AMAZING WEEKEND!!

Ever since I booked our anniversary trip last week, I've been itching to go on a trip!! April is TOO long to wait. My budget, however, doesn't allow for me to jet off to anywhere my little heart desires.  A good comprimise was for us to spend the night at Brasstown Valley Resort and Spa.  Unfortunately, the spa was booked and had a waiting list for the weekend (but again, probably a good thing for my budget). We still had an AMAZING time! We got to see some beautiful scenery, had a nice drive up there, played in the arcade, explored the stables, swam in the indoor pool, spent some time in the hot tub, had some DELICIOUS meals, and just wondered around holding hands and chatting. We watched the sunset, we snuggled and watched a movie, we just had a plain on great time.

I just love my sweet husband, and we are so fortunate to be able to do things together, and go places. What a great life :)

Me and my Shadows :)

Doing things with Olivia and Tyler, and taking them places with me, really reminds me of how much my sister and I used to be our Mom's little sidekicks.  I am so so so very blessed to have such a wonderful mother :).  I would not be a good teacher or a good stepmom if it weren't for her teaching me how to care for children by caring for me so much.  She is such a wise lady!! And she never seemed to mind having 2 shadows that followed her everywhere.

Usually, I try to go to the grocery store ALONE, so I can take my time, and look for the things on my list and that I have coupons for and ONLY buy what I've planned on buying, and so that there are no small hands - or big ones - sneaking things into the cart. But sometimes, you just have to stop by to grab a thing or two.

Here's a spur of the moment grocery run for the Lances :).

WOW!

Yesterday, at school, they had a special breakfast for our "Top Knights" and parents are invited to come and see their children be honored. The parking lot fills up pretty quickly on these mornings, so I had to park in the gravel lot behind the trailers (Where my classroom is). I get out of the car, and almost step on something? What is that? after closer inspection, I find...

WOW!!!!!!! Is all I can say.  Why would this be on a middle school campus??

Often times, students find things in the desks that shouldn't be there: the belongings of students who were there previously, trash, food, sunflower seed shells, lollipop sticks, extra books, OLD milk, the occasional coin or two, extra paper, pens and pencils, phones, sometimes bracelets, or those little tiny skateboards, but usually things that can be explained.  Today, a student calls me over to his desk, and he has found (or planted).... are you ready for this.... A CIGARETTE BUTT!!!!!!!!!! IN THE DESK!!!

What can you say???? WOW!!!!!!!!!! That's one I didn't expect.  Here's an example of a desk with someone's library book in it that's been there for a couple of days (along with the health textbooks - that actually belong in there).

So, in conclusion.... WOW!!!

Like Daddy...

So, for the past several months, Tyler has NOT wanted to wear any jeans that are not "Like Daddy's." Frustrating at first, but I just had to get over it because the boy was NOT going to change his mind.

He likes sour candy "like Daddy," he likes cars "like Daddy," he always wants his tv on the same channel as Daddy, he wants the same salad dressing as Daddy, he wants the same drink as daddy, he wants to sleep in his underwear "like Daddy," I guess there are worse people he could try to imitate...

The latest in the Daddy likeness is wanting to take a shower in the morning, "like Daddy." It has actually worked out pretty well. He wakes up in a lot better mood when he gets to do something he wants. And I think he likes snuggling with Daddy on the couch in the evenings while Sister takes her shower.

There's one precious thing that he's still okay with not having like Daddy's, and that's his Puppy Dog Towel (Thanks Cousin Stacy). There are usually no dogs allowed in the house, but this one is A-Okay!

He did, however, request that I buy Daddy some Footie Pajamas so they can be the same :).

Restaurant at home...

Eating at home can be somewhat monotonous. Mom cooks dinner, cleans off the table, fixes plates, calls family in to eat, forces children to eat vegetables, cleans up, and negotiates what and if there will be dessert. Olivia was looking for something a little different, so she decided to play "Restaurant." Tonight, everyone's meal revolved around Olivia's customer service.  Dad got service on the couch, Tyler got service at the bar, and the cook got service in the kitchen... how appropriate ;).

