Box of Chocolates

I didn't do Christmas Cards this year.  I thought I would do a little blog recap of 2010. We got to play in REAL snow!  There was a 10 day stretch that it never got above freezing. The lego frenzy started in our house. At some point even Christmas toys are just not enough to get you through winter. Mark installed aluminum fence around the pool. We visited family in Florida for spring break. The girls played tee ball for the first time. They were on the same all girl team which they all named Pink Panthers.  The girls got there first ever trophy. Hey it is a big deal! Nathan turned 4.  He likes anything Star Wars or Lego. If it happens to be Lego Star Wars even better! Mark made Nathan's dresser to match his bed.   Mark and I ordered furniture for our room and we redecorated. Crown molding, new closet doors, and furniture.  Very nice hideaway. Once the bedroom project was finished Mark started to tear down our deck. Madison age 7 got a sp...

Prompt: How would you change Alabama public education? As a parent and former teacher I feel like there are a hundred things I could change about Alabama public schools.  If I could change just three things about public education in Alabama they would be less emphasis on Accelerated Reader,  an emphasis on writing and I would change how parent and teachers communicate.  I feel by changing these three areas that public eduction would see an improvement in learning.  Let me share with you my ideas.   First I would change the way Accelerated Reader is used in the school.  I am not against the program.  I think that is is being used wrong.  The only thing the kids are getting from Accelerated Reading right now is how to annihilate the love of reading.  I feel like it should be used to reward instead of demanding the reading to be done and point to be met for a grade.   The second thing I would change is writing instruction.  This is...

Last week I had a thought, "do this".  It was and idea to do something for someone else.  At first I thought it was a great idea.  I started to think about it more and that is where I got myself in trouble.  I starting to think to myself how silly my idea was.  I also started to think about what the other person might think or say.  I thought about it so much I completely talked myself out of doing it. A week goes by and today I am listening to the Christian afternoon DJ.  I like him because he challenges you.  I listen to him almost daily as I cook dinner and clean up the kitchen.  Today he was challenging people to call in and tell about a time that you talked yourself out of helping someone and the lesson you learned.  As I listened to these stories I couldn't help to think about my small still voice last week that said, "do this".  I think I  talked myself out of blessing someone else for the fear of looking silly. I do...

I have to say that the war that I am in isn't so bad.  I have to update my "war". What I thought was going to be teeth pulling is actually moving along very nicely. I have to write this positive update for one reason.  It is because I woke up today in a foul mood. I know it sounds contradictory.  Just hear me out. I didn't want to do what was needed to be an active member in this household today.  I didn't want to take the utilities bill downtown in the rain,  I didn't want to go grocery shopping in the rain, I didn't even want to get dressed and the best part is I didn't want to do two and a half hours of ironing and laundry folding.  Then I learned a lesson in all my 'tude today.  I have such a good life and really have no reason to wake up with the attitude that I had today. Romans 8:28 and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Philippians 2:4 is the kicker ...

Over a year ago I wrote a blog titled Roll Tide.  Well, I was told ... " Never resort to rolling tide...go to WAR (eagle that is.)".... and some very encouraging words and then "....but, NEVER, repeat, NEVER, roll tide."   I am at War this year! A year ago I wrote a blog about Alexandra and trying to get her into kindergarden a by the difference of a mere 35 days.  I had to revisit it because here we are a year later and well it is as I predicted...."She will be reading at a first or second grade level in k or we BAN books." I am going to brag about my girl...she has exceeded my prediction! Her teacher is on her toes when it comes to my girl. HEE HEE I told them but they wouldn't listen to the crazy mom that thinks  knows her kid is exceptional. That is an exception to the norm.  ALL my kids are exceptional in some area.  Aren't all people....YES!  We all have strengths and weaknesses.  I just knew that kindergarden this year..... is what m...

So much is happening in my life, yet I feel like nothing is getting done.  Ever feel like that?  You are so busy yet nothing seems to be completed.  I had big plans for the end of this year and here it is Sept. 15th and I don't have many of my goal items even started. I am at a huge crossroad in my life.  One of going from stay at home mom to ______      that is the question.  What am I going to do next in this so called life?  I have been blessed to be a stay at home wife and mom for almost eight years now.  WOW, eight years!  I have been a mom for longer than I taught in the classroom.  I call it my second profession.  Teaching was my first profession, Motherhood second profession, and my third is in the balance. I could very well go back to the classroom.  I know without a doubt that I would be a better teacher now that I have been on both sides of the teacher / parent relationship. We have always had the ...

