I've Moved!

Please visit my new page at

http://leeleelovely1.blogspot.com/

and change your links!

See you there!!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... cool air and wet ground. We needed the rain but I'm glad it's over!

I am thinking... that I am worn out today!

Around the house... peace and quiet except for the dishwasher

From the kitchen... baked tilapia and fried rice. It was yummy so I'll gladly have it again for lunch tomorrow.

One of my favorite things... accomplishment. I had several errands planned for my day off yesterday but only got around to a few. I tackled them this afternoon and thankfully just have a couple left.

I am reading... Wedding Etiquette by Emily Post with Chelsea. I crack up at some of the seemingly useless information in there. If you have a wedding related question and can not find the answer there then you have yourself a serious predicament.

I am creating... new centers for my class. I think they're finished and everyone seemed pleased with their activity today.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you.
None tonight! Have a good week!

The One Where I Fall On a Scarf

What a week! After a snow day Monday, I returned to work and had a sub so I could do some reading testing. If I said "I'm going to show you some words. I want you to read them out loud to me. If you don't know a word just do the best you can" once I said it 21 times.

Yesterday was Wednesday but it was our Monday in every way possible. We rolled along pretty well and I had some brownies that I had made for myself during the snow but had to get rid of so I had bagged them up for snack. I really try to avoid bribing my kids because I want them to do what is right because it's the right thing to do and because I say to do it but around 2:00 those brownies became my saving grace for the rest of the day. One thing the brownies were not able to save me from was sliding across the room on a child's size brown fleece scarf and ultimately ending up on the floor after pushing a group of four desks completely apart. I guess there are only so many times you can say "Pick your things up off of the floor because if I fall it will be bad news for you!" In the end it wasn't bad news for her and I got a lot of hugs and really nothing corrects your behavior like thinking you've killed your teacher.

Wedding Talk: Worst Dresses Ever!

So Chelsea and I have been busy with the beginning stages of planning for the big day. We've looked at some venues today and spent the night just talking about things, looking at books and laughing.

Bridesmaid dresses always get a bad rap but I trust mine will be fine. For fun I wanted to share some horrible dresses. Enjoy!

Whiter than Snow

I love the snow on this little bird house. So pure and simple.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

Fun Memories from 2010

Happy New Year! 2010, like any other year, was full of ups and downs but I can definitely say I've had worse years and overall 2010 treated me pretty good.

Close to the beginning of the year we had a day of white here in Marshall. Of course MISD was the last to announce that school was canceled so we were up late making a snowman in the dark and then went for a morning drive once we woke up and determined we didn't have to work. Snow made for a nice long weekend.

Spring came and we loved the warm weather and ate some crawfish!

There were two graduations in our family. Lydia from high school....

And Dad from fire fighter training...

Summer came and I celebrated the end of my first year teaching with a fun party with this wild group
And headed down south for a getaway with Mom and Lydia

My summer went from this...

to this....

Which resulted in about four weeks of doing nothing at my parent's house and Mom taking great care of me before heading back to school.

I've had a ton of fun with these kids...

and can't wait to see how much they learn by the end of the year!

One awesome experience this year was seeing Garth in Nashville this Christmas with my favorite friend.


And speaking of favorite friend.... she will be a married lady by the time 2012 rolls around!

So excited that the 2011 wrap up post will include a wedding!

Thanks for following this year! Be blessed!

Update

Just a quick update.

If you thought my last post was an annoying advertisement, which it really was, I wanted to let you know that I was emailed my promotional code yesterday and ordered my cards today.
At checkout my total was around $70.00. After my code it went down to $8.00 to cover shipping!!!
Totally worth your time!

I'll share the card after they've been mailed

Oh Christmas Card, Oh Christmas Card....

I have a great site to share with yall! I'm sure you are all familiar with Shutterfly but if you haven't checked them out this year for your Christmas card then you have got to go check out their precious photo cards. Here are a few of the possible cards you may be finding in your mail box from me very soon.

