The end to 2007; the start of 2008

Well, here we are! Another new year....I can't believe how quickly time flies now! A year used to seem so long; now it flies by in the blink of an eye. I am not planning to make any specific resolutions, but I am going to concentrate this year on becoming more disciplined in several areas of my life. I want to be more disciplined about several things, and these are just general goals:

1. More disciplined on housework and other jobs around the house
2. More disciplined on exercising with a goal of getting 3 times of exercise in a week
3. More disciplined on eating healthier....specifically, kicking my habit of nighttime eating!
4. More disciplined on studying God's word and sharing His word with my children

So there! What are you going to work on improving this year?

What are you into this month?

This Month...

The Thing I've Been Working On The Most: Getting ready for Christmas, and enjoying some down time afterward.

TV Show Worth Watching: Since most are in reruns, not much....been watching Christmas specials and movies with the boys!

The Christmas Present I'm Loving: My new XM radio reciever!


My Favorite Blog Entry From This Month: Let Me Tell You About My First Day Off!

Blog I Am Always Visiting: Um, still visiting Oh, Amanda! quite a bit!

Movie I’ve Seen (In or Out of a theater): We've watched Shrek 3, Bridge to Terabithia, Ratatoille, Everyone's Hero...lately, they all had their good points! Oh, and I got to watch Polar Express all the way through for the first time!

What I'm Most Looking Forward To Next Month:
Would it be awful of me to say snow days, hopefully?! Hmmm, looking forward to getting back on an exercise track and hopefully losing some weight. Looking forward to watching Isaac's Upward Basketball games!

What about you? Read what more people are into at Adventures in Babywearing!

Great giveaway at Laced with Grace!

The ladies at Laced With Grace have put together a FANTASTIC New Year's package! Here is what it contains:
Women of Faith study Bible (NIV/Hardcover)
Lisa Whelchel’s Bible study tool for busy moms
a coffee mug from “Mugs of Truth“
the DVD “The Nativity Story“
the book “Love and Respect“
music CD by Becky Knight, who just released her first CD.

Sounds awesome, huh? Go check it out!

Merry Day After Christmas!

I hope that you had a fabulous Christmas! We sure did! Santa was very good to my sons, and my husband and sister in law were very good to me!

Our Christmas started on Christmas Eve when we gathered with Chris's family. We let the kids open their presents, which they loved, and then ate spaghetti with home-made sauce. The adults opened their presents afterwards, and I got a gift certificate for a massage! I also got several pair of much-needed socks! Chris got several new dress shirts and ties, which he really needed now that he wears them to work every day.

We got home around 10 pm, and we hurried to leave out cookies and milk for Santa and then spread some reindeer food for the reindeer. I read the Christmas story to the boys from Luke, and then off they went to bed, and I went to the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church. My sister and a friend and I sang a trio in a very beautiful service led by my daddy!

The boys started getting us up around 4 something, but dh held them off until 7, when we raced in to see what Santa brought the boys! He brought them a lot! Then we opened stockings and started on the gifts under the tree. It is amazing how quickly a 6 and 4 year old can go through presents! After they finished the tornado of opening their gifts, dh and I opened ours. Chris was very pleased with his wisk, wok, and fondue pot, and I was thrilled to receive an XM radio reciever and some very nice clothing!

We took a nap while the boys played, and then loaded up and headed to Waffle House, for a lovely brunch...but man, my sons are going to eat us out of house and home....Isaac ate an egg sandwich and a waffle, and Adam ate a waffle and two sausage patties!

We came back home for EVERYONE to take a nap, cause we were quite grouchy by this time! Then we all played with our new toys before we got ready to gather with my family at my sister's house. We ate a delicious dinner of ham, roast, meatballs, potatoes, green beans, rolls, and various desserts and hors devours. We let the kids open their presents and then sent them off to play. We opened gifts playing Chinese Auction, and had lots of fun taking gifts away from each other. This Christmas was a little different from most with my family because we decided to give each other cash for our cruise this summer instead of buying lots of gifts. My parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary, and have asked us all to go on a cruise instead of throwing them a party. We still had a great time and lots of laughs, as usual!

We are so blessed to live near our families, and be able to see them all for Christmas! I pray that each of you had a blessed holiday as well!

I've been carded meme!

I got CARDED by Briggie at There is Power in Prayer!

Ronie Kendig altered this CARDED meme to include a Spiritual Wish list so we can know how to pray for each other, both spiritually and physically. Isn’t that a great idea?

