holidays and all that stuff. I am so ready for fall. Who's with me??

So today I'm doing a little fall dreaming...

(...and sharing a couple of cute ideas and recipes I've found over a Pinterest!)

First of all, I am ready for cooler fall weather, aren't you? All of us here in the south are so tired of the extreme heat (and mainly the humidity) at this point. It has definitely got to go. I love summer clothes, but fall clothes are fun too! I am all about sweaters and jeans and boots and scarves. I can't wait to pull them back out!

In October, Laura and Lindy and I are going to New York for a long weekend. I am soooo excited about that. I have been to NYC lots of times, but never in the fall. I know Central Park is going to be gorgeous. We are all really looking forward to it!

In addition to all the things I'm looking forward to doing, I am also looking forward to trying a few new ideas this fall. Here are a few fall recipes & ideas (from Pinterest, of course) that I thought looked cute and yummy...

*I saw this idea over at Munchkin Munchies and I loved it! This would be perfect for teacher gifts or just little neighbor/friend gifts, too!

*Allyson Baker Design had the cutest idea for mini-carmel apples. I loved how they turned out. When my kids were little, we used to get together with our neighbors on Halloween night just to hang out and have hot cider and snacks and I thought this would be fun to have at a party like that!

*And speaking of apples, this baked apple recipe comes from the Skinny Chef. (And you can feel good about it because any recipe from a name like that has to be pretty healthy, right?) I like that they go in the crock pot. That makes it easy.

Aren't these jars cute?? Here is the link...

And one more adorable idea from gracious rain. These are made with donut holes! :)

And just to get you in the fall mindset, here are some gorgeous fall pictures from Pinterest. (You can click the picture for the link on Pinterest!)

So, don't waste another minute! Pumpkin Spice Lattes come out today at Starbucks! Go grab one and start some fall dreaming, too!

Getting Together

2011-09-04T14:44:00.019-04:00

The past two weeks have been full of lots of friends and family. I feel so blessed to have good friends in my life. Sometimes when life is busy and I'm going in a million directions, it is hard to make the effort to get together with people I love. But-besides God, of course-they are what matters most to me in life, along with my family, so I don't want to forget to do whatever it takes to keep up with those relationships!

Last Saturday we had a cookout at our house for our Sunday School class (about 30 people.) Steve and I co-teach a class of young married couples along with my parents. It really isn't true that we teach anything. My parents teach it all and Steve and I just host socials and baby showers and help arrange taking meals to people and kind of keep up with everyone.

We had a good time having everyone over. We played corn hole and caught lightening bugs and hung out on our porch and played ping-pong and ate alot! We have such a sweet group of families in our class who love each other and pray for each other and just enjoy being together. One of the couples in our class was leaving the next day to move to San Fransisco, so we were there to say goodbye to them, too. It was a fun night.

The next day, Ashley and I went to a wedding shower for one of Ashley's best childhood friends, Erin. She is getting married in September and we are so happy for her. Her aunt just happens to be a sweet friend of mine since high school and she had the shower at her house. Every time I go to her house, it brings back lots of memories because she babysat for my kids every day after school when they were little. They stayed at her house and played with her two kids until I could get out of school to pick them up. Plus she used to teach kindergarten with me, so we have had some good times together. Anyway....I was glad we got to spend some time celebrating with Erin!

Friday night all my kids came home from college for the long weekend. One of our favorite things to do when everyone is home is to have a big family dinner. So that's what we did! We grilled out some chicken and I made mashed potatoes, salad, green beans, rolls, corn on the cob, and fried squash. Over the summer, my sister-in-law introduced me to the BEST way to fry squash or okra or anything else. It is Zatarain's Shrimp Fry. Trust me, it will make anything you fry taste delicious!! It is my new favorite thing.

Then yesterday we had our first football game of the season! I am so excited that football season has started. Now if the weather would just cooperate! It was extremely hot yesterday & soooo humid. We went with our neighbors and some other friends. We seriously made enough food for an army and pretty much ate like pigs. But that's half the fun, right? East Carolina was playing South Carolina so we were torn about who to pull for. I figured that we were in a Win-Win situation with that one! It was loud and crazy and we sweated like pigs all night, but we still had a great time!

Tomorrow is Labor Day and we had planned on going up to Boone (up in the mountains) and going hiking and hanging out with Laura. Ashley and John were going to come, too, and bring David. But we just heard it is going to rain all day. I don't think we'll have fun hiking in the rain. So maybe Labor Day is going to be a quiet, cozy kind of day. That is just fine with me!

I hope you all have a nice long weekend!

It's All Good

2011-08-26T19:32:00.014-04:00

Well, I made it through my first full week of school! And it was WONDERFUL. I can't tell you how happy I am at my new school. Here I am on my way out the door on the first day.

The past year and a half has been quite a ride for me. I have learned lots of lessons and grown alot too. I'm not sure why God sent me on the detour that He did, but it helped me meet new friends and it broadened my perspective and I got to do something I have always wanted to do....work with underpriviledged children (which I absolutely LOVED!)

One of the little girls from my class last year actually called me Thursday after her first day of school to tell me all about her day. I thought that was so sweet!

But...not gonna lie...all that growing and all that work being done on my mind and heart was hard on me! It was exhausting mentally and physically. So I'm so thankful that God decided I'd had enough for a while and He brought me back to the school where I am now. (Did I tell you I taught here about 15 years ago?) I finally feel like I am back to my old self again.

This year I have precious, sweet children, amazing co-workers, about 100% less stress, a supportive principal, a huge classroom with any supply I could ever need, and lots of professional freedom. I get to sleep a whole hour and a half later than I did last year. Plus it's all in a Christian environment! That is pretty much a dream come true.

I love that one of the things I get to teach is Bible. It feels so weird to be able to do this since I have been in public school for so long. This week I have been teaching my class how special the Bible is and how we need to treat it with so much love and respect since it is God's special letter to us.

I taught them how to make sure your Bible doesn't stay all nice and neat and perfect. It needs to be worn out and used and written in and underlined. I am teaching them all the books of the Bible and how to find them quickly. We have been learning a little song to help us learn all the books in the Bible and they are already getting it! It has been fun.

This week has also been pretty crazy here in North Carolina. On Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting at my desk in my classroom working on the computer while my kids were at the library. All of a sudden my desk started shaking and my lamp started swaying. The pictures on my file cabinet were hopping up and down. No one else was in the room and I was thinking to myself, "What on earth is that??!! It feels like we're having an earthquake!" But then I thought, "No, we don't have earthquakes in North Carolina!" So then I thought maybe the building was crumbling or something?? Turns out we DO have earthquakes here! And that was my first one ever (and probably my last). Mark texted me about a minute later and said, "Holy cow...did you just feel that earthquake?" And he was all the way in Raleigh...about 2 1/2 hours away! I saw this picture online and it made me laugh. It's about the extent of the earthquake damage here....

But as we speak, Hurricane Irene is headed for the coast of North Carolina where Steve's sister lives. And Lindy and Mark are not too far from there, so I am praying that they will be safe and not get too much damage or flooding.

We have a busy weekend ahead with lots of Fantasy Football stuff for Steve, a big cookout at our house tomorrow night for our Sunday School class, choir and a wedding shower on Sunday. There's always something going on!

I just wanted to share my happiness with y'all and I hope you all have a great weekend, too!!

A Blur

2011-08-19T19:26:00.025-04:00

Well, this month wins a record for least number of blog posts EVER. It has been a blur. To be honest, I have barely had time to breathe, much less blog! August...I'm sorry. Not a fan. It's just blazing hot and humid and there is too much craziness going on! So tonight I am just going to try and catch up with a few August highlights. Y'all will have to bear with me for this one...I know it's going to have lots of pictures!

Right before school started, we went to the beach for one last vacation before summer was over (sniff, sniff!) It was just our family and very relaxing and laid back. We mostly hung out on the beach all day and went out for ice cream or played putt-putt at night. We had a great time!

When we got back, it was time to go back to school for teacher work days. I am so excited to be working in a private Christian school this year. Oh my word, it has been absolutely WONDERFUL so far. And I am very blessed to have a ginormous room with floor to ceiling windows! Woo hoo! (Last year my room had NO windows & I hated that!)

My windows!! Love.

Laura and Lindy are turning 20 next week, so we went out to dinner at PF Chang's to celebrate before they left to go back to school. I can't believe my babies are turning 20!! What on earth??