My favorites are cards where the picture is the main focus.



These are fun and a little funky. I love the pink!


These are classic and both beautiful

Pick out your own dream card here!

Also, are you looking for a great gift? Check out the calendars Shutterfly has to offer! Mom has one with pictures of my sister and I, some months with recent pictures, some with childhood pictures, some with a mix. Last year for Christmas, my cousin Shelby gave our grandparents a Shutterfly calendar with a photo of Daisy from every month of her first year. They travel a lot and this was a great way to display her picture all the time in their motor home. Everyone needs a calendar! The best part?! Personalize the dates with family birthdays and special messages!

Ok, one last thing! Are you planning a party this holiday season? Unfortunately after throwing a Halloween bash I won't be but if you know me you know I love to throw a good party. If you do have a party coming up either for Christmas or to ring in 2011, Shutterfly also has the invites you're going to be looking for!

Now... Why did I post about Shutterfly today? If you have your own blog, go here to find out! Happy shopping!

10 Thoughts and Things from Thanksgiving

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope you had a wonderful long weekend celebrating your blessings. Because my weekend has been so long and full of late night shopping and way too much to eat, I'm going to blog a numbered list of what's been going on.

1. Aside from the Lord, my family, friends, health, home, and all other things very dear to me, I'm most thankful this week for a break from school. We were off all week and it was much needed. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is this semester and the weeks until Christmas will be full of lots of fun and memories with my kiddos.

2. Sunday night my friend Jennifer sent me a text asking me to babysit on Tuesday and Wednesday. I debated at first how to respond because part of me wanted freedom on my break but I wanted to see her kids and help her too. I told her I would so I kept Cate, Maggie and Walt for two days. They are so much fun! We went for a long walk around Jefferson on Tues and to see Tangled on Wed. My review on Tangled- super cute!





3. Wednesday night Mom, Lydia and I went downtown to see the lighting of the court house. This year is beautiful! Washington St. is covered in colored lights and there are two light shows every night where the court house lights are choreographed with a Christmas song. So much more to do and see than in years past.


4. Thursday was a lot of visiting and eating with family. Lydia and I were gearing up for Black Friday on and off all day.

5. Thursday night around 11 Lydia and I went to pick up our cousin Shelby and headed out to Wal-Mart. We did our shopping there and got everything we went for. We dropped Shelby off and went straight to Old Navy. They were over capacity (a little before 2:00 a.m.) when we got there so we waited outside in a short line until enough customers came out for us to be allowed in. We did our shopping and got in line to check out. When I say line I mean a LINE! The line wrapped around the perimeter of the store and we were in it for over an hour. The trade off was great deals! PJ pants for $5 and I got some jackets and sweaters that are priced at $34 and $39 for $15. My receipt says I saved $96 so I thought that was successful. I've been trying to get a big sack of clothes together to get rid of and now that I have some nice new things I will be more motivated to clean out some. Hopefully.

We got home around 4:30 Friday morning and went to bed!

6. We saw more family on Friday and today (Sat.) and now I'm exhausted!

(Sorry the pictures stopped after 2 days!)

7. My Christmas decor is up at my house and I'm loving my tree. I will do a special post with pictures soon. There's a few more things I want to grab and add before I take the official pictures.

8. Tomorrow is church and getting ready for the week. I was so ready to get out of the school last Friday that I left my room a mess so I'll be up there at some point getting that cleaned up and prepared.

9. I think I mentioned in a previous post that Chelsea's cousin was very sick. She passed away this week. Please keep them in your prayers.

10. In less than a month Chelsea and I will be headed to Nashville to see this guy. So excited!



Have a great week!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today Nov. 8, 2010

Outside my window... ~cool and dark. Today was the first work day since the time change and I couldn't help but take a little snooze before dinner when it was dark at 5:30

I am thinking... ~that I have so much to be thankful for! The Lord does provide and meet our needs.

