Christmas Time Is Here

The calendar presented a shorter amount of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

(Well, in my mind it did...even if it really wasn't shorter, please play along.  Thank you.)

In those short weeks, I spent most of my school days assessing kids for report cards.

The other part of the days were spent entertaining said kids and peeling them from the ceiling because Christmas is almost here!  SANTA is almost here!

It's a fabulous time of the year to be a teacher.

Exhausting, but still fabulous!

Our time in the evenings was spent with volleyball practice

 and watching the kids do

 a.  LOT.  of.  HOMEWORK.

And I DO mean a lot.

We decorated the tree and mantel the weekend before Thanksgiving. 

It's what we do.  I simply can't wait any longer.

We got out of school for the Christmas vacation on Friday!

Friday afternoon was a whirlwind of shopping with Courtney.

Friday evening we took the kids to the movies.

Saturday Cory and I shopped

 while the kids went to Grandma and Papa's house to enjoy lunch out with them.

Last night we piled Grandma and Papa into the car with us,

 and we drove through the "Way of Salvation" light display in Carthage. 

As our tradition goes, we followed the lights with an ice cream treat.

Today is the day for making Christmas cookies, candy and treats!

I've made one batch of Chex party mix and another is ready for the oven. 

These are the days that I love most about Christmas.

My shopping is nearly finished.

The kids have NO HOMEWORK!

I am excited to just see their faces and do some fun things together.

Tis the Season to be Jolly!!!

I'm on it!

Christmas is so delicious!



Traditions Old and New

Every Halloween for the past 13 years, we've had the same tradition.

We go to Grandma's house.

We eat dinner.

The kids pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

We trick or treat in their neighborhood.

The kids did not really want to trick-or-treat this year.

I convinced Courtney to dress up anyway.

We partially followed our annual tradition with only one kid going door to door.

...and truthfully, she didn't go door to door.

She only went to about a dozen houses
 before she said she was ready to go back to Grandma's house.

It was cold.

There weren't as many people out.

There weren't as many houses with their porch lights on.

When we returned to Grandma's house,
we certainly didn't find our kids on the floor in the living room

 with their piles of loot all spread out around them. 
They helped themselves to more pizza and disappeared to the basement.
Sigh.
It might be the start of a new tradition.

Despite the fact that we didn't go all out on costumes and trick-or-treating,
it was fun. 
It was fun to hear the kids laughing.
It was fun to talk about scary Halloweens past. 
It was fun walking through leaf piles on the edge of the road.
It was just nice to start the holiday season with our tradition.


I will have to get creative next year.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get my family to participate in the neighborhood walk again.


In my defense...it's the kickoff to the holidays. 
It's family time.
It's memory making at its' finest.


I'm the mom.
It's my job to hold on to these things, right?
I'm supposed to keep trying to pull us together before they grow up and move out, right?
It feels right.
It feels like the right thing to do.
Just one more Halloween before Corbin graduates from high school.
Just.  One.  More.
Yes.
I think I'll just keep trying with the traditions.


Seven Years Later

My most recent post was in August. 

It is Crazy how fast time goes. 

Seven years ago today, I sat by my daddy's bedside as his body shut down

 and he took his last breaths on earth. 

We knew it was coming. 

We'd spent the 2 weeks before watching his body shut down.

We planned Hospice visits. 

We cooked meals and made a LOT of coffee.

We entertained visitors.

We deep cleaned momma's kitchen,

and we cried in my sister's camper.

We tried our best to mentally prepare for what was coming.

  As much as it hurt to lose him, we knew that he was suffering,

and by letting go of his battle, he would be healed in Heaven.

Much of what I know about how to live, I learned from him. 

He was a quiet, kind hearted man. 

He liked to laugh.

He played prank jokes on others.

(I was a common target.)

He worked hard.

No.  Really. 

He WORKED HARD.

Every. Single. Day.

He gave his best to everything he did.

He loved us girls as if we were his own.

When I was 5 years old, my momma met that ornery guy. 

Mom was working in the tavern which was owned by my grandparents.

One night, he walked in, and my Granny said,

 "Larry Jo, are you looking for a mother in law?"

His response was classic....  "Why?  Are you available?" 

 I just think that is hilarious.

He met momma on that night in November, and they were married in February. 

At the time of their meeting, he was engaged to be married to another lady.

Her name was Trudy,

and my sister and I thought it was fantastic

that he was choosing all three of us over Trudy,

a woman we'd never met or seen before. 

Any how...back to the real story....

The four of us become a family instantly. 

They took us on their honeymoon with them.

We went on vacation after vacation together. 

They never went anywhere without us. 

We were his girls.

Tonight, I celebrate the life of my sweet daddy.

I've looked at old pictures.

I've laughed at him for having an opossum for a pet.

(yes, it's true)

I've looked at pictures of him holding our babies at their baptism ceremonies.

I've been reminded of how much time he spent with all of us.

We've watched the video that was played at his funeral. 

More than anything, today I have mourned our loss.

I mourn the fact that my kids are missing out on making new memories with him.

I mourn the empty place at the dinner table at family meals.

