Merry Christmas!

I know, I know...I am such a horrible blogger! But I will be back either today or tomorrow with loads of pictures from our last vacation and Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I love you all!

New Job!

Well, I have a new job! I am so excited! I am still at the same school but I am now teaching behavior children! And I get paid more! I am thrilled! I love my students. They are amazing kids who just need some extra love and care.

I am so hoping that I can start posting more on my blog. I feel like I am so far behind. Maybe I can start posting a few afternoons a week. Josh will be going back on night shift next week so that gives me more time in the evenings.

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween. We did not get to go trick or treating this year. Aric was home from school on Friday with what we thought was just a stomach virus. I took him to the doctor on Sat. and he has a severe case of strep throat AND a stomach virus! Poor little guy has not eaten since Thursday and has slept pretty much for 2 days! He seems to be feeling a little better this afternoon. He was up playing XBOX 360 with Daddy!

Not much else has been going on the past few weeks. Other than setting up my classroom and a few birthday parties we have been kinda boring lately. I do not even have very many pictures to share! Shock!!

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We are having Thanksgiving at my house again this year! I am excited! I am already feeling the urge to clean! Gotta love that feeling!

The picture of the sunrise was taken the morning I found out about my new job! The sun was so beautiful rising over our school!

And the green glass is one of 4 that I bought at the thrift store! Isn't it beautiful???

Long time...No Blog..

Wow! Where has the time gone? My birthday came and went. Just another day around here. Josh took me clothes shopping because everything I own is to big now, which is a good thing. September was a stressful month for me. My dads surgery, the situation at school, another birthday, etc...BUT October is going sooo much better!!!! The situation at school is resolved! YAY!!! And my dad is doing sooo much better! He was able to go back to work. He still has some tough days but all in all he is feeling much better. He has therapy 2 times a week so hopefully that will help with everything. So thanks for all of the prayers! They mean so much!

Let's see...My nephew had a birthday party at the Yacht Club. It was a gorgeous day! We drove around afterwards looking at houses. A few prospects but nothing that I fell in love with at first sight.
Josh leaves for his trip on Tuesday. I am going to miss him!! My mom is going to stay with me while he is gone though. That should be nice.

Well I know it was not a very interesting post. But this is my favorite time of year so things will pick up and I will be much happier! And I will take lots of new pictures!

Bye for now!

LOVE this saga...

This is the best series that I have read in awhile! I bought the first book last week so I could have something to read in the hospital. I got so caught up that I went to Barnes and Noble the next morning and bought the other 3 books. I just finished them yesterday! They are awesome. I highly recommend them. If you want to borrow them, just let me know. The author is Stephanie Meyer. The movie, Twilight, is coming out in November and is based on the first book. I can't wait to see it!

Thank you..

Thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers for my dad. The phone calls and emails mean so much to all of us.
For those of you who do not know, He came through surgery fine. It took alot longer than they expected but he did great. He was in the recovery room for longer than expected as well. He finally got into a room late Wed. night. He was in severe pain. Thursday was a bit better but still in alot of pain. He was able to come home Friday afternoon. He is still in pain but not as severe as before. He has not been able to lay down since he has been home. He stays in the recliner. Mom says he might sleep 2 hours at a time, if that much. He is still wearing a catheter so that is causing pain. He has a doctors appointment on Monday to find out when he can get that taken out and also to find out of they got everything. So we still need some prayers!

We survived Hurricane Gustav last week. We were so worried that the doctors were going to have to rescedule the surgery but thankfully they did not! Another answered prayer!

On the day that Gustav hit, we celebrated Josh's 30th birthday! It was not much of a celebration seeing as how we were helping friends whose house was flooded during the storm. I will make it up to him soon!

Well that is all for now. Not very many pictures to share today but here are a few! Oh and that is how I look after spending 14 hours at the hospital! Aren't I pretty??? :0)

Shame on me..

I am such a bad blogger. I always have the best of intentions with this thing. It's not like I don't have anything to say, it is just that I am EXHAUSTED lately. School started back a few weeks ago. I will not post negative things about others but let's just say that I am not happy. And we will leave it at that and move on.

We are CLOSELY watching Hurricane Gustav. And while I love a good storm, I am really hoping this one goes away. Daddy's surgery is on Wednesday and I really do not want it to have to be postponed. They have waited long enough and he is beginning to have some pain. Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. Please continue!

We have had some awesome storms here lately! The sky has been beautiful and the rain calming. There was a tropical storm last weekend but it pretty much fizzled out by the time it made landfall along the Gulf Coast.



The Bass Pro Shop opened about 10 minutes from my house. And boy are there some happy men in my family! Josh, Daddy, Aric and my brother, Chris are thrilled! And I have to admit, I have fun going there as well. There is always something interesting to see. We went last weekend with Daddy. We were in there for about 3 hours!! But so much fun.




Let's see...What else?? Josh is still working hard on the Halloween village. I am glad he is having fun with that. His work area is in my living room though! YIKES! The mess bugs me in the corner but we have to make some sacrafices. The OCD in me is screaming but I am learning to control it! Here are a few pics. All of the villages are not on there yet. I will post the final product as soon as he is finished.




I am been thrifting alot lately! There was a HUGE yard sale at the high school this morning to benefit the band boosters. I soooo wanted to go! I was looking forward to it but I woke up with a sore throat and could not get motivated. So we missed it. I bought the cutest cup at Goodwill a few weeks ago. I love the shape and the colors are wonderful!




Are you tired of reading yet?? I think I will end this post now and hopefully post more often. LOL! Here is one final picture that I think is sooo cute!