I am thankful for... ~such a productive day. I got busy as soon as I got to work and by the time I left my desk and table were both cleared off and pretty much all important things done.

I am wearing... ~my very favorite Gap sleep shirt/house dress and leggings

In the learning room... ~10's and 1's, the th sound, plants, maps and globes, proper nouns and Thanksgiving

I am remembering... ~a fun weekend with my sister and family

I am going... ~to Nashville in 6 weeks! Chelsea and I got tickets to see a guy named Garth Brooks. Not sure if you've ever heard of him.

I am currently reading... ~a book borrowed from a friend about creative learning stations

I am hoping... ~my kids finish out the semester strong and they all continue to grow and learn. They are so precious to me!

On my mind... ~Janessa. She is Chelsea's cousin who is very sick with leukemia and septic shock. She's our age. Her and her family are constantly on my mind. My heart hurts so deeply for them. I put my cousin Shelby in that place and can not even comprehend it.

Noticing that... ~ the sun lit mornings make me much happier

From the kitchen... ~Parmesan crusted tilapia, brown rice, asparagus, broccoli, and homemade granola. Don't start thinking that I'm some kind of super weeknight cook. The fish was from the frozen seafood section at Wal-Mart. You know that little cooler between the meat and bread? 25 minutes in the oven and a couple of minutes on broil and it is amazing! I've also heard you can get a package with more for your money at Sams. Check it out!

Around the house... ~dishwasher almost full, washing machine going, Dancing the the Stars on tv

One of my favorite things ~nights on the couch


From my camera...~
Lots of little witches, super heroes and one police man. Happy Halloween!


For more daybooks go here

Loooong Week

It has been the longest week! It may have something to do with the fact that most of the day Tuesday I thought it was Wednesday and then on Wednesday it really was so I basically had two Wednesdays if that makes sense. I was out of my room testing today and stayed busy all day making sure I finished so today went by quicker and tomorrow is Friday and I always find plenty for us to do on Fridays. A few times a year my grandmas sisters and their daughters, daughters in law, grand daughters, etc. get together for a weekend and that is this weekend. My cousin Shelby and I are just going for the day Saturday and I think we're going to this craft fair. I remember going with my mom and aunts and grandma to something similar, it was called Connie Hines, when I was very young but I haven't been in a very long time, unless you count Canton and you know I've been there plenty. Anyway, I thought I would just share some pics from my phone that I've taken lately (ignore the quality.) Have a good weekend!

A few fun things in my house right now-



My sweet across the hall friend Lauren married our PE coach a few weeks ago. They are loving married life and the wedding was beautiful! This is the picture I took to show my kids the Monday after the wedding. They thought it was way cool they were married!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... ~dark and quiet sidewalks are wet from a sprinkler left on too long this evening in an attempt to save the herbs in our front bed from this drought

I am thinking... ~about a parent of a student I talked with tonight. Her situation makes me sad but her spirits are high. Lord please bless these sweet single mamas.

I am thankful for... ~God's faithfulness. I often wonder where this stage of my life will lead me but he will be faithful always.

I am wearing... ~plain blue Old Navy tee with a cami underneath, jeans, and Sperrys

In the learning room... ~things are ready for us to hit it tomorrow

I am remembering... ~friends from college I haven't seen in too long and fun times we've had together. It's been fun to talk over the last day or so as one of our own had the first baby of our little group

I am going... ~to shower and get in bed just in time to turn on the news and hopefully be out before the weather comes on

I am currently reading... ~Hostess With the Mostess
and other fun entertaining and decorating pages in preparation for a little Halloween party

I am hoping... ~for rain to wet our dry ground

On my mind... ~my sweet friend Kristen who had a tiny babe named Reid this morning. I have no words to describe how happy I am for her and Mark

Noticing that... ~ I'm not a morning person and my parents are right when they say my tone can be harsh and hurtful at times.