Steve and I also celebrated our 26th anniversary on August 17th! But we were so busy that we didn't get to do anything yet. We are going to go out this weekend to celebrate.

Other than all this, here are a few other things that have been going on...

*We got Laura, Lindy, and Mark all packed up and moved into their respective apartments at their schools. And we can now park our car in our garage again. I never took a picture of what our garage looked like this summer with all my school stuff and all their college stuff, but it pretty much looked like a bomb had gone off!

*I saw The Help and absolutely loved it. I thought it was as good as the book and that is rare for me. You really need to see it if you haven't already!

*I got a new computer on tax-free weekend!

*I discovered Spotify. Have you ever heard of it? It's a super quick way to stream music. It's kind of like Pandora and iTunes combined.

*We watched the first pre-season Panthers game with Cam Newton quarterbacking. I have high hopes for the Panthers this year! And I am so ready for fall and football and cooler weather and pretty leaves and chili and all that fun stuff!!

August is almost over, so things are going to settle down soon and I can't wait. Hopefully I will do a better job of keeping up with blogging from now on!

It's Already August???!!

2011-08-01T16:00:00.002-04:00

Today is just a random, bullet point kind of day.

*First of all, how in the world is it already August?? This summer is going to go down as one of the quickest summers of my life. Tomorrow we are going to the beach for one last time and then it is back to work for me! I AM getting excited about a new school year though. Did I tell you I got a job in a private Christian school teaching third grade? And the school just happens to be my church's school! I worked there about 15 years ago and now I am coming back. I am excited because:

1. I already know alot of the teachers there and some are my really good friends (not to mention the parents and students)!
2. I will be able to sleep an extra hour an a half this year! Y'all know how much I hated getting up at 5:00 in the morning. Oh my goodness, that was pure torture! This is going to be so wonderful.
3. My commute to school is only about 10 minutes. Yay! Less time and less gas!
4. I actually have an assistant this year! She was so sweet and had me over for coffee the other day and I am really looking forward to working with her.
5. I have some fun ideas and new things that I am looking forward to trying out. I get excited every year about tweaking things and trying out new ideas.

I saw this today on Pinterest and I really liked it. I think it will be hanging in my room somewhere!

*We rented The Lincoln Lawyer the other night because Ashley had recommended it. I would give it a "two-thumbs-up"! It was really good.

*We finally got some rain last night, thank goodness! Our grass is getting brown and crunchy since it has been so hot. Today I actually had to throw away some of the plants I had outside because even though I have been watering them, they were just too burned up.

And, just a report on the thundershirt we got Rocky....I would give it a C. It seems to calm him down somewhat, but if it is thundering outside, he still barks. I think he is a hopeless case. Sad.

*It is college dorm shopping time again. I took Laura shopping today and she got these cute pictures for her apartment at Pier 1. They are so her! :)

*The last I heard, it looks like we are going to avoid a major debt crisis. Hasn't this whole thing been crazy?? I don't even know what to say.

Saturday

2011-07-30T20:54:00.007-04:00

Today was an early morning at our house...especially for a Saturday. Steve has been wanting to take me to a Greenway near our house that he really likes. So I said I would go with him today. In the Greenway, there are over 20 miles of man-made trails that wind through the woods. It's very pretty and mostly shaded. It has been about a million degrees here lately, though, so the only way in the world I was going to go was to get up early before it got too hot!

Unfortunately, I guess we didn't get up quite early enough because I was sweating like crazy by the time we finished our walk. We went almost 4 miles. Even though it was hot, I had fun just having some time to talk to Steve and enjoy being together! And I was amazed at how many people were out running, walking, and biking. It was ALOT!! I think I'll enjoy it even more once it cools off a little.

Every Saturday this summer I have been tutoring two little girls who were in my class last year. I taught at a Title 1 school and most of my students were Hispanic. Some of them really need extra help since they have such a language barrier. So I have been going over to their house and helping them work on reading and math over the summer. I love tutoring and working with students one-on-one. We have fun together and they are so sweet and cute. I wish I could see all my students over the summer. I miss them!

Tonight I took dinner to a couple in our Sunday School class who just had their first baby. When we started our class, everyone in there was newlyweds. Now almost every couple has a baby or is expecting one soon. It has been so much fun watching all these little families growing!

Mark came home from school today, too! He has a few weeks here before he goes back for the fall. I am so glad he's home. We have missed having him here! I cooked hamburgers for dinner and Ashley brought David over to eat since John was working. Laura and Lindy were having a little fun when they were cutting up the lettuce and tomato for me. They pulled a piece of lettuce off and decided it could be a little hat since it fit David's head perfectly! Haha! I had to take a picture! I thought it almost looked like one of those Anne Geddes pictures! :)

We gave David a bath over here and then got him dressed in his little pajamas. He smelled so good. There is nothing sweeter than a baby fresh out of the bath. I could kiss that child all day long.

I love Saturdays!

Pinnable Me Friday!

2011-07-29T14:29:00.027-04:00

Today I am linking up with Stefanie at Paw Prints & Pastry Bags for Pinnable Me Friday!

I'm sure by now everyone and their brother has heard of Pinterest and is probably addicted at this point. I have to admit, I absolutely LOVE Pinterest, but this week has been so busy, I haven't been on there much. I hope I haven't missed anything exciting!

I am really enjoying Pinnable Me Fridays because one of the best things about Pinterest is exchanging ideas with everyone else. I love seeing all the fun things that other people have pinned and today I thought I would share a few of my own finds with you.

For some reason, when I am on Pinterest, the first thing that pops out at me are all the WONDERFUL recipes! Oh my word...the food always looks so good. And I love to cook, so I guess that's why it catches my attention.

Here are some yummy things I saw recently...

First of all....Nutella. Need I say more? I personally LOVE this stuff so any recipes I can find with it will be immediately pinned to my "Yumminess" board!

Nutella French toast...um, yes please!

Source: 80breakfasts.blogspot.com via Cara on Pinterest
Or, how about frozen bananas dipped in Nutella with different toppings??? Yummm!

Source: via Cara on Pinterest

But...we don't want to be too unhealthy, so let's include something green! Honestly, this looks just as good as the sweet stuff to me! Edamame with parmesan and garlic...

Source: 28cooks.blogspot.com via Cara via Pinterest

And if you're going to eat yummy food, you need a beautiful table to sit at, right? I'm telling you, Pinterest is full of eye candy! Wouldn't you love to sit outside on a summer night somewhere beautiful like this?

Source: stylemepretty.com via Meredith at Pinterest
Or this...

Source: realsimple.com via Sarah Hickock on Pinterest
So pretty!

And since it's summer and I'm trying to enjoy my last few weeks before school starts back, I loved these summer images...

Source: summer-kind-of-wonderful.tumbler.com via Whitney Gray on Pinterest

Source: autopsyh.deviantart.com via Mary Beth Burrell on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Sarah Al-Rukhayyes on Pinterest

Source: bourbonandpearls.tumbler.com via Betsy on Pinterest

Source: sparklinglink.com via figandsage on Pinterest

And, finally, I absolutely love all the great quotes I find on Pinterest! There is so much inspiriation out there. Some of it is practical...

Source: thingsweforget.blogspot.com via Holly Davis on Pinterest
And some is simple...

Source: ohhelloyouprettythings.tumblr.com via Betsy on Pinterest
And some is profound...

Source: tabletonic.blogspot.com via http://pinterest.com/younghouselove/ on Pinterest
It's all good!!

Are you on Pinterest?

Family Reunion & Fox News

2011-07-27T17:18:00.016-04:00

Whew...it has been a BUSY week! I think I left off when we were leaving Florida to head to Mississippi for the Maddox Family Reunion-2011.

Before I go on, I just want to let you in on a little secret...on our way to Mississippi, we stopped at the BEST place for lunch ever! It was in Milton, Florida and it was a Cajun restaurant that was started by a family who had been living in Louisiana when they lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. They came to Florida and started all over and opened this little restaurant. It is tiny and decorated all over with New Orleans Saints and LSU stuff everywhere and the food was amazing. They had crawfish etouffe, bread pudding, shrimp creole, catfish po' boys, red beans and rice, fried pickles, and all that good stuff. Plus it had just regular diner-type dishes too. It was called "Momma's Place" and I just wanted to let you know about it so you can visit if you are ever in that area. They were working so hard to start a new life for themselves and I know they would love to get all the business they can!