pas sion  |ˈpa  sh  ən| noun 1  strong and barely controllable emotion •  an intense desire or enthusiasm for something  •  a thing arousing enthusiasm Lately I have been thinking about what is my passion?  Mostly because I am planning on going back to work next year. Teaching is my chosen profession. I spent a great deal of time and money in the schooling for my chosen field.  I like teaching, but I am not passionate about being an elementary school teacher.  I like photography and scrapbooking (as a social activity), but I am not passionate about these things either. The light bulb came on this week for me and so of course I must share. I think my passion has been staring me in the face for years.  I just now starting to see how I can use this passion for good and not evil.  It is a foreign world to most and a huge burden that has to be dealt with often by others.  I can't read enough articles on the subjec...

Well, school is in full swing.  Nathan and I are starting a play group next week.  Funny how things in life happen.  Not funny Ha Ha, but funny how looking back on life and you get that 20/20 vision.  Looking ahead sometimes is so blurry and seems impossible and then you look back and say to yourself,  "that is why that happened!" I have had to reminisce this week on why play group is important to me and got my 20/20 vision.  I had to speak to a group of ladies.  I am starting a new play group, at my new church, in my new town, with new to me moms, with new to me kids.  I am excited because I know what play group has done for me and I am excited for this new in my life.   I am also sad on the other hand because I miss my peeps.  I started organizing play group almost 6 years ago!  Six?  Where did the time go?  Alex was a bun in the oven.  Maddie wasn't even 2.  Some of you reading can remember sitting in the n...

We are three days into school and I am a loss to what to do with Nathan.  Just the two of us seems to be leaving us with a lot of down time.  I am sure this will all change very soon.  I purposefully didn't plan anything this week.  It is kinda strange just having one kid at home during the day.  I am used to being out numbered.  For the past five years I have been out numbered, 3 to 1 at one point.  Now it is just me and the man child. This morning was what I expected school for two to look like. Alex was unmotivated and easily distracted while getting ready.  Madison was dramatic.  I swear she has a button for tears.  I think by the time she left her attitude was better.  I am eager to see how the treated Alexandra during the task of taking her to class.  All I asked was for Madison to walk Alex to class.  You should have seen the reaction and the attempt to get out of my simple request. Once they are dropped off thi...

This summer has been a good one.  The kids are ready to start school and to be honest, I am ready for them to start school too.  The three of them together everyday, all day can be trying at times.  They are three individuals with three minds of their own and they don't always agree.  Shocking!  I love having them at home, but they need a break from each other.  The start of school is perfect for that. Yesterday was meet the teacher.  Alex is starting Kindergarden. Maddie is going into 2nd grade.  Nathan has one more year home with momma.  That is very exciting for me. Maddie said to me the other day, "meet the teacher is my favorite school event of the year."  She is so stinking cute!  She used the word event which made me laugh. Maddie's teachers name is Jennifer which means she is pretty close to my age.  Heather and Jennifer were very popular in the 70's.  She seems very nice. Praying for a good year for both my girl...

We just are settling in from being gone for over two weeks. What a great time we had. Our whole excuse for going to Florida was my cousins wedding. I decided if I was driving the 13 hours then I was staying until Grandma kicked me out of the condo on the beach. Well, she would never kick me out so that could have been a problem. I kinda like taking care of 1,000 squares on the beach. I was ready to be home in two weeks, so I didn't have to get an eviction notice from Grandma. Mark stayed a week in Florida and flew home to work (love him!) and we stayed and played. We visited with a lot of family (Nathan got very confused). My aunt, your great aunt, grandma/great grandma. It was enough to make ones head spin! Then we tossed in friends and a playgroup. I can't believe that we started a play group over five years ago and how much kids grow in five years! I then went Orlando on my way to Jacksonville to visit Aunt Ruth and Uncle Frank for lunch and then on to Jacksonvil...

Today as I am driving the girls to art class I was thinking to myself these things.... How long will I have to drive around town to do it thoughtlessly. What I mean is when you grow up in a town you drive around without much thought. You don't have to pay attention to every sign. You know how to get to the main roads and without much thought can say what cross street you are stopped at without looking at the sign. Another thing I then thought about is when will I stop driving around town and think to myself how I don't live in St. Petersburg anymore and that this in not "my" town? It seems so strange to be in North Alabama at times. We have been here since April of last year. We bought our house a year ago tomorrow. July 1st was our closing! So I dropped off the girls and went to run errands and went to the places I now consider "my" stores. Hobby Lobby at Jones Valley, Chick-fil-A on Whitesburg. All foreign words to some of you, but these are ...