Pondering these words... ~none at the moment!

From the kitchen... ~take out chinese. It's been a low week for me in the kitchen. I've felt very crafty as far as decorating my home but not very creative with creating meals. Will start fresh Monday

Around the house... ~things are decently tidy. Knowing the landlord was stopping in for something today was my motivation to put things in their place this morning.

One of my favorite things ~is waking up to a cool room and staying under the covers dozing until time to get up


From my camera...~
Baby Reid!

For more daybooks visit http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Bullet Updates

I have so much to update that this is the quickest way. I'm afraid if I tried to write it out you wouldn't stick with me until the end.

*We're almost through the 3rd week of school. My class is darling! They keep me smiling and laughing most of the time and make me want to teach them and be with them. I couldn't say that a lot of times last year. I can already see with the changes I made from last year plus having a group that works a little better together that they are going to learn so much an do so well.

*My sister left for college (LA Tech) last Friday. Mom and Dad took her and got her set up. I hated to miss the day but could not leave my class so soon into the year. I went on Monday and saw her room and she showed me around campus and town. It was all very nice and she seemed to be doing really well. She is doing rush this week and has a few sororities she's interested in and classes start tomorrow.

*Chelsea and I have a new roommate. Aaron moved on to a new career venture and it made sense for him to be in the Longview/Tyler area. Mom mentioned to some friends at Elysian Fields that we had a room and they put the new ag teacher, Jessica, in touch with us. She came and checked out our room, liked it, we liked her and she moved in. We haven't gotten to spend a lot of time together yet but I'm very thankful to have her. Chelsea will be traveling most of the fall and I do not like staying alone so the Lord sent Jessica to us.

*This weekend my 1st grade team will be going to Ft. Worth for the bachelorette party of one of our teammates. It's been such a strange week after being out on Monday! We've had to squeeze everything into four days and are leaving as soon as the last kid walks out Friday afternoon so we won't have the usual after school work time. I loved my three day weekend and can't wait for our trip but will also be glad to start next Monday back in the routine we started last week.

*I am amazed at how well I feel after my surgery. I am back to 100% after recovery. Before the surgery I had several symptoms from the cysts and fibroid that weren't fun but that I was living with. It's nice for those to be resolved.

*That's all for now! Will hopefully have some pics soon!

Getting Well

Hey friends! I got a really random email today from a girl at some fashion message board site saying she had been to my blog and it was wonderful. I'm sure it was just a form email but I got to thinking that if she did actually read it that it's way behind and that I better get it caught up.

Some of you may have known that I've had a little surgery recently to remove an ovarian cyst and a fibroid from my uterus. It's really been a trying time for me because I was both anxious about having major surgery (they couldn't do it laproscopic) and really questioning God about why I was having these problems. I think God's answer might have been to a) remind me I'm not in charge of everything, even my body and b) to slow me down.

Earlier in the summer when it was determined that I did indeed need the operation it was scheduled for the very end of July, yesterday actually. I was a little anxious about it being so close to school starting but everyone told me that I should be fine so I was ok with that. Well in mid July on a Sunday evening I was at home watching tv and texting Mom and I told her that I was actually starting to look forward to the surgery because I was starting to have some pain from the cyst. I knew that was the cause of my pain because I have had cysts on and off since jr. high. I ended up calling the doctor on call that night because I was just nervous that if this cyst was so bad that it needed to be removed and was now causing me such pain like it never had before, I was worried what would happen if it were to be leaking or rupturing. I got the other doctor from my clinic that night (I love them both!) and treated it with pain meds and was to follow up with my doctor if I continued to have trouble. The pain did ease up and I was able to babysit Monday and Tuesday, even had my cousin and her boyfriend over for dinner Tuesday night. I was still uncomfortable some but assuming I just would be until the surgery and I was ok with that.