But you know, every good server has to have an apron...

Olivia had a total blast fixing everyone's plate and buzzing around delivering silverware, drinks, napkins, and seconds.  What a fun change :). 

A pat on the back is always good...

Especially when it comes from your children :).

With both of the kids and myself eating lunch before noon (and Olivia before 11), once we get home, it is a race to get dinner on the table.  I got an AMAZING recipe from my friend Robyn for this Spinach-Mozzarella Meatloaf, and was excited about trying it. It had to cook for an hour, so I planned for salads while we waited.  But then the hunger kicked in, and I knew I just couldn't wait an hour... so I rolled the meatloaf mixture into meatballs, and cooked them in a skillet.  IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! However, since the kids started with Salads, they were ready to move on to dessert, instead of eating "Meatloaf Balls" with us. 

After some coaxing, we finally got Tyler to try a meatball.  He tasted it, looked at Junior, and said, "oh yeah man, it IS good." Then he turns to me, sticks his arm straight out, pointing at me, and says "Good Cooking" in his most serious and proud tone.

That was quite a compliment to me.  The enthusiasm was what pushed it over the top!  Love it!!

Local Treasures

Mayfield Dairy is just a hop skip and a jump away from our house.  I've been wanting to take the kids over there (Okay, really, I've been wanting to go) to check out the tour and eat some ice cream.  Monday was the perfect opportunity.  We were all out of school for MLK day, so I called to be sure they were open and we went to check it out.  There weren't many people there, and we were disappointed to see that there were no cows :(, but they did have a big fake cow that would moo randomly, and you could milk... pretty entertaining. 

We checked out the gift shop first, then started our tour with a short video about the history of the company, then went down a couple of halls with windows to see into the plant where they bottle the milk.  We had to put on hairnets before we went back into the hallway, which was pretty entertaining seeing as Tyler was sporting a mohawk, and Olivia has more hair than any 6 year old should.  But nevertheless, we rocked the hairnets :).  The tour was short and sweet, we got to see one of the milk trucks unloading the milk to be bottled, and a few of the delivery trucks heading out to deliver the milk.  We learned some interesting facts, and had a nice time together.  After the tour, we had 2 ice creams each :).  Yeah, I wanted another one, but couldn't get myself one without getting them one...lol.

This is after watching the video, and before heading into the back hallway to watch the magic happen :)

BTW: Tyler's Aunt Lindsey got him that shirt from Panama City Beach, and in case you can't read it all, it says "If you think I'm cute, you should see my AUNT"... and for SOME reason, he wants to wear that shirt EVERY TIME it comes out of the dryer... you can see that he's wearing long sleeves under it so he can wear it in the wintertime!  Thanks Linds!!

This is the Welcoming COWmittee (haha)... as we came in the front door.  They got to sign their names in the guestbook :).

After After School Fun

I told the kids I'd take them to the park Monday afternoon when they woke up from their naps, so when they got up, we all put on warm clothes and shoes, coats, hats, mittens (well, I don't have mittens, but they do), and I grabbed a beach towel in case their was some snow, or water on the slides. So we're all geared up and ready to go, totally prepared (or so I think), and we open the front door to find it RAINING!!! Great! I don't think a beach towel will help with that.  So I told them that I'd take them to the park when I picked them up from after school, Tuesday.  Well, it rained all day Tuesday, but stopped just a few minutes before I picked them up, so when they walk out of the daycare to see that its not raining.... well, I think you know what they expected... So we went to the park :)

They like to go to the playground at City Park in Gainesville, first, because its close, and they don't have to wait long before they're there, and second, because City Park has something that our park doesn't.  They have this cool swinging rope, hanging from a sliding track.  The kids think its great, and they do SUCH a good job taking turns.  One time we went, there were 2 other kids there, and they were so good about keeping up with who's turn was next.  (Maybe a little too good... I may have some little teacher-to-be's on my hands :))  Here's the slider, in case you didn't quite understand my description.