I just don't think banning BP is the answer. Stop driving all together might be, but that would be an inconvenience for people ~ so let stick it to their wallets and support some other oil company. Logic, please? So if you stick it to BP and they go bankrupt~ how and who will pay for this mess? I'm just sayin'! Where is let logic of pulling into another gas station that drills in the Gulf too? WHATEVER People. Pull your heads out of the sand! BP is not the only person to blame here. Our reliance on OIL seems to be the bigger issue. I'm not ready to give up my mini and therefore I will pull into BP and get my gas. I look at is as supporting the clean up effort. Just something to chew on. Had to get that off my chest. Too long for FB.

Is this thing on? Does anyone still read my blog?

"Wisdom, compassion and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men." "Faced with what is right, to leave undone shows the lack of courage." "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." Okay enough about what Confucius says. I like bible verses better..... Psalms 82:3 defended the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. I know some that read this might not believe in the bible or in Jesus. My point here is not to make you believe, but to do something worth while in this life. I choose this verse to help me highlight two non-profits. One is Bridge of Hope through Gospel for Asia, the other is Cure International. Both are Christian based organizations that not only help the physical needs of the children, but tell them of the love of Jesus. I linked both to the left under worthy of a look. I put the Confucius saying first because we all look to great philosophers and teach...

Tee Ball has provided many laughs along the way. Half the team will start Kindergarden in the fall and have never played ball before. You can only image the goofs and spoofs. It was just a couple months of games. Not too long, not too short and tons of fun. What tee ball has taught me... 1.) Stomach aches are instantly contagious and a few of the kids are in need of medical care because they get stomach aches every game. 2.) Everyone wants to be pitcher. 3.) The girls mostly get directions in parts and hardly ever complete the whole direction. For example, "pitcher when you get the ball, make the play at home." The pitcher will run to home plate without the ball. 4.) The kids love being called Hoover (as in a vacuum cleaner) when they catch the ball. 5.) Everyone wants to use the pink helmet or pink bat even if they are too big. Most frequently asked questions when I am dugout mom... 1.) "Can I go talk to my mom?" 2.) "When do I bat?" which is fol...

~Tee Ball is about to wrap up. Just long enough to start getting tired of going twice a week. Girls had tee ball pictures which set me back a few bucks. Can't wait to get them tonight! Working on a project for the coach as a thank you gift. Scrappy of course. ~Maddie is going to start swim team....maybe. Swimming around these parts is different than home. There are not public pools all over town that you pay a couple of bucks to swim. Pools around here are members only pools where you own a membership. Let me break it down they way I understand it. $300 membership, almost $400 in dues each year and you have to pay to be on swim team $45 for the month of June only AND you have to buy a $42 swim team suit and a $25 practice swim suit. Since we have a pool we don't need to be a member of one, I did find the USA swim team in town that is just about $50 a month and they swim all year. ~Nathan wants to do karate? Just add it to the ever growing things we are doing. ~Al...

I have always been passionate about non-profit organizations. I have dreams of starting my own but never know where the need is the most and have the defeatist attitude of there are so many organizations and foundations already out there. So, today I had an ahh ha moment. I will no longer sit back and admire these organizations and foundations, but make it my passion to get the word out. I takes a village and I am going to be active in this. My first foundation is listed to the right. Haley Vincent Foundation. I have a friend that is very involved with this foundation and they need your help. All donations are tax deductible ~ click on Be a Hero. No check is too small for the families that get help from this foundation. More to come on how you can help. Not all help needs to be in the form of money! Some just need you to get the word out that they need help.

For Mother's Day the kids got me a Hobby Lobby gift card (our local craft store) . I had already scoped out a scrap kit I was going to get, but was going to wait for the 40% coupon that comes out on Sunday. I already knew what I was going to buy with my Mother's Day gift card, Star Wars scrapbooking kit. Little did I know this was going to cause me grief. The gift that keeps on giving. To make a short story longer, I took Alexandra out yesterday to Hobby Lobby because the girl just needed a break from Nathan. Since I am a stay at home mom they are together a lot. He is a typical little brother and was just getting on her nerves. So off we we went for some retail therapy. Just the two of us. We took our time and just looked at everything. I am starting a things to do list for summer and one is origami. The paper is not cheap. Well it isn't expensive just more than I want to spend on paper you fold up. Well, I found it for almost 1/2 off in clearance. Which i...