Once we got to Misssissippi, it was family time! Steve has a VERY big family and we love it! We stayed at Steve's Aunt Claudia and Uncle Robert's house and got a warm Mississippi welcome. They live out in the country on a big piece of land. You have to travel down a dirt road to get there and it is so pretty.

They had their kids and grandkids over for dinner and we just sat on the porch and talked, went fishing, and got the guitar and the karaoke machine out and sang all night! It was alot of fun! This is just their kids and grandkids, (plus us)!

Steve and I slept in an RV in the backyard. We had never done that before so it was an adventure for us. But is was so nice! It even had cable so we were set! I can see how people would love taking their RV's and traveling all over the country, because they really are comfortable.

Saturday we drove to Steve's parents' hometown of Laurel, Mississippi.

We spent most of the day at a family reunion for all the relatives on his dad's side of the family. We ate tons of good food. I've decided there is never a fear of going hungry when you live in the south! Seriously.

We also looked at lots of geneology and talked to relatives we didn't even know we had! We learned so much about the Maddox family and where they originated from and we took lots of pictures.

Have you ever heard of ancestory.com? That is where alot of our information came from. My brother and my aunt have done lots of research on this site and I really want to get on it soon and look at all the stuff they have found out about my family! I love geneology and tracing back through the generations. That is so interesting to me!

That was the last day of our trip, and then we made the long drive home. I love going on trips and I love coming home, too.

Today Laura and Lindy got to do something really fun! They have been interning for Charlotte Style Magazine this summer and through this intership, they were asked to model for the "Celebrity Looks on a College Budget" segment of Fox News Rising this morning! They had to find a celebrity look that they liked and see if they could match it using clothes from local boutiques.

Here they are right before they went on...

Laura was matching the look of Eva Mendes, but putting a more casual, college spin on it...

And Lindy was matching the look of Kim Kardashian...

Here is a clip of the segment they did. I thought they did a good job!

Fun In Destin

2011-07-21T18:05:00.014-04:00

Yesterday I told you about the beginning of our vacation....going to the Braves game and to the Georgia Aquarium. Once we left there on Sunday, we drove to Destin, Florida and that's where we've been for the rest of the week. It has been very relaxing with the usual beach fun.

We have been getting out on the beach early each day to set up our canopies. The sun is so hot here, if we didn't have those we would be burned to a crisp! (Some of us are anyway!)

It has been so nice not to have anything to do but just relax on the beach. Sometimes when I'm lying on the beach, I think about what I would be doing at that same time of day if I was at work...and then I just sigh and smile. This is what you dream of all winter when you are in that everyday reality of freezing weather and non-stop working. That's why I LOVE SUMMER!!

After our day on the beach, we have usually been going out to dinner and going to play putt-putt or cards or dominoes or taking an evening stroll on the beach. It has been so nice.

I could tell you everything, but I think you can get the idea from our pictures!

Here is some of our fun after the sun went down...

Dinner at Jim and Nick's BBQ, playing Putt-Putt, and riding go-carts...

Dinner out at AJ's Seafood and walking on the beach...

Tonight we are headed out for some Italian food and then tomorrow we leave for a family reunion in Mississippi. I am sad we're already leaving. This week has gone by so fast. I will miss the beach!!

Atlanta Braves & The Georgia Aquarium

2011-07-20T22:54:00.022-04:00

This week we have been on a trip with Steve's family to Florida and to a family reunion in Mississippi. We are having a great time! We only took Laura and Lindy with us this time because everyone else was working or had things going on. But we are going to do a family trip to the beach in August with everyone!

I want to tell you about everything we have been doing this week, but that would be too long for one post, so I am just going to start with our first stop in Atlanta!

When we got to Atlanta on Saturday, we stayed with Steve's cousin, Teresa and her husband Bruce. They were so sweet to host us. They have season tickets to the Braves and they let us use them. She even had Atlanta Braves tomahawks laid out with peanuts and Cracker Jacks! :)

We felt like we were in a Bed and Breakfast because they were so hospitable! They made us homemade waffles on Sunday morning with all kinds of fruit and whipped cream and fresh coffee. We were spoiled.

The game was alot of fun even though the Braves lost. Here are a few of our pictures....

Sunday we visited the Georgia Aquarium. It was amazing! I am not a huge zoo/aquarium person. (I guess because I teach school and I feel like I go to places like that all the time on field trips.) But it really was a neat place to visit! The whole time I was there I was thinking how creative God is. The colors of some of those fish were absolutley gorgeous. And there are so many different kinds of sea creatures! I was also thinking how much fun it will be to bring David when he gets older. :)

After the aquarium, we drove to Destin. It had been raining like cats and dogs but by the time we got here, the weather was perfect. I will tell you all about our lazy days on the beach soon.

They Do Come Back

2011-07-13T08:42:00.011-04:00

When my kids left for college, you might remember how sad I was. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a parent! It felt like our life was going to change so much and the dynamic of our home would never been the same.

I knew I would hate seeing their empty chair at the table and miss having all their friends over at our house all the time.

I would miss going to their ball games and pageants and chorus concerts.

Walking past their empty rooms would be awful!

It was the end of an era. As we dropped them off at their respective dorms, I remember watching them walk away with a huge lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I really hate even remembering it!

Flash forward...it has been two years now since Laura and Lindy left and Mark has been gone for three! Ashley has graduated, gotten married, and has her own baby! And guess what? I lived through it and lived to tell about it. :) And they do come back!

I've had a few people ask me recently how I deal with curfews and rules once they come back from being on their own. And, honestly, it really hasn't been too bad.

When it comes to curfews, we just came up with a time we could both agree on. I'm sure they wish they could stay out a little later than the time I thought worked. But they have been cooperative about it. I just told them that when they are out late, it is hard for me to sleep! I just want to know they are safe and sound. They understsood that and were willing to go along with it. And I told them that if they ever had some special event or anything they wanted to do that would keep them out later than usual, we could talk about it and normally I am fine with it! So far it hasn't been a problem. I really trust them because they haven't given me a reason not to.

They have all been very busy this summer. Mark, Laura, and Lindy all took summer school and they have all had internships that they have been working on. Mark stayed at school all summer so I haven't really even gotten to see him much. He is also interning for the International Affairs Council in Raleigh.

Here is Laura on her way out the door to go to a meeting for her internship.

She and Lindy have both been working for Charlotte Style magazine. And I am so proud of Laura because she was just chosen to lead and launch the Appalachian State branch of Her Campus Magazine!

I am here to say that college kids do come back.

It is fun to see their lives playing out and the watch them becoming adults. I pray for my kids everyday that God will help them find exactly the right paths for their lives and will keep them from anything that will harm them.

And, even though I love having them home, when they leave and go visit friends or do whatever they are doing for a few days, Steve and I actually enjoy it and take advantage of it!! Last night we had an empty house, so we went to dinner and a movie and had a great time!

Nana and Grandaddy still know how to have fun! :)

The Lazy Days of Summer

2011-07-10T17:05:00.012-04:00

It has just been a normal summer week this week. It has been SO hot and humid here! There were several mornings when I woke up and all my windows were fogged up from all the humidity! It really hasn't been very comfortable to do anything outside...even just sitting on the porch. It started to feel better last night, so we went out and listened to some live music at a little place near our house with lots of shops, restaurants, etc.

After church today, I even went to the pool for a few hours since the air was finally breathable again! haha

Steve was out of town most of the week, so Laura and Lindy and I made the most of it. We had a "girl's night out" at one of our favorite restaurants, Maggiano's. Ashley came and so did my sister-in-law, Britney. We had fun catching up on lots of girl talk.

I bought David an excersaucer to play in when he comes to my house. I think he likes it! He is doing so good sitting up and reaching for his toys.

Laura and I went to the Christian bookstore the other day to see if we could find some good Bible study or devotional books. I didn't find a Bible study book that I wanted, but I did find this one...

It caught my eye because I know the author, Lysa Terkeurst. I met her when we were both working at Crisis Pregnancy Center many years ago. She lives here in Charlotte and is the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries. Many times I have heard her on our local Christian radio station giving encouragement and support to wives and mothers with her humor and her insights. Plus her husband owns the Chick-Fil-A that is about 5 minutes from our house! I am really enjoying her book and just thought I'd share it with you. If you are interested, she also has a blog that is honest and uplifting, too!

Since I have been home this summer, I have been loving trying out lots of new recipes! These are two that I tried this week and the links to them. We loved them both and I would definitely make them both again.