I settled in Tuesday evening watching Real Housewives and reading blogs like any normal night. I was getting pretty uncomfortable from some pain but was determined to watch my show. I called my mom when it was over and let her know that I was afraid something was up. It was much worse than the spell on Sunday. I ended up calling the doctor (bless his heart, it was late!) and he was much more concerned at this point and began to explain to me that the cyst could be turning in way that was restricting the blood flow to my ovary which would, without removal of the cyst, kill my ovary. Being a nearly 23 year old with no kids yet, this is not what you want to hear. He encouraged me to go to the er for an ultrasound to make sure this wasn't the case and to get some pain meds. Mom rushed over right away and we went. I was so uncomfortable that they gave me morphine and luckly the ultrasound showed normal blood flow. We were thankful but were also realizing we were not going to be able to stand me having random bouts with severe pain for two more weeks. I talked to my doctor the next morning and within the hour he had my surgery moved up to the next Monday.

We went in last Monday morning and got things under way. I went back quickly and woke up well enough to eat lunch and visit with a lot of sweet friends, while only having minimal pain thanks to my handy pain med pump. It's been funny to remember back on the visits I had during that time. They're a bit blurry in my memory! ha! Mom kept commenting on how I wasn't sleeping like she expected I would. I was very happy!

I went home to Mom and Dad's late Tuesday evening and they've taken great care of me. I can't thank them enough. It's been tough because I am independent and in charge and having to be cared for and not able to jump in the car and go to wherever I want isn't an easy pill to swollow. I reminded myself over and over how my sweet grandparents were both in this situation for much longer and in much worse pain. I was with them constantly during that time but having a little bit of a glimpse at what it was like for them gave me a much different perspective. Again, I'm very thankful for sweet friends who check on me and visit and my family who's taken care of me and put up with me being on their couch for all of this time asking for things.

I'm recovering really well. My mom has been back to work so I'm up and down during the day taking care of myself more and more. When I start huring and get frustrated I have to remind myself that I have a large incision and stitches on my ovary and uterus so there are three places trying to heal and it hasn't even been two weeks and overall I'm doing great. I've caught up on a lot of tv and have just relaxed.

Thank you so much those of you who kept up with what all was going on and visited, checked up on me, brought goodies, and prayed! It's been a great blessing to be loved on!

Next on my agenda- breaking out of this joint and getting to my classroom! I'm so excited for a fresh new year!!

Summer Update

So.... What's been going on?

Other than a work conference in Dallas and a quick trip to Abilene, summer has consisted of a lot of lazy days here in Marshall.

I've been keeping Henry and Jackson while Caroline is at camp. This weekend they will trade out and she will come home and Jacks will go. Hopefully I won't have to work so hard to get someone to go to the pool with me when my girl gets back.

So I mentioned my conference in Dallas. This was my view and the whole week consisted of a lot of talk about teaching kids to read, cold conference rooms and some room service.
After a quick day in Abilene I rushed home because I was scheduled to be Minnie Mouse at Daisy's 2nd birthday party.
I think the picture says it all. It was a precious little party!

Thoughts from a Water Park

Yay Summer!!

My summer started off in a rush as school ended and I headed to South Texas with Mom and Lydia. We've made a habit of sister/mom trips the past few years and they really are great fun.

We hung out around the river walk, did some shopping, ate goooood food but the biggest part of the trip was going to Schlitterbahn. We love water parks!

Mom and Lydia are big slide riders. I am too typically but on this trip I loved the tube river rides and laying out by the pools, because I'm the ultimate people watcher. Laying by the pool was where the thought for this post came about.

Here are a few random thoughts and questions from my lounge chair at Schlitterbahn:

Where is that mans wife and does she know he is wearing those goggles?

Roasted corn? Yes please.

Does the lady standing in the wading pool watching her kids play realize she's getting a little carried away with the dancing to Single Ladies?

That man does not need that turkey leg or ice cream cone!

More stairs?!