I live on a golf course, the sixth hole to be specific. I don't say this to be hoity toity. Just stating a fact in order to tell my story. The golf course is a country club ~ members only (which I am not a member). I have to say that I see a lot of funny stuff just looking out my window or being in the backyard. So let me take this time to just list some of the things I have seen and my take on it all. Here is a picture for reference if needed. Dogwood to the left, 6th hole center and the water hazard. Yes, we have had balls in the pool. Kinda scary and I try not to worry about that. 1. A golf cart that looks like a Rolls Royce in fact does NOT make you a good golfer. This man golfs what seems to be every Thursday and he is well.... a shankapotomus. The only reason why I know him is because of his cart and the fact in is in my neighbors backyard a lot. Oh and he drives like a maniac in his silver Rolls. 2. If you are in my backyard or your ball is in my backyard you should ta...

Lots of questions going on upstairs. I have started four blogs this week not able to finish one. Everything in my life seems so random lately. Everything going on around me makes me ask more questions about this so called life. The kind of questions that are never answered. The one that is the hardest is the death of a neighbors mother. This family is so family oriented and it shows. My neighbors 90 year old mother lived with her for years. She home schools her teen boys and cared for her elderly mom. These things she has done for many years. Selfless woman. I can't even begin to tell you how I admire her. She has no idea how much I respect her and her choices. Although her choices are not the choices we have made for our family, I admire her for the choices she has made for her family. All that to say the lost she has had this week is devastating. To lose your mother even if she is 90 is hard. As an outsider looking in I think it is wonderful that her 90 year old mo...

We are days away from celebrating Nathan's fourth birthday. I have to register Alex for Kindergarten on Friday. I am a little sad and yet happy with all this growing up going on around here. I am so blessed let me count the ways (I'll try to keep it short).... 1. My grandmother visited us for a week. I am blessed for my grandmother to still be with us and able to visit. Not every kid gets to know their great grandmother. We had a great week. 2. My kids are healthy. For those that do not know someone with a chronically ill child let me say it puts healthy in a different light. I am not only blessed to know this family, but also blessed that it make the "normal" a blessing. I do not take this health for granted! I know that life is unpredictable and that anything could happen. For now I am blessed to have such healthy kids! We just had a well visit for the girls. Alex had to get her eyes checked. They found that she is a bit farsighted. The eye doctor said ...

I had to ask myself this question yesterday, "what was all that about?" You know the saga of life, the answers that just don't line up, the frustration, the plan B though ZZ, and the waiting. When the answer finally comes and you are dumbfounded about everything you had to put up with in order to get it. My questioning was because of a very unexpected email yesterday. I wrote the Alabama Department of Education on Feb. 25th. I had given up all hope to get the answer I needed, let alone the answer I wanted. I called the call center for certification a few times on Feb. 25th. One lady actually said to me "I talked to you earlier today." Eek! I hit a brick wall after a few phone calls and then went to email because in a reply I would have to get my answer in writing. When all my hope in getting an answer was gone I got an email in which I got the following reply... "Please see the attached document. The 60 month requirement has been removed; theref...

It all started with the chair. I figured a good place to start in the guest/craft room was with a chair. I knew I wanted to do black, white and a splash of my personal favorite RED. The chair is more of a black and cream but, I LOVE IT! I then stumbled on the table on clearance and well my craft area was born. I signed up for a credit card (gasp) to save 10% and Pier 1 is having triple points in April so I also get two $20 gift certificates! Best part is I already saved my money to buy the table and chair so all I have to do it pay the bill when it comes in. I feel like I got such a great deal and exactly what I wanted plus 10% off and a $40 bonus. OH and a 20% off my entire next purchase. EEEKS! It is funny some tell me it is so girly. Well I am a girl! I love French decor which Mark doesn't really care for or my whole house would be French country. Since it is my room (shared with the occasional guest) I made it 100% me~ Ooh la la.

I am tired of doing things that do not add up logically. We do things because it is just the way it is done, the law, or protocol. I have to say I am feeling a bit rebellious. Which is not always the answer. Yet, rebellion led us to the country in which I live today. Not perfect, but a good place to live. I am tired of society trying to make things work different when they can't. Improvement is always welcome, but not always achieved. Does this mean we stop trying to improve, of course not. It seems that emphasis has been misplaced at times and facts forgotten. For example, FACT: I am not a genius. (shocking to some, other are saying "far from it!") FACT: I can't become a genius. Not even if I surround myself with MENSA and read books all day long. My IQ is what it is and declining everyday. I might be able to improve it a tad here and there, but a genius I will never be. Society has a habit of trying to fit square pegs in a round hole and sometimes th...