*Southwest Stir-Fry--I got this from my blog friend, Meredith and it was delicious!

*Southern Living Tortellini Salad-This one I got from another blog friend, Erin.

I grilled chicken to go with it and then just cut up some watermelon on the side. Voila! A healthy, light, summer-night meal.

On my "to-try" list is this one....Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake from Alexandra's Kitchen. I saw this on Pinterest and it looked so good!

Well, I am still in my bathing suit, so I guess I better get going. Hope you have a great week!

Summer-y Fun!

2011-07-06T12:07:00.011-04:00

Summer is just rolling along here with all the summer-y fun that I love. We had a nice July 4th.

It was very laid back. We spent most of the day at the pool. It actually rained that night. I don't think I can ever remember it raining on the fourth of July before! But Steve's mom had a bunch of people over to cook out and we all brought something good to eat. (Steve wore his dad's "fourth of July shirt" that he always wore in honor of him. I think it has red, white, and blue golf bags on it.)

Steve's brother, Mike, grilled out underneath an umbrella and after dinner we played games inside. We also watched the Washington, DC fireworks and thought about all the fun Mark was having since he was there with some friends! We called him that night to tell him we missed him and see what they were doing. He was on the mall about to watch the fireworks.

We were there a few years ago on July 4th and had a great time! When we got home, we watched the Boston Pops fireworks. That is where we were this time last year. I have to say that I think that is the best fireworks show in America. It was amazing to see it live and it is almost as good on TV!

I finished my book, Signs of Life, and absolutely loved it. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a quick, easy summer read. I have a stack of books that I am trying to get through and I love that I actually have time to read them now!

We ordered Rocky a "thundershirt" this week. Thank you to Gina, a blog commenter who told me about it!

Apparently, dogs wear them when it is thundering or there are loud noises like fireworks, etc. and it helps them calm down. I am willing to try anything at this point...seriously. Last night we had yet another thunderstorm and Rocky basically slept on top of me all night. Bless all our hearts. I will let you know how it goes!

Other than all this, here are a few things we have been doing...

*We have all been spending more time outside. Steve was on the go this past weekend! I wish I would have taken a picture of all the stuff he did. He and his brother played golf and went to dinner with Lindy's boyfriend, Sean, and his dad. They had so much fun doing that. He also got a bike for Father's Day and he biked 10 miles on Saturday. We have a Greenway here in Charlotte that is beautiful for biking and hiking. Then he went to play tennis in the blazing heat for a few hours! He is the man! :)

Meanwhile, I have been spending lots of time just laying by the pool! haha

*We watched South Carolina win the College World Series!! Woo hoo!

*And we have been watching and staring in disbelief at the Casey Anthony case. I know the jury did the best job they could, but it is still disappointing. God will be the ultimate judge one day, though!

*I have been learning how download podcasts onto my iTouch. That is so much fun! I downloaded several interesting podcasts (who knew there was that much information out there???) this week and now I can listen to them when I am out walking or sometimes I listen to it when I am tucked into bed about to fall asleep. I have never listened to an audio book before, but I think I am going to try that next!

*I have been going out with Steve and my girls. Steve and I went to one of our favorite restaurants Friday night, Firebirds, and it was fun going on a date--just the two of us. We rented True Grit to watch when we got home.

I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite.

And yesterday Laura and Lindy and I had a day at the mall together. I wanted to get a new bathing suit since they are on sale and I hardly ever buy a new one. (I think I have a few that I've had for about 10 years now!) It was time.

I am loving July and I hope it goes by slow and sweet so I can enjoy every minute.

Breathe

2011-07-01T08:25:00.009-04:00

Today is July 1st?? Aaahhh...my summer is going by so fast! We have some fun plans for July so I am looking forward to it.

The past week has been pretty laid back with not too much going on.

We have just been doing lots of summer stuff. Laura and I went to the pool together the other day and enjoyed reading magazines and talking and just being outside.

I have been doing lots of reading, but lately I have to hold everything at arms length to see it. So I broke down and bought some cheap reading glasses at Wal-Mart. They have really helped, but I feel officially old. Haha.

Is frozen yogurt a huge deal where you live? We have had so many fro-yo places pop up over the past year or so! Some of our favorites are Pinkberry and Yoforia. The other night we went out and met my mom and my niece for yogurt. John and Ashley came and brought David. We thought he looked so cute in his little hat. Steve was teasing and said he looked like the Gorton's Fisherman! :)

I got to keep David two days this week so that was fun. We read books and played peek-a-boo and he showed me how he can roll over both ways. I bought him an excersaucer and he loved it now that he can reach for his toys!

We have had a thunderstorm or two at night this past week, but I have found the secret to keeping Rocky from barking like a maniac!! I got a squirt bottle and filled it with water and every time he barks, I squirt him. It is like magic. It only took a couple of times doing that and now if he just sees the bottle, he stops barking! You just don't know what a breakthrough this is. He literally drives me insane when it is thundering.

I have been loving this slower pace. I needed it so much after the crazy busy past year. I am very thankful for some time to be still and breathe!

Signs of Summer

2011-06-28T20:04:00.007-04:00

I know it's officially summer when....

*My flowers are blooming and I am spending more time outside. I love that!

*Friends are sweet enough to share vegetables from their gardens and going to the Farmer's Market is a weekly event.

*My kids are home!

*I have more time to make yummy recipes like this (which I am planning on trying tomorrow!)...

*I am finally able to do things I have put off all year long because I was too busy.

So far, I am enjoying every minute of this summer!!

Monday

2011-06-27T21:45:00.008-04:00

Saturday morning we left Mississippi and flew back to Charlotte. It was an easy flight and we were glad to get back home since Laura and Lindy and Mark were here. Laura and Lindy have finished their summer school now so they will be home for the rest of the summer.

We had John and Ashley over and grilled steaks and had fun having everyone together. Unfortunately, Steve got that same sinus infection I had so he wasn't feeling too good, but he is feeling much better now.

Yesterday was church and then I went to a wedding shower, but can I just tell you how wonderful Sunday nights are during the summer???!! I appreciate them so much since they are the worst night of the week during the school year. We rented The King's Speech and I actually stayed awake during the whole thing! haha

It was really good. Such a good story and great acting, too. We all loved it and I would definitely recommend it.

Today I got to keep my sweetie pie.

Ashley is working at Mother's Morning Out this summer so he is going to stay with me one or two days a week. He is such a happy, pleasant baby. It is so much fun keeping him.

I think I told you how I've been trying to think of ways I can use the herbs in my garden, right? Well, today Laura and Lindy and I used some of my mint to make some mint tea and it was delish.

We used the Neely's recipe from the Food Network. Here is the link if you are interested.

Tonight we are watching South Carolina play in the College World Series. They have done so good this year! Go Gamecocks!! I've got one eye on the game but I've also been reading the best book that my mom gave me. It is called Signs of Life.

It's a true story about a 24 year old girl...a high school English teacher who is newly married and five months pregnant when her husband suddenly dies in a tragic accident. The story is her journey back from this tragedy and it is so good. I guess with everything we have been through this year, it hits home even more to me, but I got hooked by the first page or two and it is a very easy read. She is such an honest writer. I bet you might like it too!

Well, I'm off to read and watch some baseball. Have a great night!

Mississippi

2011-06-24T18:24:00.010-04:00

Funerals are the weirdest thing. On the one hand, there is so much sadness and heartache. And on the other hand, they are such a warm family time with lots of love and hugs and fellowship. And it's all wrapped up into one big package. That's what we have been experiencing over the past few days.

We flew to Mississippi on Wednesday morning to attend the funeral of Steve's cousin Cynthia. She died suddenly last week of cardiac arrest. When we got here, we went straight to a luncheon given in her honor at the governor's mansion in Jackson. Cynthia's daughter Jackye is married to Governor Haley Barbour's son, Reeves. There was so much family there and it was very nice for them to host us. We were able to sit and talk and catch up with everyone. We even got to go up to the Bilbo room. This room has some furniture that was owned by Governor Theodore Bilbo. He served as Mississippi's governor twice and he is Steve's great-great uncle. Anyway...there was a lot of history there so it was interesting.

The next few days were filled with the visitation and the memorial service and lots of people offering condolences and tons of food and flowers. Here we are at the funeral home for the visitation. The family stood in line for over three solid hours greeting more than 750 friends. They are loved!