Oh My..

Doesn't this picture just melt your heart? Obviously Aric and Paw-Paw are very close. *wipes a tear* That is all for now.

Whew.....

What a week! First of all, school started on Monday. As you may remember, I had some mixed emotions about that. On one hand I was ready to go back and get back into my routines but on the other hand, I really did not want to lose the laziness of summer. But the week went fine. We moved into our new school last week. Final inspection was not until the Friday before school starts at 3 pm. Everyone was on pins and needles because if the school failed inspection then we would have to scramble around trying to get everything back into the old school that weekend. But thankfully we passed. The cafeteria and the gym is not finished so we are having to take our kids to the old lunchroom which is quite a walk! But things will eventually settle down and the routines will start!

Aric LOVES LOVES LOVES his teacher! I am sooo glad that I requested her and he was placed in her room. Her name is Mrs. Blackwell and she is amazing! They do sooo many fun things in there. Aric is actually not complaining about school! Plus she challenges Aric. Since he is above grade level, he gets bored easily but she challenges him every step! I am thrilled!

Brodie is sad because we are gone all day now. He was used to having us home everyday. He is soooo excited when we come home. He piles us in my lap and refuses to get up because he is worried that we are going to leave him! Soooo adorable!

I have not had much time to create this week. I am getting used to getting up early again. Hopefully tonight when the house is quiet I will get some creating done. I found an awesome blog with some really creative art journals. I can't wait to get started on one! Here is the link... http://heyjenrenee.blogspot.com Ok..I can't get the link to post so just type in the address if you want to see her work!

Thank you all so much for the sweet emails about my daddy. He is soo worried right now. But still feeling the same. Good days and bad days. He is planning everything in case something goes wrong. It gets me soo upset when I hear him talk like that but I know he just wants to be prepared. Just continue with the good thoughts and prayers please.
Ok...I know that was a long post. I promise to post more often so they won't be as long. Here are a few pictures from the week.

One last fun day...

Yesterday we went tubing with our friends Keith and Rachel and their kids. We had soooo much fun. We knew it was one last hurah before school starts back on Monday. And I have to go back to work tomorrow, UGH!
We were a site floating down the river! The kids had a ball on the rope. Poor Aric had a slight mishap his first time. He got on there and was scared to let go at first so he slammed into the bank! And slowly slid down into the water. I was freaking out! But he was fine and ran up to do it again...but this time he let go!
Here are some pictures from the day...










Oops...I saved this as a draft instead of posting! LOL...School starts TOMORROW!!! Wish us luck!

Summer is almost over...

Today was my last Friday of summer vacation. This time next week I will be sitting in inservice all day! And then school starts on the 11th. In a way I am ready but then again I am enjoying being home. But the way I look at it is that the sooner we start school then the sooner Fall and Winter get here! My favorite times of the year! Plus being back in school means that I am busier than ever. So that gives me less time to worry so much. Which is a good thing! :0)
So not much has been going on around here. Just working in my studio ALOT. Maybe one day I will post some of my creations on here. I am working on some things about my dad. I will show those when I am done.
Well I got my hair done yesterday. It is TOTALLY different! I will post pictures later. I like it. The color is something that I have never had before. My mother is going to flip when she sees it!
Let's see..What else??
My dad's surgery is still scheduled for Sept. 3. So please keep him in your prayers.
Josh and I are buying a new TV this weekend. Any suggestions?
Josh is already working on his HUGE Halloween village. He has been busy building away. I will post pictures when he is finished. It looks awesome so far. And yes...I am aware that it is only August. BUT it keeps him occupied AND since it is so detailed, it takes a while to complete. He will begin work on the Christmas village in September! LOL! It is even bigger than the Halloween one!
I guess that is everything that is going on around here for now. Boring as can be! Which is fine with me. Leaving you with some pictures. Some are recent and some are older. Love to all!

Stressed...

That is how I feel right now. Stressed and worried and aggravated! We found out while we were in Atlanta that my dad has prostate cancer. And if you know me, you know that I am a daddy's girl through and through. So I am very worried about him! But they caught it very soon and the doctor is very positive! So that is a good thing. He has opted to have surgery which will be in September. On the day that Josh and I are supposed to be in Birmingham for 3 days! So now Josh will be going without me. He has to go for a class but I was going along for the ride. We were going to drive to Atlanta the last day and hit IKEA for some furniture that we wanted. But now I will send Josh with a detailed list! There is no way that I will go and not be here for Daddy's surgery! I am aggravated because I have sooo much to do and I am TIRED! Aric and I had breakfast this morning and then met up with my parents to do some shopping. My dad has to keep busy right now to keep his mind off of everything. And being around Aric will keep anyone busy! So please keep my dad in your prayers! It would mean alot to us!
Have I mentioned that I have a new Ebay obsession?? Well I do! Probably not a good thing! LOL!
Well I am off to put away groceries and things that I bought. Especially the things I do not want Josh to know about! LOL!

Home at last...

WARNING!!! PICTURE OVERLOAD!!!
What a vacation! We had so much fun. But I am glad to be home! We had hotel issues but in the end it all worked out and we stayed in a fabulous hotel! We went to Six Flags...I was not that impressed! We SHOPPED and SHOPPED!! Ohhh I was in heaven! IKEA is the most awesome place! And Bloomingdales...and Macy's...and Urban Outfitters...and...Oh well I could go on and on!! But it was a great time! Aric's favorite was the Lego Store! He spent all of his money there! It was nice to get away for awhile. But while we were gone we got some sad news. But more about that later. I will leave you with some pictures. I will write more about our vacation in awhile.