christmas, oh, christmas

it is so hard to believe that christmas is here, it seems like just yesterday it was christmas. time sure is going by quickly!

well , all the shopping is done, if not the shipping, school is out for 2 glorious weeks and LMU is out until january 15th. i came home today from shopping and having breakfast with matt and tasha and then lunch with them and heather, jayden, jim and bonnie changed to warm sweat pants and hoody, warm socks, a toasty fire, soft couch, comfortable quilt and a good book and stayed that way for hours! it was... i don't think there is a word for how great it was!

we are staying home this christmas which is a blessing. we will miss our loved ones far away but i think keith and i need a rest. church is going well but it keeps us busy. we have to remind ourselves not to get so caught up in the "doing" of church that we forget why we are doing it!

i love middle school but i feel in some ways that i am a new teacher all over again. new team, new curriculum, new duties! it is exciting but exhausting, too.

and then there is the specialist degree. much reading and writing and projects! i am so glad that tasha is doing this with me b/c between the 2 of us 1 of us is sure to know what is going on, : )

i pray that God will continue to give me the stamina to continue all that i am involved in at this time. but at the same time i am so thankful to have the health to do all these things. i remember several times when i wasn't able to get up and do, so i remind myself to be thankful!

lord, help me remember why we celebrate this season. that you loved us so much you willingly gave your child for us. miracle beyond measure!

school, home and church

where do i begin? i know why i'm going back to school (purely worldly) to make more money and that makes me kind of sad. the only way teachers can get raises, especially with the economy, is to go back to school. i'm enjoying doing this with tasha, who is amazing. the girl works like a whirling dervish! but i'm a little disappointed b/c so far all i'm doing is a repeat of my master's degree work. i just keep reminding myself that this time next year i'll be done and will see the "fruits of my labor."

the praise team at church got a very nice compliment from our guest speaker and his wife. they heard us last sunday and we also sang for the beginning of the program they presented at our church on saturday, at their request. we have worked so hard to be sure that we are first of all leading the people in worship and that our music is a blessing. well, the compliment was that our music is truly annointed! we could not have a bigger assurance from jesus that we are in his will with the music!

the other thing that is happening at church is that this thursday we are opening a soup kitchen for folks in our area. this came about by keith's preaching on being a light to others. he asked people to put down on paper what they would be willing to work for and to see happen at church and this was one of the ideas. there are about a dozen people helping with this project! what a blessing : )

the youth group continues to be a bright spot in my life. we are consistently running anywhere from 10 to 12 on wednesday nights. i love seeing these young folks grow in the lord and for them keeping me young! one of "my boys" told me the other week that for someone with white hair i sure didn't act old, ha-ha. we are going to the corn maze in dawsonville saturday. one of the many reasons i love being a youth leader.

my job at school has kept me hopping. i told our curriculum director that it was very unsettling to be new and old at the same time. after all, this is not my first rodeo but it is my first time being at middle school. i still feel a little unsure of myself but they haven't asked me to leave so i guess i'm doing ok. i do love teaching 6th grade, although they are not that much different from older 5th graders. i'm thinking that the change happens after christmas break, that's when we always saw a difference in our 5th graders. i have a wonderful team who have taken me in : ) the day sure flies by b/c of all the classes.

i guess i'll close for now. ttyl

sadness

jean reeves let us know that pulitzer prize winner david finkel has written a book called the good soldier. in it he details josh's death. it will be 2 years in a week or two since his death. it is still so hard to deal with his death and if it is hard for us i can not even begin to imagine the pain his family goes through everyday. please keep his family in your prayers.

we love you, josh.

go dawgs! oklahoma state, sept. 5,2009

touchdown, gooooo dawgs! 4:03 score is 7-0. they are in possession of the ball. os 9th place ga 13th place
pushin' em' back from their 10. close to first down, os. one yard gain and we stopped them. close to first down for os. on the 20. smack talkin' on the field! first down os. low snap and caught and smack down by evans!!! what a tackle!! evans down, checking his shoulder, he's off the field but ok. 1 minute for this quarter. almost intercepted! but we lost it. third and ten and blitz by ga. cuff takes the quarterback down. hike to miller and out of bounds near the 35. under a minute and pick up of 3. boykin is out of the game. first down for us but there's a flag on the field, holding, repeat 2nd down. penalty on us. we were the most penalized team last year. end of 1st quarter.