THE RULES:

1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for Christmas.
2. People who are “CARDED” need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get “CARDED” and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they’re “CARDED”, and to read your Blog.

My Materialistic Gift/Wish List:

1. The kitchen and hall painted.
2. The den and basement de-cluttered.
3. Another Slinky Brand outfit.
4. A digital video camera.
5. A guard for my engagement ring.

My Spiritual Gift/Wish List:
1. Guidance about whether or not to pursue going back to school to become a Reading Specialist. 2. Discipline to spend more time with God and reading His word. (I just agreed with ya, Briggie!)
3. Discipline to exercise 3 times a week.
4. Discipline to stop eating at night.
5. To be the wife, mother, and teacher that God wants me to be, and reach those I am supposed to reach.

The People I have Carded:
1. MamaJ at MamaJ Knits
2. Misty at Rainy Day in May...
3. Tamara at Training Hearts
4. Michelle at Scribbit: A Blog about Motherhood
5. Missy at It's Almost Naptime

oh but I must update....

the loveliness that is Isaac's illness! Right after I posted this, I went to get the boys in the tub....and Isaac is broken out all over his legs. So I called the on call nurse and was on the phone with her forever for her to tell me basically what I already knew, I'd have to take him back in to see if it was a reaction to the antibiotic or what my mom calls Scarlet Fever--basically the strep rash coming out of his skin. It was the latter, so Dr. F (our beloved pediatrician, who I was so glad to see!!) doubled to dose. He also said he didn't need to be out and about around other people, so we didn't make it to the S. family gathering. Chris and Adam went on, and Isaac and I got movies and ordered pizza and camped out in the living room watching "Everyone's Hero" and wrapped presents. The movie, by the way was pretty cute! So! Now we must all pray that none of the rest of it come down with it between now and Tuesday!!

Ahh, the fun of motherhood!!

Let me tell you about my first day off!

It was an 'inventure', as my boys would say! *giggling* Isaac was up before 6, and Adam followed between 6:30 and 7. Now, mind you, we had to wake them both up the day before....but when Mama can sleep in.....

So I did get to sleep a little more after they went to the den to play. After that, Chris started fixing a yummy breakfast of biscuits and gravy and scrambled eggs, and everyone was happy about that! While he was doing this, I started washing the mountains of laundry that always seem to live around here, and Adam 'helped'.

Somewhere in here, Isaac told me that his stomach, throat, and head hurt. I took his temp, and it was 99.1; not really bad, but being this close to Christmas I didn't want to chance it. I'm thinking now that Chris probably thought I ought to wait it out, but my Mommy Intuition said to take him to the doc. We ate our yummy breakfast and got loaded up. His pediatrician's office was booked solid, so we headed to the Urgent Care Clinic offered by our medical practice.

Of course, it was packed! We got there at about 10:15, and finally left at almost 1. During that time, even though I had given Isaac some generic Tylenol, he continued to feel worse and get more weepy and just plain sick. The doc that we saw said that he didn't think it was strep but that he'd do a culture and make sure.

Now here is the amazingly good part...last time Isaac had to have a swab done, even with me holding his hands, he was able to wrench away from me and grab the swab. The nurse, as you can imagine, was not amused and fussed. But this time I told him what was going to happen before hand and reminded him that it wouldn't take but a few seconds, and he did GREAT! I was very proud of him!

Isaac, by the way, is very BIG for a first grader. He's tall and solid, and weighed 77 pounds yesterday. So people see him and think that he is older than he is, and that therefore, he should be more mature than he is. Not fair, but that is how it is. I sometimes want to hang a sign around his neck that says, "I'm only 6!"

OK, sorry for the rambling....the strep test was positive! While I'm not glad that he has strep, I am glad for a couple of things:
1. That it was something that we could give him antibiotics for and he would get better quickly, so his Christmas wouldn't be compromised.
2. That he didn't have to have blood drawn, because he was really dreading that.
3. That I followed the good 'ol Mommy Intuition and took him in when I did!

So we got out of the doctor's office, not quickly of course, but we did make it out! LOL I needed to run some errands while we were in town, but did so as quickly as possible so that I could get my sick boy home. I dropped the prescription off at the pharmacy down the street and got my now sleeping boy home and on the couch. It was 2:15, and Adam had his daycare Christmas party at 2:30!