Alex and Nathan just finished an art class at the Museum of Art here in town. I thought I would share some pictures of their work. Snowmen ~ a multi process piece of art. Based on a book with collage art as the illustrations, Snowball? was the book? At least that is what Alex is telling me. Obviously Nathan has perfected the cutting of circles. Alexandra's bowl ~ started with clay, fired in the kiln then painted, and put in the kiln again. Nathan's is pretty much in the shape of the cube that the teacher gave him to start with :)

I am so frustrated on so many levels. So why all the frustration you ask? Well if I understand it all correctly (because when I call the departments of education for two different states I sometimes get the same answer) It all is going down like this... 1. I let my Professional Educator's Certificate expire. Not much I could do about that not working in the classroom and having kids in '02, '04 and '06 kinda kept me from going to work or taking two college classes. (Hind sight I should have made time.) 2. Alabama will not let me get certified in this state because my degree is greater than five years old. I graduated USF in 1999 and 2001. Yes, twice I graduated and have a loverly masters in elementary education that I am being told is not worth the paper it is printed on. 3. I must get re-certified in the state of Florida in order to get certified in the state of Alabama. What this means is I have to take two college classes in the education field from an acc...

I am reading a book by Beth Moore called So Long Insecurity you've been a bad friend to us. I was asked by a friend to do a book club kinda thing. I agreed just to feel included so many miles away (insecurity?). I am lonely of being in Alabama without my girlfriends and agreed to read this book. I have to say I didn't think I had issues with insecurity at the time I bought this book. I am a pretty secure woman, but as I continue to read I see where we all have some issues with insecurity. For anyone that knows Beth Moore you know she is a no nonsense Christian and is very challenging. I appreciate her openness and honesty. I am really enjoying the book. Mostly because I have two girls that will be women one day. Don't we all want our daughters to be secure? Of course we do. I think Beth Moore has hit the nail on the head! My challenge to all my girl friends is to not worry about what other think and buy a book that is about insecurity and read it! If not for yo...

I am sitting by a fire in the fire place, Mark is out in the man cave and the kids are upstairs playing nice. Have the mother planets aligned? So much goes on day to day that I want to take the time to do a random post... Nathan uses a made up word " butcept ", as in I want ice cream butcept I already had some today. He has some how turned but and except into one word. He also uses it daily. Madison has made all A's all year. She is a good kid and her teacher told me he would love to have all 21 of his students just like her. That is awesome! She is much harder on herself than I am. She also wants to be in the Olympics so she can be on TV. Not to win, just be on TV. Alexandra is going to take a drawing class in the spring. K-4 th grade class. The Pre -k teacher is recommending her for the older class. Yeah Alex! Mark and I have just celebrated 12 year anniversary. I tried to get him to take me to Hawaii this year. I understand why he said, "not this...

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Nothing on this earth is perfect! Well, maybe a flawless diamond. Even so it is only after it is cut, polished and made to be "perfect". With that being said, I want to concentrate on the where moth and rust destroy. For the last few weeks I have notice some new flaws with our house. Nothing time and money can fix of course, but flawless this house is not. Then I have to remind myself that new or old there are no guarantees that if you buy a house it will be standing in 6 months or 10 years. These are the thoughts that consume me. Even after we spend the money to fix this house up things are going to break, rust, crack, peel, dent, get scratched, need paint, stain, and get dirty. Where do you draw the line? What is good enough or not good enough? Even if you buy the top of the line materials in time it is going be destroyed. This verse keeps poppin...

Nathan has to have his yearly review too.....

Alex aka Ajaycat. Over the past year. She starts Kindergarden in August of this year. DEEP BREAH....SIGH......

Madison over the past year.....

The end of the year is always so crazy. I would love to do a post of Christmas, one for Madison's birthday and one for New Years, but it is just too much fun in one week to take the time to post each individually. Plus Santa brought me a new computer so I am having a few picture issues that will be solved soon. Here we are on January 7th, 2010! 2010? How in the world does time fly? I went back and read blog posts from the end of 2008. Crazy how much our life has changed since then. I especially liked the posting on our Florida house going on the market. Here is a snip posted 12/19/2008.... "We signed papers today for the realtor to put our house on MLS starting today. We have lived here for 11 years! So much to think about and digest. We don't know where we will end up, but we know it is time for us to sell. Our journey to the unknown continues. It's funny when you tell people you are selling your house and they ask the question "where you moving?...