So after a little swinging back and forth, I look around and see Tyler headed for the car, so I watch to see what he's up to.  He tries to open the door, and hollers "unlock the door" when he can't open it.  So I unlocked it, but it only worked on the driver's door, so he climbs in the driver's door, into and over the back seat, gets the towel left from the day before, and climbs back out.  He closes the door and heads back to the playground, climbs up to the top of the slide, lays out the towel folded in half, sits on it, and starts scooting.  He couldn't quite get it started, so I gave him a little pull. It wasn't until after this whole ordeal, that he comes to me and explains what he was doing and why.  PRECIOUS!!!!!!!  I love it when they think for themselves!!!

By the way, the park bathrooms are locked on rainy days. I'll spare you from that story for now :).

Lucky Coincidence

As luck would have it, Junior married a lady that lives right around the corner from a park.  This wasn't something I was shopping for when I was in the market for a house, however, it has been such a great perk! We have walked there, ridden 4 wheelers there, gone over there while waiting for dinner to come out of the oven, stopped by on the way home when we were earlier than daddy, and just popped by when we needed something fun and free to do.  There are picnic tables, a playground, a tennis court, and even a baseball field. It is well maintained and has a nice, clean bathroom. It seemed like Fall was about a minute long this year, so I'm really looking forward to spring when we can have more picnics and playtimes.  Here are a couple of pics from a week or two ago (Before ALL the snow)

No Buiness like Snow Business

They were just too cute for words.  They went out 3 different times to play in the snow (until I made them come in and warm up), and loved every second.  Words just can't describe how precious they were, so here are some pictures ;) (and yes, that's a convertable Mustang that he brought out to play in the snow :)... )

Waiting impatiently...

After a week of anticipating snow Sunday afternoon, hoping it would get here before the kids had to go see their mother, and being disappointed that it hadn't started by the time we got back (around 6), Junior took a nap while I did some housework.  He woke up a few times to look out the window for snow, but didn't see it.  Finally, around 10, when many of my facebook friends had already started raving about snow, Junior and I set out in search of SNOW.  We found a little a couple of miles down the road, but that wasn't enough for us! We continued to search and watch, when all of a sudden, the snow FOUND US!!! Within a few minutes the road was white and slippery.... Just what Junior was hoping for.  We picked up one of his buddies, and headed out for snow donuts, and to watch all the other idiots sliding all over the road.

The most excitement we found was on Hwy 129 where cars were struggling to get up the hills, and some had already pulled over.  Then 2 tractor-trailers hauling CHICKENS and TRACTORS (Yes, we were in Gainesville) came ZOOOOMING past us.  Junior and his buddy (also a truck driver) went on and on about how irresponsible and stupid that type of driving was.  Then we came up on another hill that drivers just couldn't get up.  Well, since the tractor-trailers had gotten up a considerable amount of speed, they were able to get about half way up the hill.  TOO BAD THEY COULDN'T STAY THERE! One of them slid back down the hill into a brand new Jeep SUV. DANG! Thankfully, noone was hurt, but the SUV driver was very upset, and the Truck Driver seemed to show NO remorse.  He was talking to Junior like he was going to understand, and Junior gave him a lecture about how irresponsible his driving was.  I was proud :).  SOME PEOPLE!!!

I realize I can't say much, since we were the idiots that were out driving around, however, we were in an appropriate vehicle, and Junior was very safe and careful.  And when I got a little nervous, I reminded him that we were in the only vehicle we have that doesn't have full coverage on our insurance policy.  That helped too :).

All in all, we had a great time together.  I feel so blessed that we are able to do things like that together, that Junior is such a skilled driver, and that we were able to help several people whose cars slid off the road to get back on. I'm also thankful that Waffle House and Quick Trip are ALWAYS open :)

So Icy

So, the kids are FINALLY home, after 3 LONG days with their mother, and what did they want to do??? Sled down the front yard, of course.  So after a "daddy please" from both Olivia and myself, he let her slide down the hill "just once." I knew she's go faster since the snow was iced over on top, and I even stood at the bottom of the hill to catch her.  Too bad I didn't account for the fact that I wouldn't be able to snag her... so she slid down the hill, right past me, over the neighbor's driveway (which is where they usually stop), through the neighbor's yard, (at this point, Junior and I start HAULING TAIL to get to her because she is headed STRAIGHT for the work van 3 houses down), slides into the next neighbor's yard, (probably up to 30 mph by this point) and just as she's about to crash into the van, THE LORD ABOVE steered her sled to the right, where the ground was level, and she plowed into a big pile of snow, hard snow, but snow.