So I used the bathroom, changed shirts cause I was burning up, grabbed a different kid, and off we went to the church (which thankfully is only 2 blocks away). We partied and saw Santa, who gave Adam a pack of Hot Wheels cars that he said he had 'wanted his whole life'!

Back home we came, and I took Isaac's temp.....102! I also fixed up a mixture of Pepto and Benadryl for him to gargle to soothe his throat, and after about 5 minutes of telling him it wouldn't hurt and that he wasn't going to do it wrong, I got him to swish it around in his mouth and swallow it.

The rest of the evening wasn't quite as crazy, thankfully. I got the Christmas cards ready for our family and close friends (yes, I realize it was the 21st, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting them done at all thankyouverymuch!) and wrapped several presents before crashing.

Although it wasn't the relaxing day that I would have liked to have had, I'm SO glad that we got Isaac all fixed up. He feels fine today! He even asked for the Pepto/Benadryl concoction today for his throat! Late this afternoon, we're heading to Chris' Mamaw's house for Christmas with all his aunts, uncle, and a plethora of cousins....and Isaac will have had 24 hours of antibiotics in his system before arriving so we don't infect all the cousins.

Tomorrow will be church as usual, and then Monday afternoon we will have Christmas with Chris' parents and brother and his family. My dad will lead the Candlelight Christmas Eve service at 11 pm, and that is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My nieces and nephews will assist in the service as acolytes, and my sister and I are joining a friend to sing a song from our cantata. I'm hoping that Chris agrees to take the boys for the first time to the service, but if not, that is okay too. Christmas Day we will open presents and see what Santa brought here and probably head to Waffle House for brunch just 'cause we can. Late that afternoon we will head to my sister Suzy's house for dinner and presents with my family. It's gonna be busy, but I love it! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I think I'll end with the lyrics to one of my favorite Christmas songs. Even though I live across the state line in Virginia, I was a Tennesseean for 9 years! ;)
May any of you that read this have a blessed Christmas and spend time reflecting on the miracle that we celebrate...that the Word became Flesh and dwelt among us!

Tennessee Christmas
Come on weatherman,
Give us a forecast snowy white.
Can't you hear the prayers
Of every childlike heart tonight?
Rockies are calling,
Denver snow falling,
Somebody said it's four feet deep.
But it doesn't matter,
Give me the laughter;
I'm gonna choose to keep

Another tender Tennessee Christmas,
The only Christmas for me.
Where the love circles around us,
Like the gift around our tree.
Well I know there's more snow
Up in Colorado
Than my roof will ever see,
But a tender Tennessee Christmas
Is the only Christmas for me.

Every now and then,
I got a wanderin' urge to see
Maybe California,
Maybe Tinsel Town's for me.
There's a parade there;
We'd have it made there;
Bring home a tan for New Year's Eve.
Sure sounds exciting,
Awfully inviting,
Still I think I'll gonna keep

Another tender Tennessee Christmas,
The only Christmas for me.
Where the love circles around us,
Like the gift around our tree.
Well they say in L.A.,
It's a warm holiday;
It's the only place to be.
But a tender Tennessee Christmas
Is the only Christmas for me.


Well I know there's more snow
Up in Colorado
Than my roof will ever see,
But a tender Tennessee Christmas
Is the only Christmas for me.

A tender Tennessee Christmas
Is the only Christmas for me.

I am so blessed by my coworkers!!

I was just sitting here preparing a small gift for those on my 'team' and 2 other special friends, and I tell ya...they are so priceless! They each are Godly mothers, teachers, wives, and friends. And I was thinking that past this little circle of friends, I could say so much about many more of my coworkers. They are special, lovely people! I work for two people who are genuinely concerned about our students and about me as a person, as well as my family. I know that I am blessed to work in such an environment as this. Yes, I get frustrated with some things that go on sometimes, but truly, I am blessed. God has placed me in a such a supportive and loving group of people, and I give Him thanks for it!!

AND I just have one more day of work, then a week and a half off! :D Yay me!

Well, that didn't last long....

the Top Momma that is! I'm off the page already!

Oh well....it was good while it lasted! ROFL

I'm a Top Momma!

Puhleeze visit the site via this link to keep me there!

Thankyouverymuch!

My 'button' is the yellow one that says "A Little Bit Crazy Isn't a Bad Thing!" Boy does that describe my life right now....the last week of school before Christmas with first graders is the definition of crazy!!