I mourn because I don't see him walking in my front door for a visit.

I miss his ornery giggle, the twinkle in his eyes.

I miss his deep belly laugh

and seeing him lay in the middle of the floor to watch tv.

I miss telling him all about the kids' activities and school stuff.

I miss his crispy edged pancakes...fried perfectly in oil.

I miss his empty Dt. Coke cans sitting everywhere after his visits.

I miss many, many things about him, but

Most of all, I miss his smile, his comforting hugs, and his friendship.

He was an incredible man, full of integrity and goodness. 

Heaven is a better place because he is there.

Tonight, I am eternally grateful for the thirty years which I spent getting to learn from him.

I am a better person because he was, and continues to be, part of my life.

Being his daughter certainly has made life delicious!

I saw it on Pinterest first, but...

Because someone we love is in heaven, we have a little bit of Heaven in our home!



1st Day of School!

Summer has come to an end for us.
We all know that when one thing ends another begins!
What a beginning!!!

These are pictures of our babies on the first day of school!
Courtney is starting 8th grade.
Corbin is starting his Junior year of high school.

And they are standing in front of
"Fernando"
a.k.a.
"Alfalfa"

As of Thursday I am semi-retired from my Taxi Service. 
Corbin drives them to school and brings them home from practices.
Sigh.
Sniff.
Tears.

 

This is a picture of the sweet treats my

Fabulous First Graders brought to me

for the 1st Day of school.

I'm in love with these little people. 

(even before they brought sweet treats)

I can't believe the year has begun!

 

Firsts.

First day of school

First day of riding to school by myself in 12 years.

(Seriously, that's CRAZY!!!)

First graders.

 

Firsts are delicious.

Enjoy all things new this season, my friends!!

Our 1st Grade Classroom 2014-2015

These are some pictures of our classroom.

 

We spend so much time within these 4 walls.

I love to use coordinating colors throughout.

 

This year's building theme is

"CJ Bulldogs Arrrr a Treasure!"

I kept some of my sock monkeys.

There are a few here and there. 

I simply added pirate hats and eye patches.

 

 

Summer Vacation in Pictures

Our summer vacation was a blur!

It went so fast.

I still can't hardly believe it's over.

So, here are some pictures,

randomly placed,

and not in chronological order.

 

 

I finally did it.

I let go of my trusty wall phone.

We cancelled our land-line phone.

It was a sad day.

I still can't believe we did it.

 

(Is it bad that I miss sitting and

 visiting on the phone

while playing with the chord?)

 

I can't believe it, but Corbin had his 1st semester as a college student.

He took 2 classes this summer.

 

Cousins at the 4th of July celebration

 

Corbin got this new ride!

Ford Fusion

 

We took the kids on a camping weekend at the pond.

We picked blackberries, cooked hotdogs and s'mores,

and slept in the pop up.  It was a terrific weekend.

We made lots of incredible memories!!

 

 

 

There were several Starbucks stops this summer.

 

Amy and I met for our birthday lunch.

My baby sister joined the 40 club!

 

Did we get enough fireworks??

 

 

Cutie Pie

 

Crab hunting in Florida

 

Friends

 

Getting ready to leave for vacation:

Our caravan met and started the drive from here!!

 

Good little travelers.

It is always fun to road trip with these two.

 

Transylvania???

EEEK!

 

Simply enjoying the day on the beach.

 

The view from our deck.

 

The donut cart.

We walked 4 1/2 miles round trip to get donuts here.

(well...I say "We," but I meant almost everybody.)

 

 

Oh my!  We found this giant Blue Crab.

I still can't believe I held it.

It had pinched a pair of goggles and was NOT letting go!

 

Just relaxing.

 

Friends

 

Friends!

 

 

My People!

I'm so blessed to belong to this family.

Incredible Summer Bliss

Swimming

Walking

Day trips

Lunch out

(That one is huge for teachers!)

Sleeping in until 6:00

Sipping coffee from a real mug on the deck as the sun comes up

First camping trips

Feeding humming birds

Rummage sales

Porch sitting in the evening

Farmers market foods

Gardening

Watering flowers

Pretty green grass that turns brown and crispy

Seeing the bottom of the laundry basket-almost daily!!

Sports camps

Grilling dinner and eating before 8:00 pm

Shopping

Time with family and friends

Birthdays

Time to refresh, reflect, and rejuvenate as a teacher

-as a mom

-as a wife

-as a person

Time to clean closets and junk drawers

Family vacation

Late night trips out for ice cream

Reading books for fun!!!!

(Even my kids love that one)

Time for family

Time for friends

Time for books and crafts and mending socks!!

School supply ads

New crayons, glue, markers, and pencils for the new school year

All good things must come to an end,

But....

With the end of summer comes a new school year

A fresh start

A new curriculum

Some new faces

I'm not quite ready to give up our vacation just yet.

I'm getting close, though.

We have three weeks and  two days before school starts again. 

 Until then, I will soak up as much summer vacation fun as possible

Summer vacation is as delicious as it is blissful!

I hope you are able to find some bliss during these last weeks of summer vacation, my friends.