We have been eating like pigs...shrimp, catfish, biscuits and tomato gravy, chicken and dumplings...all that good Mississippi food. And we have had lots of family time to reminisce and swap funny and touching stories about Cynthia and how much we all loved her and are going to miss her.

It has been the best of times and the worst of times.

The Cutest Thing

2011-06-21T16:47:00.013-04:00

Since I have been out of school, I have been trying to work on all the things that I never have time to do while I am working....clean out drawers and closets, take stuff to Goodwill, go through stacks of paperwork, etc. But it hasn't been all work. I have had fun sleeping in and having people over to cook out. I went to lunch with some friends yesterday and did some shopping, too. It has been wonderful. I've also gotten to spend some time with this sweet boy...

Is he the cutest thing or what?? I could just eat him up! (I hope you don't mind if I do a little grandma bragging for a minute??)

He is a little butterball and that's the way I like 'em! All those rolls and dimples are so fun to kiss on!

Ashley called this afternoon to see if I wanted to go get some Italian ice with her and David since it is BLAZING hot here today. I thought he looked adorable in his Gamecocks onesie!

And somebody loved his Italian ice!! Haha. He has never tasted anything like that before and he was all about it. He kept reaching for it and he even started to throw a fit when we stopped giving it to him. So funny!

I know I am biased, but I think he is the sweetest, most precious little boy ever!

A Fun Weekend And Some Sad News

2011-06-18T21:46:00.019-04:00

This weekend, we decided to drive to Greenville to see Laura and Lindy. Laura has been taking summer classes at ECU with Lindy and we wanted to go hang out with them before their time there was over. We had a lot of fun!

Thursday night Mark and his girlfriend, Kate, met us for Mexican food. Lindy's boyfriend, Sean, came too. We got our favorite...homemade guacamole. I think I could make a whole meal just out of that! :)

After dinner, we just walked around campus for a while. Lindy and Laura showed us where some of their classes were.

On Saturday morning, we got bagels at one of Lindy's favorite places.

Laura had to take an exam so Lindy and I went back to her dorm to get her all packed up and ready to come back home next week.

We had fun just hanging out all day and late that afternoon, we drove to the beach where Steve's sister, Angela lives. (Lindy had to study for an exam so she didn't go with us.)

Angela was so sweet and fixed us a big shrimp boil. It was so good!

We rode bikes and walked out to the beach and hung out and talked. Angela lives near Beaufort, NC, which is a really cute, quaint little town. If you read any of Nicholas Sparks' books, you will know that many of his books are set here. "A Walk To Remember" was even filmed here! After dinner, we went over there and strolled around. We got coffee and cookies and looked at all the boats and listened to music. It was such a nice night!

Angela has two little kitties named Flo and Jerry (after Steve's parents, Florence and Jerry). They were adorable and entertained us constantly! They were so playful and funny.

Laura and Steve and I left this morning, but Mark and Kate stayed and went to the beach for the afternoon.

On our way back to ECU, we stopped at a few roadside stands and picked up some peaches, tomatoes, blueberries, and blackberries. Yummm!! That is one of my favorite things about summer!

And, you know you are in the country when you see one of these signs...

When we got back to ECU, we took Lindy and Laura to lunch at a little place called Sup Dogs. I got this yummy chili hotdog...

We had a great weekend!

Despite our fun weekend, we have had a heavy heart. Last week, Steve's cousin, Cynthia had a sudden heart attack while she was in New York City with her husband and a few friends celebrating her 58th birthday.

We have been so worried about her all week and right as we were pulling into the parking lot at Lindy's dorm on Thursday afternoon, we got the phone call that she had passed away. I can't even tell you what a shock this was. Cynthia was beautiful and energetic and bubbly and fun. You would never in a million years dream that she would be the victim of a heart attack!! We loved her so much and will really miss her.

Here she is with her daughter, Jackye and one of her grandbabies...

(Her daughter, Jackye, happens to be married to Haley Barbour's son Reeves. Haley Barbour is the governor of Mississippi.)

She loved her children and grandchildren so much and she was very much loved by her whole family!!

I know Steve would appreciate your prayers for his family. We just lost his dad two and a half months ago, so this is hard for them right now. We will be traveling to Mississippi next week to spend time with his family and go to the memorial service. Thank you!

Are You Pinterested??

2011-06-16T09:30:00.014-04:00

The first few days of summer have been so nice.

I have gotten lots of rest, but I have been busy, too (in a good way!) Unfortunately, I came down with some kind of ear/sinus infection/sore throat/cold thing the minute school was out. But I went to a minute clinic yesterday and got a Z-pack, so hopefully I will be feeling better asap! I definitely don't want to waste my fun summer days feeling bad.

Did I tell you that I am growing an herb garden this summer? I am growing basil, mint, tarragon, oregano, rosemary, etc. So I have been looking for yummy recipes that I can use them in. Last night I got to use my basil in some bruschetta and it was delicious! I went to a little party on Tuesday night and one of my friends brought this recipe and I loved it, so I tried it last night. It's really simple, but it tastes alot like my favorite dipping sauce from Carrabas, which I love!

I thought I would share the recipe with you since most people love light healthy recipes in the summer.

Bruschetta

1 large can tomatoes
1 cup fresh basil
3-4 cloves garlic
4 T. olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Pulse these together in a food processor until it's all mixed up and chopped.

I bought a baguette and sliced it. Then I toasted it with mozarella cheese and put the bruschetta on top. Enjoy!

I also wanted to share with you something that I have had so much fun with. You've probably already heard of it, but it is a website called Pinterest. Oh my word...you could get obsessed with this site!

Have you ever cut pictures or recipes you liked out of magazines and put them in a file? Well, this is basically the same concept. You have different boards (like a bulletin board) that you can pin the things you are interested in onto. (Thus the name "Pinterest"). Not only can you get tons of ideas and inspiration here, you can also just enjoy all the beautiful photography and artistic inspiration. It is eye candy...seriously. You have to be invited though, so if you are interested, let me know. I think I have about six invites that I can use. Just send me your e-mail address and I will invite you. Here are a few examples of my boards and what I have pinned on them...

Favorite Spaces and Places...

Parties, Favors, and Gifts...

My Style...

For The Home...

At The Table...

Anyway...you get the idea. These are just a few of my boards. You can make a board for anything at all that you are interested in...it doesn't have to be recipes or decorating or fashion ideas! In fact, two of my boards are "Child of the 70's" and "America" where I put things that remind me of growing up and beautiful, patriotic pictures. It is alot of fun. Oh...you can also network with other people. You follow other people and others follow you. Kind of like on twitter or blogs.

If you have some time, you should check it out. I bet you would love it! :)

This afternoon I am leaving to go see Laura and Lindy at ECU! I am looking forward to seeing them. It seems like it has been such a long time. We are going to have so much fun. Yay for summer!

First Day Of Summer

2011-06-14T08:44:00.020-04:00

Guess what? It is a beautiful summer morning and I am sitting on my back porch, coffee in hand. Rocky is lying right beside me and the wind is blowing in the trees and the birds are singing. I have nothing I have to do and nowhere to go (except a fun dinner with friends tonight!) and I feel like today is the first day of a new beginning for me.

As you can tell from my lack of blogging, I have just been through one of the busiest and most intense years of my whole life. (And that is saying alot because with four kids, I have had some pretty busy, intense years!) I'm really not sure how I am still here to tell you about it....haha! At times I didn't think I would make it.

Teaching at a Title 1 school in addition to all my other commitments and every life change and event that we have had this past year had started to feel like I was running on some kind of treadmill and I couldn't get off. It seemed like all I had time for was working and anything that had moved to the top of the "urgent" list. And that is NOT the way I want to live my life. So I ran all the way till the end of the year and now I have decided to step down. I resigned from my teaching position yesterday and now it is time to get life back into balance. Whew! Thank goodness.

I have a few job opportunities for next year that I am exploring, but they will not be anywhere near as time consuming or demanding as what I have been doing. So we will just wait and see what God has planned.

Meanwhile, today is the first day of summer for me. Woo hoo!! I am looking forward to so many things....

getting projects done...

going to the farmer's market for those yummy summer fruits and vegetables and cooking healthy meals...

reading some good books...

beach trips...

summer nights...

spending time with my family and friends...

cookouts and picnics...

laying by the pool (one of my favorite things!)...

fourth of July...

You know...all that fun stuff!

Really, our summer has already gotten off to a good start! Last weekend we drove to Kingsport, Tennessee to go to the wedding of one of Ashley's best friends, Robyn.