WOW!!! THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!

A Grandma by any other name....

is still as sweet :)

...and luckily for Olivia and Tyler, they got Mrs. Janice for a step-grandma :).  We had to call her in on grandma duty today.  I had to go to my school's basketball games this evening, and Junior had to work late... leaving the kids to be picked up by Mrs. Janice! She fed them dinner, helped with homework, and kept them entertained until I got there.  When I came in, Tyler was sitting in her lap, hugging on her and coloring, and Olivia was doing some kind of worksheet, and all 3 of them were loving every minute :).  I feel so blessed to have such a loving mother, and entire family that accepted my stepchildren as part of our family.

Boy they really hit the jackpot marrying me... I mean as if I'm not awesome enough, my whole family is such a special and wonderful group of people. (I'm just thinking about family Christmas this year and how much everyone hugged and loved on them when we came in and were so generous with gifts. I hope they all know how much it means to me. I think it overwhelms Junior a little bit sometimes.) And lets not even get started on Aunt Lindsey.  She really loves those kids a lot.  She even volunteered to leave work early if Mom couldn't get the kids today.  Mr. Kent is actually a pretty good grandpa too :).  He seems to have a TINY bit more patience with them than he did with us...lol.

I tell you what, I don't know what people do when they don't have a family to take care of them, whether they have children or not.

Hi Ho Hi Ho...

Its back to work I go....

Of course with over 2 weeks to grade all the papers I brought home with me, I waited until Sunday night before I had to go to work Monday to grade them.  I had some help from my awesome Sister Lindsey, and of course from my 2 sidekicks.... one of which was actually very helpful.  The other counted papers :).

As I sat on my bed with papers all around me, kids tucked safely into bed, and husband playing a computer game and watching TV on the couch, I had a few minutes to think about each child as I recorded his or her grade. WOW! I have some SUPER GREAT KIDS, and some that I just want to throw off the trailer steps (because my classroom is a trailer) And then I thought.... Here we are in our little movie setting, kids tucked away in their toy-filled, cutely painted and decorated, warm rooms, with warm, clean pajamas and sheets, bellys full, bodies bathed, cough medicine administered, and teeth brushed. Parents not yelling, or screaming (or shot out on drugs). Everyone adequately hugged and kissed before bedtime. Knowing that some of my students don't have that feeling on a regular basis.  I can't imagine what a different life would be like, but I sure did take some time to pray for my students; the ones who make good choices, and the ones who don't.

In case you were wondering, I did finish the grades and got them entered into the computer with exactly 1 minute to spare. Olivia and Tyler came to school with me today and wereVERY good and sweet. This is the stuff dreams are made of... I'm telling you! I get a whole new group of students tomorrow. Here's hoping they make better choices that quite a few in the last group!

Hello Blog

I've been thinking about writing a blog for a while now.  I love reading some of my friends' blogs, and thought I might like reading about myself too :) just kidding... maybe that someone else might like reading about my adventures :).  Well... since this is the first day of 2011, I thought it was as good a time as any to start writing.  Too bad nothing exciting happened today...

We talked to the 87 year old attendant at the garbage dump who was very sweet talking about his wife who passed away 9 years ago, and the first new year's eve they spent together.  This was mine and Junior's first New Year since we've been married. I think we will look back on it in the future and feel even more blessed than we already do... which is a lot.

It has been a wonderful, rainy day. We are home, safe, dry, warm, and together.  And I'm looking forward to the kids coming home tomorrow and going to Church for the first time in 2011.