nice pass but knocked out by os. good punt and os has a good run to 31 yard line. so far we are out doing them in all categories. flag thrown, false start offense, os. 5 yd penalty. os in possession, tough run, about 5 yds. pass to 41 yd. ga needs to hold em'! 2nd and 6. run and flag on the play. holding, offense, 10 yd penalty. os on the 50. 3rd down and ga blitzes. kick and in the end zone,out to the 20 yd line. cox has ball ( ga on offense), pass is complete. penalty on os. ball on the 24 yd line. pass, incomplete. no huddle, 3rd and 9. cox calls for time out. settle down georgia!! line up,ga pass ,and thomas off! first down and change! 17 yd gain!! drive for about 10 yd. hi mark richt : ) on the 49 got 3 yds. they're saying it's really hot on the field. ga in the I and nothing! ready to kick, good punt and bounce on the one yd line and the linemen run into each other, omg!! so it's a touchback, : ( on the 28 hand off and picks up the first down for os. pass and incomplete, almost intercepted! false start offense, 5 yds. replay 1st down. on the 25, pass and ga knocks it down. that's twice we could have intercepted and we weren't able to do it. evans back in the game. 3rd and 15. another flag. dead ball, false start on offense. on the 20. pass off run and stopped after 14 yd gain. still no 1st down. punt and thomas running and flag on the play on the 18. illegal block on us. ball inside the 10. pass and caught! ball on the 35. toss sweep and gain of 3. time out. on ga 37. pass and incomplete. too high and a flag on the play. no foul on the play. 3rd down. samuel tripped over his own freakin' feet!!! punt and short and caught on a hop by os. ball on the 28 and os pass and complete. ball on the 50. pass again and ball on the 46. time out ga, last time out for this half. 2 and a half minutes to go in this half. os coach is having a meltdown. line of scrimmage, pass long and touch down os : ( kick was good. kickoff and ga driving out of the end zone to the 23. pass from cox and it was almost intercepted! he was almost sacked! 2 and 10. hand off but false start on ga. 5 yd penalty. richt telling ga to remain calm and settle down. time out os. on the 20, fumble and frickin' os has the ball !@#$%$ flag on the play, personal foul on us! on the 5 push and stopped on the 3. 2 minutes left. pass and stopped again! line up, on the 3, hand off and stopped again!!! go dawgs! time out for os. here we go... ball on the 1. flag on the play, 10 yd penalty on os!!! os kicking, kick is up and kick is good. 7-9 at half time. hey uga puppy : )