Robyn is the sweetest girl and she was a beautiful bride! Steve and I also had a great time driving through the mountains and just taking our time. We stopped in Blowing Rock and strolled around on the way back and just enjoyed the ride.

Last night was my nephew, Bryson's graduation party. He is graduating today and we are so proud of him. He was a football star at his high school and he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. I know my brother Blake and my SIL Angie are going to miss him so much.

I think having your kids leave for college is one of the saddest things ever. I cried for days. Bryson is going to the University of South Carolina, though, so he is going to LOVE it!

So...thank you, summer, for finally getting here!! I can't wait to spend some quality time with you! :)

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T17:36:00.008-04:00

Happy Memorial Day!

I love Memorial Day, not only because of what it stands for, but because it is like the start of the summer season.

I feel like singing, "It's the MOST wonderful time of the year!!" I can't believe I am so close to having made it through this year. Only 9 days of school left! This weekend felt like summer was already here and that makes me so happy. I absolutely love this time of year. I think when you're a teacher, you are just as excited as the kids for school to be out.

We have had a fun weekend. Saturday night Steve and I went downtown to Speed Street. Charlotte is the home of NASCAR. (Some people are very into racing here...I'm not one of them). But every year, Speed Street is a pre-race event that is held right before the Coca Cola 600. This year, Eddie Money came in concert. We used to love his music back in high school! Here is one of our favorite albums from back in the day...

I have so many memories of us while we were dating listening to his music and the last time I saw him was when I was at Baylor. Some friends of mine and I went to the University of Texas in Austin to seem him perform with 38 Special. Haha! Wow...I am dating myself now! Anyway...as soon as Steve saw that he was going to be here, he decided we were going. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Mama Ricotta's on our way downtown and then had a fun night going down memory lane at the concert. We even stayed out till after midnight! I have no idea when the last time we did that was!

Sunday night we had fun grilling out with our neighbors. We always have a good time with them and the food is always good! My neighbor Carol made a yummy cake that I thought was so good. It is super easy to make and it is really light for the summer. I thought I would share the recipe with you...

Mandarin Orange Cake

4 eggs
Yellow cake mix
1 c. oil heated (45 seconds in the microwave)
11 oz. can mandarin oranges with juice
Mix 2 minutes. Bake according to package.

Frosting:
16 oz. Cool Whip
16 oz. can crushed pineapple with juice
Small instant vanilla pudding
Mix pineapple and pudding, then fold in Cool Whip. Refrigerate.

And today has been wonderful...coffee with friends, napping, hanging out on the porch, getting frozen yogurt with Steve, shopping for flowers, catching up on blogging, grilling out. Yep...that is my kind of day!

Did I tell you that I planted an herb garden recently? I planted mint, oregano, tarragon, basil, cilantro, and rosemary. Now I am on the lookout for good recipes that I can use them in. I heard that Ina Garten has a good chicken salad recipe with tarragon, so I am planning on looking that one up! Let me know if you know any other good ones!

Before I go, I wanted to share this cute face...

I got to keep him all day last Saturday and he was a precious angel all day. I love him to death and he is one of the reasons I can't wait for summer to get here. I will get to see more of him!

I hope you are having a good Memorial Day weekend. I am so grateful for the men and women who have served our country in the past and are currently serving now. I am thankful for my dad who served as a chaplain in Viet Nam. I know there are so many families that are sad today, missing their sons, daughters, husbands, and wives. I want to remember that even while I am enjoying my family and friends.

Thankfulness

2011-05-17T20:20:00.009-04:00

Today I am thankful for....

*No lesson plans this week. It's EOG's and at least that's one good thing about them!

*Mark made our dinner tonight! (I know....be jealous!) He made taco soup and he did a great job. He is a good cook! Who knew??

*While Mark was making dinner, I got to take a bath and read. Wow. When was the last time that happened on a weekday? It was wonderful!(This picture really does remind me of me with Rocky lying right by the tub...which he loves to do! haha)

*It is a cold, rainy spring day today, but that is fine with me. I know the sun will come back and it's actually kind of cozy.

*I got all my errands run this afternoon and got to mark a whole lot of things off my to-do list. I love doing that!

*I am soooo happy that summer is just around the corner. 17 days, people! Yippeeee!

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. "
-- Melody Beattie

10 Things

2011-05-15T16:17:00.009-04:00

10 things on my mind today...

1. I'm glad my kids were home this weekend.

Mark brought his girlfriend, Kate, home. He met her in Spain and she has never gotten to meet the whole family yet. It was definitely a trial by fire experience because we have TONS of family and it was another busy, family-event-filled weekend. She did good! I hope she wasn't too overwhelmed.

2. My niece Brooklyn turned 2 this weekend. We had fun going to her party yesterday.

She is getting so big and is the cutest thing you've ever seen. She is prissy and girly and sweet and I could eat her up!

3. I finally got all the pieces to the baby crib that I need so I can now set it up for when David comes over. Steve is going to help me put it together this week since I will need it next weekend when I am keeping David while Ashley goes out of town for the day.

4. My dad preached this morning at our church and it was so good. I miss hearing him preach, so it is a treat when he gets to. I grew up on his sermons and I may be biased, but I think he's one of the best preachers around!

5. This is one of the first days in it seems like forever that it hasn't been so humid you could just about cut the air with a knife. It feels so great outside, so I am spending the whole afternoon on my porch!

6. One good thing about having EOG's next week is that there is no planning to do! Woo hoo!

7. I only have 3 more Mondays to go. I think I can, I think I can....

8. I am getting a pretty long mental "to-do" list going for when school is out. We have some vacation plans starting to shape up and some projects around the house and some little road trips we are planning on taking. Dear Summer....please get here SOON!

9. The Amazing Race is over. Boo! Not sure what to watch on Sunday nights now. Maybe I'll just read???

10. So much has happened in the news lately that I haven't had time to blog about. But here is a quick run-down of my thoughts on a few things that have happened recently.

Osama Bin Laden-Thank you God that our Navy Seals finally found this man and he is no longer a threat to our country. I do not rejoice when anyone dies, but I feel like justice has been served and we are much safer because he is gone.

American Idol-I think I'm done with this show for the season. Nobody I liked made it to the top three. I wanted James to win and I don't care a thing about Scotty, Lauren, or Haley!

Arnold and Maria-I hate it when anybody's marriage fails. I was really sad to hear that they broke up after 25 years. Marriage is hard. It must be extra hard when you are always in the spotlight. Sorry they couldn't make it work.

Steve and I are back to our empty nest again. All the kids went back to school today. I miss them, but I am looking forward to a quiet, slow week!

Hope you have a great week, too!

May Madness

2011-05-13T21:23:00.011-04:00

I think May and December are the two busiest months of the year. I am always running around like a chicken with my head cut off in December and then it always happens again in May. I think since I am a teacher, I have an extra dose of business during May.

Over the past few weeks I have been trying to get my students ready for end-of-grade testing which is next week. We have been working very hard at school, plus I have been tutoring them after school two days a week. It has also been a very busy month of family events with lots of birthdays and Mother's Day. All my kids came home last week from school so our house is buzzing again with people coming and going and more activity. Plus we have lots of church activities that we are involved in, so you get the picture.

Laura and Lindy have been really sweet and helpful while they have been home. Since I have been so busy at school, they have cooked dinner for us several nights. One night they made some delicious grilled chicken with roasted asparagus and baked potatoes. I am glad they love to cook!

They even set the table with the new placemats they gave me for Mother's Day...

And yesterday when I got home from work, they had cleaned the whole house, vacuumed, and done all the laundry! I've always said I needed a wife and this week I've had two of them! haha

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the end of this week. I have to admit I am a little stressed out and tired right now with so much going on. We have had two nights this week with really bad thunderstorms during the middle of the night and Rocky goes CRAZY when it storms with barking and whining and shaking. We tried to give him a sedative, but it didn't really work too well so he kept us up both nights. I was exhausted, but I did make it! And now we are down to 19 days left of school, so I keep telling myself I can do it.

Please pray for my class next week as they are taking these tests. They have worked so hard and so have I, but many of them don't speak English very well, so this is going to be hard for them.

Tonight we went out to dinner to celebrate Ashley and Mark's birthday. Mark's birthday was back in March, but Steve's dad passed away right after his birthday, so we never got to celebrate. So tonight we went out to Kabuto's Japanese Steakhouse and took the whole family.