We Fall Down

We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of
Your Mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
Is the lamb
We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of
Mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
Is the lamb
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
And we cry holy, holy, holy
Is the lamb

I'm singing this as part of our cantata twice today. I'm a tad bit nervous because my voice is kind of froggy. Please remember me in your thoughts and prayers!

Pay It Forward book exchange

So who likes to read? Anyone? Anyone?

ME too! And what is better than a FREE book, recommended by someone? Not much, in my world!

My newfound friend at "Overwhelmed with Joy" has started a fantastic thing, a book exchange where once you read the book, you pass it on to a blogger friend of your own! I'm all about it! Sounds like a fantastic deal to me!

So check it out here at her site, and if you love it as much as I do, you'll start one of your own!

Wow, two posts in one night! Pretty impressive, huh?! LOL

If I ain't a Grinch today, then I ain't a Grinch!

It has been a long day....woke up with headache, 3 first grade teachers out today, lunch with many parents and grandparents, child had very stinky accident in my room, lost the copies of my Reading test, my day for recess duty, phone call saying I owe money to someone I paid 10 years ago, ending with upset 6 year old cause his dad and I are too wiped out to take him to a basketball game. So if I ended up not a Grinch today, I'm doing pretty durn well!

You Are the Furthest Thing From Grinch

You love and live for the holidays. You even love the Grinch! You're in the holiday spirit year round... because you're all about celebrating and giving.

Are You a Grinch?

The year the gifts were related to cats

Year before last, my sister Suzy drew my name in our family name exchange. I gave her some gift ideas, and the holiday season moved on. A few weeks before Christmas, she asked me "You like cats, right?" kind of out of the blue. I answered in the affirmative, but started thinking in the back of my head....why is she asking me that??

Yes, I like cats, but I'm not one of those people who collects them or something! It struck me as odd, but I didn't think too much about it until she asked me again the week of Christmas...."And you do like cats, right?" and again, I answered yes, but added, "Why?"

"Oh, no reason!" she said, but I knew that something was brewing!

So Christmas came, and we opened our presents in the usual way. When it came to my turn, I opened the first gift...and it was a mini cat calendar. My next turn around, I opened a cute little pink glass cat. By the time my turn came around the third time, I was certainly seeing the theme, and was a tad apprehensive about what the package could hold! Thankfully I pulled out a lovely pair of fur rimmed gloves and a matching hat....that you could possibly look like a cat!

After I opened the third present, Suzy explained how the theme came about! Her daughter Katie had gotten a 'gift' when they were shopping on Black Friday....the little glass cat they had given me. She was less than thrilled, since she doesn't even like cats! So she and her mom started thinking about who would like the cat so they could regift it, and the next thing they knew, they had come up with a theme! We all got a good laugh out of it, and especially about how she had me kind of scared after asking me twice if I liked cats!

I haven't gotten her back....yet!

Are you a fit-pitcher?

I sure can be! I've embarrassed myself on more than one occasion cause I am not so good at holding my tongue when I'm upset. This is not the most recent, but it is one that I really didn't mean to pitch and was remorseful after I did.

I am a United Methodist preacher's kid, which means that I have moved quite a few times over the years. So much so that even now, 12 years after the last time I moved with my parents, I still get nervous in the spring thinking that someone is going to tell me I have to move houses. Now add to this that in my 10 year history teaching in one building, I have only moved classrooms ONCE but have had to pack up my room every.single.year! Does that make sense to you?? Sure doesn't to me!

So a few years ago our principal said that we would take year about packing up classrooms--one year the second floor would pack, the next year the first floor, and so on. Great! I thought. I'll only have to pack up every other year! But the next year, no one but ME seemed to remember that bargain! Not only that, I found out that I had to not only pack up my classroom, but also my entire CLOSET!!

I was furious. I didn't see the logic in this. Yes, my room was being painted, and for that I was glad, but my closet??! So when our assistant principal told me this, I blew up. In front of an office full of people. And I really didn't mean to. I didn't mean to come across as hatefully as I did. Thankfully, she is a good friend of mine and forgave me, but I still hate that other coworkers heard and saw me act so childishly.

My fit is being judged in the mommy tantrum contest!

What a nerd I am.....

I have just been tagged for a meme for the first time and I am excited! Stop laughing at me! For real! It isn't funny!

OK, now that you have caught your breath.....


Julie tagged me, and although I'm not sure why, I hope that it means she'll be back!