3rd quarter-let's see a kick butt 2nd half!
i miss larry munson.
goooooooo dawgs! sic' em', woof, woof, woof!
dang, os carries the ball 74 yards in the opening kick off! os runs to the 15 yd line, pick up of 9 yds. inside handoff and the first down, to the 12. poor tackling on our part. line up, pass and incomplete pass. injured player for os. up and off the field. ok, line up ht, running and stopped! 11 yd line. line up, pass and complete but short of the first down. going to go for it. os will call time out. close to 2 yds to go. ball inside the 4 and dawgs stop the run! os gets 1st down. they're marking it and it is a 1st down. first and goal. dawgs stop em' again!! flag on the play. dead ball, unsportsmanlike conduct on os. os scores : ( kickoff and ga runs it back to the 10 yd line. ok, line up, run and only gained 5 yds. os player injured. he,'s up and he is walking off the field. line up, hut, pass and first down for us. running and down on the 30. hut and running and first down! pass and incomplete pass. os player is down and out. pass and complete and first down!!! driving the ball down the field. ball on the 50 yd line pass and run and first down again!!! lost a yard. sturdivant down. looks like a knee injury. needed help to get off the field : ( 2nd and 12. run out of bounds, why didn't he throw the ball??? gooooo dawgs! hand off and ga has the ball on the 35 yd line. kicking a field goal. up and good! ga 10 and os 17. what a kick! we need a touchdown! kicked and os runs it out to the 25. no gain on the next play. 2nd and 10 pass and first down for os. ball on the 35. no pass and short of the 49. heat is causing problems for us. dehydration and cramping. first down for os. pass and down on the 46. hut and pass and run and first down. come on dawgs! under 4 min for this quarter. pass and the slips and falls. no gain. hut, pass and incomplete pass. line, hut, and flag but no call b/c time out was called before the snap. 3rd and 9. line pass and blitz by ga and flag on the play. offense, pass interference. repeat 3rd down. ball on 49. dawgs rush and pass is incomplete. kick, deep and ball on the 4. line up, snap, running and out to the 11 yd. sturdivant out for left knee. doesn't look like he's out for the season. ball moved to first down on the 15 yd line. dawgs running only 2 yds. pick up. line, snap, pass off and ball moved to 18, gain of 1 yd. line, 3rd down, pass and incomplete. through the hands of charles. cox had a good pass. kick ready, low, wobbly, and ball is on the 6 yd line. 75 yd punt for butler. first time the dawgs have opened outside of athens since 1958. line, snap and brought down on the 12 yd line. os running for first down. clock is running. line up, snap, pass to the 20 yd line. 2nd and 6. os in possession. ball on the 20. os crosses the 20 and is tripped up. on the 20 os in possession, snap and pass and gained 3 yds. ga forces a punt. punted and ga runs and runs and runs and runs and is brought down on the 2 but there is a flag on us. illegal block! argh!!!

4th- ball is... on the never mind, quaterback is sacked! on the 35 and ga is brought down. 13th penalty called on os. ball is on the 35 os passes and incomplete. flag on the play. personal foul on ga, 15 yd penalty, first down. i don't know what the officials saw b/c it was a shoulder hit!!! it was not a head shot! ball on 18. os snaps and hands off and brought down on the 14. think they will kick. os passes and touchdown and that, my friends, i'm afraid, is the ballgame. goooooo dawgs, sic em, woof, woof, woof. kick and brought back to the 40. first down for ga. snap and flag on the play, false start, 5 yd penalty for os. ball on the 37. pass and ball on the 30. snap, pass and incomplete. ga is just not playing well. too many rookie mistakes. snap pass and incomplete again! punt and os running back to the 36. this does not bode well for the rest of this season. ball on the 37. os in possession. snap, pass and brought down. os runs and is on the 42. snap and pass and incomplete.

well , that as they say, is that. i still love my dawgs but what a killer!

funny 6th graders

first of all i love teaching middle schoolers! they are so funny:) one of the 6th graders came to my desk today to tell me something that had been on his mind. he asked me had i ever noticed that teachers who had taught for a long time were nicer than new teachers but older men teachers were meaner than young men teachers. he just thought i would like to know that observation. where that came from i have no idea and then he went back to his desk and went back to work, ha-ha.

it is so much fun to see how they develop their own ideas and opinions independent of others at this stage. some of the things they think can be so profound. we just read a story called "greyling" about a selchie that returns to the sea leaving his adopted mother and father. the theme of the story is that parents have to learn to let their children go and follow their own dreams and wishes. we had a lively discussion in class about this concept. they all agreed that for some of their parents this was hard, especially if they were the oldest or the only child. they are starting to feel the call of independence. i told them to cut their parents some slack b/c this was hard for them, too. i love the interaction with these young men and ladies.

anyway, i am learning. i feel like a new teacher and i have some of the same feelings i had when i first started teaching. it is coupled, however, with experience this time so i know the world won't end if i screw something up or forget to send a notice home in 7th period. that's a nice place to be! i guess i will always need to renew and refresh every couple of years but that's a blog for another time ; )

movin' on up

well i finally made it to middle school! i had been thinking and praying about this for about 3 years. last year i was asked to attend a meeting with some other teachers and our assistant school superintendent. they had 2 openings at the middle school and wanted to know if any of us was interested in moving. i immediately raised my hand. she asked us to think about it but i told her i had already thought and prayed about it. i had an interview at the middle school and was hired.