John's parents kept David so Ashley and John could have a relaxing night out!

Mark brought his girlfriend, Kate, that he met in Spain...

It was a fun night.

Laura and Lindy are going back to school on Sunday for a "May-mester". When they get back home in June, I will be done with school, so I am looking forward to hanging out with them more then!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-09T19:47:00.010-04:00

We had such a nice day yesterday! I was so glad I got to have all my kids home. I love them all so much and am very thankful that God gave them to me--four perfect gifts. I always wanted a big family and now I have one! And being their mom has probably been the biggest blessing in my life (next to a great husband)!

And it was my first Mother's Day as a Nana! And you know I was taking advantage of every minute of that baby love! :)

Since our family is so big, it is full of lots of wonderful moms.

I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful mother who has always been so loving and supportive of me throughout my whole life. She was a great mommy when I was a little girl and now she is not only a wonderful mother, but a sweet grandmother and great-grandmother, too! I love talking to her and I know that she will always give me good advice and will be praying for me. She is smart and she is a wonderful teacher. All my kids love to call her or go to lunch with her so they can discuss theological questions and issues. And there have been many times when she has helped them with a school project or edited a paper they were writing. She is intentional about keeping a close relationship with her kids and grandkids and is always ready to do anything she can for us. Thank you Mom! I love you!

Steve's mom is a wonderful mother-in-law, too. I have known her since I was 15 when Steve and I started dating. She has always welcomed me into her family and made me feel so loved. She is friendly and outgoing and very creative and crafty. She has a green thumb and a beautiful yard. She has tons of friends and loves to play Bunco and cards. She did a wonderful job raising 5 children of her own and is a fun and loving grandmother and great-grandmother. She always had something fun planned for my kids to do at her house when they were growing up and they still love going over there to eat some of her good cooking or play dominoes or cards.

And this year was Ashley's first Mother's Day. That girl was born to be a mommy. She is a natural. Babies don't stress her out at all and she is having the best time staying home and taking care of David. (I have to say she is alot like me in that way. I always wanted to be a mommy and I loved every minute of staying home with my kids. I enjoy teaching, but I was never bored staying at home and I loved being a homemaker...cooking, cleaning, rocking babies. All those things were fun to me.) Ashley is such a good mommy already. David is blessed to have her!

I also have five sisters-in-law and they are all wonderful mothers, too. Each one has their own strengths and their own style, but they are all completely devoted to their kids and love them so much.

Yesterday after church, Steve cooked out hamburgers for the whole big family and all the guys brought something to pitch in. Laura and Lindy and Mark all helped cook and clean too. (Laura and Lindy made a carrot cake for my dad since his birthday was this past week!) We just hung out on the porch and enjoyed the AMAZING weather. We stayed outside till almost 5:00! It was such a perfect Sunday afternoon. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day!

Sweet Boy

2011-05-03T01:00:00.002-04:00

So...I have been a Nanna now for about 9 weeks and it has been so much fun! David is one of the sweetest little babies ever. (And, yes, I realize I am a little prejudiced, but that's okay, right?)

He is so good natured and hardly ever cries! (Only if he's hungry or tired.) He actually had a screaming fit the other night on the way home from La Unica because when he is hungry, he is hungry NOW! It was pitiful. (Can't you tell Ashley starves that poor little thing!? haha)

I had always heard that being a grandma was wonderful and it has turned out to be just as good as I thought it would be. I practically kiss that baby to death every time I see him just because he is so cute.

He is so alert and curious and has the brightest eyes. The other night Ashley and I took him out to dinner and we were in a booth. I was holding him up on my shoulder and he was straining his neck to look over the seat and see what was going on in the booth behind us. (Some little girls were waving to him and talking to him.) It was so funny. He's only two months old, but he thinks he's a big boy already.

He can almost sit up all by himself in the Bumbo and he loves to straighten his legs out and stand up in your lap. He follows things with his eyes and smiles all the time now. He loves watching my dog Rocky and he wants to be in the middle of the "action"!

Last week, our sweet blogging friend, Faith (who designed this blog, by the way!) came over and took some adorable pictures of him. She just did it right in my foyer! We opened the front door to get some good light and she started snapping away. I LOVED how well the pictures turned out and wanted to share them with you!

This one is my very favorite...

But I love this one too...

We wanted some cute little "bootie shots" and these turned out so good. But David actually peed ALL OVER Ashley! We got a good laugh out of that! :)

So sweet...

I can't wait to get some of these framed! I am so glad Ashley lives here and I get to see them alot. Having a grandbaby is all the fun and none of the stress. You just get to love on them and then send them back home with Mommy. :) That sounds like a good plan to me!

(PS-If you are in the Charlotte area and need a good photographer, you should call Faith! She is one talented girl!)

Easter 2011

2011-04-30T09:09:00.020-04:00

It's been another busy week at the Maddox house. Steve's been traveling and I've been up to my neck in school work and tutoring. Guess what though?? Only 29 days left till school is out and then my life is going to change dramatically! Woo hoo! I think I can...I think I can!

I am so behind, but I wanted to share a little bit of our Easter with you. (Nothing like updates a week late!) haha I think Easter might be my second favorite holiday after Christmas. I love what it stands for and all the spring clothes and the way the world is full of flowers and sunshine! I love going to church and dying eggs and eating lunch outside and singing beautiful hymns and songs and getting together with family. It's just a great time of year to me.

Saturday night we had Steve's family over since all his brothers and sisters were in town. They ate dinner with us and we just hung out on the porch and played ping pong and dyed eggs. My kids still have fun doing that even though they are in college! :)

I love having my kids home. It was a fun night.

This year I sang in the choir on Easter Sunday for the first time in a long time and I really enjoyed that. Then I came down and sat with our family. It was so sweet to have David with us to celebrate his first Easter. He looked so adorable!

And we were sad that Steve's dad wasn't with us this year. It is still hard to believe he is gone. But I was thinking the whole time we were at church that Easter is the reason we have hope that we will see him again one day!

After church, we all went over to Steve's mom's house. We have a really big family. My whole side of the family (minus one of my brothers) came over too. We had all kinds of good food....ham, potato casserole, deviled eggs, seven layer salad, asparagus casserole, pig-pickin' cake and a whole lot more. We definitely know how to make a spread!

She had set up a big canopy in the backyard so we got to eat outside and enjoy the beautiful day. The whole week before had been rainy and humid and yucky, but Easter was gorgeous!

We also had our annual Easter egg hunt, of course! Mark and Bailey are holding up number one signs because they were the champs! :)

And my birthday was Monday, so we celebrated that, too!

Here are few pictures of our day...

My kids had fun hanging out together...

Family fun...

Easter 2011 was just about perfect. I am thankful that Jesus rose from the grave and that He lives. And I am thankful for a sweet family!

SPriNg BrEAk 2011

2011-04-27T18:15:00.015-04:00

The past two weeks have been so much fun, but so busy, too. Now I am extremely behind in my blogging. Between Spring Break and Easter, we have had lots going on. I think I'm just going to do Spring Break today and try to catch up on Easter this week sometime.

Steve and I went to Clearwater Beach, Florida for my Spring Break. That is where we did a whole lot of nothing! Steve had to work a little, but I was free every day all day long to sit by the pool or at the beach and read and order fruity little drinks and take naps and lie in the sun. Then at night we went out to dinner and walked on the beach or got ice cream or watched TV or whatever we wanted to do. THAT is my kind of vacation. It was perfect timing, too, since April has been a very stressful month for us. I am so glad we were able to do that.

Here are a few pictures of all the fun we had....

We spent one whole day on the beach and it was so nice!

The day we got there, we went to lunch right by the water. I got fish tacos and we shared some she-crab soup! YUMMMM! I took this picture while we were sitting there enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

Lunch at the pool one day...

One thing I loved about Clearwater Beach is that the sun sets over the ocean. We went out and watched it every night we were there! So pretty. Everyone stands there watching the sun till it goes out of sight and then they all clap. It's like a show!

This is a typical Florida picture. Lots of boats and fishing!

One of the things I love about Florida is all the beautiful flowers and trees. This hybiscus flower was so pretty. And, have you ever seen a jacaronda tree? They are purple and gorgeous and they were everywhere!

Aaaaahhhhhh....I need to look at this and give myself hope that I only have 33 days of school left! haha

Glad I have such a sweet husband!

A beautiful Florida sunset...