Hey! There's that guy again and his wife.... and he's still wearing the goggles!

And lastly, one more vacation observation that actually occurred at The Alamo:

Does the leash you have on your child really do any good when he's running so fast from you that you can't catch it?

Happy Vacationing!


PS: If you look to the right you will see a new widget that is the link to my "community." If you have no idea what Blog Frog is you should check it out. Tons of links to great blogs and discussions. If you're here because you came across me on Blog Frog, I'm glad you clicked over and hope you come back!

PPS: My in real life friend and blog friend Christina is probably the most educated person I know when it comes to food and she started a new blog just for that! Here is the link. I checked it out today and I know she'll have some great things on there!

Show us Your Life- Where you live: Marshall, TX

Months ago when I was reading over the Show Us Your Life schedule, I remember seeing there was going to be a week dedicated to your town and I thought to myself that I would definitely love to do that. I was really excited when I realized it was this week!

I live in Marshall, TX, a small town in East Texas with about 23,000 people.

The center of our town is the downtown square which is home to the historic Harrison County Court House. The court house was built around 1900 and although isn't currently used was recently restored and will be open again soon. On the square and streets surrounding the center of town are several cute shops and restaurants. There are organizations who are very dedicated to making Marshall a great place to be and you can tell they've worked really hard to make downtown nice.

One of the main tourist attractions in Marshall is the Wonderland of Lights in December. There is an ice skating rink, carriage rides, home tours and a lot of lights everywhere.

I love downtown but another one of my favorite parts of where I live is Caddo Lake. Caddo is the only natural lake in Texas and Caddo Indian legend has it that the lake was formed from a giant flood but other theories suggest an earthquake. I love the narrow waterways and the cypress trees.

(Picture credit)

Another fun and interesting thing about our area that most people don't know is that Ladybird Johnson grew up in a beautiful plantation home between Marshall and Caddo Lake.

(Photo credit)

There's so much more I could say about Marshall but it would take a while. If you're interested in history and traveling to small towns, you should check out Marshall. Lots of B&Bs and good hotels. It would be a perfect weekend get away!

Crazy About...

1. Every chance I have to get some sun! I layed out for a little while yesterday and got in the pool. It was amazing!

2. The new night shirt/lounge dress I got at Old Navy this weekend. So comfy!

3. A clean house with the last load of laundry in the dryer with the previous loads already put away

4. Steam coming from the dishwasher

5. A refrigerator full of groceries with plans to eat at home all week. I must stay strong!

6. A yummy lunch packed for tomorrow

7. Freshly pedicured toes

8. Roommates who are home. Wasn't a fan of being home alone for two nights.

9. The last week school with all 20 kids!

Loving Spring!

It is so nice to be able to spend some time out side every day. We've used our front porch so much in the last few weeks. It's become my favorite place to be.
Last weekend Aaron got some crawfish and we spent all day outside getting some sun, eating, talking and listening to music. It looks like this is the only picture I have of the day. It's hard to take pics when your hands are dirty from crawfish.

School is winding down and I'm ready. Lately, I've been falling into bed every night and it's harder every morning to get up and moving.

Sorry for the short post. Just wanted to do a quick catch up. Have a great weekend!

Letter to Ronel

For several months now I've been reading the blog of an amazing family, the Parkers, from Houston. They have 3 children of their own and had been in the process of adopting from Haiti when the earthquake hit. Their adoption was rushed and they were able to bring their son Ronel home. I read the blogs of others in the same situation and love to see how they have adapted their lives to love these little boys and girls who even though look different from them, are absolutely beautiful. I haven't watched The Blind Side yet because I know it will make me want to tell Aaron and Chelsea to bring every lonely teenager at Marshall HS home to spend the night, so you can imagine these little Hatian babies totally steal my heart!

I wanted to share this link to one of the best blog posts I've ever read. If you have a heart for adoption or kids for that matter, you have to read this! Such beautiful words.

Have a great weekend!