now the really neat part about this was that i felt led to take the praxis test last summer to be certified for middle school. i took the language arts and reading tests. i passed the reading test although at the time i would have preferred to pass the language test and was somewhat disappointed about the results. guess what the position at the middle school was for? reading! God just keeps on amazing me with His plans. i love being at the middle school and am so happy that God allowed me this opportunity!

georgia aquarium

monday we took nathan, kayla, brenna, and bj to the ga aquarium. it well worth the money. kayla took some great pictures and i took what i could, not being the photographer in the family. we all had a great time. georgia should be proud of this accomplishment. i know it had its detractors who said that it was wrong to capture these creatures but they have done a good job caring for thise magnificent creatures with dignity. if there wasn't someplace like this then the common man, me, would never to get to see them. they have also placed alot of emphasis on conservation and protection of the ocean and waters of our world. i think they have struck a good balance.

yesterday we took brenna to story time at the library. she had a good time there as she loves the library. we came home for lunch and nap and then she played in her pool and we caught bugs in her bug box.

today she played with the sidewalk chalk that oma and pepere got for her with g-daddy. we ate at zaxby's for nathan and then she lay down for a nap but it wasn't peaceful! she is a strong willed young lady and did not want to take a nap. i finally bribed her with making cupcakes when she woke up but in all fairness she had pretty much worn herself out by the time i got to her. she is now asleep : )

it will be sad to see them leave for athens tomorrow and then back to texas next week but i am very happy that they got to come. we are hoping to be able to get out there this october over fall break.

happy fourth

well, i got up at 7:30 this morning and made "panacakes" for all the family. then i went with keith to ingles, along with all the vacationers, and picked up the rest of our stuff for the annual jones fourth of july celebration. we got home where oma was making her delicious cucumber salad and her out of this world potato salad. i made my 4th of july cake and put out everything that we would need for the afternoon's feast. we ate lunch and brenna took her nap. when she got up matt and tasha had arrived with heather and jim and jayden. they stayed for a little while and then matt, tasha, kayla, nathan, brenna and i went to the lake where we met up with jan and kevin o'quinn. we had a lot of fun swimming in the lake and visiting. i swear, brenna is part fish!

we left at around 5:3o and got home, cleaned up, and started putting everything out. we had hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, cucumber salad, all kinds of chips, a cookie 4th of july cake and tasha's chocolate cake, and my cake plus cokes and such. it was so much fun to see everyone sitting around eating and talking and just enjoying being together. after we cleaned up we all went to the comfort inn parking area and waited for the fireworks to start. we were thrilled to see kayla on top of the van so she could get good shots of the fireworks. all told we had about 15 people there (pepere, oma, tasha, matt, nathan, kayla, brenna, bj, me and keith, jan and kevin o'quinn, don, heather, and jayden).

all in all we had a blast! we then came home and played with sparklers. brenna was thrilled!

work, work,, work

we are hosting the mother's day get together tomorrow at our house! i love it when we have people over b/c it forces me to clean the whole house and i mean really clean it. it's what "i call cleaning in the corners" cleaning. i always have such a contented feeling when the house is clean
: )

keith worked outside all day, mowing the grass (between rain showers), putting up a trellis that he made for a wild fox grapevine, and cleaning under the carport. we have been busy today!

lost in the mountains

i got a call yesterday from my friends jan and kevin asking me to feed their kitty babies while they were out of town this weekend. i said i would and then asked keith where they lived b/c i had only been there once. i remembered they lived in the mountains but i didn't remember it being hard to get to. my first indication that this might be harder than i thought was when keith said, "aha." now those of you who know me know that i was not blessed with the keenest sense of direction so when keith said aha, i knew i was in for an adventure!

he couldn't go with me b/c he had a meeting today so he drew me a map. my maps aren't like other people's maps. mine say things like, "look for the store on the right and go a little way until you see a bridge, go over the bridge and stay on this road ( notice there are no names given b/c it wouldn't mean anything to me anyway and certainly not road numbers!)" etc. well, to make things more interesting, it began to thunder, lightning, and rain like we haven't had rain in like forever! all i could think of was those poor hungry kitties, wondering where mommy and daddy were and why the heck there wasn't any food! anyway, i made it to the road on the mountain where their house is except i couldn't find the house and i had no cell coverage.