So...that pretty much wraps it up. There are lots more pictures, but that could get really long. One night we went into St. Petersburg and had dinner at this delicious steak and seafood restaurant. We ate outside and walked all around the Bay area looking at boats and the water. But all my pictures turned out blurry because it was getting kind of dark.

Anyway...Spring Break was wonderful. It was hard to come back to reality! :)

Let's Get Trivial

2011-04-17T15:31:00.016-04:00

I made it to SPRING BREAK!!! And my first two days of Spring Break have been so great. I haven't really done much of anything, but just sleeping in and being lazy have been perfect so far! Hey, I am easy to please!

Since I haven't had tons of school stuff to do, I have had a little time to actually catch up on all the celebrity gossip and events going on in the world. We could be on the brink of nuclear war most days and I would have no idea since I am head down in school stuff!

Anyway, I was at the grocery store yesterday and I saw the new People magazine. I am a huge People magazine reader, but I resisted getting it because I know I will want something fun to read on the plane on our way to sunny Florida tomorrow. So I will get it then. But I did see the cover with Jennifer Lopez on it.

She was voted as the most beautiful woman in the world this year. I personally have to agree! Every time I see her on American Idol, I just think she is so pretty. Her hair, her skin...flawless!

I asked Steve if he agreed with that and he said definitely yes! We were trying think of anyone else we would consider really pretty and we both agreed on Carrie Underwood.

I think she has such a natural beauty. Plus she is sweet and I like that!

And speaking of natural beauty, I have to put Kate Middleton in that category!

I remember when I was in high school and Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married. I got up at 5:00 in the morning to watch it. Princess Diana was so shy and he seemed so much older than her. But I think Kate Middleton and Prince William are perfect for each other. And she is way prettier that Princess Diana was (in my opinion!) I can't wait for this royal wedding. They are so much fun to watch!

Back to American Idol....who are you pulling for? I think Pia was the best of anyone and I can't believe she got voted off!! What on earth??

But I guess I would pick Casey next. I think he is really diverse and obviously has lots of talent.

And even though I am totally NOT into heavy metal, there is something about James that I like, too.

I know some people think he is an Adam Lambert wanna-be and that may be true, but I still kind of like his edginess.

And, then, my last choice would be Jacob. I like his Luther Vandross vibe.

One of the things that I love to do at the beach is read! So in addition to that People magazine I am planning on getting at the airport, another magazine I want to read is this one...

Steve and I are both nerds and like keeping up with news and politics. So we are taking this one with us. I really like Rob Bell and I am interested to find out what he has to say about hell. I may change my view of him. Have you read anything about that controversy?

I also got this book to take with me, too.

I love biographies and this one is mostly about Ashley Judd's humanitarian work around the world. It looked interesting to me. I am always impressed with people who devote their lives to serving others.

And finally, Steve and I both want to read this book...

Have you read it? Since Steve's dad passed away, we have both been talking alot about heaven and wondering what his dad is up to and what heaven will be like. This is supposed to be the best book to answer those kinds of questions, so we are both interested in reading it.

Before we left, we had to get a big dose of our sweet boy. Ashley and John went out on a date last night so we kept David for them.

He was a little angel all night long and probably got sick of me kissing him half to death.

He has already brought so much joy to us.

He is so precious! Here he is at church this morning...

Being a Nana is going to be so much fun.

The Good Stuff

2011-04-13T17:28:00.005-04:00

The past few weeks have been pretty much a roller coaster for us. It has been a long time since I have had a minute to blog but I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind words and love and prayers. We are doing good and things are getting better each day.

The sun is shining here and it is spring and that always puts me in good spirits! This is a pretty dogwood tree that is in our backyard...

And the best part is that it is FINALLY almost Spring Break! Woo hoo!! It has been a loooonnngg stretch without any breaks since January. I think all of us teachers are just hanging on by a thin thread trying to make it to Friday. Steve and I have some fun plans for next week that we are both looking forward to! I will tell you about it soon.

Anyway...I was just thinking that despite everything that has been going on lately, there have still been so many great things and so many blessings at the same time. Life is so funny how even in the saddest and hardest of times, there is still wonder and joy and happiness. That is just the way God shows you His love and takes care of you. A beautiful sunny day, a friend stopping by to offer encouragement, flowers and rain, a good night's sleep, warm meals that someone has prepared and delivered, sweet cards, laughing through your tears, being surrounded by family....all that is the good stuff!

And, I have to say...we've had lots of those good things lately.

Going Home

2011-04-01T20:35:00.007-04:00

It has been a really hard week for us. Steve's dad went home to be with the Lord Wednesday night. I don't think I can adequately express the shock we are in right now. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on February 4 and we knew that death was probably inevitable. But we had no idea that it would happen this fast.

Tuesday night he became very ill and was in excruciating pain. Steve and his mom took him to the hospital and it was a downhill slide from there. Steve called me at 4:00 in the morning on Wednesday morning to tell me to come quickly because he didn't think his dad was going to make it. God was good and he DID make it for the whole day. All his children were able to fly in from around the country to be at his side. And many of his grandchildren were able to be there. Everyone was able to talk to him and say the things they wanted to say. We sang to him and read Bible verses and prayed and held his hand and told him how much we loved him. We told him what a good dad and grandfather he had been and how much we were going to miss him. We wanted him to know that everything would be okay and he didn't need to worry. Around 7:30 pm he left his earthly body and went to be with the Lord. We all stood around his bed praying for him as he passed from this life into his eternal life. And there were lots and lots of tears. We will miss him so much. Even though we know where he is now and we know that he is healed, it still hurts.

The past few days have been a blur of friends and food and cards and flowers and lots of family. We are so blessed to be part of a wonderful church family who take such good care of us. They have anticipated anything we might need and already made sure it was taken care of. And our neighbors have been wonderful...bringing meals and helping take care of Rocky. All my sweet teacher friends have been so nice to do anything they could so I wouldn't have to worry about making lesson plans and getting them to school. My principal even called me at home last night to offer her condolences. That was so sweet!

I know the next few weeks and months will be really hard. Steve and his dad were so close. Steve is going to miss him so very much. I hate seeing him so sad. And Steve's mom and dad had been married for 54 years!

How do you adjust to life without someone you have loved for so long? I don't know. But I know God will help us through one day at a time.

I just wanted to share this with y'all. Please keep our family in your prayers. I love you for always being so supportive to me. Thank you all my sweet blogging friends!!

PS-Laura posted a sweet tribute to her Grandaddy here on her blog. I thought it was perfect!

Time Flies

2011-03-25T15:46:00.009-04:00

Today is Mark's 21st birthday! Whatttt??? Time flies so fast. I can't believe I have two adult children now! I have this picture in my den and I look at it every day....

and sometimes it's hard to believe that those days are gone and he's all grown up now.

But I will say that he is just as much fun as a grown up!

Mark is such a wonderful son and I love hanging out with him and talking to him about all kinds of interesting things. He is a big talker and always has something deep to discuss (which I love)! Mark is so well-rounded. He is smart, good-looking, funny, friendly, sweet, and athletic!

I don't know where life is going to lead him as he starts this new chapter of his life. He is adventurous and loves world events and politics and learning about cultures and countries, so I know he is going to do something cool and exciting! I couldn't ask for a better son and I am so thankful God gave him to me.

Happy birthday Mark!! I love you so much!

On another note...whew! Thank GOODNESS it's Friday. I guess my class has Spring Fever or something, but it has been a rough week. To top off the behavior issues and some other crazy stuff, I got a soccer ball kicked right in my face today at recess. Ouuuucchhhh! I thought I had broken my nose and my whole face is still so sore. I had blood all over my face and dripping down my hands and clothes. It was not a pretty sight. It was just an accident, but I was so glad when this day was over.

Before I go, I wanted to share two quick things. One is this video. It is so sweet and funny. Bless this dog's heart. You can tell he feels so bad about what he did. It made me smile and it totally reminded me of me with some of my students this week. Is it possible to feel mad at and sorry for someone at the same time? That would be a big YES!! (Especially dogs and kids!)

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&from=sp&vid=148550b4-c5c8-4248-9c0e-6b7850e95586" target="_new" title="Dog Feels Guilty">Video: Dog Feels Guilty</a>

Second-I am looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend--starting now! And I am thinking it may have a little of this in it somewhere...

Please pass the pasta, cheese, and Ro-tel. I could use some comfort food!

Happy Friday! :)