So, now I need to list 7 things that most people don't know about me. And that is HARD for me, cause I have a tendency to tell all!

Let's see:

1. I'm quitting selling Avon after this month. Some people know that, but lots don't, and they aren't gonna be happy, but after much prayer and discussion, I know it is the best thing to do.

2. I taught Visually Impaired students for 2 years. I have 4 classes under my belt toward a certification to teach it, but I never finished it, mainly cause I'd be going up against my sister for the job and I value my life, as well as my relationship with her!

3. I have had driver's licenses from 3 different states: first in Georgia, then Tennessee, then Virginia. I even had my CDL in TN to drive a van load of daycare kids around.

4. I love Christmas, and get exceptionally sentimental about my Christmas ornaments. Tonight when we were decorating the tree, Chris told our sons that they could pick out 3 ornaments each ( and then I let them pick one more) and then said that Mommy got to put on as many as she wanted. Of course, they didn't like that! But the thought that *I* was going to be limited to choosing only 3 of our collectible ornaments had me almost in tears! So he agreed that the ones that we have had since our first Christmas together automatically get on the tree. And for the record, that would be "Our First Christmas Together", "Darth Vader" , "Our First Christmas Together Photo", and "Mrs. Gulch Wizard of Oz".

5. I have a bad problem with getting up in the middle of the night and eating. That's all I will say about that!

6. I dislike all forms of exercise that aren't dance.

7. I don't cook unless I have to. Chris is the cook around here. He's good at it and enjoys it, whereas I stink at it and dislike it! So why would I take this pleasure from him?!



OK! Now to tag seven more!


Misty at Rainy Day in May

Elizabeth at A Wild Ride

Lib at Not Much More than This

SarcasticMom

Kellyology

Callapidder Days

My Two Boys

OK! Now it is your turn!

Who I am in pictures.....

Inspired by Amanda (and no, I promise I'm not a stalker!!), I decided to join in the fun! Type in the answers to the questions on google images, and paste the first image that comes up! I cheated a tad and didn't always do the first pic, but I did find all of 'em on the first page! Let's go.....

1. Age at my next birthday:









2. Place I'd like to travel:










3. Favorite place:










4. Favorite object:


5. Favorite food:




6. Favorite color:



7. Nickname:
I don't really have one, so I went back to childhood....



7. Place I was born:



Let me know if you're gonna play along in the comments so I can come see!

A blog about my favorite blogger.....

What a fun concept this is! I spread the word about my favorite blogger to read and if I win, she and I get blogged about, too! Its a blogger-love contest, hosted by scribblescratch.com!

My favorite blog to read is ohamanda.com. I can really relate to her posts....just from reading her writing, I think she and I have a lot in common. I first grasped this when reading a post about youth ministry and somewhat painful experiences....boy can I relate! Of course, it didn't hurt that I won a book from her blog (which was FABULOUS, by the way!). I know that Amanda is a fellow Christian, and I certainly enjoy reading other Christian moms and their adventures with their children.

So check Amanda out! I promise you will soon be hooked like me!

Ms. Akard

I couldn't think of anything to write about so I am using a blog prompt from here!

My favorite elementary school teacher was Ms. Kay Akard. Looking back, I loved all my teachers for different reasons, but Ms. Akard really did fun things. For instance, she had us write a play about kids sailing down the Amazon and we invited parents to come watch it. Another time, we paired up and acted out Aesop's Fables. She would give us 'E Cards' to use as a homework pass when we made a 100 on a test. She was just a COOL teacher. It didn't hurt that she was beautiful and fashionable as well! I hated to disappoint her, so that was always an incentive to do my best.

I don't know what happened to her....she was engaged and getting married soon after the end of my fourth grade year, and we moved that summer. Wherever you are Ms. Akard, you helped inspire me to become the teacher I am now!

The first Sunday of Advent

Come thou long expected Jesus!

I want to concentrate on preparing myself for the coming Christmas. I admit that I have not been in the 'spirit', but the service this morning at church helped move that along. I don't like society (?) pushing up when we start hanging our lights and setting up our decorations. I need a transition from Thanksgiving to Christmas, I suppose.

What are you doing to prepare yourself for the Christ child's arrival?

My boys won again!

Yep, the Big Blue Machine rolls on!! We won the semi-final game today, so next week we play in the state championship game! WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!!

GO BIG BLUE!

ALL THE WAY TO STATE!