let me digress for a minute, b/c i have been lost before i have learned to bring provisions for my lostness. for this trip i brought my boots with thick socks in case i had to leave the car. did i mention that the road isn't paved? i also brought my coca-cola, umbrella and a book. you see, there have been times that i had to wait for rescue so i now bring something to occupy my time.

well sure enough even with my husband's wonderful directions i could not find this house! and i did not have cell coverage. i have learned a valuable lesson when i go someplace that i am not familiar with, i can always backtrack! well i drove all the way into the mountains which on a sunny day would have been beautiful but today was just "interesting" as it was pouring rain. came to the end of the road and knew this was not jan and kevin's house. so i turned around or at least tried to b/c i was stuck, see, i knew to prepare. thankfully, i didn't panic, rocked the car a little and was able to get unstuck. backtracked through the mountains again and drove until i had coverage.

well, i called keith and we proceeded to have a discussion about the directions. what he failed to mention was that there was a big ole' sign that led up to their house. you can't miss it! anyway, i found the house, fed the sweet kitties, and made my way home one proud lady that i did this with a little help from my husband.

btw, i had called matt and tasha to let them know that i was going "into the mountains" and if they hadn't heard from me in an hour or so to send help!!!

birthday day

what a wonderful day! we had a good service at church and then went to jim and bonnie's for a combination b'day and Easter lunch. bj called and nathan called to have brenna bunny sing happy b'day, a sweet present : ) my daddy and ingrid called to sing happy b'day. my family is amazing! i feel that as long as i have my family i have everything i need. it was also nice to get birthday wishes from friends through facebook.

as funny as it sounds, my favorite gift, after brenna singing happy birthday to me, was from keith, i got a weed eater! it trims and edges and is light weight enough for me to handle. and yes, i did ask for it. he also got me some perfume, sunflower and l'air du temp, 2 of my favorites.

i can't wait to see brenna's easter pictures. i know she was a little doll!

good friday

i had completely forgotten that today was good friday! and now i'm wondering how could i have forgotten!! this was the day that my Lord made the ultimate sacrifice for me. if this day had not happened then we would not be able to celebrate His resurrection. it is so incomprehensible to me how someone could love me so much that He hung on that cross for me. i don't think i truly understood this kind of love until i had children of my own. i would gladly die for my children or suffer for them to keep them from harm. this is what God did for us. we are His children and He loves us so much.

sometimes i get lost in the doing of "religion" that i forget how simple the gospel is. all that is required of me is to believe and accept the gift that was given.

i praise God for Easter morning!

gardening and spring break

keith and i decided to stay home for spring break and just enjoy being home with time to actually enjoy being home! keith and i worked in the yard this afternoon. a couple of the guys from church came over this morning to help keith with the roof of his building. it's almost done! i think i'm as excited as he is about this building. i worked in my herb garden and cleaned the gardens in front of the house. i wish we were going to have more great weather but that doesn't seem to be the case. we're supposed to get storms tomorrow and then much colder with snow showers on tuesday. a high of 39 on tuesday!! that's weather in georgia : )

it is so nice to just be home! i am going to watch movies, sleep late, clean the house, rearrange closets and bake. i love being home and cleaning and cooking. we are going to atlanta on thursday and friday. keith found a wonderful deal that will let us vistit fernbank, the aquarium, the atlanta history museum, and the botanical gardens so we are going to see matt and tasha and spend the night thursday.

hooray for spring break!

family

i love my kids! we went to tasha and matt's last night had dinner with them and went bowling. we talk almost every night with nathan and bj and keep up with them. i just think it's wonderful that what i wanted for us as a family has come true. we enjoy each other's company and can talk about anything. we are there for each other and have been there for each other all the time.

the wind down of school

i can feel spring break coming and soon after that the end of this school year. this time of year everybody is tired and a little cranky. and if i hear the words crct again i think i'll throw up!

i am so thankful that tasha does a countdown for us! it helps to know that i can do anything for 38 days. it's not that i don't love my job but it takes so much energy that sometimes i feel that i have to reach to my toes to get enough to go on.

i feel so fortunate that our school system is small enough that we don't have to worry at this time about losing jobs so i feel very blessed. i am so sad for those who are being cut in the larger counties. it will make teaching very challenging. i also want to say that people who think parapros are expendable are nuts! i was a para while i worked on my degree and i worked and made a difference in the life of children and helped my teacher be able to do what she needed to do. those paras will be sorely missed. their job is grossly underappreciated.

we talked to our little girl in texas. her birthday is coming up and so we asked her what she wanted and she said.... a penguin! how funny! the other thing she wanted was for us to play the georgia fight song, i love my little georgia bulldog : )

she's all that!

for those of you who don't read kayla's blog missed this precious picture of my beautiful gran! who knows? she might be the future hostess of "what not to wear!" the girl has style : )

cell phones and projectors

yeah! here's what my new phone looks like. i have mp3, unlimited texting, camera ability, fun stuff : )


another techie thing that has happened is that my school just mounted our video projectors to our ceiling and gave each 5th grade teacher their own laptops to use for school. now i know, those of you who are in upper level grades have probably had this for some time but for us in elementary school this is a big deal! i love it! i have the computer at my desk hooked up to the projector and all my morning work, announcements, vid streaming are done from my desk. i have done powerpoints about writing, i can also hook it to my elmo which saves alot on paper.

if someone had told me that i would be proficient in this technology i would have laughed in their faces, now i can't teach without it!

fireplace insert

this is what our insert looks like. it seems to be here at a good time as we really do seem to be going to get some real snow, not that "spilled sugar" on the ground we have had. it's not in yet b/c it is probably going to take at least 5 people to get it in!

oh, sick, sick, sick

i was at work on tuesday of this week when about 11 o'clock i really started to feel awful. i put it down to the salad i had eaten and tried to brave it and tough it out but at around 1:30 i gave up. as i was on my way to the office one of my babies at school is coming down the hall looking like i felt, so we both went to the nurse and she sent us home. oh my, i had no idea how much worse this was going to get.

at 4 i was in a wheelchair being wheeled into my doctor's office. to let you know how truly hideous i looked they admitted me through the back door! i was given a shot of phenergan, ouch, by the way, and sent on my merry way with something for everything that i had at the moment. the interesting thing was that i had never had a shot of phenergan before and as we were at the pharmacy drive-in window i had the awfullest sensation that i was going to pass out, i got tunnel vision, and my hands began to tingle and i just sort of fell back on the seat of the car. liked to have scared keith to death! come to find out that is how the medicine does. would have been nice to have known that in advance!

anyway, after 3 days out of work and taking medicine i am finally on the mend. limp and as weak as a kitten but better. i actually ate real food today. anyway, i am resting and watching movies and waiting for keith to get home with our new fireplace insert. i guess he'll put that in tomorrow. if we get snow this weekend it will be wonderful to have a fire again.

long time. it no blog

well, it was an interesting week. we had mlk day off on monday then it started to snow on monday evening so we were out of school on tuesday. it snowed all day on tuesday so we had no school on wednesday. i thought for sure we would be in school on thursday but we got a phone call on wednesday afternoon that the roads were still bad so we didn't have school on thursday either. so to make it a full week i had a minor procedure done thursday afternoon and missed school on friday!

i told bj that this made up for the vacation days at christmas when i was sick. it was kind of nice, the house was clean and we had nothing scheduled so i read 3 books, slept, and baked. my bff got me the missing books for my "mitford series" by jan karon. she came over before christmas, looked at the books i had in this series and got the ones i was missing. now that's a friend! so, i started at the beginning and have read all but the last one which i started on today.

we had a wonderful phone call this morning from our number 1 gran who wanted to talk to her g-daddy. she of course wanted to know about tiger and patty puppy. she wants to come and play : ) it won't be too long before we see them again. i forgot to tell nathan and kayla that pepere got her a big rabbit for easter.

well, i guess that's it for now. it will be back to routine next week, i like that ; )